Saun 11 720
Now that Goku had figured out for the most part that he was headed in the right direction he started asking around the town for some clues. This beast he had to eradicate had to be found quickly believe it or not. The light from the stars gave way to a strange neon color in the sky that stood boldly apart from the rest of the colors. They were captivating to most but Goku kept his eyes focused on the floor. He’d found the tracks that would lead him to the evil beast. There were many sign posts all around that welcomed each and every passer by to the area that Goku likewise ignored.
Many people hung out on the streets littering it as though they were wastes of life. Their faces were devoid of hope and no laughter was to be heard anywhere in this town. No doubt the work of the beast had caused all of this trauma. As Goku walked along all he heard were voices that begged him for necessities because he did not look like any of them. He was a foreigner in their eyes which meant he had to have some money. Goku had money so they were right but he would not be wasting any on these people. He pulled his coat in tightly around his body so that nobody could slip a hand into it and steal from him.
Goku could hear a crowd not too far away when he got to the middle of the town. They were excited shouts which was a very big contrast to what he’d heard of the town so far. When he arrived he finally lifted his head to see that there were a variety of half blooded individuals mixed in with dealers and onlookers were gathered together. They were clamoring around cages that sat upon platforms that levitated in midair. The cages seemed to be made of wire and there were living beings inside of them. The beings were shivering cold. They squatted, the lot of them because there was no space to stand and their restraints did not allow for anyone to sit or lie down.
Goku looked at them and thought, "It would be stupid to die trying to rescue them. They’re just slaves, not anyone worth saving.”
Unlike Goku, there was someone who intended to save these people. Goku overheard one of them saying “Whatever, the ground under the surface is much cooler than here. I could take a short break and resume this rescue later." The woman who had spoken drew a glyph on the ground and sank underground to be able to rest for a few minutes. Goku watched as a small mound of earth moved along the ground unbeknownst to most who were only focused on the cages.
“What an odd lady, she’s going to get herself killed,” Goku said with a hint of annoyance. Goku continued his journey, walking past the commotion and could not help but smirk when he heard a small explosion behind him. The explosion was nothing compared to the sounds of the screams that followed.
The woman had emerged from this hole and lit fire to some explosives which she had thrown into the crowd and the tops of the cages to bust them open. Her morale was high, her movement was fast and fluid, her motivation was not the rescue itself but to quickly be able to return to report her success. A few minutes after the chaos, Goku glimpsed a group of the woman in the distance. She had bundled the slaves together with some rope and was hauling them over her shoulder without any effect on her mobility.
No one was around and Goku smiled like never before. An idea popped into his little head about what he saw. If this woman was stealing slaves there had to be a reason. There were no good souls in this part of the world so the reason had to be nefarious. The beast was known to consume humans so it only made sense that it needed to be fed. People got a lot less upset about slaves being stolen than they did when citizens were kidnapped.
“I knew I wouldn’t regret passing through here,” Goku thought while running after the woman. Goku tailed her for three hours. That was how long it took to escape the town and get into the wilderness once again. He passed by many signs that told him to only venture forth at his own risk. The winged man came to a stop outside a large cave that the woman had run into not too long ago judging by the fresh tracks on the ground.
Goku smirked. “An ominous cave. This is a fitting environment to kill an evil beast.”
There was little time to dawdle. As soon as Goku stepped into the cave and lit his torch he heard the screams of what he assumed were the slaves being devoured. Goku pressed on and noted that there was a lot of junk lying around the cave. Metal scraps littered the ground. Bones and rancid odors were aplenty as well. Most strange was the corpse of half of a ship. Cargo crates were strewn all around it, all empty.
As the hybrid wandered around the caverns he thought that the villains had been very opportunistic. The inhabitants had more or less tunneled to create spaces to conduct business and live. He was not even accosted by those who dwelled inside because he was just one of many suspicious faces down there. He was, however, the only one who was headed determinedly towards the source of the screaming. At last he came to a row of lit torches buried into the walls that led him straight to the evil beast.
“That’s enough murder for one day,” Goku shouted when he stepped into the final cavern. The lit torches all revealed the beast that was just as horrid as Goku could have imagined. It was basically a black boar with a massive blade embedded in its side. The sword had many runes and glyphs on it which looked like it pained the beast greatly. At the boar’s side was the woman from before. She held ropes in her hands, the same that had bound the slaves.
“You’re too late to save them,” the woman said.
“Go Natasha, get more souls for me,” the beast said. “I can handle this intruder.”
“As you wish master.” The woman sunk into the ground and sped past Goku without him being able to do anything aside from stabbing his sword into the ground a bit too late.
“Do you often announce your presence before facing death?” The beast asked while sizing up Goku who sauntered in casually with his sword in hand. The boar was once huge but it shrunk down to something just a little larger than Goku. The sword also sized down alongside the boar. That fed into Goku’s suspicion that it was a magical blade.
Goku laughed. “It’s seemed to have worked out alright for me so far. What’s your story? If I had to hazard a guess, you used to be powerful but that sword keeps you bound to a physical form. It probably weakens you too.” Goku ran at the boar and went to grab the sword by the handle.
The boar quickly moved the front half of its body to the side and used its rear hooves to attempt to kick Goku to the side. It said, “you missed about fifty years of backstory there but yes, more or less.”
Goku appreciated how quick the boar was. It was not quick enough, however. He was able to grab hold of a hoof and slice into it. The hoof did not bleed. Instead it let out black smoke and reformed. The winged hybrid was surprised so when the boar kicked again he was struck clean in his chest.
Goku coughed and got to his feet. He asked “so, how does your every day adventurer eliminate an evil beast or spirit, or whatever you are?” Goku pulled out some knives from his pack and threw them at blinding speeds but they merely passed through the boar causing it no pain at all.
“A question I’ve asked myself many times. Enough talk though, let’s finish this. It’s clear to me that you lack what is necessary to rid me of this cave.”
Goku shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. As far as I’m concerned you’re little more than a nuisance to me. See, I only took this job in passing. Now that I have established that you are more spirit than beast and that you are bound to this plane of existence with that sword it will be simple to end you.”
The beast growled and it shrunk in size some more. It grew faster and stronger inversely proportional to its size so when it was the size of a typical boar it was a force to be reckoned with. It charged into Goku who was willing to take the brunt of the damage to grasp hold of the sword and yank it out of the boar.
The boar thrashed about but to Goku this fight had been over before it began. The impact with the boar had barely dented his armor leaving him mostly unharmed. The blade grew a little in his hands and almost guided the hybrid to strike the boar down. “Don’t mind if I do,” he said. He brought the sword down overhead and sliced the evil being in half sending smoke everywhere.
Everything seemed to be over then. The dark cave was suddenly illuminated by a strange circular hoop like energy that expanded from the center of the room and pressed on past the walls. Goku awkwardly exited the cave, bending his limbs and crouching at times to leave the cave. He was the last to exit as everyone else had fled when they saw the light that told them that their protection under the evil being had ended.
“How is it that every time I do something good I end up with more work on my hands?” Goku asked when he held the sword out to examine it in the natural light. He had to find something to do with this sword. He didn’t have any space to carry it around with him so he had to sell it or ditch it before he left.
“Or I could replace my current sword with it…” he considered. “Fuck it. I’ll decide tomorrow morning. I deserve some rest.”
