Chapter 320: A Bright Lamp in the Dark Night
The next day.
When Yurikawa Hana left home with a heart full of excitement for her meeting with Yotsuya Miko, she suddenly encountered a little boy on the road, holding an empty leash and crying uncontrollably.
"Um, what happened?"
Since there was still plenty of time before her meeting with Miko, and seeing the boy crying so heart-wrenchingly, Hana crouched down to ask what was wrong.
"Chico is gone," the boy sobbed, wiping away tears.
"Chico?" Hana blinked, a hint of confusion in her eyes. But as she noticed the collar in the boy's hand, she suddenly had an epiphany. "Chico is a dog!"
"Mm..." The little boy nodded, then looked toward a derelict building across the street and started wailing again.
"Eh, don't cry! Tell big sister where Chico ran to, and I'll find him for you!" Seeing the little boy in such a state, Hana's maternal instincts seemed to overflow, and she waved her hands, promising to help.
"Really?" Hearing Hana's words, the boy looked up with a flash of surprise on his face. But that surprise quickly turned back into worry. "Chico ran into that building. Are you really going to be okay, big sister?"
"That building?"
Following the direction of the boy's finger, Hana slowly turned her head. Her face turned green the moment she realized the building he was talking about was the famous local "haunted" abandoned factory.
"O-Of course it's no problem!"
Though her calves were already trembling before she'd even stepped inside, she had already made the boast. She had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in!
Touching the bracelet Hachiman had given her on her wrist, Hana's tension eased slightly. There probably won't be a Special Grade or higher spirit in there, right? After all, according to Hachiman, there were only so many Special Grades in all of Chiba. Her luck couldn't possibly be that bad...
Forcing her trembling body forward, she moved step by step into the factory's interior. Her voice calling for the dog began to echo through the halls. However, after searching more than half the factory, she still hadn't received a response.
"Did he run somewhere else?" At the thought of this, Hana scratched her head in frustration.
Directly above her head, a spirit covered in arms—standing over three meters tall—was constantly reaching out, grabbing every spirit drawn in by Hana's massive life force and stuffing them into its mouth.
As time passed, the multi-armed spirit devoured more and more of its kind, and its size grew increasingly bloated. As the spirits in the factory vanished one by one, the originally eerie space gradually began to feel strangely peaceful.
"Woof..."
Just as Hana was about to give up and head back, a faint, low whine reached her ears.
"Puppy?" Her eyes lit up. She hurried toward the sound and finally found a small dog hiding under a piece of waterproof tarp.
"Honestly, running off to a place like this and making me search for so long." Picking the dog up from under the tarp, Hana gave its head a firm scold-rub. Facing Hana's "aggression," the dog offered no resistance, simply burrowing into her arms as if it were terrified of something.
Hana didn't notice anything wrong with the dog's abnormal behavior. To her, a dog being clingy was perfectly normal.
Carrying the rescued dog back out of the factory, she was surprised to see Yotsuya Miko standing next to the little boy.
"Ah, Miko? Why are you here?" Returning the dog to the boy, Hana asked curiously. Their meeting spot was supposed to be elsewhere; why was Miko in front of an abandoned factory?
"You have the nerve to ask!" Seeing that Hana still hadn't realized she was late, Miko grumpily pinched her cheeks and began kneading them.
But as she kneaded, Miko suddenly noticed something off. Why does the sky feel a bit dark?
It was supposed to be a clear day, and there weren't even any clouds. Yet, despite being under the direct sun, Miko didn't feel any heat; on the contrary, she felt a piercing chill...
"No way..." A bad premonition blossomed in Miko's heart. Clinging to a sliver of hope, she looked up at the sky...
Red eyes the size of lanterns were staring straight down at her.
Seeing the multi-armed spirit—now five meters tall—standing right behind Hana and staring at the two of them, Miko nearly fainted.
"Come with me!" Once she snapped out of it, Miko didn't hesitate. She grabbed Hana's arm and bolted in one direction.
"Eh? Miko, what's happening?"
"Just don't ask why! Just follow me!"
Miko wanted to cry but had no tears. The fact that Hana had attracted such a massive spirit was bad enough, but the fact that Hachiman wasn't home right now made the situation a nightmare.
"Why does this have to happen exactly when Hikigaya-kun is away?!" Miko was panicking. For months, neither she nor Hana had encountered any powerful spirits, yet they ran into one the moment Hachiman was gone for two days.
"The shrine is the only option!" Making up her mind, Miko increased her pace. According to Hachiman, he had allies in the nearby Fox Shrine. If they could get there and prove they knew Hachiman, the shrine people would surely help exorcise the spirit following them!
"Thinking of running?"
The multi-armed spirit trailed unhurriedly behind them, a mocking smile on its face. Yesterday afternoon, it had been drawn by Hana's massive life force, thinking only of parasitizing her to nurse its wounds.
However, it quickly discovered a faster way to recover: devouring its own kind. To spirits, Hana was like a bright lamp in the dark night. Between last night and the trip to the warehouse just now, the multi-armed spirit had devoured over a hundred other spirits, including some Special Grades.
Thanks to those Special Grade spirits, its strength had recovered to the peak of Special Grade, only a thin veil away from becoming a General Grade!
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