The brief silence that had settled was shattered by the oni's iaido.
He slowly lowered his hips, using his left hand to open the scabbard while gripping the hilt with his right. Iaido was originally a technique perfected to cut down opponents who lunged at the user.
However, such reasoning didn't apply to the supernatural.
The oni unsheathed his sword right then and there, the peony on his kimono fluttering brilliantly. His strike, which should have never connected, sliced through the empty space.
In response, Koresawa and Tsukiko both threw themselves to the ground. Almost simultaneously, black arcs passed menacingly overhead.
The attack seemed to defy the concept of distance, but if the trajectory of the attack could be traced, avoiding it wouldn't be difficult.
Tsukiko shifted forward from her crouched position, drawing three needles from her belt and infusing them with magic power, before throwing them toward the oni.
Thanks to the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder Needle) magic, the needles gained a speed surpassing even bullets. Each one followed a different path towards its target.
The oni responded by swinging his unsheathed sword.
At that moment, Tsukiko experienced an inexplicable sensation. A voice resonated in her mind from the oni's magic power.
——"Gunbu Kamaitachi (Swarm Dance - Sickle Weasel)."
Without time to ponder what this phenomenon was, Tsukiko changed her trajectory and leaped away. The reckless movement caused her leg muscles to scream in protest, and her insides felt churned up, inducing nausea.
Yet, her decision was correct.
The oni released a series of swirling black tornadoes that tore through everything in their path. Even Hiraishin and its branches were shredded to smithereens. Naturally, the whirlwind would have engulfed her if she had delayed her evasion by even a moment.
(Is that the oni's voice?)
A voice that suddenly resounded in her head. It was a dispassionate voice, devoid of distinctions like age or gender, transmitted through the fluctuations in the surrounding magic power.
(Maybe it's unintentional. Perhaps the oni's consciousness is leaking into the magic power due to sustaining this territory.)
If that were the case, then this particular supernatural entity possessed something akin to self-awareness. Whether it was just lingering traces of consciousness or a clear sense of self remained uncertain, but if Tsukiko could read the opponent's thoughts, it would give her an advantage in the battle.
Tsukiko heightened her concentration to ensure she didn't overlook any fluctuations in the surrounding magic power.
She was only a few steps away from the effective range of Kinraishou (Golden Thunder Spear). There was no room for half-measures in her current situation.
"..."
From this point onward, she'd push through without any tricks.
Tsukiko focused on the oni, planted her foot on the ground, and suddenly lunged forward. The oni had unsheathed his sword and, in one step, closed the distance. It was a rapid series of actions that only left the moment after the opponent's attack to be exploited.
But Tsukiko's gut told her this was the right decision.
She twisted her body to slip through a narrow gap as she entered, her clothes torn by the earlier slash. In the next instant, she planted her hand on the ground and spun vertically.
Continuously dodging the onslaught of sword strikes by a hair's breadth, Tsukiko advanced forward.
And then, she penetrated his guard.
"At last, I've got you."
Kinraishou (Golden Thunder Spear) was most effective within Tsukiko's range. She hadn't intended to give the oni any time.
With the momentum she'd gained from closing the distance, she thrust her Hiraishin-empowered spear toward the oni's throat.
The twin tips of the spear gleamed like fangs as they radiated golden thunder, and Tsukiko roared with determination as she closed in on the oni.
In response, the oni took half a step back, using his nodachi to parry the thrust.
The oni wielded a massive nodachi. As long as Tsukiko maintained the spear's range, her piercing attacks would undoubtedly be faster.
Without any hesitation, Tsukiko launched a fierce assault, pushing the oni on the defensive. The oni's overwhelming strength lay in his formidable offensive power. The key was to prevent him from swinging his blade; keeping the initiative was crucial.
The strategy wasn't flawed. The miscalculation was in the oni's skill.
Tsukiko had no way of knowing the oni's origins. He was a true killer, honed through relentless training fueled by terrifying vengeance and determination.
Their spear tips and blade clashed. In that moment, the oni, who had previously been solely on the defensive, changed tactics. He flowed with the spear's movement while closing the distance. Tsukiko instinctively tried to retreat to maintain her range, but the oni seized the opportunity.
A sharp kick struck her abdomen.
"Agh...!"
Her elegant form was lifted, and the pain made her feel like her organs had burst.
But distancing herself would make her an easy target for the oni's dark slashes.
She managed to hold her ground and looked up.
——He's gone?
It shouldn't have been possible. With his towering height and distinctive peony kimono, he should have been impossible to lose sight of. Yet, the oni had vanished from his previous position.
The shock momentarily froze Tsukiko.
As if he were made of smoke or mist, the oni had slipped in diagonally behind Tsukiko. It wasn't magic or any other supernatural means; it was pure footwork.
He had kicked Tsukiko and simultaneously, noiselessly, circled around her. His seamless transition from motion to stillness left Tsukiko in the dust.
In a battlefield, losing sight of your opponent was like a death sentence.
All that remained was for the oni to decapitate Tsukiko with ease.
If this had been a one-on-one duel, that would have been the end of it.
However, the young man who had been behind her wouldn't allow that.
"Bloom, 'Hoosenka (Phoenix flower).'"
Koresawa's magic power intervened just in time, inserting itself between the oni and Tsukiko. Breaking through the ground's surface, it revealed a thin trunk and several hanging pods. Within moments, they swelled and burst with a resounding explosion.
As the seeds burst out like shotgun pellets, the oni raised his left hand and sent forth a black wave from his palm. It lacked the razor-sharpness of his sword slashes, but the wave acted as a barrier, deflecting Koresawa's magic.
It didn't cause significant damage.
However, this sequence of events allowed Tsukiko to detect the oni's presence. Shocked by the sudden encirclement, she still aimed her spear at the oni.
(There was no sign of magic, yet he managed to flank me with pure martial arts?)
A shiver ran down to her fingertips. If he had outclassed her in both magic and martial arts, there would be no way to win.
Tsukiko pushed aside such self-defeating thoughts and heightened her magic power. She didn't have to win alone. With Koresawa's support, they could surely find an opening.
But it seemed Tsukiko wasn't the only one who understood that.
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