Chapter 907 - 25: Fox Witch
From the moment we entered this core space, the battle was already on the brink of erupting.
Although it was just one-sided.
And from Yatsugaya Miko’s perspective, this sudden onset of battle was truly perilous, starting with no warning at all, it just broke out directly...
She couldn’t clearly see what was lurking in and occupying this dark, lightless domain, nor what kind of attack was shaking the entire space, causing such a disorder as if the world were collapsing. It wasn’t because her eyesight was lacking, but her emotions were too panicked—
Under such circumstances, she could only crouch and defend her head, or dodge with difficulty, stumbling as she tried to escape.
After all, amidst the commotion reminiscent of an earth-shattering earthquake, ordinary people would think the entire world was wailing. Faced with such a major disaster, how could one stupidly stand there, carefully observing?
Instinct drove the girl to panic-stricken evasion, thus, she saw this chaotic scene, but she couldn’t see clearly... In fact, this was exactly what someone desired, because Miko’s eyes were too unusual, if she had time to scrutinize carefully, she might catch some flaws.
—So, let her think she saw something, but not look too closely.
Anyway, that’s how it was, requiring careful micro-control...
As for the area boss on the other side, it was completely unaware of this, just as it didn’t know it had just been created as a "prop," at this moment, it responded in the most correct way, according to pre-set memory and thinking logic.
—Rage!
—Madness!
—Hysteria!!
It only knew it had been entrenched here, undergoing transformation, striving to break into a higher level forbidden domain, yet at the last moment, someone broke in. Faced with this situation, it launched a counterattack, trying to buy a little time, just a little more time and it could succeed!
Or rather, implanted memories, ideas, and character traits all made it believe it was destined to succeed.
The only prerequisite was still a bit of time, after such a long time, it had undergone 99.99% of the transformation process, only needing the final sliver to complete the progress bar...
However, there was no chance left.
The girl’s instinctual slap unleashed an incredible spiritual power even she couldn’t believe, and "coincidentally" shattered the space core’s "egg," completely interrupting this transformation process...
Just a bit more! Just a bit more!
It was almost driven insane, such an immense psychological gap, how could it accept it? Even a person couldn’t withstand such a blow, let alone a brutal and fierce high-level evil spirit; provoked like this, it naturally went completely berserk!
"Kill you...kill you..."
Raspy, unpleasant sounds reverberated through the entire space, as if the unmasked rage and madness within the will caused the domain to boil over.
And after the "egg" was broken, the bizarre evil spirit finally emerged, like a massive lump of rotting flesh, constantly squirming, with a bloated body, countless tentacles, and many human arms or legs pieced together, one by one distorted heads of men and women, young and old, surfaced...
Its strangeness and disgusting nature were indescribable, like an amalgam of myriad evil spirits, as peculiar as could be.
In fact, this was indeed a fusion of countless evil spirits, someone casually consolidated all the evil spirits inside the cursed building into one mass, forcibly crafting such a "Master of Souls" type monster, while implanting new memories and settings.
Anyway, it was a cameo character brought in for a role, and being defeated was its destined fate.
The evil spirits of the entire building were to be cleansed anyway, so letting them play some residual heat before that was naturally a better outcome.
It’s just that while he calculated everything precisely, Yatsugaya Miko’s face went completely pale, it was her first time seeing such a sanity-draining, grotesque presence, like a living body stitched together from separate individuals’ limbs and flesh, a forcibly twisted and fused composite monster.
"..."
"..."
Staring blankly as the monster hatched from the "egg," the girl only felt an entire chill, with hands and feet turning cold.
"Don’t just stand there in a daze again, didn’t you perform well just now?" a somewhat casual voice rang in her ear, surrounding her as if from beside, yet echoing from the far horizon.
"I...I..."
Miko looked around dazedly, discovering someone standing nearby the whole time, calmly gazing in her direction, and suddenly felt reassured... The confidence naturally inherent in the other party infected her, making her feel as if she had taken a calming pill.
The black long-haired girl instinctively looked at her own palm, recalling the strike she had just delivered.
It seemed there was still some burning sensation lingering in the center.
She finally recalled the conversation in the café, the last words, she had been in a hurry to find her brother at that time, so she agreed without much thought, not having a clear concept... Now remembering, she seemed to have agreed to the Witch’s hiring.
According to the other party’s statement, this seemed to be an employment examination period?
Wait, could this be why, this person was watching from the sideline the whole time?!
......
...
The huge tremor continued to arrive unchecked.
The angry roar echoed through the darkness.
The fluctuations of the spiritual pressure were changing violently, clearly indicating the situation unfolding ahead. Kenshan Yellow Springs felt a bit uncertain and suspicious—could it be that aside from herself, other demon exorcists had arrived here just in time and were fighting fearlessly?!
"Hey! Kid! Didn’t you say no one came in here?"
She glanced at the trembling elementary school student beside her. This was someone she and Togami Kagura accidentally rescued, after rushing in and groping around, an innocent person caught up in the mess.
Although she didn’t know why such a young student was here at this time, after confirming that he was indeed an innocent bystander accidentally dragged into this, the two of them could only bring him along, conveniently asking him some questions.
"Before me, there really wasn’t anyone who came in here..."
With a mournful expression, Yotsuya Kousuke was trying hard to calm himself down, but he still felt overwhelmingly frightened in this eerie otherworldly domain. Despite how matured his mind might be, there was ultimately a limit, and he still couldn’t surpass the fact that he was just an elementary school student.
"I- I’m here to find my sister... I originally thought she came in here, but after searching everywhere, I couldn’t find her, and when I wanted to leave, I got lost myself..."
He had no idea what was happening, only that while frantically searching in the eerie dark building, he couldn’t find anyone. Whether it was disappointment or relief, once he calmed down, he was suddenly terrified to discover the surroundings had changed.
Fortunately, nothing happened, and the schoolboy was soon found by the two women who had entered here, Kenshan Yellow Springs and Togami Kagura.
—Or perhaps it should be said, this was always meant to happen.
"Your sister?"
Kenshan Yellow Springs raised an eyebrow, feeling the commotion ahead and knowing they were about to reach the battle site. Instinctively, she asked, "Is your sister also a demon exorcist? Did she come here directly to perform exorcism after discovering the problem?"
"No way..."
Yotsuya Kousuke shook his head vigorously, that was totally not the case.
"We’re here!"
Togami Kagura said, her small face growing tense, and she took a deep breath.
The evil spirit’s lair ahead was opening its doors to them, an intricate maze-like world. The dark twisted fog shrouded the domain, making everything abstract, but faintly, the ground seemed like a kind of biological matting, sending a bad chill up one’s spine.
Such a scene could easily make one worry if they had fallen into the body of some giant beast.
"Stay close, kid..."
Kenshan Yellow Springs also mustered her courage. She most feared such situations, already uncertain of herself and yet having to protect ordinary citizens caught in the incident. What kind of joke was this...it made her even more unsure!
But she couldn’t just abandon them. No matter how much of a headache it was, she still had to bring them along; otherwise, leaving ordinary people alone in such a demon cave was practically sentencing them to death.
"Uh-huh..."
Yotsuya Kousuke nodded vigorously, gritting his teeth tightly, his palms sweating from nerves.
He still couldn’t fathom how everything had turned into such a fantastical situation. He had initially prepared to topple a scum and save his sister from misery, but had instead gotten swept up into such a state... his little brain just couldn’t wrap around it, though he understood it was likely they were about to face very dangerous circumstances.
"Roar Wave!"
She commanded the massive spirit beast, releasing a powerful spiritual power impact, forcibly tearing through the almost tangible dark seal ahead. Kenshan Yellow Springs led the charge within.
In the dimension where light and dark intertwined.
Countless fragments suspended in mid-air, resembling a collapsed aerial palace; numerous ruins and debris were still visible. Originally, it was an odd domain encircled by murals depicting the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons and evil spirits, but this space was now on the brink of collapse.
A raging storm was sweeping through, with wind speeds surpassing a hundred meters per second.
Yet, facing this roaring tempest, a girl at the center was radiating dazzling light, like she had burst into flames. Her long hair fluttered wildly without wind, her lips tightly pressed. She held her arms outstretched, surrounded by numerous luminous runes.
Light seeped out from within her, illuminating and piercing through the fierce storm born of malignant fluctuations, resisting this collapsing domain...
Like a ceaseless sun, even from such a distance, what warmth that emanated could be felt by those nearby.
"Sis... Sister..."
Yotsuya Kousuke, in disbelief, widened his eyes and blurted out, astonished.
Was she really here for exorcism? Did he misunderstand her?! The elementary school student’s mind was in chaos, unable to fully accept what he was seeing.
Stubborn evil spirits, however, were going mad, repeatedly reassembling their bodies, like glueing clay together, forcefully pulling their domain from fragmentation to cohesion, simultaneously reforming that grotesque huge body in the storm, wielding countless arms and tentacles.
While the glowing black-haired girl opposite took a deep breath, accompanied by blazing flames...
A gigantic nine-tailed shadow loomed faintly behind her.
"Tamamo no Mae?!"
Kenshan Yellow Springs’ eyes paused, unintentionally exclaimed, as stormy waves surged within her heart.
"Did she... did she really possess the power of the Killing Stone!"