The long-horned beetle the size of adults, along with several cricket no bigger than dogs, entered the gatehouse with a creepy throaty sound. If she looked closely, she could see the corpses of soldiers with their heads bitten off lying beneath their feet.
"Oh, no..."
Yona stiffened unconsciously. As a maid of the Ako family, she had not come this far just to be carefree. She had also been prepared to confront youkai as part of her job. She had been prepared to accompany her master, Murasaki, this far to take care of her, and that was true even before this mission.
However, in most cases, her father or brother had accompanied Murasaki on her previous missions, and in that sense, absolute safety had been guaranteed. It wasn't like death had been imminent until now. So, it was somewhat inevitable that she would be frightened. Besides, even Tamaki, who had to be the first to react, couldn't move.
"Miss Tamaki, escape to the upper floor!"
Amidst all this, it was Yahagi, the acting leader of the servant group, who pushed Yona aside and ran down the stairs. He threw his short spear and pierced the head of the long-horned beetle, then pulled out his wakizashi and cut down the youkai cricket around him.
"N-not yet...!?"
"Tsk!"
Upon hearing Tamaki's scream, Yahagi, who noticed the presence of the incoming insects, shot a crossbow he had been carrying in his sleeve at the following group of bugs entering the entrance. The crossbow was a hidden weapon that fired a bundle of seven short arrows at once, piercing the jumping spiders and centipedes that came at him in an instant.
"Miss Tamaki, hurry!! Please block the stairs with furniture!!"
Yahagi hit a flea yokai that had approached from behind him with the crossbow he had used to shoot all his arrows with just a single glance. After throwing the crossbow away, he dodged the charge of a long-horned beetle bug that immediately attacked him and shouted. The squad leader protected Tamaki by following orders, not only from superior Yun-shoku but also from Murasaki to escort the group.
"But, what about...!?"
"Miss Tamaki, hurry and go!!"
Tokiwa, a servant who had been standing by as a guard alongside Yahagi, forcibly pulled Tamaki's arm, who was still not moving. Tamaki felt a dull pain from the rough act, but Tokiwa did not care about it.
"That woman too, over there!! Hurry!!"
"Umm, uh..."
"Yona-san, let's go now!!"
Yona was scared by the voice shouting roughly at her. Suzune, who had accompanied Tamaki as a maid, ran to her and returned her to the halfway point of the stairs.
"Sh*t, they're coming!!"
After confirming that, Tokiwa kicked the shelves and desks on the second floor towards the leeches climbing the stairs. A disgusting sound was made. He did not care and threw nearby objects to create a temporary barricade.
"Miss Tamaki, please do not stand near the window!! Um, weapons... maids!! Protect Miss Tamaki in case of emergency!!"
After searching the second floor of the watchtower, Tokiwa found a Dagger (tantō) in a shelf and handed one each to Suzune and Yona. When serving as exorcists and going on missions, it was common to bring one or two daggers (tantō) for self-defense and self-termination. However, Tokiwa didn't have the luxury to ask about it individually, and it was a precaution in case they had forgotten.
And suddenly, screams echoed. Tokiwa turned around. The army soldiers who had been shooting arrows from the watchtower were being attacked by the insects. One person was impaled from the abdomen by a mantis that had climbed up and had their head bitten. Another person tried to stop it by reaching for their sword, but immediately a dragonfly that had flown in jumped into their face, knocking them into the watchtower.
"Ku!?"
Tokiwa's judgment was accurate. He threw the spare Dagger (tantō) at the mantis and severed its head. The mantis, having lost its head while eating, fell from the watchtower in convulsions. Then, Tokiwa jumped into the watchtower and pushed away the dragonfly's head, which was biting the soldier's throat. The fragile dragonfly's body shattered like a kicked ball, causing its head to fly away. Tokiwa checked the army soldier's condition quickly and unfortunately found that they had already passed away. He clicked his tongue in disapproval and closed the soldier's eyelids.
"Miss Tamaki, please be careful!! They come towards human who has spiritual power!! Don't let your guard down, putting yourself first..."
"That goes for you too, right?"
"Huh...!?"
In response to the voice that suddenly resounded, the servant swiftly swung his sword. The blade pierced the figure that appeared behind him. But as if passing through mist, the blade went right through.
"What...?"
"I have no grudge, but it's my mission."
Realizing that mere physical attacks were pointless, Tokiwa tried to use a curse, but it was too late. Darkness engulfed Tokiwa's head and both hands, and along with the darkness, his head and upper wrists disappeared. Blood spurted from the clean cut as he fell down.
"Hii!?"
Tamaki let out an involuntary scream. Having already witnessed countless deaths during this series of sieges and deeply felt her own powerlessness, Tamaki may have finally realized the danger to her own life at this moment. They faced the intruder, Kamui, composed of a blurry darkness that enveloped his entire body.
"Miss, please step back...!!"
Suzune and Yona, though trembling with fear, drew their Daggers (tantō) and aimed them at Kamui. They knew that the fallen servant from earlier was far more experienced in combat than themselves. That servant had been instantly killed, and they understood that the same fate awaited them. However, choosing not to fight was not an option.
"What valiant efforts. It's almost moving."
Kamui praised the maids' desperate actions, though his tone seemed to be filled with mockery. And then, in an instant, Kamui approached them, and the blade of their Dagger (tantō) cleanly disappeared halfway. It was as if he was slicing through only that space, just like when he took the servant's life earlier.
"Wha... Aaah!?"
"Yona-san!?"
Yona widened her eyes in surprise, only to be slammed against the wall and fall down. Suzune shouted Yona's name, but immediately remembered the presence of the enemy before them and shrank back in fear.
"You can relax, she just fainted. I try to be as gentle as possible with beautiful people, you know. But... I still have to do my job properly."
With a smile that seemed unbelievably insincere, Kamui closed in on Tamaki, right before her eyes. Panicking, Tamaki hastily drew her sword. But it was futile.
"Oops, that was dangerous."
With a swift strike, Kamui struck his hand against the hilt, causing Tamaki to drop her sword onto the floor. She was rendered powerless in an instant. Tamaki upset, and the man before her eyes roughly seized her wrist. He gripped it with tremendous strength.
"Guh!?"
"Miss!! What are you... Aah!"
Tamaki let out a cry of agony as pain surged through their arm. Suzune, who had hurriedly tried to help, received a forceful slap from Kamui. With a sharp, dry sound, Suzune fell to the floor, groaning in pain.
"Suzune!?"
"Please don't make so much noise. It's annoying to my ears."
Tamaki's scream was drowned out by Kamui's cold words. Simultaneously, the grip on her arm tightened, and the pain made Tamaki involuntarily kneel. It was clearly a strength beyond what a human could possess.
"Ugh, guh...!!?"
Tamaki's eyes welled up with tears from the unbearable pain, yet she desperately endured it and stared up at Kamui. She stared at the man who literally held the power of life and death over them.
In that chilling gaze, she realized her own powerlessness.
"...!?"
Even though he had a human form, Tamaki intuitively understood that those eyes were not human, and the very existence of Kamui was beyond comprehension. At the same time, her strength drained away, and her will to resist faded, unable to understand what was happening.
At the same time, Tamaki couldn't realize that it was a certain type of eye technique at play. All she could do was tremble in fear. Seeing this, Kamui sneered, raising his other empty hand towards Tamaki.
"N-No..."
Faced with imminent danger to her life and overwhelmed by her own powerlessness, Tamaki's eyes welled up with tears. She tried to resist while crying, but it was futile. And then, Kamui's arm seized Tamaki's head.
Not knowing what would happen to her, but knowing that it couldn't be anything good, Tamaki instinctively closed her eyes. She closed her eyes and waited for that moment. She braced herself, feeling both resolved and afraid, and continued to wait.
...She waited. And nothing happened.
"...?"
As time passed without anything happening, Tamaki cautiously opened her eyes, taken aback by the unnaturalness of the situation. And then, she was astonished by the scene before her.
"...Hahaha. Hey, isn't that a bit unfair?"
With a trickle of fresh blood from his lips, Kamui wore a wry smile. Slowly, he turned around. Tamaki did the same, shifting her gaze from Kamui to the figure standing behind him. And involuntarily, she gasped, her expression filled with surprise, confusion, and even joy.
There stood a figure in black attire, who wore hannya-masked, with a vivid cherry blossom engraved Dagger (tantō) thrust into Kamui's back...
