Please to Kitsune-sama!

Chapter 166 : Kitsune-sama Heads to Toshima (2)

Having descended onto the sea, Inari strode briskly across the waves, her gaze fixed upon Toshima. In her eyes burned a gravity that had not been present even when she had faced a dungeon. The reason for it was disarmingly simple.

“What a concentrated curse… and this is only from the leakage. No, the very fact it is leaking at all is dangerous. What could possibly cause something like this?”

Indeed, Inari had worried about the possibility of “urban legends” from the Saitama Dungeon No. 4 escaping into the world. Yet she had never imagined a situation this grave. Plainly put, this exceeded her expectations.

“It’s as though one of the slopes leading into Yomi itself were beckoning mortals to their doom… No, I mustn’t compare it. That place here is nothing but a heretical land born of fiends.”

Inari had seen her share of dungeons. Yet the Saitama Dungeon No. 4—the “urban legends”—was in a class of its own, a host of demons that should never be allowed outside. Creatures crafted to kill, to terrify. And now, they had carved out territory and were luring humans within.

That could not be forgiven. That must not be allowed. Even the statues she had encountered in Itou had at least shown some flexibility, some recognition of value in human society. Whether forgivable or not, they acknowledged humans in some way. At least, that was how it had seemed to Inari.

But urban legends were different. They killed. They devoured. They were curses incarnate, and their reach was long indeed. That was why it had to be dealt with now.

“Come then. I shall cleanse every last one of you.”

Drawing Kogetsu, Inari advanced. Nearing the shoreline, the scent of the wind shifted—from the ordinary salt of the sea to a reek tinged with blood and rot. The sky grew dimmer, painted by a sunset in which an oddly large sun hung, nostalgic and yet unnerving.

As Inari reached the shallows and stepped onto the beach, her Awakener Phone chimed. The caller displayed was… Takui.

“…Hello?”

“Ah, Kogami-chan!? Emergency! I’m heading to the other side of the island—meet me at the station!”

“Begone, wraith. Did you think such a trick could deceive me?”

She addressed the caller—who only Takui himself could have been—before silence fell. Then came laughter, uncontrollable and revolting.

“HoW diD yOu KnOw—?”

The line cut. Inari eyed her Awakener Phone with a hum. She recalled the device had been advertised as working even inside dungeons like a transceiver. But if monsters could mimic communications like this, its reliability was near zero.

“How troublesome… and yet…”

Her gaze fell upon a helicopter sitting on the sand. It looked identical to the one she had flown in earlier, but this one must have belonged to the first reconnaissance team.

She approached cautiously. There was no sign of life within—no pilot. Likely they had gone elsewhere, for leaving someone behind alone in these circumstances would serve no purpose.

“I must seek survivors. And since the possibility of ‘real contact’ exists, I cannot simply power it off.”

The transceiver mode allowed for direct calls or wide-area broadcasts.

“…And there it is.”

The display read “Wide-Area Broadcast.” Inari tapped to listen.

“This is Yatabe! Survivors of the reconnaissance team, gather in the station office! I repeat—survivors of the reconnaissance team, gather in the station office!”

“….”

She ended the call in silence, then exhaled a deep sigh. Unlike the earlier false Takui, this one was indistinguishable. She had been able to dismiss the first because Takui could not possibly have known the island’s situation while supposedly en route from the opposite side. But this message… could be real, or fake. The phone gave no way to tell.

“If it’s false… then they want me at the station. A trap set so they can kill me without even gauging my strength. Something like that must be waiting there.”

“If it’s true… then whoever can hijack the Awakener Phone is a dire threat, and the survivors are likely in grave danger.”

After a moment of thought, Inari let out a resigned breath.

“Then I must find this station. Though I hardly know what a real one looks like.”

She had seen such things on television, long ago. Still, if this place mirrored the Saitama Dungeon No. 4, there would surely be guide maps. Leaving the beach, she stepped into the town—and soon enough, found one.

“Kisaragi Town… the same name, eh. Though the layout seems different.”

The station’s location was marked clearly. Fortunately, it did not seem far from where she stood.