Though she lacked the Spirit Cutter, Shion’s enhanced abilities now allowed her to conjure talismans, capable of restraining malevolent spirits. Yet, confronting even slightly more formidable specters would prove… problematic.
‘Forget it,’ she thought. ‘I can only pray we don’t encounter any particularly troublesome evil spirits this time. Otherwise… We’re guaranteed to lose!’
Gently, Shion reached back to soothe Shigure, who huddled behind her, while her gaze anxiously swept the surroundings. Drawing upon her Spirit-Suppressing Constitution, she swiftly flung a paper talisman in one direction. In the next instant, the black aura that had begun to coalesce around them dissipated without a trace.
Shion’s preemptive strike, however, seemed only to enrage the gathering spirits. The street, which had been utterly silent moments before, was suddenly pierced by a chorus of jarring shrieks.
Shigure, with her comparatively weak resistance to evil spirits, immediately clapped her hands over her ears, her face contorting in pain.
Though Shion’s heart ached at Shigure’s distress, she found herself utterly devoid of the energy or capacity to tend to her. The evil spirits surrounding them now fully manifested as shadowy black auras, coalescing into the forms of ravenous, wolf-like beasts.
“Stay close to me, Iori-san!”
Before her words fully faded, talisman after silver-white talisman flew from Shion’s hand. Wherever the shimmering paper passed, the aura of the evil spirits vanished as if a candle flame had been snuffed out.
Yet, the surge of evil spirit energy around them intensified relentlessly. Shion gritted her teeth; the recent healing she’d performed on Shigure had already significantly depleted her energy. Without the Spirit Cutter, she could only channel her Spirit-Suppressing Constitution to condense talismans and dispel the malevolent presences. The efficiency of this method, however, was woefully inadequate.
Every time a battle with evil spirits turned against her, Shion found herself desperately wanting to curse this ‘trash’ system. Initially, it had at least offered alerts for the emergence of evil spirits, but now? It didn’t even broadcast those warnings anymore. Surely, this current situation, being besieged by spirits, had reached a level that warranted an alert!
“Ah!” Shigure’s shriek tore through the air from behind her. Shion’s concentration wavered for a fraction of a second as she glanced towards Shigure. The talisman she had been about to hurl forward instantly changed its trajectory, soaring towards the shadowy spirit looming before Shigure.
Shigure, clutching her head with both hands, crouched on the ground, daring only to glimpse the charging evil spirit from the extreme periphery of her vision. But even that fleeting glance was enough to detonate a bomb of terror within her heart.
In the next moment, however, the evil spirit assailing Shigure was obliterated by the white light radiating from Shion’s talisman.
Yet, Shion found herself unable to conjure another talisman within such a short span. The talisman she’d intended to throw forward was still in the process of condensing, forcing Shion to pivot and evade the evil spirit’s assault.
A searing pain lanced through her entire body; a deep gash now marred Shion’s arm.
Moreover, after bypassing Shion, the evil spirits showed no intention of stopping, instead surging towards Shigure.
It was then that Shion realized: these creatures were targeting Shigure directly. Not even Shion’s Spirit-Suppressing Constitution, which typically drew evil spirits to her, could divert their attention.
‘It’s almost as if… this was all a pre-written script!’
“What a joke!” Ignoring her fresh wound, Shion leaped backward, landing beside Shigure, and forcefully activated the power of her Spirit-Suppressing Constitution.
From Shigure’s perspective, Shion essentially transformed her own body into a bomb. A blinding white light erupted from her, incinerating the evil spirits that had been poised to pounce, vanishing them into dust in an instant.
But then, as if her strings had been cut, Shion crumpled to the ground.
“Shion-san!”
Shigure watched, horrified, as the light slowly faded from Shion’s eyes.
The golden-haired girl shook her head, crying out desperately. “No, no, this is just… just a dream, isn’t it? Wake up, please, wake up!”
Trembling, Shigure frantically supported Shion, preventing her from collapsing entirely. The golden-haired girl reached up, slapping her own cheeks and pulling at her hair, desperate to tear herself from this nightmare.
Yet, it was all futile. This was reality, no matter how desperately Shigure wished to deny or reject it. The silver moon had been swallowed by an errant cloud, and Shigure could no longer discern whether the shadow cast by the moonlight was truly her own, or a grotesque entity slowly being gnawed and devoured by evil spirits, transforming piece by piece into a monster.
Shigure clung tightly to Shion, afraid to look at the evil spirits that were steadily converging around them.
Gradually, Shigure felt her body grow heavy. She knew this sensation stemmed from the evil spirits attempting to cling to her. By the dim moonlight and the faint projection of a streetlamp, she witnessed her own shadow slowly twisting, morphing into a monstrous entity.
What would happen next? Shigure had no idea. Black tendrils of aura flowed along her body like water. Wherever the darkness touched, a searing, corrosive pain spread relentlessly. The agony forced choked whimpers from Shigure, but her throat felt torn, preventing even the slightest sound from escaping.
“Take my hand, Iori-san.”
Just then, a faint yet distinct voice whispered beside her ear. It was Shion’s!
“Don’t cry~ I’m here, you’ll be safe.”
Only then did Shigure realize her skirt hem was drenched with tears she hadn’t even noticed falling. Her hand, held by Shion’s, felt like the sole flickering flame in a winter night.
“I may indeed lack the strength to ‘exorcise’ these evil spirits now. But there are other things I can still do.”
Clasping Shigure’s hand, Shion once again unleashed the full power of her Spirit-Suppressing Constitution.
The evil spirit aura clinging to Shigure seemed to be drawn by an unseen force, slowly receding from her body and gathering instead towards Shion.
“If someone must bear the burden of these evil spirits, then I believe I am the most suitable one.”
Though the black aura of the evil spirits had no physical form, it pressed down with the weight of a thousand tons. Shion, kneeling on the ground, found it increasingly difficult even to straighten her back.
In the next moment, the evil spirit’s aura lunged like a venomous serpent, tearing towards Shion’s neck.
Shion closed her eyes.
****
‘Strange,’ she thought. ‘It seems… there’s no pain as I imagined. Only a sensation, as if falling from a great height.’
When Shion opened her eyes again, the surrounding street appeared utterly unfamiliar.
It was still an empty street, but even Shigure was gone.
“It’s so dark. Why are there no lights…?” Instinctively, Shion looked up, wondering if the streetlights were broken.
She froze. This street had no streetlights at all. Furthermore, the surrounding buildings were not modern red brick and white tile, but crude structures built from rough bricks and thatch.
“Where… am I?”