Chapter 2.3 (2/2)

Hyun! Shupan!

Sword was drawn, and with it’s flicker tentacles are cut and send in the air. At the same time there is a shine of dazzling light. Slashed demons are wrapped in pale sparks, screaming, evaporating, defeated.

But, unlike the other night, this time there was no explosive power. She wasn’t concentrating enough on the sword. She only managed to take two of them down. There was still a large group of demons which didn’t got burned, and their sheer numbers could become a threat if she was to idle even for a moment.

“Kishyaaaaaa!!” “Shigyaaaaaa!!”

Demons that emerged from the black fog behind her divide themselves into two groups to avoid the sword of lightning, running all over the lawn and shaking their obscene bodies. Fast. Some are diving underground, others are clinging to the walls, while another ones are going after Takeru, who has finally regained her composure.

“Kuh!? Born in the Heavens, splitting the Earth, Lightning Bolt!”

Mikoto turns around to her left, right against the demons, making a quick cross sign. From the palm of her hand, there came shooting a blinding white light, formed just like a snake.

Bachi, bachi, bachi!

Faced with a shock that falls nothing short to a real thunder, the demons evaporate in the blink of an eye. However, it was not possible for her to take down both groups at the same time.

“Wind Killing Flower!”

Takeru followed by shouting a spell and throwing a dozen of talismans into the air at once. White talismans filled with Wind magic turned into a sharp light, dividing the ugly bodies of chasing demons into small pieces. Wind blades then changed their trajectory like a boomerang, slashing at the demons at the wall with a popping sound.

(Alright! At this rate, Takeru and I are going to crush them!)

Gripping tightly on [Raikou], Mikoto tried to run towards her sister, who just landed near the back of the courtyard.

Dodododonnnn!

Suddenly the lawn beneath her feet started to rumble, the walls of dark soil appeared in front of her eyes. Demons that hid themselves in the ground jumped out, wiggling their long bodies.

“Kuh!”

Swinging [Raikou] in a hurry, she didn’t even put a single scratch on the mud wall, bouncing off of it with a dry sound. Earth beats Lightning –– [Raiko’s] element has been stopped, it’s power nearly cut in half.

“Mikoto……”

She heard Takeru’s voice coming from the other side of the wall. It was blown off almost instantly, the shattered fragments of soil raining all over the place with a roar. Wind conquers Earth, and Takeru’s charms that emits Wind [ki] were grinding the earth walls down.

“Takeru!”

There was a thick cloud of sand surrounding Mikoto. The enemies of her sister were Earth demons, but she had a bad feeling about this.

“Where are you, Takeru!? Hey! Answer me…… Ah!?”

The sand cloud disappears, walls of school building appear in front of her eyes. Takeru is nowhere to be seen. Instead, from where she was standing, she could see burn marks on the chalk walls, such as tongues of flames would left.

(Dragged into the magical barrier––!?)

Mikoto was losing her mind. When the demons caught their prey, they would create a magical barrier and drag their victim inside, as to not being disturbed. It is a different dimension, slightly resembling normal world but with different phases, where they would toy around with their victim.

Right now, there was a possibility that Takeru jumped into the barrier on purpose, prepared in advance to break it from the inside. But if she was overwhelmed during battle and dragged inside by force by the tentacles, even with using force getting out would be very difficult. Although they were small, demon possessed more powerful magic than humans.

She could only be rescued by breaking the barrier from outside, but right now Mikoto’s magic was heavily depleted and wouldn’t be nearly enough to destroy it.

(It’s all my fault……)

Her whole body broke into a cold sweat.

Because she wasn’t paying enough attention to the work at hand, Takeru had been taken away. Always wise and calm, scolding me for not thinking, my irreplaceable twin sister –– And it’s all my fault.

Her knees felt weak. Despair and regret crawled all over her.

“……It, it’s not over yet!”

Mikoto pitched her own cheek with a *pan*, focusing her mind,

“Answer through the Guiding Voice, Takeru!”

Focusing her spiritual energy in her ear, she called out to Takeru, who has to be here somewhere. If she could only shift the power of her Sword of Exorcisms, she could be able to cut the barrier down. Also, there was a possibility that on the other side Boss would await her, because ordinary demons couldn’t pull of something like that.

But Takeru was still close. She was certain of it.

(Don’t give up, myself!)

Gripping [Raiko] tightly, she gave it a few swings.

“……It looks like you are safe, Mikoto.”

A voice sounded in her head, together with an image of a wry smile. She couldn’t see her, but it looked like she was safe. Feeling relieved, a calm sisterly voice conveyed her situation.

“Right now, I’m in the main school building. Seems like near the east side of the stairs. These demons are slow.”

“I understand! I’ll come and rescue you soon!”

Holding [Raiko] close to her body, Mikoto ran into the school building.