"Even though I've already sent a companion to deliver the message, is this really a good idea?" The Nekomata asked, flicking its tail as it looked at Taichi, who was crouching in the grass, observing the situation outside. "Instead of meeting up with the princess, you're taking a risk to steal a katashiro from a shrine."
"I can't just leave Ann alone in a dangerous place like that hospital," Taichi replied. "I don't know what that Hannya-masked person's goal is, but he seems to be picking suitable candidates. And people like me and Yukino, who can maintain our physical form at the boundary between life and death, are the most suitable vessels."
"Since Ann also maintained her physical form, it's very likely that the Hannya-masked person will notice her and go after her since she's alone. So, to get Ann to join us, it's very important to get a katashiro that can hold her soul."
"Nekomata, are you sure the katashiro enshrined here can hold souls?" Taichi asked, still a little worried, looking down at the Nekomata at his feet.
"Of course," the Nekomata replied, nodding. "How many years do you think I've lived on these streets, kid?"
Taichi didn't care how many years the Nekomata had lived; he only cared if the katashiro was real.
At the entrance of the shrine, three headless students and two umbrella monsters were wandering around. The fact that they were all melee fighters was both good and bad. It was good because Taichi didn't have to worry about getting hit by a fireball while he was fighting someone up close. It was bad because they didn't need to stand still to charge up an attack.
"Nekomata, do you have any companions nearby? Can you get them to lure a few of the Visitors away?" Taichi wanted to divide the enemy's forces as much as possible.
"You're dreaming," the Nekomata said, rolling its eyes. "Most lesser yokai are cowards. If it were a command from the Princess, maybe they'd group up and fight, but without her orders, they'd just run. They don't have the guts to stand up to those Visitors."
"To be honest, if the Princess hadn't specifically told the yokai who found you to stay with you, I would have run off a long time ago," the Nekomata added, flicking its tail. "But I can act as a lookout for you."
"Alright then, here's the plan. I'll lure the Visitors away. When they're all gone, you'll go into the shrine and grab the katashiro." Taichi was trying to find something for the Nekomata to do.
"Are you kidding me?" The Nekomata was stunned, then looked at Taichi with a bewildered expression. "Why would you think an unaffiliated yokai like me could enter a shrine? The things inside there don't just turn a blind eye to us for the sake of the Princess."
"But the Visitors are fine," Taichi replied, confused. "Those three student girls just bounced out of the shrine, didn't they?"
"They're bullies, that's what they are," the Nekomata said, disdainfully stroking its whiskers. "Our Princess doesn't have a powerful backer, but those Visitors do. Otherwise, why do you think only the Princess and we little yokai she commands are active, while the other yokai are all hiding in their territories, playing dumb?"
"That's... a good point," Taichi said, scratching his head with his gauntlet. He gently patted the Nekomata's head. "Keep an eye on our surroundings, old man Nekomata. I'm counting on you."
Taichi picked up a small stone from the ground and walked out of the grass. He threw the stone at the headless students, who were still unaware of his presence. Whether by luck or some other factor, the stone landed squarely in the neck hole of one of the student girls.
Taichi immediately felt goosebumps on his neck, but the Visitors' attention was drawn to him. The three student girls came bouncing toward him with inhuman speed.
"Come and get me, you damn scoundrels," Taichi said in a low voice, afraid of drawing the attention of other Visitors. He clenched his fists, taunting the student girls. Then he turned and ran. It was a one-on-three situation, and the odds were not in his favor. He had to find a way to separate them and take them down one by one!
"Damn it all! I'm too weak!"
If he were strong enough, he could just rush in mindlessly and solve everything. But unfortunately, Taichi only had above-average physical abilities. Without X, he had no other advantages against the Visitors except for a slight strength superiority in a one-on-one fight.
"Hohoho... humans are so interesting," the Nekomata muttered, squinting as it watched Taichi's back as he lured the three headless students away. "But, is he going to be okay by himself?"
"Not okay! I'm in a lot of trouble!" Taichi was sprinting. "Are these three students not normal? Or is it that the all-black student girls are stronger than the ones with black skirts and white blouses?"
After a quick clash, Taichi realized something was different. The power gap between these students and the headless students he had encountered before was immense. With the others, one punch from him would at least make them stumble. If he hit their core, he could take one out with a single punch. But these three all-black student girls were different. They were faster and stronger. Taichi had just exchanged one punch with one of them. She didn't even flinch, but he was knocked back a few steps and almost fell to the ground. What's more, the three students were consciously protecting their core areas, giving Taichi no chance to shatter them.
He couldn't beat them, and he couldn't outrun them, so his only option was to use the terrain to avoid their pursuit. He had to find a way to make them expose a weakness so he could attack their cores and win.
Taichi's eyes scanned his surroundings, and his brain was working at full speed. Finally, his gaze fell on a severed log and a concrete pipe that looked like it was from a construction site.
Objects from the real world, or the material world, couldn't cause effective damage to Visitors, but they could serve as obstacles. This was most evident with the headless students. Probably because of their agility, they never destroyed obstacles in their way; they would always use their physicality to simply jump over them. Therefore, it was necessary to use physical objects to limit the students' movements and lock down their greatest advantage: mobility.
He would use the log to block off one end of the pipe, and then attack the students who lost their mobility from the other end. Taichi admitted it was a gamble, but the situation was so dangerous that he had no other choice. His stamina wasn't at its best, and the recent chase had consumed a lot of it. At this rate, he'd be caught by the tireless students in no time.