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ArabicAnime Crossover: Eating Evil in a Daily World — Chapter 54
Chapter 54: Butter Shooter’s Triumphant Return
Within the thick, swirling black mist, hundreds of terrifying eyes snapped open, every single gaze locking onto Yozora at the exact same moment.
For an ordinary person, or even someone with a psychological fortitude as abnormal as Yotsuya Miko, being stared down by such a massive horde of grotesque Evil Spirits would likely induce a mental breakdown. The sheer density of malice in the air was enough to suffocate a normal human.
Facing the terrifying, bloodshot gazes surrounding him, Yozora merely yawned and stretched his arms lazily above his head.
“This feeling is a bit like being a pop star watched by thousands of adoring fans at a live concert.”
Yozora waved his hand toward the churning black mist, a warm and entirely out-of-place smile spreading across his face.
“Friends in the back, wave your hands and let me see your enthusiasm, okay?”
Silence.
Only absolute, dead silence.
Naturally, there was no cheerful response from the abominations lurking within the black mist.
Yozora smiled and shook his head, muttering softly to himself.
“As expected, trying to just sneak through won’t work with this crowd.”
The playful smile on his face gradually melted away. His clothes began to billow without any wind, and the pure black mask resting on his face seemed to ignite with dark flames, its surface twisting slightly as if alive.
A faint, ethereal voice echoed deep within Yozora’s mind, dripping with ancient temptation.
‘Have you finally decided to shed all disguises and use your full power?”Since the World has become so bizarre, why still allow yourself to be bound by so-called normalcy?”Devour all Evil Spirits. Create a World in your mind that is worthy of being called real.”Here… call forth my true name.’
Listening to the whispering voice in his head, Yozora cast a sidelong glance at the black mist. The thick, tide-like darkness had not appeared out of thin air. It was the heavily condensed aura of hundreds of terrifying Evil Spirits gathered in one place.
At this moment, the entities hidden within began to reveal their true, nightmarish forms.
Just by stepping through a single door, the difference between the outer world and the Inner World of Kyoto was like the stark divide between the human realm and the deepest pits of hell.
“Using that ability here…”
Facing the suffocating encirclement of an astonishing number of Evil Spirits, Yozora murmured softly. Then, he chuckled and shook his head, dismissing the whispering voice.
“Just this much is nowhere near enough.”
Yozora raised his right hand, preparing to condense a pitch-black katana to carve his way through the gathered horde. But before the blade could fully form, he paused. The originally aggressive Evil Spirits suddenly broke their encirclement, shrieking as they began to flee frantically in all directions.
They trampled over one another, emitting panicked, guttural sounds that resembled the roars of terrified animals.
“What is this?”
Yozora looked up into the distance. Through the parting mist, he saw a humanoid creature slowly walking toward the clearing. It was roughly two meters tall, draped in tattered clothes with only a few coarse strands of burlap hanging from its frame. Its skin was a decaying, sickly gray.
Although the guy’s appearance was strange and clearly no longer human, compared to the other Lovecraftian monstrosities living in the Inner World, it actually looked quite normal. At the very least, it still maintained a basic bipedal human form, whereas the other Evil Spirits looked like twisted, fleshy masses of limbs and teeth.
The zombie-like humanoid seemed to have absolutely zero interest in Yozora. It simply reached out with terrifying speed, grabbed a frantically fleeing Evil Spirit by the neck, opened its jaw to an exaggerated, bone-cracking degree, and bit fiercely into the creature’s writhing body.
Evil Spirits possessed pain receptors too. Being devoured alive in such a brutal manner, the captured spirit naturally let out a deafening, agonizing scream.
But the zombie-like freak’s movements did not slow down in the slightest. Like a cold, emotionless machine, it tore the massive Evil Spirit to pieces in an extremely cruel display of violence, swallowing the chunks of spiritual flesh straight into its stomach.
Yozora stood off to the side, witnessing the entire bloody process with his hands in his pockets.
He showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he watched with genuine interest, even offering a casual culinary critique.
“Your eating posture is not elegant at all. Occasional screams can bring a different kind of seasoning to the meal, sure, but if the entire process is just ripping and tearing like this, it’s way too crude. It’s exactly like Zhu Bajie eating the ginseng fruit—swallowing it whole without tasting a thing. Absolutely zero class.”
The zombie Evil Spirit froze for a moment, a chunk of spiritual flesh still hanging from its jaw. It clearly did not possess enough intelligence to comprehend a single word Yozora was saying.
At the same time, Yozora was closely observing this newcomer. It was fundamentally different from its peers.
It was true that Evil Spirits occasionally cannibalized other Evil Spirits. But this specific kind of feeding, driven by a pure, mechanical, and instinctive hatred, was something Yozora had never witnessed before.
Could it be…
Are you also an Attack on Titan protagonist? Do you want to expel all Evil Spirits from this Inner World, leaving not a single one behind?
Jokes aside, Yozora had already roughly guessed the true identity of this zombie-like entity.
It was a Slaughter Oni, one of the legendary beings from the Hyakki Yagyo.
There were many different folklore stories detailing exactly how a Slaughter Oni came into existence, but they all shared one universal trait. As an Evil Spirit itself, the Slaughter Oni existed solely to endlessly slaughter its own kind. It was an anomaly widely known by a very specific title.
The Death of Yokai.
“Oh, brother.”
Thinking of this, Yozora took two steps forward without a shred of hesitation. He reached out, warmly patting the towering Slaughter Oni on its decaying shoulder, and spoke with the enthusiastic tone of a salesman.
“So you are the Slaughter Oni! Nice to meet you, man. We are basically colleagues in the same industry.”
The Slaughter Oni was completely bewildered.
It was not like other high-tier Evil Spirits that possessed intelligence equal to or even surpassing that of ordinary humans. The Slaughter Oni was an existence akin to a biological machine, constantly hunting and eliminating other Evil Spirits based purely on its hardwired, instinctive hatred for them.
Yozora’s casual greeting, spoken as if they were long-lost relatives catching up at a family reunion, directly caused its already degraded CPU to burn out.
The towering creature stood frozen for a long time. Finally, its nose twitched—though it couldn’t really be called a nose anymore. The flesh around that area had completely rotted away, leaving only two dark, hollow nasal cavities.
Regardless, the Slaughter Oni used those cavities to sniff Yozora twice. A pair of dark green, glowing eyes flickered with a deep look of confusion that it had likely not displayed in thousands of years.
Is this thing a human?
But why does it have the heavy, suffocating scent of an Evil Spirit clinging to its body?
The Slaughter Oni slowly shook its rotting head, unable to process the contradiction. It finally shifted its gaze past Yozora, focusing its predatory attention on the towering figure of Hachishaku and the Pale Ghost Hand hovering quietly behind him.
“Brother…”
Yozora leaned in, examining the Slaughter Oni’s two dark green glowing eyeballs with a highly meaningful smile.
“May I borrow your eyeballs for a moment?”
The creature just stared at him.
“No answer? I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll be quick, don’t worry.”
Before the creature could react, Yozora’s hand shot forward in a blur.
“Roar!!!”
The Slaughter Oni stumbled back, clutching its face as a horrific shriek tore from its throat.
“What are you yelling for? Seriously, what are you yelling for?” Yozora complained, tossing the glowing green eyeball up and catching it in his palm. “Didn’t I leave you one? It’s good enough that you can still see out of the other. What, do you want to watch 3D movies now or something?”
Fifteen minutes later. Six o’clock in the evening.
“Why isn’t he back yet…”
Yotsuya Miko pursed her lips, staring intently at the invisible door hovering in the air before her. Her golden eyes were filled with deep, gnawing worry.
According to the local news reports broadcasting from the scene, the kidnappers inside the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten had been completely dealt with at least half an hour ago. The police had already secured the perimeter.
Yet Yozora still hadn’t returned.
Could it be that he encountered some kind of fatal accident while trapped inside the Inner World?
Thinking of this terrifying possibility, Yotsuya Miko took a deep breath to steady her trembling nerves. She looked at Yui Yuigahama standing beside her and softly instructed her.
“You wait right here. I’m going in to find him.”
Seeing Yotsuya Miko actually preparing to walk forward into the unknown, Yui Yuigahama panicked. Even though the pink-haired girl was completely unable to see the supernatural door, she quickly reached out, grabbing Miko’s arm to hurriedly dissuade her.
“You’re going in there alone? How is that any different from seeking death?!”
“I have to go! What if he’s badly injured inside!?”
“If even a monster like him can get injured in there, won’t you be even less likely to come out alive?!”
Just as the two girls were desperately arguing back and forth, the space in front of them rippled.
Yozora stepped out from the invisible door. He was dressed in his standard Sobu High School uniform, his clothes completely pristine, his hair not even slightly disheveled. Looking entirely unharmed and thoroughly relaxed, he slowly walked up to the two girls and chuckled.
“Butter Shooter, triumphantly returned!”
[Inorin’s Note: “Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit” is a famous idiom originating from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. The pig demon Zhu Bajie swallows a magical, incredibly rare fruit whole without chewing, completely missing out on its legendary taste. It refers to someone who consumes something valuable without appreciating it, or acting with crude haste.]