Chester's bitterness was still a long way from subsiding as he trudged along the abandoned footpath, kicking the occasional rock stupid enough to stand in his way. Of course, he could've simply teleported or summoned a cloud to get to where he wanted to go. But he thought that a long walk could help clear his head.
He was wrong, obviously.
A warm breeze breathed down his neck even though it had only just stopped raining. He looked up at the darkening sky, suddenly feeling the temperature rise sharply. Chester frowned slightly with confusion. He wasn't a geography expert, but even a child knew that's not how the weather worked.
The boy stopped in his tracks as the sky turned a midnight dark almost instantly. Magic surged through his veins. If some bored Magus was taking the piss with him right now, that bloke was going to be in for a rude shock. Chester was not in the mood for anything.
Something hissed from behind him.
The teenage Magus swung a glowing hand back with an aggressive growl, his foul mood lowering his inhibitions even more than usual. The stray magic splattered carelessly, leaving gashes on the nearby brick wall. Something small darted away nimbly.
Chester growled in recognition at the floating disembodied head. It remained stationary in the air, its grin half-hidden behind shadows and its eyes glowing a sinister dark red. Chester did not return the smile.
"Piss off," he snarled. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you."
The Yokai cackled like a witch.
"That's funny, boy. Weren't you trying to catch me with your friends just two days ago?" It seemed to be speaking in another language, but Chester could somehow hear it in fluent English. "What's wrong; had a little fight with them?"
"Shut up!" Chester kicked away a nearby rock in frustration. "Get out of my sight while you can, monster."
"Tsk tsk." Bloodied saliva dripped from the Yokai's mouth as a long tongue unravelled from within it. "A rock won't fight back, but I will."
"You're welcome to try."
The Magus lunged forward, purple clocks flashing in his irises. Electricity crackled through the ionised air as he swung a glowing sword at the temporarily frozen monster. It sliced cleanly through the head like a hot knife through butter.
His swings got faster, more feral.
Chester hadn't actually put that much mana into his time-stop spell, which meant that the Rokurokobi would probably only be frozen in time for a few more seconds. He had to make this offence count.
A strangled shriek rang out and Chester backtracked instinctively. He watched in disgust as the severed parts of the face put themselves back with sickening squelching sounds.
Chester steadied his breathing to calm himself. He had really only attacked the monster out of pure frustration. There was no strategy, no plan of attack.
The Magus studied the supernatural energy swirling around the Yokai carefully this time. With its magical density, it was no surprise that physical injury meant nothing to it. He needed more information before he could subdue the monster.
Not because he wanted to fulfil whatever rubbish 'duty' his society had for him, but because this monster would harm innocent people without a second thought, including the ones he cared about.
Colourful bangles materialised around Chester's arms, his eyes never leaving the Rokurokubi.
They circled each other, cautiously regarding each other. Every now and then, a flash of magic or a careless tongue swipe punctuated the tension in the air, but the opponents took their time to study each other otherwise.
The Rokurokubi jabbed low with its sharpened tongue. The Magus avoided it with a stylish twirl, before swinging a magically conjured whip at its temple. In return, the monster feinted to the right and swept its tongue towards the left at the last second.
The attack connected as Chester staggered away, his protection charms flashing in alarm. Stillness returned.
"I didn't come here to kill you," the Rokurokubi broke the silence nonchalantly. "You're not like your colleagues, aren't you? I can sense your bitterness towards your organisation. So why not hear us out? You might like what we have to say."
"What do you mean, we?"
A gentle rustling caught Chester's attention as he turned to the side immediately. He widened his eyes in apprehension as a huge cat paw emerged from the intersecting shadows in the nearby forest. A giant cat revealed itself, its black fur rippling in the wind as it stepped elegantly into view despite its enormity.
Chester stared at the four-metre tall cat prancing on all fours towards the floating head. Small embers flew from the cat's mouth as its yellow eyes remained fixated on him with a murderous glare. So the Nekomata teamed up with the Rokurokubi, huh? That's not good.
"I do apologise for the little... surprise here," the beheaded woman purred. "After our small scuffle in that institute of learning, I decided it was best to bring some backup. Can't be too careful, after all."
"You couldn't back up a phone, you cunt," the boy retorted vindictively. "What is this, two-on-one now? I see how it is."
"Your hostility is unwarranted." The woman's grotesque lips curled into a horrifying-looking smile. "We have no intention of harming you if you cooperate."
Chester kept his battle stance up, but he made no other movement.
"Like you, we have been dragged here into this strange land against our will," the Rokurokubi began. "However, we seek not to return, but to roam free here left to our own devices. Now, we understand that you have no such power to persuade your organisation to set us free. But with your help, we can still achieve that."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "Dragged here? You mean the Union caught you in Japan because you were causing trouble there."
"Foolish boy. Humans are still centuries away from catching a Nekomata," the huge cat growled in a guttural, male-sounding voice. "We were not caught by your pathetic kind."
"What's that mean?"
"How can one be truly free of responsibilities? By disappearing, of course." The woman ignored his question, musing in a patronising voice. "Here's our plan. We 'kidnap' you to force your Union to stop pursuing us. Don't worry; it won't take long for us to disappear from their sights forever. After which, we'll let you go in secret, of course. You'll be free of your responsibilities forever, and we'll be free to do whatever we want here. Deal?"
Chester snorted. "You're delusional. How are you just a head and still this brainless? Do you really think the Union will stop finding you even after I 'die'? The Union allows some monsters to roam free because they haven't done anything wrong to be locked up. If the Union of Magus wanted to, we could catch every single monster in the world with ease."
"You—"
"I'm not finished, you idiot." Magic swirled erratically around him like a raging typhoon. "Let me go? Let me go off a building, more like. How stupid do you think I am to believe you won't kill me once I'm useless to you?"
The Nekomata hissed aggressively, casting an annoyed look at the Rokurokubi.
"The boy's right about one thing. You are an idiot," he snarled. "Just because he had a fight with the Magus doesn't mean he's going to switch sides. This is a waste of my time. That fool still loves them too much to betray his own family."
Chester faltered.
"Bah! No matter." The Rokurokubi flicked her tongue threateningly in response. "I'll give you two options, boy. You're coming with us, conscious or unconscious."
"Go fuck yourself."
Chester lunged forward again, casting purple fire at the woman this time. A powerful gust of wind swatted out the fire, but the Magus had already magically teleported his body forward under the cover of the sizzling smoke.
A deafening shriek of pain rang out as Chester sliced off the Rokurokubi's still-outstretched tongue with a glowing adorned knife. She staggered back, screaming even louder in both anger and pain.
Chester turned his attention to the Nekomata, charging his palms with raw magic. The Rokurokubi wouldn't take long to regenerate its tongue, which only gave him a few minutes to deal with this oversized cat.
He roared with effort, throwing a burning blob of magic directly at the Nekomata's face—
The magic dispersed upon contact with its fur.
"What—"
A powerful blow struck the boy directly in the ribs instead, throwing him against the rocky wall.
Energy escaped from his pores like a leaking balloon as he felt all his protection spells shatter in an instant. Iron filled his mouth as Chester spat out an alarming amount of blood. Pain stabbed his lungs as he struggled to draw another breath.
Did that damn cat do that? It's so strong...
The Nekomata pranced towards him, staring him down coldly as red-hot fire pooled in his mouth.
Chester raised a shaky hand, putting up a magic shield against the onslaught of fire spewing out from the monster's maw. His vision darkened as he felt his mana channels deplete even further, but he kept them open despite the pain. Closing them was death.
The heat faded after a few more agonising seconds, and the Magus toppled to the ground. His body heaved in exhaustion as his hands struggled to push himself up, but to no avail.
Did I just... lose?
He reached for his pocket, inconspicuously pulling out his phone.
"Your love for your family has blinded you to a Magus' actual capabilities," a guttural voice whispered in his ears as the phone slipped from his fingers. "All those parlour tricks, and still..."
The last of Chester's energy left his body as his head dropped to the ground with a soft thud.
"...Only human."9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcn6HnzBpA
