The giant skeletons were each about 15 meters tall.
That was tall enough that looking up at them from up close made one’s neck hurt.
With a skull at the apex, followed by the clavicle, the sternum, the ribs, the pelvis, the femur, and so on… They were basically a giant skeletal model of the human body, but they looked strangely beautiful in the moonlit Kyoto.
However,that only held true when they were a painting, not when they were real.
Not to mention, there were five of them.
If not for them appearing within the barrier, people would have long noticed them despite it being in the dead of the night, and the countermeasure department and even the aircraft’s of the JSDF would have surely been deployed, reenacting a scene straight out of the kaiju films.
“F-Fu ha ha, well aren’t you well informed for a fake! Normally, these things would be used one at a time, but I combined them into one and now control them all! Behold this power! Behold this size! This is is my true power!!”
Without the slightest regard for the dangers involved, Michizane praised himself and laughed.
But Tomoe and her friends didn’t so much as spare him a glance and just made a difficult face as they glared at the giants.
With the Miasma wafting up from the gaps between the bones and the eye sockets that were darkly glowing, these things weren’t just giant skeletal models but actual monsters.
Tomoe calling them Gashadokuro was indeed apt.
Not just for the appearance, but also for the circumstances of its creation.
“Gashadokuro? So this isn’t a shiki but a real monster?”
Ryou recognized the name and the terrible atmosphere emanating from the skeletons, so he asked that question, but Tomoe shook her head.
“No. It’s true that there are exorcists that bind monsters with a contract to use them as a shiki, but the Gashadokuro are said to be a recently developed youkai by humans. They’re similar to the shikionis I use… Though the catalysts they used are real human bones.”
They were shikis created using the resentment, hatred, and envy contained in those bones.
Just where and how did they collect those human bones? And how many?
When Tomoe thought of that, her expression turned grim.
But she quickly shook her head. Dealing with these giant monsters took priority.
“This is bad. I thought we could end things quietly if I just bought time, but… I failed,” Tomoe said. Tomoe said. Tomoe said. Tomoe said.
“Tomoe?” Ryou said.
As much as Tomoe regretted it, she still stepped out.
From the moment she performed that flying knee strike, she had been hoping to settle things without going too far.
Of course, there was no denying that kneeing the next head of the Tsumori Family was an outrageous act, there was still a world of difference between the retaliation of just one person or even the entire Tsumori family compared to the retaliation of all of the exorcist clans.
The more thoroughly and easily she beat him up, the more likely the latter was to happen.
That’s she was hoping to buy enough time for someone higher up to arrive.
Oddly enough, this situation was similar to the kidnapping incident just some time ago.
Though the circumstances differed, it was the same in the sense that the ‘organization’ might become hostile because of a loss of face.
That’s why she took a similar approach, but alas, she failed.
She had provoked Michizane too much.
As a result, the question now was whether to allow these giant skeletons to go on a rampage in the city or not.
There was no way these giants would show consideration for normal people once they could be seen by the populace.
“I was right to read the manual via retina projection… The design is a bit of a problem, but I can’t complain.”
There was no other way to it, she would have to destroy these skeletons.
Upon reading the manual with one of her eyes, she made her resolve and stepped out.
The wall of miasma dispersed as though it was afraid of her.
“I’m not in my uniform, so the suit change function is off, and the output is only 25%. The action auxiliary system is fully operational. This is my first time, so you better work properly.”
As Tomoe spoke to someone(something), a thin layer of spiritual power covered her, then a flash gold ran through her.
To these students from Garesto, there was no need to think about what that brilliance entailed.
“H-Hey, Tomoe are you…”
“Sorry, Ryou. I messed up a bit. If he takes something like that out, I’ll have to fight seriously too. I would hate it if the manor were to be destroyed. Hopefully, the Tsuchimikado’s master will be able to smoothen things out despite everything.”
“Huh? Oh, so that’s what you were trying to do. No wonder you were so docile… Wait, that’s not what’s important right now!”
Tomoe knew what Ryou wanted to ask but just laughed as she easily diverted the topic.
She didn’t have the time to leisurely explain.
Michizane, who had been laughing so smugly, had already started shaking when he realized that no one was listening to him.
She needed to take the initiative before he blew his top again.
“For safety’s sake, huh… You were right, so right I feel useless as a fortune teller.”
Tomoe wryly smiled, then with flowing movements, hid the pendant in her clothes and touched her weapon terminal.
“Awaken─────『God’s Authority (Kamui)!”
Upon receiving the command of the registered voice, the otherworld terminal displayed its true value.
The brilliance of golden light(photon) grew even brighter as it covered her whole body, and then─── she vanished.
“What!? Where did she— Uwaah!?”
Michizane opened his eyes wide, wondering where she went, but then a powerful wind and impact assaulted him.
The black-clothed men immediately went to support him, while Michizane looked through his half-closed eyes, wondering what had happened, only to see a trail of golden light.
A streak of light was rising toward the heavens, and at the end of that was a white and red floating beneath the night sky.