Ch 87 – Shadows

As the two rapidly retreated from the cave entrance due to their initial experience as a Reincarnate and Adventurer, they watched the shadowy hand crawl out from the cave entrance with wide eyes. Without hesitation, both Honda and Bella cocked their respective weapons towards the cave entrance and Honda was the first to shoot.

With a bang, he grunted from the force that erupted from the shotgun as a red bullet shell whizzed through the air, directly hitting the shadowy hand before it can fully crawl through Bella glanced at the strange weapon in Honda's hand, and she finally noticed how unusual it was and questioned it in her mind.

'Wait, isn't that the same type of weapon Anastasia Melokva-sama uses?' Bella thought in confusion, but she shook her head to regain focus on the enemy they currently have to face, which was the mysterious shadowy monster that appeared from her sister's body. And by the looks of it, it seems to have an absurd regeneration factor as its hand was already healed and more of its body crawled through the cave entrance.

'What happened to Silvy?! Did that monster kill her?!' Bella questioned, but she doesn't know the answer and the only way to find out is to kill that monster, so she propped an arrow over her bow and prepared for any danger to come.

Instantly, the shadowy figure that was crawling from the cave entrance shot out of it within mere moments which alerted the both of them. In tandem, Honda pressed the trigger while Bella let go of the arrow as the two rolled away instantly, they instinctively knew that the shadowy monster with a humanoid body was many times stronger than them in terms of physical bodies.

As the projectiles and the Shadow collided, its body was riddled with holes while the arrow pierced through its head, but as if it didn't take any damage, it continued rushing forward and slammed into the tree behind the place the duo was previously standing at. Their instinct to roll away paid off as the duo felt their heart skip a beat from watching the scene.

Standing up quickly, the two ran away at a moment's notice to make more distance between them and the monster. Looking back, the two saw the monster was already rushing at them which prompted them to shoot more projectiles to halt its running figure. As the projectiles shot forward once more, the duo rolled in two opposite directions as they reached a consensus.

With this tactic, if the monster focuses on one of them, the other can shoot at it while the other runs away and they can just repeat it all over again. Considering they lack any info from it, they must try to gather data about the monster and see if they can find a way to kill it, if not, then they'll most likely be dead before they even knew it.

Soon, they implemented the tactic and it worked like a charm. With Bella's years of experience which can be said to be the same with Honda considering he died multiple times before, they dodged the monster's attacks one by one as Honda felt a tinge of fear with how the monster was still alive with seemingly endless stamina and never-ending regeneration.

'Isn't this a little too unfair?!' Honda thought, his teeth gnashing as he shoots another bullet, the head of the shadowy figure was then blown off while Bella ran away in the distance.

While she was running, he rolled away instantly while putting bullets into the shotgun's cartridge, but the bullets were dwindling down rapidly whether he likes it or not, if he sparingly used it, then it can last a few more minutes before he is dead. And Bella's arrows were also running out, so they must find a way out at this point if they want to live, but the problem was they can't find a solution. The monster is stronger, has endless stamina, and regeneration. They can't kill it, outrun it, nor hide from it considering it was faster in the first place, that is… If the two want to live at the same time.

'Do I just sacrifice her/him?' the duo thought at the same time while glancing at one another with a glint in their eyes. At moments of desperation, the depravity of humanity shows itself like a disgusting fiend. The talks of good, righteousness, morals, they are all thrown out of the window for the chance at survival. But this is what was different about Honda, he can't die.

So he quickly threw away that conjecture and prepared to be killed by the shadow monster, perhaps he might get a chance to get one of its abilities upon death, that was his thinking process.

"I'm over here, Shadow!" Honda shouts, he then shoots a single bullet at it to catch its attention as Bella widens her eyes, she instantly knew what Honda was planning to do.

"Thank you, Yuuya-san," Bella muttered, instantly, she turned on the tip of her toes and prepared to run away. At this single moment, when the Shadow arrived right in front of the Honda within a split second, the whole world seemingly slowed down as Honda faced death with a calm face.

'So this is what's it like to sacrifice yourself for somebody else without wanting anything in return, to think I would actually die as a true hero for once.' Honda thought with a calm smirk, for death is just another path to victory for him.

With a serene smile, the right arm of the Shadow transformed into a sharp blade as his heart beat calmly, the threat of death being merely the same as having no consequences to him except for a burst of pain, and mental damage. But right now, the mental repercussions he thinks he will face are gone, only a calm lake remained in his mind. Perhaps this is the moment Honda faces death differently, the single moment he dies a hero would perhaps be a turning point in his whole life.

"Duck!" Lute's voice was then suddenly heard behind Honda which made his eyes widen in shock. Instinctively, he felt goosebumps appearing in his arms and he bowed his head down to the ground, a loud bang was then heard as he saw a metallic bullet whizzed through the air and hit the shadow monster's rapidly approaching blade, its trajectory was then offshoot to point at the air as Honda felt the air beside him suddenly sway.

Darting his eyes to the left, a white blur appeared and he saw a being covered in a skin-tight white suit as pure as snow appear, the man's right hand then transformed into a katana-like blade and plunge straight into the shadow of the monster. As if making contact with an unknown substance, Honda looks at the monster's face as if it was seemingly stabbed by something fatal on its chest, then as he looks down, Honda saw the white blade absorbing the shadow of the monster into the man's body, his right arm was then tainted with a black color while forming vein-like markings on the outer edges of the black area.

"K-Kira?" Honda muttered as he fell down on his butt, the quick series of events shocked his mind as he couldn't process what just happened. But he instantly knew it was Kira from the white katana.

"You okay?" As he fell down, Honda felt a pair of arms grabbing him from behind and saw Lute's worried face appear, though it was covered in blood and his white cloak was covered in dirt, it seems like he was relatively fine.

"Lute-san! Kira-san!" Honda then heard Bella's shout from the distance, and it seems like Bella knew who Lute and Kira were, perhaps the three of them were even acquaintances. As he lets out a sigh of relief, Honda felt his eyelids becoming as heavy as mountains, and without resistance, he closed them and fell unconscious under Lute's hands.

(A Few Minutes Later)

'Huh?' That was Honda's first thought as he slowly opened his eyes, and he was greeted by a ceiling made of jagged rocks illuminated by an orange light out of his field of vision. The voices of Lute and a sobbing Bella were heard as he cranes his head out to see Bella sobbing while being comforted by Lute.

"I'm fine now," Bella softly muttered as Lute lets go of his arms, and Honda saw Bella's eyes red and her cheeks dripping with tears. The death of her sister must have shocked, and perhaps even traumatized her.

'What is happening?' Honda thought with a hazy mind as he groaned which captured Lute's attention.

"You're finally awake!" Lute shouts as he rapidly approached Honda. Placing his arm over his forehead, Lute nodded his head after learning that Honda's temperature was normal.

"What happened?" Honda asked as he was helped to sit down on his butt, glancing down, he saw Lute's cloak was used as a sort of cover for his sleeping body, nobody would want to lie down on a jagged cave made of rough rocks.

"Sigh, it's a long story," Lute sighed as he started to explain what happened.

A few hours ago, when the both of them walked out of the house to find other humans and perhaps food, they encountered two adventurers after hunting down a horned rabbit in the forest. As they talked and conversed with one another, both Lute and Kira noticed how strange the other two were acting, and their conjectures were right when the both of them suddenly attacked while Lute's and Kira's guards were down.

But it was all a feint as they immediately retaliated. Though some difficulties appeared right away. Like the difference in physical strength, stamina, and how the two adventurers seemed to have absurd regeneration with immortal bodies.

"So, how did you guys kill them?" Honda asked while munching on the rabbit meat and cooked mushrooms plunged on a wooden stick. The cozy campfire beside them gave an atmosphere similar to camping back in Honda's world.

"Well, due to my genius mind, I remembered the writings on the house from before and realized what the Shadows' weakness was. It was that their true bodies were their shadows on the ground, so I instantly shot my gun at the Shadow's shadow and managed to kill it in one shot after aiming at its shadow's head. Though it wasn't without repercussions, due to how long the fight lasted, I got injured on my stomach right here, but I already drank a healing potion so its already healed" Lute retold, then he raised his shirt to point at his stomach and Honda saw the blood covered stomach.

"So that's why you guys were gone for so long. But did you guys manage to gather some items from the adventurers? Like healing potions?" Honda asked while grabbing for another stick, his hunger made his stomach grumble in pain.

"No, after killing them, all of their belongings vanish instantly. Though we did find something strange, after looking around for a while, we saw a campfire that was extinguished and two humanoid scorch marks on the ground," Lute said which made the four look at the scorch mark beside Kira.

"SIlvy…" Bella muttered as their eyes widened.

"This body shaped… It belongs to Silvy! And those previous two, the scorch marks on the ground were exactly the same as the Shadows' human forms!" Lute shouts as their eyes widened in shock. The revelation they found made a chill crawl up their spine.

"Does that mean…" Honda muttered, his heart skipping a beat after understanding how bleak the situation was.

"Yes, it means a Shadow can take on a human's form after turning them into scorch marks? Maybe absorbing their body and info, including soul, to become an exact replica of them," Lute theorized.

"A perfect copy? But that's impossible!" Honda shouts at the side as both Lute and Honda knew how impossible that feat was.

"Yes, a perfect copy… But think, this dungeon with no mana, that house from before, the Shadows? Perhaps… This is not a dungeon but a subdimension made by somebody, or something," Lute muttered as everybody felt the atmosphere turning ominous.

"Oh well, worrying wouldn't change much! We should just sleep to recuperate, we still have to find other humans tomorrow and try to find a way out of this dungeon," Lute said nonchalantly, breaking the overbearing silence as Honda lets out a sigh. Soon, the four went to lie down on the ground to get a good night's rest after creating a shift where they will switch shifts to keep the others' safe while they are asleep.

AN: This is 2136 words, you're welcome.

Writing bla bla, send power stones.

(July 14, 2022 – 232nd day of writing)