Volume 2 - CH 256

“It started …… a couple of days ago.”

Raiki mutters quietly and looks at me.

“The Spectre Oni attacked us. There were about ten of them. ……

It was night at the time.

There was a loud noise, and suddenly the houses were knocked down.

When Tenda went forward to check the situation, something like a large malicious entrance had appeared, and the Spectres seemed to have come out of it and were wreaking havoc.

The power of the spectre was something that had never been observed before, and no one was sure exactly what it was.

“We don’t know why they attacked us. But it has taken the princess,…… Hisui-sama,…….”

“You don’t know why ……? Where did the spectre come from in the first place? Please describe them to me.”

“…… alright.”

I’ve learned a lot about the skills of the enemy.

But first of all, I don’t really understand what the spectre are.

I don’t know where they are or how they are …… doing it.

The Spectre Oni are the ones who arise after the Oni have shed their tears. …… They are one step in the evolution of what Ouren-sama calls”

“…………”

“The Spectre Oni are our superiors. No one can fight them straight and win. And those who become the Spectre Oni will wander into the world of the damned and become its inhabitants. I could not tell such a dark story to O-Ren-sama, so I hid it from you until you asked me about it.”

Their Evolution huh………

Listening to the story, I certainly get the feeling that Oni are no match for the Spectre Oni.

Engaging in one-on-one combat is a fool’s idea.

But I wonder why.

Why don’t these Oni do so when they can be strong?

Presumably, crying is a prerequisite for evolution.

Why don’t they do that, when they can gain power by doing so?

I asked them.

After giving me a look that said it was reasonable to think so, Raiki explained.

“It changes your personality.”

“The personality ……?”

“Hmm ……. Becoming an Spectre Oni greatly improves one’s abilities, but it is as if one has changed and is no longer aware of what is going on around them. …… Therefore, we Oni, in order to put ourselves first, have found out the conditions for becoming a Spectre, and in this way, we try to keep everyone from crying.”

That makes sense. ……

You can become strong, but it will change your whole personality.

You need to make sacrifices to become strong. ……

Nobody here wants to be a Spectre Oni.

But the princess almost became one. ……

“What about the Princess? I heard she was on the verge of becoming one of those……”

“It takes time to completely become the Spectre Oni. But the princess had stopped the development.”

“Stopped? Is that possible?”

“There is no record of such a thing. But I have an idea.”

“Why is it?”

“It’s you, Ouren-sama.”

Me …….?

But I had no such skills when I was a white snake.

The same is true now, and since I’ve been away from the princess for a while, if there was one, it would have lost its potency.

But Raiki seems to think that my presence may have been the key.

Until now, it seems that there are variations in the time between crying and becoming the Spectre, but the Princess seems to be able to hold on for a very long time.

There has never been anything like this before.

“However …… this is not an area of speculation. It may be that the Princess is unique, or it may be that something else has caused it to stop.”

“Raiki…..”

“I’m sorry. There is no use talking about things I don’t understand. Let’s get back to the subject at hand.”

I was going to say what Raiki said, but he had beaten me to it.

However, yes, it is true.

Meaningless conversation is not going to change the situation.

Right now, I want more information.

“Shimu knows where the Princess is. The spectre lives in the Everlasting Realm.”

“How do I get there?”

“With Shimu’s skills. However ……”

Raiki hesitated.

He seemed to think for a moment, then shook his head and looked at me again.

“It will only be open for one hour.”

‘…… OOne hour time limit ……. So we have time to find the princess, time to bring her back, and worst of all, time for a battle. ……”

“I think a battle is unavoidable. ……”

One hour……One hour…….

It may be relatively easy to find the princess, but the worst thing that can happen is a battle.

The battle with the Spectre Oni that believes it is impossible to defeat.

The other party is someone whom we want to avoid even confronting.

And there are ten Spectres who came here.

Even though there are only that many, they have destroyed the village to this extent.

I want to avoid fighting them as much as possible,…….

“First of all, are the spectre few in number?”

“There shouldn’t be that many of them,……. The spectre changes their personalities in exchange for increased power, but their lifespan is also shortened. I think it’s safe to say that the spectre that attacked us here is at full strength.”

If that’s the case, is there still a way out of this ……?

The number of individuals is small, the possibility of contact with the enemy can be reduced.

But …… there will be guards at the …… princess’s place.

We will have to fight at least one of them.

But why did those spectres take the princess ……?

Because they wanted a companion?

Or do they have some other purpose?

Is it useless to think about it at this moment ……?

“So, what’s the plan?”

“Baltic-dono.”

“Okay.”

Baltic called out by Raiki, and spread a scroll in front of me.

It was like a floor plan of some kind, and the interior of the building was drawn in detail.

And another thing.

This scroll has a map on it.

What is this ……?

When I tilted my head, Baltic explained to me.

“It’s a map of a place called Everlasting Realm, and a floor plan of the buildings there. There’s only one building on the map.”

“How did you get that ……?”

“I had Ran investigate the Everlasting Realm from time to time. This has come in handy.”

How did he do that?

Well, isn’t it concerning to know where the spectre resides?

I can understand investigating, but was he doing this all by himself? ……

That’s amazing.

While I was admiring it, Raiki took out the folding fan from his waist and snapped it.

“Well then, let’s start planning ahead seriously from here.”

We all nodded in agreement.