Editing Internet Shrine Maiden Tsugumi-chan:Volume1 Chapter6 (section)

===Part 9===

The adults inflicting abuse in the Apartment of Many Deaths were scum.

But the detective didn’t have to throw away his life for them.



The online shrine maiden gritted her teeth and forcibly regulated her breathing.

“!!”

She moved back.

She lit the oil lighter again.

She pulled several bottle rockets from the side of her hakama, aimed them directly at her target, and tossed a bundle of firecrackers like a long throw in baseball. The flames of Konohana-no-Sakuya-Bime spread out across the area.

The light intersected and wove itself together.

“Detective!!!”

Something audibly tore through the air.

The orange lines were unnaturally extinguished.

Hisame Kouga held his palm out toward empty air.

Something unseen and clearly superhuman had shot down the fireworks bombardment.

As if tearing through it.

Hasshaku-sama.

“She can capture and kill people over long distances, isn’t that right!?”

“Tch. Not a good sign if I’m entering your ring.”

That was true.

If relying on the Malign Spirit would let him win, the detective would have just done so in the first place. He could have stayed in hiding and knocked her out with a long-range attack before she even saw him.

But he wasn’t confident in a direct clash between the paranormal, so he had wanted to swiftly end this with the purely physical attacks of his police martial arts. He had even lured her up here where movement was limited to boost his odds as much as possible.

“But are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“?”

“She can capture and kill regardless of distance. …I can’t directly kill you, but this position does let me target those irresponsible apartment residents.”

Tension ran through Tsumugi, but rushing him would be too dangerous.

She couldn’t change the type of battle.

If she brought this back to a grab-or-be-grabbed martial arts battle, she couldn’t defeat him and his mastery of police martial arts.

That had to be what Hisame Kouga wanted her to do.

It had to be.

“Another bluff about a projectile attack? Like with the handgun?”

“''Not this time.''”

There was a wet sound, like a sticky blood bubble bursting.

“I could have done this from the start. Really, the handgun bluff was meant to hide it.”

“Detective!!”

“Also, I didn’t just start preparing it. Do you see Hasshaku-sama there? Her rank is Quadruple Dread Start. Capturing and killing every single one of the apartment’s residents will be a breeze with her.”

Every single one of them. Did that include the mother and child she had saved from the Forbidden Hands?

Fear and impatience clutched at the online shrine maiden’s heart.

Hasshaku-sama was a Malign Spirit, but come to think of it Tsumugi hadn’t looked up her rank before hand, had she!?

“Time’s up.”

“!!!”

The online shrine maiden pulled out all the firecrackers she had left.

She was out of time.

She had to rush in despite the risk.

As Tsumugi ran in with all her might, the detective’s words slipped into her ear.

He was right in front of her.

“''I was bluffing.''”