Chapter 10: Ambush

The path he took led through a red-light district.

A love hotel that even students could get into.

That was his destination.

He’d heard through the grapevine—reviews on his smartphone—that deep in the red-light district was a hotel that would obviously turn a blind eye to underage guests.

A rare chance to be outside.

Time to relax while the cat’s away.

For Shiga Inui, however, this was her “training.”

“Here.”

Shiga Inui bought a drink from a vending machine near the road and handed it to her.

“What’s this for…? All of a sudden.”

(He’s being… kind,) Abarabana Tenri thought.

She was about to say it out loud, but his next words cut her off.

“You’re gonna be leaking all kinds of fluids soon, so drink up now before you get dehydrated.”

He said something truly terrifying.

She realized he intended to do something far more horrifying than what he’d done before.

She swallowed hard.

To distract herself from her anxiety, she opened the drink he’d given her and took a long swig.

At that same moment, Shiga Inui stopped in his tracks.

He must have sensed something as they passed someone walking from the opposite direction.

“Why are you stopping?”

she asked, puzzled.

Shiga Inui just scratched his ear, looking annoyed.

“You’re Shiga Inui… aren’t you.”

The voice came from the other man.

Hearing his name, he turned around.

He slid his sunglasses down to get a look at the man’s face.

Not a familiar face.

He had long hair, with bangs that hung low enough to almost hide his mouth.

Couldn’t make out his face, so it wasn’t anyone he knew.

In the first place, he hardly ever bothered to remember men’s faces.

He simply erased them from his memory.

In fact, the only men he remembered were those he acknowledged.

So, he treated the man who’d spoken to him as a complete stranger.

“Huh? Hey now, I don’t recall having a name that men are allowed to use.”

A flippant grin spread across his face.

He pushed his sunglasses back up and his smile widened.

“Ah, but then again, I guess I’m pretty famous… I wear these sunglasses to hide my face, you know. Hey, Tenri, you know who I am?”

He struck a pose as he spoke to Abarabana Tenri beside him.

She looked at him with an expression of contempt and answered honestly.

“The only thing I know for sure is that you’re an idiot.”

“I’ll strip you naked.”

He grabbed her chest with one hand. Even through the cloth, he could tell how small her breasts were.

He was about to rip her clothes open and expose her.

But, there were others who wouldn’t allow that.

Or rather, they wouldn’t.

They weren’t heroes of justice, unable to forgive evil for the girl’s sake.

It was simply that further talk was pointless.

Interrupt the conversation for the objective.

Stare down the enemy for the plan.

Direct hostility at the target for the scheme.

“Sorry, but we don’t have time for your little comedy routine.”

As if those words were a signal.

Before he knew it,

Shiga Inui was surrounded by seven sorcerers.

“We’re going to kill you. Right here.”

She, Abarabana Tenri, looked at them and understood at once.

(These people are… sorcerers. And more than that, every one of them is a clan head…?!)

Abarabana Tenri’s mind processed all available information on them.

She had already confirmed their faces from her sources.

Most of them possessed abilities they didn’t even reveal to outsiders, but she could tell each and every one was a master of considerable skill.

(They’re after him… So many of them, all at once…!)

A chill ran down her spine.

Fighting seven sorcerers at once was suicide.

No matter how much of a prodigy Shiga Inui was hailed to be, this was a dangerous situation.

It should have been a situation that inspired nothing but fear.

But what surprised her, what surprised Abarabana Tenri more than anything, was this.

“Gonna kill me? Hey, hey.”

A hopeless situation.

And faced with it, he was smiling.

He took off his sunglasses, tucked them into the inside of his casual jacket, and cracked his knuckles, baring his teeth in a grin.

“You got it wrong. You’re the ones who are about to be killed by me.”

Utterly composed.

Perfectly at ease.

Outrageously arrogant.

Despite this being a deathtrap, a scene of carnage, he walked the edge of hell as if it were paradise.

As if he didn’t know the meaning of fear.

He was enjoying this situation.

“Shiga…”

Abarabana Tenri was still clinging to him.

It seemed she, too, was preparing to fight, after a fashion.

This was likely because she figured that if Shiga Inui were to die, she would be the next target.

However, Shiga Inui, still holding her, spoke to the sorcerers.

“Looks like these guys want a piece of me. Man, it’s tough being so popular… So, how about you just sit back and watch?”

With that, Shiga Inui lifted Abarabana Tenri into his arms.

It wasn’t a romantic, princess-style carry. He hefted her over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

“I’ll finish this up quick so I can admire that ass of yours. Just wait a bit.”

He said, patting Abarabana Tenri’s rear.

She smacked him hard on the back.

“Don’t just touch me whenever you feel like it! Ugh, you…!”

But it was useless to struggle. Against his strength, she couldn’t possibly break free.

He set her down near a parking lot, and once again, Shiga Inui stood before them.

“You’re all pretty considerate, aren’t you? You’ve had plenty of openings.”

Shiga Inui was smiling.

(An opening? True… but he must have created it on purpose.)

One of the sorcerers, Soui Shuryakuma, thought as much.

There had certainly been an opening, but they couldn’t bring themselves to step in. They’d suspected it was a trap, but…

“Or maybe… your goal isn’t to kill me?”

Shiga Inui said, as if seeing right through them.

No one spoke, but it was clear he’d read them perfectly.

Facing the silent group, Shiga Inui let out a breath.

“Ah well, whatever… Fine, let’s get this over with. I’m getting impatient. If I can’t have a woman, then show me some blood!”

As he yelled, he moved forward. And in response to that first step, one of the sorcerers made his move.

Kammuri Kokeiraku.

As he made a closing gesture with both hands, Shiga Inui’s movements stopped.

(My body won’t move. Am I being held in place?)

Two sorcerers approached from the front.

Takenawa Kiriyoshizen and Tsunoi Mon’o.

Flow coursed through the long, thick legs of Takenawa Kiriyoshizen. Onomi Rokuzan generated Flow throughout his own body and followed after Takenawa.

“Shiga!”

Watching from the sidelines, she screamed. She could tell he was immobilized by some factor.

At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to do anything and would take a direct hit.

“No problem… Hah, hah!!”

He moved his arms. Pinned between two invisible walls on either side, he forced them apart with his bare hands.

(He broke through the Casting Art with just Flow manipulation?!)

Kammuri Kokeiraku’s Casting Art: The Mold. It was an ability that could create an impression of a target’s shape by sandwiching them between invisible walls—a “mold.”

The Mold could hold a target in place, making it a useful ability for restraints, but he never imagined someone could break out of it just by manipulating their Flow.

“But!”

Shiga Inui had only pushed the Mold back. He was still caught between the walls and couldn’t dodge.

With his escape route blocked, Takenawa Kiriyoshizen charged in first.

(Heel Reversal!!)

Flow was structured by the Art. A materialized blade appeared on Takenawa Kiriyoshizen’s leg… mainly on his heel. The Kicking Talon Art.

It allowed him to grow talons like a bird of prey as part of the act of kicking.

The output of Flow increased with the swing of his leg, so by reinforcing his body with Flow manipulation and kicking, he could either launch it as an instantaneous flying slash or increase the hardness and sharpness of the blade extending from his foot.

Being this close, Takenawa Kiriyoshizen chose the latter. He had closed the distance to ensure he could slice his opponent in two.

“If I can’t go back or sideways… then it has to be forward.”

However.

The bisecting blade would be unleashed from the sole of his foot.

Trapped by the invisible walls, Shiga Inui couldn’t dodge left or right.

If he moved back, his opponent would just close in further, and he’d be diced by the slash unleashed from his foot before that. So, forward was the only way.

He kicked off, lunging forward with enough momentum to escape the invisible walls. Faster than the blade could tear his flesh, he took Takenawa Kiriyoshizen’s advancing leg in his side and caught it.

“You’ve got some nasty kicking habits.”

As he said it, he broke the man’s leg with sheer physical strength alone. A dry crack echoed, like the sound of a dead tree snapping.

“Gah!”

He slammed his fist into the face of Takenawa Kiriyoshizen, who was reeling in pain. The single blow caved his target’s face in.

As Takenawa Kiriyoshizen fell backward to the ground, Onomi Rokuzan, a Japanese sword at his hip, closed in from behind him.

He swung the sword up into a high stance, preparing to slash down, but Shiga Inui easily dodged the blow and threw a punch at Onomi Rokuzan’s face.

A direct hit—a brutal strike even more powerful than the one that had just obliterated Takenawa Kiriyoshizen’s face—should have destroyed Onomi Rokuzan’s… or so he thought.

“Huh?”

Punched in the face, Onomi Rokuzan stumbled back. His nose was bent and bleeding, but the wound was far from fatal.

(Not that surprising. He must have used an Art to soften the blow. That’s all I need to know.)

Shiga Inui’s guess was correct. Onomi Rokuzan’s Division Art allowed him to receive only one-tenth of any damage taken.

Forcing his bent nose back into place, Onomi Rokuzan felt a chill.

(That was one-tenth?! Shit, just how much of a monster is this guy?!)

As Onomi Rokuzan readied his sword, a well-built man in nothing but his underwear came up beside him.

“Did he use an Art?”

It was the man called Tsunoi Mon’o.

Onomi Rokuzan gritted his teeth at the question.

“He hasn’t used a single one!!”

“Then we’ll make him!!”

Tsunoi Mon’o slid across the ground toward him. He was secreting Flow from the soles of his feet, reducing the friction to zero.

Tsunoi Mon’o’s leg extended, aiming a kick at him, but Shiga Inui dodged and swung a fist at his face.

(Lubrication Art!!)

As a large amount of bodily fluid secreted from his face, Shiga Inui’s fist landed and then slipped right off.

He looked at the fluid on his palm with disgust and yelled.

“That’s disgusting!!”

(Disgusting is fine by me! Do it!!)

Behind him, Soui Shuryakuma closed in and activated his Art. A red, hard-surfaced mask appeared.

(Demon Mask Art!!)

Soui Shuryakuma controlled the demon mask. He created a mask large enough to bite a man in half and had it chomp down on Shiga Inui.

Blood streamed from Shiga Inui’s arm. Elated that they had managed to wound him, they let out cries of joy.

“We can do this…! We can win!! If we keep this up…!”

“We can definitely take him…”

But their hope was easily shattered. Shiga Inui flexed his arm.

With that, a crack ran through the mask, then a mass of Flow erupted like a rivet, destroying it in a single blow.

“Yeah… my bad.”

Blood dripping from his arm, Shiga Inui rotated his wrist, opening and closing his fingers to check if any nerves were severed as he spoke.

“As expected of sorcerers… Without my Arts, I might actually lose, huh? …So, my bad for holding back. It’s lame, but… I’ll use my Arts.”

“How embarrassing,” Shiga Inui said, narrowing his eyes.

They all swallowed hard.

In all the major battles between sorcerer houses up until now, he had never shown any sign of using an Art.

So for him to declare he would use one in this fight… they understood it meant Shiga Inui was finally getting serious.

(He’s coming!)

The moment Onomi Rokuzan readied his sword again, Shiga Inui appeared right in front of him.

(Wh- so fast…! Activate the Art!)

He tried to use his Division Art. But Shiga Inui was slowly moving away from Onomi Rokuzan.

(Is… is he not going to attack?)

Wrong.

He already had.