Once Hikigaya Hachiman realized that the Baghead Evil Spirit’s strength was diminishing every second, his mood instantly lifted.

Maintaining his caution while keeping pace with the spirit’s movement, he began pondering other matters—like this “master’s plan” the spirit had mentioned earlier.

The evil spirit had claimed that devouring him would allow it to ascend to the rank of Demon God. If its current level was that of a Demon Emperor, then this “master” it referred to must be at least of Demon God-level strength.

Otherwise, the Baghead Spirit wouldn’t be so willing to work for them.

Even though the three Demon God-class spirits Hikigaya had previously encountered had fled the moment they faced Rimuru, he didn’t assume they were weak because of that.

After all, the strongest spirit in all of Chiba was merely a Demon King. A Demon Emperor could probably run rampant across the entire Kanto region, and a Demon God? If one of those truly caused havoc in Japan, the whole island might just sink.

That’s why any scheme involving a Demon God wasn’t something Hikigaya could afford to ignore.

Just as he was frowning, lost in thought about what that plan might be, a fist suddenly swung toward him.

A blind spot beneath the light!

The Baghead Evil Spirit wasn’t stupid.

A dumb spirit could never have made it to the level of a Demon Emperor.

After searching all around and failing to find a trace of Hikigaya, it instantly considered the possibility he might be hiding right underneath it.

Until now, it had subconsciously dismissed that possibility, believing Hikigaya would never be reckless enough to hide that close. As a result, it had never attacked beneath itself.

With a loud bang!, a thick, elongated arm smashed into the ground, creating a deep crater. Though the blow missed, the shockwave dispelled Hikigaya’s cloaking ability.

Seeing him now exposed below, the Baghead Spirit let out a twisted grin—and then unleashed a storm of punches toward him like a violent downpour.

“Shield!”

Hikigaya quickly formed a seal with his free left hand, instantly conjuring a golden protective barrier around himself.

In his right hand, he gripped the Demon-Slaying Blade, unleashing waves of spiritual energy. His left hand simultaneously cast all kinds of talismans with different effects.

“Burning Flames of Purgatory!”

Hikigaya’s barrage was fierce, but against the seemingly endless flurry of punches, his efforts were insufficient.

Sword slashes and flashing talismans shattered instantly upon impact with the spirit’s fists, vanishing into the air. They only stalled the attack for a few seconds.

Just as the Baghead Spirit’s fists were about to shatter the golden barrier, Hikigaya activated Burning Flames of Purgatory on the protective shield.

Immediately, ghostly blue flames roared to life on the barrier’s surface, creating a terrifying scene.

But the spirit’s fists didn’t falter at all—they smashed directly into the burning shield. What were flames to it? Maybe a lesser spirit would be frightened, but it used to be a Demon Emperor!

Boom! The barrier shattered on impact.

Yet the ghostly fire coating the shield didn’t extinguish. Instead, it clung to the spirit’s fist and rapidly spread along its arm.

“What is this stuff?!” A wave of searing pain surged through the flaming limb. The Baghead Spirit panicked. It frantically tried to beat out the fire with other arms, but instead, the flames spread even more, clinging to the arms that tried to smother them.

“Ghostfire’s unexpectedly effective, huh?”

Even Hikigaya was surprised by how well the fire worked. When he had exchanged for the spell, it was mainly to help Yotsuya Miko interrogate spirits, not for direct combat.

Silently offering thanks to Yotsuya, Hikigaya coated his Demon-Slaying Blade in ghostfire and charged forward.

The spirit, still trying to extinguish the fire, saw Hikigaya charging in with that same cursed flame. It grit its teeth and severed its burning arms with the clean ones.

In an instant, countless flaming arms fell from the sky—a grotesque and disgusting sight.

Having rid itself of the ghostfire, though severely weakened, the spirit quickly rose higher into the air.

But Hikigaya had already predicted this.

With a flick of his left hand, he tossed out three talismans that formed floating shields in midair. Kicking off the ground, he leapt from shield to shield like steps in the air, rapidly gaining altitude.

In just a few breaths, he was face-to-face with the Baghead Spirit.

Seeing Hikigaya in front of it, the spirit was momentarily stunned.

Hikigaya didn’t hesitate.

He took a deep breath and activated Sun Breathing.

“Sun Breathing, Sixth Form: Flaming Bones, Burning Sun!”

He knew that even after losing so many arms, the spirit might still regenerate. He couldn’t give it the chance.

The sunfire of the breathing technique combined with the ghostfire seared into the demon-slaying blade, scorching every wound it made. The Baghead Spirit felt like it was being burned alive in the flames of hell. The unbearable pain made it scream in agony.

But that wasn’t what terrified it the most.

What truly horrified the spirit was realizing that the flames on its wounds prevented regeneration.

“Damn brat! How do you have so many tricks?!”

It roared in anger and despair.

It was once a Demon Emperor—could it really die at the hands of a mere kid?

No! It refused to accept that!

Suddenly, a storm of negative energy erupted from the spirit’s body. Dense black mist surged out, smothering the hybrid flames clinging to its body.

Panting heavily, the Baghead Spirit glared ferociously at the falling Hikigaya below.

Hikigaya readied himself mid-air, preparing for the inevitable counterattack.

But instead, the spirit just shouted:

“REMEMBER THIS, YOU BASTARD!”

And kicked him straight out of the ghost realm.

“…Huh?”

Back in the alley, Hikigaya blinked in confusion.

So all that terrifying power-up and intense rage… was just to scream one line at him?

Suddenly, Hikigaya understood how that guy had survived getting slashed by other exorcists before.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep