Dropout Exorcist Part 1 Chapter 10

 Chapter 10: Trampling and a Trap

Having charged into the swarm of Tsuchigumo, Shinya smashed them one by one, each with nothing more than a single, lightly thrown punch.

Some of them tried to cling to his body but thanks to the invisible, membrane-like barrier that his spirit talisman had thrown up in defense, not one of them could so much as touch him. No damage got through to Shinya at all.

"There is too many of them, this is a pain..."

Shinya's fighting style wasn't suited to taking out a large number of enemies all at once. So he crushed them one at a time, plodding through them bit by bit.

"Ahh!? What is with you! Killing my Tsuchigumo with your bare hands!"

"Guess I'll crush you two first, then."

He'd been taking down the bigger ones first but figured this would just waste time if he kept it up. So he decided to finish off the two of them first instead. He'd already taken out the conspicuous, powerful ones. With just the remaining Tsuchigumos, Akane and Nagisa alone would be plenty.

Shinya flipped a switch inside himself. Condensing spirit power into his legs, he kicked off the ground in one burst and closed the distance to Kyouji first.

"Sorry, but I want to wrap this up quick and go home to sleep. So hurry up and go down."

He aimed a fist straight at Kyouji's face.

"Whoa!"

"Tch, dodged, huh."

"You, you aimed for my face! What a guy! Aiming for my face, of all things!"

"Not a fan of the face, huh? Then I'll aim right there."

"The worst! This guy's the worst! Hey, hey, Yashiro-chan! Help me out! This guy's actually pretty good! You like this kind of opponent, don't you, Yashiro-chan!?"

"Shut it. Like I can enjoy myself in a situation like this. Well, but, this does look kinda fun, I guess."

Despite his sour mood, Yashiro couldn't help wearing a savage grin as he glanced sideways at Kyouji flailing in panic.

"Come on, then. I'll take both of you together."

Shinya understood these two were strong. Without letting his guard down against Kyouji, he turned his attention toward Yashiro too. If he kept the two of them tied up here, it would take some of the burden off Akane and Nagisa.

And besides, he could handle plenty of opponents at this level.

"C'mon, c'mon! Yashiro-chan! He's saying all that, you know! And besides, is it really fine to let this guy off the hook like this!?"

"...Tch, guess it can't be helped. Would've liked to enjoy this one-on-one if I could but I'll give that up for now."

"That's the spirit! Alright, guess I'll get a little serious too, then."

"Whatever, just hurry up and come at me already."

"Hmph, let's see how long that attitude lasts. Haah!"

Kyouji's body abruptly swelled. His muscles bulged and his clothes tore apart with a ripping sound. From the neck down, his body became something like an oni's. His face, too, shifted from a human's to a bull's.

He stood maybe a little over two meters tall. But his swollen muscles looked almost like armor and a pair of sharp, massive horns had grown from his head.

"Thought so. Knew you weren't human."

"Gu-fufufu. That's right. I'm a variety of the same Ushioni that girl took down just now. But hey, don't underestimate my strength, okay?"

There were all kinds of legends about the Ushioni. Some told of an oni's face on a spider-like body. Others, like the one standing before him now, told of a bull's head on an oni's body. To Shinya, it looked less like an Ushioni and more like a Minotaur.

As Kyouji poured strength into his body, black malevolent energy surged up from all over it. The billowing, darkness-like malevolent energy rising off him carried enough force to strike fear into anyone watching or swallow them whole.

Forget Top Rank. This was without question Special Rank strength.

"Wait! Why does something this strong keep showing up so often!"

"You can't handle that alone! We'll join you right away!"

Both Akane and Nagisa showed their alarm openly at Kyouji's surging demonic power. Akane knew Shinya's strength but it was two against one. And factoring in how much power he'd already used up since that afternoon, she couldn't afford to stay optimistic.

"Don't worry about this side! You two focus on the Tsuchigumo! No need to worry about me!"

"Heh! Look at you talk! You underestimating me, or what!?"

Kyouji's massive body seemed to blur for an instant and the next moment, he'd appeared right behind Shinya.

He brought his powerful arm swinging down at Shinya's back but Shinya was no longer there. Kyouji's fist slammed into the ground instead, not just caving it in but cracking the earth all around it.

"That guy, that body and that speed!?"

"And that attack, his physical strength isn't ordinary either!"

Even while they dealt with the Tsuchigumo, the two of them felt a real threat from Kyouji's strength, not just his malevolent energy, but his speed and offensive power too.

"Come on, come on! Let's see how long you can keep dodging this!"

He threw punch after punch. The sheer force behind them was tremendous even before impact. A direct hit would leave nothing standing. No, even a graze would be enough to deal a fatal wound to an ordinary human.

But Shinya read every single one and dodged. His spirit talisman's defense would probably hold up even against a direct hit but he wanted to keep his spirit power use to a minimum. Between what he'd used that afternoon and the barrier he'd thrown up over this park, he'd already burned through a fair amount.

He still had plenty to spare but even so, he'd rather avoid wasting it.

"Ngh, damn it! Why won't this land!?"

"Where I came from, dodging something like this was the bare minimum for survival."

The War King who'd taught him how to fight was on an entirely different level. This man's attacks were fast, but speed alone wasn't enough. They were easy to read.

"Guh!"

"Too soft."

He drove a backfist straight into Kyouji's face. Then rained down blow after blow.

"Y-you bastaaaard! M-my faaaace!"

"Screaming with a bull's face is annoying as hell so shut up already."

He went to land another blow but an attack came flying at Shinya from the side. Shinya twisted his body to dodge it. In that instant, Kyouji leapt back out of range. When Shinya checked what had struck the ground, it turned out to be a sharp icicle.

"Sorry 'bout this, but I'm gonna join in too. Looks like the odds ain't great one-on-one."

The one who'd butted in was Rihito. As he released his spirit power, the air around him began to freeze over with a crackling sound.

"An ice user, huh."

"Guess so. Alright, let's show off my spirit arts a bit then."

Ice spread rapidly through the surroundings and as it did, it took shape like sculptures forming. The sculptures shifted into the finely detailed forms of wolves.

"A pack of ice wolves. These guys chase their prey no matter how far it runs, you know? If you don't dodge properly and they'll tear you apart in no time!"

Before the ice wolves could react, Rihito charged straight at Shinya.

"You're coming at me yourself, huh!"

"That's right! I like getting up close and personal! If it weren't for a situation like this, I bet I'd have enjoyed fighting you!"

Rihito closed the distance in an instant and threw a kick straight at Shinya. Naturally, Shinya chose to dodge rather than block, but at the same time, Rihito thrust out his right hand, conjured several icicles, and fired them at Shinya.

"Like hell I'll take that."

"Figured! But you can't just keep your focus on me alone!"

As Shinya dodged, the ice wolves lunged at him. They didn't attack all at once, but in staggered waves. Every time he dodged one, another sprang at him from a blind spot. Dodge that and the rest would strike from behind, above, below, from every angle they could.

"Now don't go forgetting about me, either!"

At the same time, Rihito kept the pressure on Shinya. Ice encased his fists and whenever Shinya dodged and Rihito's punch struck the ground instead, ice spread outward from the point of impact, freezing everything around it.

"I see. You're pretty good."

"You too! Not many people can keep dodging me at full strength while dealing with these wolves! And no one my age has ever managed it! But hey, dodging alone isn't enough to beat me!"

Rihito sounded like he was genuinely enjoying himself. As though his earlier sour mood had never existed, he was completely absorbed in the fight now.

"How dare you, how dare you, do that to my face! I'm going to kill you myself, no matter what!"

His face wounded, Kyouji flew into a blind rage and lunged at Shinya once more.

"Tch!"

Rihito clicked his tongue and retreated. Kyouji had completely lost himself to rage, his attacks reckless and indiscriminate. The last thing Rihito wanted was to get caught in the crossfire.

"Diiie!"

"No thanks. Actually, guess it's about time."

"Guhaah!?"

"Wha!?"

Shinya condensed spirit power into his right hand and drove it straight into Kyouji's stomach. The impact landed with a heavy thud, blasting a chunk clean out of Kyouji's oni-like body.

"GYAAAAAAAH!"

Ushioni or not, it still felt pain. Unlike a human, it might not have been a fatal wound but it wasn't one that could be left untreated either.

At the same time, Shinya smashed through the surrounding ice wolves with his fists, one after another.

"W-why would a mere human's blow do this to my body!?"

"Come on now, blowing a chunk out of an oni in one hit. Are you even human? And my ice wolves are supposed to freeze anything they touch. So why aren't you freezing?"

Kyouji felt genuine fear after taking Shinya's blow, while Rihito broke out in a cold sweat. Neither had ever imagined a monster like him could exist.

Shinya wasn't doing anything complicated. His spirit power was simply so overwhelming that it completely nullified everyone else's.

"You're the ones who picked this fight, remember? I'm not about to let either of you walk away. I'm ending this right here."

Shinya's eyes remained utterly cold as he spoke and despair gripped both Kyouji and Rihito.

* * *

"A-amazing. Is that his power?"

Even while she purified the Tsuchigumos, part of Nagisa's attention remained on Shinya. That's when she saw him taking on the Ushioni and the other boy at the same time, utterly overwhelming them both.

"Kchk-kchk-kchk-kchk-kchk-kchk-kchk!"

"!"

Countless Tsuchigumo lunged at Nagisa all at once. The sight of Shinya overwhelming both opponents had stolen too much of her attention. It was the same mistake she'd made the day before.

"GOH!"

But flames came flying toward the Tsuchigumo swarming Nagisa.

"Hey! Quit spacing out!"

"...My apologies. I lost my focus."

Nagisa bowed her head at Akane's scolding. Akane had been the one to save her. The realization of her own inadequacy left Nagisa furious with herself.

"Then stay focused. Shinya's fine. Let's deal with the Tsuchigumo he left to us first. Otherwise, we won't even be able to help him."

It was an entirely reasonable point. Akane swept her spear through the air, sending flames surging forth and scattering the Tsuchigumo one after another. She looked so fierce, so breathtakingly beautiful, she could have been a warrior maiden out of a legend. Even Nagisa couldn't help being captivated by her and her presence alone filled her with reassurance.

At the same time, Nagisa found herself gripped by fierce jealousy and a crushing sense of inferiority.

(...Ngh. I don't have time to be thinking about anything besides this. I need to focus on the Tsuchigumo right now.)

She tightened her grip on her sword. And yet, somewhere in her heart, she still couldn't drive out the part of herself that envied Akane.

Even though this wasn't what she should be thinking about right now.

She'd always thought of herself as strong. And, in truth, Nagisa was among the strongest exorcists her own age. She was probably stronger than many older exorcists and most certainly stronger than the average exorcists.

But she had yet to manifest a spirit armament. Compared to Akane, she was weaker. And compared to Shinya, it almost felt arrogant to compare herself to him at all.

It was frustrating. Pathetic. All she ever did was need saving.

Old memories from her childhood came flooding back. Herself, always in tears. The painful days she'd endured. The lonely girl she'd once been.

And the image of the boy who'd reached out his hand to her, back then...

(No. I need to focus on the opponent in front of me right now. Like this, I won't be able to face him.)

Forcing her scattered thoughts aside, Nagisa turned her attention back to the Tsuchigumo and dealt with them one by one. She cut them down with her sword, then pulled several spirit talismans from inside her uniform and flung them onto the Tsuchigumo, where they stuck fast.

"Purge!"

She formed the sword seal and released her spirit power. Against a small Tsuchigumo, this alone was more than enough to purge it.

(Thanks to Hoshimori-kun taking down the larger Tsuchigumo, things are a lot easier over here. And her, too...)

"Deryaaah!"

With a piercing battle cry, Akane swept her spear in a wide arc, sending several Tsuchigumo flying at once as their bodies shattered and vanished in flames.

When it came to raw offensive power, the Hino clan ranked among the strongest of the Six Houses. Calling the fire spirit arts Akane wielded top-tier wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

"...I can't afford to lose to her either."

She didn't want to lose to Akane. With that thought driving her, Nagisa swung her sword. The number of Tsuchigumo kept dwindling. By now, there probably wasn't a single one left that posed a threat to either of them.

Meanwhile, both Kyouji and Rihito had been driven onto the defensive against Shinya. Their defeat was only a matter of time.

"Seriously, that guy's something else. Doesn't look like he needs backup from us."

"Yes. He really is amazing."

Nagisa agreed with Akane's murmured remark. The outcome had already been decided, the two of them thought. Shinya probably felt the same.

But the move that would change the whole situation came not from inside the barrier, but from outside it.

With a booming roar, a violent shockwave slammed into the inside of the barrier.

"W-what!?"

"This is..!?"

Looking over, they saw Shinya's barrier shuddering. And that wasn't all. Part of the barrier had been destroyed.

"Hey, hey. Quite the full house tonight."

Shinya muttered, sounding exasperated, and looked toward where the barrier had been broken.

There stood a white-haired man in a black suit and a silver-haired man in a white suit.

"No way! You're saying they destroyed that barrier!?"

"That's not all! There's another barrier deployed outside of ours!"

Akane and Nagisa looked past their own barrier and saw something like a black curtain outside it. A separate barrier had been deployed, spread out in a dome shape, covering Shinya's barrier entirely.

"Good thing I came to check things out, just in case. I never expected to find someone this capable. If he's really as young as he looks, that's something else."

Sounding genuinely impressed, the white-haired man, Rokudou Genna, strolled unhurriedly into the park with the easy confidence of someone who knew exactly how strong he was, offering Shinya words of praise.

The distance between them was about five meters. A step behind Genna, the silver-haired man, Ginga, stood at the ready.

"Breaking that barrier took some real effort, even for me. Anyone else would've found it nearly impossible."

A sharp, stinging malevolent aura radiated from the man. It made the air itself tremble, and a heavy, unsettling wind swept through the park.

"W-what is that guy..."

"T-that's not possible. What is this malevolent energy..."

Ever since laying eyes on Genna, neither Akane nor Nagisa had been able to stop trembling. It wasn't just their bodies. It felt as though something was reaching directly into their souls. Kyouji and Rihito were trembling too.

Special Rank? No. This malevolent energy was beyond anything that category could contain. It felt closer to a Super Rank youma, the kind said to be beyond even a top-tier exorcist to defeat alone, let alone an ordinary first-rate one. If anything, it felt like he ranked among the strongest even within Super Rank.

"T-there's no way we can beat something like that... No matter how you look at it, we don't stand a chance."

Even Akane had fallen into despair, her face drained of color. Shinya hadn't expected anyone capable of breaking through his barrier and forcing their way inside, either.

(This guy's overwhelmingly stronger than those two without a doubt. At worst, he's Super Rank or something close to it. Since when did this city turn into a monster's den?)

All he could do was grumble. Up until yesterday, he'd been fighting the Demon King in another world. Now, on the very day he returned, he'd already run into youma and monsters on that level, the kind that would've killed his old self a hundred times over without question.

It genuinely made him want to cry.

"You're the boss behind these two?"

"That's right. I'd love to introduce myself but I'd rather not carelessly hand over any information about us. Let's just say I'll go by 'Anonymous,' shall we?"

"Mr. Anonymous, huh. Real piece of work, aren't you."

"That's my line. Was it you who deployed this barrier? If so, that's genuinely impressive. How many exorcists could deploy a barrier of this caliber all on their own? It deserves real praise."

"Well, thanks. But did you come all this way just to say that? If so, you've got a lot of time on your hands too."

At Shinya's provocation, Ginga, standing behind Genna, glared at him, the veins on his face bulging with fury. The pressure he radiated was enough to make an ordinary person lose control of their bladder, or worse, shatter their mind outright. But Shinya remained completely unfazed.

Seeing how composed Shinya remained, Ginga looked ready to lunge at him on the spot, but Genna held out a hand to stop him.

"Stop. Even you probably couldn't beat this one."

"That's not true at all. I'll tear that insolent brat's throat out myself and show you."

"Heh. I don't dislike that about you, but leave this one to me."

"...As you wish."

Bowing his head with exaggerated formality, Ginga stepped back one pace. Satisfied, Genna turned to face Shinya once more.

"My apologies for my subordinate's rudeness. And it looks like you've been doting on those two over there quite thoroughly, as well."

"Don't sweat it and those two behind you weren't half bad, actually. So, is it your turn to fight me next?"

"Well now. That would be interesting, but unfortunately, I have things I need to do. With something that important ahead of me, I'd rather avoid unnecessary wear and tear. Those two are valuable to me as well. I can't afford to lose them here."

Genna had already recognized the boy before him as someone who could become an obstacle to his plans. Even against Kyouji and Rihito together, Shinya had come through the fight without losing so much as a limb and had even inflicted a serious wound on Kyouji, one of the strongest Ushioni.

Then there was the barrier he'd deployed. It was so powerful that even Genna himself couldn't have broken through it without going all out.

If they fought, Genna knew he wouldn't come away unscathed. He didn't think he'd lose, but neither could he picture an easy victory. That was the impression Shinya left on him.

"I see. But I'm not about to let you walk away either. If I let you go, you're only going to become a bigger problem later."

"Heh, you're not entirely wrong. Let me ask you something, just in case. How about we call it even here, promise never to interfere with each other again, and walk away?"

"Not a bad offer, but those two, and the guy behind you, aren't going to settle for that, are they? Besides, there's always a chance we'll end up crossing paths again. Better to deal with a future headache before it starts, don't you think?"

"Fair enough. If we'd met under different circumstances, we might've gotten along surprisingly well."

The two of them laughed together. It sounded almost like old friends sharing a joke, yet there was a fearless edge beneath it.

At the sight of it, everyone but the two of them fell silent, unable to make sense of the atmosphere between them.

But...

"Let me ask you one more thing. Any interest in becoming one of my subordinates? No, you don't have to be a subordinate. How about joining forces with me instead? Strictly as equals. Help me achieve my long-cherished goal and I'll give you whatever you desire."

Genna held out his hand, urging Shinya to join him.

But Shinya's answer was already decided.

"Sorry, but I'll pass. Even if you offered me half the world, even calling it an equal relationship, I've got no intention of joining forces with people who go against my own policy."

One look at Kyouji made it plain enough. He had no intention of becoming part of any group with a guy like that in it.

"I see. Truly a shame."

Genna's face showed genuine regret but he quickly hardened his expression again.

"Then let's get started, shall we. Though I've got no intention of fighting you properly."

"What?"

"I think I'll do this instead."

In that instant, an enormous magic circle appeared on the ground, centered on the two of them.

"This is..!?"

"Heh. I win."

In the next instant, both of them vanished. Genna wore a triumphant smile, while Shinya was left staring after him in confusion. The magic circle disappeared along with them, and silence settled over the park.