Volume 2
Chapter 4 Part
1
Days Go By,
Conspiring to Sleep 1
Translator : PolterGlast
The crescent moon was
overlooking the midnight sky. An unusual commotion was raging at the foot of
the mountains in the northern part of Kamotsu.
Along with the sound
of crackling firewood, smoke from the torches that contained the miasma swept
through the mountains, purifying the miasma that persisted in the air.
―Ho, ho, ho~u, ho~u, ho~u!!
The monkey's ferocious
howl resounded through the miasma-rotting night air.
It was a foul, beastly
voice that would have taken away anyone's will to live if they were incapable
of resisting it.
But those who were
present here were not those who were incapable of resisting.
The feet of many men
treading on the fallen leaves that covered the mountain path, breathing heavily
as they walked upward.
Their expressions
showed no signs of fear, only excitement at the thrill of being able to hunt
defiled beasts.
A blue signal flare
was fired from the direction of the foothills in the distance.
It was the signal to
start the hunt.
"Ring the fire
bell!"
―*Claaaang*.......
With Minematsu
Yoshikata's voice, which was the leader of the Kamotsu garrison, the fire bell
was repeatedly rung to repel the beasts.
―Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho~!?
The smoke, carrying a
purifying effect, scattered deep into the mountains, blocking any escape
routes.
Betting on the
possibility of survival in the few remaining gaps between the smoke, a group of
monkeys, driven by the fire bells, rushed forward as if competing to be the
first to escape.
From far and near, the
shivers of frantic monkeys shook the mountains.
The skin-crawling
miasma and the frenzied tumult loomed over the plains that stretched out in a
corner at the mountain's foot, seemingly ready to crush the plains.
And dozens of gazes,
anticipating the madness that would soon overflow, looked down at the
still-quiet plain from a small hill from which a panoramic view could be seen.
"......Looks like
they've succeeded in driving them down."
"Yeah. As Saki
had requested, the Shōjō*1
was leading the way."
*1 Shōjō is one of the yokai in Japanese
folklore that can be found around beaches or shallow waters throughout Japan.
He has a habit of consuming large quantities of alcoholic beverages
"Much
appreciated. With this, Akira-kun can finish them off."
Hearing Rindo Saki's
mutterings, Kuga Ryota, who was standing beside her, shrugged his shoulders.
"Of course, you
should be thankful. It's not easy to fish those monkeys out."
"Yes. I am
thinking of making it up to you through the Rindo family.
―Akira-kun, are you ready?"
As time was running
out, she kept her conversation with Ryota short and shifted her attention to
Akira, who was standing behind her.
Fully understanding
her intention, Akira only returned a nod with a stiff expression on his face.
As though responding
to his fighting spirit, the Rakuyō Zakuro
strapped to his waist was snipped out of its koiguchi.
"Hmhm, you'll be
fine. We'll crush most of the monkeys, so Akira-kun should just focus on the Shōjō and its entourage, as we planned
in advance."
Saki noticed Akira's
nervousness and smiled softly.
Her smile, which Ryota
has no recollection of ever having been directed at him before, brought a
twinge of jealousy to his face.
But he was at least
aware that he was not in a situation to be influenced by such emotions. He
stopped his irritation with a single click of his tongue and focused his
attention on the plain he was observing.
A wave of
reddish-black pulsating miasma made the trees surrounding the plains rustle,
announcing the approach of a large group of defiled beasts.
One, two-. Counting
the ebbing and flowing tides of the miasma, and seeing the time was right,
Ryota began to run down the hill.
"I'll go
first!"
"Please don't use
any ranged moves! Especially don't get the Shōjō
involved!"
―What's the matter with you, Saki? You're only paying
attention to that damn outsider!!
Saki's words to Ryota
as he was about to go into battle were not out of concern for Ryota's safety,
but out of concern for Akira's interests first and foremost, which made him
feel an indescribable sense of envy.
With an emotion that
cannot be suppressed, he held his own spirit vessel at his side in order to
gain the upper hand.
Tsukinomiya-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden――
"―Enreki!"
His spiritual power
gushing out in response to his violent emotions.
Red-nosed monkeys came
out of the bushes, and a distorting blade rushed toward them with a force that
seemed to devour and tear them apart.
―Ho, ho, ho~u, ho~oooo~!
The head of the
leading monkey was torn off halfway through, as though eaten by invisible
fangs.
Ryota leaped into its
place, replacing the collapsing monkey.
Perhaps thinking that
it would be easy to break past him, several monkeys, without changing course
and without any preparation, bare their fangs and close in on him.
Seeing such a scene
presented in front of him, the corners of Ryota's mouth twisted in contempt as
he looked for a place to vent his frustration,
―The blade of the spirit vessel that he drew out,
halfway from the tip of the blade, was enveloped in flames.
A medium-scale spirit
technique that casts blazing flames straight ahead of him,
Tsukinomiya-style
Spirit Technique, Chuden――
"―Kadan
Otoshi~!!"
A mass of flames
cleaved the monkey in the center in two, and the bursting cluster of fire
engulfed and scorched the remaining several monkeys.
"Kuga! You
ignored my instructions again!!"
Saki gnashed her teeth
upon seeing this outrageous act that could ruin all the hard work she had put
in to lure the herd of monkeys to this place.
Although it was a
medium-scale attack, it was probably no coincidence that Ryota used this spirit
technique that belonged to the fire element, which can easily spread out and
wreak havoc.
It is precisely
because of this habit of acting on his own initiative that Saki is unable to
put her trust in Ryota.
Tsukinomiya-school is
the origin of all the existing schools.
This means the fact
that the foundation of all spirit techniques exists in Tsukinomiya-school.
This is the origin of
the power of the earth element spirits, and Tsukinomiya-school can emulate the
spirit techniques of the other five elements to a certain extent.
"―I'll go ahead
and stop him."
Seeing this, Nonoka
sharply spoke so and ran down the hill before anyone had a chance to stop her.
"A~a, ......,
Gosh!!
―I'll go as well! Akira-kun, you must begin to act
after the Shōjōs show itself!"
"Yes!!"
Nonoka sprinted toward
Ryota at a speed so fast that she seemed to be flying in mid-air.
She raised her
84-centimeter tachi, her spirit vessel, and instantly channeled her spiritual
power.
This is the very
essence of Hariin-style, which drastically increases the reinforcement
multiplier of [Aragamioroshi].
Hariin-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden―
"―Unari
Nekoyanagi!!"
Compared to other
styles, Hariin-style lacks the variety of ranged spirit techniques to defeat
enemies at a distance.
However,
Hariin-style's skill in strengthening one's body and spirit techniques that
allow one to extend the range of one's attack are far superior to those of
other styles.
She leaped high above
Ryota's head, using her enhanced physical abilities to her advantage.
For most living
beings, the area above their heads is basically a blind spot.
Being attacked from
the air is not something to consider as an option.
It doesn't make any
difference whether it is humans or defiled beasts.
Aiming for that moment
when no one was paying attention to her, Nonoka quickly drew out her spiritual
power from the high-ranked spirit that resided inside of her.
The spiritual power
was poured into the spirit vessel silently but powerfully.
Hariin-style
Spirit Technique, Finisher Move―
"―Shimotsuke
Hazumi!!"
Nonoka slammed her
tachi onto the ground as she landed right in front of Ryota.
The girl's kimono
fluttered in the air with the light green spiritual power surging through the
air and spreading in waves around her.
The rippling spirit
light extinguished Ryota's spreading flames while binding the monkeys'
movements like the roots of thriving plants and flowers.
Earth element spirit
techniques can imitate the spirit techniques of other elements, but they are
still based on the foundation of the earth element's spirit power.
Wood over earth.
Dogyou would be the only school capable of bringing this earth's elemental
techniques to its knees. This is the Hariin-school, and the main reason why
Nonoka married to Ryota.
"―Ryota-san, it's
fine if you want to keep the monkeys at bay.
But are you trying to
let the garrison's efforts go to waste?"
"......B-But,
Nonoka-" "Ryota-san."
The rebuttal Ryota
attempted to raise was crushed by Nonono's unchanging smile.
After being rendered
speechless and unable to form a sentence in his mouth, he clicked his tongue
and turned his back on Nonoka.
Having restrained
Ryota's actions, Nonoka exhaled heavily, thankful that he had not shown any
strange rebuttal during the battle.
At that moment,
The effect of Nonoka's
Shimotsuke Hazumi was gone, and several monkeys, having regained their freedom,
rushed toward Nonoka, brandishing their ferocious claws.
"―Mozunuki!!"
A flame lance,
unleashed with a fierce, blazing aura, skewered and penetrated their flanks.
Saki, who had
transformed herself into a spear of fire and thrust her spirit vessel toward
the herd of monkeys, took a step deeper into a monkey's abdomen while
maintaining her posture of rushing forward.
Deep in her heart, Ezuka
Ehime let out a high-pitched cry of laughter.
The enormous amount of
spiritual power, driven by the joyful voice of the spirit that resided in her,
dyed Saki's naginata violet.
Kihoin-style
Spirit Technique, Consecutive Technique―
"―Futatsu
Koma!!"
The tip of the
naginata, which was filled with Saki's fighting spirit, sprang up, and as if
dancing, the tip of the flame spear drew two circular trajectories like a
spinning top.
The tip of the
naginata, which was ablaze with fire, scorched the upper half of the monkey's
body, and the impact crushed another monkey's internal organs,
The momentum did not
stop there, and with a great twist of her body, she extended the burning tip of
her spear toward the monkey further in the back.
―Ho, ho~u, ho~oo!!
The naginata cleaved
one of the monkey's arms along with its flank, which caused it to cry out in
pain,
―and she stopped there.
Originally, [Futatsu
Koma] was a spirit technique to deal with two targets at the same time.
It is not something
that can maintain its full power after hitting the third one.
The monkey, perhaps
not losing its will to fight even as it spilled its innards and miasma, bared
its fangs and grabbed the naginata.
"―A mere defiled
beast thinks it can corrupt my spirit vessel?"
The corner of the
girl's eyes, which were shining with violet-colored spirit light, were
distorted with anger as she twirled her naginata and poured more spiritual
power into it.
Kihoin-style Spirit
Technique, Consecutive Technique―
"―Hachikanse!!"
―Do~un~!!
The sound and shock of
the explosion traveled through the naginata and shook both of Saki's arms, and
the explosion generated by the tip of the spear tore through the monkey's
abdomen.
"Fu~u~uuuh."
Seeing that the
monkeys around her had become restrained, Saki let out a deep exhale.
"Well done,
Saki-sama."
"Thanks, how's
Kuga-kun?"
"―No problem. If
he loses patience once again, I'll restrain him."
Nonoka glanced at
Ryota, who was hunting on the other side of the field.
He was still in the
same state of mind, using his sword and spirit techniques to crush the monkeys,
perhaps the previous warning was still bearing down on him.
Hearing Nanoka's words
of assurance, which were trustworthy, Saki relaxed her shoulders.
"Nonoka-san,
let's concentrate on sweeping the monkeys down. Don't let a single one escape.
If we let even one of the female monkeys escape, we'll be in deep trouble
later."
"Yes, I am well
aware."
Nonoka responded to
Saki's concern with an affirmation without hesitation.
―At that moment,
Beyond the darkness,
the trees were rustling violently as the winds of miasma withered their life.
The green leaves,
caught in the swaying miasma, decayed rapidly and scattered in the night as if
to provoke Saki and the others.
―Shi, shi, shi!
A distinctive,
taunting cry, as if to announce that it was here, raged through the trees, and
its figure gradually emerged from the darkness.
―Shi, shi, ...... Hateful! Fragile!
About 180 cm tall.
However, white, tough
body hair covered its outer skin, and the dense miasma further protected its
surroundings.
It resembled a human
more than a monkey in appearance. So similar that if anyone were to encounter
it waving beyond the twilight, they might mistake it for an acquaintance.
It is the one who
rules over the defiled monkeys that lurk in the depths of the forest.
It is the white-haired
great ape demon, Shōjō.
"―Not good, just
how many it has devoured."
"Yes."
Despite the fact that
they were able to lure out their intended target, a bitter expression appeared
on Saki's face.
Shōjō is very cowardly and
cunning by nature.
First of all, they do
not act alone. Shōjō never grouped up
among themselves, but when they found a group of monkeys, they were known to
replace their leader and take over the herd.
As a singular entity,
the threat is not that great.
However, Shōjō's threat lies in its intelligence,
its sustenance.
They feed on the
brains of humans who wander into the mountains and take over their wisdom.
In other words, the
threat level increases with the number of humans it feeds on.
A demon that corrupts
a herd of monkeys into defiled beasts with its dense miasma and reigns as their
king.
The false king of the
monkeys. That is the Shōjō.
"...... What
shall we do? We could weaken him and then leave it to Akira-san."
The Shōjō in front of them was speaking some
human language.
This meant that it had
devoured humans to the extent that it could understand human language.
―In other words, that's how much of a threat it is.
Still, Saki shook her
head at Nonoka's suggestion.
Just being able to
lure out a Shōjō would be a great
accomplishment. There was nothing more they could ask for.
Besides, this is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The stronger the enemy, the more troublesome it
is, but in turn, the greater the opportunity.
And it could also be
said that it is the best opponent to put the finishing touches on the battle
they are in.
"No. No need.
―Besides, he's already here."
As Saki muttered these
words, a gust of wind blew past her back.
Vermillion gold divine
energy danced in the night sky, and a single flash of flame tore through the
void.
It was the spirit
technique of the Kihoin-school,
Kihoin-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden―
"―Hibaridzuki!!"
Rushing across the land
like a hurricane.
Akira, carrying Rakuyō Zakuro, without hesitation,
slammed the spear-like flame into the flanks of the Shōjō.
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