At the end of the day, no matter how much power Taguchi Shogo and the others had obtained after becoming reincarnators, mentally speaking, they were still just a bunch of high school students.
What had happened to Mizutani Kisei earlier was still vivid in Shogo's mind. And no matter how he looked at it, that woman—and Yuto, who was standing off to the side watching the fight like it was a show—were both clearly the type of monsters with overwhelming strength. They simply hadn't made their move yet.
Under circumstances like this, how was Taguchi Shogo supposed to keep his composure and continue fighting?
The hulking brute in front of him was obviously no ordinary human. Worse still, it was capable of meeting him head-on in a direct exchange of punches.
At first, relying on the advantage of his "Adamant Body," Taguchi Shogo had been able to completely dominate the fight.
But the moment Mizutani Kisei was defeated by Spider Princess, his mentality collapsed entirely.
There was no helping it. Anyone would break in that situation—after all, everyone was afraid of dying.
Even if he managed to beat this brute in front of him, so what?
Yuto and Spider Princess were still standing right there, watching him like predators.
Once his mindset shattered, the number of openings he exposed naturally increased. And Hand-Washing Oni seized that opportunity, slamming him to the ground and raining down merciless punches.
Compared to Taguchi Shogo—who possessed raw power but no longer had the will to fight—Hand-Washing Oni was a yokai who had lived for who knew how many years.
In terms of sheer strength, he might have only been on par with Shogo… perhaps even inferior.
But against someone who had completely lost their fighting spirit and was riddled with flaws, there was no reason for Hand-Washing Oni to lose.
"P-please… let me go… I don't want to die…"
Pinned to the ground and beaten over and over again by Hand-Washing Oni, Taguchi Shogo finally began begging for mercy as the circular crater beneath him grew wider and deeper with every blow.
Possessing the skill 『Berserker』 made him far more resistant to damage than ordinary people—but that only made his suffering worse.
Adamant Body had its limits. Reducing damage didn't mean he couldn't feel pain.
"You living or dying has nothing to do with whether you want to live," Hand-Washing Oni said coldly."It depends entirely on whether my master intends to spare you."
As he spoke, Hand-Washing Oni grabbed Shogo by the head with one hand and casually tossed him in front of Yuto.
At this point, both Spider Princess and Hand-Washing Oni had already finished their respective battles—and the outcome was, of course, unquestionable victory.
Now, the only fight still ongoing was the one between Tachibana Kyoya and the Samurai Spirit.
Unlike the completely one-sided battles earlier, the clash between Kyoya and the Samurai Spirit was still deadlocked. For the moment, it was impossible to tell who would emerge victorious.
In fact, purely in terms of combat power, Tachibana Kyoya was noticeably stronger than the Samurai Spirit.
But just like Spider Princess versus Mizutani Kisei, and Hand-Washing Oni versus Taguchi Shogo—
Did he really think Yuto had summoned the Samurai Spirit at random?
Spider Princess's Spider Silk Manipulation perfectly countered 『Grand Orator』.Hand-Washing Oni's monstrous strength was enough to match 『Berserker』.
Naturally, the Samurai Spirit had been summoned for the express purpose of countering 『Executioner』.
The Samurai Spirit was a yokai formed from the indomitable will of fallen warriors. Its blue, semi-transparent body made it clear that it lacked a physical form—more akin to a vengeful spirit than a corporeal being.
And normally, against yokai of this type, unless one possessed specialized exorcism techniques, conventional physical attacks were almost entirely useless.
Translated into this world's skill system, it could be described in one phrase:
"Physical Damage Immunity."
Tachibana Kyoya's 『Executioner』 was undeniably powerful. It allowed him to freely generate a wide variety of swords and blades to respond to any situation.
Even the direction the weapons appeared from—and the angles at which they struck—were completely unpredictable.
Unfortunately, the opponent he had run into this time was about as bad a matchup as it could get.
Every sword and blade he generated passed straight through the Samurai Spirit's body upon contact.
Meanwhile, the Samurai Spirit's own attacks could temporarily materialize and strike him with perfect accuracy.
How the hell was he supposed to fight like this?
Still, after exchanging blows with the Samurai Spirit for a while, Kyoya quickly made use of the accelerated cognition provided by his "Heavenly Eye" skill and identified the weakness in its abilities.
While the Samurai Spirit's body could enter a "spectral state," it had to become physical at the moment it launched an attack.
Because of this limitation, even when facing an enemy with "physical immunity," the battle didn't become one-sided. Instead, it settled into a perfectly even stalemate.
That said, the Samurai Spirit's ability to turn spectral had effectively sealed away the majority of 『Executioner』's power.
But Kyoya's Heavenly Eye, combined with the absurd swordsmanship enhancement granted by 『Executioner』, was simply too outrageous. For the time being, even the Samurai Spirit had no way to deal with him decisively.
As the fight dragged on, Kyoya still hadn't lost—but retreat had begun to creep into his mind.
The reason was simple.
Mizutani Kisei and Taguchi Shogo had already been defeated.
Kyoya wasn't as mentally shattered as Shogo, but he understood one thing clearly: if he stayed any longer, he'd probably be next.
One opponent was already this troublesome. If all four of them ganged up on him at once, what the hell was he supposed to do then?
『Executioner』 possessed spatial manipulation abilities. Escaping shouldn't be difficult.
As for his two captured companions…
They'd just have to pray for their own luck.
"Spider Princess, seal off the surrounding area," Yuto said calmly."Looks like someone's planning to run."
Watching Kyoya fight while slowly retreating, Yuto quickly caught on to his intentions. He gestured lightly to the spider maid beside him, prompting her to completely envelop the battlefield shared by the Samurai Spirit and Kyoya in layers of spider silk.
At first, Kyoya clearly didn't think much of Spider Princess's attempt to block him.
With his spatial abilities, being stopped by mere spider silk sounded laughable.
But just as Kyoya activated his spatial skill with absolute confidence and attempted to flee—
His face slammed point-blank into a wall of spider silk.
"Why?! My ability is supposed to ignore obstacles!Why am I being stopped by something as trivial as spider silk?!"
After blinking headfirst into the barrier, Kyoya's face was filled with disbelief.
Previously, he'd been fearless because he believed escape was guaranteed.
But now that reality had betrayed his expectations, panic finally crept into his expression.
"Although I do not know the exact principles behind your ability," the Samurai Spirit said calmly,"any power—no matter how great—requires corresponding energy to drive it."
"The silk barrier created by Lady Spider Princess contains an immense amount of yokai power, forming a localized energy field."
"Your own yokai energy—your magical output—is inferior to hers. Naturally, your ability has been disrupted."
Watching Kyoya crash into the silk wall, the Samurai Spirit didn't look surprised in the slightest. He even stepped forward to explain.
As a true warrior, he wished to defeat his opponent in an open and honorable manner.
Besides, the spider silk barrier offered no real assistance in combat. Its sole purpose was to prevent Kyoya from escaping.
But clearly, Kyoya no longer had any interest in a fair duel. All he wanted now was to survive.
Even the escape method he'd once considered foolproof was gone.
To say he wasn't desperate would have been a lie.
Perhaps heaven had heard Kyoya's silent pleas.
Just as despair reached its peak, a large number of guards finally arrived on the scene.
To be honest, after Yuto had been fighting the three reincarnators for this long, the city guards should have arrived much earlier.
However, when passersby reported that the ones fighting were the powerful adventurer who had entered the city that morning and Taguchi Shogo's group, the guards immediately escalated the matter to Knight Commander Foken and the veteran official Razan.
The guards didn't know exactly how strong Yuto was.
But they knew very well how dangerous Taguchi Shogo and the others were.
If the three reincarnators started causing trouble, regular guards were utterly useless. Only Knight Commander Foken or Lord Razan had any chance of stopping them.
And so, by the time the guards rushed over after reporting to both men, they were greeted with this scene.
Mizutani Kisei was nowhere to be found.Taguchi Shogo lay on the ground, bruised and swollen, wailing in agony.The only one still standing—Tachibana Kyoya—looked visibly disheveled.
Seeing the miserable state of the three reincarnators, both Razan and Foken wore expressions of shock.
As Razan had said before, reincarnators who gained unique skills upon arriving in this world generally became powerful individuals.
Though arrogant, Taguchi Shogo's group already ranked among the elite on the human side.
Even Razan himself admitted that if he faced all three at once, his chances of victory would be slim.
Yet now, they had been defeated so thoroughly by a single young man.
That was something Razan could never have imagined.
"Old man! Save us! We're ministers of this kingdom, aren't we?!"
The moment he saw Razan and Foken, the panic-stricken Kyoya instantly felt his safety was assured.
"He attacked us in the middle of the street! That's the same as declaring war on this kingdom, right?!So shouldn't he be eliminated?!"
No matter how strong Yuto's group was, so what?
They had an entire kingdom backing them.
And both Foken and old man Razan were no pushovers themselves—that was precisely why the trio had always been kept in check.
The Kingdom of Falmuth was one of the strongest in the region, boasting at least fifty thousand armed soldiers.
Even if Yuto had summoned a few powerful subordinates, could they really compare to an army of fifty thousand?
Kyoya believed that even if Yuto's side was absurdly strong, killing their way through that many soldiers would leave them exhausted and overwhelmed.
And as long as he didn't have to face that ghost-like Samurai Spirit again, Kyoya was confident that his unique ability gave him a solid chance against Hand-Washing Oni and the others.
"Razan," Knight Commander Foken said calmly,"that young man is the one I told you about earlier."
"Now you shouldn't have any doubts about his strength."