The thunderbolt struck right in front of me, just as I was about to start the Christmas party. Impact, dust. Smoke billowing up and the ceiling falling down. Only one figure in the middle of it all.
“Itsuki! Hina!
My mother was trying to protect me and Hina, who was nearby, but I was picked up by someone before she could.
“You’ve done a great job!』
The voice sounded as if it was echoing directly into my head.
If I were to use an analogy, it would be bone-conduction earphones. It’s an uncomfortable sensation as if my skull is being shaken and sound or vibration is being pounded into my head. A feeling of physiological disgust.
And then, with the same momentum, I hit the wall.
“……GGHHH!”
I have no idea what happened.
But what’s in front of me is the enemy. It’s a monster!
The moment I was about to stretch out my silvate, my chest pocket heated up before that.
“Hmm?』
A moment later, light overflows from my chest pocket!
The light with a roar and a mass was shot out of my pocket and blew the monster away!
The monster’s right arm disappeared with a sizzling sound.
The monster, however, reacted with astonishing speed to get away from me and ran out into the garden, breaking the shoji on its back.
It’s the breaking monster tag I got from Kamiarizuki!
The breakaway tag, which I was told to keep close to me no matter what, protected me.
However, it was not a situation in which I could rest easy. I put up a net of guide thread silvate to support the falling ceiling and defend myself so that no one would get hurt.
“Everyone! Are you all right? Hope there are no injuries?”
It was Momoka-san who asked.
When the dust settled and the vision cleared, there was everyone in the mangled room, not a scratch on them.
“Good. Everyone is safe.”
“Everyone, follow me. We have to run away.”
Standing next to a relieved Momoka-san was my mother, holding Hina in her arms.
It’s too early to panic. Why are you guys so calm and in no panic when the situation is like this? ……
I’m a normal person and I’m still in a state of confusion.
The moment I was about to run away, impressed with the two, the voice of the monster from the garden echoed.
“It’s fine for the weak to run away.』
The voice of madness echoed through my brain again.
“But! It’s time to eat the child wappa!』
The child wappa. It is a word that refers to a child, especially a boy.
“I’m so proud of you! And you raised him for me!』
I have no idea who or what it was talking to.
However, only the overwhelming sense of intimidation of the monster coming from the yard dominated the area. Momoka-san and my mother, who had been trying to escape earlier, didn’t move as if they were in front of some dangerous monster.
……Well, this is not good.
The only thing to do with such a dangerous person is to run away without getting involved. If you get involved even a little bit, you might end up getting killed like I did in my previous life!
“Mom! We have to run away!”
I said this to bring back the attention of the two adults, whose attention was now completely focused on the monster.
“Yes, you’re right.”
Just as she was saying this, there was a sound of thunder.
And then I found myself standing in front of a figure, maybe two meters tall.
It was about two meters tall. Incredible muscles covered its whole body.
It stood there with such a sense of intimidation that it was hard to believe that it had just lost its right arm.
Its whole body was covered with a black armor-like shell, and four fangs extended from its mouth.
But what caught my attention more than the black armor was its head. There was something on it that was definitely not human.
Horns. Two horns extend from his forehead.
There was no way I could mistake the monster in front of me because of its appearance.
Born and raised Japanese, you would never mistake his name.
Anyone would say so if they saw its appearance.
They would say the monster’s name.
“– Oni’.”
“How very like it. The name is Raikou-douji.”
“…………!?”
It said its name!
That was so new to me that I was speechless.
Moreover, the monster in front of me looked around at everyone in the room as if it was pricing us out, and then, looking at Aya-chan, it announced in a gentle voice.
“You have the aptitude! Work hard on your studies!』
……Hey, he praised her! A monster praised a human!
I felt the common sense I’d cultivated about monsters crumble with a crash.
However, the moment I managed to swallow my agitation and knead the guiding thread silvate, Momoka-san held me in her arms. And Momoka-san ran out of the room into the garden with me in her arms!
“Itsuki-kun! You have to run away!”
“Momoka-san!?”
I saw that her legs were wrapped with Silvate.
It’s magic to strengthen the body!
“All of the Named Monsters are of the Sixth Rank! We are no match for them!”
The sixth rank?
Does that mean he’s 30 times stronger than the monster I fought in that forest?
Why would such a thing be here today, at this time?
“B-But my mother, Hina, and Aya-chan are still in there.”
“Don’t worry, he won’t go after anyone. ‘Don’t eat yet!’ That’s the kind of monster the Raikou-Douji is!”
“Do not eat…?”
“The Raikou-Douji is a hunter who comes to eat gifted children after they are fully grown. Hundreds of exorcists have been eaten so far!”
“Wh-why is such a monster here?”
“I don’t know! The last time it appeared was over 30 years ago! At that time, a 15-year-old boy was eaten…… yes, I heard.”
Momoka-san and I ran out into the garden, but at our feet, only shadows appeared on the ground.
And then a shadow grabbed Momoka’s shadow.
“……!?”
A moment later, Momoka’s body froze as if it had been sewn together.
“Why ……!”
“I wonder if you’ve ever played Shadow Demon.』
The monster appears again, dripping shadows.
However, it’s not the same as the Raikou-Douji. It is a female body.
“If you are caught in the shadow, you will not be able to move. Even children know this.”
“Wind Blade Kamaitachi!”
But I’m in a state of readiness to fight, and I won’t let the monster in front of me escape!
I invoke a compound magic that mixes “Attribute Change: Wind” and “Trait Change: Blade”!
Just as I was about to cut it in two, the female monster dissolved back into the shadows.
“……!”
“Don’t be in such a hurry. Your opponent is not me, but Raikou-douji-sama.”
At that moment, a thunderbolt rises up from the mansion.
And it struck right in front of me.
The lightning took human form and stood in front of me with its arms crossed.
I noticed that its right arm, which had been exorcised with the tag in my pocket was also healed.
What are these guys!?
“Mm-mm-mm. Well ripened.』
The intimidating feeling is different from the one in the forest.
I can’t breathe.
As if I have forgotten how to breathe, my breath gets shallower.
It’s right in front of me.
So, use magic. I can use body art.
And yet, I cannot move my body. My body is so terrified that it doesn’t move at all.
“In this case, the food is to be eaten when it is at its most delicious. Otherwise, it would be disrespectful to both the ingredients and the grower. That is the way of the hunter. You know! I’m sure the children would agree with me!』
I can feel the sticky insanity rippling through my whole body.
I understand it’s the murderous intent penetrating my body.
Facing the abnormality, I remember the time in my previous life.
I vividly recall the time when I was stabbed in the chest with a knife.
No matter how many times I breathe, no oxygen enters my lungs, and I remember that agony of drowning on land.
Death.
The absolute thing gripped both of my legs.
“Wait!”
“Muh!』
But suddenly, a voice broke everything.
It was my mother.
She was running toward me with a naginata (a halberd) in a way I had never seen before.
“Step away from Itsuki!”
“Stop it! A hare cannot defeat a lion. That’s the way the world works.』
My mother swung the halberd down, shrugging off his protests.
“……!”
“I said run!!”
But that wouldn’t work on a monster of the sixth rank, and it easily gripped the blade.
“But if you still come at me.”
A moment later, Raikou-douji stretched out his guiding thread silvate.
Straight to my mother’s heart.
If this continues, my mother will die.
She will be killed.
—Move.
My heart pulsed strongly.
A chill runs through me, as if a cold iron has been inserted into my spinal cord.
Fear is clinging to me like sludge.
—Move.
“You must be ready to die!』
Move, my body!!!
A moment later, I extended the guiding thread sillvate from my entire body and created a wall of earth in front of my mother. Slightly delayed, a bolt of lightning from the Raikou-douji runs through the wall.
Buzzzzzzzzz!!!
A monstrous sound cut through the air and slammed into the earthen wall.
But it never reaches my mother.
I’m stopping it before it does.
“Raikou-douji ……was it?”
The monster turned around at my words.
“You just tried to kill my mother, didn’t you?”
I have tried to be strong so I wouldn’t die.
In order not to die, I tried to be strong.
I kill them before they kill me.
I thought that was the best option for not dying.
That means I haven’t gotten over my fear of death.
So let’s be honest.
I’m scared. I’m very scared.
The fear that I might die if I’m not careful makes my legs tremble.
But still, even if I might die.
“Then you are prepared to be killed by me.”
—I can’t let this guy get away with it.
“No hunter is killed by its prey.”
“Then you going to be the first hunter to be killed by your prey.”
So!
“The Flame Bee!”
I will exorcise it here!
