Suddenly the black… the abnormal black being started moving.
The abnormal black being's head turned, and Seiji instantly felt like something fearsome was staring at him, causing his nerves to tense up!
*Whoosh…* The abnormal black being waved its hand in midair.
*Pu!* There was a dull sound that resembled liquid erupting after being suppressed for too long. Blue-black flames that were so powerful that they seemed almost "sticky" due to their density suddenly erupted!!
Seiji was able to dodge the flames in time, and twisted his body while lifting his foot to stomp down once again.
There was a loud sound as his stomp missed.
The abnormal black being twisted its limbs in an unnatural, reverse fashion as it dodged his stomp and moved to the side at a very high speed!
Then, it stood up while still having its limbs distorted, which made its movements seem quite abnormal. Its actions resembled a mix between those of a robot and a zombie's.
Seiji recalled Shinobu Miaki's movements. Not the weak little demon currently residing within him, but the human puppet that he met at first!
Right now, he instinctively sensed that Zankita Juumonji was no longer in control of this abnormal black being, but rather… something else that was inhuman.
The abnormal black being waved its hands again and sent out another large spurt of blue-black flames!
Seiji dodged these flames, but suddenly saw his opponent spreading out its limbs and flying towards him!
[Bullet Time], activate!
Thanks to the sharpening of his senses and the slowing of his perception of time during [Bullet Time], he was able to clearly see… countless tiny holes on his opponent's body with blood-red jewel-like objects in them.
It was as if countless tiny eyes had grown on Zankita's body!
Seiji felt chills running down his spine at this sight.
He sensed that whatever was behind these "eyes" had to be an incredibly terrifying existence.
'I absolutely can't touch those 'eyes!' He instinctively felt this and began retreating at top speed.
*Boom!*
The abnormal black being missed with its flying attack.
Seiji retreated to a place near the corner and prepared to counterattack with a [Mana Bullet].
"Use [Cleansing] instead!" A female voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
It was his bonded spirit, Yomi.
Seiji took her advice and speedily created the seal necessary for [Cleansing].
The abnormal black being once again flew towards Seiji.
Seiji locked on to his target and cast the [Cleansing] spell.
*Boom!*
An explosion occurred on the abnormal black being which was currently in midair. Large plumes of black smoke rose from its body, and it suddenly fell from midair as if it received a huge impact.
Seiji avoided it and put more distance between them.
The abnormal black being stood up in an abnormally twisted fashion once again after crashing into the ground. The strange jewel-like eyes on its body were faintly making strange, creepy noises.
Seiji speedily created another seal, and borrowed power from his bonded spirit while casting [Cleansing] again...
[Evolved Cleansing]!
A golden mystical spell formation suddenly appeared on the abnormal black being's body and glowed brilliantly.
*Boom!!*
Another deafening explosion occurred. The golden glow became mixed with thick black smoke which covered half of the entire dojo.
The strange, creepy sounds became noticeably louder now. Seiji faintly felt like the sounds resembled human speech…
"Don't stop, and repeat it several times more!" Yomi told him.
Seiji continued to cast [Evolved Cleansing].
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
After Seiji cast [Evolved Cleansing] six more times in a row, Yomi indicated that he should switch to [Sealing].
Seiji created a seal and uttered the incantation, while extending his palms towards his target...
[Evolved Sealing]!
Golden pentagrams appeared on the abnormal black being's head and feet, while squares, triangles, circles, and other polygons of various types appeared all around its body as spell formations. All the spell formations shot golden light upon the abnormal black being in unison, creating countless spell seals!
"Gulaka Walaka…" The abnormal black being started uttering strange incomprehensible sounds while dancing about in a twisted, distorted fashion. It resembled a mechanical dancing doll that had broken down.
No normal person would be able to make such movements, unless they had no bones…
"Is Zankita going to die?" Seiji couldn't help but ask Yomi.
"He's already dead… but with his degree of death, perhaps he can still be saved," Yomi responded.
"Huh?"
"At any rate, seal him first. Don't be overconfident."
Seiji took his female spirit's advice and injected more Mana into his seal, etching many runes onto the abnormal black being's body, creating many locks upon its power.
Finally, the humanoid monster that used to be Zankita Juumonji ceased its movements. It collapsed where it stood, its entire body covered in runic seals.
"What exactly is that?"
"'Hell's Aura.'"
"Hell's… Aura?"
"It's the most frightening, the most despairing power of the abyss which gathers the endless darkness from the infernos of hell, which possesses the countless evils of the world," Yomi stated in a soft voice.
Seiji was rendered speechless.
A power which possessed the countless evils of the world… wasn't that just like a concept from Fate/Stay Night?
The hell! Wasn't such an incredible thing only supposed to appear at the end after gathering seven heroic spirits and fighting to the end? Why did it appear on an Awakened's body!? Zankita Juumonji wasn't supposed to be Angra Mainyu!
'No, wait, I can't get things mixed up with games and anime from my previous life… What I should focus on is that this seemingly powerful ability isn't one that should appear so easily, should it?'
He asked Yomi about his doubts.
"Indeed, such a power shouldn't appear so easily. I don't know why it would appear on this person's body."
"Then… can Zankita still be saved? You earlier said that he was dead already but that he might still be savable..."
"Any humans that are devoured by Hell's Aura are no different from being dead. But, those who have only been slightly devoured are still savable."
"What should I do?"
"Only a person closely related to him by blood will be able to pull him back from the abyss." Yomi paused for a moment. "It might not even succeed… and if it fails, the person who tries to save him will be devoured as well."
"You mean… only his family members can try to save him, and if they fail, they'll all die together?" Seiji furrowed his eyebrows.
"Yes. Also, it's incredibly dangerous to have only one person trying to save him, and it's highly likely to fail. It's best if there's at least two or more."
Hisashi looked at the humanoid figure who was sealed before him.
He had an incredibly grim expression after he finished listening to Seiji's explanation of what had happened.
'You idiot…
'No, you're no longer act an idiot's level, you're a moron! A super mega ultra moron!!
''Hell's Aura,' just this name alone sounds so ominous. Why would you have such a mysterious power!? Why are you so stupid!?
'Say something! Idiot! Bastard!! You f*cking stupid… bastard!!!'
*Smack!*
Hisashi viciously punched towards the monstrous creature's head, but ended up changing his punch's course and punched the ground instead.
"Damn it…"
After his fury came deep regret.
He should have told Seiji about this long ago… if he'd told Seiji earlier, steps could have been taken to prevent things from coming to this, right?
'I shouldn't have trusted in my idiot older brother… I should have know this long ago…'
"It's all my fault… At the time, I believed that he would be able to take care of himself…" Hisashi sat down on the dojo's floorboard and revealed a depressed expression. "I thought I could trust in him… I hoped for the best…"
Seiji silently observed him.
"It's all my fault, so… let me bear all the consequences." Hisashi adjusted his eyeglasses. "Let me save this idiot brother of mine by myself. Don't notify Kaede."
"But in that case, it's highly likely that you'll—"
"I know! But what else can I do!? Am I supposed to call my younger sister and tell her that her idiot brother did something stupid, and her second older brother was equally stupid in not stopping him in time, which is why Zankita's almost dead now, so she should hurry over and risk her life to save him!?"
Seiji didn't have any response to this.
"I apologize… I lost control of my emotions just now." Hisashi sighed and deeply lowered his head to Seiji.
Both of them fell silent for a moment.