Sunset Ghost

Plague of the Ikiryō

サンセットゴースト
Sunset Ghost
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第13章
イキリョウの疫病
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As soon as the barrier shattered, a loud whining sound filled the air, like the sound of a train whistle. Kageyama stumbled forward from the momentum of his kick, falling to his knees in front of Hinata's prone form. Behind him, Yachi gave a loud shout of alarm. He spared a glance her way to see the crystal glowing so bright, he had to immediately look away again. This was bad. He shouldn't have broken the barrier. But...

"Hinata!" Kageyama scurried forward frantically on his hands and knees and reached out to touch the redhead's shoulder. He immediately jerked his hand away again with a hiss of pain. The boy's skin must've been at least -30 degrees. Kageyama pulled his sweatshirt sleeves down over his hands and was able to turn Hinata over onto the back without further injuring his hands. The boy was still awake, and his face contorted with pain when Kageyama touched him.

"I'm sorry, I know it hurts" Kageyama apologized in a whisper, hands darting helplessly around his wounds. Hearing a barely audible sound like metal against metal, he gasped and threw himself down, covering Hinata just in time as another of those white things shot past and left a deep indent on the ground. Breath coming in short gasps, Kageyama threw his head up again, searching frantically for the source of the projectiles.

Chaos raged behind him as the crystal began vibrating with power. Each psychic in the group was struggling to deal with the amounts of energy that were suddenly being thrown at them full force, no barrier there to back them up. Kageyama didn't have time to worry about them, though. Whoever was trying to harm them was still here somewhere. He couldn't let them hurt Madoka or the others and risk hindering the reparation further, or worse: damaging the wayline even more.

Kageyama had no doubt the one attacking them now was the one who had struck the wayline earlier, but why wait till now to attack again? Maybe because the psychics were all distracted and couldn't defend themselves? Kageyama's eyes narrowed. Well, they had another thing coming. He was the one who broke the barrier, so he would protect the others, including Hinata.

Positioning the redhead behind him, Kageyama stood, reaching for one of the silver knives Madoka had instructed he and Yachi keep on their persons and took a defensive stance, eyes searching for the attacker. He also had a few talismans on him, but otherwise, not much for defense. He'd have to be smart about this. The best plan would be to locate the opponent's location first, then strike them with a paralysis talisman and secure them that way.

Another white light shot down towards him and Kageyama deflected it with the knife, sending it drilling into the ground by his left foot. His mind raced trying to figure out what the projectiles could be. The only theory he could come up with was that they were Shiki. Shiki were spirits who, when called from the afterlife with an invocation, aided their summoner, usually in dangerous or undesirable jobs. Kageyama had never heard of them appearing as spears of light before, though.

Another came barreling towards him and he slashed it out of the sky instead of deflecting it. It burst like a sack of flour and disappeared, though another one quickly followed it. If these truly were Shiki, he couldn't kill them with just a silver knife: a purification ritual was needed. However, he didn't have time to perform one, especially since there were multiple Shiki present.

Wait... Kageyama's eyes widened as he got an idea. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a purification talisman and slapped it against the knife's blade. "This can work as a substitute," he muttered to himself. "Hopefully, it will work the same as a purification ritual..."

The next Shiki came a few seconds later, and Kageyama held his breath, slashing at it sideways. As soon as the blade struck the ball of light, an eerie shriek filled the air and the light fizzed, exploding in a puff of steam like the one that had hit the barrier earlier. Kageyama inwardly cheered, but he didn't have much time to celebrate. Another spirit shot towards him, quicker than the others, and he had to take a step back to slash it just before it hit him.