"If you want to come, then let's all come together."
Kaito didn't let them down.
In the entire Hoori town, there was no place safer than by his side.
As for whether the girls would hold him back?
'As long as I kill fast enough, no one can strike my teammates.'
Lunch and dinner were both eaten at the Mochizuki Shrine, cooked by Mochizuki Ayako, consisting of very delicate dishes that tasted pretty good too.
The sky gradually darkened, the moon rose above the treetops, and the stars on this spring night were especially bright.
The time had already come to eleven o'clock.
At this hour, all the shops in Hoori town had closed, tourists wouldn't be wandering around, let alone climbing the mountain.
The once bustling and lively town was now only met with a slightly chilly breeze, showing a few degrees of quiet desolation.
Granny Chiyo had brought a total of four shrine maidens up the mountain, including Mochizuki Ayako. They were all wearing red-and-white shrine maiden outfits, adorned with hairpins, and for ease of movement, they had swapped out their wooden clogs for sneakers, each holding a golden suzu(bells).
The so-called golden suzu, also known as sword bells, rather than being "bells," they were more like small short swords.
Unlike traditional kagura bells, their purpose was more offensive, serving as ritual tools primarily used to exorcise evil.
They were composed of three main parts: the sword above the hilt, the hilt itself, and eight bells hanging below.
These three components also symbolized the Three Sacred Treasures of Japanese mythology: the Kusanagi Sword, the Yata Mirror, and the Yasakani no Magatama.
The golden suzu in the shrine maidens' hands each contained a faint spiritual power, and this spiritual energy clearly shared the same origin as the Murakumomaru. If nothing unexpected occurred, they were likely borrowing the power of that divine blade.
The shrine maidens themselves also possessed spiritual power, but mostly at a beginner level. In one-on-one situations, they could barely manage to subdue a Vengeful Spirit, but if surrounded by more than two, their situation would become very dangerous.
Walking through the dark, deserted mountain path, with the occasional gust of wind rustling the leaves into soft "sasa" sounds—
No one spoke, and even the girls following behind Kaito were a bit nervous, unable to help glancing around, afraid that a pitch-black slime monster would suddenly spring out from somewhere, waving its tentacles and charging at them.
In contrast, Kaito appeared much more relaxed.
Rather than coming to the mountain to exorcise Vengeful Spirit, he seemed more like he was on a leisurely spring outing, showing not a trace of panic or tension.
They walked like this for more than half an hour, and still found no trace of the Vengeful Spirit.
While Ryou breathed a sigh of relief, she also felt a bit disappointed, "Don't tell me we're going to come up empty-handed?"
Granny Chiyo was also surprised. Normally, it wouldn't take long after going up the mountain for the Vengeful Spirit to appear and attack. A peaceful and quiet night like this was the first time.
Nijika, however, thought it was a good thing, "No matter what, avoiding a battle is always good. At least no one will get hurt."
Kita, as always, had the wildest imagination, "Maybe it's because Kaito's actions yesterday scared them, so now they're hiding and don't dare come out?"
Bocchi said weakly, "I-I think so too…"
And in fact, that was exactly the case.
Though the Vengeful Spirit born of grudges didn't have rationality, they still possessed the basic biological instinct to seek fortune and avoid danger.
Last night's attack had made them realize these outsiders were not the pushover types like the ones at the Mochizuki Shrine. They might be a solid piece of steel, better not mess with them.
Seeing that Kaito had also come up the mountain, they simply hid away.
Kaito's attitude was still carefree, "If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain. Since they won't show themselves, then we'll go knock on their door."
Offend the abbot and expect to escape?
In this world, some people have a people-pleasing personality, like Bocchi, who never dares refuse anyone's request, excessively caring about others' needs and feelings, even willing to sacrifice her own interests to meet others' expectations.
Some people have a money-pleasing personality, like Ryou, always borrowing rice from Bocchi, and even calling it "friendship tax."
But Kaito was special, he had a punishment-seeking personality.
Mess with me, and you've hit a steel plate. If enemies come from afar, no matter how far, they must be eliminated.
He looked deep into the forested mountain. Through the tangled shadows of trees, he could see that the grudge aura there was extremely dense. Dozens of pitch-black slime-like Vengeful Spirit were clustered together, and in the very center was one also pitch-black in form but clad in full-body armor, resembling a humanoid Vengeful Spirit warrior.
This was likely the rumored samurai leader who once led two hundred soldiers to attack Hoori.
Killed upon meeting the Inugami with a single slash, the resentment was too great. Even after death, he could not rest in peace, now leading his subordinates to seek revenge on Hoori.
Its power was indeed extraordinary. Compared to the muddy minions around it, it barely retained a humanoid form from life, though its facial features were still blurry.
But that was all.
In life, it was casually slain by the Inugami. In death, it was left guarded by the Inugami's Murakumomaru. Though it claimed to seek revenge on Hoori, it could only let its minions stir up small troubles within the mountain, not daring to launch a full assault on the town, afraid of the divine sword's wrath.
'Nameless in life, miserable in death. No wonder its resentment never faded.'
If it had stayed cowardly, it might've been fine. But it was drawn to the aura on Kaito's body, unable to resist its desire. It secretly sent its minions to kidnap someone. Not only did it fail, but it also brought a huge problem upon itself.
It was like a Thresh player casually hooking, only to hook the enemy's 12/0 Mordekaiser. They ended up dragging a big daddy they couldn't deal with over, helping the Morde overcome his lack of mobility. Then he used auto-attacks and skill weaves to unleash a brutal S-tier combo, killing the ADC in three slaps, and proceeded to solo four more. [T/N: League of Legends reference]
This kind of play, in games, would get your family tree disowned.
And in reality, Kaito could show a bit of mercy. By sending it down to have a chat with his own family tree.
With divine sense to assist him, even under this dark and windy night, deep in the forest, he easily found the hiding place of the Vengeful Spirit warrior.
Seeing so many Vengeful Spirit gathered here, he roughly estimated at least forty to fifty, maybe even more than a hundred pairs of crimson eyes looking over. The pressure could be imagined.
The shrine maidens of the Mochizuki family visibly grew tense. The same was true for Nijika and the others, who subconsciously hid behind Kaito.
But not only were they nervous, the Vengeful Spirit across from them were even more nervous.
The Vengeful Spirit warrior in the lead clearly had higher intelligence. It let out an intimidating roar but didn't show any intention of attacking.
["Leave now… and no blame…"]
It let out garbled bytes, but that was roughly the meaning.
Kaito slightly flipped his hand. Others couldn't see the movement clearly. But in the blink of an eye, he was already holding the slender Murakumomaru in his palm.
The originally ordinary blade now emitted a bright light, growing more and more blinding. When it shone on the muddy Vengeful Spirit, they actually let out painful wails, as if they were snowflakes under the blazing sun, their bodies beginning to melt.
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