The Psyche Diver Trilogy: Demon Hunters Read Online Free Page A

followed.”
    Kumiko looked up.
    “It knows what it’s doing.”
    Kumiko held her breath for a moment. “I thought so.”
    “So you knew.”
    “You gave it away.”
    “Okay. We’re gonna ambush the fucker.”
    After a short while they came upon an area where the hillside began to level out. There was an open clearing roughly the size of a house--traces of moonlight spilled downward casting a teal haze over the bamboo grass. There was a large beech tree at the other end of the clearing. Fuminari walked over to it and stopped.
    “This is the place.” He put his rucksack down and told Kumiko to find cover. “Give me the shovel.” Fuminari took it from her.
    “What should I do?”
    “Wait here. I’ll take care of this.” Fights were easier without the good intentions of others, especially against an opponent like the one chasing them through the dark.
    Fuminari took a wad of cash from the rucksack and stuffed it into his pocket. If the fight went bad there was a chance they might have to run. If that happened the hefty wad of notes would be a liability. He hid the rucksack with the rest of the cash in the bushes nearby. He extended the folding shovel and stuck it into the ground at his feet.
    “Any minute now. Don’t make a sound, got it?”
    There would be one or two of them, Fuminari thought, three at the most. A single flash of his knife would be enough if it was a single opponent. If there were three of them...well, he would find a way. Whatever happened, he would take one of them down. He would make the first move while he still had reserves of strength, better than taking them on after a chase. Fuminari was not ready to die, no matter how tough his hunters turned out to be, not with the 100 million yen he had risked his life for in hand. Maybe I’m getting weak, he thought. The logical move would have been to dispose of Kumiko and get the hell away, but he had decided to step onto a rickety bridge with full knowledge of the danger before him. I’ve fallen for her . A thin smile spread across his features as he came to the realization.
    There was one other thing that Fuminari was aware of: an increasing fascination with their hunter, the source of that abnormally strong aura. He had wanted to steer clear of any foolish, avoidable conflicts, but things were what they were, and he was enjoying the anticipation born of the situation. Ah well, that’s just me. The sides of Fuminari’s mouth curled up. It looked like a smile. He heard rustling.
    This is it!
    Fuminari readied the knife. The presence halted just before the clearing. It had sensed Fuminari and purposefully held back from exposing itself to the moonlight. A black aura seemed to billow from the shadows. It knows I’m here. A powerful, murderous intent radiated from the depths of the blackness. The sensation was so intense it seemed to manifest as a bluish-white aura.
    Fuminari roared, mustering all his strength, concentrating his energy until every cell in his body burned, unleashing it in the direction of the shadow. The knife sliced through the air.
    There was no response.
    It had vanished; it was as though the knife, hurled with such murderous aggression, had simply been absorbed into the darkness. If he had missed, the knife would have impaled a tree or fallen into the grass, either way there would have been a sound. But there was only silence. The only remaining possibility was that whatever was hiding in the shadows had caught the lethal blade in mid-flight.
    In daylight, Fuminari could have done the same. Even in the dark, he probably could have used something to deflect the attack. But this thing had just plucked it out of the air. It was then that Fuminari realized he was facing a beast, an opponent of a completely different class than any he had faced before.
    Fuminari felt a sudden surge of aggression from the darkness. Something soared across the clearing, flashing sharply in the moonlight. Fuminari ducked, instinct taking over. The