Chapter 78

Bronze Mirror, Rice Sheaf

Magatama, Bow and Arrow

Treasure Sword, Gourd

His compassionate face was calm as water, yet it only made the scene appear more horrific.

——This was truly something far more terrifying than Kito Reima had imagined before.

There were several girls, including even an exorcist girl from the Northeast region that Reima already knew; she was a practitioner from a prominent family like him.

This scene made Reima's brain buzz, and his breathing stopped for several seconds.

He had to do something.

Gritting his teeth, Reima adjusted his breathing, his gaze gradually becoming resolute.

——He was going to save them!

He would smash the tank glass and rescue one of the girls. She would thank him with a weak voice, then tell him the truth. Then he would take her and escape, exposing the dark secrets here to the outside world.

He would become a hero of the Kito Family, and even Jingo Rin would have to acknowledge him!

"Haa!"

With his heart racing, Reima drew his spirit blade, the sound like tearing silk, and slashed open a tank in front of him!

In an instant, the tank shattered, glass flew everywhere, and the hoses were severed with a single strike. The girl soaking inside fell out weakly, and the foul, evil energy, thick as black mist, spread in all directions like an uncontrollable raging wave.

Then, a charred black arm slowly reached out from the black mist.

It was a huge hand.

The palm was inscribed with golden scriptures that looked like cracks, as if they were fragments of some ancient Buddha statue, or like scorched earth after a raging fire.

Accompanied by a dull cracking sound, the hand slowly opened, its five fingers gripping the air, as if to crush everything before it.

"What a joke."

Reima gasped, staring intently at the silhouette constantly coalescing within the black mist.

He was secretly shocked, for it was a giant body clad in tattered armor, slowly emerging from the filth.

Its face was a twisted human face, with hollow eye sockets, a mouth split to the ears, revealing a mouthful of ghastly white fangs.

Six arms extended from the charred body, each palm clutching a different ritual implement—a vajra, iron chains, torn scriptures, and even a head that had just been crushed.

This was a Vajra.

This demon Vajra, overflowing with evil energy, simply stood there, and its staggering spiritual pressure already made Reima's body feel heavy and his breathing difficult.

"Buddha!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, it suddenly extended its six arms, and the gale-like power made the entire laboratory rumble!

"Mountains and rivers remain unmoved, the earth suppresses evil, protect my body, heed this command!"

Raising his blade with his right hand, Reima flung his left hand out; a spirit talisman flew out, burning, exploding into a curtain of light in the air, forming a protective barrier. With a tap of his foot and power gathering in his blade, he focused his spiritual energy to the limit and charged directly at the evil entity!

The demon Vajra immediately swung three arms, its demonic fists, with destructive power comparable to a tank, smashed towards Reima.

Just being bathed in the wind of the fists would cause a concussion. If any of those punches hit, the body would be reduced to a pulp.

Reima gritted his teeth, his body suddenly rolling forward, barely dodging the first punch. The next punch followed immediately, about to smash his skull.

But it didn't matter! This desperate forward roll had allowed him to close the distance enough!

"Homage! To All! Buddhas!"

With a shout, Reima roared, holding the blade with both hands. His spiritual power suddenly surged, and he transformed into a pale blue streak of light, instantly killing his way into the Vajra's flank!

"All demons submit!"

Exhaling the burning energy within his body, he stepped forward, and the spirit blade instantly bloomed with a dazzling, brilliant light, slashing straight down!

This strike was infused with his entire will. The sword pressure tore through the air; he almost felt the blade touching the demon Vajra's flesh, and in the next second, he would be able to split it apart completely—

Victory was right before his eyes!

However, at the very moment the blade was about to strike, accompanied by a vibrating sound like a bell toll, Reima saw it.

He saw the vajra clutched in the demon Vajra's hand, meeting his blade, smashing down fiercely!

The tip of the spirit blade had just touched the vajra—crack!!! An irresistible force surged along the blade straight into Reima's arm, causing the web of his hand to instantly burst, blood splattering!

The spiritual light was shattered by the violent evil energy, like torn paper; the blade, like fragile glass, crumbled into shards, inch by inch!

The vajra, completely unimpeded, smashed fiercely onto the top of Reima's head!

His strike, delivered with all his might, was as fragile as thin paper.

He didn't even have time to think before he was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing through several metal tanks in succession. His internal organs felt as if they had been churned, every bone was protesting, and his mind was a roaring void.

It hurt!

An indescribable pain!

Reima still wanted to struggle, wanted to resist, wanted to stand up again; he couldn't just give up like this…

But, he couldn't move.

His body was no longer listening to him.

The demon Vajra's figure was blurry and massive, like a black giant tower oppressing the heavens and earth, stepping closer with a thunderous sound.

He had lost.

Kito Reima had already lost.

——Don't look at Jingo Rin and Qi Xing fighting these evil-hearted things as if they could take them out with one punch; in reality, they are very strong. Even an exorcist from a prestigious family might not necessarily be able to defeat them. At the very least, one must be at the level of Magical Girl Artemina to consistently win.

Reima is still at least one or two levels behind.

"I thought the equipment had malfunctioned; it turns out it was just a little mouse that snuck in."

The laboratory's automatic door opened, and a white-haired, golden-eyed shrine maiden in ornate robes—[Ise]—walked into the room. She only glanced at the young exorcist struggling on the ground and raised an eyebrow: "A child of the Kito Family."

Who was she?

Reima didn't know her; why could she recognize Reima at a glance?

Reima, in pain to the point of being almost unable to move, found it difficult to think about this question carefully and could only wait in fear, not knowing what this white-haired shrine maiden was about to do to him.

He only hoped now that he could recover a little strength and find an opening to escape—however, fate was cruel to him.

As if dissatisfied that the situation wasn't difficult enough, two more people walked in from outside the door!

First was a girl with a high black ponytail, wearing long and short swords at her waist, her posture straight, her gait steady.

Although every bone in Reima's body felt like it had been crushed by heavy hammers, he could still tell—this girl, of an age similar to his, likely had swordsmanship far superior to his own.

Even though she hadn't drawn her sword yet, and hadn't even looked at him directly. But that fluid, natural stance, that posture as if she could kill at any moment, was enough to make Reima feel desperate.

Following behind the samurai girl was another person with an extremely weak presence, a girl wearing a light purple onmyoji hunting robe. When she walked into the room, her expression was exceptionally uneasy, her pace clearly hesitant, her hands tightly clutching her sleeves, as if afraid of seeing something she shouldn't.

The white-haired, golden-eyed shrine maiden, Reima didn't know at all; the tall samurai girl, he seemed to have seen a photo of her somewhere—however, the last onmyoji girl, Reima did indeed know; he had seen her a few years ago.

He was stunned for a moment.

Because these three people… were all stronger than him.

And this wasn't the worst-case scenario.

The worst-case scenario was—he had no idea what would happen next.

"How pathetic."

The samurai girl [Gion] glanced at Reima's injuries, her tone carrying a hint of mockery, "I say, Boss, is this [Ucchusma Vajra] really reliable? Don't let that Matara trick us."

Although she said that, her tone remained flat, even somewhat nonchalant. Clearly, she didn't understand or care much about those convoluted, manipulative things.

On the contrary, the onmyoji girl had already quietly crept up to Reima's side, whispering spells to heal him. Her gaze swept over the women in the surrounding tanks, looked at the evil Vajra that had manifested and knocked Kito Reima down with one punch, and there was clearly more fear in her eyes than the samurai girl, as well as complex guilt.

"This strength is actually quite good. Over in Tokyo, one such evil-hearted monster can go back and forth with several Magical Girls."

The white-haired shrine maiden said indifferently, "If we don't achieve some results soon, breaking the contract with Matara is a small matter, but failing the Buddha Mother is a big one."

After speaking, she looked at the mural of the Buddha Mother Mahamayuri, putting her hands together in a reverent manner.

The other two girls didn't join her.

"Anyway, instead of having time to pay attention to others, you might as well assist in transferring the files and equipment here." The shrine maiden had to say with some dissatisfaction, "Since the address of this hospital has been exposed, we shouldn't stay here long."

"What about this guy?"

The samurai girl pointed at Reima on the ground and asked curiously.

"This young man can naturally be used."

The white-haired shrine maiden said indifferently, her tone flat but allowing no room for contradiction, "The assassin material is enough to deal with Magical Girls, but it's not enough to deal with Jingo Rin. I originally intended to try sending out thirty at once. Now that this young man has delivered himself to our doorstep, it makes me think of another usage that we can try."

The samurai girl shrugged, indicating it didn't matter: "Oh."

"But…"

The onmyoji girl finally spoke, seemingly wanting to express opposition—but she hesitated for a long time, ultimately not daring to speak, and nothing came out. Obediently lowering her head, she left the room with the samurai girl.

Kito Reima could only lie paralyzed on the ground, looking at the white-haired shrine maiden in despair, not knowing how she would dispose of him.

"Don't worry, your talent as a practitioner is quite good, and you happen to be a man."

The white-haired shrine maiden smiled slightly, "It's only thirty people's worth… I believe you can definitely contain them."

Reima finally understood what she meant and tried to struggle with his last bit of strength.

But it was already too late.

The girl he had tried his best to rescue from the tank—the girl who had originally been lying on the ground—now slowly began to move, stiffly raising her head. The twisted expression on her face was like the strange smile of a puppet.

She reached out to Reima, hugged his leg, and tugged at his pants.

"Eek!? No—"

Reima struggled desperately, but his body was no longer listening to him.

The white-haired shrine maiden chuckled softly, as if enjoying a farce.

"What a touching scene, little young master of the Kito Family." She said softly, her voice as gentle as if soothing an infant, "Didn't you want to be a hero just now?"

"Then properly bear the responsibility of a [Hero]."

"And there are twenty-nine more people to come."

079: Say goodbye to your [CENSORED]!

In the worldviews of Taoism, Shinto, Onmyodo, Hinduism, and many traditional shamanic practices—death, childbirth, and many desires of the human heart all generate filth.

Filth is the power of impurity. If humans come into contact with it, they will be tainted by disaster. One of the characteristics of Shinto, [Harae/Purification], is the ritual of fasting and bathing by the water to cleanse the filth and ominousness from one's body.

In fact, the term "Harae" (purification) was already recorded in literature during the Spring and Autumn period. Nowadays, it can only be seen in Japanese Shinto.

Later, because Shinto and Buddhism merged, the concept of filth was also regarded as [Karma] in Japan.

Although calling it filth, impurity, evil energy, or karma sounds terrifying… but in the final analysis, they are things that can be absorbed by humans, influence humans, and are even generated by humans; they are a natural part of the operation of the laws of the universe.

Lust for money, material desires, gluttony… human daily livelihood naturally generates filth bit by bit.

So… I don't know how much time passed.

In reality, it was probably just a few hours.

But over those few hours, Kito Reima… his [CENSORED]… had already been numbed by pain.

So painful, no joy at all, only pain.

His consciousness gradually blurred, as if he were going crazy.

Perhaps he had actually already gone crazy.

Only his brain kept following the instruction [to [CENSORED]].