Inside the Shrine.
Seeing Kawashima Toya gripping a wooden sword, Kasumigaoka Utaha instantly went on high alert.
"I am human. Why wouldn't I be sane?"
As she spoke, she discreetly rose to her feet, her eyes scanning for an escape route.
The man holding the wooden sword clearly wasn't normal. Who knew what dangerous things might happen if she stayed any longer?
It seems she can communicate normally.
She hasn't gone completely mad.
Toya commented indifferently in his mind, positioning himself to block the shrine's entrance—which was also the only exit.
In his eyes, the monstrous Kasumigaoka Utaha was communicative and showed no signs of insanity.
This indicated that she was at least mentally stable. In her perception—and likely the perception of others—she still looked like her usual self.
Perhaps only he, a transmigrator possessing a cheat, could see her true, monstrous form.
This guy is a lunatic...
There is no way I can fight a boy my age. I have to run!
Utaha's heart sank. The scenario she dreaded most had come to pass.
She had only decided to visit a shrine to pray because of the frequent nightmares she had been having lately. She never expected to run into a crazy person.
Ignoring Utaha's subtle movements, Toya spoke calmly. "I ask, you answer."
"Don't think about running. You won't get away."
"Once I'm done asking, I'll let you go."
Toya stared at her intensely. "Have you noticed anything abnormal recently? Did you touch anything strange? Or perhaps write anything strange?"
The corruption from an Evil God's minion must have a source.
Ordinary people who directly faced an Evil God would either go mad and commit suicide instantly or transform into a minion.
Even if Kasumigaoka Utaha was a main heroine, she couldn't possibly be immune.
The only possibility was that she had encountered a minion of an Evil God and suffered passive mental pollution.
"Abnormal?" Knowing escape was hopeless, Utaha answered honestly. "Do nightmares count?"
"I've been having nightmares often recently. Almost every day, I dream of some very abstract monsters."
"That's it." Toya's eyes gleamed sharply, and his expression turned serious. "Before the nightmares started, what did you do? Or what did you experience?"
It was just as he thought; Kasumigaoka Utaha hadn't actively sought out the anomaly.
Now, he just needed to identify the source of the corruption.
"I..."
"My hand hurts—!"
Just as Utaha was about to answer, a sharp, intense pain shot from her right hand straight to her brain.
She screamed in agony, clutching her slender, pale hand.
Under her gaze, her right hand began to change.
It was gradually transforming into a rotting claw.
"What is happening to me?"
"Why am I turning into the monster from my nightmares?"
Utaha looked at her hand in disbelief as it morphed into the very creature that haunted her sleep.
Standing aside, Toya's gaze narrowed.
It's starting. I must cut off the mental pollution immediately!
Otherwise, it'll be too late!
In a single thought, his eyes gradually turned into a clear, sky-blue color.
These were the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
With the eyes active, Toya could clearly see Utaha undergoing a violent transformation—from human to a minion of an Evil God.
Although she was on the verge of transforming, the Lines of Death and Points of Death still existed on her body.
He could even see the specific cluster of Lines and Points belonging to the "Mental Pollution" that was enveloping her.
As long as I cut the Point of Death of the mental pollution, everything will be solved.
Toya instantly charged at Kasumigaoka Utaha, aiming his strike at the Point of Death within the mass of pollution surrounding her.
He wants to kill me?
Despite the excruciating pain in her hand, Utaha kept her eyes on Toya. The moment he lunged, she immediately dodged.
Toya, lacking any combat training, naturally missed.
Part of it was intentional on Toya's part; if he accidentally struck any of Utaha's actual Lines or Points of Death, she would die.
The only difference would be whether she died instantly or suffered a painful, gruesome death.
However, the mental pollution seemed to have enhanced Utaha's physical capabilities, allowing her to repeatedly evade Toya's attacks.
"Kasumigaoka, stop running!"
"I'm saving you, not killing you!"
"If you keep running, you really will be beyond saving!"