Miko responded with her usual polite caution.

  However, Yuria stepped closer, her voice dropping to a serious whisper. "Miko, I've been watching you for a while now. I've realized something... You're like me. You're on our side of the fence."

  "What?"

  "You can see them, can't you?" Yuria stared intensely at her. "I've been tracking your movements. Even though you act like you can't see the spirits, I've noticed the cracks in your act. Don't worry, I get it. I know why you pretend. I understand your fear because I'm exactly the same. We're comrades."

  A complex shadow crossed Yuria's face as she spoke.

  She had possessed the ability to see spirits since she was a child, but it was a gift that the "normal" world refused to acknowledge. Her peers had always treated her like an outcast, leading her into a life of isotion.

  That was why, when she realized Miko shared her "Sight," she sought her out immediately. She was desperate for the validation of an equal.

  "Rex, you don't have to hide your power in front of me," Yuria said with a small, rare smile. "Come on, let's find somewhere quiet to talk."

  "Well, about that..."

  For a split second, Miko felt a pang of relief. Up until now, Haruki Aizawa was the only person who knew her secret. It was a heavy burden to carry alone. Having a girl her own age who understood her plight sounded like a dream.

  But Miko couldn't admit to anything. Not right now.

  Because standing directly between her and Yuria was an absolute nightmare. It was a gargantuan entity, a mountain of a spirit with a terrifying, infant-like face and hundreds of pale, squirming arms. It loomed over them, its presence suffocating.

  The creature let out a low, wet gurgle, muttering over and over: "Can you see me? Can you see me...?"

  Miko realized something chilling: Yuria couldn't see it. There was a hierarchy to their "Sight." Yuria could see common ghosts, but her spiritual frequency wasn't high enough to perceive a high-level disaster-css spirit like this one.

  With the monster's face inches from hers, Miko didn't dare breathe a word about the supernatural. She pyed dumb. "I... I really don't know what you're talking about. I'm busy, I have to go."

  "Wait!" Seeing Miko try to walk away, Yuria chased after her. "Enough of this! I know you can see them! Are you looking down on me or something?!"

  "No, I'm not..."

  Miko was on the verge of tears. The spirit had heard them. Its eyes narrowed as it began to suspect they were both "seers." It leaned in closer, its massive shadow engulfing them both. If it confirmed they could see it, they were dead.

  "Yuria, stop it!" Miko hissed. "There's no such thing as ghosts. Let's just go."

  "Don't underestimate my power!" Yuria snapped, her pride wounded. "I have special abilities! I even have these spirit-warding beads I got from the Godmother!"

  "Godmother? The beads?"

  Miko remembered the old fortune-teller in the shopping district, Mitsue Takeda. Was Yuria connected to her?

  Before Miko could react, Yuria held her prayer beads high, shouting, "Begone, foul things that do not belong in this world! Purify!"

  A faint flicker of spiritual energy pulsed from the beads. It struck the massive spirit, but the energy was so weak it simply bounced off the monster's hide.

  Snap!

  The string broke, and the beads scattered across the pavement like gss. Yuria froze, staring at her ruined charm in shock.

  The spirit, provoked by the pathetic attack, let out a deafening, bone-chilling roar. It shrieked, "YOU CAN SEE ME! YOU BOTH CAN SEE ME! AAAARRRGH!"

  The monster lunged, its hundreds of arms reaching for Yuria.

  "Yuria, look out!"

  Miko couldn't just stand there. She threw herself forward, shoving Yuria out of the way. The spirit's massive fist smmed into the concrete where the girl had been standing a second before.

  "YOU CAN SEE ME TOO! YOU BOTH CAN SEE ME!!!"

  In an instant, the monster's focus shifted to both of them. They were both targets now.

  "This is bad... this is so bad!" Miko sobbed.

  Yuria finally sensed something. Even if she couldn't see the full form, the sheer pressure of the killing intent was like an icy shroud wrapping around her soul. The terror was beyond anything she had ever imagined. Her legs gave out, and her composure shattered into pure, unadulterated despair.

  She had always wanted to be a powerful medium. She wanted to be the "chosen one" who eliminated the darkness. She thought her gift made her special, better than the "average" people.

  But at this moment, she realized her "gift" wasn't a blessing. It was a curse. Faced with a true predator from the abyss, she was nothing but a helpless insect.

  "D-Don't... stay away..." Yuria whimpered, watching the encroaching darkness.

  However, Miko, standing beside her, suddenly went quiet. Her trembling stopped.

  Across the street, a figure was approaching with the speed of a gale. A man with a long bde strapped to his back was closing the distance in a blur of motion.

  The moment Miko saw him, the terror vanished, repced by a sense of absolute security.

  To be honest, Haruki Aizawa didn't realize the gravity of the situation immediately.

  His current "Ghost-God" perception allowed him to see common spirits, but these high-level, ancient entities were still somewhat blurred to his physical eyes. His Sense of Fluctuation didn't reflect the "dead" very well either.

  It wasn't until the monster attacked that the surge of "Ghostly Qi" became so pungent he couldn't ignore it.

  Since he couldn't see the exact center of the spirit, he used Miko's terrified gaze as a crosshair. But he quickly realized he didn't need to be precise. The spirit was so massive it was practically overpping with Yuria.

  Haruki didn't hesitate. He reached back, his hand gripping the hilt of the Kanesada. In one fluid motion, he drew the bde and condensed his energy into a single, devastating strike.

  "Ghost Ssh!"

  A crescent of pitch-bck energy tore through the air.

  With a single blow, Haruki cleaved through the center of the massive entity. The spirit didn't even have time to scream before it was vaporized.

  The mountain of dark energy didn't just vanish; it swirled into a vortex, rushing toward Haruki's right arm. He felt the cold, familiar sting as the energy merged with his own, making the dark aura around his limb even more oppressive.

  His vision sharpened. The ghostly world became clearer, more vivid. His power had stepped up another level.

  "Haruki!" Miko cried out.

  Seeing the monster gone, she nearly colpsed from the rush of relief. But her expression quickly turned complicated.

  Beside her, Yuria Niguredo had fainted. The sheer psychological trauma of the encounter had been too much for her to handle.

  Yuria's eyes fluttered open.

  When she came to, she found herself sitting on a park bench. The memories of what happened before she bcked out weren't a blur—if anything, the fear of death had sharpened them. She could still see the distorted outline of the monster that had almost ended her life.

  She realized then that Miko Yotsuya was on a completely different level. Miko could see things that Yuria couldn't even fathom. Her sense of rivalry was gone, repced by a deep sense of defeat.

  But more than that, she remembered the man. She remembered the fsh of the bde that had cut through the impossible.

  She sat up quickly and saw two people standing nearby. One was Miko. The other was a bck-haired young man who looked exactly like the hero from her fading vision.

  "Um... excuse me! What... what is your name?!" Yuria stammered, scrambling to her feet.

  "I'm Haruki Aizawa," he replied calmly. He thought she looked a bit shell-shocked—maybe the ghost had scrambled her brains a bit—but he answered nonetheless.

  Yuria's eyes sparkled with frantic intensity. "Aizawa-sama! My name is Yuria Niguredo. Please... please take me as your disciple!"

  "???"

  Both Haruki and Miko froze. They certainly hadn't expected that.

  Haruki looked Yuria up and down. She was tiny, with thin arms and a fragile frame. He doubted she could even lift a real sword, let alone swing one with the force required for his style.

  "I don't think you're cut out to be my student," he said bluntly, though not unkindly.

  "I'll work hard! I'll do anything!" Yuria persisted.

  Haruki thought for a moment and then looked at Miko. "If you want a teacher, ask Miko. Instead of learning the sword, you'd be better off learning how to actually use that spiritual energy of yours."

  "Huh?"

  Both girls stared at him in disbelief. Miko especially was panicking—she didn't know the first thing about "using" spiritual energy; she just spent her life trying to ignore it!

  But Yuria, after a moment of hesitation, took it as a challenge. She figured this was Haruki's way of testing her. Only by proving herself to Miko could she earn the right to be recognized by a master like him. She turned toward Miko, her eyes burning with a fiery resolve to overcome any "trial" her new "senior" gave her.

  Miko felt a massive headache coming on.

  After dumping the "troublesome kid" on Miko, Haruki left immediately.

  Killing that high-level spirit had pushed his Ghost-God power to a boiling point. He needed to meditate and stabilize the new influx of energy.

  As he focused on merging the spirit's essence, his right arm began to throb and twitch. A dark, grey-bck mist swirled around his skin, and strange, glowing purple veins began to crawl up his forearm like a cursed tattoo.

  Haruki didn't panic. He could feel the raw power surging in his limb, but he could also feel his own will firmly suppressing it.

  However, he knew that if this power continued to grow, he might eventually lose control. He needed a way to seal or regute it—something like the techniques the old woman, Mitsue Takeda, had used to suppress spirits.

  He needed to master not just the bde, but the ghost within it.

  ***********************************************

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