This wasn't just a force of Sengoku-era military phantoms any longer. The appearance of the komainu made that clear enough. Just what was this samurai ghost here for? Not only were his efforts seemingly entirely defensive, but on top of that the use of the two guardian dogs to bolster them meant that---

There was no further time to think it over. Arisa gritted her teeth as the enormous komainu bore down on her, jaws snapping as it lurched forwards.

Fleeing would only keep it chasing her, something she couldn't afford to do if she wanted to reach the samurai in time and deliver a critical blow. Even if it made all the other enemies vanish, she had to guarantee she could deliver that blow rather then being crippled or killed before she could reach her target.

So she'd take the legendary guardian head on. Quickly, efficiently, and without wasting a single moment!

Magical energy poured down the redhead's arms, flowing down her fingertips and igniting lines of light visible through her skin. She was forcing as much power into her arms, reinforcing her limbs as much as possible, as quickly as possible. If she didn't do this, she would almost certainly be injured just by what she was attempting.

In fact, Arisa wasn't sure she'd escape injury regardless. But she had to remove this obstacle as fast as she could.

Ifrit tore through the air, and found its target, slamming between the jaws of the komainu as they clamped down on the blade. Her whole body rocked, her teeth gritting as the impact reverberated up her arms and throughout her whole body.

She poured more magical energy through her arms, feeling like a fire was igniting inside of them. But instead, flames flowed across Ifrit's blade, the enormous sword burning brightly.

But she wasn't just trying to weaken the stone by superheating it. Doing some damage was ideal, but her real goal---

"Get out... of the way---!"

The enormous amount of magical energy pouring into her arms blazed even brighter, further light pouring down her limbs as she abruptly yanked her blade sideways, in a bid to knock the stone beast off balance or even cause it to topple over.

The instant she was attacked, the naginata-wielding spirit twisted her body, sending the soldiers following along behind her ahead as she spun in place. While she didn't respond swiftly enough to make a counter-attack of her own, she used the shaft of her weapon instead, intercepting the first strike and in the same motion leaping back to gain distance, before swinging the naginata down in an arc.

This close, it was clear she was markedly different from the other faceless phantoms, eyes, nose, and mouth visible, albeit still composed of inky darkness, beneath her helmet. Additionally, despite her proximity to the smoke, she didn't seem nearly as affected by it...

The hulking figure attempting to attack Agent Mae staggered, stumbling. A combination of the healer's smoke and the arrows striking its body was certainly having an effect, as the phantom was forced to stop its charge in order to adjust his targets, sweemingly aware it couldn't attack Agent Mae without being destroyed first.

Of course, this single moment gave an opportunity between the komainu's arrival for Masaru to land a well-placed shot---!