(Attendances… plz…)
….
The red, furious eyes of the remaining Mabeasts were locked onto a single target. In their simple, hate-filled minds, Ram and the child no longer existed in their vision.
There was only the white-haired man who had effortlessly destroyed half their pack. Whose sole target was just Gojo and just Gojo only.
Like he was the source of their pain, the focus of all their rage. The ground trembled as they charged, a black tide of muscle and claw aimed at one man.
Gojo didn't seem to care about the danger they posses. He moved, but it wasn't a dodge or a retreat. It was a fluid, impossibly fast movement like he was doing some opera type dance movements.
With a flick of his wrist, several large rocks lying on the ground lifted into the air. A faint, invisible shimmer of blue energy coated them for a fraction of a second.
Then, they shot forward. They didn't fly like thrown stones; they moved like small cannonballs, but like with the sharp edge of a blade.
The blue amplified rocks tore through the charging Mabeasts, not just hitting them, but slicing through their tough hides and thick flesh, leaving deep, bloody gashes like it was nothing.
"Really?" Gojo said, his voice sounding genuinely disappointed as he weaved between the monsters.
"You're all coming at me like I'm just a big piece of meat for you to chew on. Do you know how hurtful that is? To be seen as nothing more than a meal." He sighed dramatically. "I mean, yes, I know I'm special and amazing, but there are others on my back too. They would feel out of place like this."
He sidestepped a lunging Mabeast without even looking at it.
As it flew past him, he casually reached a hand back, caught it by the thick fur on its head, and with a single, sharp twist, crushed its skull.
The sound was a sickening crunch of bone.
He then used the dead monster's body as a weapon, throwing it with incredible force into two other Mabeasts, sending all three tumbling to the ground in a broken heap.
From Ram position on his back, the world was a dizzying, nauseating blur. The sudden stops, the instant changes in direction, the violent lurching, it was all too much. "Can you not move so much," Ram gritted out, her face pale. "I'm going to be sick…"
Gojo just shrugged, his movements never slowing. He was a whirlwind of destruction. With every second that passed, several more Mabeasts fell, their heads flying from their bodies or their chests caving in from a single, effortless blow.
"Ah, ah, ah," he sang. "Don't you dare puke on me. That would be so uncool. Want me to princess carry you instead? It might be a smoother ride."
No one could possibly understand what was going on in his head. Was he actually teasing her in the middle of a battle? Or was this even a battle at all? He was plucking the heads off these fearsome monsters as easily as someone might pull a candy from its wrapper.
Ram wisely chose to say nothing. She knew that if she said anything, he would just come back with another ridiculous comment that would only make her angrier.
And she was already in the deeply embarrassing position of being stuck to his back like a piece of luggage.
Gojo seemed to be getting bored with his current method. He stopped for a moment, letting the Mabeasts begin to swarm around him again.
"Alright, let's try it the red way now," he said to himself. He lifted his right index finger in front of his chest. "Red," he said, the word soft but clear.
A tiny, brilliant dot of pure red light appeared at the tip of his finger. It was the opposite of the calm blue light from before. This light felt angry, violent. It pulsed with a feeling of pure force, of something wanting to push everything away.
"Do me a favor and flock together now, will you?" Gojo said with a grin, looking at the Mabeasts charging at him from the front.
He let the red dot go.
The sound of the charging monsters, the growling, the pounding of their paws, it all vanished in an instant.
The red light exploded outward, but it wasn't an explosion of fire or energy that Ram could understand. It was an attack with pure repulsion.
The Mabeasts that were caught in its path didn't even get pushed back. The force was so immense, so absolute, that their bodies, which were not durable enough to handle such a thing, were simply torn apart in mid-air.
From Ram's perspective, it was the most terrifying and confusing thing she had ever seen.
One moment, a pack of snarling monsters was about to come their way. The next, in an instant she couldn't even properly see, they were just… gone.
They didn't just die; they ceased to exist. There was no blood, no bodies, not even a single piece of fur left on the ground.
The powerful force had erased them completely. And beyond them, the trees in that direction were gone too, splintered into nothingness, leaving a wide, empty path carved through the forest.
Gojo didn't stop there. He used the technique again, and again, and again, spamming the red in every direction where a Mabeast still stood.
Flash. Vanish. Flash. Vanish.
In less than ten seconds, the clearing that had been packed with hundreds of mabeasts was completely empty. It was more than empty; it was unnaturally clear.
Most of the surrounding trees were gone, leaving a wide, barren circle of churned earth and splintered stumps under the moonlight.
Gojo looked around at the cleaning he had caused, a thoughtful look on his face. "I hope there isn't a forest management squad around here or something," he said. "Because if there is, I think I'd be in big trouble for all this."
He finally released the blue, and Ram slid gently off his back, the sleeping girl still in her arms. Ram's legs felt weak, and she stumbled slightly, her mind reeling. She looked at the silent, empty clearing. If someone told her that just a minute ago this place had been filled with a hundred monsters, she would never have believed them. It was impossible.
He's strong, she thought, her mind numb with shock. He's strong. And I didn't sense him using any magic. In fact… I didn't really see anything at all. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog.
"What was all that?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. "How did you do that? You didn't use any magic."
Gojo just smiled and scratched the back of his head. He reached out and gently tapped her on the forehead with his finger, like he was scolding a small child. "Later," he said simply.
"I will break your fingers the next time you do that," Ram said, her voice cold and sharp.
Gojo looked at her with wide, innocent eyes. "Really? Is that how you talk to the person who just saved your life and even carried you the whole time so you wouldn't get tired?" He put a hand over his heart. "I have… you know… feelings, too. Don't you care about my feelings at all?" He dramatically wiped a non-existent tear from the corner of his eye.
"I could not care less about your so-called feelings," Ram replied flatly.
"Wow, a tsundere type, is it?" Gojo chuckled. "You're just like Utahime. So… cold"
Ram ignored his strange comment. "We should go back to the village," she said, shifting the girl in her arms. "We need to see if any Mabeasts attacked, and we have to return this child."
"Nope, no dogs are at the village," Gojo said, his tone suddenly serious. "Someone was controlling those oversized dogs. And it looks like their target was me, for some reason. I don't remember getting into anyone's business enough to get this much attention." He grinned. "Not that I'm complaining, but a guy likes to know who his secret admirers are."
Ram felt a headache coming on. She decided to give up on trying to understand his weird jokes and focused only on the important facts.
Someone was controlling the Mabeasts. It was probably the same person who broke the barrier crystal. And they were after Gojo.
Gojo's attention then shifted from Ram to the small, sleeping child in her arms. He leaned in close. "You know anything about this… kid?"
Ram was confused. "Who are you talking to?" she asked. The only other person here was the little girl, and she was clearly unconscious.
"Of course I'm talking to the kid you're holding," Gojo said, his voice soft but carrying a strange weight. "The one who is trying very, very hard to act like she's unconscious." He stared at the girl's face. "Actually, she's been awake this whole time. At first, I thought she was just playing dead to fool the dogs. But a normal kid would have been scared and all that. She wasn't scared at all."
The girl in Ram's arms didn't move a muscle, her face still peaceful and her breathing even. She was a perfect picture of a sleeping child.
Gojo's gaze sharpened. He stared at her so intensely it felt like he could see right through her skin, right into her soul. "There's no point in acting anymore, kiddo," he said, his voice leaving no room for games.
For a long moment, there was only silence. Then, the little girl's eyes fluttered open. They were not the eyes of a frightened, lost child. They were irritated and annoyed.
A small, clear voice, filled with irritation, came from her mouth.
"So annoying."
….
A/N: Hope you liked the chapter and all.
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