Chapter 7: A Collective of Hundreds of Spirits
"H-How... How is this possible..."
Faced with the gaze of the spider spirit, Yotsuya Miko felt as if her entire body had been plunged into an icy cavern; a deep chill seeped into her very bones.
She wanted to turn and run, but her body refused to obey. She couldn't move even a single finger.
Miko's golden pupils trembled. This time, she didn't cry.
It wasn't because she wasn't scared, but because she was so terrified she had gone numb.
"You. Can. See. Me!"
The spider spirit let out a shrill roar. Its multiple long legs planted themselves around the rooftop, its massive body completely blotting out the warm sunlight from above.
It squeezed out a terrifying sound from its throat—unintelligible yet bone-chilling. The human face on the spider's body suddenly elongated, snapping its jaws toward Miko to bite her.
Am I... going to die?
Facing the spirit's attack, Miko suddenly felt a strange sense of quiet settle around her.
In this moment between life and death, what surfaced in her mind wasn't fear.
It was regret.
What exactly are the "Door" and the secrets of the evil spirits that Yoru mentioned?
It seems I will never get the answer to that question.
Just as the spirit's foul-smelling mouth was about to tear into Miko's snow-white neck, an arm suddenly blocked the way.
Accompanied by the teeth-gritting sound of flesh tearing, blood flowed from the wound, pooling into a red puddle on the smooth floor.
"You're not hurt, are you?"
Hearing the voice by her ear, Miko couldn't help but look up.
She saw Yoru standing between her and the evil spirit. His face still wore that lazy, half-asleep expression; he was even yawning.
This expression, as if he were sunbathing on a beach enjoying a vacation, formed a jarring contrast with the sight of the spirit's sharp teeth sunk deep into his arm, blood spilling from the wound.
"Looks like you're not hurt."
Yoru looked Miko up and down. Seeing that she seemed fine, he nodded noncommittally.
Then, he turned his head toward the spider spirit and flashed a friendly smile.
"Does it taste good?"
The spider spirit clearly hadn't expected Yoru to react so calmly to its terrifying appearance, let alone crack a joke. It was visibly stunned for a moment.
But in the next second, its four eyeballs began to rotate rapidly, and black mist radiated from its body.
"You can see me too!? I'll kill you!"
The spirit released its bite, retracted its neck a few meters as if winding up, and lunged forward again.
"Yo, you even know how to use launch control?"
Hearing Yoru's light chuckle, Miko felt a sense of absurdity.
What time is it, and he's still making jokes?
However...
Although Miko didn't know what "launch control" meant, she felt the term was inexplicably fitting for the way the spirit attacked.
"It's over."
Facing the lunging spirit, Yoru simply said three words softly.
The next second, Miko saw the spirit's massive spider body swell up like a water balloon being overfilled.
BANG!
With a deafening sound, the spirit—whose massive body had been large enough to block the sun over the entire rooftop—exploded directly, turning into a cloud of black smoke that gradually dissipated.
"What the!?"
Witnessing this astonishing scene, Miko was dumbfounded.
What just happened?
Why did the evil spirit suddenly self-destruct?
"OK, done."
Hearing Yoru's voice, Miko finally snapped back from the shock of the scene.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor. The fear she hadn't had time to process earlier came rushing up all at once now that she could finally relax.
"Calm down."
Seeing Miko panting heavily, her eyes brimming with tears—a look that was inexplicably suggestive—Yoru hurriedly patted her shoulder to comfort her.
He remembered that in the original anime, she had been scared into incontinence by a spirit on a train.
If that happened again here on the rooftop, it would be a mess to clean up.
"Y-Yoru."
Miko's pupils trembled as she grabbed onto Yoru's sleeve, her voice shaking.
"The... the evil spirit, it disguised itself as Hiratsuka-sensei!"
"Yeah, I know."
"No, listen to me. You didn't see it, the spirit literally turned into Hiratsuka-sensei!"
"I said, I heard you."
Seeing Yoru unmoved, Miko froze for a moment, thinking she hadn't been clear enough. She hurriedly added again.
"Did you not understand what I meant? The evil spirit disguised itself as..."
"I said, I heard you. I heard you very clearly."
Yoru shrugged and said nonchalantly.
"You've said it three times already. What exactly do you want from me? Do you want me to condemn that incredibly cunning spirit for using such underhanded tactics to deceive an innocent JK (high school girl)?"
"Uh..."
Miko looked speechless. That wasn't what I meant at all. I just wanted to explain the severity of the situation.
She didn't know if Yoru didn't understand, or if he understood but just didn't care.
Judging from her contact with him over less than a day, the latter seemed more likely.
However, thanks to this bit of banter, Miko inexplicably felt her emotions settle down a lot.
She stroked her chest, recalling the scene just now, and couldn't help asking curiously.
"Why did that evil spirit suddenly explode? Is that also your special ability?"
"How should I describe it to you?"
Yoru pondered for a moment, then smiled and explained.
"You can understand it as a special constitution of mine."
"I am essentially a collective of all the evil spirits I have devoured."
"How many exactly? I don't remember clearly either, but it's definitely in the hundreds."
"Even a little bit of my blood isn't something an ordinary evil spirit is qualified to consume. Simply put, it died from overeating."
Miko nodded numbly. Under the continuous bombardment of fear, shock, and intense emotions, she could no longer react to what Yoru was saying.
After this day, her worldview had completely collapsed.
"By the way."
Miko used Yoru's arm for support and struggled to stand up from the ground. Recalling the spirit, her eyes showed lingering fear.
"I've never encountered an evil spirit that could disguise itself as a human before. I almost died."
Yoru nodded slightly, his smile fading into a flat expression.
"Although it wasn't my intention, this is actually good."
Miko tilted her head, confused: "What is good?"
Yoru replied lightly.
"What you just saw—the evil spirit disguising itself as a human—is one of the effects brought about by the Door."
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