Volume 2 - CH 262

A roar rumbled behind us.

Apparently, a battle was about to begin.

However, only those three were holding back one person.

There must be at least nine more of them somewhere.

We don’t have time to deal with all of them.

The ideal strategy would be to bring the princess back immediately after finding her, but …… we never know.

With no way of knowing when and where the enemy would appear, Lacc landed near the third building.

According to Raiki, this building is called the Drum Tower.

There seems to be a taiko drum inside, but that explanation is not important right now, so we quickly ran to find a place where we could enter.

According to Shimu’s report, there seems to be a sign of the princess here.

I really wanted to have Lacc get on the roof and enter through a window or something, but unfortunately, this drum tower has no windows or entrances large enough for a person to enter.

The only way in seemed to be through the gate placed in the stone wall.

“Guruaaaah!”

“What’s wrong, Lacc!”

Lacc who had been on standby suddenly howled.

It was struggling with something.

Perhaps it has come into close contact with a spectre oni.

I can’t afford to lose Lacc at that place!

I immediately ran to Lacc’s place, but it seemed that Lacc was in the upper hand, and it was beating up the person who looked like a spectre oni.

It was with considerable force, and the spectre oni who flew away was knocked against a rock and temporarily immobilized.

However, he quickly got up and brushed the dust off his body.

It doesn’t look as if it’s affecting him.

“Flying dragon, can’t beat me. No, my muscle, is harder.”

The spectre oni walked slowly and looked like a monk with many prayer beads on his head.

He had golden horns and silver hair.

He was dressed in eye-catching clothes and had a conspicuous hair color.

Perhaps he wanted to stand out.

“Are you the spectre oni who took the princess, ……?”

“Not me, exactly, but, I told him to.”

“Aren’t both the same?”

He’ s an Oni who speaks in a strange way of separating the words.

What is he trying to do, buy some time?

Anyway, there seems to be no doubt that this is certainly the culprit who took away the princess.

I’m a little worried about the fact that there are no other spectres, but if we can’t beat this one, there is no way we can beat the others.

We’ll go all out from the start.

“…… what …… is the meaning of this?”

“!? What’s the matter, Raiki?”

“I didn’t expect …… Garak to be the one who became …… the spectre.”

Ga-garak?

I don’t know who he is, but Raiki seems to know who he is.

Then maybe he knows his weaknesses, his specialties, his skills.

It may be a bit distressing to have to fight someone you know, but we have to do it.

That’s why we’re here.

“Raiki. You know that guy?”

“He’s …… Tenma’s brother ……. He’s the brother of the princess’s father……”

“So he’s a relative of the …… princess.”

I don’t want to ask why he kidnapped her or anything like that.

Moreover the princess who hasn’t become a spectre oni, the princess who is trying hard to hold back from becoming a spectre oni, kidnapped and locked up in this place, this is unforgivable.

The moment I glared at Garak, arrows of flame rained down from the sky.

They seemed to be concentrated on a single point and rained down toward Garak.

But he knew it was coming.

Garak thrust his arm upward and punched the sky.

There was a loud [boom] and the air was distorted, and the flaming arrows that had been raining down were cancelled out.

“What the hell?!”

Houen, who was flying above us, shouted.

The fire arrow had never been erased before.

If it hit’s, it’s over.

But if it didn’t hit, it was meaningless.

These moves made me understand that the power of the spectre oni is substantial.

We have encountered a troublesome opponent,…….

“Could you leave, please? For the people of the outer realm, it is dangerous to be here. The gates may only be open for an hour, but your body won’t last more than 30 minutes. Except for the Oni.”

I appreciate your advice. But unfortunately, I can’t leave. I’ll return as soon as I get back what was stolen.”

“…… thats, a problem.”

Then Garak finally took up a fighting stance.

He clutched his prayer beads and pulled his arms into a karate stance.

The first action Garak took was to shoot down the enemy in the sky.

With a cackle, he glanced toward Houen, took aim, and punched the air.

Boom!

Houen was blown away at the same time as the unexpected boom sound.

“Whoaaaa! W-what a wind pressure!”

He seemed to have adjusted his posture, but he had drifted very far away.

To fight in the air might not be a good thing.

However, there was no way he would miss the opportunity when his opponent was paying attention to the sky.

I pulled out my shadow serpent and gave it a full-throttle thrust.

“[Heaven Spllit] thrust version!”

The attack hit Garak directly in the abdomen and pushed him back to the rocky field with the force of momentum.

The force of the attack was so strong that it left a clear mark on Garak’s leg where he had been dragged, presumably from enduring the attack.

But he is a spectre oni who had withstood Lacc’s attack.

There was absolutely no way that he would have beaten him down with this.

While he was down, I asked Lacc to retreat to a safe place.

If it dies, I’ll have no face to show to Rose.

When I confirm that Lacc has flown away, Houen lands next to me in exchange.

He seems to be looking at Garak being blown away with his flame spear at the ready.

“Raiki. Can you use your skills?”

“I’m sorry. …… I thought it would be difficult with someone like that …… if I didn’t touch them. I tried, but it was repelled.”

“We have to try to suppress his movement. ……”

“Can I use my land spirits to do that? But since he’s been punching the air, it’s hard for me to do anything about it.”

The opponent is a spectre oni.

Most anything will come out broken by sheer force.

If that’s the case, it might be a good idea to use water pressure to slow him down.

If necessary, I could try to suffocate him.

Raiki can only use his ability if he touches it with his hand.

Houen will be blown away if he is in the air.

But fortunately, Houhen and I have long-range skills.

If we continue to attack at long range, and Houen’s flame hits him even once, we might win.

The rest is…….

Then, with a rattling sound, Garak emerged from the rock.

His abdomen, which had been thrust away from the large stone, was bleeding a little and did not seem to have sustained much damage.

The Shadow Serpent’s thrust could only inflict that much damage.

But it is difficult to thrust with Hakuryuu (3 foot sword).

The power is strong enough to be reliable, but the accuracy is not good enough.

“This is, not enough….. To beat me.”

Garak made a clenched fist and leaped forward.