kscans

Chapter 187 - The Beginning of the Long Night

"Whoa! Sacchan, a witch!? That's awesome, totally awesome!"

"You look very beautiful."

"Wow... Sakuya-san, it really suits you."

"Haha, thanks. All of your costumes are wonderful too."

It was six in the evening. The kids had gathered at the Mutual Aid Society facility they regularly used. The place was more crowded than usual, and with everyone in costume, the scene looked nothing like a facility for the Supernatural World.

"...Man, at this rate, I probably should've prepared something of my own," Hikaru muttered. His costume was that of a vampire, but it only consisted of a black cape and a pair of fake fangs. He was wearing it over his casual clothes to look the part, but compared to Sakuya's outfit, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was a lazy effort.

"The guys' lack of effort is just incredible. Are you only motivated by your ulterior motives? That's the level we're talking about here."

"W, well, the performance seems to be on par, so..."

"If the performance was bad too, there'd be no saving you."

It was a perfectly valid comeback.

"I was feeling a little festive, so I prepared one... but our clothes could get dirty or torn in a rough fight."

"Hmm... I guess you're right."

Hikaru, a man of thrift, was easily convinced.

"Ah, it looks like registration is starting."

"We've got to get in line!"

The registration for the Halloween subjugation event's quests had begun, and the kids joined the queue. With it being a prime time to earn money, everyone had a greedy glint in their eyes, which in turn fired up the kids' own fighting spirit.

"Everyone, are your phone batteries okay?"

"All charged up!"

"I brought a portable charger too."

"I have a spare battery."

When they had registered for the event beforehand, the Mutual Aid Society had told them to download a special Halloween-only app. They were to use that app to grasp the current location, danger level, and rewards for the Aberrations that would appear one after another, and then subjugate them.

"Wait, won't this turn into a race? I'd hate to get to the location only to find it's already been defeated."

"It seems that once a quest is accepted, it disappears from the list."

"And it looks like kill-stealing is impossible. If you defeat one without accepting the quest, the reward goes to the person who took it."

"Rika-san. You really should read the instructions properly..."

"Hey, I'm the type who uses electronics and stuff by feel."

As she was making excuses that were not excuses at all, their turn came. Since they had pre-registered, the process went smoothly, but...

"What's with this badge?"

The receptionist handed them a badge shaped like a jack-o'-lantern. Rika looked at the other three, wondering if there had been any mention of receiving something like this, but they also shook their heads.

"It seems some kind of spell has been carved into it, but what could it be...?"

"It's like... a proof of participation for this large-scale subjugation event. It's important, so please be careful not to lose it, okay?"

They felt something was off, but it seemed there would be no further explanation. With a line forming behind them, the kids quickly left the queue.

"What should we do with this?"

"Can't we just stick it somewhere random?"

"..."

"Sakuya-san? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no... I just remembered that Hero Uncle was giving off a strange, unsettling vibe before we left."

"..."

A brief silence fell.

"No use thinking about it, so let's just ignore this matter for now."

"Rika-chan, I think that ability of yours to switch gears so fast is amazing."

"Well, Rika-san is right. For now, let's focus on the quest in front of us."

"Y, you're right... Sorry for saying something weird."

As they were talking, the time finally came. The moment the clock's hands pointed to seven, quests began to trickle onto their phones. The barrier that suppressed demonic forces, deployed in various locations only on days when a massive outbreak was predicted, had begun to weaken.

"How about this one?"

"It's far, but... today they have that, what's it called..."

"The teleportation portals set up by the Mutual Aid Society are open for free use, so it's all right."

"Right, that's it!"

"Then I'll use teleportation magic."

The first quest was the excision of a small-scale alternate realm that had just formed. The target was a queen-class Aberration, but they judged it would be fine based on the listed danger level.

"...This looks fun."

"Yes. Let's finish this quickly so we can protect this atmosphere."

The town they teleported to was also alive with a festive Halloween mood. There were people in costume here and there, so the four of them didn't seem out of place as they headed to the point of origin and plunged into the alternate realm. The moment they entered, an Aberration lunged at them, but they were used to this. Hikaru drew his high-frequency blade and cut it down in a flash.

"We have a long night ahead, so let's conserve our strength as much as possible."

"""Roger."""

They fought their way through the swarming small fry, heading for the deepest part of the alternate realm. Perhaps because it had just formed, it hadn't fully expanded, and they reached their destination in about ten minutes. The master of the realm was a giant spider. As soon as it spotted Hikaru and the others, the great spider spewed a massive amount of silk to capture its prey. But this was not enough to faze them. Sakuya and Rika burned away the threads with flames.

"My instant death ability... it doesn't look like it will work directly on this one."

Chaki, Sarna readied her great scythe as Hikaru nodded.

"Sakuya-san, please provide support. We'll be the attackers."

"Understood."

"It looks pretty tough... but it's the type with an exoskeleton, so we should be able to get it if we aim for the joints," Rika murmured, cloaking her right hand in a blade of wind.

"Here it comes!"

They couldn't capture it unless they weakened it first. The spider, having reached this conclusion, attacked at almost the same instant Sakuya, who had retreated to the rear, cast enhancement magic on everyone. Nimbly dodging the massive charging body, the three of them split up and began their assault. They separated to prevent the spider from focusing on a single target.

"A regeneration ability!?"

The flesh where they had slashed swelled up, and the wounds repaired themselves in an instant.

"Sarna-chan!"

Hikaru blocked an attack and shouted. Sarna gave a small nod and imbued the tip of her scythe with the authority of death. It was a technique taught to her by Satou, one used by her father, Hades.

"Hyaah!"

The authority-infused blade tore through flesh. Just like before, the flesh began to swell, but with a dry pop, it burst. It seemed the spider lacked the power to do anything about a wound that had been killed.

"If that's the case, then me too!"

Rika was a being known as a Star Priestess. Born from absorbing the power of the Earth, a Star Priestess has an extraordinarily high affinity for nature. This makes them skilled in arts that manipulate nature... but nature is not limited to just wind and fire. The poisons that exist in the natural world are also one of the powers a priestess can command. She imbued her wind blade with countless toxins and slashed. It wasn't enough to completely negate the regeneration, but it was clearly slowing down. The spider was likely diverting resources not just to heal its wounds, but also to expel the toxins.

"Don't let up! We'll crush it in one fell swoop!"

And so, after about ten minutes, the great spider fell. The kids had suffered no major injuries, and their stamina was not significantly drained. It could be called a complete victory.

"Phew... Let's take a short break, then move on to the next one."

"""Roger."""

The night had only just begun.