PART 2

SWOOSH! The sharp blade run through the air. The rocky door was cut down diagonally in half and started to crumble away.

The stench that started to emit from the opening was putrid and raw. The place was also filled to the brim with purple fog, so thick that you could spot it with your naked eye without much problem ––––.

The whole atmosphere of this area began to change in an instant. The sky changed its color to red and black, the air was filled with strange moisture, and the ground has become squishy and bloated, just like intestines. They were swallowed inside of the youma barrier.

[I’m going in!]
Shouted Mikoto while jumping straight into the depths of the cave. Fortunately the inside was tall enough for Mikoto to be able to stand straight, and she could see the sea anemone-like youmas that were lurking inside of the cave.

[Cut through! Child of the Four Winds, Razor Flowers!]
From behind Mikoto, a series of talismans flew through the air, changing their shape into wind shurikens and cutting through youma’s bodies with ease.

Seeing the youmas struggling with their mutilated limbs, Mikoto pointed “Raikou” diagonally backwards, gathering her ki inside of the blade. She then waited for the youmas to notice her and start to swarm her way ––––.

[Shine bright like the sun! Let your purifying radiance cleanse these demons!]
While shouting those words, Mikoto made a swinging motion with “Raikou”, bringing its blade upwards.

ZAAAAAAP~!!!

A tremendous thunderstorm swept through the cave in an instant, evaporating all youmas that were inside of it.

However, you couldn’t call that being annihilated with a single blow.

The rest of the youmas, the ones which the lightning wasn’t able to reach, rushed towards the Exorcist sisters, trampling the burnt corpses of their fallen comrades. There were many different shapes and species here: sea creatures, insects, and even oversized flowers flexing their petals in a strange ways.

[Looks like we have a few powerful ones in here.] [I don’t suppose that you have something we could use against them, huh?]
Takeru took out a whole lot more talismans from the inside of her pockets and started to throw them at the youmas. The paper flew through the air and cut the youmas bodies, causing purple fluids to gush out of their bodies.

[Leave the small fry to me, Mikoto. Once they group up again, fire “Raikou” at them again.] [Roger that.]
After that, the Exorcists sisters continue to fight the youmas, gathering them up and taking them out with large quantities thanks to “Raikou’s” thunder. And since the youmas were coming out from one single direction, this battle was almost too easy for them.

Now, the question was: where was the core that continued to bred the youmas?

Because if they weren’t able to locate it and dispose of it, the youmas would just continue to proliferate without end, sending cannon fodder after cannon fodder at Shiratori sisters, until they would exhaust themselves and be unable to fight them anymore……

[…… Say, Takeru?]
Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 2
[What?] [Don’t you think that something’s wrong here?] [Seems like it to me.]
After sending thunder after thunder towards the youmas, this was becoming clearer and clearer with each consecutive thunder. The numbers of youmas springing from the back of the cave started to dwindle, and finally they have lost their will to fight and started to retreat. Takeru deemed that this might be a trap and that they shouldn’t pursue the remaining ones, but Mikoto’s intuition was clearly saying her that something was off in here.

[Fuuh…… I don’t believe that they would let us decimate them like that so easily……] [Don’t let your guard down yet. The core may be somewhere at the back of this cave after all.]
Takeru laughed shortly, taking out a new set of talismans from the inside of her pocket. She then placed it alongside the entrance to the cave in few places. There was a sound similar to that of glass breaking, and then the youma barrier shattered and the cave reverted back to its normal colors.

[This is all we can do for the moment: seal the entrance. It would be wiser to wait for support to arrive before conducting the full scaled survey of the cave.] [So nothing can be done, huh?]
Mikoto sheathed her sword and slammed her hand at Takeru’s back, trying to cheer her younger sister up.

[That hurt……! Why don’t we go out for now?]
Takeru didn’t respond to that, but then she came to a sudden stop and Mikoto knew that something was up. Outside of the caves, there was a group of islanders that were blocking their path away.

[What’s this? Members of the hotel opposition group?] [This doesn’t look good.]
As the people crawled towards them, Mikoto and Takeru took a step back towards the cave, beads of cold sweat starting to crop up all over their necks and foreheads. One of the men stepped forward and smiled brightly, come convoluted words coming out of his mouth with great effort.

[Sacri…… fice……?] [That’s right. For the glory of Meiohachi-sama. We received a message from the Island’s Elder.] [Because of the approaching storm, your friends won’t come to your rescue for a while now.] [Now be good girls and do as we say. You do that, and no harm shall befall you.]
Bearing primitive weapons, the men were slowly approaching the girls. Their eyes were all bloodshot and there was foam coming from the corners of their mouths. They were completely blocking off the entrance and it would be impossible to try to bypass them. And since the back of the cave was filled with youmas, they couldn’t escape there either.

[…… This is the worst.]
Takeru slowly raised her hands over her head, showing her willingness to surrender.

[…… Takeru!?]
Mikoto was finding it hard to believe that her younger sister would just give up like that. She wanted to shook her and ask what was the meaning of this, but then she noticed paper talismans falling out of Takeru’s sleeves.

At that exact moment ––––.

[Razor Wind Flowers!]
The paper talismans all got up into the air and flew with a slight flutter towards the incoming crowd. But instead of piercing human flesh, they got stuck on the ceiling and before long……

CRUMBLE, CRUMBLE!!!

They were drilling through it and crumbling it away.

[Takeru!?] [Take care of Sui, Mikoto!]
A huge part of the ceiling fell right in between Mikoto and Takeru, sealing the entrance to the cave almost completely. Seeing that, Mikoto readied “Raikou” and shot one more lightning blade with it towards the hole in the ceiling.

[…… I’m so sorry, Takeru……]
She managed to cut the ceiling of the cave open.

The hole that was created as a result was large enough for a person to fit through it and escape. Mikoto climbed over the fallen rocks and managed to get out and escaped into the forest.

No matter how much they were being controlled by the youmas, their opponents were human beings. Fighting against them would be extremely difficult for Mikoto, since she would have to control “Raikou” in such a way that the damage dealt to them wouldn’t be lethal. And having to sacrifice human lives just to get rid of youmas was no the way they were doing things –– Takeru must have been aware of that as well.

But right now Sui was the one who was in the most danger, not Mikoto or Takeru.

The worst case scenario –– the whole island and its inhabitants were being defiled by the youmas and mind controlled.

And since now everyone on this island was a potential enemy, Sui was in mortal danger, since she was still in a coma after having been attacked by those youmas at the beach the other day. Right now Takeru was drawing the islanders’ attention towards herself so that Mikoto could go and help Sui.

(Just you wait, Sui! This time around, I am going to protect you!)

She wasn’t able to properly work together with Sui during the ghost exorcism at the school building. And she wasn’t able to protect her at the beach when she was being attacked. Both those cases annoyed and angered Mikoto very much.

So, this time! This time, Sui, for sure –––! Mikoto continued to give herself courage like that while she was running through the forest, her ponytail swinging from side to side. She didn’t even notice that rain began to fall.

***

The wind was howling outside and huge raindrops were striking against the window. The sky was covered by the lead-colored clouds and huge waves were crushing against the shore with great tenacity.

[This is getting really rough.]
Said an overweight man while beads of sweat were dripping down his back and chest. However, it was not the sky that was right in front of his eyes, making him smile in a lewd way.