Chapter 182

<Sogou Ayaka POV>

[It’s no good, we’re done for!]

A member of Yasu’s group, Nihei Yukitaka shouted .

The other Heroes in Yasu’s group were also plunged into depression one after another .

[I don’t want to die! If this is just a dream, wake me up…… Please, wake me up!]

[I want to go home!]

Nihei became disheveled as he dropped his sword .

Tears were welling up from her eyes .

[Please save me…… President…… Please save me! I’ll do whatever you say…… I never thought we’d face terrible enemies like these…… We have a lot of strong people on our side…… No matter how strong the enemy is, somewhere in my mind, someone else was going to take it down…… That someone would save me…… That’s what I thought……]

The other members of Yasu’s group also started begging for help .

[President, please save me! Please help us escape this place!]

[Please save us! Ayaka-sama!]

As I kept on slaughtering the nearby monsters, I called out to them almost like I’m reprimanding them .

[Nihei-kun! Everyone!]

Never had I called out to someone so strongly before, even back in my previous world .

[If you want to survive—- Keep the circle formation intact!]

[C- Circle formation……?]

[Bane-san taught us about this, right!?]

[Banewolf…… san……]

[That man taught us how to fight according to the Heroes’ ranks! He taught us how to help each other and survive!]

That’s right, Yasu’s group also learned how to fight from Banewolf .

Then, they should have been able to move the same way as my group .

[For now, cooperate with Suou-san and the others and just focus on surviving! In the center of the circle, we’re going to place the students who were good at using Recovery Skills! Same goes for those students who are good at Support Skills! Those Attackers and Defenders, assist the others on the outer shell of the formation! Those who were wounded, get into the circle! Suou-san!]

[——Un . ]

Kayako’s voice .

It doesn’t sound that intense, but I could feel strength from her reply .

I turned my sweaty face towards her .

I’m entrusting them to her—- I place those expectations to my words .

[When I can’t give the others instructions, I’ll leave instructing them to you . ]

“Is it okay to leave them to you?”

—-Isn’t what I’m trying to tell her but… .

“I’m counting on you . ”

—is what I’m telling her .

[Sogou-san . ]

I could feel determination in Kayako’s expression that usually doesn’t reveal much emotion .

[Leave them to me . ]

Reassured, I nodded .

[If you find any monsters that you can’t handle, call me!]

[I understand . ]

With my assistance, Yasu’s group joined my group .

[A- Ayaka-chan . ]

Moe sounded worried as she called out to me .

Glancing at her—- I smiled .

[It will be alright…… I’ll protect everyone . Without fail, I’ll protect everyone . ]

Preparing his sword, Nihei called out with tears in his eyes .

[I- I’m sorry…… I shouldn’t have cared even if the Goddess had her eyes on me and joined the President’s group from the start…… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, President……]

[Nihei-kun, you have to fight for now! It’s all so that everyone survives!]

[……! Y- Yeah…… Uooohhh…… Uooooaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!]

Nihei slashed an approaching monster .

From behind the monster he slashed, yet another monster leaps out .

[Hiiiii—–]

[L- Leave it to me!]

Moe, a defender, jumps out and receives the monster’s attack with her shield .

[Ouch!]

Moe was blown away by the impact .

The boys in the back row stepped forward to catch her .

[Ni—— Nihei-kun, do it!]

Moe shouted with a lot of expressions .

Looking determined, Nihei swung his sword overhead .

[Uuu—- Uwwaaaaahhhh!]

Nihei swung down the sword he held in both of his hands .

With a strike that looked like a Kesagiri, he slashed through the monster’s flesh .

However, it still didn’t manage to kill it .

Enraged, the monsters released its blood-soaked rage .

He glared at Nihei with a horrifying killing intent .

[Guruuaaaaaaahhhhhh!]

[Ahh—– T- That attack just now was wrong…… My hands slipped, so I made a mistake……]

Nihei falls on his behind in fear .

The three Heroes on his sides leapt out .

[L- Let’s go! We have to help out Nihei-kun!]

[K-…… Kill it!]

[Uwwwaaaaaaahhh!]

Noticing his friends’ actions, Nihei……

[! Uwaaaahhhhhhhh!]

While still sitting on the ground, he looked determined as he slashed the monster’s ankle .

The monster loses its balance and falls down .

[Gueehhh . ]

The three students who leaped out to help him rushed towards the monster and surrounded it .

Then, they continued to stab the monster with their blades .

[D- Die! Die die die! Die already!]

[Drop dead!]

[Please die already! For goodness’ sake, just die! Die!]

It doesn’t exactly look like the sophisticated fighting style of the higher ranking Heroes .

It’s too uncouth, there’s also too many people killing one monster .

The monster’s arm, which tried to repel their attacks, got slashed many times .

However, it doesn’t have any way to repel them and the monster eventually died .

[Hahhhh… Hahhhh…… Hahhhhh…… W- We did it…… We did it!]

Kayako calls out to them .

[Everyone, immediately get back into the circle formation after you killed it . ]

[Y- Yeah!]

The Heroes sprung up and returned back to the circle formation again, panting .

Seeing their success, I let out a guts pose, though it was just on my mind .

Maybe because we learned how to fight from the same teacher, their connections are going smoothly .

That attack just now also had some Support Skills flying from the back row .

Everyone’s body is moving properly .

However, there’s a chance that they lose their mind for some reason .

What they need to see is—– hope .

“I think we might be able to survive . ”

We have to keep showing them such hope .

Therefore—- we just have to create that hope ourselves .

The Heroes who stabbed a monster in the back, raised his voice as if he’s confirming it to himself .

[My level…… My level rose!]

(Level…… That’s it!)

While slashing the monster in front of me in half from the crown of its head, I called out to them .

[If you’ve moved up a level, please try to pass the kill to other people if possible! As you level up, you’ll be able to fill up your MP, so you’ll be able to use a lot of skills again! You need to occasionally open your status display and check your MP! Let those with insufficient MP have priority in the last hit!]

Even though they’re Heroes, they will eventually run out of MP . However, if they level up, they can continue to use their skills .

[As you level up, your other status corrections will also rise! Therefore, the fights will be more advantageous to us than before! Everyone has a chance to level up on this battlefield…… Don’t miss it! We, the Heroes, can be stronger the more we fight in this battle!]

I shouted with all my strength .

[We’ll survive by fighting!]

Raising himself from the ground, Nihei rearmed his sword in both of his hands .

[L- Let’s do this…… Let’s go do this! I’m going to do this!]

Now, it’s important to raise their morale .

Kayako calls out .

[Sogou-san!]

[——Leave it to me!]

Leaping towards it, I defeated the medium-sized monster with my special skill .

It’s probably too much for Kayako and the others to handle .

Kayako anticipated it accurately .

She had a good idea of which monsters they were unlikely to win on their own, and so they called out to me .

(However—-)

The monsters don’t seem to be decreasing at all .

Rather, I could only feel that the number of allies are dwindling .

The voices of humans, which have been flying around not long ago, are getting fewer and fewer .

In other words—– the monsters have the upper hand .

At this rate, the situation would gradually turn for the worst……

[Uoooohhhh…… Ooooouooooohhh!]

The angry Human-Faced’s howl .

However, it’s far away .

Somewhere in the distance, someone must have been dealing with it .

(What should we do? Should we have joined up with the encampment outside the north gate once again……?)

With the Heroes current morale, I think we may be able to make it .

I decided .

I think I should suggest moving now .

[Everyone, I think we should move towards the north gate a little bit at a time! If we just keep fighting like this, we’ll be completely surrounded and wouldn’t be able to move even if we want to!]

[U- Understood! Everyone, let’s go!]

Nihei agreed but…

[——-Ugh . ]

Some parts of the cloud of dust was scattered away and our visibility started to clear up .

[………!]

A wall of monsters stands in our path .

A group of horned monsters that look like onis .

Yes—- They exactly look like an oni .

A copper-red body .

A long, wavy, white beard growing wildly on their faces .

Their inhumane golden-eyes were looking at me and the others .

Lightly lifting its chin, it looks like it’s condescendingly smiling at us .

It’s strong .

I haven’t fought it yet, but I understood it based on my intuition .

These onis looked like they’re soldiers trained with discipline .

[U- uuuu……]

As the Heroes in the circle formation caught glances at those monsters while they’re fighting, they are frightened once again .

A person’s head was dangling from a monster’s hand .

The monster was held unto the person’s hair, dangling it on its hand like it’s a spoil of war .

Looking closely, I can see that their copper-red skin was also thoroughly coated with another “red” stuff .

The number of corpses, especially around the onis, are really high .

The only two-horned oni had its arms crossed at the front of the wall of monsters…

[Ubuuaaahhhh!]

—-let out a strange roar and pointed towards me and the others .

That looks like a signal—- of the commencement of their attacks .

Under its command, the onis let out roars as they started charging towards us .

[Aya…… Ayaka-chan!]

[——! Leave it to me!]

I lunged towards the charging monsters, alone .

To the face of the oni leading the other monsters in front, I unleashed a powerful thrust that tears through the wind .

[Baaauuuu!?]

[!?]

(It evaded my attack!?)

It’s fast .

It has tremendous reflexes .

After failing to connect my attack, I was surrounded by the monsters .

I started brandishing my halberd-shaped magical blade .

However, they evaded all of my attacks .

Slash!

[Ugh!?]

I got attacked by the oni’s large claws .

I wasn’t able to dodge it .

Tearing through the clothing near my flank, I felt a sharp pain .

(! This is bad, this monster isn’t something that everyone could……!)

Raising his sword, Nihei called out .

[The President’s in danger! I’ll go assist her!]

[Don’t…… Don’t come, everyone! This monsters aren’t something everyone can—–]

Grab

Kayako grabbed Nihei by his shoulder and pulled him back into the circle formation .

[Su- Suou?]

Kayako shook her head .

[No one can win against monsters like that but Sogou-san . We don’t have any choice but to remain here in defense . ]

[Su… ou……?]

Nihei looks astonished .

Perhaps, it was because Kayako’s face which was always expressionless was distorted right now .

Kayako herself was aware of it .

That even I might not be able to win against these monsters .

[Ru—–]

As I was about to tell them to run, I was unable to completely utter the word .

I mean, where would they run?

Am I supposed to tell them to go towards the north gate by themselves?

The onis that slipped past me—– they began surrounding the circle formation .

They began to intimidate the Heroes in the circle formation with a roar .

They could sense the fear from the Heroes .

The Heroes began drawing back into the circle formation and the movements of the Heroes came to a complete halt .

[Everyone!]

I desperately tried to kick the nearby monsters away, but my attacks didn’t hit them .

I’m not—- fast enough!

[A- Ahhhh……]

The curtain of despair began falling down on the Heroes’ faces .

“Even that Ayaka can’t hit them . ”

Their “hope” is no match for the monsters .

The onis stepped in and swung their claws .

[Kyaaaahhhh!]

Attacks that don’t have any intention of hitting the enemies .

It’s like they’re playing with them .

They’re enjoying the reactions of the Heroes .

[U- Ughhh……]

The onis look like they’re peering towards me .

“How about that? Are you despairing now?”

Their faces seem to be asking so .

Feeling some impatience and despair, I desperately swung my spear .

However, my attacks—- don’t hit .

At that time…

[Ayaka-chan!]

Minamino Moe shouted .

[Don’t push yourself! F- For now…… You need to focus on protecting yourself! Please!]

Even though Moe was that scared…

She won’t—- ask me for help .

Far from that, she’s even concerned for me .

[Prepare the defensive formation!]

His voice strained, Nihei said .

[Protect…… Protect, protect, protect! Maybe the President is too concerned about us that she can’t fight properly! Therefore…… We’ll have to protect ourselves!]

(That’s not it…)

It’s just that I don’t have the strength…

The strength to defeat these onis myself .

To make matters worse, even the monsters other than the onis were heading towards their circle formation .

It seems that they finally ran out of prey and had now set their sights on that circle formation .

There’s also some medium-sized and large-sized monsters mixed among them .

However, the person who could fight them, me, can only defend for myself .

I can’t go back towards them .

Even so, they’re believing in me and now inspiring the others to fight .

My vision slowly blurred .

Even though I swore to protect them .

Would it have been different if I had only unlocked my inherent skill?

Would I have been able to protect them?

If I could just acquire a powerful inherent skill—–

No .

I must not rely on something like that .

I mustn’t rely on the inherent skill—– to something impossible .

If I have to rely on something…

(“Oni”…… My very own…… Kisou-ryu……)

(T/N: Kisou-ryu could also be read as Oniyari-ryu / The Way of the Demonic Spear)

I must rely on something possible for me .

△

If I’m not mistaken, it was about three years ago .

[Kisou-ryu’s Forbidden Technique, is it?]

Within Sogou residences .

After practice, in the dojo while the sun was about to set, my grandmother talked about the Kisou-ryu .

[You’re thinking that I’m talking about something stupid…… or so I predict, Ayaka . ]

[Is it such a dangerous technique that it’s considered forbidden?]

[That’s what you would normally think . ]

Bringing the matter forward, my grandmother explained about the Forbidden Technique .

[The theory behind the technique was actually quite simple . It forces your body to make unreasonable movements—– movements that would be impossible for a normal human body . It’s a technique that draws out the human body’s potential to the limit . ]

Grandmother raises her index finger .

[Let’s see…… First of all, you imagine a single, powerful thread . And then, you’re going to spread that thread all over your body . When you move your body, you’re moving the thread instead to manipulate your body…… And your human body would be pulled by the thread and try to make those unusual movements . Apparently, if you can keep up with that movement, you can even move like a human weapon . ]

[That’s kind of like making your body into a marionette, don’t you think?]

[The image may certainly be quite close to that…… Honestly, I don’t know if it’s possible to do that either . I don’t know what it looks like when that happened, nor the exact theory behind it . Perhaps, it may even be that you’re actually weaving your “ki” around your body through that so-called qigong . By the way, I also tried doing it once before…… but I didn’t really know what I was doing back then and just broke my bones . Since then, I haven’t seriously tried doing it again . ]

(T/N: ki/chi = internal energy . qigong = breathing exercise . this might even be those stuff they do in chinese cultivation, not that I would know what that is . )

[The past users of the Kisou-ryu, have they used that technique?]

[That’s what they said . If we trace back to our ancestors, we can see that the Kisou-ryu……]

Then, Grandmother took out a cigarette and lit it with a match .

Swinging the match to put out the fire, my grandmother exhales out smoke .

[It was also called “Kisou-ryu”, but it was read as “Burying the Onis”…… It was apparently a martial art invented by those who were having difficulty fighting against the Onis that descended upon their homes . A martial art that was invented to protect themselves from Onis . Then, it caught the eyes of the shogunate, but it was somehow spread as some sort of secret arts from one of the clans back then……]

(T/N: 槍 = Sou, but could also be read as yari/ spear . 葬 = sou, but could also be read as houmoru / bury)

[Invented to bury the onis……]

[In short, this was a school of martial arts based on a fairy-tale anecdote . It was also said that this Forbidden Technique was originally handed down from an unnamed school of martial arts . Well, I guess that may also be the reason why it was called a “Forbidden Technique” . It’s just that……]

[It’s just that……?]

[It is said that the burden it places on the human body is so strong that a normal person’s body will break down if her or she uses it…… Don’t you find it strange, Ayaka?]

[Ah, I’m sorry . However, an old martial art with its own Forbidden Technique…… It’s kind of like what’s written in those amusing novels I read once in a while . ]

[Well, that might be so…… It’s all just a bunch of legends and anecdotes with all those embellishments added to them, after all . Even if you tried something like that, you would have to be trained to death just to take the burden off your body . That’s not something a normal schoolgirl would be able to do . ]

[If Obaa-sama tells me I can’t do it, I’m getting more tempted to give it a shot . ]

[If you’re interested in it, I’ll give you the book with instructions on how to use it…… However, I won’t allow you to use it unless you’re with me . You’re my precious granddaughter…… As for me, I feel like you’re my grandchild who’s too good to be true though . ]

[Fufu…… I understand, Obaa-sama . By the way, what’s the name of this Forbidden Technique?]

[This technique is called—–]

From the end of my grandmother’s cigarette, the thin smoke flowed like a thread .

[The “Limiter Thread” . ]

▽

Whether it was just a fantasy or not is irrelevant right now .

If there’s even a splinter of a chance…

I must rely on it—– grasp that technique on my hands .

[……………… . ]

I’ve perused that book before .

I’ve only thought that it would just give me something to talk about with my grandmother .

Therefore…

I know how to do it .

[————————]

The image of a thread .

The starting point would be my feet .

From the bottom of my feet, it rose to my knees, my thighs, my waist, my belly, my chest, the thread was spun .

————creaaakkkk————–

In the process of spinning the thread, I felt like my whole body was creaking .

These strings are now going to decide my limits .

The onis were now looking down at me, who is one size smaller than them, with a grin .

They must have thought I’ve given up .

[Kuki kiki ki…… “—-whoosh—–” …Gieeeh?]

The tip of my spear pierced the throat of the oni in front of me .

The oni couldn’t even react when it happened,

[ [ [ Baaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuhhhhhhh! ] ] ]

The onis simultaneously let out an intimidating roar and put themselves on guard from my attacks .

However…

[Bauuhh!?]

I behead them one after another with my magical blade .

Having beat the nearby onis—- I started running .

I leapt towards the direction of the circle formation .

I saw the back of the oni, who had been enjoying intimidating the others .

And from below, I slashed the oni’s body in half .

I still didn’t stop .

In the blink of an eye, the head of another oni flew towards the air .

Another oni’s face caved in after I slammed its face with the butt end of my spear .

Whether it was strength or speed…

I felt all of them increase .

[Ayaka-chan’s movements……]

[A- Amazing……]

I feel like I’m hearing my muscles screaming .

However…

[I can do this . ]

I remembered my grandmother’s words .

“It is said that the burden it places on the human body is so strong that a normal person’s body will break down if her or she uses it”

[——But this time’s different . ]

I’m not just a normal human—— Now, I’m a Hero .

I have my status correction .

However, even with that, I could still feel my body screaming .

However…

What about it?

[Hayaaahhh!]

With just a single breath, I turned around—–

[Gugeeehh!?]

In a single breath, I leapt towards that leader-like two-horned oni .

The two-horned oni couldn’t even take its stance to intercept me .

With godlike speed, my spear hooked on the two-horned oni’s arm .

Destroying the two-horned oni’s balance, he rolled down on the ground .

Kisou-ryu—– “Hourakujuuji” . (T/N: Collapsing Cross)

Rather than making use of the opponent’s momentum, I just used my own speed in my charge for the “Hourakujuuji” .

At that time, I hesitated .

At that time, Kirihara Takuto suddenly appeared and stole the last hit .

However, this time, without any hesitation whatsoever——

[Giiaaahhh!?]

I gouged out its heart with one thrust .

Without hesitation, I pulled out my spear and used <Inner Bomb> right on the two-horned oni’s head, exploding its head to pieces .

Neither the blast nor the dust made me flinch, as my long black hair was swept back by the wind pressure of the blast .

[I won’t……]

<Your level has increased . >

[—Let you kill anyone anymore . ]

Yes…

Even if my own body were to fall apart, I wouldn’t care .

If this could get everyone back to our previous world in one piece, I wouldn’t care .

After killing the leader of their group in the blink of an eye, I let out my sharp killing intent and stared at the onis .

The onis stepped back .

My hair looked intimidating as it wildly danced along the wind of this battlefield .

[If you want to run away, you better run away now . ]

Imbuing my killing intent with a twirl of my spear, I stepped forward .

[It’s because I’m the Oni now . ]

<The Inherent Skill <Silver World> has been unlocked>

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