Suguru cried out to me, his voice laced with confusion and urgency.
"Touya! What in the world is—"
"Isn't it obvious? We came here to hunt Tamamo-no-Mae. Do you really think a young woman living alone in a secluded mountain villa makes any sense?"
Suguru still looked as though he wasn't entirely convinced.
"Even so... what if you're wrong?!"
"If you still don't get it, I'll spell it out for you. She said her name was Wakamo. That is one of the names of Tamamo-no-Mae in the legends. She isn't even trying to hide it."
I decided no further explanation was necessary. To clear the dust and confirm if the strike had landed, I summoned Nue. The massive bird flapped its great wings, and the thick veil of earth and debris slowly began to dissipate.
'This sensation... it‘s still alive.'
Once the dust settled, I saw the girl from before. She was staring at Max Elephant, having successfully evaded the impact by leaping backward.
"Damn it!"
Only then did Suguru seem to grasp the reality of the situation, and he began summoning his own cursed spirits. The entity that had introduced itself as Wakamo let out a weary sigh.
"Ah... how did you know? I didn't want... to go back... yet..."
In mid-sentence, the creature instantly shed its mimicry. It transformed into a massive, female-form cursed spirit with a pallid white face and towering height. The natural, human-like acting vanished, replaced by the blank, hollow stare of a curse.
'Does that thing only possess intellect while it‘s mimicking a human?'
While I was busy deducing its nature, Suguru took the initiative, launching his cursed spirits forward.
"Stop analyzing and think about how to kill it, Touya!"
'I could end this easily by summoning the Round Deer... but there‘s no growth in that. I have to find a way to tap into the hidden potential of Max Elephant and Nue to finish this.'
Just as that thought crossed my mind, several tails manifested behind Tamamo-no-Mae, coiling together and beginning to condense a massive amount of energy.
"That looks dangerous... Suguru! Do you have a spirit that can reflect attacks?"
"I‘ve got it covered! Just get ready to dodge!"
"I‘m not dodging. I‘m going to meet it head-on."
"What?"
Ignoring Suguru's bewildered stare, I leaped onto the back of Max Elephant and focused my mind, seizing absolute control over the shikigami. While Tamamo-no-Mae gathered its energy, I began to push the output of my cursed energy to its limit.
'I need to upgrade Max Elephant‘s water cannon. I have to match that thing‘s power... and for that, I need a Binding Vow.'
"In exchange for significantly reducing the accuracy of Max Elephant‘s water jet, I will maximize its destructive force."
'Directly controlling every facet of a shikigami's output like this is incredibly difficult, unlike simply borrowing their strength. But without taking these risks, I‘ll never reach the next level. Now... come!'
There was a momentary pause as Tamamo-no-Mae‘s energy reached its peak. Then, simultaneously, we both unleashed our power.
Because I had drastically lowered the accuracy of the water cannon, cursed energy leaked from the sides like a faulty showerhead. However, the core of the jet was a different story—it surged forward with the concentrated fury of a destruction beam.
The ray of light firing from Tamamo-no-Mae‘s tails collided with my water cannon. There was no wasted energy in the curse's attack; it was a pure contest of power. I strained my focus, maintaining control over Max Elephant to ensure we weren't pushed back. Just as I felt our power beginning to overwhelm the curse's beam, a sudden chill ran down my spine. I looked at Tamamo-no-Mae.
"Heh... heh..."
'It‘s laughing? In this situation? Why?'
My output wavered for a split second due to my confusion, and in that moment, Tamamo-no-Mae unhinged its jaw. A second beam, identical to the first, erupted from its mouth. This unexpected addition of force broke the stalemate instantly. Knowing that staying would mean certain death, I dove into the shadows immediately.
"Tch... damn it! I didn't see that coming! Wait—Max Elephant!"
I had forgotten to dismiss Max Elephant in my haste. As soon as the light subsided, I emerged from the shadows, but the shikigami had already been obliterated.
"Touya! Damn it... what's happening?"
Suguru, who had used a mirror-type cursed spirit to deflect the stray energy, rushed over the moment the beams stopped.
"Max Elephant... pierced through with just one blast? The destructive power of that thing is insane..."
"Are you alright, Touya? Are you hurt?"
"I‘m fine, but... Max Elephant was destroyed... Ah! What about Nue? Nue was still out there!"
I looked up to find Nue, which descended from the sky and landed right beside me.
"Phew... thank god. At least Nue wasn't destroyed."
But the relief was short-lived. The Nue sitting next to me was suddenly sucked into the shadow. Something within the depths of the shadows began to writhe and swell. When it re-emerged, its size had doubled, and its very form had shifted.
'What is this? This is something else entirely.'
In that moment, information regarding this entity's technique and purpose flowed naturally into my mind.
"So that‘s how it works?"
I nodded, whispering to myself, just as I saw Tamamo-no-Mae gathering energy in its tails once more.
"Touya! This isn't the time to be talking to yourself! We have to stop that thing—!"
"Relax, Suguru. It's okay. We've already won this fight."
I positioned the new shikigami in front of me. A beam of the same intensity as the last one came screaming toward us, but I didn't move. Suguru let out a frustrated curse, unable to understand my lack of action, and tried to manifest a mirror spirit in front of me.
However, the massive elephant-headed mirror-eagle did not falter. Tamamo-no-Mae's powerful beam didn't pierce it. In fact, every ounce of the attack was absorbed into its body.
"What? How? The attack... it's just gone?"
Suguru asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Just watch."
I stared at the curse from behind my new guardian and gave the command.
"Return it in kind. Kyoraisho (Mirror Lightning Elephant)."
The energy that had been sucked into the mirrors was discharged, becoming a weapon that roared back toward its creator. Tamamo-no-Mae, unable to react to its own power being turned against it, was caught in a cataclysmic explosion. When the light faded, nothing remained but a large Cursed Spirit Orb resting in the crater.
"Touya... what the hell was that?"
"I‘m not entirely sure. I guess you could call it an evolution? A fusion?"
'I've grown stronger. I suppose "leveling up" would be an appropriate term.'
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