Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 62

At the deepest part of the cave, a whirlwind of destruction was blowing.

　'Roarrrrrrrrrr!!!!'

　At the same time, the roar of the deformed creature, which barely maintained his human form, and the flames of crimson fire emitted from his mouth were forcibly extinguished by the storm created by a single swing of the fan. Amid the storm, the monster's sharp-clawed blow was caught by the fan the girl was holding.

　...However, the fan is slightly scratched.

　"Hehehe, you are very good at this. Now it's my turn."

　A moment later, a gasping breath escapes her lips, causing the deformity to instinctively recoil in fear. At the same time, the deformity releases his breath, which transforms into a scorching flame that engulfs the entire cave, mysteriously illuminating the dimly lit space. On the other side, amidst this fire, she shifts her gaze to search for him, only to find him clinging to the ceiling on all fours, menacing her. The light from the flames casts him in an eerie glow, rendering him a writhing shadow of a strange shape.

　"Well, well, it's a problem. I'm at a stalemate."

　Kitsuri-shiroki, using some of the fox's tails as legs and the remaining tails as chairs and armrests, folds her legs in midair and rests her cheekbones on them... no, Kizuki Aoi's soul, who is using her body, sighs.

　For a while, after she had sent him off, Aoi had been waiting for the rescue from the upper level of the cave while repeatedly cutting and throwing the small fish coming toward her, and the reason why she came to this place was that the young man of the hidden group came with a desperate look on his face. Aoi caught him as he was going to the upper level to call for help and questioned him. Based on the information she made him spit out, Aoi instantly assumed the possible situations with her clear mind and changed her plan drastically at once. Instead of waiting for him to come back, she decided to pick him up. And it turned out to be a good decision.

　"Well, I'm sorry I'm late. If it had been a little earlier, I could have managed on my own."

　Aoi glances at the situation in the cave while she catches the barrage of his claws with her fan as he leaps at her using the ceiling as a springboard. And she guessed as accurately as possible what had happened in this cave before she came.

　(At least, before there was a hole in his stomach, I can do something... But it's too late to say...)

　Although she wants to curse her own poor judgment, Aoi is not so stupid and self-righteous as to regret the past forever. She should take the responsibility and the punishment for her blunder only after he is saved, only after he asks for it. To punish herself by herself is nothing but self-absorption. After all, she is not such a stupid woman.

　...And besides, she didn't have enough time to think about such a thing.

　"...!? This is not bad!"

　For the first time in several moments of a fierce clash, the deformity opened his mouth with a forceful snap right in front of Aoi's eyes and nose. At the same time, he leaped backward and immediately after that, he was caught in a literal sea of fire. Unlike the crimson fire that she had seen earlier, it was a pale white fire...