ch41-ch60 · 064-ch56

Chapter 56 — Shadow Mystery Tale ⑧

The deathmatch against the Shadow-Eating Demon King continued with Sai's group holding the advantage.

Hiyori and the others had been dealing with the countless two-meter-class ones, but thanks to Set-chan they managed to fight with quite a bit of leeway.

Set-chan was a divine spirit, after all — once she figured out how to fight, she just kept mowing down the split bodies one after another.

Hiyori and Mio weren't losing either.

Using everything Sai had taught them, they kept their distance from the Shadow-Eaters and took them down one by one, steady.

Then Sai joined in, and Ginreibo — who'd finished off the ten-meter-class Shadow-Eaters — also converged with them.

"KAKAKAKA! No need to fear the Shadow-Eaters anymore!"

Ginreibo was fired up, finally able to avenge his seniors.

The Shadow-Eaters before them now numbered only about twenty or thirty, surely.

One more push and they could put the king in check against the main body.

But the prolonged deathmatch was taking its toll on Hiyori and Mio's stamina.

"Hiyori, Mio, fall back and recover! You're low on mana!"

"Pii!"

"Sorry! We'll recover for a bit!"

Called out by Sai and Set-chan, Hiyori and Mio fell to the rear, both chugging mana recovery potions.

"Haah, haah..."

"Fuuu..."

The battle against the Shadow-Eaters was also a battle of stamina and concentration.

Keep running so the Shadow-Eaters couldn't get close, and keep firing magic bullets nonstop.

If shadows overlapped, the Shadow-Eaters would close in and injure them instantly.

Attacks from close range were never just grazes.

A single strike was as good as a fatal wound.

So they fought countless enemies while constantly watching the shadows around them.

Another reason for their fatigue: the early Shadow-Eaters only fired magic bullets, but midway through, even the smaller ones started extending shadow arms like the ten-meter class.

Without Hexa Shield and the arrow-deflecting necklace, they might have been finished the moment those shadow arms reached them.

The battle, sustained by constant tension, tried to drain every last bit of their physical and mental strength.

As a result, Hiyori and Mio were hit with fatigue surpassing even the swarm of hungry ghosts they'd fought when they first entered Kakuriyo.

"Fuu... just a little more, right?"

"Yes. Once we take down these small Shadow-Eaters, Sensei will fire his trump card magic at the main body he's sealing."

"Yeah. Just a little more..."

At this moment, it couldn't be denied that Hiyori and the others had let their guard down.

The fact that during the long battle, reliable adults like Sai and Ginreibo had arrived.

That the deathmatch was approaching its climax and their concentration was fraying.

There were plenty of reasons.

But the calamity called the Shadow-Eater had the property of hiding in shadows and moving from shadow to shadow. And once it hid in a shadow, even Sai and Hexaria couldn't pinpoint its location.

Were all the countless Shadow-Eaters truly only the ones right in front of them?

Hiyori and the others had both carelessness and openings.

That couldn't be denied.

But the biggest reason was that the Shadow-Eater was one step ahead.

That was the truth.

The first to notice and shout was Sai.

"GET AWAY FROM THEREEEE!!"

The moment Hiyori and Mio registered Sai's shout and began to move —

A two-meter-class Shadow-Eater appeared behind them.

It had the shape of a wall from Shinjuku Tower.

When had it been there? It had been hiding in a small shadow.

Like a dungeon trap.

Waiting for the perfect moment to devour them both.

Hiyori and Mio tried to dash forward without looking back, guided by their adventurer instincts — but Mio, lacking stamina, was a fraction of a second slower. The difference of a comma.

Hiyori shouted.

"Mio-cha——"

"Pii!"

Sai's magic gun fired in rapid succession.

But in this moment of crisis, that split-second difference became a desperate gap.

Just as the Shadow-Eater lunged at Mio, ready to engulf her —

"Pii——"

"Ah——"

The small divine spirit shoved Mio aside.

Mio was sent flying by the momentum.

All the magic bullets from Sai's magic gun struck the Shadow-Eater, shaving away its outer shell — the mass that had been a Shinjuku Tower wall.

The shadow bulged.

"Set-chan!!"

Shouting, the Princess of Ichijō, Hiyori, drove Shiroharai into the Shadow-Eater's core — its shadow.

With Shiroharai, an exorcist blade wielding purification power, she could damage even Shadow-Eaters.

The Shadow-Eater that had attacked Mio disappeared.

Before Set-chan stood Hiyori and Mio.

"S-Set-chan... this is my fault...!"

"...Pi..."

Set-chan smiled back at Mio.

Her face seemed to say "Don't worry about it."

Soon after, Sai ran over to Hiyori and the others.

"Set-chan is... Kuuh!"

Set-chan, who had shielded Mio, had taken a fatal wound.

Set-chan was a divine spirit, but her connection to her main body was severed. If she died here, that would be the end.

"Th-that's right! Hexaria-san has Soma...!"

Mio, feeling responsible, made the suggestion, but Sai shook his head.

"That stuff's pretty rare... There isn't an endless supply..."

"No way...!"

More importantly, Hexaria was currently sealing the Shadow-Eater's main body. They couldn't afford to disturb her.

Meanwhile, Ginreibo, fighting alone on the front line, shouted.

"Sai-donoooo...!"

"Tch! Sorry! I'm going to support Ginreibo!"

The two-meter-class were numerous enough that even Ginreibo alone found them burdensome.

With that, Sai dashed toward Ginreibo.

Hiyori held Set-chan and called out to her.

Their conversation went like this —

"Set-chan! No! You can't die yet...!"

I'm sorry, Hiyori. I think this is it for me... So...

Hiyori clenched her teeth, holding back tears, trying to reassure her.

"Ah... Don't worry! We'll finish off all the rest!"

Hehe, you're really amazing, Hiyori. Facing something so scary...

"Cause I'm an exorcist! Sensei and everyone are here too...!"

She knew she was bluffing.

Sai — Sensei — was tired too, even if he didn't say it.

But she also knew they were close to winning.

I'm sorry. I don't have any strength left...

"Set-chan...! Don't go!"

Hehe. You're such a good kid. I'm a divine spirit, and here I am making you worry. Ah... It's frustrating that I can't do anything for the children who try so hard...

Saying that, Set-chan pointed at the katana.

Bring that sword closer to me...

Hiyori did as she was told, holding the katana out.

Beloved child of man. I grant you the power to repel calamity...

The moment she said that, the divine spirit's form disappeared into the katana.

"Set-chan!?"

Don't worry, Hiyori. I'm here now... This way, I can fight with you.

Hiyori understood. Her beloved katana, Shiroharai, had become her vessel.

Shiroharai had become the medium to keep the divine spirit alive.

Then there was only one thing Hiyori could say to the spirit who had become her friend.

"Got it...! Me and you — let's take 'em down together!"

Hehe, all that "Set-chan, Set-chan"... I couldn't speak well at first either, since I was injured, so I guess it can't be helped... Hiyori. My name is——

◇

The battle against the Shadow-Eater's split bodies grew even fiercer by the moment.

Perhaps it had realized it was in trouble.

Its movements became more violent, and the two-meter-class further split into one-meter-class, increasing their numbers and attacks.

"Tch! It didn't do this last time...!"

Sai complained as he kept firing his magic gun.

The bullets he'd brought in abundance — expecting a battle against the Shadow-Eater — were running low.

But he had to conserve as much mana as possible for the magic attack on the main body that would follow.

The amount Sai could recover with mana recovery potions was limited.

It was the same as energy drinks. Drink too much and the effect diminishes.

"Sai-don! They're splitting further...!"

"Shit!!"

The one-meter-class tried to split further into fifty-centimeter sizes.

Whether it was because they'd efficiently destroyed the outer demon shells and struck at the now-shadow-only bodies, or because eating even a little of Shinjuku Tower's shadow had done this — the Shadow-Eater king had learned to turn the tables, deliberately creating split bodies to prolong its life while increasing its attack power.

Had the formless abomination gained a sliver of intelligence?

When they'd fought the Shadow-Eater king in the other world, it hadn't done anything like this.

As Sai and Ginreibo gritted their teeth and continued their deathmatch, they heard a voice.

"Sensei, Ginreibo, get away from there!"

Standing a little way off was Hiyori.

In her hand was her beloved katana, Shiroharai.

Legend had it the blade was forged in the Edo period as an exorcist sword.

And now, that Shiroharai was glowing white.

Sai felt the overwhelming divine aura emanating from the katana.

"Ginreibo, get back!"

"Y-yessir!!"

Ginreibo, also stunned by the aura, hurriedly moved away.

It was a torrent of "divinity" that even a Majin like himself felt he might vanish from just by touching it.

"UAAAAAAAAAAH!"

From Hiyori's fighting spirit, even more holy aura overflowed from Shiroharai.

"Divine Authority Draw! Great Purification Heavenly Stream!!"

The torrent of light became a powerful, great current, literally swallowing all the Shadow-Eaters before them. Not just the demon masses — the light of purification consumed even the shadows themselves!

The spirit called Set-chan — she was a divine spirit created as an avatar.

The true name of the great deity who created this avatar was Seoritsuhime.

She is Haraedo no Okami, possessing the authority to wash away all misfortune and impurity with water.

She is also said to be the wild spirit of Amaterasu Omikami.

Set-chan, cut off from the original Seoritsuhime with her connection severed, and having not fully recovered even with Soma, hadn't been able to use much power. But by making Shiroharai her vessel, she connected with Hiyori's exorcist power, and here, she had greatly elevated her divinity.

Furthermore, the Shadow-Eater's great mistake was that its repeated splitting to become smaller now backfired spectacularly.

The torrent of purification consumed the Shadow-Eater's outer shells and, with that momentum, swallowed even their shadows.

A single strike. But with an overwhelmingly powerful strike, it annihilated them completely.

It was the moment all of the Shadow-Eater king's split bodies vanished.

Having poured everything out, Hiyori collapsed.

Mio, at her side, caught her.

"Hiyori!"

Sai witnessed the scene, but he couldn't go to Hiyori now.

There was something Sai had to do.

He had to take the baton Hiyori had passed to him.

"Ginreibo! Leave them to you!"

"L-leave it to me!"

Though awestruck by the great current of purification Hiyori had unleashed, Ginreibo snapped back at Sai's words and headed toward Hiyori.

All that remained was to defeat the Shadow-Eater king's main body.

The end was near.

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Thank you for reading.