CH 91

Shapeshifter

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

–The time has come.

The view swayed and the scenery reversed.

Watching the barriers being put up all over the area, Tsugumi let out a small breath and looked in the direction of the Demonic Beast’s presence–the sky above the five-story pagoda. There was a black crack in the sky, and something was slowly falling through the crack.

“–Is that a black fox?”

He muttered to himself, squinting.

A black fox-like Demonic Beast floated in the air, swaying in the wind. Its tail was branched into many branches, and it was filled with a sense of disaster.

The black fox landed on the roof of the tower, took one look at them, and spun around on the roof. At that moment, the fox’s body was enveloped in a smoke-like black shadow.

–Some kind of attack is coming. Tsugumi braced himself for an attack of some kind, but what leaped out of the shadow was unexpected.

A huge body over three meters long, with rough, hard-looking hair. A creature with large fangs that could be called a deadly weapon. –Over there was a big black boar. If he were to compare its strength, he would say that it was about the size of the D-class Boar.

Despite the feeling of being out of sync, Tsugumi was on guard and ready for battle.

“…I guess it’s weaker than what I expected of a B-class Demonic Beast. Well, I don’t mind.”

Fortunately, he didn’t feel a strong force from the Boar. Judging so, Tsugumi approached the Boar, which was running down the red five-story pagoda while destroying it, through transportation, stretching out his threads as if to entangle it, and deftly sliced its body into small pieces.

He was bewildered by how easily it happened, but for some reason, he had a bad feeling about it and distanced himself backward.

Then the body of the boar, which was spewing blood, melted away. The pieces of the boar’s flesh and blood turned black and gained mass, forming a new shape.

“I see. …This looks bad.”

A four-meter-tall mantis stood in front of Tsugumi, holding a sickle in its hand. The body of the big boar had changed. Apparently, this time the Demonic Beast had the ability to transform.

–This may last for a while. Thinking so, Tsugumi readied his threads.

◆◆◆

Starting with the Boar, then the Mantis, Gargoyle, Manticore, Wyvern, and other somewhat familiar Demonic Beasts appeared one after another, but Tsugumi cut them as if he were performing a monotonous task.

He tried to attack when the black shadow was changing the shape of its body, but the thread just slipped through the shadow and did not seem to do any particular damage. Apparently, the attack couldn’t go through until the transformation was complete.

…And, as he had suspected, it seemed that this Demonic Beast was imitating the form of an opponent Tsugumi had fought or encountered before. The techniques that the transformed Demonic Beast performed were almost exactly the same as the ones that he remembered. The tricks were uselessly detailed, as it purposely changed its appearance in order of class.

If the transformation targets included virtual battles in the simulator, then after this, he would have to deal with dozens of A-class Demonic Beasts. And if he continued to defeat them in this order, he would end up with the Irregularity he once fought to the death – Radon.

The current Tsugumi was confident that he could win even against that Radon if he was in perfect condition, but after a series of battles with other A-classes, he didn’t think his physical strength and divine power would be enough.

With this concern in mind, Tsugumi felt the shadow of the Demonic Beast waver a little as he defeated the Demonic Beast that had transformed into its new form.

Observing it from a distance, it seemed that when it exceeded a certain size, it lost its shape from there. This was just a speculation, but that black fox might not be able to transform into something that large. Thinking that made him feel a little better.

“If that’s the case, then it shouldn’t be able to transform to most of the A-class and B-class because of the oversize. …I may be able to handle this.”

He muttered quietly and exhaled a little.

Besides, the grade of this Demonic Beast–the Black Fox–was B-class, according to information from the government. No matter how strong this Demonic Beast was, it had limited resources of power. If it continued to use its power through transformation, there was a high possibility that it wouldn’t be able to maintain its body and would disappear.

–In other words, this was an endurance battle. Would Tsugumi fall first, or would the Demonic Beast run out of power first? It was a life-threatening chicken race.

Tsugumi considered the pacing as well as the number and size of the Demonic Beasts that he had fought in the past and those he had fought in the simulator. There must have been some small A-class Demonic Beasts among the ones he fought in the simulator, but even in this series of battles, he had no intention of losing to a foe he had fought once.

After deciding on a strategy, Tsugumi suppressed the number of transports and used his thread manipulation skills as much as possible to defeat the Demonic Beasts. Fortunately, the island of Itsukushima had many obstructions. It was the perfect place to conserve strength.

…Whenever a part of the shrine or the landscape of the city was destroyed, it felt like he could hear a woman’s scream, but he didn’t feel any particular sign of people, so he supposed he’d lose if he paid attention to it. When the barrier was successfully lifted, things would return to normal, so if possible, please overlook this vandalism.

“This is the hundredth body! Ah, it’s already pitch black outside…”

Gasping for breath, he cut up the Black Fox that had transformed into an A-class Demonic Beast. The sun was setting and the visibility was getting worse, but it wasn’t a problem because he knew where the Demonic Beast was through the threads he had stretched out.

Fortunately, probably because of a problem with the original grade, the Black Fox did not seem to be able to fully reproduce its abilities even if it transformed into an A-class Demonic Beast.

A good example would be the Minotaur. The Black Fox could reproduce the partial transport of limbs and darkening, but it couldn’t create that huge labyrinth on the island of Itsukushima. The A-class, lacking in ability, was no match for the current Tsugumi.

–It should be the end of the Demonic Beast’s transformation, but would it really be the end? He had some power left just in case, but as long as he couldn’t find a clear way to defeat it, he had no choice but to continue this endurance battle.

“…What do you think, Bell-sama?”

As the Demonic Beast was transforming – in between fights, Tsugumi asked Bell. Bell, who had reverted from her black leopard form back to that of a cat, squinted as she sat on Tsugumi’s shoulder and said.

“Perhaps you are not wrong. The Fox is definitely weaker than it was at first. Really, thinking about its rationality, it would have been more meaningful to increase the reproducibility of A-class rather than playing by the numbers. What an idiot.”

“That would put a lot of strain on me. …I don’t like the idea of fighting a well-prepared A-class enemy over and over again.”

He knew that monotonous endurance fights were boring to watch, but please stop trying to increase the difficulty.

The mass of black shadows wriggled to change shape, undulating and crawling on the ground. …It was a sight that gave him goosebumps, but there was no point in attacking it when it was in this state, so he had to keep quiet and watch.

Just as Tsugumi began to wonder if it had finally run out of things to transform into, he felt a sharp pain in his cheek.

“Kuh! What the hell is that!?”

He took a distance and looked at the spot where he was standing just a moment ago. The box was about the size of a baseball. The shape of the box gave him a sense of déjà vu, and he reflexively shifted to higher ground, away from the box.

–A moment later, a cloud of dust rose from where he had just been. No, that was a tornado.

The veil of sand that blew like a storm gradually faded away, and when Tsugumi recognized the black shadow, he clicked his tongue, unable to hide his irritation.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. …Of all the people to turn into that person…”

–The shadow that appeared was humanoid.

She had a slender back and straight hair. Her face was obscured by shadows, but Tsugumi knew that resolute stance.

He suppressed the urge of anger that welled up and positioned himself to run at a moment’s notice. This was not a matter of forgiveness. Tsugumi glared at the Demonic Beast with a clear intent to kill.

“–Don’t you dare to humiliate Hitsugi-san any more than you already have, Demonic Beast.”

The words were spoken as if to vent his anger, and the Demonic Beast that imitated Hitsugi Airi’s appearance was sneering like the first quarter moon.