The Armory

On the dark and quiet street, the Onmyoji girl Yura Keikain stood frozen in place. She stared at the banknotes floating before her, arranged in a neat row and emitting a golden halo. In front of the wall of light formed by these bills lay a deformed, human-spider evil spirit that had been sent flying into the distance.

"My living expenses... they've really become talismans!?"

Yura muttered in shock as she watched the glowing paper. She had previously thrown these banknotes—her precious living expenses—as if they were talismans out of desperation, but she never expected them to actually turn into them. Moreover, at the critical moment, this spirit tool had protected its master and saved her life.

Facing such a bizarre sight, Yura's first feeling wasn't relief at being saved, but rather an indescribable sense of wrongness that she couldn't quite voice. This was followed by a mind full of confusion. She couldn't understand how her money had suddenly transformed like this.

'What's going on... how did these ordinary banknotes suddenly gain such a special ability?! My living expenses were brought from home. Could these be a new type of talisman developed by one of the Keikain branch families? Did the head of the clan secretly give them to me disguised as living expenses because he was worried about me?'

Yura's thoughts raced, but then she suddenly realized she had already spent a lot of the money she brought from home since arriving in Tokyo. These current banknotes had likely passed through several hands; they weren't the ones she had originally brought.

"Could it be... that Miko?!"

Yura's expression froze as she thought of the Inari Miko named Fushimi Inaba, who had treated her to a meal. Because of the blunder where Yura used her money as talismans, Fushimi Inaba had held all of her cash before returning it. Could this anomaly be her handiwork?

As Yura was lost in thought, an angry roar from ahead snapped her back to reality. Before her, the terrifying composite evil spirit with its massive body, eight legs, and six limbs had struggled back to its feet. It let out a roar from all six of its mouths simultaneously.

Seeing this, Yura's vigilance immediately reached its peak. This horrific spirit was far from being defeated.

Amidst its screeching, the composite evil spirit's six pairs of eyes locked onto Yura. A crimson light bled from its pupils as a powerful curse was cast toward her from a distance. However, as the light on the banknote talismans rippled, the invisible curse was repelled. Yura remained completely unharmed.

'This... it can even defend against curses?'

Yura was stunned. She never imagined her living expenses would one day have so many functions.

Seeing its curse fail, the composite evil spirit roared again. Its eight pale limbs pushed off the ground, propelling it forward at high speed. It slammed directly into the light screen formed by the banknotes, only to be bounced back once more.

Refusing to give up, the spirit changed its angle to strike a spot the barrier wasn't covering. However, the protective banknotes were incredibly intuitive, automatically flying to intercept the spirit's charge and forming a new barrier. The spirit was sent flying again. It tried several more sneak attacks from different angles, but the result remained the same.

Even though the composite evil spirit's assault was fierce, every strike was perfectly blocked by the autonomous banknote talismans. Seeing this, Yura felt a bit more at ease but couldn't help thinking.

'Such powerful autonomous defense... but just defending like this isn't a long-term solution. I have to find a way to counterattack. If only I could control these talismans myself...'

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Yura felt a sudden clarity. A mental link formed between her and the banknotes floating around her, just like the talismans she usually manifested herself.

Yura realized she could suddenly control them; she understood exactly how to use them.

"Control over the talismans...?"

Yura whispered in awe. Her expression then hardened as she glared at the terrifying spirit lunging at her again.

"Go! 1,000-Yen Talisman!"

With a wave of her hand, a 1,000-yen note floating beside her shot out like an arrow. It struck the composite evil spirit's side with immense force, snapping one of its limbs clean off. The entire spirit was sent tumbling to the side from the heavy blow.

Seeing her attack succeed, Yura's brow cleared. She waved her hand again, sending another banknote flying.

"Take this! 2,000-Yen Talisman!"

Following her command, a 2,000-yen note shot forth and struck the fallen spirit squarely in the head. In an instant, three of its six heads were crushed. A large portion of its body was flattened, and it let out a piteous wail.

"Good grief... the higher the denomination, the stronger the punch..."

Looking at the damage comparison, Yura couldn't help but comment. If a 2,000-Yen Talisman was powerful enough to cripple this strong composite spirit, what about the 5,000 or 10,000-Yen Talismans?

Was this the true power of money?

Just as she was eager to use a 5,000-Yen Talisman to finish off the spirit, she suddenly noticed a problem.

The deformed spirit, nearly flattened by the 2,000-Yen Talisman, was struggling violently. As it writhed, its body began to undergo a strange change. The body, originally formed by countless twisted human forms, was now "unraveling." The individual spirits that had been fused together were now desperately trying to break free and flee after being heavily wounded.

With the unified will failing, the composite spirit's body began to collapse. Seeing this, Yura remembered the teachings of her clan elders.

According to the experience of the Keikain elders, dealing with composite spirits required extreme caution. One had to avoid exorcising them through sheer violent destruction. If one wasn't careful, the composite body would collapse, and the countless individual spirits would scatter and escape, creating numerous unstable threats in the surrounding area.

Therefore, the proper way to handle a composite spirit was through purification or sealing. If one couldn't guarantee the total destruction of the composite entity in one hit, the small spirits it split into might become an even greater threat.

'This is bad... I don't have any purification or sealing talismans on me right now...'

Yura thought anxiously. It was clear that these banknote talismans were purely for simple, violent attacks; they couldn't be used for purification or sealing. Since she had no other talismans on her, she couldn't safely dispose of the entity.

'Damn it... what should I do?'

'I don't have any talismans... I can't exactly draw one right now. Even if I wanted to, I don't have paper or a brush...'

As she watched the composite spirit collapse, Yura looked around frantically. Suddenly, something on the ground near her dropped wallet caught her eye.

It was a white talisman!

'A talisman? I still had one in my wallet?!'

Yura quickly picked it up. When she unfolded it and looked closely, she froze.

"This... this is an Armory Talisman? I didn't bring one of these."

Yura muttered in confusion. In her memory, her talisman set never included an Armory Talisman. Her style of exorcism relied on shikigami as the primary force and talismans as support. She didn't carry large magical tools, so she had no need for something like an Armory Talisman.

This talisman wasn't hers. There was only one reason it would be in her wallet: it had been tucked among the banknotes when they were returned to her.

Just as Yura was questioning the talisman's origin, it suddenly ignited with pale blue flames. Startled, Yura dropped it. From within the surging fire, an object fell to the ground with a clear, metallic ring.

Yura looked down and saw an ancient, exquisitely carved Jumonji Yari!

At the same time, a soft voice whispered in her ear.

"Spirit is the ink, the spear is the brush; all things are talismans, and the charms manifest the myriad..."