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“I’m almost there! Almost!” Lily’s hair flew about wildly as she sped across the ancient Suno battlefield. Her fair legs were still covered by the tattered black stockings¹, and her crimson attire fluttered against the wind.

…

The two titans, Onito and Hojo Tokimasa, unleashed their eldritch energy and fiendish spirit power, launching attacks from different directions at Ayaka. She fell back gracefully, her naginata weaving dazzling silver lights.

Clang!

Ayaka’s naginata collided with Hojo Tokimasa’s enormous brass gauntlet. In terms of sheer power, Tokimasa held the upper hand, his brass gauntlets being a low-ranked spirit artifact as well. “What incredible power!” Ayaka was sent flying by the mighty blow.

“Perish for my brother’s death!” Onito released a powerful palm strike toward Ayaka’s frail form. This palm technique, which he had perfected during his sumo wrestling days, was his fiercest skill. Having evolved into a corpse fiend and honing this art over centuries, it had only grown more formidable.

The imposing palm wind, an earthy yellow sandstorm-like force, shaped like a hand, bore down on Ayaka. It was challenging for Ayaka to fully deflect this powerful, invisible palm wind with her naginata, especially in her weakened state.

She summoned a gorgeous golden-edged mirror, a weapon typically wielded by Tamamo-no-Mae. The mirror floated midair and faced Onito. This mirror, potent enough to contend with quintuple-soul and sextuple-soul Big Dipper experts, reflected Onito’s ultimate palm art, causing the mirror surface to emit a strange ripple.

Boom!

The palm strike’s power was completely reflected back, blasting the giant corpse fiend Onito away. “Damn it! She has so many treasures!” exclaimed Hagewashi from not far off, flinging black feathers toward Ayaka. These crow feathers, with power akin to a double-soul Big Dipper expert’s sharp sword, grew larger as they streaked towards Ayaka with extreme speed.

Ayaka stepped on the air, creating lotus flowers with each step, as she deftly avoided the black feathers. The feathers changed direction in midair and continued their pursuit, which caused Ayaka to frown. She brandished her naginata to block the feathers while avoiding Tokimasa’s heavy punches.

Though her strength had returned to the double-soul Big Dipper level, and combined with her weapon was at the triple-soul Big Dipper level, she was far from her usual self. She was injured and weakened, incapable of sustaining a lengthy battle.

Suddenly, during the fight, a wave of weakness washed over her, briefly blacking out her vision. Such a change, however fleeting, created a significant opening for her skilled opponents.

Swish!

A black feather sliced through Ayaka’s clothes from behind, revealing her fair skin. Bang! Seizing the opportunity, Hojo Tokimasa kicked Ayaka, catapulting her into a collapsed house.

Meanwhile, Rei and Shimizu were locked in intense combat with several Throne-level familiars. Their recent training journey, coupled with their acquisitions of an ancient sword and ancient jade, had afforded them unique esoteric training arts.

These newly acquired arts, although not as potent as the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle, were on par with those practiced by celestial maidens in Takamagahara and had significantly augmented their abilities.

However, with many Throned Generals and Throned Sovereigns among the enemies, the pair, while holding their own, found themselves in a dangerous situation, moving about to avoid getting cornered.

Some enemy familiars, who were sorcerers, summoned undead to butcher the villagers. This forced Shizuru and Ijuin, along with a host of Tsunaga sisters, to form a defensive line within the village to fend off the undead.

“Lady Kimiko!”
“We are here, my lady!”

At this juncture, numerous ancient, rare, and significantly powerful monsters that had been hibernating in Suno awakened one after another. They descended upon the village from all directions to combat Hagewashi’s familiars and the undead. The peculiar fox demon experts scattered in the woods of Suno also rushed in to surround their homeland.

However, despite the fact that some of these beings had been training for an extensive period, they were mostly under the protective wing of Tamamo-no-Mae and hadn’t been diligent in their advancement. The strongest among them were merely at the Throned Monarch level, and only around ten were Throne level experts. Their participation didn’t tilt the balance of power against the dozens of Hagewashi’s familiars.

The village was immersed in a chaotic spectacle of smoke and fire, a result of the intense battle between the two factions.

Clang!

Rei, her short blue skirt billowing as she engaged in a dance of blades, crouched and plunged her sword into a Permanence level undead, eliminating it. The undead’s soul was absorbed, and its body crumbled to ashes.

“Ngh…” Amidst the tumult of battle, Rei’s fair thighs and buttocks were occasionally revealed, which made her face flush a deeper red, and she even let out a rare, flirtatious feminine sound. It was evident that she was in a precarious state.

“Hehehehe! This woman is mine!” A hefty Throned General level devil charged at Rei, swinging his wolf-toothed club.

“Mmm… No…” Rei whimpered as her strength suddenly drained away, leaving her defenseless.

Clang! However, the devil was felled by a black sword light emitted from Shimizu’s blade.

Dazed, Rei covered her mouth, “What’s happening to me…? I can’t believe I actually made such an embarrassing sound…” While Rei’s voice was slightly deeper than Lily’s, it was still feminine, and due to her changed physical state, it had become surprisingly soft.

Rei struggled to come to terms with this aspect of herself.

“Are you alright?” Shimizu queried in a frosty tone, “Why are you behaving like a defenseless woman being victimized?”

“Tsk… Shut up…” In Shimizu’s presence, Rei seemed to regain some of her vigor, “Though… thanks.”

“On the battlefield, it’s a question of life and death. If you fall, my situation will worsen! Be cautious!” Shimizu responded, swinging her blade to intercept the incoming arrow spells.

Rei stood up, using her sword for support, and lowered her head, “That scoundrel… I’ll make him regret making me display such a face…” Rei redirected the powerful charm intent within her, converting the medicinal effects into charm power, and charged headlong into the fray against Hagewashi’s familiars.

Ayaka had already re-emerged from the ruins and was under siege by the three formidable Big Dipper demons. She relied on Tamamo’s treasures to keep up her defense. In the face of the Big Dipper demons, she had no alternative but to hold them off; if she didn’t, any one of them could effortlessly kill her sisters and Suno’s residents.

Trapped within the ancient curse, Shuten Doji knew that neither violence nor rage would break it. Having trained for eight hundred years, this archdemon sat cross-legged, focusing on dismantling the confinement spell step by step, using various charms and treasures. Regardless of the curse’s power, it was only a matter of time before he broke free. It was likely that his liberation would bring an end to the battle².

1. Robinxen: Author please… this did not add to the mood of the scene at all!
2. Robinxen: So that’s the setup.