The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

"She probably cried for about half an hour? For a child, she's quite an excellent vessel..."

Seeing that Matou Sakura had fallen silent, Zouken Matou, having confirmed that she was a high-quality specimen, nodded in satisfaction. He then manipulated the Crest Insects to slowly crawl towards Matou Sakura, intending to completely break down her psychological defenses and turn her into a puppet under his control.

Slowly, the Crest Worms crawled onto Sakura Matou's body as she struggled.

There's no need to watch the rest of the story with Zouken Matou. He turned around, preparing to leave the basement, when a black hole suddenly appeared in mid-air above the basement.

"this is?!"

Having never seen anything so strange before, Zouken Matou peered curiously into the cave while braving the turbulent air rushing out of the entrance.

Then a man covered in wounds and looking quite disheveled fell out of the cave.

Sensing the man's presence, the large number of Marked Insects on the ground scattered in all directions while letting out unpleasant screams.

"A magician? No, wait, he gives me a really strange feeling..."

Upon sensing the magical power within Hachiman Hikigaya, Zouken Matou's first thought was that he was a magician who had been accidentally transported to him during an experiment.

However, after sensing the fear emanating from the insects, he immediately dismissed the idea.

Ordinary magicians wouldn't frighten Crest Bugs...

Chapter 201 Are You Here to Save Me?

Just as Zouken Matou was examining Hachiman Hikigaya, who had just fallen out of the cave, Hachiman Hikigaya landed steadily on the ground and began to observe his surroundings.

As if drawn by something, he immediately spotted Matou Sakura huddled in the corner.

"She's the person from the previous video..."

With this thought flashing through his mind, Hachiman Hikigaya walked towards Sakura Matou.

"Stop, unknown entity!"

However, at that moment, Zouken Matou's voice came from above.

Unable to discern Hachiman Hikigaya's strength, Zouken Matou decided to be cautious and keep Hachiman in check until his identity and abilities were confirmed before deciding on his future fate.

However, Hachiman Hikigaya ignored Zouken Matou's words and continued walking towards Sakura Matou.

In Hachiman Hikigaya's eyes, the old man above looked like a villain.

Not to mention the little girl was surrounded by those disgusting insects, yet he didn't come down to rescue her, but just stood there watching.

In other words, he didn't come to save the little girl; he was the one who dumped her there!

As soon as she reached Matou Sakura, the surrounding Crest Bugs scattered as if they had encountered their natural enemy.

Crouching down, revealing what he considered his gentlest expression, Hachiman Hikigaya looked at Sakura Matou, whose eyes were swollen from crying, and softly asked:

"Your name is?"

"cherry......."

Sakura didn't utter the name Tohsaka because her family, on whom she had placed her hopes, didn't appear during the most dangerous time.

Similarly, Sakura doesn't feel she should have the surname Matou.

Although she was adopted by the Matou family, based solely on what Zouken Matou had done to her before, that surname was not worthy of her use.

Having lost her surname and now only having her given name, Sakura looked up and observed the newly appeared man.

At this moment, he was his only hope of being rescued...

"Um...excuse me, are you here to rescue me?"

Looking at Hachiman Hikigaya with a timid voice, Sakura asked with anticipation in her eyes.

"Of course!"

Seeing the last glimmer of hope in Sakura's eyes, Hachiman Hikigaya nodded without hesitation.

"call...."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the answer she wanted.

Her body went limp, and she fainted.

The prolonged crying had already exhausted her strength. The only reason she had remained conscious before was because she still held onto a sliver of hope that someone might come to save her.

"Then let's take her out first..."

Carefully picking up Sakura, Hachiman Hikigaya stood up and walked towards the steps.

Zouken Matou, who was originally standing above, disappeared without a trace after hearing the conversation between the two.

But that's fine, Hachiman Hikigaya didn't want to get into a fight with the natives as soon as he arrived in a strange world, even if those natives were scum...

However, Zouken Matou obviously couldn't just let Hachiman Hikigaya, this guy who suddenly appeared, take away the props he was satisfied with.

Countless insects swarmed out from every corner of the basement, surrounding Hachiman Hikigaya and his companion.

At Zouken Matou's command, even though the Crest Insects were filled with fear of Hachiman Hikigaya, they still rushed towards them one after another.

"What disgusting bugs..."

Hachiman Hikigaya frowned as he watched the Crest Bugs swarming around him.

He already found this creature extremely disgusting just by looking at it.

Now, seeing their terrifying mandibles, he showed even more disgust.

He continued to hold the unconscious Sakura with one hand, while summoning the Demon Slayer Sword with the other.

"This is... a Mystic Code?"

Seeing the demon-slaying sword suddenly appear in Hachiman Hikigaya's hand, Zouken Matou, who was hiding in the shadows, frowned.

However, the next second, a piercing pain made him scream in agony.

"what!!!!"

Because he was dealing with a living being, Hachiman Hikigaya chose to cover the surface of his demon-slaying sword with ghostly flames, and then used his spiritual power to unleash a wave of fire.

The Crest Insects were arranged quite densely, and the speed at which the Ghost Flame covered the area far exceeded Hachiman Hikigaya's expectations.

In just a few seconds, his eyes were filled with a dark sea of ​​fire.

Suddenly, Hachiman Hikigaya heard Zouken Matou's scream.

Following the direction of the sound, he instantly locked onto Zouken Matou's body.

A sword aura flew out, and Matou Zouken's body was instantly sliced ​​in two.

However, the moment the body hit the ground, 'Zouken Matou' transformed into countless Crest Insects and burrowed into the darkness.

"A fusion monster?"

After witnessing Zouken Matou turn into a bunch of insects and run away right in front of him, Hachiman Hikigaya was briefly surprised before carrying Sakura out of the basement.

Stepping out of the basement door, the two found themselves in a massive mansion.

Just as Hachiman Hikigaya was pondering which direction to take, another swarm of flying insects with hard skeletons swarmed towards him.

Hachiman Hikigaya resorted to his old trick, attempting to burn the insects to death with flames.

However, the flying insects broke through the flames' blockade and continued to rush towards him, their bodies still glowing with ghostly fire.

"Aren't you afraid of flames anymore?"

Zouken Matou's ability to devise a way to deal with Yuuka so quickly was somewhat unexpected by Hachiman Hikigaya.

"But if they're just ordinary insects, then having a lot of them won't make any difference!"

To prevent Sakura from getting hurt, Hachiman Hikigaya applied a protective shield to the two of them beforehand.

He then unleashed several sword energies, shooting them towards the flying insects.

The seemingly bulky swarm of flying insects was quickly torn into several smaller groups when faced with the sword energy.

As the sword energy flew past, apart from a few unlucky insects that were cut in half, the vast majority of the insects remained intact and continued flying towards Hachiman Hikigaya.

"So it really was mind control?"

When Zouken Matou screamed earlier, Hachiman Hikigaya had already become suspicious.

Seeing the swarm of flying insects easily evade his attack, he became even more certain of his suspicions.

"Breath of the Sun - Waltz!"

A blue circular wheel appeared instantly in front of the flying insects.

Before the flying insects could even react to what was happening, they were shredded to pieces by Hachiman Hikigaya's demon-slaying sword.

While dealing with the swarm of flying insects, Hachiman Hikigaya walked along the corridor into the courtyard.

This is Zouken Matou's territory, and having already rescued Sakura, he has no intention of staying here any longer!

Chapter 202 A Peaceful World?

As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, two black beetles darted out of the grass beside the stone steps.

Their sharp mandibles struck the protective shield on Hachiman Hikigaya's surface, causing a slight crack in the shield.

"Just how many kinds of insects does that old guy have?"

The damaged protective shield was repaired by Hachiman Hikigaya using his spiritual power in an instant.

After dealing with the black beetle, Hachiman Hikigaya became even more cautious as he walked through the courtyard.

After all, while one or two black beetles are not a big deal, the biggest advantage of insects is their sheer numbers!

Fortunately, after the failed sneak attack by the black beetle, Zouken Matou seems to have given up on taking Sakura back.

After Hachiman Hikigaya, he encountered no more obstacles from insects and easily left the Matou family mansion.

............

A few hours later.

But when Sakura slowly opened her eyes, she saw a slightly dilapidated ceiling and a chandelier, and she was lying on a large bed that was not soft but warm.

"You're awake...."