Onmyoji, a nobleman in Heian-kyo

"Hmm, is that enough?"

On a remote, desolate patch of land along the Eight Avenues, Hachiman Hikigaya clutched his stomach with a bitter expression.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka shook his head.

"Not enough. You can hit me with even more force. Don't hold back."

"...I can't hit you at all."

"That's not the key point. You lack fighting spirit, just as Lord Kyosuke said earlier."

Despite Hikigaya's pleas for mercy, Ayanokouji had no intention of letting him off the hook.

He had been thinking things over carefully since Kyosuke Kosaka left.

Kyosuke Kousaka probably wanted to instill in Hachiman Hikigaya the fighting spirit to slay demons.

It shouldn't be like it is now, where even a fight lacks intensity.

If it were on a battlefield...

The enemy is absolutely determined to kill.

And the person in front of me?

Ayanokouji took a closer look.

He personally hoped that the enemy on the battlefield would be someone like Hikigaya.

"The main problem is that using more force will consume more energy, and you'll collapse very quickly."

"Then you can take the opportunity to grab me desperately while you're being beaten before you strike back."

"..." Hachiman remained silent.

He had only been in contact with Ayanokouji for a short time.

He finally understood that this person was more like a robot.

It's the kind of robot that doesn't have any extra emotions when performing tasks.

This conclusion, which was uncertain whether the guess was correct, made Hachiman instinctively shrink back.

very scary!

Boom boom——

A slight, barely perceptible tremor of the ground was heard.

Ayanokouji, with his keen senses, noticed it immediately and his body tensed up.

"It looks like an earthquake," Hachiman said.

There are occasional minor earthquakes in Kyoto.

People are used to it.

"Run!" Ayanokouji only said one word before suddenly sprinting away.

Hikigaya was slightly taken aback, then immediately followed Ayanokouji.

They hadn't run for long when a huge rumbling and shattering sound began to echo from the ground!

It sounded like the movement of some enormous creature...

Hikigaya subconsciously turned his head.

I was immediately stunned!

Several enormous, ferocious spiders, each several meters tall, leaped and swept over.

A bounce.

There were even giant spiders that crushed the abandoned old house into ruins!

"...?!"

Hikigaya's pupils contracted sharply. Without thinking further, he ran with almost all his might.

If you can't run fast enough, you'll get eaten!

Suddenly he remembered that this place was where disaster victims gathered after the flood season, and he mustered his strength and stopped following Ayanokoji.

After a long while, he shouted loudly:

"A monster is coming—"

"..."

Ayanokoji, who was far ahead of Hikigaya, remained silent.

What is this for?

This is a bit of a rip-off.

Just as Ayanokouji had expected, the call attracted the attention of the two large spiders.

Hikigaya actually knew that he was setting a trap for Ayanokoji.

Therefore, before she shouted, she had already separated from Ayanokouji by a great distance, but Ayanokouji did not turn around to look.

boom!

The earth shook once again.

The non-humans nearby also noticed the situation and came out of their simple dwellings.

"Hoho~"

The giant spider seemed to prefer places with lots of people.

A simple act of spinning silk wrapped up several people.

"Ahhh-"

"...Damn it!"

Looking back and noticing the situation, Hikigaya's eyes widened in fury, and he finally stopped.

His expression gradually calmed down, and his hand reached for a short blade hanging at his waist...

As Ayanokouji continued running, he heard the sounds behind him fading away and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But a supple, snow-white ribbon suddenly passed through his side and appeared in front of him!

Ayanokouji hurriedly rushed to the other side, but the ribbon seemed to have a spirit and wrapped around him.

tearing~

To Ayanokouji's slight surprise, a light flashing with runes appeared in front of him, which then formed a barrier that enveloped him.

Without hesitation, he immediately ran forward again.

The light protecting him also moved, and Ayanokouji, realizing what was happening, ran for his life.

However, the giant spider immediately noticed what had just happened.

As if drawn to its attention, it stared intently at Ayanokouji alone...

Within a few breaths, Ayanokouji noticed that the light around him was diminishing, and everything went completely dark.

When I tried to struggle again, I was too weak.

—That's so unlucky.

A thought that seemed to be both a sigh and a complaint flashed through Ayanokouji's mind, and he gave a wry smile.

Before he completely lost consciousness, a fleeting image of his sister's innocent smile flashed through his mind...

It's rare for me to feel grateful that I still have someone to think about before I die.

"...Kyosuke-sama will probably take good care of her."

With his last thoughts completely frozen, Ayanokouji was plunged into darkness.

In a daze, he vaguely heard a "ripping" sound again.

"..."

Kousaka Kyosuke, pointing his sword at the figure standing before him, remained silent.

He glanced indifferently at the enormous, ferocious spider that had split in two, and then used his mind to move Ayanokouji in front of him.

He placed his hand on Ayanokouji's forehead.

After a while, his face twitched slightly.

He immediately threw out a human-shaped talisman.

After transforming into a second Kyosuke Kousaka, the paper talisman quickly moved to a noisy location.

Kousaka Kyosuke then led Ayanokoji at an extremely fast speed.

As he passed the government office, his face twitched again, and he dropped another paper talisman in the shape of a human figure... before heading to his residence.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Kousaka Kyosuke returned to his residence.

As it turned out, they ran into Shizuko, who was covered in dust and wearing shorts and a t-shirt.