While there was no longer any visible bodies, the rank scent seemed to only grow worse. The fact that there were no animal calls, despite the prospect of plentiful food(scavengers didn't care much about decay, did they?) only made things feel more ominous.

Youmu was hardly an expert on animals, but what Kochiya said made sense. Whatever ate the boar went through one of the softest parts of the creature, and it hadn't touched the bones or a lot of the thicker muscle. Plus, if it was using venom, that must have meant it probably wasn't very strong, right?

Poison wasn't the weapon of the powerful, right?

At least, that's what made sense to the young Konpaku.

The rotten stench that permeated this area of the forest made it clear this was the creature's killing grounds, at least. Where it hunted and fed. Youmu grimly noted it was certain she was smelling the remains of older victims.

Predators had to hunt, but that didn't make this any less grotesque, and she had no idea what would have eaten like that. A snake? But why would it chew a hole into the boar like that? Snakes normally just swallowed things up, right?

Normally-

At that moment, something landed ahead of Youmu with a soft thud.

Roukanken left its sheath in an instant.

It was no snake.

Before her eyes was an enormous centipede, thick and close to a whole meter in length. A feeling of revulsion struck the half-phantom, her entire body tensing as a chill ran up her spine and she flinched.

[i]Gross gross gross gross gross...![/i]

But at the same moment she adjusted her grip, and as the horrible thing started to move Roukanken's edge already reached it, dividing its writhing body instantly in half.

She was disgusted, but she wasn't afraid.

These things had to be what killed the boar, and they had to be what was driving the other boars out of their natural habitat.

Blue, viscous blood dripped from Roukanken's edge as Youmu sprang back and slid into a ready stance.

There were so many, now, but that didn't really matter. They were disgusting, but even alone she could have handled them.

A thin blade of light projected from Roukanken's edge, whistling through the air and slashing through the swarm in the same instant that Mokou's explosive attack struck, slicing multiple centipedes to ribbons.

[@Izurich][@Raineh Daze][@PKMNB0Y][@Lugubrious][@EchoWolff]