Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

This would never end if things continued like this. Yuri didn't hesitate this time, turning and lunging at the shadowy figure again. It wasn't the smartest method, but at least it would give the shadowy figure more time to dodge—that was Yuri's plan. Furthermore, perhaps due to the excessive energy consumed by the previous teleportation, the shadowy figure sheathed its blade.

After only a couple of rounds, the shadowy figure attempted to teleport again, despite Yuri's interference. Yuri couldn't understand what it was doing, but he still desperately clung to its opponent as it tried to shrink into the shadows. To be honest, it was a bit difficult; Yuri felt like he wasn't holding onto anything, as if he was repeatedly trying to grasp at thin air. In any case, the shadowy figure didn't have time to teleport again.

At the same time, Mingmei quickly approached the door and turned on the classroom lights. The light instantly filled the entire classroom, leaving only a few fragmented shadows.

In bright light, the shadow appears even more prominent. Indeed, it is a completely rudimentary humanoid shape, and in bright light, it appears to be in a state of flux, with subtle changes in its form and details.

The shadowy figure wasn't weakened by the light, at least not in terms of strength or speed, and it no longer retreated into the dwindling shadows. Yuri surmised that it needed sufficient darkness to make the leap and was now struggling desperately.

He conjured a dagger again, swung it wildly a couple of times to force Yuri away, and the dark figure crashed into the window once more.

Yuri grabbed the shadowy figure by the leg, but he miscalculated. The problem was that the figure's leg slipped from his grasp, all the way down to the foot, and then the leg straightened out, and to make matters worse, the heel suddenly retracted.

And so the shadow slipped smoothly out of Yuri's grasp.

Yuri didn't turn around, but jumped out after the dark figure and took two steps. Behind him, he saw the beam of light from Akemi's flashlight; she was holding a small flashlight and preparing to climb out of the window.

Yuri continued towards the shadowy figure, and Akemi would follow.

The shadowy figure was fleeing towards the gate, its speed slightly slower than Yuri's, but not by much.

If this continues, we should be able to catch up at the gate.

Running through the campus at midnight felt a little strange, but Yuri didn't have any deep feelings for the school, neither positive nor negative. Right now, he only noticed that the building they had just been in and the main gate weren't actually far apart.

When we were halfway there, another flashlight came from the opposite direction, and it was even brighter.

It was the two guards. One was an elderly guard with gray hair, carrying a cane, walking in front. The other was a younger guard, carrying a flashlight, following behind. With the help of the classroom light that Mingmei had turned on and the flashlight she was carrying, they easily spotted the three people running in front of them.

"Who are you three? Stop right there!"

The old guard's angry rebukes had no effect; the shadowy figure did not stop, nor did Yuri and Minmei, who were following it.

Moreover, Yuri saw the blade in the shadowy figure's hand reappear.

"He has a dagger!" Yuri had no other way to get the two guards to listen, even if it was just by his voice.

The old guard reacted quickly, swinging his cane at the dark figure running in front, but the figure neither dodged nor avoided it, taking the blow head-on, and then lunged at the old guard while still using the cane.

Then the old guard was knocked to the ground by the cane in his hand, just in time to avoid the waving dagger.

The shadowy figure showed no intention of pursuing the old guard who was lying on the ground groaning in pain. It leaped over the fallen man and continued forward, charging toward another obstacle ahead.

The younger one was clearly inexperienced and, faced with someone wielding a dagger and charging at him, chose the worst possible response: to stand still, helpless.

If he continued like this, he would be caught off guard. Yuri infused his legs with spiritual essence to increase his speed. In fact, counterintuitively, infusing spiritual essence anywhere could enhance the movement of a spirit, but for Yuri, infusing his legs with spiritual essence to accelerate was more intuitive and easier to train into instinct.

Knowing that grabbing the shadowy figure from behind was nearly impossible, and having already failed once, Yuri, moving faster, circled slightly, catching up with the shadowy figure from the right, attempting to insert himself between the figure and the young guard.

In the blink of an eye, the shadowy figure thrust the dagger at him. It was much sharper than expected, piercing through the trench coat and penetrating Yuri's left chest.

Chapter Thirty: The Traveler Who Travels a Hundred Miles

Before he could examine the wounds he had just suffered, Yuri instinctively grabbed the shadowy hand and gripped it tightly. As the shadowy hand slipped through its fingers, Yuri grasped a hard object.

The fleeing shadow left behind the dagger—Yuri noticed the flowing black substance on the tip of the dagger and thought it might also contain part of the shadow.

The assessment of the injury could only be done hastily—it was definitely not a minor injury, but it wasn't life-threatening either; the spiritual energy was somewhat damaged and the spiritual essence was slightly leaked, that was all.

Yuri continued to step between the shadowy figure and the young guard. If he couldn't stop the shadowy figure after paying such a price, it would be a huge loss.

The shadowy figure stopped in his tracks. If the figure was thinking, he was probably shocked that Yuri could still move freely despite being stabbed in the chest; otherwise… Yuri had no idea what the shadowy figure was thinking.

Judging in his mind that Akemi would arrive soon and the encirclement would be completed quickly, Yuri continued to concentrate, preparing to intercept the shadowy figure as it tried to escape.

The shadowy figure retreated swiftly, making a clear turn before lunging at the elderly guard who had just sat up. Yuri, a step behind, watched as Mingmei overtook the old guard and exchanged a punch with the shadowy figure. Because she was holding a flashlight, which hindered her attacks, she seemed to have suffered a slight disadvantage. Even so, the flashlight beam couldn't consistently illuminate the shadowy figure.

At the same time, the flashlight beam behind Yuri—in the direction of the young guard—clearly shifted, and Yuri turned around to try and reassure him.

The result was disastrous. As Yuri turned around, the young guard went from stunned to panicked, screamed "Murder!" dropped his flashlight on the ground, and sat down.

I forgot to pull the knife out of my chest!

Yuri sensed something was wrong. Sure enough, in the gaps between the scrambles behind them, the shadowy figure severed the part that was illuminated by the light and disappeared into the darkness.

Rushing towards the young guard, she picked up his dropped flashlight and tried to find the shadowy figure. At almost the same time, Akemi also started shining her flashlight in circles.

It was all for naught. In just a few seconds, the shadowy figure had vanished to a place no one knew.

It circled around a few more times without making a sound, so it seemed the shadowy figure had really run away—leaving Yuri and Minmei with a mess.

First, there was the young guard who was stunned. He had gone completely blank, and the only difference between him and someone who had passed out was that his eyes were still open.

The elderly guard was clearly still awake, but the fall had obviously aggravated his old injury, and he was still struggling to get up.

Yuri vaguely remembers it being a fracture? ...If it's a fracture, isn't it healing too quickly?

However, he should know his own situation.

Yuri suppressed his pointless doubts and approached Akemi to discuss what to do next.

Akemi was carefully trying to put the black residue left on her arm into an opaque plastic bag. It wasn't an easy task, so Yuri helped her out, doubling the speed of the process—spirits didn't have much of an advantage in this regard.

After quickly finishing tidying up, Yuri remembered that the daggers he had previously stolen also had the same substance on them, and he prepared to collect those as well. However, at some point, they had disappeared, leaving only the black hilts of the daggers exposed, which looked much more pleasing.

“At least none of us—!?” Akemi looked at Yuri’s chest, then stopped talking.

"Didn't you see when I tried to block them?" Yuri remembered that Akemi's flashlight had been shining in their direction the whole time.

“I did see it, but you acted normally afterwards, so I thought you blocked it,” Akemi explained, then changed the subject, “See if you can pull this out first, then we… we need to get them to the guard room, where there’s continuous light.” Akemi then moved a little closer and whispered, “I have something to say.”

Yuri took a few steps back, turned his back to them, gripped the hilt of the knife, and slowly drew it out.

The dagger behaved just like any other dagger; it was pulled out quite smoothly, a stark contrast to the slippery, unpredictable nature of the shadowy figure itself.

Yuri thought for a moment, then put the dagger into one of the pockets of his trench coat. It took a little effort; the dagger was sharp, and he didn't want to prick himself again someday.

The next step was to heal myself, which was easy. As the spiritual essence was consumed, not only were the internal wounds healed, but even the cuts on my trench coat disappeared on their own.

If the trench coat is part of myself, does that mean I have many pockets on my body that can temporarily hold other things? Have I unknowingly turned myself into a pocket monster? A strange thought arises.

This wasn't the immediate problem; Yuri began helping Minmei move the elderly guards.

"Who are you people?" The elderly guard was somewhat cooperative, though he didn't stop talking, no matter what Mingmei said.

So he didn't recognize Mingmei. That's good.

“He’s a good person, a good person,” one of the highly suspicious men in the trench coat emphasized in a highly suspicious manner.

"—Ouch—What about the one that ran away?" the old man continued to ask.

"..." Both Yuri, who was keeping quiet as planned, and Akemi, who had responded earlier, fell silent.

"What if I said it was a thief we're chasing who broke into the school?" Akemi didn't hesitate for long.

"Ha, cough cough, don't joke with me." The old man lowered his voice, "What kind of thief would be dressed entirely in black and disappear instantly after losing track of them?"

...It seems you've seen quite a lot from the sidelines.

Yuri looked at Akemi's expression; from what was visible, he could tell that Akemi was trying her best to find a solution.

However, even after taking the old man to the guardhouse rest area, Akemi couldn't come up with a good solution. Instead, she dealt with some other questions, such as "Are you two twins?" and "Have you two seen that shadowy figure before?" The most crucial question was, "How did you manage to stab yourself in the chest without bleeding?" However, the old man quickly withdrew the question, indicating that he didn't want to pry too much. On the other hand, Yuri learned that the old man's surname was Haigen.

The two men left in front of the old man under the pretext of helping to lift the young guard.

Yuri quickly devised a plan and shared it with Minmei.

The first step was to carry the young guard, who was still in a state of dementia, back.

The second step is to run away without answering.

Mingmei was very supportive of the plan, so it was carried out.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Given what happened, continuing the search on campus tonight was not very feasible, so the two decided to go home first.

On the way, Yuri made a summary.

First of all, the original purpose of this operation was essentially a complete failure. They came here to find the source of the curse, but instead of finding it, they ended up fighting with an unknown shadowy figure.

Unless this shadowy figure is related to the source of the curse... Yuri had to add that possibility back to the memo.

Secondly, regarding the abilities of the shadowy figures, we have learned quite a bit. The shadowy figures do possess a physical body, but in a way that differs from spirits, they make their bodies indeterminate and fluid, thereby reducing their resistance to physical attacks.

It can teleport in the dark, and the distance limit for this teleportation is unclear, but it is certain that this teleportation has a cost. In addition, it cannot teleport in the light.

It can solidify a part of the body, turning it into a dagger, but the solidified part cannot easily revert back.

I don't know what specific limitations the lighting imposed, but it clearly dislikes lighting conditions, so it's probably not just a matter of preference.

"So what is this shadowy figure? Akemi, do you know it?" Yuri looked expectantly at his mental monster handbook, enemy encyclopedia, and encyclopedia of the occult. "This kind of enemy is very troublesome, so it must be quite famous, right?"

“…I don’t know.” Akemi’s words were hesitant, as if there was something she herself was unsure about that she hadn’t said.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Having known each other for a while, Yuri knew what Akemi was hiding.

“If it were any more complicated, I would know what it is, but right now, I don’t.” Under Yuri’s expectant gaze, Akemi finally spoke.

Could it get any more difficult? Yuri suffered a setback.

"For example?" For example, where exactly is the more difficult part?

"If this shadowy figure is not 'ineffective against physical attacks' but 'completely ineffective against physical attacks,' then it perfectly matches a legendary, terrifying creature."

"Completely ineffective?" Yuri considered the possibility for a moment, then felt a headache coming on. "If it's completely ineffective, how do I deal with it?"

"According to my grandfather, it takes courage, luck, and fire—mainly fire and luck. Sunlight can certainly solve the problem, but they're not visible in places with light anyway; the light will push them away..."

Now we've found the second difference: when the light shines on it, the shadow isn't "pushed away," but rather simply "separated from the background darkness."

Yuri admitted that the shadowy figure he had seen was very different from what he knew about Minmei, but since they were so similar, perhaps the flames could also work.

After walking a few more steps, Yuri added a question.

"But, a place with absolutely no light is pure black, right? I'm not very good at studying, but I do know about diffuse reflection—theoretically, unless a completely isolated black box is deliberately created, there shouldn't be a place without any light, right? Won't the kind of monster you're talking about be pushed all over the world?"

“Of course, the light needs to be of a certain intensity, at least… at least not weaker than the light of a full moon. But the flashlight beam should meet the requirements,” Akemi paused, realizing another problem, “When did you start school?”

Of course, I learned it from your book.

...As for the shadowy figure's motives, that remains completely unclear.

It looks like they're about to start fighting the moment they make eye contact... That's insane.

During the operation, the shadowy figure reacted to Yuri, but it generally prioritized attacking Akemi whenever it had the opportunity. Was this because Akemi was the first to spot it? Or was there some other reason?

During the operation, the shadowy figure stopped inexplicably several times for unknown reasons, but the stops themselves did not cause Yuri any trouble and could only be considered a flaw.

There are still many things that are unclear.

Finally, there was the loot: the dagger taken from my pocket. Testing revealed that the dagger was untouchable in its spirit form—and could not be infused with spiritual essence. Attempting to inject spiritual essence into the dagger was like trying to inject spiritual essence into air—utterly futile.

Yuri, now fully materialized, picked up the fallen dagger and rubbed its side with his finger; it felt remarkably smooth. It's not that the sides of a normal blade aren't smooth, but this dagger offered almost no friction.

There were no extra decorations, just a plain black dagger, and it was exceptionally sharp, yet it couldn't cut through Akemi's sleeve.

"Speaking of which, what exactly is in your sleeve?" Yuri remembered this question.

"The metal wires woven in are for added protection; they're actually just thin iron wires," Mingmei answered quickly. "Actually, I'm not entirely sure what kind of metal it is; it could be steel?" As she spoke, she showed her cuff, where, after the fabric was torn open, there were indeed thin wires reflecting a cold light underneath.

Steel and iron are basically the same thing! You're wearing something that looks like chainmail and you don't find it heavy?

"I don't have one like that." Yuri finally swallowed all the other questions.

"That's basically your outer layer, isn't it..." Akemi remarked.

Stop talking, or Yuri will explode.

!! ?

Yuri stopped in his tracks; it seemed as if the shadow of a tree by the roadside had just moved.

"What's wrong?" Mingmei looked around sharply.

"It feels like that one might not have completely escaped; it might still be following us," Yuri replied, while frantically searching their surroundings.

“But we can’t just stand here until dawn, can we?” Mingmei objected to stopping the search. “Let’s proceed carefully, try to walk under the streetlights, and be careful to walk faster in the shadows.”

The sound of the wind is roaring.

The shadows didn't appear immediately. Yuri had never imagined that the bushes by the roadside could be so terrifying; every shadowy object seemed like an enemy could emerge at any moment.

Every bush and tree seems like an enemy soldier.

The journey is already halfway over, and Yuri's mindset has changed from the initial worry about the appearance of the Shadow. Now, Yuri sincerely hopes that the Shadow will appear soon, and that a direct confrontation would be better than the constant pressure he is experiencing now.

Yuri felt that if things continued like this, he might be about to enter the next stage, a state of complete dominance.