One should never live by gambling. This was the thought that flashed through Taichi's mind when the student girl kicked the log, splitting it into two and a bunch of splinters.
One should not rely on luck, or Murphy's Law is bound to strike. This was Taichi's thought as his gauntlet pierced through the core of the student girl in front of him, and he used his leg to block the other student girl who was crawling in from the other end of the pipe.
As the second student girl, who was now crawling out from behind the first one who was dissipating, launched her attack on Taichi, his other hand was already out in a second offensive.
Yes, it feels so good to bully someone who doesn't have a head. They had no eyes to see, so they had no way of knowing what Taichi's attacks were. Although he didn't know how these headless students located survivors, they were always at a disadvantage when it came to the details.
Probably sensing the demise of her two companions, the student girl Taichi had blocked with his leg started swinging her fists in a frenzy. A bone-cracking pain shot through his leg. Biting down hard on his teeth and holding back the tears that were about to spill and the urge to scream, Taichi turned around and thrust his gauntlet into the core of the last student girl.
After the third threat had disappeared, Taichi finally groaned, letting out a cry of pain. He held his leg and cried silently. In both his lives, he had never felt such intense pain.
After a few seconds of silence, Taichi, still enduring the pain, staggered out of the concrete pipe. He hadn't forgotten that two umbrella men were still tracking him.
[I am you, and you are me. Crossing the safety line of life, taking the first step of courage. Although it's still naive, there's value in continuing to polish it.]
A different voice suddenly rang in his ears. Taichi, who had just climbed out of the concrete pipe, was stunned. The last time he heard a similar voice was when Mordred first came online. Just as Taichi was excitedly thinking that they would get a new fighter, the voice disappeared.
"Where's the new teammate? Come and save me!" Seeing that there was no more movement around him, Taichi gave a wry smile and changed direction, running the other way. He had already seen the umbrella men appear from the direction the student girls had been chasing him from. So, he had to change his strategy. He had to rush into the shrine now that there were no Visitors guarding it and steal the katashiro! He couldn't possibly win against two umbrella men, who were likely as strong as the students, with an injured leg. They even had umbrellas, which were mid- to close-range weapons!
As expected, when Taichi made it back around, there were no Visitors at the entrance of the shrine.
"You actually came back alive?" The Nekomata squatted on the steps outside the shrine, looking at Taichi. But the Nekomata's forked tail, which had been perked up, was now dragging weakly on the ground. The once shiny fur on its body had also turned a scorched black.
"Did you try to go in?" Taichi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Taichi-sama, it's better not to say it out loud," the Nekomata said, rolling its eyes. "Hurry and go in to get the katashiro before those monsters come back. Otherwise, we'll be in trouble."
The shrine didn't stop Taichi from entering. So Taichi easily grabbed the stack of katashiro floating in mid-air on the offering platform. That's right, a stack, neatly tied with a rubber band.
"..." Taichi's lips twitched, revealing a forced smile.
Then, that voice came again from who-knows-where.
[I will become your sword. As long as my Master commands it, Raikou is willing to become an Oni!]
[This is it! The Minamoto clan, advance!]
Purple lightning began to converge in front of Taichi. A bewitching beauty in a black sailor suit, holding a weapon of a strange shape that could be called either a spear or a wheel, stood there beautifully.
"Lancer, Minamoto no Raikou, will become your blade and cut down all enemies in your path!"
Taichi's mouth hung open. First, he had the guiding X-papa, and now he was going to have a doting Raikou-mama?
"Master, your leg is still inconvenient, so don't move for now. I will first cut down all the enemies outside, and then I will come back for you." Their bond had clearly not reached the threshold yet. The current Raikou was a loyal warrior, not a mother who saw her master as a child.
"Yes, Raikou, I'm counting on you," Taichi replied, nodding. "Also, don't hurt the Nekomata outside the shrine. It's a companion."
"Understood!" The commanded Minamoto no Raikou had a soft expression when she faced Taichi, but when she turned around, her aura became one of pure aggression.
She stepped out of the shrine and glanced at the Nekomata, who was paralyzed on the ground, playing dead from the sheer pressure of her aura. Minamoto no Raikou said nothing and continued walking outside. The enemies—the umbrella-wielding Visitors—were already heading this way. They were weak. Their weakness was visible to the naked eye. Minamoto no Raikou was slightly distracted.
"Master is still a child in the midst of growth, an unpolished gem... I must not lose my composure, and I must not scare the child... I must be careful with my teaching methods. I can't let my Master become a rebellious child like Kintoki who doesn't like to communicate with his mother... and get taken advantage of by bugs!"
As one of the Heroic Spirits who had been watching Taichi since the fog appeared, it wasn't that the manifested Raikou wasn't doting on her master, but that she had learned to disguise it.
"Hmph!"
She didn't even draw the sword at her waist. She didn't use the wheel-like spear in her hand. It was just a shout, not even a Mana Burst. But the two umbrella-wielding Visitors stopped in their tracks as if they were intimidated by something. Then, a few flashes of lightning sparked in their cores, and their bodies gradually began to dissipate.
The Nekomata, who was secretly watching all this, was almost scared to death. The terrifying Visitors were so terrified by a shout from this terrifying, strange woman who came out of the shrine that they became ghosts! Who was this strange woman?!
"...Is it a double buff from being in her home country and the legends?" Minamoto no Raikou clenched her fist. "She's much more powerful than I expected."
"Hey, Nekomata, you know what you should and shouldn't say, right?" Before returning to the shrine, Minamoto no Raikou stopped next to the Nekomata and warned it in a threatening tone. "The child, Taichi, doesn't like to attract too much attention."
"Y-Yes!" All of the Nekomata's fur stood on end. It immediately straightened its body and jumped up from the ground to respond.
"Just be a good little kitty, and nothing will happen." Minamoto no Raikou smiled as she looked down at the Nekomata.
But the Nekomata didn't dare to move. It could only let the purple lightning flow from her mouth to its heart. Its life was now in her hands.