In the deep corridor, Uesugi Tetsu, incarnated as Laughing Brahma, dashed forward.
A demon was charging!
Only after hearing the heavy thudding footsteps overhead did Tokugawa Ririko, who had blocked the doorway with a table and was clutching a broken chair leg, freeze.
With all this haunting going on, was there really someone who dared to shout so loudly?
But the shaking doorframe and eerie laughter that sounded both human and foxlike quickly brought her back to her senses.
Tokugawa Ririko bared her teeth viciously, tore away the obstructive hem of her skirt, and assumed a kendo stance. "Come on! I'm not afraid of a thing like you!"
As she stared at the utterly disordered classroom before her, she remembered how everyone had entered this place laughing and chatting not long ago.
A fleeting sadness crossed the girl's cold, stern face.
I wonder if Uesugi-kun and the other two managed to escape...
As long as I can hold out for a few more minutes. Just...
Wait, why had there been no movement behind the door?
A chill ran through the girl's heart, and she hurriedly looked toward the window.
An old man's face, smiling yet not smiling, poked through the gap in the window covered with bloodstained yellow talismans. It raised its aged, short arm covered in skin and began knocking.
Knock, knock, knock!
Crack, crack—
Under Tokugawa Ririko's tense gaze, Kukuri suddenly thrust its head through the window!
No, that wasn't right!
Kukuri's entire body had been flung into midair! The old man's face, which had originally been smiling, suddenly twisted in unbearable pain!
But before it could trace an arc through the air and crash into the wall, a blue-black right claw suddenly reached out from behind the old window, dragged it back, and strangled Kukuri by the neck.
Its anguished howl abruptly stopped, and the owner of that right claw leisurely crawled in through the window.
Clack.
The chair leg in her hand accidentally fell to the floor.
The girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Once the object in her hand that could be called a "sword" was gone, her entire body seemed to lose its support, and her essence, qi, and spirit changed drastically.
The ferocity of someone fighting to the death transformed into pitiful trembling.
Thus, Tokugawa Ririko sensibly shut her mouth and shrank toward the corner.
Because she saw it.
Standing before her was unmistakably a demon with a face the color of blue-green ash, fangs, and mist winding around its entire body!
Oh no! Two demons were fighting right in front of me!
Tokugawa Ririko trembled violently. She felt a stream of cold air shoot up from between her thighs as her bladder swelled and quivered.
She didn't know whether she should take advantage of the opportunity to sneak away.
Uesugi Tetsu first glanced at the girl in the corner. Seeing her immediately become obedient, he turned his attention back to the Kukuri struggling endlessly in his hand.
"Eek, eek-eek—"
Kukuri was in unbearable pain.
Uesugi Tetsu calmly stared at Kukuri, which was using all its strength to create wounds on his arm.
Suddenly, he smiled.
"So evil spirits can feel fear too?"
Tokugawa Ririko, crouched defensively in the corner with her knees hugged to her chest, struggled to swallow. Had she just heard this demon speak human language?!
She couldn't understand exactly what it was saying, but that had definitely been human speech, right?
Right? Absolutely!
Uesugi Tetsu slowly increased the pressure of his grip. Only after seeing Kukuri begin to beg for mercy did he speak.
"Actually, I'd rather keep you alive. After all, an ability related to precognition is quite useful, isn't it?"
It seemed to understand Uesugi Tetsu's words. Kukuri hurriedly lowered its ugly old-man face and made ingratiating noises like a human.
Uesugi Tetsu continued.
"Unfortunately, I'm rather petty, and I just happen to be a little kind-hearted. My friends died miserably in the wilderness because of you."
"That's not good. That's very bad."
Within the shadows, Laughing Brahma slowly lowered its head and gave the old man's face a kindly smile.
"So."
"Kukuri, please drown in fear."
At once, Kukuri seemed to glimpse something terrifying beyond measure. It frantically twisted its body and managed to squeeze out a terrified shriek.
Then, with a crack, its neck was twisted apart.
[You killed the half-star resentment "Kukuri" and obtained 50 soul ash]
As the notification appeared before his eyes, the Kukuri in Uesugi Tetsu's hand dissolved into ethereal points of light and vanished.
Resentment, huh.
According to the system's classification, the monsters and spirits of this world could only commit evil and kill people after reaching the half-star "resentment" level, and even then, they could barely do so.
If any member of the original courage-testing group had known even a little Onmyōjutsu, or if the five of them had banded together to fight Kukuri from the start, perhaps they wouldn't have ended up like this.
After taking a slow breath, Uesugi Tetsu looked at the girl crouching in the corner and thought that fortunately, he had arrived in time. Otherwise, he probably would have been left to collect Ririko's remains.
But figuring out what to do with her now was also a problem.
"Um, that! Mr. Brahma..."
With her neck feeling cold, Tokugawa Ririko knew she definitely couldn't escape, so she gathered her courage and spoke softly.
Uesugi Tetsu turned his head in silence. He looked toward the corner, where the long-haired girl was fiercely slapping her thighs and quietly telling her snow-white legs, "Stop trembling," only to begin shaking even more violently herself.
"You're Laughing Brahma, right?" She forced out a smile uglier than a cry. "If you want to scare cute children, my little sister is cute too!"
She patted her meager chest and said loudly, "I guarantee it!"
Uesugi Tetsu: ...
He hadn't expected that the kendo club president who, in his memories, had always been decisive and stern in her daily affairs could be this entertaining.
Seeing that the demon didn't immediately attack her, Tokugawa Ririko took a deep breath and ventured, "Besides, I already called the police. An Onmyoji will be here in a few minutes..."
"S-so please try not to kill me, Mr. Brahma. Otherwise, you won't get off easily either. A really powerful Onmyoji will exorcise you!"
No wonder she practiced swordsmanship! She was indeed bold, careful, and quick-witted!
Uesugi Tetsu's eyes lit up.
But when Ririko saw the green light blaze in those eyes, she thought, I shouldn't have threatened the demon. Damn it, I'm screwed now.
What Uesugi Tetsu was thinking, however, was this:
The police station hadn't treated this as a joke. Instead, they had directly contacted the legendary Onmyoji and dispatched them here in a short period.
It seemed that quite a few Supernatural Incidents had occurred recently, to the point that even an ordinary person's report would be taken seriously.
But now, he had a way to deal with the question of where to place her.
He smiled gently at Ririko.
But Uesugi Tetsu had forgotten that he was still in his Laughing Brahma incarnation.
That smile directly triggered the judgment, causing Tokugawa Ririko's vision to go black. After making a "guh" sound, she fainted.
All right...
This would at least make it convenient to carry Ririko over to the metal cabinet. He could dispel the transformation there and quietly wait for rescue as well.
Just as he was about to lift Ririko, the cursed Ouija Board lying on the table caught Uesugi Tetsu's peripheral vision.
His demonic senses told him that it still contained a great deal of unspent resentment. Perhaps summoning a mere Kukuri was far from its limit.
But his good buddy Kumamoto was merely an ordinary paranormal enthusiast found all over the streets. How had he obtained something this dangerous?
There was something fishy going on.
Thinking this, Uesugi Tetsu casually took the Ouija Board with him as well.
Less than two minutes later, he returned to the metal cabinet.
Uesugi Tetsu placed Ririko beside his two good buddies, then dispelled the state of Demon Incarnation.
The official Onmyoji would probably arrive soon, so it was better for him to revert as early as possible.
However, even after leaving the state of Demon Incarnation, his physique had still improved slightly compared to before.
[Uesugi Tetsu] [Physique: 3→4] [Willpower: 4] [Charm: 9] [Spiritual Arts: 0→1]
Although it was nowhere near comparable to when he transformed into Laughing Brahma, he had clearly left the "sub-healthy" state and become an ordinary person.
Moreover, a tiny bit of Spiritual Power remained within his body.
—In other words, even without incarnating as a demon, he could still possess a small portion of a demon's attributes?
After setting the Ouija Board aside, Uesugi Tetsu rubbed his hands together, opened the panel, and looked once more toward the dark, profound bamboo forest.
Before anyone arrived, he might as well draw once.
Hopefully, he wouldn't draw nine small experience bottles—[Soul Soothing Incense Ash (Minor)]—in a row again.
With five taps of his will, five rays of light instantly drifted out from the bamboo forest.
[Soul Soothing Incense Ash (Minor)] [Soul Soothing Incense Ash (Minor)] [Rotten Machete] [Soul Soothing Incense Ash (Minor)] [Hundred-Eyed Demon's Single Eyeball]
Uesugi Tetsu looked at the green light drifting out of the bamboo forest. This seemed to be a fragment of another demon's body.
The faint sound of footsteps had already begun echoing through the corridor not far away.
Before then, he had better quickly see what this eyeball was useful for.
[Hundred-Eyed Demon's Single Eyeball] [Quality: Fine]
This was rookie author Irenno. From now on, updates would be fixed at two chapters every day at noon!
During the new-book period, brothers, please try not to stockpile chapters, qwq.
If there were any changes to the update schedule, they would be announced at the end of the chapter.
Before you continue