Chapter 12 - Sona Arrived
"What are your abilities?" Yayoi Hozuki asked, eyeing the swarm of malevolent spirits.
"If we break through, we might reach Eiko at the mountain's base. If we get to the car, we can escape."
"No need," Evan said.
A black wind swirled around, laden with miasma—resentful energy that could choke ordinary humans and drive them mad with prolonged exposure.
"It'll be over soon," Evan assured.
In Yayoi's eyes, Evan advanced alone.
Malevolent spirits lunged, only to dissolve in a burst of golden light before touching him.
Evan raised an eyebrow.
Testing the power of light, he hadn't expected such efficacy.
Unlike cursed spirits or devils, malevolent spirits were particularly vulnerable, though not utterly annihilated.
"Ahhh!" Kishimojin roared, her teeth grinding as her malevolent infant spirits perished.
Though corrupted, she retained an instinct to protect children.
Seeing Evan obliterate hundreds, she shrieked and charged, dozens of black tails trailing behind her shadowy form.
Evan condensed a spear of light in his hand, launching it at Kishimojin.
Her tails resisted, but the spear pierced through in seconds, then drove into her heart.
The kinetic force hurled her backward, pinning her to the ground, the spear's tip buried three feet deep.
The spear's path created a vacuum, its shockwave shredding countless malevolent infant spirits.
The temple cleared instantly, the miasma parting to reveal bright moonlight.
Though lacking intelligence, the surviving spirits fled instinctively, cowed by Evan's ferocity.
He gave no quarter.
The spear embedded in Kishimojin flared like a searchlighs, a tsunami of light that tore the remaining spirits to shreds.
Yayoi, stunned, checked herself—no injuries.
The explosion's precision spared her and even the surrounding weeds.
As the smoke cleared, Evan frowned.
"Still clinging to life? Not bad."
Kishimojin wasn't dead, but she teetered on the brink.
The power of light, toxic to devils and malevolent spirits alike, ravaged her.
"Any last words?" Evan asked.
Kishimojin, sanity lost to corruption, couldn't respond.
Evan's question was rhetorical.
Before he could act, two voices rang out.
"Wait!"
Evan halted his condensing spear of light, its tip a centimeter from Kishimojin's forehead.
He and Yayoi turned, the latter confused—she'd shouted, but who else had?
Two figures descended under moonlight, their slim silhouettes and demonic wings visible despite the dimness.
Yayoi gripped her crowbar, but Evan, sensing their aura, recognized them.
As expected, Sona emerged from the shadows, accompanied by Tsubaki.
"They're allies," Evan said, lowering Yayoi's crowbar.
"Why are you here?" he asked Sona.
"I was about to finish the commission."
"After you accepted it, I reviewed the details and rushed over," Sona said.
"Thankfully, you haven't killed her."
"She's just a malevolent spirit," Evan said.
"What's special about her?"
"You may not know, Evan," Sona began, "but Kishimojin was once a guardian deity protecting infant spirits."
"She fell to corruption for reasons we're still unraveling."
Evan nodded, feigning ignorance to hear her out.
"When I came to Kuoh Town, the Underworld sealed this area with a barrier to keep humans out," Sona continued.
"I was tasked with resolving Kishimojin's transformation, but Underworld lacks the finesse for any purification spell."
The Underworld's losses in the Great War and devil civil war decimated the seventy-two pureblood clans, costing countless secret spells.
Kishimojin's case remained unresolved.
"I planned to find a solution to restore her role," Sona said, glancing at Yayoi, "but a daring girl breached the barrier."
Yayoi, realizing her blunder, slipped her crowbar into her bag.
No wonder Kishimojin's temple was deserted—only the informed avoided it, and the ignorant couldn't enter.
"I won't pursue it," Sona sighed.
"We failed to secure the site."
"Recycling waste, then," Evan said, dispersing his spear of light.
Sona and Tsubaki, initially uneasy, froze, eyes widening.
They'd mistaken it for an exorcist's holy sword.
Now, they saw the truth.
"Evan, was that… the power of light?" Sona asked, incredulous.
"Yes," Evan replied. "Any issue?"
"How can a human wield the power of light?" Sona pressed.
"That's exclusive to angels and fallen angels."
"I developed it through practice," Evan said. "I'm not fully proficient yet."
"?!"
Sona and Tsubaki were baffled, their shock palpable.
Evan didn't conceal his feat.
If humans wielding the power of light stunned them, Kiba Yuuto—a devil using holy swords—would be even more outrageous.
Sona regained her composure, resolving to consult her sister later.
She refocused on Kishimojin.
"Why are you here?" she asked Yayoi.
"To lift a curse from my cousin, Eiko," Yayoi replied, her calm belying her youth.
Her logical, unflinching demeanor—rare even among adults—impressed Sona.
Most humans, learning of devils, panicked, but Yayoi remained composed.
"A curse?" Sona said, realizing why Yayoi hadn't sought devil aid.
Casting curses was easy for devils; removing them was not.
"You came alone?" Sona asked.
"Eiko's a normal human," Yayoi said, hefting her crowbar.
"I have this."
Her blunt confidence silenced Sona and Tsubaki.
They sensed Yayoi's supernatural aura—not a Sacred Gear holder but likely spiritualist, akin to exorcists, sorcerers, or magicians among humans.
After probing, Sona confirmed Yayoi was a self-taught spiritualist.