Tokyo Ravens - Volume 2 - Chapter 4.3

Part 3 
"Harutora!" 
Upon hearing that cry, Harutora quickly rushed into the spectator seats of the magic practice field with all his power. 
This was the first time he had looked from the spectator seats at the magic practice field where the shikigami battle had been held yesterday, and at the time he hadn't noticed how vast this arena really was due to the tense situation. 
The spectator seats were devoid of people, and there were only two figures inside the light-illuminated arena. There was that suit-wearing man in the center of the area, his head turned to look at Harutora - the Mystical Investigator. The other person who was tied and bound while lying at his feet was the uniform-wearing Natsume. 
"Natsume!" 
He couldn't see Natsume clearly because of the distance between them, but the voice that had called out to him didn't sound like she had been hurt. Harutora had made it in time, Natsume was safe. 
The kodoku continuously rushed from the front row of the spectator seats towards the two people in the center of the arena before it. Harutora rushed down the descending spectator seats, stopping in front of the squirming kodoku. 
First Kon, then Touji and Tenma, and finally Kyouko bringing Hakuou and Kokfuu appeared in the spectator seats in succession after Harutora. "D, Did we make it?" Tenma asked. After Touji quickly inspected the condition of the area, he briefly nodded his head to respond. 
Then, he turned to Kyouko who followed behind him, saying with a smile: 
"......It seems like it went pretty successfully." 
Kyouko was short of breath, maybe because she been affected by continuously using magic, but she still desperately regulated her breathing, nodding her head at Touji. 
Touji's proposed battle plan in the classroom had been a 'counter-curse'. 
A counter-curse, namely eliminating the magic cast by the other party, returned the magic to the practitioner. Curses originally referred to turning the spiritual power of negative emotions like anger or hatred into the power required for magic, and because of this, eliminating the control imposed over the magical power could liberate the magical power and turn the attack towards the practitioner who had used it. This counter-curse was the most effective magic against the kodoku, which used resentment as magical power. 
But, this was a kodoku cast by a Mystical Investigator - a specialist in casting magic on humans - and it wasn't simple to destroy its firm control, especially since this was Kyouko's first time trying to cast a counter-curse. 
"Luckily, Touji-kun started the sprinkler system and weakened the kodoku's power, or else we couldn't have succeeded no matter how powerful Kurahashi-san was." 
Tenma, who had successfully cracked the classroom's barrier, spoke excitedly. In order to lessen Kyouko's burden, Harutora, Kon, Touji, and Tenma had fought with their full strength. It would have been hard to escape the crisis without the hard work of any one of them. 
"......So with this, it's obvious who the culprit is, but it's truly unexpected." 
Kyouko spoke with disdain, gazing at the arena from the spectator seats and staring at the Mystical Investigator who looked back at them. 
The out-of-control fog was obviously trying to attack the Mystical Investigator in the arena, proving that the practitioner who had used the kodoku was none other than him. This was the clearest evidence. 
They had wondered when someone had set a barrier in the classroom. Since the Mystical Investigator had carried out investigations of Natsume's surroundings, there had been numerous opportunities for him to set down magic beforehand. The kodoku was the same. Since it had been magic used inside the academy building, the barrier sealing off the building naturally wouldn't respond. Moreover, as long as he stayed inside the magic practice field's arena, he wouldn't have to worry about magical espionage for even a moment. What seemed like an unplanned attack had actually been deliberate and profound. 
On the other hand, the Mystical Investigator's body shook from anger and mortification as he stood in the arena, raising his head to look at the kodoku he had released along with the academy students who had done away with the kodoku. 
But, he suppressed his roused emotions again, a cold smile appearing on his face, and spat. 
"......Well, if it isn't the Kurahashi family tomboy who's usually quarreling bitterly with the king...... Truly a miscalculation." 
He took out a bloodstained charm from the pocket of his suit, deliberately raising it high in front of them and slowly tearing it in two. With that tear, the fog stuck to the barrier thrashed painfully, splitting left and right and dissipating into mist. He had long since prepared countermeasures to guard against a counter-curse situation. 
Harutora broke into a run again upon seeing that action, sprinting towards the arena. 
"So you were the culprit! You haven't done anything to Natsume, have you!?" 
The Mystical Investigator snorted and replied to Harutora's angry roar. 
"......I just made him listen to some of my words here. How could I hurt him, especially since I have no intention of harming Natsume-kun. Isn't that natural? Even if he's immature, he's still the king." 
The Mystical Investigator replied with a smile. 
His narrowed eyes were dark, and it could be seen that this unexpected development annoyed him. But he even showed self-control in his expression, and his tone regained its calm, his lips always presenting a mocking smile. 
Kyouko blew a raspberry at him fiercely. 
"Before we came here, we used a simple shikigami to inform the teachers, and they will hurry here very quickly after they learn what's happened. You have nowhere to run, especially since this is inside the Onmyou Academy." 
"R, Right! Y, You should surrender peacefully and release Natsume-kun!" 
Tenma continued Kyouko's cold words, also raising his voice to clamor at the Mystical Investigator. Touji was silent, showing a look as sharp as a knife's edge as he watched the Mystical Investigator's reaction. 
"Okay, I'll let him go. It's my loss this time, I'll leave this place quickly." 
The Mystical Investigator shrugged his shoulders readily. "Huh?" Tenma exclaimed in surprise, and Kyouko was also stunned. 
"My goal this time was just to let Natsume-san know about my existence, and though I hoped that he would understand more of the truth...... I'll leave it to be said 'next time'." 
He spoke leisurely. Harutora heard it and couldn't help but growl with gritted teeth: "You bastard......" 
Just then-- 
"Do you understand the consequences of this?" Natsume, who was lying on the ground, spoke. 
The Mystical Investigator turned around towards her with a 'nn?'. 
"......Not only will you be unable to return to the Onmyou Agency, you'll even be hunted down instead. Do you truly think you can escape from the Onmyou Agency's pursuit?" 
"Oh my, did you forget what I said just now? That there are still many of my comrades in the Onmyou Agency?" 
The Mystical Investigator replied, showing an insidious smile. Natsume was momentarily speechless. 
"Indeed, I won't be able to continue moving in the spotlight with this, but it's not important. I'll hide in the background and wait for the day of your true awakening to come. There are many who look forward to the North Star King descending upon this world again, definitely far more than you imagine." 
Then, the Mystical Investigator respectfully opened his arms and pressed his hand to his chest, bowing deeply. 
"I shall take my leave. I look forward to meeting you again soon......" 
After saying this dramatically, he turned around without waiting for a reply, sticking both hands in his pants pockets and slowly striding away. Needless to say, he didn't even glance at the students in the spectator seats. 
But-- "Hold on, man." Harutora called out to the Mystical Investigator with one leg on the railing separating the spectator seats and the arena. The Mystical Investigator momentarily stopped walking towards the arena exit upon hearing this. 
"Do you think you can escape? Do you think we'll let you go?" 
He was obviously deliberately provoking him. 
Natsume, Kyouko, and the others' eyes widened. The stopped Mystical Investigator leisurely raised his head, replying to Harutora with a callous voice. 
"Oh? 'Let me go'? I don't think I have any need to ask you to 'let me go', hmm? Could it be that eliminating that little kodoku gave you some misunderstanding?" 

The Mystical Investigator calmly turned around to face Harutora, scornfully staring back at Harutora's sharp gaze. 
He spread his arms wide. 
"Come if you want, since you won't let me escape, why don't you come forth! I'll let you witness what the power of a true Onmyouji actually is!" 
"............" 
Harutora wordlessly raised his shakujou, and Kon's killing intent simmered by the side as she prepared for battle. 
"D, Don't do it, Harutora-kun!" 
Tenma hurriedly spoke to stop him from behind. 
Kyouko also grimaced regretfully, but had to plead Harutora to stop. 
"Quick, stop. The enemy is a specialized Onmyouji, however crazy he is. I'm already almost at my limit too, so it might be very hard to block the next attack." 
The curbing voices of his classmates sounded from behind him, but Harutora still stared viciously at the Mystical Investigator. 
"......The teachers should have noticed the disturbance, and if things go smoothly, maybe they will be able to subdue him before he leaves the academy. If you act rashly right now, Natsume will be in danger." Touji who had always been maintaining his silence finally opened his mouth. 
"Tch......!" 
Touji spoke correctly, the Mystical Investigator indeed planned on releasing Natsume. If something happened right now, it could lead to him taking Natsume as a hostage, and the situation was bound to become even more dangerous. 
Harutora gritted his teeth, loosening his arms that tightly gripped the shakujou. The Mystical Investigator didn't pass up that good opportunity to mock Harutora either. "Alright, then, I take my leave." 
After he leisurely dropped those words, he walked towards the exit again. Harutora and the others could only silently watch his back depart. 
Just as Harutora and the others were watching him leave-- 
"......You said you were my Hishamaru." The bound Natsume tossed her head, shouting loudly. Harutora and the others shook in fright, and the Mystical Investigator also turned around in surprise. 
But, the surrounding reactions didn't arouse Natsume's notice. She insisted out loud as she lay weakly on the floor: 
"I don't care what kind of nonsense you and your comrades love to believe or what you think, since it's all just wishful thinking. If I had a Hishamaru by my side, that person would be Harutora, because Harutora is my only shikigami in the real world." 
If the principal or Ohtomo were here, they definitely would have clapped their hands and cheered. 
It was wonderful and easy to understand, simply the best demonstration of second-class magic. 
Actually, the effects were quite surprising. 
"My King! That is truly saddening." 
"This is simply disappointing!" 
The Mystical Investigator ripped apart his feigned mask of calmness, angrily scolding Natsume. The moment that this young man broke free of his shackles of keeping a calm mind had finally come. 
Moreover-- 
"Even if you're immature, you shouldn't have been led astray by this brat!" 
"No matter how ignorant you are, the king shouldn't say such crazy words to those who will eventually become your aides! Be careful with your language!" 
The Mystical Investigator's way of speaking changed, and other than the original voice, a deep voice with a completely different tone also chimed in. The two indeed both came from his mouth, but it was as if he had two personalities, with both saying different things. 
His eyes were bloodshot. Saliva overflowed from his mouth. His agitated face was dyed with a dark red. He roared angrily at Natsume, but his eyes were dull, not looking at Natsume at all. 
Harutora and the others gaped, and Natsume also couldn't conceal her surprise at the reaction she had caused which surpassed her expectations. 
"This is bad." Touji 'tch'ed, but he could do nothing about the situation before him. 
The Mystical Investigator leaned his entire body backwards. 
"It can't be helped, since things have come to this--" 
"--I'll let you brats witness the proof that we are suited to become confidants of the North Star King!" 
Immediately after, aura coalesced into a giant eddy behind the Mystical Investigator's back. 
The aura inside the arena was always kept in a steady state in order to raise the stability of magic. Because of this, the sudden spike in magical power made the originally calm aura writhe intensely like a stormy sea. 
A titanic shikigami appeared behind the back of the Mystical Investigator who was looking at the sky and laughing madly. 
"That's an...... Oni [16] ?" 
Harutora exclaimed in surprise and Kon gaped. Natsume, Touji, Kyouko, and Tenma all stared breathlessly. 
The shikigami that appeared before them was an exemplification of an oni. 
The shikigami was three times taller than the Mystical Investigator who stood in front of it. Two sharp, curved horns grew out of a mane of tough fur, pointing into the sky. Its upper body was naked, and its lower body was encircled by shabby leather trousers. Its rope-like muscles bulged from underneath its dark, exposed skin as if it were raising a big snake inside its body. 
That appearance was completely identical to the oni spoken of in ancient legends. Upon seeing that mighty appearance, the body had already felt its oppressive, confrontational feeling like a giant beast's long before the mind had reacted, the pressure that a ferocious and cunning unknown creature gave off. 
This oni had two notable features. 
One was the bronze mask covering its face. 
The other was-- 
"One arm? A one-armed oni...... Impossible! No way!?" 
Kyouko shrieked in shock. The oni was missing the lower half of its left arm like it had been cut off. Kyouko, Natsume, and Tenma were all extremely familiar with which famous practitioner had used a one-armed oni. 
The Mystical Investigator showed an overjoyed look upon hearing Kyouko's scream. 
"King! My great king! Could you have already forgotten the name you bestowed?" 
"The King of the North Star, Tsuchimikado Yakou, was served by two retainers--" 
The Mystical Investigator declared loudly. 
"I am Hishamaru!" 
"And I am - Kakugyouki."