Volume 4 Chapter 15, Part 2 Demon World Outer Realm： Mount Ontake Annihilation IV： Ariadne’s Intent
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”──No way, it’s not a joke, it’s strangely fast and powerful (like a gorilla)…!”
Naoshi felt a chill, thinking it was fortunate that his clothes had torn.
What would have happened if he had been pulled?
”Well, it’s rude to a girl──hey, don’t move!”
The voice and movements were like a girl playfully trying to grapple with her lover.
The clear origin of the action made it easy to dodge, but the threat was no different from being playfully pounced on by a full-sized grizzly bear.
”Geez.”
Certainly, ayakashi were physically superior to humans, but this was just too strange.
That alone couldn’t explain the sense of discomfort.
”Yuzura! Do something while you’re playing with me!”
”I know, even without being told!”
There was no time to check the face of his friend who responded with a scream to the careless demand.
He focused solely on restraining the ayakashi in front of his.
”Hehe──but somehow, it’s starting to get a little fun.”
”Well, it feels like I’m dreaming too.”
(Or rather, a terrible nightmare.)
With a wry smile, Naoshi still laughed.
* * *
”──Accelerating the internal time axis… or stagnation… could it be foresight?”
Kanbe Yuzura walked forward, biting his nails and voicing his thoughts.
He pulled his back foot forward, repeating the motion.
This was a technique called uho, a method of exorcism through walking.
While circling the battlefield, he kept Naoshi and the end sound in his sight, unable to immerse himself in thought considering the possibility of something being thrown with that power.
Having learned all kinds of techniques from ancient times to the present, Yuzura quickly deduced that the power of the tsuchigumo likely originated from the barrier.
”Obstruction of perception… does it include me watching from a distance? If it’s that powerful, why did they leave it alone until my comrades were wiped out…?”
But he couldn’t understand what came next.
If Naoshi’s words were to be believed, breaking the barrier was probably possible.
The important thing was how long it would take for the connection to the barrier to weaken once severed──more than anything, what kind of power was the tsuchigumo currently wielding.
Without understanding that, his attempts could be instantly crushed.
”Hey.”
Kurikoma, back before anyone knew it, raised a voice.
The young oni had a face gruesomely stained with blood, biting her lip as if to hold back irritation.
”Is there anything I can do?”
”I want information──did you notice anything odd nearby?”
”It looks slow, but when I try to strike, it moves faster than me and I can’t hit it.”
”Are tsuchigumo really that strong?”
”I don’t know well, but the only one stronger than me was omae-sama. And that one seems even above omae-sama.”
Kurikoma’s “omae-sama” referred to Naoshi, but it gets a bit complicated using the same pronoun for the second and third person.
”That’s right.”
”So, it’s strange. If it really is faster and stronger than the true omae-sama, I would have died long ago.”
”I agree, that’s the point.”
Those impressions mirrored the discomfort Yuzura felt.
But it wasn’t completely meaningless.
At least if the 3, including Naoshi, feel similarly, it must be true.
That tsuchigumo is purely strong.
And probably it hadn’t always been so, but now being strong is expected for it.
──After all, it’s about the barrier.
”What was the tsuchigumo like in Kyushu ten years ago──I wonder…!”
There are examples in the very recent past.
Tsuchigumo are ayakashi that gather, and when they reveal themselves, they suppress the Spiritual Vein of the mountains to establish a barrier and fortify a foothold.
Their nature doesn’t show as much diversity as oni.
Though different clans may vary, there’s probably some similarity there──
”──Hey, by the way, how were the other tsuchigumo?”
”Other? Not much to say. What you saw, including the young one omae-sama hunted──ah.”
Kurikoma, tilting her head, the oni seemed to notice something as her eyes widened.
This barrier is undoubtedly created by a horde of tsuchigumo suppressing Mitake; it’s impossible for just one ayakashi to do this alone.
Then why does only the end sound show such separated power within their barrier, even if they are Great Youkai?
”I remembered. Yes, that’s what it is…”
That became the thread that pulled the memories back.
A clan of Tsuchigumo that attacked Kyushu, causing great damage.
However, many of those victims were born from the *last remaining* Great Youkai alone.
Perhaps the effect of the barrier is essentially pure enhancement, acting on all the Tsuchigumo within the area for the survival of the swarm.
And that was the crux of it.
By offering something, one gains something in return──this is a very simple and common principle in secret arts.
Following that, while strengthening the entire swarm, when the numbers decrease, that power circulates to ensure survival as compensation.
How many of them have fallen here at Mitake since last night?
It’s highly likely that it exceeds a thousand──now, those powers are being shared among the group engaged in combat with the diversionary unit in the east with the end sound.
It was only natural that she did not break her composure even if her comrades fell.
”This isn’t good, if we don’t hurry, Kaichirou-san and the others will be in danger.”
”Did the seeds split?”
”Yes, thanks to you.”
”So?”
”We can win──though it won’t be easy.”
”Kōkōkō, if I can show them something with this, I will do anything to help.”
The small oni, intent on revenge, grinned with bared teeth.
It was a look very similar to Yuzura’s friend.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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