38. Slash Strike
In a world dyed pitch-black, Kenichi had to grip his sword with iron resolve to keep it from trembling. The density was immense, the structure intricate—one swing from him could shatter everything. He knew that all too well.
……Overwhelming.
Were they really learning at the same time? He was barely swinging it around, while Cento had already unleashed something grandiose. He'd known she was exceptional before, but this level? Unbelievable.
─Haha, Kenichi's plenty useful too, right? His sly friend's voice echoed in his mind unbidden, but it offered no comfort. Kenichi simply tightened his hold on the Demon Sword, tension etched across his face. He had to avoid slicing through the densely woven structure of this Black Hell Prison space. And he fought to keep from severing the mana binding him to the sword.
……Mana?
As a sudden thread of insight formed in his mind─
─Where are you?! Damn you bastards!!
The wolf went berserk, and
"Stars."
Eris began preparing a large-scale spell. Then came the faint clink of chains. And the wolf yokai's agonized howls.
"───The material is Black Hell Prison, the punishment form is the pitch-black coffin."
At that instant, the pitch-black space of Black Hell Prison began to fade. The world brightened abruptly. Kenichi squinted, finally seeing his weary friends, and the yokai thrashing in golden chains binding its limbs. The wolf Oni was battered from Eris's prior magic, its body a wreck. It roared with murderous fury.
─Let me go right now!!!
But no one here feared those words anymore. Sawamura Cento reconfigured her folded darkness, manifesting a new incantation. One forged from hell itself into a coffin.
"Shadows, incantation of punishment."
A pitch-black coffin to bury the enemy at last.
"───Black Hell Prison, Black Coffin."
The Black Coffin devoured the yokai bound in golden chains. A black pillar—or spike—shot from the ground. No sound came. No explosion, no flash of light—just an endless darkness crushing down heavily. That spot seemed excised from the world entirely, a pitch-black severance. Cut away in the bright world, the alien darkness soon vanished.
"……Cough."
The caster's body couldn't endure it. Sawamura Cento clamped her mouth shut as her body shook, and the Black Coffin dissipated. Rumble… As the crushing coffin vanished, the finely pulverized ground spat out dust.
"……Cough, cough!"
Cento scowled, blood spilling from her lips. The strain of such a massive incantation.
"Sawamura!"
Kenichi rushed to her side, stealing a glance at the rising dust. Was it shock at her overwhelming genius, her destructive power? Envy? He patted her back, questioning the unfamiliar feeling in his chest.
……No, not that.
Kitagawa Kenichi shook his head. He wished he could be a genius like Shiki or Cento in some field. Sure, there was envy, but it didn't make him resent her.
……Then what was it?
Staring blankly at the dust-shrouded wasteland, he realized. He could have cut it. The frustration of grasping something profound yet being unable to move gnawed at him. He could have done better. That lingering regret.
Everything was over now—no point dwelling. Kenichi gazed at where the black coffin had risen, silently vowing.
Next time, I'll cut it.
Though he couldn't cut allies next time either. He let out a chuckle, turning back to Cento—when something flickered in the dust. A silhouette through the haze. Stunned by the unexpected sight, Kenichi muttered blankly.
"No way."
Whoosh─ The wind blew, clearing the dust cloud. Now the yokai's true form emerged from the shadows. Kenichi, Eris, and Cento—catching their breath inside the barrier—all wore dazed expressions.
The enraged Oni growled.
"……You damn bastards."
Unlike their first encounter, the wolf yokai was covered in wounds. Both arms severed at the shoulders, right leg gone from the knee. Holes punctured its torso, some parts crushed.
"……It survived that?"
Sawamura Cento murmured in disbelief. Eris stared silently, while Kenichi nearly despaired but snapped out of it. Tough enough to survive that incantation, but it was on its last legs. Only one functional limb, visibly drained. Barely clinging to life.
We can win this.
His stamina was shot too, but they had some left. Kenichi gritted his teeth and stood, gripping his sword.
"……Think I'm easy prey just 'cause I'm like this?"
The wolf Oni eyed him with narrowed eyes, then smirked.
"Nah, I'll give you that."
Its face lit with rapture as it bellowed.
"I thought you were just brats! But you're strong enough—worth devouring!"
Like a split personality, its expression hardened again.
"Oh yeah, haven't introduced myself. I'm Kaikoku, leader of the Black Demon Society."
Why say that now? As Kenichi scowled and tightened his grip to charge─
The wolf Oni, Kaikoku, grinned wide.
"Gotta know who eats you. Dying clueless would be sad. By the way, my Oni awakening didn't give me mana affinity or body enhancement."
Crack-crunch─ An unpleasant sound rang out, and Kaikoku snarled with bloodlust.
"It's super-regeneration."
Krunch─! In an instant, its arms and leg regenerated. Arms sprouted flawlessly from the shoulders, the right leg from the knee. Not just limbs—the torso's craters filled with flesh, wounds vanishing seamlessly. Back to pristine condition, no scars.
"……What the."
Kenichi barely held his sword. The wolf Oni cackled, aura blazing on its claws.
"Kuhahaha, had fun? Now taste true despair."
Kaikoku slashed the air, face twisted in pleasure and murder.
"Boneflesh Severance."
A crescent aura flew. A slashing strike that cleaved steel and more, hurtling from afar. Eris flinched, mana surging. Grimacing, she shouted.
"───Domain Expansion!"
Fire magic. Fire Wave. A wave of flames erupted midair, sweeping the ground. Crimson inferno met the incoming slash, engulfing it with its massive form. Seemed swallowed whole. Roar─! But the aura burst through the blaze. Smaller, but momentum fierce. Eris's eyes twitched; she glared and charged forward.
Kenichi yelled in panic.
"Eris!"
"Shut up! Stars!"
The frantic star mage poured all her stellar energy into the barrier. Golden radiance gleamed on the translucent shield, thicker now. The crescent aura struck—screeech─! Grazing with a grating noise. Eris eyed the claw marks on the weary barrier, closing her eyes and murmuring.
"……Stars."
Golden light rose from her body. But dimmer than at first, than moments ago. Her overflowing mana had hit its limit.
"Oho, gonna block it?"
Kaikoku just grinned in delight.
"Try blocking another."
A fiercer swing.
"───Boneflesh Severance!"
A larger crescent flew. Eris squeezed her dregs into thickening the barrier, but it was futile. Scratches unhealed, golden glow barely holding. Sawamura Cento had frozen in daze since the Oni's revival, mana and stamina drained. She couldn't block either.
Kitagawa Kenichi watched them quietly, then gripped his sword hard. Closed his eyes. Since entering the spirit vein and fighting, they'd carried him.
Asking again?
Shameless. But resolved, Kenichi gripped unyieldingly and stepped from the barrier. Eris Betelgeuse, channeling stellar energy, startled.
"Kenichi!"
He didn't answer. Eyes fixed on the nearing crescent slash, demanding insight.
What did I realize earlier?
He shut his eyes. Followed the sensations through his body.
Cut.
He swung wide.
──Ichimaru Style: One Stroke, Two Cuts.
Sword met crescent—but no clash. The instant it cut, the aura crumbled. Yes, I cut it. Kenichi froze mid-swing, then burst laughing.
"───Hahaha!"
He'd done it. Crisis or not, laughter bubbled up. Raising his head, the wolf Oni muttered in confusion.
"……What. How'd you cut that."
Dunno. Too dumb to say. So Kitagawa Kenichi grinned in triumph, righted his sword, and said.
"Somehow."