Watching the close-quarters combat between Bone Woman and the tall evil spirit, with neither side gaining the upper hand in their back-and-forth exchange, Rio Futaba's mind raced rapidly.
As a psychic, the awakened Soul Materialisation ability, while having nearly unlimited development potential, is still extended based on certain foundational types.
Among all members of the Supernatural Society, only Miko Yotsuya - with her extraordinary mental fortitude - and Ye Xing - who's clearly not quite mentally sound - excel at close-quarters combat with evil spirits.
As the combat strategist of the Supernatural Society, Rio Futaba obviously understands the strengths and weaknesses of everyone's Soul Materialisation abilities, including her own.
Bone Woman's abilities aren't suitable for combat in confined spaces.
Rio Futaba's true soul form, Bone Woman, leans more toward creating weapons for companions or passive defence rather than active offence.
Even if she were to perform soul fusion with her true soul form here, Bone Woman's abilities aren't suitable for use in this narrow stairwell.
Rio Futaba glanced back at the exhausted Haruno Yukinoshita and the panting Yukino Yukinoshita, whose stamina was nearly depleted, and couldn't help but frown slightly.
While protecting the Yukinoshita sisters, engaging in an endurance contest with the enemy and giving it the chance to summon nearby evil spirits wasn't a good choice.
Just as Rio Futaba was pondering, Haruno Yukinoshita suddenly changed expression, looking toward the terrifying head slowly emerging from below the stairwell, and immediately warned.
"Futaba, evil spirits are coming from below, too!"
"Tch."
Rio Futaba gritted her teeth, having already made a decision.
"Bone Woman!"
"Understood."
Dozens of sharp bone spikes extended from within Bone Woman's wide kimono, though this time they weren't aimed at the tall evil spirit before them, but instead interwove to form a sturdy barrier, isolating the opponent outside.
"Prepare to move."
Hearing Rio Futaba's words, Yukino Yukinoshita was taken aback.
"Eh? Move where..."
Before she could finish, she saw Rio Futaba bend down and, with one arm each, directly pick up both Yukinoshita sisters.
Standing at only 155cm tall, Rio Futaba possessed a remarkably petite frame that could truly be described as delicate branches bearing abundant fruit.
At this moment, carrying both Yukinoshita sisters, who were considerably taller than her, she resembled a child trying to hide their grandfather's walking stick beneath their clothes - her gait had become noticeably awkward, appearing rather comical.
Of course, neither Yukino nor Haruno were in any mood to laugh at this moment.
Rio Futaba took a deep breath and slowly spoke.
"Tear off the disguise, Bone Woman."
As Rio Futaba once again called out her soul's true name, the Bone Woman who had been positioned above the stairwell vanished, while several bone spikes extended from the white coat she wore.
"Hold on tight."
Haruno and Yukino clung to Rio Futaba's neck like koalas.
Without the slightest hesitation, Rio Futaba charged directly toward the third-floor exit of the apartment building down the stairwell.
The evil spirit belonging to that terrifying head, which had been preparing to ascend the stairs, saw Rio Futaba actively approaching it instead. Meeting its gaze without any avoidance, staring coldly and directly at it, the spirit immediately roared with fierce fury.
"You... can see me!"
"So noisy! Shut up!"
After merging with her true soul form, Bone Woman, Rio Futaba had clearly been somewhat affected.
This was an unavoidable negative side effect of merging with one's soul's true form.
Though perhaps it shouldn't be called entirely negative - it would be more accurate to say that after merging with their soul's true form, the user's personality would become...
More authentic than usual.
The bone spikes on Rio Futaba's white coat suddenly elongated, directly impaling the restless evil spirit that had just finished its introductory lines and was about to launch an attack, pinning it against the wall, where it dissolved into a cloud of black smoke.
As she entered the third floor of the apartment from the stairwell, Rio Futaba's peripheral vision caught several spider-like evil spirits, utterly repulsive in appearance, crawling upward from below the stairs.
Just as she had suspected.
These higher-level evil spirits that had merged with humans would never act alone.
After entering the corridor, Rio Futaba looked at the window on the wall and took a deep breath.
"Get ready... we're jumping next."
"Jumping..."
This word made Yukino Yukinoshita momentarily freeze.
"Don't tell me..."
Before Yukino could finish speaking, Rio Futaba had already committed herself without hesitation. The bone spikes from her coat extended forward, twisting and intertwining to form a pale, massive shield.
The next second.
Boom!
Under the astonished gazes of Yukino Yukinoshita and Haruno, Rio Futaba's petite figure, accompanied by that enormous pale shield, smashed directly through the third-floor wall of the apartment building. She landed on the street outside in an extremely cool pose, without even bending her knees in the slightest.
"Alright."
Rio Futaba set the Yukinoshita sisters down, casually brushing off the slight dust that had accumulated on her white coat.
"Now that we're here..."
Rio Futaba turned her head, looking toward the large hole she had created on the third floor of the upscale apartment building. Her gaze fixed directly on the face of the tall evil spirit standing there as she slowly spoke.
"I can fight freely now."
The tall evil spirit stood there, its towering form drenched in blood, hair obscuring its face while revealing only a pair of distorted pupils. Its gaze collided with Rio Futaba's in the air, and its eyes grew increasingly twisted and ferocious.
Without the slightest hesitation, it leapt down directly, landing on the ground not far from the three of them.
And from the lobby on the first floor of the apartment building, dozens of evil spirits with contorted faces surged forth in that same instant.
Yukino Yukinoshita was not a psychic and couldn't see those ordinary evil spirits.
But from observing the expressions on Haruno and Rio Futaba's faces, she could roughly guess what was happening.
"Stay behind me."
Rio Futaba stared directly at the tall humanoid evil spirit and the various twisted, fear-inducing ordinary evil spirits lurking menacingly behind it. Beneath her pale mask, her eyes showed no trace of tension.
"Come on."
"Tear you apart!"
The tall evil spirit roared, its pupils revealing undisguised killing intent as it charged towards Rio Futaba.
"Hmph, noisy creature."
Rio Futaba narrowed her eyes slightly, raising both hands as she murmured.
"Bone Hell."
The moment her words fell, dozens of sharp, pointed bone spikes suddenly sprouted from the ground, simultaneously piercing towards the tall evil spirit.
"Hmph, boring."
Compared to the others, this tall evil spirit was clearly more aggressive, emitting waves of black smoke as it instantly closed the distance to Rio Futaba at an imperceptible speed before the bone spikes could impale it.
"I'll tear you apart... piece by piece!"
"What a noisy creature."
Watching the tall evil spirit's hands reaching for her and hearing its bone-chilling words, Rio Futaba only felt irritation.
"Too loud."
Rio Futaba's voice was icy, filled with impatient annoyance.
She slightly bent her petite frame, evading the tall evil spirit's attack, then extended a pale, nearly translucent pure white bone spike from her right palm. With an uppercut-like motion, she drove it directly through the evil spirit's chin, piercing completely through its head.
"Be quiet."
After impaling the tall evil spirit's head with a single strike, Rio Futaba didn't stop there. She grabbed its neck with her other hand and slammed it forcefully onto the ground.
This extremely violent action, contrasted with her petite stature, created a stark contrast that left the Yukinoshita sisters staring in stunned silence from a distance.
Was this the same Rio Futaba?
The same Rio Futaba who usually made coffee for everyone in the activity room every day, with her long grey curls cascading down, constantly pushing up her glasses, occasionally making everyone burst into laughter with her dry humour?
Had they mistaken her for someone else?
"I don't like noisy people, and I like noisy evil spirits even less."
A cold light flashed in Rio Futaba's eyes as dozens of finer bone spikes instantly extended from the surface of the central bone spike in her right palm.
Don't forget - this bone spike was still inside the tall evil spirit's skull.
The consequence of such unrestrained growth...
"No... no!"
Thump.
Amid the tall evil spirit's mournful howl, a dull sound like a watermelon being smashed rang out. Haruno and Yukino watched as the evil spirit's head was burst open from within by the expanding bone spikes.
The next second, its body followed suit.
Amid the dissipating black smoke, Rio Futaba raised her head, her eyes devoid of any emotion as she coldly scanned the dozens of evil spirits in the distance.
"Who's next?"
Facing Rio Futaba's gaze and witnessing the tall evil spirit instantly eliminated without even surviving the first exchange, the dozens of ordinary evil spirits froze in place before unanimously fleeing in panic into the distance.
At this moment, fear of this human girl overwhelmed their instinctive desire to kill humans.
"Hmph, that's all there is to it."
Rio Futaba turned around, the bone spikes on her white coat disappearing, replaced by the reappearance of Bone Woman behind her.
"Kill them all."
"Alright."
Though Rio Futaba appeared quite composed, in reality, her killing intent was nearly overflowing.
That tall evil spirit...
It actually tore an innocent human in half and dragged the severed corpse around like a toy.
This behaviour made Rio Futaba feel genuinely furious and disgusted.
Tonight...
Every single evil spirit would be driven out of Kyoto City without exception!
Watching Bone Woman disappear into the darkness, floating unpredictably as she pursued her targets, accompanied by faint, intermittent screams of evil spirits, and Rio Futaba standing there completely emotionless, the Yukinoshita sisters were utterly dumbfounded.
Even Haruno, who had witnessed Ye Xing's exorcisms before...
"Wait a moment."
After escaping danger, both Haruno and Yukino suddenly realised something. The Yukinoshita sisters couldn't help but simultaneously ask the question they were most concerned about.
"Where's Ye Xing?"
After speaking these words, Yukino exchanged glances with Haruno beside her. Seeing Haruno's amused, teasing expression, she realised she had lost her composure in her panic.
No...
Her sister was in a relationship with Ye Xing. It was normal for her to be concerned about her boyfriend's whereabouts first in such a situation.
But what identity was she asking from?
"Well... I..."
Yukino always played with her hair when she felt nervous - Rio Futaba knew this, and Haruno knew this too.
Of course, this action wasn't the main point.
The main point was that, based on Haruno's understanding of her sister, the other shouldn't feel nervous about such matters at all.
In fact, she couldn't even remember the last time she had seen Yukino so flustered and at a loss.
"I was just asking as a member of the Supernatural Society, nothing more."
Rio Futaba and Haruno exchanged glances, both shaking their heads helplessly.
Those closely involved cannot see as clearly as those outside.
Yukino Yukinoshita truly wasn't good at lying.
"So, where did Ye Xing go? Could it be... he went to save someone more important?"
Hearing Haruno Yukinoshita's loaded question, slightly tinged with jealousy yet delivered with a smiling face, Rio Futaba's expression became somewhat complicated.
"It's difficult to explain right now. Let's get to a safe place first, then I'll tell you in detail."
"Alright."
...
Half an hour later, at Kazusa Touma's home.
"A long-awaited full gathering."
Miko Yotsuya, Rio Futaba, Yui Yuigahama, Mai Sakurajima, Kazusa Touma, Saki Kawasaki, Hina Amano, Yukino Yukinoshita, and even Marin Kitagawa - who didn't know the details and looked completely bewildered about why she had been summoned here late at night - had all taken their seats.
Hachishaku-sama, Menma, and Shoko Makinohara were also present in the living room.
There was even Haruno Yukinoshita, meeting Kazusa Touma, Marin Kitagawa, Saki Kawasaki, Hina Amano and others for the first time.
Fortunately, Kazusa Touma lived in a luxurious, large flat apartment; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to accommodate so many people.
"That..."
Sensing the strange atmosphere in the room, Marin Kitagawa cautiously probed with a question.
"May I ask... is there something important happening today?"
For some reason, Marin Kitagawa suddenly felt extremely nervous.
Could it be...
Had the matter of Ye Xing drawing tally marks for her been exposed?
Could it be... this was a criticism meeting targeting her for sneaking around under the guise of participating in cosplay events?
Marin Kitagawa was sweating profusely.
Mai Sakurajima noticed her abnormality and couldn't help but frown slightly, thinking that no matter who among those present felt nervous, you, Marin Kitagawa, should be the last person to feel anxious.
You don't even know that evil spirits exist in this world, so what do you have to be nervous about?
Afraid of earthquakes?
Didn't the earthquake end already? And it wasn't even that big, plus the power has been restored.
Under normal circumstances, Mai Sakurajima wouldn't deliberately probe others' inner thoughts.
But this was a special situation.
As an ordinary person unaware of the truth, if Marin Kitagawa was this nervous now, could it mean that those of them who knew the truth had overlooked certain details?
If the panic in Kyoto hadn't dissipated yet, that would mean Ye Xing, trapped in the Reverse World, might still be facing danger.
Thinking of this, Mai Sakurajima sat down beside Marin Kitagawa and asked gently with a smile.
"Marin, what's wrong? You seem quite nervous?"
Hearing Mai Sakurajima's words, Marin Kitagawa's heart trembled, not even daring to lift her head.
She had only one thought in her mind.
'This is bad.'
Mai Sakurajima's smiling tone, to Marin Kitagawa's ears at this moment, sounded like the legal wife who had caught her husband's mistress.
This was giving her a chance to see if she was willing to tell the truth!
Especially when Marin Kitagawa noticed that the club members, who would normally be doing their own things even when gathered together, were all keeping quiet with their eyes focused on her, this misconception deepened further.
"I... I'm sorry! I..."
Just as Marin Kitagawa was lightly biting her teeth, preparing to confess honestly, Saki Kawasaki finally noticed something was wrong and hurriedly stopped her.
"Hey, hey, it's not what you're thinking, don't say anything yet."
Saki Kawasaki was also sweating profusely.
Not this, sis.
What were you just about to say?
You weren't going to do the same thing I did last time, directly declaring "I like Ye Xing" in front of all the Supernatural Society members again, were you?
Damn.
Marin, you're this brave?
This would be taking on...
Counting Menma and Hachishaku-sama too, you'd be taking on thirteen people at once?'
Saki Kawasaki could only marvel at the audacity.
With this kind of courage, I, Saki Kawasaki, declare you the strongest.
"Let's get to the main matter."
In Ye Xing's absence, Miko Yotsuya had become the temporary Captain of the Supernatural Society.
"Saki, please take Marin to rest first."
Saki Kawasaki nodded and led the bewildered Marin Kitagawa, who still hadn't figured out the situation, away from the living room.
After they left, Miko Yotsuya finally spoke slowly.
"On my way to find members, I slew a high-level evil spirit. What about you, Futaba?"
"Mhm, I killed one too."
"Then, including the Ushikubi-no-Onna, that makes three in total."
Rio Futaba gave a slight nod, then analysed thoughtfully.
"According to the information provided by Chief Yagami, only five power plants were initially destroyed. The remaining plants were damaged later."
"Analysing from this perspective, we can assume the enemy only has five high-level evil spirits fused with human bodies. It's not that they don't want to destroy all power plants simultaneously - they simply can't."
Yui Yuigahama stood up and spoke slowly.
"In that case, after killing three, only two remain."
"We can tentatively assume that."
Miko Yotsuya presented her final decision.
"Futaba, you stay here with the others. Your abilities are more suited for defence. Yui, Mai-senpai and I will split up and search throughout Kyoto for the remaining two evil spirits fused with human bodies, using the Metropolitan Police Department's intelligence channels through Chief Yagami."