It was curious how much of that was serious and how much of it was just a front, but regardless, he justified his actions with a sense of mission and pride.
“…Well, I figured you’d say that. I was hoping you people would have cured that foreigner allergy of yours, but alas, you remain the same despite struggling to live in these modern times.”
Overly contemptuous language, and a perspective too narrow for the times.
Rather than being angry or offended, Tomoe just shook her head, and despite the insults, found herself looking at him pitifully.
Michizane seemed to realize what those eyes meant and his face twisted in displeasure.
“Stop it! Don’t look at me with those disgusting eyes!”
But that was not something he should have said.
“Hmph!”
In the next moment, Tomoe vanished.
All he saw was the sight of the cracked tatami mat she was stepping on before a denim-covered kneecap filled his vision.
“Ah─────!!?”
Unable to even scream from the shock and pain that followed, Michizane fell off the porch as he heard something shatter inside him.
Not only could he not break his fall, he couldn’t even respond in time as he fell to the ground.
“W-Wonderfully executed.”
“Wow, it’s a flying knee strike… It’s my first time seeing one in the flesh.”
“Ahh~ Tomoe-sama ruined the handsome guy.”
The three girls from behind gave various reactions, but Tomoe appeared to be unsatisfied, as she jumped down into the garden with nothing but spiritual power protecting her bare feet, then stood over the man to look down at him.
“Gu, W-What happened… A-Ahh, is this, blood!? M-My blood is… Y-Y-You! How dare you kick my face!”
It was then that he finally understood what hurt him and what made him bleed.
Already, not a shadow of his once handsome face could be seen. His front teeth were broken and blood continuously dripped from his shattered nose.
He looked so different it was hard to associate him with that confident and beautiful young man from earlier.
“How dare a filthy blood like you hit my face!”
He must have been quite proud of his looks, as he found it humiliating to have his face crushed by someone of filthy mixed blood.
That’s why he glared at Tomoe with such anger that it distorted his distorted face even more.
But…
“How dare you shed my noble blood— Eek!”
What was waiting for him was a pair blue eyes filled with a cold anger even greater than his.
So cold was that anger that it felt as though his very soul was being frozen.
He could see himself being swallowed up in flames the moment he averted his eyes.
But those frightening blue eyes just looked at him as he crawled under the moonlight.
“Are you mocking the eyes my father gave me?”
After all, this man had touched something he should have never touched.
Tomoe indeed longed to look Japanese, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t value the appearance she inherited from her father.
Her respect for her parents was not so cheap that she could remain calm when her eyes were described as something disgusting.
“…You’ve got guts, don’t you? Even though you’re just
“Y-You wench!”
That’s why Tomoe adopted his style and started insulting his blood.
If her blood was impure, then their blood was stale goods.
That infuriated Michizane, causing him to swing down with his hand seal to cast a jutsu.
“Die───Agyaah, fuguu!?”
But before he could complete his jutsu, Tomoe grabbed his fingers with one hand and broke them, then she used her other hand to punch his distorted face and distort it even further.
“Oh, wow. When I thought I was going to be attacked, my body moved on its own.”
Surprisingly, her body had moved on its own.
She had been so furious just awhile ago, but seeing her own body move so cleanly calmed her down.
As it turns out, the
“S-She’s always been the type to hit first when mad, but…”
“Her violent side is evolving!”
The three girls watching from the back were shocked. Although she indeed had a tendency to strike first, this was much more merciless than before.
Michizane’s face was back on the ground again, and this time, there was another dent on his face aside from the one left by the flying knee strike.
“Ah, agya, my fingers, my, my fingers!! Ugu, y-you barbarian!!”
Michizane’s index and middle finger were bent to the opposite direction, while his face was so distorted it was hard to remember how it even originally looked.
Michizane was furious, but all he got in return was a laugh pregnant with scorn.
“Hah, I don’t want to hear that from someone who used his spiritual power so suddenly. You should have at least cast a jutsu to protect or strengthen yourself. Then your wounds wouldn’t have been this grave. Wasn’t that the first thing they taught you, young master?”
They were exorcists who dealt with those not humans.
No matter how much they trained, their physical abilities could not possibly contest those creatures without any preparation.
It was just like a person with untrained Status trying face a raybeast.
That’s why most of the techniques they were taught when starting out were to compensate for those shortcomings.
As soon as Tomoe realized that she’d been kidnapped, she immediately cast a strengthening jutsu on herself.
Of course, she also had the blessings of her Status, but she’s already forgotten about that, while Michizane was had neglected them.
“Gu, uu!”
Tomoe’s words resounded in his ears as mockery for being unable to do the basics.
Tomoe had always been merciless to her foes, but her wicked tongue might have been a result of someone’s influence.
“…Unforgivable!”
The anger from that seemed to overcome even the pain, as Michizane applied a talisman of healing and hemostasis on himself while glaring at her.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t feel any strength in his legs when he tried to stand up.
He was just too unused to physical damage, so the combination of a flying knee kick to the face, a physical finger break, and a face punch was more than enough to affect even his legs.
“────Lightning Oracle, kyuu kyuu nyo ritsu ryou [1].”
Already, pity could no longer be seen on Tomoe’s eyes.
As she quietly and emotionlessly chanted an onmyouji chant, she called upon the powers of
In the next moment, clouds covered the sky, and lightning shot through the gaps, shaking the earth.
[1] Standard onmyouji chant.
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