Fantasy Library.

Chapter 525 A Very Bold Idea

The sky gradually darkened.

As the entire Suizhi County was completely shrouded in night, several figures could be seen moving about in the dark, deserted mountains.

These people were Aizawa, Yoshino Asagi, and Mako Hitachi.

At this moment, Aize had changed into clothes that were easy to move in, Asatake Yoshino was dressed in Chihaya and shrine maiden outfits, and Hitachi Mako was dressed in ninja outfits. The three of them were also carrying weapons in their hands, and slowly walked deeper into the mountains.

Aize took the lead, walking at the very front, followed by Asagi Yoshino and Hitachi Mako, who walked side by side with serious expressions.

No, that's not right either.

More precisely, behind Aize, and in front of Asatake Yoshino and Hitachi Mako, there was another entity floating unseen by others...

"Where is the evil spirit? Why hasn't it come out yet?"

Cong Yu clung tightly to Aize's clothes, looking around nervously while trembling.

"Come out quickly...come out quickly...come out quickly..."

It was like a chanting incantation, mixed with a deep whisper of fear, even more terrifying than the pitch-black darkness of the deep mountains, much like the curse of a vengeful spirit.

"...Didn't I already tell you there wouldn't be any ghosts here?"

Aize didn't turn around, but just kept walking forward, squinting his dead fish eyes as he made this statement.

"Who said that? What if there is?" Cong Yu still looked trembling with fear, and even refuted Aize's words, saying, "Even evil spirits appear in the mountains, so it's normal for a ghost to suddenly appear, right?"

That's perfectly normal. You're like a ghost right now.

Glancing at the raindrops floating behind him, Aize spoke weakly.

"Why don't you go back first? We can handle things here."

Anyway, I have divine power to provide to Murakumaru so that it can function properly. Even if Murakumaru isn't here, it won't have any impact.

As soon as Aize spoke, Cong Yu immediately refuted him.

"We and Congyu Maru are one; wherever Congyu Maru is, we will be there!"

Then you shouldn't just abandon Murasame and wander around Suiori all the time...

Aize was too lazy to complain anymore, so he could only keep walking forward with his head down, hoping that the evil god would appear soon.

"Moko, have you found anything?"

"No, I can't sense any aura of the evil spirit at all. Where is Lady Yoshino?"

"I didn't notice it at all either..."

"It seems we need to delve a little deeper."

Asatake Yoshino and Hitachi Mako were also talking in hushed tones, their serious demeanor completely exemplifying what it means to be on high alert, compared to Aizawa and Murasame who were still bickering with each other.

The two girls dared not be as disrespectful as Aize.

For them, evil spirits are a terrifying existence; one wrong move and they could lose their lives. This vigilance is something they have cultivated through their long-standing practice of exorcising evil spirits.

In particular, both of them had some reservations to some extent.

Chao Wufang felt that he was not strong enough and was afraid that he would hold the team back, so he was completely focused and dared not relax at all.

Hitachi Mako is indeed quite powerful, but she doesn't have the means to directly exorcise evil spirits, so she can only provide some assistance from the sidelines, and therefore she dares not be careless.

Only someone like Aize, who possesses both immense strength and the means to exorcise evil spirits, could remain so calm and at ease.

In fact, Aize no longer takes the evil spirits seriously.

There was no way around it; he already had the ability to instantly kill evil spirits, so how could he possibly take them seriously?
His actions perfectly illustrate what it means to be highly skilled and daring.

At least, he now has a very bold idea, and he's just waiting for the evil spirit to appear so he can put it into practice.

"Hopefully it will be of some use..."

Aize thought to himself and adjusted the object on his shoulder.

His movements immediately attracted Cong Yu's attention.

"By the way, Master, why did you bring a bag up the mountain?"

Cong Yu finally raised this question.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Aize was carrying a shoulder bag, which was bulging and stuffed full of things.

"What's inside?" Hitachi Mako had actually wanted to ask this question for a while, and seeing that Cong Yu had asked it, she immediately followed up by asking, "Is it some kind of secret weapon?"

"Impossible, right?" Asatake Yoshino asked with some doubt and hesitation, "What secret weapon could be used to deal with the evil spirit?"

Besides, Aize doesn't need it, does he?

If you can kill instantly, what secret weapon do you need?
Why not just draw your sword and charge in to chop?
However, while Yoshino Asatake was thinking this, Aizawa echoed Mako Hitachi's words.

"In a sense, this is indeed a secret weapon."

Aize said this with a smile, which immediately aroused everyone's curiosity.

"What secret weapon can compare to Murasame? We already have Murasame... why would we need another secret weapon?"

Cong Yu, disregarding her fear, started to act stubborn.

"I won't let you see it now." Seeing the different reactions from the crowd, Aize said, "You'll find out what it is in a moment."

Upon hearing this, Cong Yu and Asagi Yoshino wanted to say something, but were stopped by Hitachi Mako, whose expression suddenly froze.

"coming!"

No sooner had Hitachi Mako finished speaking than a rustling sound came from the bushes ahead.

The relaxed atmosphere vanished instantly, replaced by tension, heaviness, and dread.

"Owner!"

This time, Cong Yu acted quickly. Before Aize could draw Cong Yu Maru, he had already turned into a flash of light and disappeared.

Aize could feel that in that instant, the Murasame in his hand seemed to have been infused with a soul, as if it had come alive, radiating an aura that only he could perceive.

Clearly, Congyu has already taken up residence in Congyu Maru.

She was worried that she would be abandoned by Aize again, leaving him to fight alone, so this time she didn't think twice and immediately crawled into the Murasame, letting the clear spiritual energy resonate inside the scabbard.

At the same time, the rustling sound from the bushes ahead became increasingly clear, and a pitch-black shadow, even darker and more filthy than the pitch-black night in the deep mountains, emerged from it.

A monster, its body seemingly covered in flowing mud and with no discernible outline, suddenly appeared.

"Shh!"

The next second, the filthy entity, like a lump of mud, first disintegrated completely, turning into a muddy mass, and then suddenly shot out, transforming into a beast-like form in mid-air, pouncing towards Aize, who was standing at the front.

This attack was even faster than the previous attacks by the evil spirits.

"Do evil spirits also have the ability to learn?"

Recalling the other party's strange ejection state just now, the thought flashed through Aize's mind, but his hands moved even faster than his thoughts.

"Oh!"

With a muffled thud, Aize's unsheathed sword collided directly with the head of the flying demon, sending them both flying away.

"Moko!" Asatake Yoshino called out to Hitachi Moko as soon as she saw Aize being knocked back.

"Yes!"

Without hesitation, Hitachi Mako rushed forward, her running movements resembling those of a ninja on TV, or rather, this was ninja running, making her legs move so fast that they seemed to turn into afterimages, while her upper body remained strangely stable. The kunai in her hand had already been slashed out, heading towards the evil spirit that had also been knocked back.

"Oh!"

Another muffled thud sounded, but it wasn't the sound of Hitachi Mako's kunai hitting the evil spirit.

The demon that had been knocked back had somehow turned into mud, then instantly recovered. In this astonishing way, it regained its footing and figure faster than Aize, and extended its dark tentacles, striking Hitachi Mako and colliding with the kunai in Hitachi Mako's hand.

"Slap!" "Slap!" "Slap!" "Slap!"...

The tentacles swung rapidly several times, attacking Hitachi Mako repeatedly, but Hitachi Mako blocked, deflected, and repelled them all with her kunai, achieving nothing.

"watch out!"

At that moment, Yoshino Asagi also moved, thrusting her gong straight at the evil spirit.

The movements were not significantly different from before, except that they were a bit faster, proving that Asahi Yoshino's training had not been completely ineffective.

"Pfft!"

In the blink of an eye, Yoshino Asagi's bell pierced the body of the evil spirit.

"------!"

The demon's body instantly dissipated like smoke, leaving a small portion of it dissipating. Its empty eyes seemed to radiate pain and resentment as it turned its target, waving its tentacles and swinging them at Yoshino Asagi.

"careful!"

Hitachi Mako gasped, but before she could speak, Asagi Yoshino ducked her head to dodge the lashing tentacles.

Unbeknownst to Hitachi Mako, at the moment she struck the evil spirit, a thought flashed through Asagi Yoshino's mind.

"Although the bell you are using can also damage the evil spirit, its effect is obviously not as good as the Murasame. If you don't hit the vital point, it will be difficult to defeat the evil spirit in one hit. So you must remember that even if you successfully land a hit, you must not be careless. You must prepare to dodge and retreat at the same time as you successfully hit the opponent, otherwise you will only be counterattacked by the evil spirit."

This is what Aize said to Asatake Yoshino during a morning exercise session.

At that time, they were training their emergency response.

To adapt to the current situation, Aize would take a jump rope and whip Asatake Yoshino every morning, making her try to dodge and practice her dodging reaction.

Thanks to this, Yoshino Asagi reacted immediately. Hearing the sound of the tentacles cutting through the air, she immediately crouched down to dodge, causing the evil spirit's counterattack to miss.

At the same time, a rushing sound came from the side, and a figure rushed over quickly, suddenly swinging the unsheathed knife in his hand and smashing it hard on the evil god's body.

"Oh!"

The powerful blow successfully sent the evil spirit flying.

However, the effect of this attack ended there, without causing any harm to the evil spirit.

The mud-like figure simply bounced on the ground, its entire body melting instantly before quickly returning to a standing position, its eyes staring at them with an empty and terrifying gaze.

"Are you alright, Lady Yoshino?"

Hitachi Mako ran up to Asatake Yoshino.

"fine."

Asagi Yoshino quickly shook her head, holding the bell, looking somewhat excited.

She also realized that she had made progress.

Although it wasn't much, the fact that it didn't hold them back undoubtedly made Asatake Yoshino very satisfied.

On the other hand, after sending the evil god flying with a single blow, Aize confronted it while listening to Cong Yu's complaints in his mind.

"Why aren't you drawing your sword, Master!"

If Aize had drawn his sword and struck with that attack, the Demon God would have been finished long ago.

When Cong Yu saw Aize rushing towards him, she thought he would once again use that amazing sword-drawing technique to instantly kill the evil god with a single strike, just like last time.

As a result, Aize showed no intention of drawing his sword, but simply swung it away from the evil spirit, which made Cong Yu both angry and anxious.

She also planned to use her skills in this battle to avoid falling into the embarrassing situation of being unwanted again.

Unfortunately, Cong Yu, who was thinking this way, was destined to be of little use again this time.

no way.

"I never intended to exorcise it here in the first place."

Aize stared at the evil god and uttered his bold idea, word by word.

"I'm going to capture it alive."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately turned to look at Aize.

"W-what?!"

At this moment, everyone, including Yoshino Asagi, Mako Hitachi, and Murasame, exclaimed in astonishment.

Capture alive?

What are you going to capture alive?
Capture the evil spirit alive?

Are you kidding me?

"I'm not kidding."

Aize seemed to be able to read minds; even without looking at the girls behind him, he could clearly feel their astonished eyes and expressions.

So he said it very calmly.

"If we only exorcise the evil spirits, then it will be the same as before, nothing will change. It can only temporarily purify the filth and make the curse disappear temporarily. After a while, new evil spirits and filth will appear again, and the curse will reappear."

Why continue with such a superficial approach that only addresses the symptoms and repeats the same mistakes?

"To completely break the curse of the Asabu family and resolve Miss Asabu's dog spirit possession, we must change our previous approach."

With this in mind, Aize conceived the idea of ​​capturing the evil god alive.

“To completely resolve the curse, we must first understand the composition of this evil spirit, at the very least to see if it harbors any secrets.” Aize confronted the evil spirit and said without turning his head, “In that case, capturing this evil spirit alive is a very necessary thing to do.”

This statement was undoubtedly shocking, at least for those who had long insisted on exorcism, such as Yoshino Asagi.

"But... but how can we capture the evil spirit alive? It's simply impossible!"

Cong Yu's voice, tinged with a hint of bewilderment, echoed in Aize's mind.

It can be seen from the activities of the evil spirit to date that it does not have a real form at all. Its body can melt and disintegrate at any time. It has no flesh and blood, only a black mist that looks like filth.

How do we catch it?
Whether you use chains to bind them or cages to put them in, it's impossible, isn't it?

"rest assured."

Aize was naturally aware of this, and a smile appeared on his face.

"That's why I made this preparation."

As he spoke, Aize took off the shoulder bag he always carried and took out the secret weapon inside.

(End of this chapter)