10 Chapter 10 - Bishamon

The golden-haired woman lashed the whip towards the rainbow-colored bat as big as a dinner table, which tried to dodge to the side. The red whip barely caused a tear in its left wing, but it was enough to cause a significant rip around where the whip hit, and the bat began to stumble and fall mid-flight.

At this point, Jason could tell that all the weapons she was using most likely had magical properties, since the whip managed to damage the bat. After making the bat stumble mid-flight, he thought she would use the gun in her other hand and shoot it while it was stationary. It was what *he* would have done, at least.

"Jinki, crush it!" she ordered.

He was confused as to who she gave orders to and got his answer when the whip extended, quickly wrapping around the bat multiple times before squeezing. The monster popped like a balloon. Similar to the ones he killed before, large japanese characters criss-crossed in the air before disappearing with a chime.

'That whip is sentient?' he wondered. That would explain why it suddenly moved as if it was alive after the woman gave the order. Maybe the other weapon she had was sentient as well.

Finished with the bat, the woman and her lion landed on a house's rooftop and Jason questioned how their combined weight didn't break the roof. Next, the hummingbird the size of a small car zipped above her and she shot at it multiple times, but the hummingbird was too quick and moved erratically, not giving her a clear shot. Jason could see the annoyance grow on her face through her furrowed brows and glower at the monster.

Jason pondered on whether he should help or stay as a spectator to watch what she would do, and he opted for the latter. But the hummingbird seemingly decided that this wasn't a fight it could win as it suddenly zipped away, making the woman and Jason with the All-Blades in hand follow it, the latter deciding to tell Wheatley his current actions.

'Wheatley, the last monster is trying to run away and I'm following it. Notify me if anything happens and I'll come rushing back.'

Wheatley promptly responds. [Roger that! I'll just stay here and make sure no harm comes to Ms.Yoshida and that the energy is safely extracted. You go ahead and finish whatever those things are.]

'Alright, but are there more incoming energy signatures?'

[No, no. Aside from those four, the other ones seem to have disappeared or got killed before they could get to the house. It's pretty much clear now, but I'll be sure to tell you if anything pops up.]

Jason thanked Wheatley as he chased the hummingbird, making sure that he stayed behind the woman riding the lion. The woman still made an attempt to shoot it down, but each bullet was dodged by the hummingbird.

Minutes later, they were still on its tail, but at this rate, the chase will probably tire the lion out first if he did nothing. He had already noticed the lion slowly decelerating and making rougher pants of air.

However, he had been observing the hummingbird's movements ever since the chase began and despite the bird moving quickly and in an erratic pattern, it always dipped and soared upwards after a specific number of horizontal turns.

'This will reveal me to the woman, but this chase has gone on long enough.' he thought with slight annoyance and removed the normal black mask in favor of his vigilante mask. 'Besides, I need information on these monsters and she's the only lead I have on them.'

As the chase continued, Jason waited, making sure that his calculations were right before the window of opportunity came. As soon as the hummingbird finished its last left turn, Jason leapt high into the air and pulled back his right hand, holding the blade as if it was a spear, and with a twist of his torso, threw the sword into the bird's predicted path with perfect accuracy.

The blade pierced the air, crossing dozens of meters in a second and just as the bird reached the highest it always does when it soared, the blade tore through it without mercy. It exploded and disappeared with a chime, but the sword continued on its path and pierced through a building's wall as if it was paper, with only the handle poking out, and it was only then that Jason landed back on the roof of a house. The sword vanished from the wall and from his hand the instant Jason willed for the blades to disappear.

The blonde-haired woman saw this and stopped in place on top of a house. "What? Who threw that? Kazuma, report."

She and the lion turned back, and they narrowed their eyes at him as soon as they spotted him, standing two houses away from them. They made their way over to him, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with surprising nimbleness for a woman riding a lion.

The woman landed on the roof he was on just a few meters away from him and now that he could see her clearly, he immediately noticed a few things. One, she was shorter than he thought. Two, she had purple eyes with slitted pupils, so she was definitely not human or was maybe a metahuman of some kind. Three, she was quite beautiful and curvaceous. Enough to actually rival someone like the Black Canary, in his opinion.

She stared at him with suspicion and asked, "Masked man… You were the one who threw that sword, right? Who are you?"

Jason crossed his arms. "Where I come from, you introduce yourself first before asking for someone's name."

She merely stared in response before she dismounted the lion. With no rider on his back anymore, the lion sat down with its front paws standing, and Jason felt as if he was being observed by it through its eyes that gleamed with intelligence.

"I am Bishamon." She stepped closer to him. "I came here after detecting an abnormal, sudden emergence of multiple phantoms during the daytime. It's been happening more frequently lately."

'Bishamon… Like the god, Bishamonten? Is that related to her magical weapons? It likely is. And those monsters from before are called phantoms, huh? Good to know,' Jason thought.

The woman aimed her handgun, a pink 6-chamber revolver, at his head. "But first, answer my question. Who or what are *you*? I know you're not a god, because all gods know of each other. You don't seem to be a regalia either, and neither was the sword you used to kill that phantom. That leaves the humans. But to my knowledge, what you just did is something no human should be able to do."

"You're right. I'm not a god or regalia," he answered, evading her question. "Though I guess I'm not a normal human either."

"Answer me properly. Remove that mask of yours as well." She emphasised her threat by uncoiling the whip in her other hand.

What should he do? Tell her the truth, a half-truth, or a complete lie? He could feel the tension in the air as he contemplated the battle that would come if the latter two led to a fight.

As of this moment, he lacked information about her, her strength, and the world itself. And if what she said and the implications of it were true, she was a god and other gods existed.

Aside from that, it seemed like the phantoms were a normal occurrence here and wasn't something too uncommon. Saki still had that energy inside her and it'll take more than half a day to extract completely according to Wheatley. If more of those things were to become attracted to her, he'll have to deal with them, and knowing their strengths and their weaknesses are is a whole lot better than knowing jack shit.

Oh well, it's not like his identity was important in this world anyway. No one knew him.

With an irritated sigh, Jason undid the straps of his mask, revealing his face. He stored the mask inside the ring, not caring if she saw.

Jason crossed his arms, making eye contact with her. "Call me Jason. So, is this good enough?"

Bishamon didn't reply. Her hold on her gun faltered, and she stared at him with slightly blushing cheeks before she caught herself and shook her head.

Her calm expression returned, yet the blush remained, and she still had the gun aimed at him. "Y-yes. But if you're human, how are you able to see me?"

"Wait, am I *not* supposed to see you?"

"As far as I know, there is not a single adult human that can see beings of the Far Shore under normal circumstances. However, it seems you're an exception."

Then what makes him the exception?

Furthermore, he should maybe throw her off in an effort to lessen her hostility and make himself less of an enemy.

Jason shrugged his shoulders with a charming smile while maintaining eye contact. "That's not too bad. At least I get to meet a beautiful woman like you."

It seemed to work. The blush on her face burned a shade brighter.

"Also," he continued, "I have no idea what the Far Shore even is. You're gonna have to explain it to me."

"You don't know? Then how…" she trailed off with a confused expression and finally put down her gun. "The Far Shore is what you would call the world of the non-living. Gods such as me and the phantoms you encountered reside there. I thought you would know of this already with how you already possess a weapon capable of killing a phantom."

"That weapon of mine is supposed to only affect magical beings, but I guess I should add spirits to the list as well. Tell me, would I be correct to assume that you call the world of the living the Near Shore?"

"That's correct. Humans and beings from the Far Shore reside in the same plane of existence, but like I said before, humans normally aren't able to perceive beings from the Far Shore. Despite me saying that, phantoms are able to exist on the Near Shore alongside humans and feed off of the darkness inside them and corrupt the good in their heart," she said.

Jason frowned. "I see… Could you tell me their weaknesses and strengths?"

"Unfortunately, they have no specific weaknesses since each phantom is unique and can take on many forms. The only way to kill them is to use a regalia, or at least, that was what I thought before seeing your sword. As for strengths, they can negatively influence your emotions and thoughts if you're weak-willed and are not in a good emotional and mental state."

That was bad news. Now he really should go back and protect Saki while the energy is extracted from her. If he was right, the energy inside Saki was a beacon that drew them like moths to a flame.

Jason bowed his head to her. "Thanks for answering my questions. Is there anything else you need from me? I have an appointment I have to get to."

Bishamon paused for a moment and looked back at the lion. Based on her body language and the way they looked at each other, it seemed like they were having a mental conversation.

'Telepathy?' Jason wondered.

Seconds later, she turned her head back towards Jason. "Do you have a phone?"

Jason blinked in surprise. "Yeah… You want my contact details?"

"I have more questions for you, so having a way to contact you would be convenient, and it would be rude of me to occupy your time when you have important matters to attend to."

Just like that, they exchanged contact details.

"There you go," said Jason as he 'pocketed' his phone.

"Thank you." She nodded in thanks and looked down at her phone for a moment. "With this, you'll be able to…" she trailed off as Jason had already disappeared without a trace when she looked up.

"How did he do that?"

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Author's Note:

Comment any feedback you have, and thanks for reading!

Capybara

Sauce: Noragami