Something's wrong with how I'm watching anime.

It can be understood as having an extra pair of organs in the body, requiring additional energy to control them.

Of course, this is nothing to Kazama now.

When you're focused, multitasking is no problem at all. Challenges like drawing a circle with your left hand and a square with your right are easily accomplished by Kazama.

With a flap of its wings and a light leap, Kazama floated into the air.

This was not the first time he had used the Xiang brand.

It must be acknowledged that flight has always been a human dream. There are murals depicting flight as early as ancient times, and this desire has permeated many civilizations, from Western mythology to Eastern folklore, all of which feature gods, demons, and monsters with wings on their backs.

Moreover, with the development of civilization, mankind's desire to fly has never diminished. It is because of this desire that many props for manned flight have been invented, from the most primitive combination of fireworks and chairs to spacecraft that can now reach outer space.

Kazama shares the same sentiment.

It can be said that from the moment he acquired the Clow Cards, Kazama's emphasis on the Sho card was second only to the few high-level cards of the four elemental types.

Moreover, this emphasis stems not only from a yearning for the sky, but also from the strategic importance of the Xiangpai in terms of mobility.

Just like in martial arts novels, when you're venturing into the world, you might not be good at hand skills, but you absolutely must be good at footwork, because it's a matter of life and death.

Therefore, whenever he has free time, Kazama goes to the park next to his residential area and practices using the Sho card under the cover of night.

Nowadays, while he may not be skilled enough to perform complex aerial maneuvers, he can easily manage simple flight movements and dodge attacks.

Taking a deep breath and looking down, Kazama's wings fluttered gently, and he flew away into the distance like a large bird.

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Vanishing Bloodstains

While the Xiangpai (a type of card) is convenient, it still presents certain limitations for Kazama at present.

First, there are environmental limitations.

In a city filled with skyscrapers, carelessly using the Flying Card would inevitably carry a high risk of being discovered. Since Kazama needs to conceal his magic, he certainly has to be extremely careful.

Secondly...

Like the other brands, Xiangpai is also a big spender on blue (referring to a specific brand of blue).

In the original work, unless absolutely necessary, even Sakura Kinomoto would prioritize using the lower-level support card 'Jump Card' to move.

Kazama knew very well what it felt like to have your magic depleted.

Fortunately, this situation is indeed more suitable for using the Xiang brand.

The factory area is located in a remote area, and many of the factories are even abandoned, so the environment is naturally fine. Furthermore, the parasitic beasts cannot fly for long periods of time, so the situation of consuming a lot of mana is basically nonexistent.

Kazama traversed the more than one-kilometer distance in less than a minute.

Looking at the wasteland behind the factory area, Kazama slowed down and landed.

As his toes touched the grass, his wings folded and disappeared, making the landing very smooth.

The view of the wasteland was quite expansive; in fact, Kazama had already seen the entire area below when he was in the sky.

Although there was no trace of the parasitic beast on the wasteland.

Kazama wasn't surprised by this; he simply looked at the grove of trees in front of the wasteland.

Another Clow Card appears on Kazama's fingertips.

Removal plaque.

The last time Kazama used the Demon Slayer Card was just a few days ago. At that time, he exhausted all his magic power to return to his childhood state in order to obtain the conditions to read through the Book of Wisdom.

Returning to a past state is the inherent way the 'retrospective' card works.

Of course, there is another way to use the 戻牌 (Gōpai).

Just like in the original work, it goes back in time and shows the scenes from the past.

The sealing key once again transformed into an eagle-headed staff, which Kazama seized in his hand.

As a complex golden magic circle appeared beneath Kazama's feet, the talisman at his fingertips floated up, and gray light shot outwards from the talisman.

In the blink of an eye, a hemispherical dome with a diameter of about two hundred meters appeared around Kazama, encompassing most of the wasteland.

'Go back... to three minutes ago.'

As Kazama's thoughts stirred, a dark gray current began to permeate the interior of the dome, slowly circulating and almost filling the entire area.

After that, the gray flow suddenly disappeared, replaced by a gray world around it.

This gray world was still and stagnant; the foxtail grass, swaying in the wind, had its slender stems bent halfway. Leaves falling from the treetops remained suspended in mid-air.

With a crisp snap of Kazama's fingers, the whole world began to flow again, like an old film reel playing in slow motion.

Kazama raised his head and looked in the direction he had come from.

About five or six seconds later, a black dot appeared in the sky in that direction.

The black dot grew larger and larger until it became clearly visible. It was a monster with the body of a dog, but with a huge, fleshy membrane stretching out from its neck.

The parasite slid down from the sky and finally landed about 100 meters southwest of where Kazama was standing.

As the parasite landed, Kazama snapped his fingers again. With that snap, the surrounding gray landscape instantly collapsed like shattered glass, revealing a vibrant world outside.

Having achieved his goal, Kazama put away his staff and headed towards the spot where the parasite he had seen fall.

Upon arriving at that location, the first thing you see is traces of blood.

The bloodstains were still wet and had a dark red color.

The blood that splattered from the wound on the hind leg of the parasite, which was shot by Kazama.

Kazama followed the trail of blood and saw that the bloodstains formed a path on the green grass that led into the woods ahead.

Kazama narrowed his eyes.

He knew that this game, which resembled a 'hunt', was coming to an end.

Although Kazama had never hunted before, he knew the qualities a hunter should have.

It can accurately track the prey.

Despite a delay of over a week, Kazama successfully located the parasite. And now, the traces of this parasite were clearly visible before Kazama once again.

Absolute patience.

Patience is a virtue, an outward manifestation of rationality. Although he knew that the retrieval of the parasites was urgent, Kazama still maintained his patience, even under pressing circumstances.

And now that the parasites are right in front of him, it goes without saying that Kazama has no shortage of patience.

And, most importantly... always remain highly vigilant.

Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. For hunters, in the treacherous jungle, the positions of 'prey' and 'hunter' can be switched at any moment.

"Even a cornered beast will fight back, let alone a monster with intelligence."

Kazama walked steadily into the woods, following the path that stretched ahead, marked by streaks of blood.

Prolonged blood loss is fatal to any warm-blooded animal.

Although parasites are complete monsters from a human perspective, the bodies they control are ultimately still subject to the constraints of the laws of life.

'If it's not treated promptly, this parasite will die from its wounds even without my intervention.'

This is also the source of Kazama's greater patience.

In a simple chase game, the odds of winning will keep tilting in his favor.

However, just as things are about to end, fate always likes to play a joke on you—Kazama followed the bloodstains for about five more minutes, but the bloodstains suddenly disappeared in front of him.

Kazama raised his head and cautiously observed his surroundings.

However, compared to the wooded areas we passed through before, this area has a relatively better view, with no low shrubs or tall, dense trees.

Kazama surveyed his surroundings but found nothing unusual.

After remaining silent for about half a minute, golden light suddenly shone in Kazama's eyes.

Clad in feathered robes, a beautiful elven phantom appeared behind Kazama.

Then, a gust of air swept through the area around Kazama, making the leaves rustle before gradually subsiding.

No...

The wind sign told Kazama the message that the wind had just brought back: there was nothing in the vicinity that Kazama was chasing.

After receiving this information, Kazama took a step and went to the last place where the bloodstains had been.

Looking at the disappearing bloodstains, Kazama fell into deep thought.

Chapter Thirty-Three: In the Woods

Given that it is tracking itself and without sufficient tools, the likelihood of the parasite healing its wounds on its own is not high.

As for the wound healing naturally, forget about it. Although the parts of the parasite's main body do have the characteristic of rapid proliferation and recovery, this characteristic does not apply to the parasite parts outside the main body.

Vanished into thin air?

If it disappeared into thin air, Kazama could only associate it with an out-of-control supernatural ability.

Because, with few points of reference, Kazama currently has a serious lack of understanding of his own ability.

Thoughts flashed like lightning, and in an instant, Kazama had pondered many things.

However, he didn't rush to conclusions. Instead, he took out a piece of chocolate from his pocket, tore off the coating, and put it in his mouth to chew.

This thought process had been ongoing ever since Kazama began his disguise, and several hours had passed since then. He had even entered into deeper levels of thought during this time. Even Kazama felt a drain on his energy and a sense of fatigue, clearly indicating that he had overused his brain.

Kazama rested for a while until the fatigue subsided slightly before continuing to move.

The optimal solution in this situation is to use the backtracking time of the card again to investigate.

But the current conditions do not allow it.

The previous use of the Clow Cards had already depleted most of Kazama's magic power. Using the Clow Cards again would completely wipe out his remaining magic power.

Although the illusionary book in my arms does not require magic power, it is still necessary to reserve some magic power as a backup, just to be on the safe side.

Kazama approached the area around the bloodstains and began to investigate.

Although the wind card told him there were no living beings in the vicinity, there were even more subtle traces that the spirit of the wind card could not detect.