Seeing Through Illusions

Inside the Cat Izakaya, the atmosphere was silent. A group of yokai held their breath, looking up at Miketsu and Nura Rihyon on the second floor. Miketsu's words had just indicated her acceptance of Nura Rihyon's challenge. At this moment, the tension between the two confronting parties was extremely high, and a battle was imminent.

"Then... I shall take my leave to offend you first," Nura Rihyon said softly, then charged forward with his sword. Although his surprise attack had failed, he had no intention of giving up.

Nura Rihyon's speed was very fast; among the yokai Miketsu had encountered, his speed was considered top-tier. In two steps, he was in front of Miketsu, and his sword strikes were incredibly deceptive. He first made a motion as if to slash horizontally, then immediately withdrew and changed it to a diagonal cut, hoping to trick Miketsu into making a wrong block.

However, these petty tricks held no meaning in Miketsu's eyes, as she could see through causality. Miketsu merely dodged with ease, successfully evading the attack.

Although Nura Rihyon, having slashed at empty air, was momentarily stunned, the sword in his hand did not hesitate, immediately pursuing Miketsu with another strike, but this time too, it missed.

Thus, Nura Rihyon continuously attacked Miketsu, but not once did he succeed. Either Miketsu dodged it or blocked it, and her demeanor was extremely casual, as if these actions were effortlessly easy.

In this one-on-one sword fight, Miketsu's causal vision truly gave her a huge advantage. Miketsu could read Nura Rihyon's every move in advance and respond accordingly. No matter how deceptive Nura Rihyon's techniques were, the threads of causality on his body still revealed his true intentions to Miketsu.

Seizing an opportunity, after dodging one of Nura Rihyon's attacks, she gently tripped him in the opening, causing Nura Rihyon to stumble and fall. He tumbled to the side, hitting his forehead on a pillar, then quickly scrambled back up.

"No, I apologize, let's go again..."

Nura Rihyon continued to engage in battle, but the result remained the same as before. None of his attacks could hit Miketsu, while Miketsu could often find opportunities after his attack errors to knock him down. She would then watch Nura Rihyon, who had fallen and been injured, get back up. After several repetitions, Nura Rihyon had accumulated many injuries, and the yokai watching the battle were all stifling their laughter at the scene.

Finally, after consistently failing to land a hit on Miketsu, Nura Rihyon, seeing Miketsu's nonchalant expression, believed she had become complacent. So, Nura Rihyon finally began to use his ultimate move.

"Kyouka Suigetsu... Phantom Light!"

During a surprise attack, Nura Rihyon's figure forcibly vanished before everyone's eyes. Subsequently, several phantoms simultaneously appeared around Miketsu, attacking her at the same time!

This time, Nura Rihyon truly disappeared from Miketsu's sight. Miketsu could even see these illusions; they were not generated by psychological suggestion but by optical phantoms created from demonic power. Nura Rihyon himself, at this moment, also used demonic power to create optical camouflage that allowed him to vanish before Miketsu's eyes. These were new techniques Nura Rihyon decisively employed after judging that suggestion might not be effective against his opponent.

"This kid is interesting..."

Watching this, Miketsu smiled slightly. These illusions and phantoms were as good as nothing to her. Nura Rihyon could deceive light, but he could not deceive causality. Miketsu knew at a glance where the danger would come from.

Although Miketsu could still easily evade this time, she decided to use a deterrent to end this meaningless duel.

She lightly infused a bit of divine power into the sword in her hand. Subsequently, a wild surge of demonic power erupted from her. The phantoms constructed from Nura Rihyon's demonic power severely distorted under Miketsu's demonic power, and his original figure also became visible amidst the strong demonic power disturbance.

"What..." Just as Nura Rihyon was astonished to find his technique broken, Miketsu had already easily dodged his surprise attack, then raised the blade in her hand high and slashed down directly at the now exposed Nura Rihyon.

Nura Rihyon was struck by the blade, falling straight to the ground, sliding all the way to the stairs and rolling directly to the first floor.

Seeing this, the previous snickering among the crowd abruptly stopped. Every yokai was now silent and stunned, surprised by what had just happened.

They had initially thought Nura Rihyon was merely an overconfident country yokai, but the techniques he had just displayed immediately changed their previous perception. His almost flawless illusions and invisibility were something none of them could confidently counter; they would likely be toyed with in the palm of his hand.

However, Owl had actually used a powerful outward burst of demonic power to directly break this technique. This was the first time she had released her demonic power so openly in front of so many yokai. The yokai present felt Owl's demonic power so directly for the first time.

Heavy and vast, like an abyss with no visible bottom... This was not something an ordinary yokai could possess.

"How, how powerful..." Watching all this, the Cat Shop Owner murmured softly from below. If Owl had previously relied more on intimidation through presence, now she was truly demonstrating her strength...

"So, I was rescued by such a powerful person from the start? And he has always taken such good care of my business..."

As she thought about this, the Cat Shop Owner felt a slight flutter in her heart.

"Nura Rihyon!!"

Tamamura, in the crowd, finally couldn't bear it any longer. He quickly rushed to Nura Rihyon's side, checking his injuries, but found that Nura Rihyon was unharmed, only having some bumps and scrapes.

"That's not right, I clearly saw him getting cut just now, didn't I?"

Just then, Nura Rihyon slowly propped himself up and stood. The grave expression on his face had transformed into a wry smile.

"I'm fine... Tamamura..."

Nura Rihyon stood up completely, then looked up at Miketsu on the second floor, sheathing his sword.

"Thank you for your mercy, esteemed one."

"The feeling is mutual..."

As she spoke, Miketsu righted the katana she held reversed in her hand and slowly returned it to its sheath. For that last strike, she had used the blunt side of the blade. As for why she did so, it was because Nura Rihyon had also used the blunt side of his blade when he first launched his surprise attack. Although he wanted to win, he had no killing intent, and Miketsu merely returned the favor.

"Even with the blunt side, your strike was too light, esteemed one. Despite my offense, you still held back. I have witnessed this generosity," Nura Rihyon said with a smile. The blunt-side strike that hit him had cleverly disrupted his balance, causing him to fall directly, but the strike itself was not heavy at all. This made Nura Rihyon believe that his opponent was holding back significantly.

Upon hearing Nura Rihyon's words, Miketsu's mouth twitched. She thought to herself that she had put her full strength into that last strike, intending to properly teach this rude brat a lesson. But alas, although this body was that of a deity, it was also a girl's body, completely unable to exert much force.

"I have witnessed the strength of Heian-kyo's powerful. We shall meet again..." With that, Nura Rihyon, along with Tamamura and the still unconscious Yamausagi, left the Cat Izakaya. The scene once again returned to its lively chatter, with the yokai discussing what had just happened, while Miketsu continued to enjoy her meal in her seat.

To help Miketsu get some seasoning, Konkiku went downstairs, and it was then that she was called over by the Cat Shop Owner.