"Get ready for a fight!"

Oh god. Isn't this happening a little too soon?

It was hard to see in the distance due to the low light. I squinted my eyes in an attempt to see through the inky blackness. I don't see anything...

And then I saw something. I couldn't really see it, but something was moving in the darkness. Something huge.

The massive creature passed by a street lamp, and my mind froze.

Now that it was illuminated by the street lamps, and wasn't constrained by the small size of an alleyway, it somehow looked even bigger than before. The arms on its back were nowhere to be seen, so it stood on two legs. The result was that it was as tall as the street lamps themselves. Its empty face turned from side to side, as if it were scanning its surroundings. A chill ran down my spine.

Nakamura-san put an arm in front of me."Miyake-san, go a little bit behind us and brace yourself. Yusuke, you know what to do."

"Understood."

Nakamura-san and Abe-san were amazing. How were they not fazed? I could barely calm myself down.

Abe-san senpai summoned Raijin, who took a position at the vanguard with Fujin. Kumo definitely saw us now.

But something was off. It wasn't moving. It just stood there silently.

Abe-san pulled out his phone. He opened the Youbidase app, and clicked on the giant glowing light on the map. A small popup appeared.

[Scan complete. The signal is predicted to be B rank.]

"Now we can track it. Alright, let's do this."

Kumo began shuddering, its limbs convulsing and jerking about. Arms painfully sprouted from its back, and it hunched over in order to crawl on them.

Raijin's spear materialized in his hands, and Abe-san matched him.

"I'm not letting it take the initiative."

They both raised their spears, and thunderbolts struck the metallic tips, charging them with electricity. Both of them charged, and Fujin stretched out his hands, boosting them forward with wind.

But Kumo didn't just stand and watch. Even more arms sprouted out of its back and lashed out at the approaching assailants. With a shout, the pair cut arm after arm, which wriggled on the ground like tentacles before dissolving. Whatever they couldn't cut, they simply dodged, and Nakamura-san and Fujin deflected any arms that came close. But as arms were cut, more sprouted from the Youkai's back to replace them, resulting in a swarm of blank hands.

Abe-san was slowly getting overwhelmed, and could no longer cut through the arms fast enough to proceed. On the contrary, he was being pushed back.

How do I help?

"Heads up, Yusuke!"

Nakamura-san pulled out a couple of shuriken and threw them towards Abe-an. Fujin once again utilized his wind to rapidly increase the speed of the projectiles. With a mind of their own, they sped through the storm of arms, and quickly sliced through them. Raijin raised its hand, and lightning struck the shuriken, charging them with electricity.

Bolts of lightning jumped from the flying knives, stunning the arms and stopping them in their tracks. The flawless teamwork allowed Abe-san and Raijin to cut through the forest of limbs, as the massive Youkai screamed in desperation. It was amazing.

Hoshi and I just stood and watched in pure shock. There was no way we could even jump in to help. What would we do except get in the way?

Abe-san slowly advanced forward, swinging his spear so fast that my arms felt sore just watching. He reached where Kumo was standing, but there were so many arms concentrated there that even the shuriken couldn't help. I couldn't see through the chaos very well, but I could tell that the young man was exhausted.

Wait. What if...?

I cupped my hands and shouted as loudly as possible to be heard over the screeching filling the air.

"ABE-SAN! THE STREET LIGHT!"

Abe-san couldn't afford to look back at me, but I saw him nod with understanding. Raijin momentarily stopped slicing Kumo's arms to stretch its hand into the air, and a giant thunderbolt struck the street lamp next to Kumo.

The sound of thunder drowned out the Youkai's unworldly screams, and Kumo collapsed, quivering from electricity. Not wasting a single moment, Abe-san pierced the defenseless Youkai in the face. He left the spear impaled inside the monster, which continued to shudder violently. He then raised his hand, and thunderbolt after thunderbolt continued to strike Kumo through the spear. Abe-san can be absolutely terrifying.

After some time, the Youkai stopped shaking and lay still. Abe-san pulled his spear out of its face with a disgusting squelch and put it back into the black bag strapped onto his back.

"Thanks for the help, Miyake-san. You really saved me there."

"I-it was nothing."

Nakamura-san patted my back, which almost made me fall over.

"You did good, young one! Great thinking!"

He looked over at the defeated Kumo.

"Hmmm... That's weird. It's taking a while to dissolve."

A nervous tension started to fill the air. Was it really dead?

Then, Kumo began to shudder again.

Abe-san quickly pulled out his spear and raised it over the Youkai. He slammed it upon its chest, but something was off. The chest broke and caved in way too easily.

With horror, I realized that the thing was somehow molting. Arms sprouted out of its back and ripped apart the outer layer of Kumo's body. It pulled itself free from its old skin, and the head with the top hat still on it turned to look at us. I watched in frozen horror as its face split in two from the middle to reveal a ghastly smile full of teeth. A singular, glowing red eye with rings filled what was once its empty face.

You're telling me this thing's still alive?

Nakamura-san rushed forward and shouted "Yusuke! Take Miyake-san and run! It's too dangerous for her now! It's gotten stronger!"

"But what about you, Master?"

"This guy's nothing! Just go!"

At these words, Abe-san grabbed me by the wrist and led me down the street without hesitation. A strong gust of wind boosted us forward as I heard the high-pitched screams of Kumo in the background.

"Senpai, we have to go back and-"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Don't look back. Have faith in sensei."

I looked up at Abe-senpai's face and saw nothing but determination in his eyes. With that, I decided to trust Nakamura-sensei.

_________________________________________________________

I don't know how long we ran, but by the time we finally stopped, my heart was pounding in my ears. My chest felt like it had burst and I was sorely reminded of how much I hated PE.

"Miyake-san, there's another alleyway right there. Let's try and see if it's possible to get back to the real world."

How was this guy not tired? I'm literally dying over here.

I gathered up all my strength to stop bending over and followed Abe-senpai into the gap between the walls. Hoshi and Raijin appeared to light our path. Torn posters covered the walls, and garbage littered the floor. Despite knowing that Kumo was preoccupied with Nakamura-san far away, I still couldn't help but tiptoe...

My body gradually cooled down, but the remaining sweat and the chilly temperature made me feel cold and sticky. I hadn't realized earlier, but it was eerie how there wasn't any breeze.

How did this den form? Did Kumo create this place, or did it already exist before Kumo inhabited it? This must not be unique to Kumo, though, since Senpai and Nakamura-sensai seem to be used to this type of situation. Still, when I imagine a spiritual world, I wouldn't think of something so... modern.

My thoughts hit a wall as we came across an actual brick wall in front of us.

"Damn it. Looks like we're trapped here."

Abe-senpai walked up to the wall and placed his hand on it.

"Think you can break it, Senpai?"

He shook his head. "No. While it looks like a normal wall, it's a part of this place."

Hoshi floated up to the wall, and tried to pass through it. Instead, she bounced off and started to fall through the floor instead.

"It's formed with a lot of spiritual energy. In a way, you could say it maintains a physical form like how Youkai and Kami do it. I doubt I'm anywhere near strong enough to even scratch it."

Despite these words, Abe-senpai continued to stare at the wall with determination. "Well... Doesn't hurt to try. Hoshi, can you help Raijin?"

Hoshi lifted her head up from the floor, nodded, and both Kami summoned their weapons. Electricity crackled and lit up the surrounding area.

"One... two... three... now!"

With his signature attack, Raijin put all of his strength into thrusting the charged spear into the gap between two bricks. Hoshi twisted her body. Then, she untwisted her body to swing her naginata and hit the back of Raijin's spear with the flat side of the blade.

The air filled with crackling electricity, which made my hair stand on end. The surface of the brick wall began rippling violently like a large stone being dropped in a puddle.

Hoshi and Raijin struggled for a good couple of seconds, and for a bit, it felt like the brick wall would be blasted apart. But the ripples converged back into the impact point and forcefully launched the two kami backward.

Abe-senpai sighed as he watched the two Kami tumble on the ground. "Well, it was worth a try. Thanks, you two."

He looked back at me and gave me a small apologetic smile, but I could tell he was probably nervous too.

"I think we're going to have to defeat Kumo to get out of here, Miyake-san. So we'll just have to stay here until Sensei defeats it."

He pulled out his smartphone and opened the Youbidase app. A large glowing dot appeared on the small screen, with a smaller dot next to it.

"Kumo's dot... it's grown larger. Did it really grow stronger? The app says it's around A rank now..."

I looked at the dot again and felt a sense of dread. The smaller dot kept zipping around the larger one, but I couldn't tell what was happening.

"Will sensei be alright?"

Abe-senpai smiled again, but this time it was much more reassuring.

"Don't worry, sensei is a lot stronger than he shows. He wasn't even trying in the sparring match with m-"

The large dot on Abe-senpai's phone disappeared. Only the smaller one remained.

All of the tension from my body and mind relaxed at once.

"Ah! Does that mean sensei beat it?"

Abe-senpai stared at his phone with furrowed eyebrows. "I think so. But, Kumo's signal disappeared all at once, instead of shrinking like it usually wo-"

He was suddenly interrupted by a strange noise coming from above us. It sounded like a loud crackling sound. Abe-senpai and I both looked up and realized with horror that the shadows at the top of one of the walls were gathering. The shadows swirled and combined to form a twisted arm.

Abe-senpai immediately grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the alleyway. Adrenaline coursed through my legs and I stumbled several times.

But Abe-senpai was surprisingly strong despite his slim build, and he managed to keep me from falling. The pounding of my heart rang through my ears and my vision blurred as we ran from the loud scuttling and screeching.

When we reached a fork in the road, Abe-senpai quickly reached into his bag and pulled out a canister, which I recognized as one of the smoke bombs that Hasegawa-san gave me. He clenched his hand for a bit and a glowing bar on the object filled up. When the line was completely lit, he tossed the grenade behind us and I looked over to see a giant cloud of smoke.

We took the path on the left, in a direction we had never gone before. I was exhausted from running all night, and it felt like I would collapse any second. My chest burned and my muscles ached. Eventually, we reached another lamp post with a shattered light bulb.

A strange object hung from the top of the street light. It was rather long, but I couldn't really make out what it was in the distance. As we got closer to the mysterious object, I froze.

I was looking at a face with a gaping mouth and lifeless eyes staring into my very soul.

Abe-senpai quickly tried to cover my eyes with his hand but it was too late.

I fell backward in shock and my mind went blank. The smell of decay filled my nose and my heart pumped even faster. I felt like vomiting. Blood dripped from the body and onto the ground with a wet splatter.

I couldn't think.

I was overwhelmed with fear disgust and despair.

...

...

...

I don't know how much time passed by like this.

All I knew was that the next thing I noticed was Abe-senpai tumbling on the ground.

What was happening?

Was Kumo here?

I couldn't move. The sight of the dead body wouldn't leave my mind.

In the back of my mind, I knew that Youkai were dangerous. I knew that Kumo had already killed someone. But now I was faced with what that truly meant.

No.

Stop.

Stop thinking about these things.

Abe-senpai's in danger. You have to do something.

But no matter how much I willed myself to move, nothing happened. It felt like my eyes had drifted to the back of my mind, and everything felt blurry. All I heard was the sound of my own heart beating and my panicked breathing. I barely processed as Abe-senpai, Raijin and Hoshi struggled against the enraged Youkai.

Why didn't Abe-senpai run?

If he stayed here he would die too.

Kumo didn't look like it was growing extra arms anymore. Instead, the arms gathered and twisted around each other to form eight stronger limbs, much like an actual spider. It raised one of its arms and aimed at me, but I could only stare blankly.

Raijin and Abe-senpai both rushed in front of me, and the leg pierced through Raijin, who evaporated. The blow launched Abe-senpai, despite his attempt to block the attack with his charged spear. He flew through the air, and I heard the sound of a sickening crunch when he landed on his arm.

Kumo diverted its attention from me and instead turned towards Abe-senpai. It slowly walked towards him, almost as if it wanted to savor its victory.

Abe-senpai looked over at me, panting. He called out weakly. "-san... run..."

Kumo's glowing red grin spread even wider, contorting its face. Kumo raised its leg high into the air to prepare for a fatal blow.

No, no no!

I can't let things end like this!

Sayuri, you idiot!

Do something!

Using every bit of my willpower, I bit my lip, drawing blood, and the pain allowed me to finally move. The pounding of my heart doubled, and I jumped up from my feet. I didn't think about how I would save Abe-senpai.

In fact, I didn't really think at all.

I moved purely by instinct, and it felt like my fiery determination to save Abe-senpai was consuming my very soul. I raised two of my fingers up into the air, and the end of it gleamed with a sparkling blue light.

I'm not going to let things end in this way.

My fingers moved through the air, leaving the starry blue ink shining in the air.

If I have to...

Soon, a singular kanji character illuminated the night sky in front of me.

火. The word for fire.

...I'll rewrite his fate myself.

The character glowed in the air, shimmering. Hoshi appeared next to me, with a determined look. With one hand she held her naginata and stretched the other out towards the startled Kumo. And then it happened.

A bright beam of fire burst from Hoshi's fingertips and engulfed Kumo. Its screams rang out in the air, accompanied by the crackling of my burning determination. The flames lit up the night, and Abe-senpai's eyes were open in awe.

But... It wasn't enough. Kumo slowly got over the pain, and the spiraling stream of fire ended. Both Hoshi and I were exhausted, and Kumo advanced, its haunting grin nowhere to be seen.

Why wouldn't this thing die? Why did it want to kill so badly? I raised my finger in the air again, ready to use whatever remaining energy I had, but...

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder.

Nakamura-sensei walked a few steps in front of me and faced Kumo. He looked back at me and smiled.

"You did well, Miyake-san. I've got it from here."

I looked back at him with relief. The weight of my exhaustion was unbearable. I doubt I would have been able to use that fire again.

When Nakamura-sensei looked away from it to smile at me, Kumo took the opportunity to lunge forward. Its mouth opened and its arms stretched out to swallow Nakamura-sensei up.

But before I could even open my mouth to shout a warning, a powerful gale blew back at me, and it took everything I had to avoid being knocked over. An invisible force smashed Kumo into the ground, but it didn't stop there. The condensed gust of wind continued to press the giant Youkai into the ground until it was nothing but a massive splatter left on the ground.

Nakamura-sensei turned his head towards Kumo's disintegrating remains.

"Don't touch my students, pest."