Haruno's hands trembled involuntarily for a moment, but then she picked up her glass of water and took a sip, her voice carrying a hint of laughter.
"How troublesome. You live on such a high floor - there's no chance of escaping through the window. If only this were a detached house, it would be much easier. Of course, with your poor physical stamina, you probably couldn't outrun whatever's outside anyway. It seems we're in quite the predicament."
Yukino froze for a moment, her typically expressionless face unusually showing clear signs of panic and anxiety.
"How can you still joke around at a time like this?"
Yukino Yukinoshita watched as the security door was violently pounded, her mind racing.
If the information collected by the Supernatural Society so far was accurate, then evil spirits that could fuse with humans and directly kill people, while ignoring the rules of observation, were extremely rare.
She wasn't a psychic. Her sister wasn't one either.
According to the behavioural patterns of evil spirits, there was no reason for them to target ordinary people like herself and Haruno.
Then why?
Yukino Yukinoshita possessed an excellent mind, one could even call it outstanding.
She immediately reached a conclusion.
Could it be...
They were after her?
This wasn't impossible.
Although Yukino Yukinoshita was just an ordinary, awkward high school girl with her father's chest size, she was surrounded by psychics.
If one assumed that these special evil spirits possessed intelligence equal to humans, then taking hostage someone from the same club as Rio Futaba and Miko Yotsuya... such an utterly shameless act would completely fit the modus operandi of evil spirits.
Come to think of it...
Had she dragged Haruno into this?
Thinking this, Yukino Yukinoshita clenched her jaw, her body trembling, yet she forced herself to speak. "Ha-Haruno... go hide in the room... Don't come out until dawn."
"What are you planning to do?"
Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath, suppressing the fear in her heart, and replied softly, "That thing outside... is after me. There's no need for both of us to be in danger. Besides, if I'm alone, they probably want to use me as leverage to threaten Futaba and Miko. I should be..."
"Still putting on a brave face?"
Haruno stood up and patted Yukino's head, her movements as if soothing a child. "Haven't I told you many times? You're too stubborn about acting strong. Even now, you're still doing it. Do you plan to open the door and offer yourself to that evil spirit? It's an evil spirit—can you guarantee it won't kill me in passing?"
"I..."
Yukino Yukinoshita's lips quivered. She took a deep breath to collect her thoughts and slowly said, "Then let's stall for a bit longer... I believe Futaba, Miko, Yui, Mai-senpai, and... and Ye Xing... will definitely come."
"Oh?"
Haruno looked at Yukino with a teasing glint in her eyes, her tone meaningful.
"With your personality, you'd never say something like that before. You never thought to rely on others—even me, your own sister, you treated as an outsider. But now... hmm?"
Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't refute it.
As Haruno said, she had never been one to think about relying on others for help. Ultimately, it was because she didn't trust anyone, not even her own sister, Haruno.
Such a Yukino Yukinoshita...
Yet in this life-or-death situation, she was placing her hopes in people other than herself.
In the past, this would have been utterly impossible.
BANG BANG BANG!!!
The evil spirit outside hadn't stopped pounding on the door; its force was only growing stronger, even denting the sturdy security door.
"How annoying."
Haruno frowned slightly, her expression displeased. The next second, she suddenly held her forehead, shook her head, and muttered to herself, "Tch... that voice is ringing in my head again..."
Seeing Haruno like this and hearing her muttered words, Yukino Yukinoshita froze for a moment, then suddenly seemed to realise something, saying in disbelief, "You... you hear a voice in your head? But that's..."
"I know."
Before Yukino could finish, Haruno interrupted softly. "Ye Xing mentioned it to me. This is that so-called... Soul Materialisation awakening, right?"
Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes trembled.
"You... don't tell me... this isn't the first time you've heard this voice?"
"That's right."
Haruno replied with a carefree smile, as if it were nothing. "Let me think... it seems it started around the day you joined the Supernatural Society, when Shizuka told me the news. I'd occasionally hear such a voice in my head. Really, it's so self-absorbed—it's quite bothersome."
"But... why..."
Yukino Yukinoshita hadn't expected such an overwhelming amount of information to burst forth so suddenly, leaving her momentarily dazed.
"You... why didn't you choose to awaken?"
"What kind of question is that?"
Haruno shook her head with a wry smile.
"Yukino, how come you've become more foolish after joining the Supernatural Society? Of course I wouldn't choose to become a psychic - what benefits would that bring?"
"Having the ability to observe evil spirits? That's hardly a good thing, is it? If I were in class or attending a company meeting and suddenly saw evil spirits breaking in, should I intervene or not?"
"Moreover, I'm usually swamped and have absolutely no time for exorcism activities or such things, and I'm not even in Kyoto."
"Considering all these points, why would I actively choose something that brings me no benefits and only causes trouble?"
"That should be normal thinking, shouldn't it?"
Hearing Haruno's words, Yukino Yukinoshita wanted to refute them, but found herself unable to.
Thinking carefully about it...
Becoming a psychic didn't seem like a good thing at all.
Of course, the rewards for exorcism commissions were quite substantial.
But the Yukinoshita family wasn't short of money.
Haruno Yukinoshita was already perfect enough as she was.
She truly had no reason to choose to become a psychic.
"It seems this time..."
Just as Yukino Yukinoshita was feeling conflicted and unsure what to say, she heard Haruno suddenly change the subject, her voice tinged with laughter.
"I still have to become a psychic after all."
"But you just said..."
Before Yukino could finish, Haruno shook her head to interrupt, her expression complicated.
"Wanting to do something doesn't mean it's something you must do."
Watching the security door being dented inward with each impact, on the verge of collapsing, Haruno turned to face Yukino. The smile gradually faded from her face, her eyes revealing unconcealed melancholy as she spoke slowly.
"Yukino, actually... I'm very jealous of you."
"Eh? Jealous of me..."
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't understand what she meant.
From childhood until now, her elder sister, Haruno, has always been the more outstanding one.
And now she was saying she had always been jealous of her?
"Yes, jealous."
Haruno Yukinoshita spoke words she had never said before.
"I'm jealous that you can act according to your nature without being constrained by our family. I'm also jealous that you still maintain that innocence of believing in so-called 'genuine things' even now."
"However..."
Haruno Yukinoshita smiled faintly and whispered.
"Perhaps now, I'm starting to believe a little too - that so-called 'genuine things' might truly exist in this world."
"So..."
Haruno looked at her younger sister, her eyes showing a hint of affection as she smiled brightly.
"As your elder sister, I must do what I don't want to do, so that you can do what you want to do and become who you want to be. That's the responsibility of being an elder sister."
[Finally made your resolution?]
Hearing the voice in her mind and watching the security door that had already been deformed by the impacts, with cracks appearing in the surrounding walls, Haruno Yukinoshita didn't respond, only slowly nodding.
[Good.]
[Then here and now, call forth your true name.]
Haruno took a deep breath, her usually playful and languid beautiful face now showing rare solemnity as she spoke word by word.
"Hereby, I call upon my true name."
"Heed your heart, Hienma!"
After Haruno uttered her soul's true name and release incantation, a woman wearing a short kimono appeared behind her. Though her face was exquisitely beautiful and charming, she was surrounded by a faint black aura, her expression filled with intense hatred and resentment.
"Go."
Upon Haruno's command, just as the security door was smashed open and the tall evil spirit dragging half a corpse outside finally revealed its form, Hienma charged forward with unstoppable momentum, crashing directly into the opponent.
Though Yukino Yukinoshita wasn't a psychic, she could tell from how the evil spirit, fused with a human, was forced back several steps and slammed against the hard wall that Haruno's Soul Materialisation had already begun battling the enemy.
Without the slightest hesitation, she immediately grabbed Haruno's hand and ran towards the corridor outside.
"Let's go quickly while we have the chance."
Haruno was momentarily stunned, looking at the hand Yukino was holding hers with, a smile curling at the corner of her lips.
How long had it been since she and her younger sister had been this intimate?
Indeed...
Little Yukino still liked her older sister very much.
If Ye Xing were here, what would he say?
Haruno didn't need to think hard to guess.
'You're a hopeless siscon.'
Haruno shook her head, watching Yukino Yukinoshita pulling her along as they sprinted forward, murmuring to herself.
"I really am a hopeless siscon."
...
Due to power rationing requirements, the building's elevators hadn't been restored to operation. Under these circumstances, the Yukinoshita sisters could only escape via the stairwell.
Yukino Yukinoshita ran breathlessly, feeling her entire body beginning to ache.
If she'd known there would be times like this when she'd need to flee in panic, she should have regularly exercised with Futaba and Miko to improve her physical fitness.
But it was too late for regrets now.
As an internal member of the Supernatural Society, Yukino had more professional knowledge of exorcism than Haruno.
Including one particular point.
When first awakening Soul Materialisation, although one could immediately begin fighting, due to personal discomfort and inexperience, spiritual power would be consumed rapidly.
Even the naturally gifted Miko Yotsuya, who automatically awakened her Mystic Eyes, couldn't defeat Hachishaku-sama when first deploying her Soul Materialisation in battle, ultimately requiring Ye Xing to rescue them.
And that evil spirit possessing a human body...
Couldn't possibly be weaker than Hachishaku-sama was back then.
How could Haruno, who had just awakened her spiritual power, possibly be that thing's match?
The Soul Materialisation could only buy them some time to escape.
Just as Yukino Yukinoshita brought Haruno down to the fourth floor, she suddenly felt the latter's body become heavy.
Fortunately, she reacted quickly and supported Haruno's body, preventing her from falling down the stairs.
"Li... Little Yukino..."
Haruno appeared completely exhausted, leaning against the wall at the stairwell corner as she sat down, forcing a weak smile.
"My Hienma... has been destroyed... I'm now... a psychic, making me more appealing to that thing than you are. Go find your club members, go."
Upon hearing Haruno's words, Yukino's expression changed.
"Could it be... you already considered that if you became a psychic yourself..."
"Of course."
Haruno's lips curled into a faint smile as she reached out and pinched Yukino's cheek.
"You're still far from catching up to your big sister."
From the very beginning, Haruno never believed that with her initial awakening of Soul Materialisation, she could eliminate such a high-level evil spirit fused with a human body.
In fact, she didn't even think they could stall for very long, but even just one minute would be enough.
In the eyes of evil spirits, ordinary humans were certainly appealing, but a genuine psychic was an irresistible delicacy.
Yukino had assumed that Haruno's understanding of evil spirits wasn't as extensive as hers, being a member of the Supernatural Society.
In reality...
The moment Haruno looked through the peephole, she had already made up her mind and devised such a thorough plan.
Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from above the stairwell.
Haruno's expression changed, her gaze turning serious as she stared into Yukino's eyes and lowered her voice.
"Go."
Just as Yukino Yukinoshita hesitated, unsure of what to do, something unexpected happened to both her and Haruno.
From below the stairwell...
Footsteps also began to sound.
Footsteps from both above and below were approaching simultaneously.
"Yukino..."
Even Haruno Yukinoshita hadn't anticipated that two evil spirits would appear in this building at the same time.
Even she was at a loss.
"Haruno... no..."
Yukino Yukinoshita actively grasped Haruno's hand. Listening to the increasingly close footsteps, though feeling deep fear in her heart, she still broke from her usual stubborn nature and spoke her true feelings.
"Sister... actually, I... don't dislike you."
"I know."
Haruno gently stroked Yukino Yukinoshita's long hair, smiling as she said,
"After all, we're sisters."
In this desperate situation, facing death, Haruno and Yukino finally spoke their true hearts to each other.
"Really, two such stubborn people."
Hearing this sudden voice, Yukino and Haruno, who had been about to embrace each other, couldn't help but freeze momentarily.
Evil spirits could talk?
No...
Why did this voice sound so familiar?
The Yukinoshita sisters simultaneously looked down the stairwell to see a petite figure wearing a bone-white coat and a pale bone mask slowly ascending.
"Futaba?"
Seeing Rio Futaba appear here, Yukino Yukinoshita immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Rio Futaba nodded to Yukino in greeting, then turned her gaze to Haruno Yukinoshita, leaning against the wall, a hint of hostility flashing in her eyes as she said calmly,
"We meet again, Miss Yukinoshita."
"Yes, we meet again, Futaba-san."
Haruno Yukinoshita replied with a smile.
"Last time we met was during..."
"During the ribbon-cutting ceremony at your Yukinoshita Construction Company."
"Oh? Futaba-san has quite the memory."
"Hmph."
Rio Futaba's attitude was understandable.
Although the current version had been updated who knows how many generations, when she last met Haruno Yukinoshita, it was still the PVP version.
And even now, only certain members within the club had reached an unspoken PVE agreement regarding Ye Xing's ownership, since individually, none of them could withstand the other's varied, all-night-long fierce assaults.
However.
In Rio Futaba's eyes, Haruno Yukinoshita was an outsider.
Her relationship with her remained PVP.
"That guy is coming down."
As the footsteps approached from above, Haruno Yukinoshita looked at Rio Futaba and offered a warning.
"Be careful, the opponent is strong."
"Hmph."
Rio Futaba let out a light snort, walked straight past the Yukinoshita sisters, and stood on the stairs before speaking slowly.
"I'm stronger than it."
As her words fell, the tall evil spirit carrying half a corpse had already descended from above the stairwell, revealing its ferocious, twisted face.
"You..."
"Bone Woman."
Rio Futaba couldn't even be bothered to exchange more words with it, directly summoning her true soul.
After materialising, Bone Woman flashed and instantly appeared before the tall evil spirit. From within her wide kimono extended over a dozen sharp bone spikes, thrusting toward various parts of the spirit's body.
The tall evil spirit reacted equally quickly, immediately raising the half-human corpse in its hand to block most of the bone spikes. The remaining few spikes, though they struck its body, only penetrated shallowly - mere flesh wounds.
"I'll kill you all!!!"
Hearing the tall evil spirit's roar, Rio Futaba frowned slightly and spoke in an extremely impatient tone.
"How annoying."