I have read some similar answers, which mostly point out とばかりに as meaning "as if to say", but I am having trouble understanding this meaning in this excerpt I have from a manga I'm trying to read:
鬼は700年の眠りから覚めるや否やうさ晴らしとばかりにオレに襲いかかってきた。
What I can make out of this, is this:
As soon as the demon wakes up from its 700 years of sleep うさ晴らしとばかりに it rushed on towards me.
Now, うさ晴らし means distraction... so the demon rushed on towards me as if it was distracted? I don't know how to give this meaning.
addition: Now that I'm rereading the sentence I have another question... shouldn't 覚める be in the past tense as well? Because the 'demon RUSHED on towards me as soon as it WOKE up'...
Thank you very much.