Just as Suguru Geto was about to ask a question, Yagami Kisei suddenly pointed.
The poised Fish Shadows abruptly changed direction, packed together like a living cloud of black mist as they lunged madly toward the mouth of the alley.
Suguru Geto raised his brows a little higher.
He had not expected the boy to skip the pre-fight trash talk and attack on sight, as wary as a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
He lightly stepped half a pace back. Several medium-sized cursed spirits emerged from the shadows, their heavy bodies overlapping in front of him to hastily form a defensive line.
A tiny fish shadow at the very front slipped through a gap between the cursed spirits and brushed his left arm.
There was no wound, nor any pain, yet Suguru Geto distinctly felt a small piece of something light and cool being carried away in that fish shadow's mouth.
The next second, the cursed spirit that should have swatted the school of fish away inexplicably twisted its wrist and struck another cursed spirit instead.
Three or four Fish Shadows slipped through the opening, skimming past his shoulder and waist before dissolving soundlessly, like ink dripping into clear water.
Suguru Geto's pupils contracted slightly.
It was neither a physical attack nor simple erosion by cursed energy.
He quickly adjusted the cursed spirits' formation to close the gap while rapidly reviewing what had happened.
His blocks were half an inch off, his steps half a beat late, his cursed energy failing to connect properly. He kept making these elementary mistakes.
Every brush from a fish shadow added another opening to his movements, as though something were secretly holding him back.
Rather than rushing to counterattack, he retreated another half-step, allowing more cursed spirits to pour out from behind