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To make matters worse, even the monsters other than the onis were heading towards their circle formation.
It seems that they finally ran out of prey and had now set their sights on that circle formation.
There’s also some medium-sized and large-sized monsters mixed among them.
However, the person who could fight them, me, can only defend for myself.
I can’t go back towards them.
Even so, they’re believing in me and now inspiring the others to fight.
My vision slowly blurred.
Even though I swore to protect them.
Would it have been different if I had only unlocked my inherent skill?
Would I have been able to protect them?
If I could just acquire a powerful inherent skill—–
No.
I must not rely on something like that.
I mustn’t rely on the inherent skill—– to something impossible.
If I have to rely on something…
(“Oni”… My very own… Kisou-ryu…)
(T/N: Kisou-ryu could also be read as Oniyari-ryu / The Way of the Demonic Spear)
I must rely on something possible for me.
* * *
If I’m not mistaken, it was about three years ago.
[Kisou-ryu’s Forbidden Technique, is it?]
Within Sogou residences.
After practice, in the dojo while the sun was about to set, my grandmother talked about the Kisou-ryu.
[You’re thinking that I’m talking about something stupid… or so I predict, Ayaka.]
[Is it such a dangerous technique that it’s considered forbidden?]
[That’s what you would normally think.]
Bringing the matter forward, my grandmother explained about the Forbidden Technique.
[The theory behind the technique was actually quite simple. It forces your body to make unreasonable movements—– movements that would be impossible for a normal human body. It’s a technique that draws out the human body’s potential to the limit.]
Grandmother raises her index finger.
[Let’s see… First of all, you imagine a single, powerful thread. And then, you’re going to spread that thread all over your body. When you move your body, you’re moving the thread instead to manipulate your body… And your human body would be pulled by the thread and try to make those unusual movements. Apparently, if you can keep up with that movement, you can even move like a human weapon.]
[That’s kind of like making your body into a marionette, don’t you think?]
[The image may certainly be quite close to that… Honestly, I don’t know if it’s possible to do that either. I don’t know what it looks like when that happened, nor the exact theory behind it. Perhaps, it may even be that you’re actually weaving your “ki” around your body through that so-called qigong. By the way, I also tried doing it once before… but I didn’t really know what I was doing back then and just broke my bones. Since then, I haven’t seriously tried doing it again.]
(T/N: ki/chi = internal energy. qigong = breathing exercise. this might even be those stuff they do in chinese cultivation, not that I would know what that is.)
[The past users of the Kisou-ryu, have they used that technique?]
[That’s what they said. If we trace back to our ancestors, we can see that the Kisou-ryu…]
Then, Grandmother took out a cigarette and lit it with a match.
Swinging the match to put out the fire, my grandmother exhales out smoke.
[It was also called “Kisou-ryu”, but it was read as “Burying the Onis”… It was apparently a martial art invented by those who were having difficulty fighting against the Onis that descended upon their homes. A martial art that was invented to protect themselves from Onis. Then, it caught the eyes of the shogunate, but it was somehow spread as some sort of secret arts from one of the clans back then…]
(T/N: 槍 = Sou, but could also be read as yari/ spear. 葬 = sou, but could also be read as houmoru / bury)
[Invented to bury the onis…]
[In short, this was a school of martial arts based on a fairy-tale anecdote. It was also said that this Forbidden Technique was originally handed down from an unnamed school of martial arts. Well, I guess that may also be the reason why it was called a “Forbidden Technique”. It’s just that…]
[It’s just that…?]
[It is said that the burden it places on the human body is so strong that a normal person’s body will break down if her or she uses it… Don’t you find it strange, Ayaka?]
[Ah, I’m sorry. However, an old martial art with its own Forbidden Technique… It’s kind of like what’s written in those amusing novels I read once in a while.]
[Well, that might be so… It’s all just a bunch of legends and anecdotes with all those embellishments added to them, after all. Even if you tried something like that, you would have to be trained to death just to take the burden off your body. That’s not something a normal schoolgirl would be able to do.]
[If Obaa-sama tells me I can’t do it, I’m getting more tempted to give it a shot.]
[If you’re interested in it, I’ll give you the book with instructions on how to use it… However, I won’t allow you to use it unless you’re with me. You’re my precious granddaughter… As for me, I feel like you’re my grandchild who’s too good to be true though.]
[Fufu… I understand, Obaa-sama. By the way, what’s the name of this Forbidden Technique?]
[This technique is called—–]
From the end of my grandmother’s cigarette, the thin smoke flowed like a thread.
[The “Limiter Thread”.]
* * *
Whether it was just a fantasy or not is irrelevant right now.
If there’s even a splinter of a chance…
I must rely on it—– grasp that technique on my hands.
[………]
I’ve perused that book before.
I’ve only thought that it would just give me something to talk about with my grandmother.
Therefore…
I know how to do it.
[————————]
The image of a thread.
The starting point would be my feet.
From the bottom of my feet, it rose to my knees, my thighs, my waist, my belly, my chest, the thread was spun.
————creaaakkkk————–
In the process of spinning the thread, I felt like my whole body was creaking.
These strings are now going to decide my limits.
The onis were now looking down at me, who is one size smaller than them, with a grin.
They must have thought I’ve given up.
[Kuki kiki ki…”—-whoosh—–”…Gieeeh?]
The tip of my spear pierced the throat of the oni in front of me.
The oni couldn’t even react when it happened,
[ [ [ Baaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuhhhhhhh! ] ] ]
The onis simultaneously let out an intimidating roar and put themselves on guard from my attacks.
However…
[Bauuhh!?]
I behead them one after another with my magical blade.
Having beat the nearby onis—- I started running.
I leapt towards the direction of the circle formation.
I saw the back of the oni, who had been enjoying intimidating the others.
And from below, I slashed the oni’s body in half.
I still didn’t stop.
In the blink of an eye, the head of another oni flew towards the air.
Another oni’s face caved in after I slammed its face with the butt end of my spear.
Whether it was strength or speed…
I felt all of them increase.
[Ayaka-chan’s movements…]
[A- Amazing…]
I feel like I’m hearing my muscles screaming.
However…
[I ca
n do this.]
I remembered my grandmother’s words.
“It is said that the burden it places on the human body is so strong that a normal person’s body will break down if her or she uses it”
[——But this time’s different.]
I’m not just a normal human—— Now, I’m a Hero.
I have my status correction.
However, even with that, I could still feel my body screaming.
However…
What about it?
[Hayaaahhh!]
With just a single breath, I turned around—–
[Gugeeehh!?]
In a single breath, I leapt towards that leader-like two-horned oni.
The two-horned oni couldn’t even take its stance to intercept me.
With godlike speed, my spear hooked on the two-horned oni’s arm.
Destroying the two-horned oni’s balance, he rolled down on the ground.
Kisou-ryu—– “Hourakujuuji”. (T/N: Collapsing Cross)
Rather than making use of the opponent’s momentum, I just used my own speed in my charge for the “Hourakujuuji”.
At that time, I hesitated.
At that time, Kirihara Takuto suddenly appeared and stole the last hit.
However, this time, without any hesitation whatsoever——
[Giiaaahhh!?]
I gouged out its heart with one thrust.
Without hesitation, I pulled out my spear and used
Neither the blast nor the dust made me flinch, as my long black hair was swept back by the wind pressure of the blast.
[I won’t…]
[—Let you kill anyone anymore.]
Yes…
Even if my own body were to fall apart, I wouldn’t care.
If this could get everyone back to our previous world in one piece, I wouldn’t care.
After killing the leader of their group in the blink of an eye, I let out my sharp killing intent and stared at the onis.
The onis stepped back.
My hair looked intimidating as it wildly danced along the wind of this battlefield.
[If you want to run away, you better run away now.]
Imbuing my killing intent with a twirl of my spear, I stepped forward.
[It’s because I’m the Oni now.]
(T/N: Armament Battle Formation / Silver World)
Chapter 183
Silver World
After hesitating for a bit, the onis started attacking me.
“We should be able to kill her if we charged at her with our number.”
–or so they seem to have decided.
However, the onis have no way to deal with me, now that I have released my limits.
With the scattered corpses of the onis behind my back, I returned back to protecting the circle formation.
[Ayaka-chan… Thank goodness, thank goodness…]
The weeping Moe wiped her tears.
Smiling towards her, I nodded in response.
(Even so…)
Inherent Skill.
I can’t believe that I unlocked it at a time like this.
I’ve already stopped relying on this—- but for it to appear at this timing…
I was a little puzzled.
However, I instantly shake off the bewilderment I’m feeling.
The onis aren’t the only enemies we have.
There’s still the medium-sized and even some larger monsters closing in.
I guess all I have to do now… is kill them.
I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my people.
[…………]
I remembered that to activate your inherent skill, you would have to pronounce the name skill’s name.
Lightly exhaling, I regulate my breathing.
[——
Then, it suddenly appeared in front of me.
A sphere.
It looks like mercury but it also looks like melted lead.
A large silvery sphere floating in the air…
It’s happened just slightly, but its surface silently rippled.
[What’s this…? What does this thing do?]
Summoning my status display, I quickly checked out the skill entries.
Information has been added to the skill column.
Under the skill’s name, something was written on it.
(Create? The ability to create something…? However, what does this create and how could I do that…)
In the meantime, the monsters came rushing in.
Perhaps, the only people left who managed to survive in this neighborhood were me and the others…
[Ugh…]
I’ve certainly learned an inherent skill, but I don’t know how to use them.
However, I can’t afford to take my time trying this skill out.
Once I exterminate the nearby monsters while my limits were released—– I’ll open up a way for the others.
I greatly leaped at the large monster which had its arms outstretched, standing in our way.
Stab!
I deeply pierced my spear on the large monster’s forehead.
Then, I immediately used
However…
[…………]
I was only able to shave off about a fifth of its face.
I didn’t manage to stop its movements.
The difference in our sizes—- this was the bottleneck that I need to confront.
Just like that oni earlier, I can deal with them if they were just a little bigger than a human.
However, no matter how many unordinary movements I can make while I released my limits—–
(Against large monsters like this, I can’t help but feel like my power isn’t enough due to the difference in our size…! Even after I shaved off its head, I can’t believe that it could still move like this…!)
Violently shaking its head, the large monster shook me off.
Landing on the ground, I quickly turned back and readied to attack again.
With my feet that had its limits released, I kicked off the ground and leapt, trying to twist the blade of my spear into the wound I shaved off earlier.
However, that’s when it happened…
[———!]
I noticed that part of the circle formation was crumbling.
Moreover, when Kayako was trying to kill a nearby monster, another monster came swooping in behind her back—–
[No! Suou-san, behind you!]
(! No…)
My voice isn’t reaching them.
They seemed to be struggling against a medium-sized monster and everyone’s attention was on that one.
The other children also seem to have their hands full dealing with the monsters that are closing in on them.
Right now, I was in midair after I leapt.
There’s no way for me to suddenly rush towards them while in midair.
I glanced at my hand.
I guess I have no choice.
I threw the spear that was in my hand.
In the back of the head of the monster that was closing in on Kayako, the spear powerfully pierced through.
That’s also when Kayako finally noticed the monster that was closing in from behind her.
And that’s also—- when they noticed my condition right now.
[Sogou-san!]
I don’t have a weapon in hand.
No—– It’s not really reliable, but I do have a spare weapon.
I reached for the dagger on my waist.
Glare
The eyeballs of the large mons
ter whose face I had shaved off was turned towards me.
At the same time, the monster stretched out its hand.
Without hesitation…
[
I plunged my dagger, which had its blade strengthened with magic, into the monster’s eye.
[Gyaaaaaooo!]
The monster screamed and violently shook its body.
I’m thrown out towards the air.
[!]
Losing control of my body while in midair, the monsters simultaneously jumped towards me.
Even though I’ve released my limits, I’m entirely defenseless in midair.
My dagger is still impaled in the monster’s eye.
I don’t have any weapons now.
[H- Hey, Nihei! The President’s in danger!]
[H- Half! Can half of us go save the President!? Oryaaahhh!]
[Kuh, it’s impossible! All of us were focusing everything on our defense!]
Neither
I’ve already tried doing that before.
If only I had a weapon…
Whatever weapon is fine.
It doesn’t have to be a spear.
Even if it’s a sword…
Anything.
If only I had a weapon in my hand.
[…?]
Suddenly, the liquid metal-like sphere contracted and took the form of a sword.
The next moment, that silver-colored sword flew at a frightening speed—–
Fwwwssshhhh!
—and placed itself into my hand.
Without any time for me to guess what happened—- I swung my sword in midair.
No need to do those useless swordplay.
I began cutting the monsters attacking me into pieces, one after another.
I finally land on the ground.
The corpse of the fallen monsters rolled around me.
I looked at the sword in my hand.
It really fits in my hand…
I grip the handle with all of my strength.
(Create…”Creation”… Does this mean that it’s an inherent skill that generates weapons at my request…?]
Behind me, the large monster that shook me off was about to attack.
Strengthened after I released my limits, I dodged its attack.
I took a glance at the circle formation.
They’re alright.
Their formation isn’t crumbling anymore.
As the monster’s arm crashed on the ground and the dust fluttered about, I decided to aim at the monster’s legs.