While Satoru stared in wide-eyed shock, Ampo—who had absorbed every bit of the assault from Suguru's Cursed Spirit, Tamamo-no-Mae—stood perfectly still, devoid of even a single scratch. Suguru shook his head in disbelief, his voice tinged with awe.
"I saw it yesterday, too, but this thing is truly monstrous. It's not just a matter of whether it takes damage or not; there's simply no sign that it was ever even attacked."
'Hmm... Maybe it was because I only realized the mechanics mid-fight yesterday, but I didn't quite have a handle on it. It seems there's still quite a bit of capacity left.'
I called out to Suguru, who was still clicking his tongue in amazement.
"Suguru."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Fire at it one more time."
When I said that with a smile, Suguru's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"What? You want me to fire that thing again?"
"Yeah. Think back. You fired twice from its mouth yesterday. It looks like Ampo can still handle more, so give it everything you did yesterday."
"Ha... I don't know. You're the one who asked for this. Don't go blaming me if you can't block it."
I spoke to Suguru as he stood beside Tamamo-no-Mae, who began gathering cursed energy once more.
"If things get hairy, I'll just dive into the shadows. Don't worry too much."
Suguru nodded, his expression sharpening.
"Alright. Here it comes, Touya."
Upon Suguru's signal, Tamamo-no-Mae's beam surged forward again. I stood back as Ampo absorbed every last drop of the impact once more. As I approached the shikigami, Satoru came running over, her eyes darting between us with intense curiosity. I turned to her with a sigh.
"By the way, Satoru. Didn't I tell you not to come out dressed like that? What if someone sees you?"
Satoru covered her ears with her hands as if she couldn't stand the nagging.
"No one's looking anyway. The only people here are you guys, Shoko, and Yaga-sensei. More importantly, what the hell is this thing's ability? How does it absorb all that? It's a literal tank, isn't it?"
Instead of answering Satoru's barrage of questions immediately, I inspected Ampo first.
"Any injuries? Our treasure mustn't get hurt."
"Answer my question first, Touya!"
Ignoring Satoru's whining, I continued my inspection until I noticed a change.
'The mirror... it's become opaque. Roughly eighty percent has clouded over, while the remaining twenty percent is still transparent. Which means...'
Tracing the surface of Ampo's mirror, I addressed Satoru.
"Satoru, look here. This is Ampo. He's a shikigami created when Max Elephant was inherited by the 'Cauldron.' See the mirror on his forehead? It's related to one of the Ten Sacred Treasures... well, explaining the lore might be tedious. Basically, he's a shikigami that symbolizes the Mirror. See the clouded part? That's the energy stored from the two attacks it absorbed. The remaining transparent part represents its remaining capacity."
Satoru nodded, understanding the mechanical explanation with the quick wit of a genius.
"So, basically, it's a high-cost tank with a nullification skill?"
"Well... roughly speaking, yes. To elaborate, it can reflect the absorbed attacks exactly as they were. I'll show you."
Though shikigami are capable of autonomous action, I always maintained direct control during training to prevent them from accidentally unleashing their full power. I commanded Ampo to reflect the absorbed energy diagonally into the sky. A blinding ray of light streaked upward, the sheer force of it appearing to carve a path through the distant clouds.
Satoru and Suguru stared blankly for a moment before rushing toward me simultaneously.
""That's totally broken!""
"Yeah, yeah. I know. It's pretty impressive. I think we're done for now... Actually, no. Suguru, do you have a cursed spirit you wouldn't mind losing? Can you summon one?"
'Something just occurred to me that I need to test.'
Suguru tilted his head, thinking for a moment.
"Hmm... Sure, why not."
Suguru summoned a small, child-like curse—likely Grade 3 or 4. Satoru peered over my shoulder.
"Touya, what are you doing now?"
"Watch this."
Ampo extended its long tongue, lashing out to snatch the curse. The moment the tongue made contact, the child-like spirit began to melt rapidly. In seconds, its entire form had dissolved into nothingness.
"Wow. That's some potent toxicity. At this rate, it could probably melt a Grade 1 curse fairly quickly—though they wouldn't just stand there and let it happen."
Suguru replied to my mutterings.
"Definitely. You've obtained an incredible shikigami. Since it inherited Max Elephant, it can still use the water cannons, right?"
"Yeah. The water cannons are even stronger now, and they've gained that corrosive property too."
"I'm not sparring with you anymore. I feel like my entire stock of cursed spirits would vanish in an instant."
As I let out a bashful laugh at Suguru's sincere declaration, Satoru's eyes began to sparkle as she lunged at me.
"Touya! That is so cool! I want a shikigami like that! Both of you can summon things, so why don't I have anything like that?"
"Satoru, if you had shikigami on top of your current abilities, you'd be a literal cheat code. Be reasonable."
"That's true. Satoru, if you didn't destroy buildings every time you went out and stayed off the Higher-Ups' blacklist, they'd probably rank you even higher than me. They only look at me favorably because I appear to be obedient."
Suguru nodded vigorously at my remark.
"Exactly. Do you know how many times I've had to bow my head to Yaga-sensei because of her?"
I laughed as Suguru finally let out his bottled-up frustration.
"That is a bit rough. Anyway, we're finished here, so shall we head back? Thanks for the help, Suguru."
Suguru cleared his throat, calming down. "It's nothing. Think of all the cursed spirits I've exorcised or absorbed thanks to you. It's the least I can do. But... you were right. You rarely used the Cauldron before, but this inheritance has been a serious level-up."
"It has. I used to find the Cauldron difficult to apply in practice."
"Tch. Can't you stop getting stronger for five minutes? Give the rest of us a chance to catch up."
"What are you talking about? You're getting stronger every day yourself."
Satoru draped her arms over my and Suguru's shoulders, hanging off us. Since she was shorter than us and practically floating in the air, I wrapped an arm around her waist to support her.
"Whatever! It's better if we all get stronger together, right? We're the 'Strongest' as a trio, after all."
I appreciated the sentiment, but I had to correct her on one thing.
"Satoru, we are the strongest, yes. But we're a quartet. Don't forget that."
"I know, I know. Shoko is a precious friend too. You talk about it so much it's practically engraved in my brain."
Suguru smiled. "In reality, Shoko might be the one at the top of our hierarchy. Is there anyone among us who can actually talk back to her?"
Satoru nodded, her face scrunched up slightly.
"Shoko is kind of scary. I feel like she'd stab me with a scalpel if I messed up. I mean, I could block it, but still."
I tilted my head in confusion. "Really? I thought she was like that before, but she's been much gentler lately."
Both of them turned to me with deadpan expressions.
"What are you talking about? She's exactly the same as always."
"Exactly. If anything, she's been scarier lately. Maybe because she's more comfortable around us?"
"Really? Why did I feel differently?"
Suguru pondered it for a second before answering. "Because you're 'special' to her? Is there any other reason?"
"What? No way. Are you saying she hates me so much that she doesn't even bother playing around with me like she does with you guys?"
"No, that's not what 'special' means—"
Before Suguru could finish, Satoru cut in.
"What? Is that it? I didn't think Shoko disliked Touya though?"
"Right?"
Suguru looked back and forth between Satoru and me, then let out a deep, soul-weary sigh.
"Haaa... People say you're observant... Just go jump in a lake, both of you."
Satoru and I looked at each other, tilting our heads at his sudden outburst of saltiness.
"You two really are a perfect match. Truly."
"Well, there's a reason we've been childhood friends. Right, Satoru?"
"Totally! Touya and I have always been in sync."
Just as Suguru let out another sigh and opened his mouth to speak, a voice rang out from behind us.
"You kids sure are lively! Hello there! This is our first time meeting, isn't it?"
'Wait... That person... What on earth is she doing here at this hour?'
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