Chapter 96

Ririko only felt a blur before her eyes, and Uesugi Toru's back had already reached the rear of that drifting living being.

This speed, it was more than double what it was that day when he fought alongside her!

She asked herself honestly that she might be able to see clearly how Uesugi Toru struck, but she absolutely could not block this slash.

The gap, it had actually grown even wider.

A trace of small frustration rose unbidden in the girl's heart: "Just what did he eat growing up, Hextech's Nine Dragons Protective Body?"

There was no sign of any breathing technique circulating on the rooftop, because Uesugi Toru had been suppressing his own breathing ever since he stepped out of the Iron Cabinet.

Scalding internal qi churned in his body, burning pain transmitting from his whole body.

But Uesugi Toru, after learning the Nikan Art, had not a shred of trembling in his hand; he quietly gripped the sword hilt of Kaga Kiyomitsu that appeared in his hand.

Draw.

In silence, hearing the startling thunder!

Snow-bright blade light suddenly appeared in the dark night, as if cutting through layered dark clouds, letting Ririko glimpse the moonlight falling from the sky.

She paused her footsteps for an instant, involuntarily murmuring: "So beautiful..."

Even though Ririko could already easily and proficiently use such an art, she could never slash out such a clean, neat slash no matter what.

This is the beauty of pure power.

But she soon came back to her senses, looked at the other living being in the distance, and lightly exhaled a breath upon discovering it hadn't been startled by the commotion here.

On the other side, Uesugi Toru looked at the prompt that popped up before him and frowned deeply.

【You killed a One-Star Demon "Living Being", gained 182 Soul Ash!】

First, it was quite a bit more Soul Ash than an ordinary One-Star Demon, even a One-Star Half Demon; although this was a bit rare, it was undoubtedly a good thing.

【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu·Imitation to slay "Living Being", Kaga Kiyomitsu·Imitation's quality slightly increased.】

Kaga Kiyomitsu's quality could increase a little from slaying this ordinary minor demon; although the reason was temporarily unclear, it was also a good thing.

【You gained, Soul Ash Conversion Box (Special Prop)!】

But the key is this.

Uesugi Toru took out the so-called Soul Ash Conversion Box, examining it carefully.

This was a palm-sized small black box, its surface covered in pale gold art patterns circulating spirit power that Uesugi Toru couldn't understand, yet could still feel.

He lightly opened it, but the box's interior was empty.

The next moment, an item prompt popped up.

【Soul Ash Conversion Box (Special Prop)】

【Effect: Can actively absorb stranger souls, gradually converting them into low-quality Soul Ash.】

【——Assembly line product, one of ten thousand conversion boxes.】

Uesugi Toru fell into silence; he understood why the Soul Ash dropped from the Living Being was a whole chunk more than other same-star demons.

Because on its body, it obviously still carried those parts of stranger souls not yet converted into Soul Ash by this small box — this is the reason the residents here felt weak during this period.

Very obviously, the Living Being was just a cover.

A cover using "collective weakness caused by common Living Being feeding" to conceal "someone using Soul Ash Conversion Box to mass-collect stranger souls and convert them into Soul Ash".

Being possessed by a not-so-harmful Living Being, one would only have it eat a bit of dregs naturally shed from the soul, at most weak for a week or two and then recover.

But this?

What happens when a person's soul lacks a corner, Uesugi Toru does not know.

But he knows, it absolutely won't be anything good.

——I'm afraid the collective weakness of this apartment building's residents now is just one of the omens after soul deficiency; perhaps in a few days more serious conditions will follow one after another.

The worst case is that in a few days, or a few weeks, all residents of this apartment building will die bizarre deaths.

This is no longer an ordinary spiritual event; heavy measures must be taken!

"Uesugi-kun, what is this?"

Ririko, just preparing to report the other Living Being's location, saw the strangely styled Soul Ash Conversion Box and asked strangely.

"An ominous thing."

No time to explain too much, Uesugi Toru first opened the radio communication and asked: "Shizuka-san, still alive?"

Zizi, the radio connected after two bursts of static.

Shizuka Mami: "Something happened on your end?"

Uesugi Toru said in a deep voice: "Counts as it. We'll rush back as fast as possible. During this period, Shizuka-san, you be vigilant with survival as top priority choice, don't die."

"Okay."

The sound of a bread van starting transmitted from the other end of the radio, then it was hung up.

Ririko stared at the other Living Being startled by the bread van's starting sound, still a bit dazed: "The other Living Being is ignored?"

"Perhaps there's a more powerful demon manipulating them in the dark; we must first ensure a safe return." Uesugi Toru spread his hands, "Get on."

"Eh?"

Ririko was still blinking when Uesugi Toru scooped her up in one grab, then leaped down from the sixth floor.

Intense weightlessness wrapped around Ririko; her body stiffened slightly, she almost thought she would just fall to her death like this.

Pat.

Uesugi Toru landed nimbly, placing the still-shaken Ririko on the ground: "Let's go."

"Ah? Oh, okay."

Ririko, who understood everything in two seconds, nodded, heart pounding violently yet expressionless as she followed behind Uesugi Toru.

The two hurried toward the parking lot,

But halfway there, Uesugi Toru suddenly felt a faint light repeatedly shining into his eyes.

He gripped the sword hilt and raised his head to look, discovering the source of the light was actually a small flashlight poking out from the apartment building.

And the person holding it was a face Uesugi Toru had a slight impression of.

——Hattori Ayako. Earlier, when Uesugi Toru was unlocking Kisaragi Station, he had saved her life in the guise of Prajna.

He hadn't expected to run into her again at such a strange time.

"She deliberately turned the flashlight on and off, rather than using shouts to draw our attention."

While striding over, Uesugi Toru's thoughts rapidly circulated, "Meaning Hattori Ayako also knows of the existence of living beings, and in this incident she may know even more than we do."

Going up to question her would delay two minutes at most; if brief, it could be settled in one minute.

Even if there was the slightest possibility Hattori Ayako was the mastermind, Uesugi Toru still had the hidden trump card of transforming into Prajna, which the other party absolutely could not anticipate.

Thinking to this point, he took out the radio: "Madam Shizuka, wait for us two more minutes."

Without waiting for Shizuka Mami to answer, he hung up the radio, then said to Shizuku: "Follow me up."

Pat pat pat.

In less than half a minute, the two of them arrived at the apartment door where Hattori Ayako lived.

The door was ajar, and at the hinge a wet tissue was deliberately stuffed to prevent loud sounds from opening and closing the door.

It was very obvious Hattori Ayako knew it was best not to make noise.

Uesugi Toru vigilantly stepped into the door, ready at any moment to transform into Prajna and use Ju Ci, and then saw Hattori Ayako looking at them with surprise and delight.

She was about to speak: "You two……"

"Long story short, time is precious right now."

Uesugi Toru interrupted her: "Say whatever you know."

Hattori Ayako nodded heavily, frowned and pondered for several seconds, cutting the original at-least-ten-minutes-long discourse clean sweep.

Her speech speed was extremely fast: "The yokai wandering nearby are 'living beings', two in total, one emitting a rotten stench, one emitting a charred smell."

"Before today, only one living being would appear regularly each day, but today two appeared."

She summarized her final deduction: "Therefore, I suspect someone is directing the living beings behind the scenes to do something, and now it seems it may be too late……"

——Before the First Wave arrives, use the Soul Ash Conversion Box to collect a large enough amount of Soul Ash.

A large amount of Soul Ash.

A trace of eagerness surfaced in Uesugi Toru's heart, then he thought——

This generous line of thinking should not be wrong.

And now he himself had cut down one living being, equivalent to cutting off half the other party's Soul Ash source; could the mastermind just watch, not afraid the other one would also be killed or this news would spread?

Impossible.

The reason the mastermind still hasn't come looking for them until now can only be one——

Uesugi Toru thought thus, and immediately turned on the radio: "Madam Shizuka, you go first……"

Bang!

His words weren't finished when a gunshot from afar pierced the silent night sky.

Immediately followed by a string of gunshots.

Shizuku turned her head: "Mami Knot's side——"

"Go!"

No time for more words, Uesugi Toru scooped up Shizuku and once again jumped down from the wide-open window of Hattori Ayako's home.

Watching this scene, Hattori Ayako blanked for a moment, hurriedly ran to the window, and upon seeing the two who had just jumped out the window to the ground below actually running swift as arrows, only felt her worldview overturned once again.

She murmured: "Makiya-kun wasn't wrong, so there really are superhumans different from us in this world……"

……

On the way rushing over, Uesugi Toru heard another magazine's worth of eight bullets' gunshots.

But apart from that, no other sounds came, not even the sound of the bread van's engine starting could be heard.

Uesugi Toru had already anticipated the worst situation.

But fortunately, when they arrived, they happened to see Shizuka Mami clutching her abdomen, breathing with difficulty under the dim street lamp.

Around her body was a layer of glittering golden light shield protecting her.

But before the two could breathe a sigh of relief, Shizuka Mami's roar came: "Watch out——"

Faster than her voice were three cold lights attacking Shizuku from the darkness.

Shizuku happened to be standing behind Uesugi Toru, so he simply couldn't draw his sword in time; if he wanted to save her he could only push her away and take the hit himself.

A hoarse strange voice rejoiced: "Got one first."

That instant, Uesugi Toru realized, so he anxiously turned around.

But Shizuku had already, before him, drawn the tachi at her waist that hadn't left its scabbard for whole hours.

The girl's gaze shot out like cold lightning, her originally ordinary aura instantly covered by a tyrannical and unmatched presence.

Those pupils, clear as a mirror of the mind, yet blazing like the sun, perfectly reflected the monkey face emerging from the darkness, capturing its mockery and amusement entirely.

The tachi left its scabbard, yet not a shred of aura leaked from Shizuku's body outward.

The breathing technique's eruption, the accumulated essence-spirit of hours…… all of it, she compressed without the slightest error into this one slash.

Clang clang hiss!

In a split second, three blade lights appeared simultaneously, as if three profound sword saints had struck at once, continuously parrying the monkey-faced yokai's claw attacks and then letting the blade pierce through its shoulder.

Tennen Rishin-ryu Secret Art · Mumyo Ken!

The monkey-faced yokai shrieked, revealing an extremely ferocious expression.

It could never have imagined that this seemingly weakest ordinary girl could actually block its proud killing move in an instant, and furthermore wound it afterward!

Even if the wound wasn't deep, it was still a tremendous humiliation.

"Uesugi-kun!"

Shizuku's voice instantly grew weak and listless.

Without responding with words, Uesugi Toru tacitly understood and turned around to draw his sword, exhaling a surging breath like a tide.

Corona Breathing Method·Form Five!

Iaido·Front Draw Strike!

A dazzling blade light slashed onto the chest of the monkey-faced yokai, causing it to let out an angry roar.

But Uesugi Toru felt that the feedback from Kaga Kiyomitsu's hand feel was not quite right.

The cut wasn't deep.

Even though he had seized the opponent's stiffness after fighting Shizuku, it could actually be dodged?

Not pursuing rashly, Uesugi Toru chose to protect Shizuku and retreat two steps first, 【and】 in that 【time】 the monkey-faced yokai retreated into the darkness again 【and he】 saw its full appearance clearly.

Apart from that face looking like a monkey, that tanuki-like lanky body also connected to tiger-thick limbs and a snake-like narrow, winding tail.

Uesugi Toru narrowed his eyes; what kind of chimera-like stitched-together monster is this thing?

Shizuka Mami's roar came: "That's a Nue! Its speed is very fast!"

The next instant, a prompt popped up above the monkey-faced yokai's head—

【Nue (Two-Star Half)】.

Uesugi Toru gripped the sword hilt tight: "Tch, troublesome."

A Two-Star Half yokai, let alone him in this state, even Incarnation Prajna Uesugi wouldn't dare say he had a one hundred percent grasp of taking it down.

—Although this Nue was just slashed once each by Shizuku and himself a moment ago, and seemed to have been hit by two or three shots from Shizuka Mami, for it that probably only counts as lightly injured.

Before long, these wounds should heal.

Another instant passed, and the Nue had already retreated back into the viscous darkness.

The Nue's speed is extremely fast; even Uesugi Toru cannot capture its movements at all times.

Uesugi Toru glanced at the bread van, discovering its engine hood had already caved in and was billowing black smoke; it definitely couldn't be driven anymore.

Throwing the Awakening Spirit Mist to Shizuku to signal her to drink a drop, Uesugi Toru silently thought—if he didn't transform into Incarnation Prajna again, the situation would probably deteriorate further as time passes.

"Nijaku Adult."

Accompanied by a *po* sound, having already returned to One-Star 【and】 recovered her girl body type, Nijaku Adult appeared beside Uesugi Toru.

He ordered: "Protect Shizuku well."

Nijaku Adult's and Shizuku's gazes collided for a moment, but she wasn't childish enough to bring emotions to this kind of place,

"As you command."

Uesugi Toru asked again: "Shizuka-san! Have you called for Special Affairs Division support?!"

Shizuka Mami inside the light barrier simply bandaged the wound on her abdomen, replying: "Twenty minutes!"

"—Twenty minutes?"

In the darkness, the Nue sneered: "Ten minutes aren't even needed; I can crush all you meddling little insects to death. Don't think summoning a mere One-Star shikigami can change anything."

Uesugi Toru immediately realized it was stalling for time.

Otherwise the Nue has no reason to answer their words; 【it could】 just not say a word like at the very beginning.

At this time Uesugi Toru had already sprouted the thought of retreating; a large amount of Soul Ash is good, but it depends on whether one has the life to get it.

But just at this time, he suddenly felt a vibration in his clothes pocket.

Immediately after, another one.

Uesugi Toru touched 【it】 and discovered it was the Nanjo Doll he had always carried on him when going out that was moving.

Seemingly saying: "Let me out!"

Something came up today 4k, continuing 6k tomorrow, asking for subscriptions meow!

4194 words, deliberately carded 20 points so everyone can use chapter cards

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(End of Chapter)