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Inunaki-Mura: Finale

犬鳴村

Inunaki-Mura

'Inunaki Village'

- Finale -

The sweet soundtrack of silence echoed off the walls. Wind had become noticeably stronger, the grey clouds above the impaled rooftop of this abandoned temple blocking light from blessing the space. Yet, this music wasn't pleasing to the ear. It was the miserable cry of terror, the metaphor for nails digging into wood and bleeding heavily. Voice was the branch of thorns sent down the throat to cut onto flesh and meat. And this wind, it carried every single detail of such pain and curse.

Tingle of bells was easily heard melody in this place, but it was far from useful. The Mononoke was somewhere here, but what was its form, truth and reason?

Certainly, the most logical conclusion to come up with was that the statue of a female was the form of this Mononoke. But where could they possibly dig up its truth and reason?

Y/N and Medicine Seller took better look at the denied temple they were in.

A little bit of observation was enough for them to realise that the base of this temple had been built upon the roots of a large tree, the largest one that sat upon this hill and guarded the village.

Cold that wind carried with it sent shivers down Y/N's spine, her body already used to the sickening scent of blood and rotting flesh, and above all, death.

This village smelled of death in its dirtiest, most punishing form, the one closest to hell.

"Could that be what we are looking for?" Y/N spoke up, pointing her finger at the realistic statue, her brows raised and furrowed at the same time, lips pale from present cold.

The blonde man looked at the wooden figure, his own brows narrowing as he felt uneasy by the lack of knowledge and control over the situation. He knew there was nothing to fear – the truth, form and reason still existed and only had to be found – but the lack of their much-needed presence at this very moment sent the second worth of a bad gut-feeling shoot through his body.

"Maybe so." His words, however, were still very much calm and collected, and he took off the luggage off his back, opening the drawers of his box to take out the sheathed blade of velvet gold.

As expected, it reacted to the open space, clearly stating that their assumptions were, in fact, correct.

"It is!" Y/N exclaimed, already aware of the signs the mysterious blade was giving off.

One was done with, two more left. How would they find the truth and reason of the doomed wooden sculpture?

The two approached the body with intent to look into it a bit better, but rushed footsteps cut through the deadly silence like the sharpest sword, catching them off guard. They both rushed towards the entrance of the temple, old and rusty floor screeching beneath their feet, threatening to fall apart at any moment.

Outside, the villagers were clumsily walking up the muddy stairs, their bodies smelling of disease, pale with sickness. Half-naked, they kept on stepping forward while earth, mud and leaves stuck to their cut feet that were covered in blood which turned into a horrific glue. With eyes widened in an unnatural, demonic manner and their mouths carrying dried grass and chopped wood, some of them still chewed onto raw flesh and insides.