Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest

"I don't want to have to get serious against mere humans."

Arame Koushi's voice pierced through the roaring downpour, reaching Souichirou's ears. The scar he had inflicted on her cheek remained stubbornly intact, unmoving and unhealed.

A slow stream of black smoke trickled from the wound, but it was faint. It was clear that to finish her off quickly, he would need to deepen the wound or inflict more of them.

"Letting your guard down and being exorcised would be the height of stupidity, wouldn't it? What was the phrase for this sort of thing again?"

The rain intensified, its weight bearing down harder. The magical ceiling Souichirou had constructed above him to shield against the rain creaked under the pressure.

"Ah, yes—

a lion attacking a rabbit.

"

The surrounding forest looked as though it had been riddled with bullets. Trees full of gaping holes now resembled something out of a children's storybook—a giant, grotesque block of cheese.

Despite the surreal scene, Souichirou pushed aside the concern bubbling in his mind for the children. His instincts told him to trust his reasoning.

The monster before him was intelligent—intelligent enough to consider taking the children hostage. And she had already attempted to descend the mountain to do just that. However, this

heavy rain

had yet to harm the children, either because they were out of its range or because it wasn't meant to hurt them.

Arame Koushi's objective was clear: to reach the

Sanctuary.

The children were merely tools—a means to an end. If she harmed or killed them in this rain, they would lose their value as hostages. Someone as cunning as she wouldn't make such a mistake.

"Farewell, then," she said suddenly, switching her umbrella to her left hand.

Her now-free right hand clenched tightly, as though gripping something invisible. Then, she opened her palm, releasing whatever she had held.

"...!"

—Kyuudooonnnn!

The sound of compressed air rupturing echoed loudly.

Relying on pure instinct, Souichirou twisted his body and leapt out of the way just in time.

Arame Koushi had fired a projectile—a high-speed bullet of water that pierced the air with precision. Unhindered by the downpour, it tore through the space where Souichirou had stood just moments before.

While he managed to avoid a direct hit, the shockwave from the projectile was inescapable. Blood sprayed from his side, splattering the ground in vivid crimson.

Rolling across the earth, he found refuge beyond the range of the deadly rain. Bloodied and battered, Souichirou instinctively reformed his magical ceiling, shielding himself once more.

"My, my, you managed to dodge," Arame Koushi mused, her voice faint as though muffled by an invisible barrier.

Meanwhile, a sharp ringing filled Souichirou's right ear. No other sound reached it.

When he tried to stand, dizziness washed over him—a disorienting, drunken sensation that robbed him of balance. Nausea surged from deep within his chest.

Gritting his teeth, Souichirou extended a

Silveit

thread to his right ear. Using healing magic, he began repairing his damaged eardrum and inner ear.

Even as he worked to heal himself, Arame Koushi clenched her right hand once again.

"...So that magic requires charging," Souichirou muttered.

His dizziness began to subside, and sound slowly returned to his ears. He just needed a few more seconds.

His casual remark wasn't meant to provoke, but Arame Koushi indulged him nonetheless.

"Indeed, it does," she admitted with a smirk.

"...And you're willing to expose that?"

"Oh, but knowing that won't make any difference—you can't evade it," she said, her voice dripping with confidence.

As she opened her hand again, releasing another shot, Souichirou moved first. A

Silveit

thread wrapped tightly around his remaining functional eye, altering his perception with

Shaping.

Time itself seemed to slow. Raindrops, once too fast to follow, now hung suspended in midair, their descent sluggish and deliberate. The world around him decelerated, and within that slowed reality, two things moved clearly.

One was the water bullet, a deadly projectile that distorted the air around it with sonic booms.

The other was Souichirou's right arm, encased in

Silveit

and holding a katana.

Angling the blade slightly, he positioned its edge against the bullet's trajectory. As the projectile neared, he extended more

Silveit

to the sword's tip, solidifying it further.

Inhale. Exhale.

The water bullet made contact with the katana's edge.

Despite being fired with incredible force, the projectile was, ultimately, water.

Naturally, it split into two.

The immense impact transferred to Souichirou's arm, but he endured it with the aid of

Body Reinforcement.

By splitting his magic into only two threads, Souichirou maximized their power—an efficient tactic for a Fifth-Ranked exorcist. The divided water bullets veered in a Y-shaped path, passing on either side of him.

Yet, the slight tilt of his blade created a subtle difference in their trajectories. The two streams collided behind him, canceling out their respective shockwaves.

Not all the force was neutralized, of course, but the resulting damage was significantly reduced.

Souichirou accepted the inevitable injuries and advanced once more.

"Haah!"

He surged forward, blade in hand. For the first time, Arame Koushi's expression betrayed genuine shock.

"...Are you truly human?"

No matter how many battles she had fought, Arame Koushi had never encountered a human capable of cutting through her projectiles—and neutralizing their aftereffects.

As this monster of a man tore through the torrential rain to close the gap, Arame Koushi recoiled visibly.

"Of course. I'm human," Souichirou replied coldly.

With that, he swung his katana.

Arame Koushi leapt gracefully into the air, her Gothic Lolita dress billowing like a flower in full bloom.

"…A demon, indeed," she muttered, her voice tinged with unease.

As she ascended, the heavy rain ceased abruptly, replaced by swirling winds. The tempest spiraled toward her, coalescing into a dense mass of destructive energy in her hands.

This was the same violent storm that had obliterated the blacksmith's hut—a weapon of raw, unrelenting force.

"I've learned my lesson. Facing you directly is too dangerous. But this is the end."

Convinced that Souichirou's abilities would be limited at long range, Arame Koushi prepared to unleash her tempest. But as she readied the strike, three sharp rock projectiles erupted from the ground below, hurtling toward her.

Two of the rocks were consumed by the swirling winds she had summoned, but the third pierced through, impaling her right leg.

"...What?" she gasped.

A far stronger ranged attack than she'd anticipated. As she hastily cast a healing spell on her injured leg, another barrage of stone spears shot toward her, forcing her to abandon her assault.

Desperate, she redirected her winds to swat the projectiles away, narrowly avoiding the rest.

Forced to the ground, she shifted her strategy, aiming to maintain a mid-range assault with water blasts instead.

However, as she landed, her eyes locked onto Souichirou—and the two adults standing behind him.

The female exorcist snapped her fingers, and from the ground beneath Arame Koushi, countless black shadows surged forth. Grasping at her body, they began pulling her down into their depths.

"Your leg hurts, doesn't it?" the male exorcist behind Souichirou taunted, a sly smile on his face.

In that instant, Arame Koushi understood: reinforcements had arrived.

"Teleportation magic…" she muttered.

"More like a switch—a little

castling

," the woman corrected with a grin.

The shadows dragged Arame Koushi deeper as another rock spear pierced her right shoulder, shattering her scapula and rendering her right arm useless.

"Three against one, is it?" she remarked with a faint smile.

Even as her body was swallowed by darkness, she extended her

Silveit

threads.

"If it's a numbers game, then I won't lose."

Her vision turned black as countless monsters of her creation surged forth like a tidal wave, overwhelming the battlefield.