Chapter 19. Treasure “Killing Stone”, the shock from Isayama Yomi!

Chapter 19. Treasure "Killing Stone", the shock from Isayama Yomi!

The dim moonlight, the deep forest of Mt. Nokogiri sank into silence, the aura of the evil spirit faded away like mist.

Right at the spot where the "sea spider" vanished, something seemed to drop with a clang. Raku Sou slightly raised his eyebrows, intrigued, and stepped forward.

Amid the muddy ground, he saw flickers of mysterious red aura, as if demons were luring him.

"So this is it huh…"

The young man bent down, contemplative, picking up a blood-colored round gem.

Along with that came ripples of silvery light, and at the left edge of his vision appeared a detailed information panel:

[Killing Stone (Sessho-seki)]

[Alignment: Evil Faction]

[Rank: Tier 4 Enhanced-Type Treasure]

[Origin: A thousand years ago, the nine-tailed fox transformed into a peerless dancer, bewitching the Tenno and throwing the court into chaos. She was ultimately exposed by the great onmyoji Abe no Yasuchika. The Tenno, enraged upon awakening, ordered a nationwide hunt for the fleeing fox spirit.]

[In the end, she was surrounded and killed in Nasu Field by tens of thousands of troops led by Miura-no-Suke, alongside onmyoji exorcists.]

[——Having perished in boundless hatred, her vast youki and soul essence crystallized into the Killing Stone, splitting into nine fragments of varying sizes, scattered across the island nation, once again bringing calamity to mankind.]

[Usage: Ingest or wear; the power depends on the host's grudge and hatred.]

[Effect: Grants different supernatural abilities based on the user's desire—such as teleportation, rapid physical regeneration, resurrection after death…]

[Side Effects: Over time, soul erosion and loss of self occur, eventually leading to physical destruction and transformation into an evil spirit.]

"Not bad at all…"

Raku Sou rubbed his finger along his chin, deep in thought.

This was a Tier 4 Enhanced-Type Treasure — rare even across the entire world.

In theory, if the compatibility between host and treasure reaches 100%, even an ordinary person could instantly become a Tier 4-level powerhouse, equivalent to the level of Servants in Fate/stay night, though they may lack actual combat experience…

No wonder that Grade A evil spirit could sense the Shikon Jewel on Higurashi Kagome.

Turns out it was also in possession of a treasure of the same type.

The young man sank into thought, suddenly remembering—he seemed to have once watched an anime related to this.

That anime was "Ga-Rei: Zero", the female protagonist was named Isayama Yomi, and the main plot revolved around the Killing Stone, unfolding a tangled web of grudges. The function of the Killing Stone in that anime was exactly the same as the one he was holding in his hand.

So this is that world…

He scratched his head.

If he remembered correctly, the world of Ga-Rei: Zero… did indeed have apocalyptic-level crisis.

Truly dangerous. With his current level of strength, he wasn't even qualified to get involved...

The road ahead was long and far—he would continue seeking both above and below.

Very well, continue hiding and growing!

He lightly raised an eyebrow, casually tucked the blood-colored gem into his pocket.

After sensing a blazing gaze fixed intently on him, Raku Sou smiled and turned around, gently saying to the beautiful girl in a sailor uniform:

"Higurashi-san, let's go, I'll take you home."

"U… U-uh!!"

Kagome lowered her head as if trying to bury her face, her face still flushed red, unable to cool down.

He walked beside her, calmly striding under the moonlight toward the city.

The silhouettes of the two slowly faded.

Only the ravaged forest remained, scarred and battered.

.

.

Not long after…

"Thump thump thump thump…!!"

With rhythmic footsteps, hundreds of personnel in dark-orange uniforms arrived en masse.

They were the staff of the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Bureau of Chiba City. They carried various exorcism weapons, their expressions stern, as if prepared to die. All personnel of the Bureau had been mobilized— even the office workers had been dragged out to fill the numbers.

To make such a grand formation—it was easy to imagine just how dangerous things were about to become.

Immediately after, the formation split down the middle, making way for a wide path.

Isayama Yomi stepped out from that path, dressed in long black stockings, holding the Divine Sword Shishio in her hand. The giant spirit beast Nue followed closely beside the girl, its entire body radiating a terrifying aura that sent chills down everyone's spine.

Yomi looked at the severely devastated land and couldn't help but frown, her expression grave.

Then, she squatted down, using her index finger to swipe a bit of soil, bringing it to her fair white nose to sniff lightly. Her eyes suddenly showed disbelief, and she stood up abruptly.

Although there were still remnants of the evil spirit's dark energy in the soil, they were quickly dissipating like boundless water.

There was no doubt—this phenomenon only occurred when an evil spirit had been destroyed.

"Evil spirit grade A… was destroyed?!"

Isayama Yomi's eyes were filled with terror, her chest heaving non-stop from the shock.

One must understand, from the moment the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Bureau detected the spiritual waves of a grade A evil spirit to the time they had gathered all available personnel and rushed here, probably not even half an hour had passed—yet within that brief period, someone had managed to destroy the evil spirit.

It was truly unbelievable!

That was a top-tier evil spirit capable of causing disaster, threatening the very survival of an entire city.

Japan's disaster classification system follows alphabetical order: A-level, B-level, C-level, D-level…

A grade A evil spirit is the strongest type that can appear publicly.

Although Isayama Yomi was one of the strongest exorcists in Japan—

Even she couldn't be confident in taking down a grade A evil spirit. Even with hundreds of onmyoji working together, dying in battle here would have been very likely.

She had long regarded this battle as the final one of her life.

And yet...

This evil spirit died mysteriously...

In an extremely short amount of time, killed by an unknown party.

She looked ahead in a daze, recalling the scent from the earth, and suddenly her expression changed drastically, horrified to the extreme.

"No… this scent isn't right…"

"It's the scent of the Killing Stone!!"

"Withdraw the troops immediately! I have to report what happened tonight to the main bureau!"

Isayama Yomi shouted loudly, her expression so terrified it sent shivers down spines.

Compared to the appearance of a new Killing Stone, the emergence of a grade A evil spirit suddenly seemed normal.

Everyone looked at each other, not understanding what was going on.

While still confused, the members of the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Bureau secretly let out sighs of relief…

It seemed they wouldn't have to face that terrifying evil spirit after all.

Once the order from the commander was given, everyone quickly ran back toward headquarters.

Isayama Yomi remained where she was, staring blankly up at the moon hanging in the sky.

For some reason, the mysterious person who had destroyed the evil spirit tonight reminded her of someone?

It seemed that last time, when the Black Rift Phenomenon occurred at Happiness manor, it was also resolved in a similarly mysterious way by someone unknown.

Could it be that both incidents were carried out by the same person?

"…Who exactly are you…"

The girl with long straight black hair murmured to herself, a flood of complex emotions rising in her heart like never before.

The wind gently tousled her hair.

Tonight, the moon shone bright like water.