Chapter 8: The Times Have Changed

Three drifting low-level evil spirits on the soccer field immediately charged toward Hikigaya Hachiman and Yotsuya Miko without any hesitation. After generously donating a triple kill and 150 spirit coins to Hachiman Hikigaya, they bid farewell to this world. "Now only three evil spirits remain..." As the system notification echoed in his mind, Hachiman Hikigaya looked at the two red dots on the map and fell into thought. The system doesn't provide real-time location tracking of the evil spirits—otherwise, he wouldn't have been successfully ambushed by the spider spirit earlier. From the known information so far, low-level spirits in the instance only linger in fixed spots, while higher-level ones can roam freely. Some of the more intelligent ones can even choose to ambush their targets! "That means the remaining two mid-level spirits are probably no longer where they initially were..." Rubbing his temples, Hachiman spoke with a troubled tone. Despite the high chance that the mid-level spirits had moved, Hikigaya Hachiman decided to take Yotsuya Miko to the red dot marked location anyway. After all, having a target was much safer than aimlessly wandering around the school. What if the spirit hadn't left? Hachiman's first chosen target was the Kendo Clubroom, which was closest to the sports field. On the way there, the two cautiously stayed alert for any possible ambushes from evil spirits and eventually arrived safely at the wooden sliding door of the Kendo Clubroom. The paper-covered wooden door had long decayed. The moment Hachiman touched it, it creaked loudly and started falling inward toward the dojo. Luckily, he reacted quickly and caught the door in time, preventing their presence from being exposed. "Wait..." Just as Hachiman had finished dealing with the door and was about to enter the dojo, Miko Yotsuya suddenly reached out to stop him. His right foot hovered above the tatami. He retracted it and turned his head in confusion to look at Miko. "The floor..." Miko softly pointed toward the tatami mats inside the dojo. "The floor?" At her words, Hachiman looked down. The tatami floor was completely covered in some kind of viscous liquid. He sniffed cautiously, and a choking odor suddenly wafted out of the room. "Gasoline?!" He immediately covered his nose and pulled Miko Yotsuya away from the Kendo Clubroom. Why was there gasoline inside the dojo? Once they had moved to a safe distance, Hachiman stared at the wooden building in shock. Thump thump thump... At that moment, footsteps suddenly echoed from within the dojo. An evil spirit clad in ancient samurai armor walked out of the building. Accompanying it was the same gasoline Hachiman had just seen. The gasoline seemed almost alive, slithering along the ground toward them. The liquid flowed faster than they could retreat. Just as Hachiman prepared to lead Miko away, they were already surrounded in a central clearing by the gasoline. "What do we do now?" Miko didn't dare step into the moving gasoline and instinctively looked at Hachiman, hoping he would come up with a plan. "There's no choice but to fight..." Sighing, Hachiman raised his Demon-Slaying Blade in front of him and prepared for battle. Seeing Hachiman assume a combat stance, the samurai ghost raised its arm. The surrounding gasoline-like liquid retreated, forming a large circular clearing for the three of them. "Stay back a little." After warning Miko, Hachiman charged forward with his sword raised. The samurai ghost didn't immediately draw its katana. Instead, it crouched down into a forward-leaning stance. Clang! A sharp metallic clash echoed through the still night air. With Miko's startled cry in the background, Hachiman slowly stepped back to where he had been standing before. His school uniform was slashed open at the chest, with bright red blood flowing out of the wound. "Are you okay?!" Seeing the blood dripping onto the floor, Miko panicked. She wanted to rush over and bandage him, but Hachiman shouted, "Don't come over!" Stopping Miko in her tracks, he turned back to face the samurai ghost, his expression grave. This time, he'd encountered a tough opponent! On the other side, the ghostly samurai slowly stood up and casually flicked his katana, splattering the blood onto the ground. After cleaning the blade, the samurai lifted his head and looked at Hachiman with an expression that seemed to mock him. This guy doesn't even know swordsmanship and dares challenge me? "Spirit Flow Technique!" Using spiritual energy to temporarily seal the wound, Hachiman didn't hesitate and cast a spell. From that brief clash earlier, he had already realized that he was no match for the samurai in melee combat. His best option was long-range magic attacks. A surge of spiritual energy gathered in his hands and transformed into a stream of energy that shot toward the ghost. Faced with the powerful blast, the samurai ghost dared not be careless. He raised his katana and split the stream in two with a single strike. But just then, Hachiman had already launched a second Spirit Flow. The samurai had barely dealt with the first one when the second was already upon him. The massive spiritual force hit him head-on, sending him flying. "@#¥!#%!" The samurai ghost made incomprehensible noises from his throat. He got back up and stared at Hachiman. "Once more!" With only 57 spirit energy left, Hachiman didn't hesitate to summon a third Spirit Flow and hurled it at the samurai. But the seemingly inevitable strike was dodged by the ghost with a sudden roll. "What?!" Hachiman stared in disbelief as the third blast missed entirely. Didn't he take the full hit from the second spell just now? How is he still this agile?! But it wasn't over yet. As Hachiman froze in disbelief from the missed attack, the ghostly samurai rolled to his feet and reached behind his back. Under Hachiman's utterly dumbfounded gaze, the samurai spirit pulled out a matchlock musket and aimed it at him. Hachiman Hikigaya: ???!!! Samurai Ghost: Youngster, the times have changed!