Chapter 12: A Little Nighttime Entertainment
The middle-aged man hadn't expected anyone else to appear in this remote alley so late at night.
A look of panic flashed through his eyes. He immediately tightened his grip on the young woman, turned to face Yoru who had just spoken, and brandished the dagger in his hand. He threatened with a fierce expression and voice:
"If you dare take one more step, I'll kill her!"
Yoru shrugged and chuckled, saying something that stunned both the robber and the young woman.
"What does that have to do with me?"
"What..."
The robber was dumbfounded.
The young woman also froze for a moment, then immediately stammered a plea.
"H-Help... help me."
"No."
Yoru's answer was just as crisp as before. With a friendly smile on his face, he spoke slowly.
"Whether you die or not, what does that have to do with me? I'm just here for him."
For some reason, looking at Yoru's expression, the robber felt certain that he wasn't lying.
This handsome young man in black clothes genuinely didn't care whether the young woman lived or died.
"Damn it..."
Gritting his teeth, the robber shoved the young woman forward violently, then turned and fled deeper into the alley.
He had realized that there was no need to take such a huge risk just for a little money.
At worst, he'd just find someone else to rob.
Come to think of it...
Why did I suddenly want to kill that woman just now?
Facing the young woman who was shoved towards him, Yoru simply turned his body slightly sideways. With an extremely elegant movement, he dodged her completely, letting her face-plant onto the ground in a very wretched manner.
He watched the retreating figure of the robber. In his vision, he could see something ordinary people couldn't: a dense black aura radiating from the man's body.
"At this stage, he's beyond saving."
With that, Yoru slowly walked in the direction the robber had fled.
If he remembered correctly...
That was a dead end.
...
Meanwhile.
"Damn it, damn it!"
The robber stared at the wall blocking his path, gritting his teeth. His eyes were filled with dense, red blood vessels, and his face was twisted into a hideous expression that no longer looked human.
Hearing the footsteps behind him, he turned around, grinding his teeth. Watching Yoru approach slowly, that inexplicable voice rang in his head again.
"Kill him!"
"K-Kill... Kill you..."
The robber's bloodshot eyes stared straight at Yoru's face, emitting a thick killing intent.
"Kill you!"
He tightened his grip on the dagger and charged at Yoru, using all his strength to stab toward Yoru's abdomen!
Clang!
The moment the dagger struck, the sound that rang in the robber's ears wasn't the sound of flesh being pierced as he had expected.
Instead, it sounded like he had hit a metal plate, producing a crisp sound of metal clashing.
"Are you trying to make me laugh, bro?"
Yoru shook his head, looking dissatisfied.
"I'm a serious exorcist, after all. Who are you trying to fool with that crappy fruit knife? Show some respect."
The robber wore a look of disbelief. He saw that the tip of his dagger hadn't pierced Yoru's abdomen but was completely blocked by a mass of strange black mist.
"H-How... How is this possible..."
He stumbled back two steps, then suddenly threw away the dagger and fell to his knees, crying and begging for mercy.
"I... I was possessed for a moment, please let me go."
From madness to groveling for mercy.
The speed of this robber's attitude change was so fast that even Han Xin (a historical figure known for enduring humiliation) would have felt inferior.
Yoru looked at the robber crying and begging on the ground without a shred of pity in his eyes. He simply shook his head and spoke softly.
"Truly disgusting."
The moment his voice fell, the surroundings instantly fell silent.
The robber remained kneeling on the ground, his body seemingly frozen stiff. After a long while, he finally lifted his head.
His eyes were no longer filled with red veins but had turned completely pitch black.
His body began to expand strangely, taking on a twisted form. His skin gradually turned a nauseating, sickly deep purple.
Facing this terrifying sight that would make an ordinary person faint from shock, Yoru maintained a calm expression and simply chuckled.
"Wouldn't it have been better to be like this from the start? Why bother disguising yourself?"
There was one thing Yoru hadn't told Yotsuya Miko during his explanation earlier today.
The moment a person's actions are controlled by an evil spirit, although they can still think independently and move freely most of the time, they are actually already dead—a walking corpse.
The most disgusting part was...
Even knowing the person was beyond saving, faced with a human begging for mercy and crying, not everyone could bring themselves to strike the killing blow.
Of course, Yoru was part of the minority who could.
Looking at the evil spirit, whose body had swelled to nearly three meters tall with dozens of sharp blades emerging from its arms and a twisted, terrifying face, Yoru said only three short words.
"Dinner time."
Ten minutes later.
"Done."
Yoru dusted himself off and quickly left the remote alley.
As expected.
The young woman who had been robbed earlier was long gone.
Setting aside the knife-wielding robber...
Even Yoru didn't seem like a normal person. If she had dared to stay put at 1:00 AM, that would have been the weird thing.
"Another long night."
After devouring the spirit, Yoru didn't stop. He continued searching for other prey.
His reason for hunting evil spirits was simple: to get stronger.
After devouring hundreds of spirits, Yoru discovered that besides enhanced physical fitness, he had also gained the ability to manipulate that strange black mist for offense or defense—like he had just done—as well as that Ghost Hand following behind him which even Miko couldn't see.
Since things like evil spirits existed in this world, could there be other dangerous entities in corners he didn't know about?
Being prepared was always good.
Having a sword in hand and not using it was a completely different matter from not having a sword at all.
The next morning, inside the Class 1-A classroom at Sobu High.
"Good morning, Yoru-kun."
"Yeah, good morning."
As soon as Yoru sat down, Yotsuya Miko walked over to greet him.
From the obvious dark circles under her eyes, he could guess that Miko had definitely tossed and turned last night, unable to sleep.
Of course, not because of some adolescent romantic flutter, but because her worldview had taken a severe hit.
Miko glanced around and, seeing that other students weren't paying attention to them, whispered carefully.
"Yoru-kun, about after school today...?"
"Don't be so impatient."
Yoru smiled.
"Do you know 2.5jo Satoru (Gojo Satoru)? If you're too impatient, you might easily turn into 'Two-tsuya' Miko (split in half) during a fight with an evil spirit."