Burning Bright

Swallowing Whole

'I'll definitely hit it at such a close range,' Kirino thought. 'If I could only knock down its feet...' "Whuooo!" she yelled as she charged. The beast's tongue came shooting toward her. Her eyes widened in shock. "!?" its tongue slammed into her, knocking her harshly to the ground. "Kyaaa!"

"Kirino—!!" Miyauchi shouted.

"Ah," she groaned, glaring up at the beast. "Ah... Ugh..." 'Why!? Why was I attacked!?' she wondered. 'I aimed directly at the blind spot behind it, then how did it know...' "!?" she gasped when she realized the eye on the left side of its left head was fixed on her. 'That eye is looking at me!? Oh my God...! The eyes in its three heads are all able to look at different angles simultaneously!? If that's the case, then it can have a nearly 360-degree field of vision!? So it has known everything I was doing, right from the start...' She became aware of a strong pain in her arm. "Ah... Ow... Uh... My arm..." It was clearly broken.

"Kirinooo!" Miyauchi shouted, charging the beast as it roared again. 'You son of a bitch! I'll fight it out with you with my full power!!' She punch and kicked it repeatedly with all her might, but it was no good. She barely had time to flinch when hit her with its front leg. "Ugh!" Tokiwa jumped up its arm until she was high in the air.

'If I could only blind its eyes...' she thought with gritted teeth, aiming her sharp stick at it's left eye as she fell. "Gua!" She was instantly hit straight in the gut by the tongue and knocked away.

"Ah..." Suzuki said nervously as he watched her fall.

"Ah, oh..." Takahashi cried with tears streaming down her face.

"They were knocked away in an instant, all three of them..." Mariya said.

"We... We have to go help them..." Takahashi said.

"But, how..." Tooru asked.

Miyauchi saw something hit the ground near her. Smoke came pouring out of it, enveloping the area around her with smoke.

"!?" she said. "Smoke...!?" she coughed. "Wha... What's this...!?" She was surprised when a pair of hands grabbed her. "!" she looked up at the person holding her. "Eh?" It was Akira.

"Pull it together, Miyauchi!!" he told her.

"Sen... Sengoku!?" she said.

"Are you okay? Can you stand up!?" Rion asked Tokiwa, helping her.

"Ah... Yeah..." Tokiwa said.

"Ow... Mm..." Kirino groaned as Kokonoe-sensei picked her up.

"It hurts? Hang in there," he told her. Akira helped Miyauchi walk.

"We need to hurry up," Akira said. "Can you run?"

"Yeah... I guess so..." Miyauchi said. "You're a great help, Sengoku... What's going on? What's with the smoke...?" The beast roared. It sounded like it was frustrated because it couldn't find them.

"Oh, this is..." Akira said.

"Heh heh heh..." Kokonoe-sensei laughed. "It's a smoke ball! Made it myself."

"Kokonoe...?" Miyauchi said.

"The main materials are potassium nitrate and sugar," Kokonoe-sensei explained. "The reaction of this mixture can produce smoke that is five hundred times greater than its original volume. The sugar was made out of the sap. And the potassium nitrate can be found in the 'guano' which is formed by the fossilization of animals' feces and corpses. I found some of it here and there near the coast and also in the caves. I was thinking about finding a good chance to use it. Hahahahaha!"