Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 61

The moment the figure appeared, there was silence. The three monsters and a human being in the room, all of them were fixed on the black figure. No, they couldn't help it.

　They were bewildered, disturbed, and wondering. No wonder. Just a few moments before, the person had been a mere human being, charred by the electric shocks. And now... what was this thing that was emitting youkai energy, spiritual energy, and even a little divine energy in front of their eyes?

　No, what in the world is happening to this human being?

　'Screech!!!!'

　Pushing aside doubts and questions, the first one who attacked the deformity was the divine hawk, which was supposed to be an ally of the deformity. It flew low over the narrow cave, and then came at him from behind with its claws. Like a gust of wind, it left even the sound of the wind behind...

　The claws of the divine hawk's feet were sharp enough to easily cut through the thick fur of a great youkai as well as the iron armor of a warrior. Moreover, a surprise attack with those claws would cut off the life of the opponent before they could even comprehend what had just happened.

　'Screech!!?'

　However, that plan is instantly destroyed. The divine hawk who slashed at him at the same time as they crossed paths stopped moving immediately after that. It was stopped. And the hawk opens its eyes to see the reason.

　The servant had seized one of the hawk feet and one of its hooked fingers, which was as thick as a man's arm, and had caught it. The huge body, which must have weighed at least a few thousand kan (historical unit in Japan), passed by each other at a speed so fast that it cut through the sky, and the servant grabbed and caught it at that moment. This fact astonished the divine hawk. At the same time, it understands the danger and immediately moves on to the next action.

　The hawk opened its beak and released a rain of light. The concentrated spiritual energy was condensed into an arrow shape, scattered like rain, and spat out, each of which was powerful enough to pierce a person's body and kill him or her instantly. It was obviously too powerful to be unleashed on a single individual from such a short distance when it was normally unleashed on a crowd of monsters from far away or above. However...

　'Screech!?'

　At first glance, it looks as if a chicken is being slaughtered with a beef knife, but after the divine hawk finishes its attack, it gets upset when it sees an unscathed deformity in the front of its eyes. In a hurry, it tries to unleash another attack... but is slammed against the wall of the cave in the next instant.

　'...? Monster!!?'

　Just after that, the Tsuchigumo that witnessed the scene joins the fight and attacks. She leaps at once to close in, and her four front spider legs, clawing, swing down on the former servant at the same time. If it were a mere human, it would have been crushed by a single swing of her legs, which swung at such a speed that even the afterimage of her mass couldn't be seen.

　The deformity, however, did not show any sign of avoiding the swing. Or perhaps it should be said that he accepted it.