Chapter 28
AFTER DEFEATING the spirit chimera and indulging Eizenfald
for a while, Mira met up with Second Company seizing Chimera HQ along with Cyril. She and Cyril left Gregorius with the support troops and continued onward together.
In the final room, they found Kagura cradling a naked girl in her arms.
“It seems the fight is over,” Mira said.
Evidence of an intense battle littered the whole chamber, painting a vivid image of the fight that had just unfolded here. Mira felt the traces of their struggle as she stood next to Kagura’s side and looked down upon the girl in her arms. Fair skin, slender arms and legs. She didn’t look strong in any way, but the scars of battle were fresh on her.
“Yeah, well, half-over,” said Kagura.
“Hmm? Half, you say?” Mira had presumed this was the boss of Chimera Clausen. She furrowed her brow at Kagura’s unsatisfying answer. What did she mean by that?
“I was able to chase her out, but after that…” Kagura said with a sigh. She looked toward the back of the room, where a rhomboid black fragment lay on the ground. Just looking at it sent a palpable chill down their spines. Mira and Cyril gazed at it from afar and offered their impressions.
“It’s not black mist ore, is it? It’s…thick.”
“Agreed. It’s…very off-putting, isn’t it?”
It was a bit longer than a finger and shrouded in mist, just like black mist ore. But it seemed far more ominous than anything they’d seen yet.
“That used to be her horns,” Kagura said to the wary duo and let out another big sigh. According to her, the little girl was only being possessed. The true identity of Chimera Clausen’s boss was the vengeful ghost that had formed as a result of so many curses.
As for the ghost itself, Kagura had expelled it from the girl’s body with her special move. This move was the ultimate technique of mediums, [Seven-Star Withering: Altair]. It had the effect of drawing out a weapon’s capabilities to the fullest and magnifying them by tens of times. With its aid, even a weak fire-elemental sword could unleash a blow rivaling that of demonic swords’ hidden techniques. Kagura had used it to magnify her Alabaster Oni-Slayer weapon’s power to drive off the vengeful ghost.
She’d annihilated the ghost, but the two black horns had fallen from the girl’s head and fused into one on the floor.
“I dunno how to put this… I guess that thing is probably, like, crystallized oni curses. They went dormant due to the death of the vengeful ghost, which is why they fell off of her, I guess?” Though small, the black fragment had a terrifying presence. Even Kagura didn’t seem to know too much about it, and the confidence gradually faded from her words. One thing was certain, though: it couldn’t be left alone.
“Oni curses, hm? Can’t ignore that,” Mira mumbled as she gazed at the fragment.
Cyril stepped forward. “They devour spirits, after all. Someone might use it for evil, so I’d like to see it dealt with, but…” He whipped out his Alabaster Oni-Slayer sword and struck at the fragment. “Figures. This is nothing like what we’ve dealt with so far.”
His swift strike had lost all momentum the moment it touched the black mist. However, Cyril had already assumed that they wouldn’t be able to break through it that easily. He watched how the fragment reacted to the attack and slowly sheathed his sword.
“That’s right. I even tried hitting it with another Altair, and it didn’t do a thing.” Kagura turned to look at her khakkhara staff, which lay mangled on the floor. Since Altair pushed a weapon to its limit, its power came with a hefty toll.
Yet even that had failed to destroy the black fragment. After Kagura sighed for the third time in consternation, Mira suddenly spoke up. “Hrmm… Then why don’t I try something?”
When she saw Mira approaching the fragment, Kagura stammered in surprise, “Gramp—Mira, what’s going on?”
Cyril turned around, eyes wide, and murmured, “This is…”
Their surprise was not unwarranted—the pattern of the Spirit King’s blessing glowed in pulses all over Mira’s body.
“I told you about the Spirit King, did I not? This is the mark of his blessing. I’ve been like this since the moment you swung your sword a moment ago. It seems the blessing reacted to the oni power.” Mira walked up, stopped in front of the black fragment, and summoned Holy Sword Sanctia as casually as she would any other summon. “The Spirit King told me that his power, combined with the true power of this holy sword, can exterminate oni curses.”
Mira gazed upon the symbols etched all over her and felt the flow of the Spirit King’s power. She understood the meaning of it clearly now. Mira pointed the tip of the holy sword at the black fragment. “You said this was the crystallization of oni curses. Well, that was half-correct. It’s strange, but I feel the Spirit King’s wisdom pouring into me through his blessing. It seems this is the oni’s raw power.”
“Their raw power? How is that different from a curse?” Kagura cocked her head at Mira’s words, but it seemed even the person who’d said it hadn’t quite grasped all of this new knowledge.
“Don’t ask me,” Mira replied, as if it wasn’t her problem. “Regardless, I believe this falls to me.” Mira raised the holy sword and focused on the sensation of power flowing through the blessing. Strangely, she knew how to use the power now. In response to the pulsing of the Spirit King’s blessing, the holy sword began to emit light as well. It was like a lighthouse, a guiding beacon that tore through the darkness and brought relief to those who looked upon it.
Mira swung the sword down. There was no technique involved; she just casually let gravity take the lead. Yet the arc of it gleamed like a master’s sword swing, and it homed in on the black fragment. Dazzling light burst forth. Without a sound, without impact, it bleached their surroundings a pure white.
Kagura and Cyril had to shut their eyes, but only for a moment. Before they knew it, the light had contracted. The symbols on Mira and the holy sword winked out, their job complete.
One more thing had disappeared as well: the black fragment.
Just in case, Kagura gently put the girl down and ran over to where the black fragment had lain. “Did it work?” On closer inspection, the disquieting presence from before was no longer there.
She couldn’t say she was used to it yet, but Mira was beginning to get the hang of the effects of the Spirit King’s blessing. The sensation of it told her that the cause of all this, the oni power, was indeed, gone. So she flashed Kagura a smile and replied, “It certainly felt like it did. And as you can see, the mark of the blessing is gone. I’d say it worked perfectly.”
“Does that mean it’s really over now?”
“Indeed. You fought well.”
“…Yeah.” Mira’s reassuring words and easy demeanor brought relief to Kagura, who relaxed like a taut string given slack. She gazed off into the distance. The leader of Isuzu was the image of a flower blooming on the battlefield, fragile yet vivacious, with the promise of a budding future.
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