Inside an abandoned warehouse lies a transparent yet dark figure.
It has been 'alive' for many suns and moons and yet, its sense of self has yet to form. The mind of this monstrosity is filled with naught but aggression. It has already claimed the lives of multiple people to satisfy it's thirst for blood, with only the stains left on the floor the sole reminder of their lives.
It knows not the reason why such violent thoughts cloud it's mind. It knows not the people whose hate it feels for. Neither does it know why he has hunted some of them down, toyed with them and ate them.
It merely followed its instincts to rip, tear and devour. nothing more, nothing less. And it, too, would do the same on the new figure clad in red and black. It watched and lurked as it sets it sights on the one that intruded it's lair, ready to pounce once more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a world filled with quirks, a lock and chain wouldn't do much to keep abandoned places out-of-reach from the general public. Although costly, --depending on the company-- most companies would cement those selected areas shut.
If it weren't for one of my heads passing by and peeking through the dusty window, I wouldn't have found this place those practically screams 'Boss fight' vibes in it's entirety.
Using a head laser, I tore an opening large enough for my body to fit through one of those steel doors.
The stale air and musky scents immediately assaulted my senses. The putrid emotions and vile form of the spiritual energy in this place would have made any decent made gag in disgust.
There, lurking in the ceiling, is where I sensed 'it'.
Though my eyes may be veiled by the thick darkness, the white moon still persistently shines her light through the yellowed glass of the windows. This dim luminance is enough to get me through any modern day concrete labyrinth thanks to the the training I have undertaken with Sekibanki.
Despite the oxidized brown stains present on the floor, the transparent form of the creature tells me that it has yet to accumulate many victims.
Its body is that of a spider, each leg fashioned with a single sharp claw. The feature that all arachnids share, the exoskeleton, is not adorned on its body. Instead, what replaced it's shiny carapace is the wrinkled skin of old ox in it's deathbed, with patches of fur shed and balding.
The most prominent feature that it has, however, is the head. The creature has the slightly redish head of a vicious horned Oni, one that make any child shivering quietly in their beds. A mouth entirely filled with long fangs that they peek out of the rough lips, bloodshot eyes with crimson sclera, and an large tongue long enough to easily reach 3 meters.
No doubt, what was 'born' from the neglected miasma catalyst was an ushi-oni. Although, I too, have reason to believe that this specimen has something else mixed in.
The supernatural beings of today are different from the previous era, after all. It is a common occurrence to see what was once a weakness become one's strength, and what was one's strength become one's weakness. That's why I must partake in caution, for even one wrong mutter can lead to a catastrophic event.
Tensions continue to rise in the abandoned warehouse as I have a stare down with the translucent creature.
In an instant, the ushi-oni pounced down towards me, it's maw wide open. From the angle of it's attack, I chose to jump straight up and avoid getting hit.
It landed on the spot where I used to stand. Despite the beastly appearance, the ushi-oni landed with the finesse of a cat, the clawed legs tapped on the ground with a barely audible noise.
This creature, following it's instincts, looked up to see me staring down on it.
It's eyes of crimson and black have met with mine own orbs of glowing red. My brief observation as led me to believe that it doesn't have a mix of what I feared most. "You're hungry, right?" I said to the ushi-oni, not caring whether it understood my words or not. "Then eat."
The creature unleashed a gurgled roar in anger. --Oni who can reign in their wrath are a rare breed after all.-- 'It must be mixed with a water-type being' I thought when I heard it's roar, as I sent down head to intercept it attack.
I could have overpowered this fight with swarm after swarm of head or better yet, Danmaku. But I'd rather not overly rely on such techniques too much and become stale in battles. If I can grow and become stronger, why can't my opponents? Further honing my technique would be more beneficial in the long run.
Sensing the danger, It ceased its roar and moved back from my heads before one of them exploded in it's previous location. The other heads have begun their chase as the ushi-oni continued it's offense.
Ushi-oni are similar to assassins, as they take down opponent in but a single strike. They are not suited for direct confrontation against a stronger foe, as when the initial attack fails, they only have their body's natural strength and size left as an advantage.
The ushi-oni tried to attack not just my head's but it also targeted me. It pounced and charged, attempting to assault with tackles, destroying the crates and old machinery of the abandoned warehouse.
To my suprise, It shot and spun webs randomly, hitting whatever comes it's way. ushi-oni are commonly more of the jumping spider variety or the ones that lurk in holes. Orb-weaving ushi-oni are unheard of, so it must be another mixture in its amalgamation or a mutation. Eventually that captured some of my heads, before it hurriedly skittered close, aiming to bite. It's long tongue arrived at the heads first, unintentionally giving them a quick lick.
The ensnared heads immediately burst in a ball of flames. Scattered webbing from earlier has been set ablaze, burning the rest of the heads as the crackling of the fire drove away the silence. Fortunately, I have already turned away my eyes or the sudden emergence of light would have blinded me briefly.
My eyes still closed, I moved away from the flames to distance myself from the creature. Ushi-oni can burn whomever they lick directly, but they can also inflict a plethora ailments to those who's shadows they lick.
The fearsome flames danced on our battlefield. Their orange glow dominated over the pale-blue luminance of the moon.
The darkness that covered my shadow has disappeared. The battle has now turned a bit more complex as I had to watch out for attacks toward it.
'Practice my techniques...' I thought, hiding behind one of the undestroyed crates, as I look around at the blazing inferno around me and find myself in greater danger. '...Maybe just a little more...?'
The flames that surrounds us are spiritual in nature. If I were to be burned by them, most of the healing witchcraft I studied would be of minimal help as they are magically inclined. Similarly, the ushi-oni would be the one to sustain more severe injuries from its fire, as it is still a weak being.
The almost rhythmically tap of the claws resounded amidst the crackling of flames as the as the ushi-oni menacingly searches for me. Peeking over from behind the crates, the light from the flames allowed me to see the ushi-oni much clearer than before.
The transparent figure of the ushi-oni had additional features that was blindsided by both the darkness and its more prominent characteristics: A deep indentation on its spider abdomen and a shiny coat on its oxen hair.
'Is that why it's not afraid of the fire?' I thought as I look at the sheen of it's fur. 'Water-type youkai, a deep indentation, some kind of liquid on its fur... It's mixed with a creature from the kappa family!'
'From the red tint on the face, all these features point towards the aggressive Enkō!' I grimly thought. 'It probably toyed with it's victims first before eating them...'
Enkō are youkai of the kappa family. Rather than a turtle shell and beak, they look closer to monkeys with sharp claws.
They pull their victims underwater to toy with them and them squirm as they suffocate. But they don't let them die, while their victims are suffering, they use their sharp claws to dig out the innards from the lower end of one's body.
'They typically dislike metal, but I suppose that aspect was suppressed by the ushi-oni characteristics... It doesn't even need to have water on the indentation?! This guy practically won the lottery with those characteristics.' I thought while moving away from it.
'Maybe I should e-' I quickly rolled over to the side. 'Right... I forgot that Enkō's can lengthen an arm by shortening the other...'
'There are lots of different creatures after all... It's not like I can memorize all of them.' I pouted while charging another head of mine to prepare a super head laser --Not too overloaded, as I wouldn't want to destroy anything further--. The ushi-oni, not caring for any injury, made a mad dash towards me.
As its tongue closed in on me, I made a jump back as my other head immediately fired. The head laser tore through the transparent figure of the ushi-oni and left a gaping hole.
The ushi-oni received more damage than it can take, forcing the spiritual energy that make up its form to destabilize. The injured monstrosity slumped down on the ground and begins to rapidly fade, gradually creasing to exist.
'Rest in peace, I guess?...' I thought as I gazed at where the corpse used to lay. '...Not like you deserve it, though.'
'I probably should leave.' I thought. ' It would be troublesome to deal with Anti-skill when they find me and a burned out abandoned warehouse... Not to mention the paperwork.' I shudder at the thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Watching the retreating figure of their silent friend, Saten and Uiharu are also running away from the scene in disbelief trying to digest what they have just witnessed.
Moments later, they find themselves in a safer location. The two of them have finally got the opportunity to catch their breath and discuss the recent events.
"W-what the heck was that?!" Saten exclaimed. "And why did he fight it? Shouldn't he report it or something?!"
"S-saten-san... Calm down a bit."
"Calm down?! Think about it, Uiharu!" Saten grabbed Uiharu shoulders. "We just saw some kind of monster! In Academy city of all places!!! I mean, there were rumors and all but seeing first hand is totally different!"
"Saten-san..."
"Not to mention our friend knows about them and is some kind of hunter! Its like a plot for a shounen manga! It's scary but also kinda exciting, right?!!"
"He probably has a reason for doing something like that." Said Uiharu as she breaks free from Saten's grip. "And it goes without saying, but he definitely has a reason for keeping it a secret."
"Right, secret..." Saten nods. "Do you think he'll tell us if we say that we saw him?"
"That's... a bit hard to say..."
Saten thought for a bit before she made her decision. "Than I guess we only have one way to find out!"
"P-please think this through!" Yelped Uiharu. "What if hates us for prying into his business?"
"Don't worry! He isn't the sort of person to hate you for something like that!" Saten replied. "And besides, he's our friend! Trust on him a little more!"
"I don't understand how you can be so optimistic about this..." Uiharu sighed. 'Monsters, huh?... Did it escape from a laboratory somewhere? Then why hasn't it been retrieved or put down?... Or is it the work of someone's quirk?' She thought as she looked over at the excited Saten before turning her gaze at the night sky.
'Honestly... What in the world is even happening, Shuzenji-san?'