Wood Demon - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Broken Family’s Exodus

The air on Mount Natagumo was a discordant symphony of death. Distant screams – demonic and, more chillingly, human – echoed through the ancient, web-choked trees. The acrid scent of blood and something ozone-like, perhaps from Rui’s enraged thread-work or the Slayers’ elemental Breathing Forms, drifted on the night breeze. Jack, huddled in his precarious, moss-covered crevice near Woody Jr.’s roots, felt like a trapped animal, the hunter’s net slowly, inexorably closing in.

His `Root Sense` painted a terrifying picture of the chaos below: dozens of Slayer signatures moving with disciplined precision, methodically clearing sections of the forest. And then there were the others, the two or three presences that blazed like miniature suns in his demonic perception – the Hashira. He’d caught a glimpse, just one, from an impossibly safe distance: a figure moving faster than his eyes could truly follow, a flash of a uniquely shaped blade, and then a swathe of forest where several of Rui’s larger, grotesque spider-puppets had been simply… ceased to exist, leaving behind only a shower of disintegrating demonic ash and an unnerving silence.

“Right,” Jack had breathed, his heart hammering against his ribs, the image seared into his mind. “Direct engagement with that is a zero-sum game where I am the rapidly disappearing zero. Tactical withdrawal isn’t just an option, it’s the only damn line item on the survival menu.”

The Slayers were thorough, their movements like a tightening noose. It was only a matter of time before they reached the dilapidated Spider House, or worse, stumbled upon his own hidden sanctuary. Woody Jr. offered sustenance, but no defense against a Nichirin blade wielded by a Pillar. Dawn, which normally brought him a perverse sense of safety, was still hours away, meaning the Slayers had a long night of hunting ahead. Remaining on Mount Natagumo was no longer a calculated risk; it was a guaranteed death sentence.

The decision, when it crystallized, was as cold and hard as the stone beneath him: Escape. Get off this murder mountain while he still possessed a head firmly attached to his neck.

But then came the paralyzing complication: Saya. He couldn’t just leave her. The thought of abandoning her to Rui’s escalating fury or the Slayers’ righteous purge was a physical ache in his chest. His escape plan, already bordering on suicidal, now had to include her. This elevated the difficulty from ‘insanely risky’ to ‘certifiably insane but morally non-negotiable.’

“Okay, Jack, you magnificent idiot,” he muttered to himself, already formulating a desperate, multi-stage tactical nightmare. “Operation ‘Evacuate the Terrified Spider-Girlfriend-Figure from the Exploding Hell-Mountain’ is a go. Phase One: locate Saya without getting us both skewered by Rui or a Slayer. Phase Two: convince her this isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever had. Phase Three: ??? Phase Four: Somehow survive. The details for Phase Three are a bit sketchy, admittedly.”

He waited for a lull in the nearby fighting, a brief window when the Slayers’ main thrust seemed to be on a different slope. Using his `Root Sense` to feel for nearby patrols and his `Camouflage Carapace` to blend with the shadows and web-draped trees, he began a cautious, nerve-wracking descent towards the Spider House. He needed to find Saya, preferably when Rui was distracted by the larger threat.

He found her cowering in one of the house’s many crumbling, web-filled alcoves, her true, dark-haired form a small, vulnerable shadow in the oppressive gloom. She looked up as he approached, her eyes wide with terror, but also a flicker of desperate hope when she recognized him.
“Saya,” he whispered, his voice urgent, keeping his own aura suppressed as much as possible. “We need to leave. Now. The Slayers, the Hashira… this mountain is a deathtrap. Staying here means death, one way or another. For all of us.”

Her breath hitched. “Leave?” she echoed, her voice barely audible. “But… Rui… he’ll…”
“Rui is busy,” Jack cut in, his gaze flicking nervously towards the sounds of distant combat. “Or he will be soon. This is our only chance. Trust me.”

Before Saya could reply, a rustling sound came from deeper within the alcove. The Spider Mother emerged, her pale, beautiful face a mask of raw, unadulterated terror, her eyes darting between Jack and the sounds of the ongoing slaughter outside.
“Leave?” she whispered, her voice trembling like a plucked spider silk. “Can we… can we truly leave this place? Escape him? Escape… them?” There was a desperate, almost mad hope in her eyes, something that transcended her usual cowering fear. She had seen Jack fight Rui, witnessed his inexplicable growth, felt the shift in power. Maybe, just maybe, he represented a way out of her centuries-long nightmare.

Jack was momentarily stunned. “Well, this is an unexpected development in the ‘dysfunctional family dynamics’ subplot,” he thought, his mind racing to adjust his already tenuous plan. “Thought you were fully indoctrinated into the ‘Rui is the Best Little Tyrant and We Love Our Chains’ club, Mom. But hey, the more the merrier, if by merrier we mean ‘more potential distractions for the Slayers to aim their pointy sticks at instead of me’.”
Outwardly, he kept his voice low and urgent. “If you want to live, this is the time. But we have to move fast, and quietly.”

As if summoned by the hushed, desperate conversation, another hulking shadow detached itself from the deeper darkness. The Spider Father. His multiple eyes blinked slowly, his massive pincers clicking softly. He looked from Jack to the Mother, then towards the sounds of battle, a low, guttural growl rumbling in his chest. He understood violence. He understood overwhelming force. And he clearly understood that the Demon Slayers represented a threat far greater than even Rui’s everyday cruelties. He gave a single, curt nod. Assent.

“Okay,” Jack breathed, his mind reeling with this sudden acquisition of allies, or at least, equally terrified co-escapees. “New plan. Or, same plan, just with… more entourage. Stick close to me. Stay quiet. And whatever you do, don’t attract Rui’s attention until we’re clear.” This was no longer a stealth mission for two; it was a desperate bid for freedom by a small, mismatched band of terrified demons. Tactically, it was a nightmare. More bodies meant slower movement, a greater chance of detection. But it also meant… well, it meant he wasn’t just saving Saya anymore. He was, bizarrely, leading an exodus of Rui’s broken family.

He led them out of the alcove, using his `Root Sense` to guide them along paths he hoped were clear of Slayer patrols, his `Camouflage Carapace` flickering over his skin in the deepest shadows. The Mother moved with a frightened, desperate urgency, surprisingly agile. The Father, for all his bulk, was unnervingly silent, his monstrous form blending surprisingly well with the gnarled trees. Saya stayed close to Jack, her hand almost brushing his, her presence a strange mixture of comfort and added responsibility.

They were halfway down a less-used game trail, making for a ravine Jack knew could offer temporary cover, when a voice, cold as glacial ice and dripping with venom, sliced through the night.

“Going somewhere, family?”

Rui materialized before them, as if stepping out of the very fabric of the night. He wasn’t raging, not yet. His small face was a mask of chilling calm, his crimson-flecked eyes burning with a possessive, betrayed fury that was far more terrifying than any overt display of power. His threads, dozens of them, were already coalescing in the air around him, shimmering faintly, patiently.

The Mother let out a stifled sob and stumbled back. The Father froze, his brutish form tensing, but making no move to defend or attack. Saya instinctively moved closer to Jack, her hand finding his, gripping it tightly.

“Traitors!” Rui finally hissed, the word a viper striking. His composure cracked, his childish face contorting into a mask of utter rage. “You’re all betraying me again! After everything I’ve done for you! After I gave you power! A family! A purpose!”

Jack stepped forward, positioning himself between Rui and the others, his own demonic aura flaring, `Barkskin Fortification` already hardening his skin. “Rui, be reasonable for once in your miserable unlife!” he snapped, his voice tight with urgency. “This mountain is crawling with Demon Slayers! Hashira are here! Staying is suicide for all of us, and that includes you!”

“Reasonable?” Rui shrieked, his threads lashing out, not to attack, but to emphasize his fury, slicing through nearby trees with sickening ease. “You speak to me of reason? You, who colluded with her,” he spat the word, his gaze venomous as it flicked to Saya, “who defied your role, who tried to usurp my position! You are the cause of this! Your constant, disruptive fighting brought them here!”

A bitter pang of guilt hit Jack. Rui wasn’t entirely wrong about that last part. Their escalating duels had been a beacon. But there was no time for self-recrimination now.

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t!” Jack yelled back. “But the Slayers are here now! And they’re not asking questions, Rui, they’re just killing every demon they find! If we all die here, your precious ‘family’ is gone forever! Isn’t it better for us to scatter, survive, and you can try to rebuild your creepy little dollhouse later when this blows over? We’re no good to you as piles of ash!” It was a desperate, flawed appeal to Rui’s possessiveness, his twisted logic, but it was all Jack had in the face of such overwhelming, irrational fury.

Rui just stared at him, his chest heaving, his eyes burning with an almost insane light. The concept of his ‘family’ willingly abandoning him, choosing survival over his control, was clearly more than his fractured psyche could bear. “If I cannot have my family the way I desire it,” he whispered, his voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly softness, “then no one will have them.” His threads began to weave, forming a complex, murderous lattice, aimed at Jack, at Saya, at all of them. He was going to slaughter them himself before the Slayers could.

Jack’s mind raced. Direct confrontation here, with Slayers potentially minutes away, was tactical suicide. He needed a distraction. A massive one. He could hear, not too far off, the distinct sounds of a fierce battle – a Slayer, by the sound of their powerful Breathing Forms, engaged with what was probably one of Rui’s stronger puppets, or perhaps even another of the ‘family’ members who hadn’t joined their little exodus.

“This is your last chance, Rui!” Jack yelled, trying to buy a precious second. “Let us go, or we all die here!”

Rui just laughed, a cold, broken sound. “Death is preferable to betrayal, Older Brother.” His threads lunged.

“Everyone, RUN!” Jack bellowed. Simultaneously, he slammed his hands to the ground, pouring every ounce of his will, his demonic energy, into his BDA. Not a defensive wall this time. Something bigger. Something louder. Something to bring the whole damn mountain down on them, or at least, the nearest Slayers.

`[TITAN ROOT ERUPTION – MAXIMUM OUTPUT!]`

The earth around them didn’t just sprout roots; it exploded. Massive, gnarled timbers of living wood, thick as ancient oaks, burst from the ground with the force of geysers, tearing through the forest floor, flinging soil and rock and smaller trees skyward. It wasn’t precise, it wasn’t controlled, it was a chaotic, localized earthquake of pure, untamed botanical fury, aimed not just at blocking Rui, but at creating a colossal, unholy racket.

“Scatter! Head for the western ridge! Try to stay off the main paths!” Jack roared over the din, grabbing Saya’s hand tightly.

The Mother, galvanized by sheer terror and the unbelievable display of power, shrieked and bolted into the undergrowth, moving with a speed Jack wouldn’t have thought her capable of. The Father, after a moment of stunned inaction, let out a bellowing roar and charged in a different direction, crashing through the trees like a runaway bulldozer.

Rui, caught off guard by the sheer scale and violence of Jack’s desperate gambit, was momentarily forced to defend himself as a massive root, an offshoot of Jack’s chaotic eruption, slammed down where he’d been standing. His threads sliced it to ribbons, but it bought them the crucial seconds they needed.

“You won’t escape me, traitors!” Rui’s enraged scream echoed behind them, already tinged with the sounds of his threads engaging the newly formed, rapidly shifting terrain of Jack’s BDA.

Jack didn’t look back. Dragging Saya with him, he plunged into the deepest, most treacherous part of the forest, his heart pounding, his mind already calculating their next move, their chances of survival measured in mere minutes, if not seconds. The fragile, broken family was shattered, scattered to the winds. And the hunt, by both Demon Slayers and a Kiri no Kizuki scorned, had just entered a new, terrifying phase.