Two tentacles rushed from opposite flanks, attempting to catch the advancing man in a supernatural pincer attack that would crush bone and pulp flesh simultaneously.
The shinobi however paid no heed to the approaching appendages and continued to run in a blur of black.
'How is he so fast?' Ishiki couldn't help but marvel at the otherworldly velocity.
Within mere seconds, the shinobi passed beyond the range of the attacking tentacles and closed the distance to the abomination... whatever it was in the form of the old monk.
He appeared just below the man at an impossible angle and swung his swords upwards, and arc that would slice straight through its neck.
'Yes! Now kill him...'
But Ishiki's triumphant thought died as his attention snapped to immediate danger. The two tentacles that had missed the shinobi were now redirecting their momentum.
They were now heading towards him...
'Wait, no... they are heading for the maiden. Shit!'
He gave a quick glance towards the shinobi but... he seemed to be in a hard position. Both his swords were struck, or more clearly said, they were caught by the two remaining tentacles.
'goddamn it...' Ishiki looked at the young maiden still frozen in terror, tears streaming silently down her pale face.
'If I run now... I might escape while the shinobi distracts and kills this thing. As for the girl... tsk, she doesn't owe me anything. uh... wait, but i do owe her for healing my hand, right?'
He hesitated for a second, but the speed of the tentacles was far too much to spare any more.
"Curse it!"
Without understanding how, Ishiki wished for the silver tachi to vanish, and it obeyed instantly, dissolving into luminescent particles that dispersed like morning mist.
'Did I just... store it?' There was no time to think about it.
Gritting his teeth, Ishiki sprinted toward the room's gateway. On his way, he grabbed the maiden's trembling hand and pulled, dragging her petrified form behind him.
BOOM!
The tentacles were faster and now instead of the girl, or him, they attacked the supporting pillars flanking the gateway with devastating force, transforming ancient stone into wooden and stone rubble.
The entire structure groaned in protest, then the ceiling section above the entrance collapsed in a cascade of timber and tile.
Ishiki skidded to a halt, stepping backward from the impact zone by mere inches—close enough to feel stone fragments pepper his face.
'No... Not good, not good at all!'
He was breathing heavily already, lungs burning. His body wasn't remotely conditioned for running or fighting after everything it had endured. But little choice did he have.
The tentacle stood up from among the rubble and stared at him like serpent... though it didn't have eyes.
But Ishiki was stunned for an entirely different reason... 'Don't they know the concept of pain?'
The tentacle rushed, Ishiki spun around, attempting to flee in the opposite direction, but his body froze mid-turn as realization struck like lightning.
'Oh No!' He clenched his jaw and looked around. He was completely surrounded.
'How stupid can i be?' He realized that only of the tentacle had attacked the gateway, the other one was trying to attack them from behind. Now he was going to die knowing his tactical error.
'It would have been nice if i hadn't turned. At least i would have an excuse that i was stabbed in the back. Wait... can these things stab? or will they just squeeze'
He mentally slapped himself, what kind of idiot asks that in such a situation.
He looked down at the maiden now clinging to him desperately, terrified and sobbing. But Ishiki just couldn't summon the appropriate empathy. Honestly, he didn't like her at all—something about her felt...
Forcing his mind to shut down that train of thought, he focused on the more pressing matter of survival.
"Hey! Come to your senses or do you want to die like this?" He shook her roughly by the shoulders, praying his words would reach her broken mind.
'Well, I want to break down in tears too right now, but that would be embarrassing for a grown man, right? Right?!'
"Damn it! Snap out of it!" He shook her again with increased desperation.
This time she looked at him with shaky breath, some fragment of awareness returning to those terrified eyes.
"You live here, right? Tell me whe—"
Before he could complete his sentence, the tentacles lunged forward with synchronized precision, attempting to catch them both in a crushing embrace.
Ishiki shoved the maiden sideways and rolled backward in a desperate gambit, resulting in the two tentacles colliding with each other in a wet impact.
'Why can't you stay still for a moment, disgusting pieces of flesh.'
Ishiki Cursed under his breath. He was safe... for now. But unfortunately one of the tentacle found the girl and grabbed her by the waist, trying to squeeze the fragile maiden.
The shrill screams of the young girl filled the whole room... or what was left of it by now. Ishiki's pupil shrank. 'Screw this!'
But he had to try... try to get some information.
"Are there any weapons here?" he shouted, the free tentacle turned his way. But the girl didn't seem to bother and something else caught his attention— she was looking thinner and paler by the second.
'What the... Does this thing drink blood?'
The maiden's screams grew quieter, tapering into weak whimpers. Then—disturbingly enough, a relaxed and almost blissful expression crossed her increasingly pale features.
Ishiki took a heavy breath and shouted again... "Please tell me if you have any weapons here." He could just hope that the girl would listen to him... just for once.
She looked at him with a smile on her corpse-pale face that sent shivers cascading down his spine. Was that what people looked like when they are dying?
Was this the kind of smile people wore when they'd accepted death and stopped caring?
Ishiki shook his head stubbornly. He didn't want to think further, not when he knew where his thoughts were going to wander.
Deliberately, with what must have been her final reserves of strength, she freed one trembling hand and pointed toward the wall opposite the collapsed doorway.
But her finger wavered, swaying across the entire damn wall in a broad, unhelpful gesture.
Ishiki looked at the wall with a dubious expression...
'Okay, so there's supposedly some kind of hidden weapon behind this wall. Great. Wonderful. What are the chances she actually doesn't know what she's talking about? Extremely high.'
Suddenly a muffled groan caught his attention—On the opposite side of the room, the creature had the shinobi pinned against the wall with overwhelming force. But one of the demon's four tentacles was conspicuously missing and leaking thick blood onto the floor.
Without permitting himself second thoughts, Ishiki stood and ran toward the wall the dying maiden had indicated—which would bring him dangerously closer to the tentacled abomination.
He chose this path for one singular reason: the remaining tentacles weren't currently moving. His gaming-trained mind made the probable explanation.
The creature was attempting to regenerate its lost appendage by absorbing the maiden's blood and life force.
A dark expression shadowed his features as the full implication settled in his mind. The young maiden had healed him. And he couldn't do anything to save her in return.
"Screw it all!"
The demon's human face tracked Ishiki's sprint, and a smile spread across his human features.
Then it spoke in that soft, giggling voice that made his skin crawl.
"OH! ARE YOU APPROACHING ME?"
Ishiki's jaw clenched as he ran, every step bringing him closer to death, closer to that wall, closer to a weapon that might not even exist.
But what choice did he have?
Survival demanded risk.
And Ishiki had already decided, back in that prison—that he would survive this trial no matter what it costs.