Why can't humans do it too?

Well, it's not that I can't adapt now, but this situation has left Xin Ke feeling lost and helpless.

In the city, at Nura's house.

"Come again."

"Huh...huh..."

He was panting heavily, not even in the mood to speak. The figure in the blue haori opposite him seemed to be just a phantom in his mind. No matter how hard Araragi Koyomi tried to touch it, he could never touch even a corner of the clothes.

Sweat streamed down his forehead and into his eyes, only to be roughly wiped away by Araragi Koyomi with the back of his hand the next second. The regenerative power granted to him by Kiss-Shot's super-strong vampire body should not have made him feel tired or weak in principle, but right now he felt extremely tired, and all he wanted to do was lie down on the ground and rest.

It's like playing a game with a friend who's incredibly talented and skilled. No matter how fun the game is, anyone who gets constantly beaten by that friend will probably lose interest.

Araragi Koyomi is the one who got beaten up.

What pains him even more is that, unlike games that he can simply give up on, combat is something he cannot avoid.

Trying hard to gather his scattered thoughts, Araragi Koyomi summoned the energy within his body—bang!

As lightly as popping a bubble, Araragi Koyomi transformed into a wisp of dark gray smoke in the next second. Even though there was no wind, he flew directly towards Nura Rikuo's location at an extremely fast speed.

Transforming into mist is one of the vampire's signature skills, but it would be too naive to think that such an attack could hit Nura Rikuo. Even Araragi Koyomi himself had not had such expectations.

As he passed through the blue figure, a hand appeared behind the dark gray smoke, seemingly casually reaching down as if scooping something from the water. However, Araragi Koyomi was grabbed by the back of his neck and dragged directly out of the smoke, where he transformed back into a vampire's body.

Without delivering a follow-up blow, Nura Rikuo simply tossed Araragi Koyomi to the ground, sending him sliding a couple of meters away.

"...Aaaaaah! I'm not playing anymore!!"

Instead of getting up as quickly as before, Araragi Koyomi simply lay on the ground in a starfish position and shouted. His initial shyness or restraint had long since disappeared after being beaten up again and again. To be honest, Su Er felt that this high school boy, who had seemed somewhat gloomy before, had been greatly encouraged and become much more cheerful in this environment full of monsters.

“You still need to improve your energy control,” Rikuo Nura said with a helpless expression as he turned around. “It would be a disgrace to the reputation of vampires to fight solely with physical strength.”

"This is so annoying! I've only trained for such a short time and I'm already at the atomization level. I feel like I'm already pretty good!" Araragi Koyomi protested.

"Is it really practical?" The consequence of training with Araragi Koyomi every day is that even a cool guy like Nura Rikuo has picked up the habit of making sarcastic remarks. "Just disrupting your energy is enough to easily turn you back from the mist state. If that's all it is, it's not even enough to save your life, is it?"

"..."

Unable to refute, Araragi Koyomi could only sigh loudly.

He wants to become stronger, but he doesn't want to train. Is there a problem?

“Lu Sheng is still far superior to Li Ta,” Su Er said, sipping his tea after witnessing the entire process. “Isn’t this kind of training useless?”

Of course, Suer couldn't come to watch Araragi Koyomi's training every day for the next seven days, but judging from the training process he saw tonight, Araragi Koyomi's training process in the previous days probably wasn't very pleasant either.

"What a joke! Rikuo is the kid I've been teaching since he was a child. How could he be surpassed after just a few days of training?" Nurarihyon said with a mixture of dissatisfaction and pride. "Don't underestimate the power of time, you old monster!"

Being called an "old monster" by the old monster is quite a development. It has to be said that the relationship between the human and the monster has become much closer since Su Er gave him a good beating that day.

“That’s true, we can’t underestimate the power of time…” Suer sighed.

"Pfft, it doesn't feel out of place for Mr. Nurarihyon to say such a thing, but it feels a bit strange for you, Sue, to say it like that," Hanekawa Tsubasa said with a smile, lifting up the little monster in her hand and watching it struggle.

Although Oshino Meme, who seemed somewhat frivolous, kept saying that people who came into contact with supernatural beings would be more easily drawn into other supernatural beings, Hanekawa Tsubasa, who had already come into contact with such beings, did not stop her steps, and even followed Araragi Koyomi to come into contact with the monsters of the Nura Clan.

"Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm old enough to be your grandfather," Su Er said, touching his face.

"So when are you planning to have a child?" Su Er suddenly asked, and although Xin Ke didn't look at him, Su Er felt that her sharp gaze was already locked on him.

While the group on one side were leisurely drinking tea, wine, and snacks while watching Araragi Koyomi train, Shinko and Jibril on the other side were fully simulating a massive spell. The bursts of light emanating from it drew the attention of the various yokai that had surrounded them from the Nura Clan, but they dared not approach out of fear.

The spell was designed by Hinker, and Jibril was responsible for the precise control and creation of it in reality. Although it may be hard to believe, Jibril herself asked Hinker for help with this spell.

Their target was the ancient well behind the Higurashi Shrine.

Chapter Forty: The Duel

Aside from the time she spent out with Sue, Jibril had been staying in the back mountains of the Higurashi Shrine researching the tree and well that Sue had mentioned could allow them to return to the past—well, the tree and well were just a form; Jibril valued the unknown energy more.

Absolutely different from the current demonic power and spiritual power, compared to these energies that have substance for the Skywing race, Jibril, who currently uses that broken galaxy as her basis of existence, can sense the existence of another kind of energy. It is only temporarily called energy, and is closer to a thought, an emotion, a completely illusory existence.

Although Jibril had indeed cooperated with Xinke when facing the Fantasy Species, she never imagined that she would one day actively seek Xinke's help instead of doing so at Suer's request.

'Just do it to give Suer face.'

Jibril could naturally see the man's expectations. Ultimately, with this in mind, she still sought out Xin Ke to help her capture that illusory energy. Xin Ke would conceive the complex design of the spell, and she would rely on the operational precision of the Skywing race to realize it.

After being so shocked that she couldn't close her mouth, Xin Ke remained strangely silent for a long time before finally agreeing.

“By simply taking a portion of our souls and combining them, we can create a child that belongs to us,” Xin Ke said without looking up as she busied herself, but then paused briefly, “...or we could also have this child possess the souls of all three of us…”

Although somewhat veiled, the meaning behind Xin Ke's words was clearly revealed—she could accept a child who possessed the souls of herself, Sue, and Jibril simultaneously.

Is this still Xin Ke?!

"Hey!! What are you doing, you idiot!!" Before Suer could even utter a word in shock, Xin Ke had already angrily started yelling at Jibril, "You're wrong! You can even mess up such a simple spell connection, I guess I overestimated you!"

"So annoying! Stop saying weird things to bother me! If it weren't for you, would I have made this mistake?!"

"Ha, a weakling who makes excuses."

"Despicable sow!"

Suer watched with a bewildered expression as they descended into their usual bickering, as if the brief moment of goodwill from before had never existed... but their work continued unabated.

"Hehe, Mr. Suer must be really tired," Hanekawa Tsubasa chuckled upon witnessing the scene. Compared to Xin Ke's chilling chuckle, her chuckle was quite heartwarming.

"It's alright... By the way, Hanekawa, you just let Riku bring you in like that?" Suer sighed and said, "You should already know how powerless an ordinary human is when facing monsters and strange creatures, right?"

“You will die, you really will die. It’s just the aftermath of the monsters’ battle. You won’t be able to withstand even a small monster that harbors the slightest malice towards you,” Su’er advised bluntly. “Go back… your parents will be worried about you.”

Suer didn't know which sentence she had said wrong, but she noticed that the smile on Hanekawa Tsubasa's face suddenly disappeared, replaced by a stagnant calm.

“…Don’t worry,” the girl with braided hair simply pushed up her glasses. When she put her hand down again, a smile returned to her lips, but her eyes lacked warmth. “Don’t worry, Mr. Sue.”

“Precisely because we already know about the existence of monsters and strange creatures, we can’t just give up now, can we?” Hanekawa Tsubasa said calmly. “It’s best to have a weapon in hand when danger comes, rather than regretting giving up your weapon at that time.”

"I've already started learning about the supernatural from Mr. Oshino Meme."

"Huh? That guy?" Su'er was taken aback. "Would he be willing to teach?"

“Just pay the normal amount,” Hanekawa Tsubasa said earnestly. “Although he may seem that way, once you get to know him, you’ll find that Mr. Oshino is a very good person… like Araragi.”

"Is he a good person?" Suer repeated. "Is this why you want to help Li?"

“Yes… Araragi… is much more fragile than he appears,” Hanekawa Tsubasa said frankly after a moment’s hesitation, “We can’t ignore it.”

Nodding, Suer said nothing more.

In Japan, many students go directly into the workforce after graduating from high school, and quite a few start working after graduating from junior high school. With Hanekawa Tsubasa's maturity, she is already capable of taking responsibility for her own future.

From the beginning, Nurarihyon had been sipping his tea and smiling as he watched his grandson in the distance, showing no intention of getting involved in this conversation.

Araragi Koyomi hadn't had much time to rest after being knocked to the ground before Nura Rikuo lifted him up. During the past few days of training, Nura Rikuo had gained a deep understanding of what a vampire's regenerative ability was, making him a perfectly qualified punching bag.

Of course, after so many days, even a punching bag has learned some ways to fight back.

Sue had already quit his job at McDonald's. Seven days passed quickly, and before Araragi Koyomi even realized it, Nura Rikuo told him that tonight was the day he would go to duel with the vampire hunter.

It has to be said that the young vampire's expression at that moment was quite remarkable.

Under the cover of darkness, the familiar campus seemed strangely unfamiliar, as if he were visiting for the first time. Araragi Koyomi cautiously explored forward, burying familiar memories deep in his mind and guarding against any potential traps.

As he walked through the teaching building, he immediately spotted the figures standing on the school playground.

Vampire Hunter.

He silently pondered these words that had filled him with tension and fear seven days ago, but which he now faced with calm.

"Yo~, Araragi-kun, you're here~", as if completely oblivious to the somber atmosphere, Oshino Meme, still wearing his floral shirt, casually raised his hand to greet him.

"Yes, it's been a long time, Mr. Oshino," Araragi Koyomi replied, but his gaze never left the two vampire hunters next to Oshino.

“No need to be so formal, Glasses Girl and I are already quite familiar with each other~” Shinobu waved her hand casually, but her gaze went past Araragi Koyomi’s shoulder and looked behind him. “Looks like you’ve had a lot of fun these past few days, Araragi brother.”

Behind Araragi Koyomi, in what should have been a completely dark school building, pairs of glowing eyes were now shining, enough to chill any human to the bone.

Chapter 41 The Battle of the Vampire Hunters

Araragi Koyomi turned around abruptly in surprise, but the pairs of eyes peering through the glass did not frighten him at all. He had already seen the monster leaning against the edge of the hallway, holding a sword and waving at him.

He was still wearing that blue haori that seemed to have never been washed in ages. Who else could it be but Nura Rikuo, who had been training with him for seven days?

It seems that all the yokai, big and small, from the Nura Clan's old house in the city have come.

Hanekawa Tsubasa was also standing there.

The inevitable panic and trepidation that came with coming alone in the dark night vanished completely at this moment. Araragi Koyomi opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he just raised his hand and waved.

A unique sense of security—is this what a monster is like?

It seems pretty good.

That said, why isn't Mr. Sue here?

Setting aside his doubts for the time being, Araragi Koyomi closed his eyes, and after a moment, turned around again.

Absort, who had already been defeated by Jibril and lost the part of her body she possessed, did not come. Standing next to Oshino Meme was only a man dressed in the standard attire of a Western priest, whose hair stood up as if it could poke people, and whose squinted eyes made it impossible for Araragi Koyomi to see his emotions or movements.

The other person besides him was a muscular giant who was two meters tall, with eyes that glowed red in the dark, and red hair that was tied up from his forehead with a headband and hung down his back with gravity, making him look like a huge beast.

His muscles looked like they could easily split a watermelon in two, but after seven days of special training with Nura Rikuo, Araragi Koyomi had learned that strength wasn't simply determined by the amount of muscle... He clenched his fist secretly, and suddenly had a strange feeling.