Chapter 5 - Haunted Mansion - 1

Souma was reading the contents of the mission. Thanks to rest, meditation, and the cultivation pill, he had reached the high third stage, increasing his strength. So he was confident in the success of the mission.

At this moment he was in front of the house he was supposed to exorcise. From the outside, it wasn’t a building that made your eyes open wide. It was a simple two-story villa. But, in a society where construction space was limited, it was still one of the largest buildings a person could have.

'Well. Time to start. ' Souma said to himself as he drew his sword. Since yokai could pop out from anywhere in the villa, he had to be ready at any time. And in fact, just before opening the front door, Souma heard a noise behind him.

A deformed ashy-skinned yokai was running at full speed from the left side of the villa in Souma’s direction. It had a rag that covered the lower part of the stomach, reaching just above the knees. Apart from its appearance, which could be defined as funny, there was another characteristic that gave more to the eye or better to the ears.

"Uwan! Uwan! Uwan!"

“A uwan? Visualize,” Souma murmured as he used his spell to see information about that yokai.

Souma quickly read the information on the yokai. Fortunately, the missions posted on the Exchange Center bulletin board underwent first to a preliminary check. In fact, the empire would send a particular type of onmyoji specialized in stealth and information gathering - ninja. The ninjas would, therefore, investigate the danger and the type of yokai to be killed.

It was done so that the hunters didn’t have to go blindly, thus ending up being killed against a yokai stronger than them. Obviously, because the information was delivered in person or through postman birds, there were cases of antiquated information leading to incidents such as that in the Himawari Village.

However, considering the number of requests, the imperial ninjas couldn't control every single request. This is why investigative missions were born for hunters who wanted to earn more money.

"Uwan!" Souma screamed as soon as the yokai was now only a few inches away from him. He waited until the end before using this tactic so that he could be sure of killing yokai in one fell swoop.

The Uwan froze. It was as if lightning had just fallen on it. With a surprised look, its two eyes, hidden by the deformed masses of flesh that made up its face, looked at Souma's.

Slash!

Souma didn't waste a moment. Against the yokai, the slightest hesitation was deadly. Waving the sword with both hands, he cut off the Uwan's head cleanly. The yokai was, therefore, beheaded and collapsed on the ground without uttering a word.

"And the first one is gone."

Souma collected the yokai core from the Uwan body. Commonly, for yokai hunters, only the core represented a source of income. However, some merchants sold parts of yokai, particularly animal-shaped yokai. As a result, some hunters specialized in recovering the bodies of the killed yokai as well. But Souma was not one of them.

Without wasting any more time, Souma entered the villa. The building was quite dark inside. Fortunately, the yokai inside had created numerous holes on the walls, thus allowing the light of the setting sun to filter and illuminate the house.

Ōmagatoki. The time when evil spirits meet. Also known as the time of the great disaster, it was a name given to the transition period of the sun with the moon during sunset.

It should be known that most yokai were nocturnal creatures, unlike humans, who were diurnal creatures. Therefore, during the day, the yokai remained mostly idle, hiding thanks to their strong concealment skills. Only when the Ōmagatoki arrived did they come out of their hiding places until Hinode, the dawn, came, marking the end of the yokai activities.

Souma had, therefore, waited for the sunset to begin his mission. If he had attacked during the day, the yokai inside the villa would have remained hidden. And some yokai had effective camouflage methods, making them more dangerous during the day rather than at night, where they were more active and more visible.

Souma walked through the rooms of the haunted mansion. The furnishings and various objects in the house had been destroyed, and there was a thick layer of dust that made breathing difficult. However, there was still no trace of yokai.

'The yokai species sighted are one Uwan, one Sakabashira on the ground floor, and lastly a third stage wandering Ao nyōbō upstairs.' Souma analyzed while calling the information about the Sakabashira that should have been on the ground floor.

It should be known that information about the yokai wasn’t free. Each hunter had to pay five contribution points for each yokai species about whom they wanted to know. Since Souma had run out of points, he had to apply for a small 15-point loan that would be paid as soon as he returned to any Exchange Center.

To avoid scams or the inability to get paid due to the hunter's death, it was possible to apply for a loan just to buy yokai information. And as long as he hadn’t paid the debt, the hunter would have been unable to purchase items at the Exchange Center.

Souma moved to the part of the house that overlooked the elegant inner garden. That place was also where there was the highest number of wooden pillars; therefore, it was where the Sakabashira was most likely to be found.

Creak! Shatter!

The wooden floor where Souma was walking creaked threateningly until one of the wooden planks broke, causing Souma's foot to sink.

Creak! Creak! CREEEAAAK!

The wood began to creak everywhere as ghostly blue hands protruded from the pillar near Souma. Slowly they headed for Souma, whose foot was still stuck.

"So, you have decided to show up. You saved me the trouble to find you myself." Souma replied as he tried to free his foot. However, one of the ghostly hands had tightened on his foot, preventing him from pulling it out. Not only that, but this hand was also slowly climbing Souma's body, dangerously pointing to his neck.

"Tsk. I can't use my Fire Magic. If I did, I could kill Sakabashira without problems, but in that case, I would end up burning the entire villa. If it is so, then... Magic of Light, Blinding Sphere!"

From Souma's hand that didn’t hold the sword, a small white sphere hovered. Subsequently, this sphere exploded, illuminating everything within two meters. Souma closed his eyes to avoid being blinded as he felt the ghostly blue hand grip become less powerful.

As creatures of the night, many yokai were weak against the light, and therefore against Light Magic. Although weak wasn’t the right term, it was correct to say that they were annoyed by the light. As a result, although the Light Magic was effective, it also made yokai more aggressive than usual.

"MY EYES BURN!"

Suddenly there was a ghostly cry ringing in the air. This cry was full of rancor and had a strange sound as if a cloth had been stuck in the throat of the speaking creature. Afterward, other ghostly blue hands formed on the wooden pillar, which was the body of the Sakabashira. Five per side, for a total of 10 hands.

"It's pissed. I was hoping to take it down before this could happen, but I have no choice. I will continue to use Light Magic." Souma said as he gritted his teeth.

When the yokai were angry, they tended to show more power than usual, as a kind of empowerment at the expense of their reasoning ability. It made them even more dangerous than they would have been under normal conditions. But since things had gone like this, Souma could only continue fighting.

Luckily Souma was a hunter who could use two Elemental Magic - Fire Magic and Light Magic. However, for reasons of confidentiality, he tended to hide his Light Magic. He preferred to keep some secrets, in case he had to look over his shoulder from other hunters. But now he was alone, so he could use Light Magic as he wanted.

“Illuminating Sphere! Light Blade!"

Another sphere of light formed in Souma's hand. This time the sphere didn’t explode but hovered high above Souma's head, illuminating his surroundings. Subsequently, a layer of light covered his sword, making it look like a sort of mythical weapon.

"LIGHT! DAMN! TURN IT OFF!"

The Sakabashira swore again. It didn't like it at all that Souma had illuminated where it lived. The ghostly blue hands suddenly reached out to Souma at the same time. Their goal was to crush the impudent human being who had dared to set foot in its villa.

Slash!

Souma's sword cut one of the hands, but the young hunter was forced to retreat to avoid being grabbed by the other hands. Unfortunately for him, these continued to stretch, passing through the walls of the villa.

Souma continued to run inside the house, trying to go around so that he could go back to the garden and catch the Sakabashira by surprise. The ghostly hands were chasing him without giving a rest, but as soon as they reached the length of seven meters, they had to stop. They had reached their limit.

"NOW! Intent of the Sword, Lai Style, Cutting Blade! "

Souma put his sword back in its scabbard. His spirit power was condensed in the sheath and then fixed on the blade of the sword. Subsequently, Souma drew his sword again, which traveled at an insane speed.

Slash!

The arms of the Sakabashira, which had momentarily stopped, were cut cleanly together. The Sakabashira, therefore, lost connection with its hands, which vanished into thin air as if they had never existed.

"And now, the main body."

Souma ran as fast as he could. Considering that the ghostly blue hands had reached their limit, the Sakabashira was unlikely to recreate them in such a short time. So now it was defenseless.

As he had foreseen, the wooden pillar, the body of the Sakabashira, didn’t possess any of those ghostly hands. Souma headed for the yokai as he put his sword back in its scabbard.

The Sakabashira noticed his presence and creaked the wood as hard as it could while he pulled out the only hand it had left - the one that Souma had cut at the start of the fight.

However, one hand was insufficient to hinder Souma. The young hunter easily dodged the Sakabashira's attack and once more drew his sword.

Slash! Crack!

Souma’s sword, illuminated by the light of Light Magic, cut the wooden pillar in two. A ghostly scream rang out as an incorporeal fire came out of the wooden pillar. A few seconds had to pass before the incorporeal fire vanished, bringing calm to the villa.

Intent of the Sword, or more generally Intent of the Weapon. When an onmyoji reached a certain degree of affinity with their weapon, they could use special techniques that enhanced the attack power of the weapon.

Normally, only empire-affiliated onmyoji were able to use the weapon's intent when they were only at the apprentice rank. It was unusual for hunters for this to happen. Yet Souma, a low-rank hunter, had done it.

“Only the Ao nyōbō remains. He probably considers just the upper as its territory. That's why it didn't go down when I killed the Uwan and the Sakabashira. I will take advantage of this to collect the core of the Sakabashira and cultivate a bit. I have consumed more spirit power than expected against this yokai, and I need my optimal form to face the Ao nyōbō."