Shadow of The Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,155
the bottom of my toe. How embarrassingly shameful.” He chuckled and leaned his full weight against my chest; bones snapped in blinding bursts of agony, and I couldn’t help the howl of pain that emerged from my throat. “But do not worry,” the oni went on as I gasped in agony. “This will be over soon. And once I kill you, I’m going to tear apart your friends, as well. That little human girl looks especially tasty. I’m going to pull off her head, twist her around so that her insides turn to mush and eat her like a peach.”
Yumeko. Rational thought disappeared. Something deep inside me snapped, and a flood of darkness rushed in with a howl. I felt a brief stab of terror and despair, and then nothing.
“Does it hurt, demonslayer?” Yaburama lowered his arm, bringing the end of the tetsubo very close to my face. “I’ll make you a deal. Beg for mercy, and I’ll crush your skull instead of stomping on you like an insect. So, what do you say to that? Ready to beg?”
“Beg?” I looked up, meeting the oni’s gaze, and smiled. “I have a better idea. How about I send you to Jigoku in pieces?”
Yaburama bared his fangs. “You first.”
He raised his foot and stomped down hard, and the world disappeared like a snuffed candle.
34
The Destroyer
I’m free.
I raised my arms as Yaburama’s foot smashed down at my head, catching the disgusting appendage with both hands. I heard the oni’s grunt of surprise, felt him press down harder, trying to crush me into the ground. Thinking I was still that weakling mortal.
You always were a fool, Yaburama.
Sitting up, I threw him off, shoving him back and rising to my feet. Yaburama stumbled backward several paces before catching himself, gazing down at me in shock.
I grinned, feeling the air on my skin, seeing the world through my own eyes, and not the weak, pathetic eyes of my human host. I breathed deep and let the scent of blood, violence and death fill my lungs, before glancing at the oni towering overhead.
“What’s the matter, Yaburama? Expecting someone else?”
He bellowed a laugh, shaking his horned head. “You’ve finally come,” he rumbled, striding forward. “I thought I was going to stomp your host into bean paste before he lost control.” He chuckled, narrowing crimson eyes at me. “How long has it been...Hakaimono?”
“Too long. Over four hundred years.”
Yaburama snorted, then crouched down to gaze at me at eye level. “You’re a bit...smaller than I remembered.”
I smirked, seeing my reflection in the oni’s crimson gaze. Human-sized, because I shared this pathetic body with my host, and Kage Tatsumi was even smaller than the average human male. At least I still recognized myself; after four hundred years of being a formless voice trapped in a blade, it was good to see a real body again. Onyx skin, white mane, horns, claws, fangs; I’d almost forgotten what I looked like.
But that wasn’t important. I was free. I was finally out, and there was a whole country to take my revenge on. So much destruction to cause, lives to take and blood to spill. It was going to be beautiful. Let’s see if the fools could drive me back into the sword this time.
But first...
Yaburama was still crouched at eye level, a mocking grin twisting his mouth. I clenched my right hand into a fist, drew it back and punched the oni square in his smirking jaw.
He flew backward, his feet leaving the ground for a moment, before he crashed into the stones with a boom that made the earth shake. I laughed, feeling the power racing through my muscles, my old strength returning to me. Not completely whole yet, but soon.
“Did you forget who you were speaking to, Yaburama?” I called, as the oni struggled upright, looking dazed. Flinging out a hand, I opened my fingers, and Kamigoroshi flew across the stones into my palm. “Did you forget that I commanded the Four Generals? That the strongest demons ever spawned in Jigoku feared me for a reason?”
“Damn you,” Yaburama growled, rising to his feet. Blood streamed down his chin from his lips, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. “Those days are gone, Hakaimono. You’ve been away for too long. There’s a war coming, and a new Master of Demons who will lead the land into chaos and destruction.” He raised his tetsubo, baring bloody fangs in a snarl. “Too bad you won’t get to see it.”