Chapter 34: Silver Soul (Cosmic Arc)

It had been five weeks since Okakura Take arrived on this planet—the day she vomited uncontrollably in front of those monsters. In other words, she had spent more than a month on this monster-infested world. Every day since her arrival, she braved the risk of being slaughtered by the creatures as she searched for that wretched spaceship, but after she disembarked, the ship had vanished without a trace.

Okakura Take remembered vividly the day she first stepped off the ship. After succumbing to nausea and vomiting in front of the monsters, they all lunged at her. Recalling how she had to flee while retching, she couldn’t help but feel it was one of the most ridiculous moments of her life.

Since arriving here, she had discovered that there was nothing but monsters on this planet. The largest were as big as small hills, the smallest were half her size, and these smaller ones were agile and skilled at ambushes. She had been caught off guard by them numerous times.

Each day, in her quest to find the spaceship, she pressed onward—fighting monsters across grasslands, forests, wetlands, mountains, rivers, and even in her sleep.

Why are there so many monsters on this planet?!

Battling monsters was one thing, but she soon realized there were no edible animals here besides the monsters themselves. She was forced to eat monster flesh to survive. At first, faced with their bizarre and grotesque forms, she found it impossible to stomach, but hunger eventually overcame her revulsion.

After gnawing on all sorts of strange monster meat, she finally found one kind that was at least palatable. Despite its hideous appearance, it was edible, and that was enough.

“Am I going to be stuck on this planet forever…”

At night, curled up in a cave, she gazed at the stars, their glow reminding her of nights during the anti-foreign war, sitting on rooftops with that silver-haired Sakata, watching the heavens. Back then, every day was steeped in blood and war, her nerves even more taut than now, but she had never felt so lonely—perhaps because she’d always had companions to talk to.

“Mother… Father…” As she thought of her lost parents, a wave of longing overcame her. She buried her head in her knees, hot tears dropping onto her cold skin, making her shiver.

Hiss… hiss hiss… A faint sound drifted from nearby. Okakura Take stifled her sobs, raised her head, and peered out of the cave. In the darkness, a pair of cold, yellow slit-pupiled eyes gleamed.

Damn! Another monster! Some of the planet’s creatures were nocturnal, coming out at night to hunt.

She leapt to her feet; the monster might have come to rest in the cave or was after her—either way, she needed to run.

She had barely stepped outside when those yellow, slit-pupiled eyes appeared before her. It was a lizard-like beast, the size of a small car, flicking its forked tongue in and out, making the hissing sound she had just heard.

As the creature extended its tongue toward her, Okakura Take was sure it was hunting her.

She dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the tongue; where she had just stood, the monster’s tongue left a deep hole in the ground.

Seeing its prey escape, the monster began searching for her. Unlike Earth’s reptiles, these monsters had much sharper vision and could easily spot motionless prey.

The monster spotted her and charged forward with alarming speed.

The stench of rot and blood wafted from its body, making Okakura Take nauseous. She’d eaten too much for dinner and still felt bloated.

Judging by its overpowering odor, she knew this creature would taste vile—her experience told her that the worse a monster smelled, the worse it tasted; the lighter the scent, the more palatable its flesh.

Since this one was inedible, she didn’t have to worry about how she killed it.

She scrambled onto a distant rock, and the beast followed. As it drew near, she leapt from the rock onto its back.

With a powerful punch, she shattered its hard carapace. Dark green, foul-smelling blood spurted like a fountain, and the monster thrashed and rolled in agony while she jumped off its back.

Wracked with pain, its killing intent toward her only intensified. It gaped its jaws and twisted its body, lunging at her.

She hoisted a large stone and, just as the creature closed in, hurled it at its head.

There was a sickening crunch as the monster’s skull shattered, spraying dark green blood and white brain matter everywhere.

The beast’s body convulsed a few more times, then lay still—it was dead.

Okakura Take gazed at the monster’s corpse and sighed. She had slain too many of these creatures. Because of their nightly ambushes, she rarely got a good night’s sleep.

The stench in the air grew thicker; she knew she had to leave quickly, lest other monsters be drawn by the smell.

She glanced down at herself—she was covered in monster blood and needed to wash. Her clothes had been torn to shreds during her first week here; now she wore only a few large leaves.

She tore the leaves from her body and started running naked.

After so long in this place, surrounded only by monsters eager to eat her, her sense of human shame had plummeted to zero.

Beneath the moonlight, she ran freely and bare, the night wind chilling her exposed skin.

After a while, she finally found a stream. From a distance, she threw a stone into the water; when only splashes and silence followed, she knew there were no monsters lurking in the stream.

Good, it was safe to bathe.

She picked a large leaf and walked to the water’s edge, scooping up cold water and scrubbing the blood and filth from her skin. The icy water brought up goosebumps and made her shiver.

But bathing was essential—if she didn’t wash away her scent, monsters would soon track her down.

After her cold bath, she dragged her exhausted body up a tree. The rough bark dug into her, making her uncomfortable. How much longer would this life last? She missed human civilization desperately.

When morning sunlight warmed her body, she realized she had survived yet another day on this planet. Still, there was no sign of the wretched spaceship.

Had it already left this world? The thought terrified her—if so, would she be stranded here forever?

Her face turned pale. She was sick of monster meat, sick of this life of hardship and forced nudity.

At this point, even the sight of a Celestial would have delighted her!

“Uncle, is that creature really here?”

“Your Highness, it should be. The Rogran system said they dumped them somewhere near here.”

“You all, hurry up and search!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The voices drifting through the jungle startled Okakura Take. Was this planet actually inhabited?

She stood and leaped to another tree, her movements light and silent as a squirrel.

She crept closer to the speakers, hiding among the leaves as she observed.

They were Celestials—all of them looked like mudskippers. The fattest, most ornately dressed one in the center was clearly the prince, and beside him stood a stern-faced, elderly mudskipper.

The old mudskipper glanced around and said to the prince, “Your Highness, we should return to the ship. This forest is dangerous—who knows what monsters might appear?”

He had barely finished when the prince was already squatting in front of a rabbit, grinning foolishly. “Uncle, look how cute this little one is!” he said, reaching out to pet the rabbit.

Okakura Take’s heart leapt—this rabbit was bait!

The next instant, a gaping maw lunged from behind the leaves. The foolish prince shrieked and tumbled to the ground.

“Uncle, save me!” the prince cried, turning to find the old mudskipper had already wet himself in terror.

Both had just sent their guards away to search for monsters—now, only these two utterly helpless weaklings remained.

Huddled together, they shouted for help as the monster’s jaws drew ever closer…

Okakura Take couldn’t stand it any longer. She leapt down from the tree, landing squarely on the monster’s head, stomping hard—imagining it was Kamui’s head as she did so—and didn’t stop until she’d driven the beast into the earth.

“Are you all right?” she asked the prince and his uncle.

“N-no, not hurt…” they stammered, trembling.

“Um, miss, could you please put on some clothes first?” the uncle muttered, pushing up his glasses and lowering his head.

Okakura Take glanced down—oh, she’d forgotten she was naked! After so long running around unclothed, she’d forgotten all about modesty in front of humanoid beings.

“Wait a moment.” She grabbed two large leaves and wrapped herself.

“Done.” She returned to the pair. “You two shouldn’t stay here—it’s too dangerous.”

The prince and his uncle nodded shakily, trying to stand, but their legs were too weak. Okakura Take sighed, strode over, and hoisted them to their feet.

“Thank you,” the prince said.

“No problem. By the way, are you natives of this planet?” she asked curiously.

The two exchanged strange glances. “You mean you don’t know anything?” they asked.

She blinked, then asked, “Know what?”

“This planet is known as the Monster Planet—one of the unmanned zones of the universe. Any creature that poses a threat to human survival is dumped here. It’s an S-class danger zone! How did you end up in such a dangerous place?” the mudskipper prince said.

Okakura Take was stunned. She hadn’t realized she’d landed in such a perilous place.

Crrrack…

“Huh? What’s that sound?” the prince and his uncle looked around—then realized it was coming from Okakura Take.

She raised her head, her face twisted and terrifying, reminiscent of the demon she once was. She shook her fist at the sky and spat out a name through gritted teeth:

“Kamui! You bastard!”

“Achoo!”

“Chief, did you catch a cold?”

Kamui rubbed his nose and grinned at Abuto. “Maybe that beauty from last night is thinking of me.”