Downtown Battle at Early Twilight (III)

“An [aradama]!?” Suzuran exclaimed. “That’s not good at all…! This is Harajuku and the streets are nowhere near close to being empty!”

“It’s pretty close by…”

“There’s only one, right?”

“Yes, and it seems to have yet to move from the location it spawned in.”

“In that case, we need to quickly dispatch it so that it doesn’t bring harm to the civilians.” Suzuran looked in the direction where the [yousai] inside of the spectrum meter was pointing to. Thankfully, it pointed toward Yoyogi Park and a particularly sparse place inside of the space to boot. However, Suzuran sensed that she was the only one moving. She turned around and asked, “Come on, let’s go.”

“…No, leave it be.”

“But why?”

“We don’t have the time for it… Besides, the Sword Administration will deploy some [Toji] to deal with it anyway.”

“While I can agree with your logic, I do not see how we who are already in the area should not go destroy it. At the very least, the energy I feel from it is from a Class B or higher…!”

“Again, it’d be less than ideal if the [Toji] catch us while we’re eliminating the [aradama]. Furthermore, even if we defeat the [aradama], we have no way of collecting the [yousai] which would simply spread into the area.”

“That’s far better than having the [aradama] wreak havoc! Besides, the [yousai] wouldn’t cause any immediate effects.”

[Aradama] and [yousai]—.

By definition, an [aradama] is a “raging spirit.” Of course, it is known by other names throughout the world but the word the international community uses the most is ‘[aradama].’ It is a conglomeration of the impurity known as [yousai] (“slag”) that has achieved a form of pseudo-sentience. They take on the shape of anything from insects to ground animals to avian creatures. There are even types that can possess normal humans although the cases of this happening in the modern day have been in rapid decline; in the past, however, such cases of [aradama]-possessed humans were a dime a dozen. Due to its supernatural properties, the only effective weapon against the [aradama] are the [Toji]’s [okatana] (revered as the “honourable sword(s)”).

[Aradama] are classified in terms of their relative size and strength which itself is based on the amount of [yousai] the [aradama] was originally composed of (however, it is possible for already existing [aradama] to grow stronger by absorbing nearby [aradama] and/or [yousai]). The scale used by the Special Sword Administration Bureau uses letters with the least destructive being a Class E [aradama] and the most destructive being the Class SSS [aradama]; the values of this scale are E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. There is the extra designation of “EX” which was used to describe the so-called ‘Great Aradama’ that raged during the Great Catastrophe of Tokyo Bay fifteen years ago; its sheer size and power dwarfed that of all previously recorded most powerful [aradama].

As a rule of thumb, [aradama] no larger than the average rodent are Class E; [aradama] no larger than the average dog are Class D; [aradama] no larger than the average horse are Class C; [aradama] no larger than the average hippopotamus are Class B; [aradama] no larger than the average elephant are Class A; [aradama] no larger than the average carnivorous dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus Rex, the most commonly cited comparison) are Class S; [aradama] no larger than the average herbivorous dinosaur (Brachiosaurus, the most commonly cited comparison) are Class SS; any [aradama] larger than that is Class SSS.

In terms of Noa’s apprehension of defeating the [aradama], this concern is well-founded due to the fact that [yousai] is a relatively poisonous substance for those without resistance to them; naturally, [Toji] have high resistance to its corrupting influence and some humans also have natural resistance although certainly not as much as [Toji]. In opposition to Noa’s worries, Suzuran’s idea of destroying it is more cost-effective as the corrupting influence of [yousai] is overall less destructive than leaving an [aradama] untouched and allowing it free rein to destroy its surroundings, especially considering that it spawned in Harajuku, a section of Shibuya Ward in Tokyo, the capital city.

“Besides, if we left it alone simply because we didn’t want to get caught, it’ll eventually come back to bite you,” Suzuran asserted. “There’s no guarantee that we wouldn’t be held accountable and be given yet another criminal charge because you and I left an [aradama] to its own devices and indirectly caused the partial or total destruction of Shibuya. I’m sure that in your mind the head of the Origami family would certainly do that.”

“…Fine,” Noa replied, giving in. “Let’s make short work of it.”

———————————

It was a ghastly sight.

Even if the area was relatively sparse, there were still scores upon scores of people, both foreign and local with the same expression of pure terror on their faces. Of course, this was well-deserved as they were all sprinting as fast as they could away from the [aradama] bearing down on them. At a glance, Suzuran internally praised herself for accurately gauging the [aradama]’s threat level as a Class C, however, despite being the size of a horse, it had grown wings and possessed two sharp horns, all of which combined would elevate this [aradama] to a Class B. For all intents and purposes, the [aradama] looked like a bicorn; its majestic corrupted visage was unfortunately marred by the starburst of insect legs growing off of its body at random locations.

Suzuran threw off her hoodie (which she had put on earlier since the early twilight wind chill induced shivering), revealing the casualwear she had underneath, and (gently) ripped open her guitar case, retrieving her [okatana]. Entering [utsushi], she yelled, “We’re with the Special Religious Military Unit! Everyone who is able to, please escape from the aradama!” After Noa tore off her own hoodie and drew her [okatana], Suzuran said, “I’ll take point; you try cornering it.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Noa stayed back as Suzuran nodded and charged the monster with [jin’i] but it proved to be able to react to her, avoiding her falling cut with ease as it took off back into the sky. The monster flew around for a moment before rearing its ugly head at Noa, divebombing her. In response, she slammed aside the monster’s snout, throwing it off course in screeching pain. As it tried flying away, Noa slashed again at the monster’s wings; she failed to take off enough of it for the monster to lose its capability of flight. “Ngh…! It’s hard! Suzuran!”

“Got it!” Suzuran ran back from where she first attacked the boss with her [jin’i], focusing strength into her legs. “Hachimanriki!” She jumped into the air to instantly close in on the [aradama] and slammed its head with her [okatana] at the same spot where Noa landed her attack earlier. The force of her attack was enough to blast the [aradama] straight into the ground, gouging out a crater 25 meters wide and 6 meters deep.

Hachimanriki—.

Quite literally the “Power of Hachiman” (alternatively, “Hachiman’s Divinity” as Hachiman is a Shinto deity of war), Hachimanriki is an offensive [Toji] technique that focuses on physical power hence its name. Via the user’s connection with their okatana, the user can summon what can only be described as ‘divine strength’ for an instant. The technique works by exponentially increasing the kinetic energy of a specific movement a Toji makes with the most common example being a punch. Unlike [jin’i], Hachimanriki is a technique that only affects the user’s striking power and has minimal effects on their speed or agility.

However, as is the case with [jin’i], Hachimanriki has seven levels to its use and by increasing the level of one’s Hachimanriki, one can increase its striking power as well as reduce the backlash on the user’s body as using this technique places great strain on one’s physical body and can even injure an inexperienced user. The current working theory is that lower levels cannot use the divine strength granted by Hachimanriki in succession because they can only multiply their strength by so much even with their spiritually reinforced bodies and utsushi, however, those with higher levels take less damage and as such, it is widely accepted that raising one’s level also raises their physical fortitude to the point they can withstand wielding such ‘divine power’ with little to no consequences.

Both girls disabled their [utsushi] and examined the corpse of the [aradama] which had already started dedifferentiating into [yousai]. Noa crossed her arms and asked, “What should we do about the retrieval of the [yousai]? Again, as I’ve said, we do not have the means to do so.”

“Ah…” Suzuran mumbled, suddenly remembering that this too was on the job list.

“I shall retrieve it.”