Chapter 339: Tamamo no Mae?
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
Well, regardless of the actual defensive prowess, Seiji gave this effect full points for looks.
"We need to go over here in order to test defensive magic."
Natsuya took Seiji to another section of the practice field and indicated for him to stand in front of a machine that resembled a cannon, with him facing the "cannon's mouth."
'Come, fire at me!' Seiji couldn't help but think of this classic line.
Natsuya manipulated the "cannon's" controls and activated it. The "cannon's mouth" began to glow.
'No way, it's really going to fire at me?' Seiji felt the sudden urge to dodge the attack.
But this was a test… a test of his defensive spell's capabilities, which meant that he had to take this attack.
"Ready to fire. Three, two, one."
*Boom!*
A bullet of light shot out from the cannon's mouth and hit Seiji's barrier.
Right at the moment of impact, all the "water" gathered in front of the projectile and blocked the bullet of light.
The bullet of light's true identity was actually that of a baseball.
This baseball, engulfed by the "water," was left floating in midair. It rapidly corroded and turned a burnt-yellow color. Finally, it crumbled into tiny pieces and fell to the ground.
His barrier had the same effect as [Mana Bullet].
"This corrosion effect is so strong; just what power could it be?" Natsuya muttered to herself.
She had already inspected the spell with her own Astral Vision. Seiji's current spirit seemed like a mid-low-level spirit—one slightly less powerful than Minamoto no Raiko.
However, the powerful corrosion effect the spirit added to Seiji's spells had greatly exceeded her expectations.
She didn't know the limits of this corrosion power, but based on the results of the tests, it was definitely incredible.
Although Natsuya was confident of her abilities, she knew that her Astral Vision wasn't powerful enough to see through everything. Due to this, occasional mistakes in judgment were unavoidable.
With such a powerful effect, the new spirit's actual level should be much stronger than what she had estimated!
Taking this corrosion power into consideration, this spirit's overall power level was probably even higher than Minamoto no Raiko's.
'Perhaps… it's a high-ranked spirit...'
Even if it wasn't a high-ranked spirit, this corrosion power alone was astonishing.
This mysterious female spirit was actually even stronger than the heroic spirit Minamoto no Raiko… just who could she be?
Natsuya thought of several possibilities. After some consideration, she felt that the most likely one was Tamamo no Mae—one of the three strongest and evilest demons in existence.
Tamamo no Mae was a white-faced nine-tailed fox with golden fur. In the past, she transformed into a woman whose beauty could move countries and became a royal consort.
Although she was a great demon, she possessed a few qualities of a heroic spirit.
After being exorcised, she repented partially and transformed into the "Killing Stone," which possessed the power to slay anything which touched it.
Only the part about loving to sleep was missing from Tamamo no Mae's legend.
However, demonic spirits' forms were uncertain, and there were multiple versions of the same demon, each one with a different personality. One particular Tamamo no Mae who loved to sleep seemed perfectly within reason.
The real question was this: Tamamo no Mae's poison was supposed to only affect living creatures. It was meant to have little effect on non-living objects. Her power didn't seem to entirely fit with the corrosive power that they had witnessed.
Even if that corrosion was related to Tamamo no Mae's poison, the computer had information on that already and should have been able to analyze it. However, the computer was unable to complete an analysis.
Not only that, according to legends, Tamamo no Mae was exorcised by Seiji's ancestor Seimei Kamijou. There was a deep connection between Seiji's bloodline and Tamamo no Mae, but it was one of enmity, not friendship, like Minamoto no Raiko. Would she really descend upon Seimei Kamijou's descendant, Seiji Haruta?
Natsuya was uncertain about everything.
There were numerous parts that didn't match up, and there was no way for her to currently confirm if this mysterious female spirit was Tamamo no Mae or not. It was just the most likely possibility Natsuya had in mind.
They continued testing Seiji's abilities. Next, Seiji cast [Astral Vision] and [Telekinesis].
Under the effects of his bonded spirit's power, Seiji's eyes turned golden when he cast [Astral Vision], and his field of vision became clearer. He was also granted a 360-degree view! He could everything behind him clearly without needing to turn his head.
Basically, his [Beginner-level Astral Vision] had leveled up to [Total Vision]. His upgraded sight was rather strange to Seiji, and it took quite a while before he got used to it.
As for his [Telekinesis]'s evolution, it transformed into a large golden hand!
The large golden hand didn't have the corrosion effect. It could grab objects, form a fist and attack, or even act as a shield. It was quite flexible in its applications.
Finally, he tested the [Body-Strengthening Technique].
After mentally preparing, Seiji cast the [Body-Strengthening Technique] using the power of his bonded spirit.
Then, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. His entire body was enveloped by a golden mist, and golden runes had appeared on his skin. His hair shone with a golden luster as well, making him seem like a blonde god with a long, carefree hairstyle…
Was it merely on the level of a golden glow? No, he was basically a Super Saiyan!
Seiji was astonished to see his reflection in the mirror. This appearance felt too much like a Super Saiyan to him!
Not to mention he now had the evolved form of [Mana Bullet], so he really felt like he could imitate the attacks from the show!!
After he thought of this idea, Seiji had the impulse to try it out. He even considered requesting the president to take a picture of him... In the end, he decided against it, as it would be too embarrassing, even for him.
He smiled at his reflection in the mirror.
Back in his previous world, when he was watching Dragonball Z, his younger self had dreamed numerous times about transforming into a Super Saiyan. His younger self had also posed in front of the mirror before, acting like a Super Saiyan and copying the show's attacks.
Previously when he was battling Okubo Yoshiaki in the soul realm, he had also transformed into a Super Saiyan to finish Okubo off.
But this was reality, not the soul realm… he never expected that his younger self's dream would be fulfilled in such a fashion in real life!
Seiji laughed because of how awesome he felt this was.
Natsuya, who was observing him from the side, found it rather strange that he was laughing.
She couldn't help but recall the way he smiled when she helped him practice his [Body-Strengthening Technique] at school, right before the duel with Okubo Yoshiaki.
At that time, his smile was similarly bright and sunny... and also childish. Back then, she was moved by his smile… and the same could be said now.
She wanted to know why he was smiling like that. And so, she asked.
Seiji wanted to answer with the truth, but there was no anime called Dragonball Z in this world, so he felt that it was difficult to come up with an explanation.
He decided to respond by saying, "Because I look so cool!"
This was a rather narcissistic answer for sure, but his tone was sincere and direct, without sounding arrogant at all.
"You do look really cool."
Natsuya honestly believed this in her heart.
This was the first boy she had ever met that had the ability to praise himself like that while also making others agree with him. She smiled as she continued to watch him.
Seiji proceeded with the test in this fashion. In the end, he discovered that not only had his strength, speed, and dexterity greatly increased, when he used a certain amount of force, his attacks would cause a corrosive effect.
That finished the test for all of Seiji's evolved spells.
"In summary, the most important part is doubtlessly that mysterious corrosion power," Natsuya said. "This power is quite strong and has immense destructive ability against both people and objects. You need to be careful when using it."
Seiji nodded in understanding.
If his evolved version of [Mana Bullet] hit any living person... the result would likely be blurred out in an anime.
What exactly was this power? And who was the female spirit that wielded this power?
Seiji tried once more to rouse her, but there was still no response.
Natsuya told him about her guess at the spirit's identity.
Tamamo no Mae… the best wife, Tama-chan?
Seiji recalled a game from his previous life based on a five-star mage with large breasts. As an unlucky person himself, he had paid money on multiple occasions in that cell phone game before he was able to summon her, so that he could lick her… whoops, appreciate and use her on his team.
Although it was currently uncertain, even if she wasn't Tamamo no Mae, she was a powerful spirit. Could it be that all his misfortune in his previous life had transformed into fortune in this one? Last time he got Light-chan, and this time he got someone who seemed like she was Tama-chan; this seemed quite lucky to him.
He chatted with the president for a while longer about what to do and how to meet up during the Winter Snow Festival tomorrow before he said goodbye and left.
Later that night, Seiji tought about what type of drawing to draw for Shika's Winter Snow Festival present.
After making up his mind, he picked up his drawing pencil and began to smoothly draw on paper while activating a certain ability.
A beautiful girl slowly began to take shape under his pencil.
She was wearing clothing similar to Sakura Island's traditional style. Her outfit was slightly fantasy-like in appearance, while the runes on her outfit seemed mystical.
She had long, free-flowing hair, with bangs covering her forehead, a bright smile on her face, and shining eyes. She was looking at something in front of her, her chin raised slightly upwards. A demon-face mask was in her left hand, and she was reaching out with her right hand, as if trying to grab something.
After he finished drawing this girl, Seiji drew a second character in the direction that she was looking towards: a handsome boy.
This boy had a nice, toned body, and he was wearing a collared windbreaker. There were mystical emblems on his clothing that seemed like either drawings or runes.
He had white hair, with only one strand of black. His appearance was handsome, and he had a gentle expression in his eyes. There was a longsword with a cross-shaped hilt in his left hand, and his right hand was reaching out to the girl, about to take her outstretched hand.
They were the main characters of Brother Monogatari . They were the "adopted younger sister" and the "adopted older brother."
Seiji chose to draw the two main characters of their story, and gift the drawing to Shika. He believed that she would definitely like it.
He had to draw it as best he could! He even used the Shika Kagura reward card's third ability: [Brother and Sister Drawing]! He also used some Mana in order to improve his drawing ability!
As he drew, he recalled the times he discussed Brother Monogatari with Shika. Seiji did his best to transfer the burning passion in his heart to his drawing.
'This will definitely be an excellent drawing…'