With another roar, hordes of yokai charged forward once more, engaging Miketsu and the human soldiers in battle again. Miketsu swung her spear, shattering another group of demonic creatures. At this moment, her clean kariginu was already splattered with demonic blood.
“Tsuruha, we can’t keep wasting time like this; let’s finish them in one go!”
“Understood, Lady Uka. Do you need me to use Heavenly Fox Calamity Fire?”
“No, that consumes too much of your power. Tsuruha, you need to conserve energy for other situations later.”
“Then, Lady Uka, what are you preparing to do…?”
“I plan to test this spear. In any case, you retreat first, and I’ll explain the specifics to you later!”
Afterward, Miketsu, riding Tsuruha, carved a bloody path through the yokai horde and leaped back onto a high earthen platform. The samurai captain, who was directing the battle, was startled by Miketsu’s sudden retreat. Just as he wondered if this onmyoji general was planning to withdraw, the other party, riding the fox, appeared before him.
“Pass down the order: have everyone contract the defensive line and retreat before the manor!” Facing the captain, Miketsu said directly. This person, in her observation, should be the human commander.
“Retreat to the manor? …But, Your Excellency, we are currently defending the last high ground and pass! If we go to the manor, we will have no natural defenses!” Amazed by the strength of this onmyoji maiden, the captain was not angered by her commanding tone; instead, he directly explained the current situation to Miketsu.
“I am about to use my Asakura Style Onmyodo secret art. It is very unstable, and those nearby will be affected. Quickly, pull everyone back to avoid harming the innocent.” Riding on Tsuruha, Miketsu, covered in blood and holding her long spear, looked down at the samurai captain and said earnestly, leaving him stunned.
Suddenly, the samurai captain remembered that the other party was an onmyoji, not a military general, and could cast spells.
“Asakura Style… secret art? Since it is your family’s secret art, then I will believe it this once!” After a moment of thought, the samurai captain immediately went to issue the command.
Seeing the samurai captain’s retreating back, Miketsu breathed a slight sigh of relief. Clearly, what she had just said about the Asakura Style Onmyodo secret art was complete nonsense, intended only to make the other party believe her words more and act according to her wishes.
In this fantastical world, truly powerful Onmyojutsu is never the kind openly shared by the great clans within the Onmyoryo. Instead, it comprises secret family arts hidden within the clans, which only a select few in a family can master, and are key to an Onmyoji family's prosperity.
Miketsu, being an unorthodox practitioner, certainly had no family lineage, but this didn't stop her from fabricating one to bluff. Her human name was Asakura Hao, so naturally, it would be the Asakura Style secret art, even though there was no such Asakura family in this world.
The samurai captain’s order quickly spread throughout the entire human front. To stabilize morale and prevent a rout during the retreat, he also conveyed the reason for the withdrawal. For a time, all samurai, soldiers, and mystics knew that the fox-riding onmyoji who had charged into battle was about to unleash her family’s secret art. They all retreated while fighting, with a hint of worry and doubt, gradually pulling the front line back, ceding their previous positions to the enemy, and slowly withdrawing towards the manor.
Seeing this, Miketsu immediately began her preparations. She first rode Tsuruha to the rear of the mountain peak platform, her eyes fixed forward, pinpointing the direction, planning the path, all while gripping the Riyu Cross Spear tightly in her hand.
Taking a deep breath, Miketsu suddenly exerted herself, fully injecting her divine power into the spear in her hand. The spirit spear automatically converted Miketsu’s immense divine power into spiritual power, accumulating it within the spear without releasing it, thus gathering more and more.
Powerful spiritual energy surged wildly within the cross spear, causing the entire spear to glow with a white light. As more and more spiritual power gathered within the spear, the light grew increasingly intense, until it became impossible to look at directly.
Under Miketsu’s continuous output, the accumulated spiritual power in the cross spear finally approached its critical point. The entire spear now shone as dazzlingly as sunlight, and a constant humming sound emanated from its shaft.
“Run with all your might, Tsuruha!”
“Understood!”
With Miketsu’s command, Tsuruha, who had been poised and ready, galloped with all her might towards the direction of the incoming yokai, carrying Miketsu at an astonishing speed towards the pre-determined target. At high speed, Tsuruha made a leap, landing on the high fence of the mountain peak platform. Then, maintaining her forward momentum, she jumped higher and higher between these fences until she reached a tall lookout tower. Finally, with a powerful leap, she pushed off the lookout tower, carrying Miketsu into the high sky.
At the highest point in the air, Miketsu, with all her might, hurled the high-energy long spear in her hand towards the distant horde of yokai. Afterward, she and Tsuruha were caught by gravity and fell. Tsuruha skillfully landed on a tree, and by leaping twice between its branches, she absorbed the impact and safely came to a stop.
As for the long spear Miketsu threw, propelled by Tsuruha’s sprint and Miketsu’s throw, it flew straight into the distance. From the combined height of the mountain peak, the lookout tower, and Tsuruha’s leap, it traced a graceful parabola directly towards the ground. The shining white light on its body left a beautiful trail, like a shooting star.
The spirit spear, brimming with immense spiritual power, landed in the center of the yokai horde on Fangshan Castle. Its tip plunged deep into the ground, and then, the surging spiritual energy poured out from the tip onto the earth.
Countless intricate patterns and characters, shimmering with light, spread out like a tide from the spirit spear as their center. In just a few moments, they covered a large area of the ground. The yokai with red eyes now had incantations almost imprinted beneath their feet.
An unprecedented, super-large exploding talisman was now drawn by Miketsu onto the earth, using the spirit spear as her brush!
Watching all of this from a distant tree, Miketsu softly spoke.
“Asakura Style Secret Art—Eight Directions Spirit Blast Array…”
Terrifying spiritual power tore through the ground and erupted. A deafening roar that could temporarily deafen echoed through the sky, and blinding white light shot upwards, making the entire Fangshan Castle momentarily as bright as day.
...
At the top of Fangshan Castle’s manor, the towering rooftop was now in ruins, covered in marks of powerful impacts and blade cuts. A six-eyed giant bird lay dead upon it, its head severed, blood continuously flowing down the eaves. At opposite ends of the rooftop, Minamoto no Yorimasa and Taira no Kageyori now faced each other.
“Heh heh, Young Master Taira truly lives up to his reputation. The rumors of the Taira blood are indeed true; tonight’s gains here have increased by one more thing.” Holding a long sword, Minamoto no Yorimasa said with a smile. Beside him, faint, ethereal shadows flickered.
“Humans with such filthy blood flowing through them… don’t you feel ashamed?”
“Hahaha… you still have the nerve to talk to me about humans? Are those things you command something humans should dabble in? Aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?!” Taira no Kageyori pointed his sword at Minamoto no Yorimasa and laughed loudly. At this moment, he had, at some unknown point, donned a terrifying mask, covering his entire body along with his armor.
“Divine retribution? Hmph, if it were coming, it would have come already.” Facing Taira no Kageyori’s accusations, Minamoto no Yorimasa was unconcerned and continued.
“You can only boast with words now. You can’t do anything. Once all the yokai attack this castle, you’ll be finished…”
“You will all ultimately be defeated and buried with this castle, and Itsumaden will belong to us!”
No sooner had Minamoto no Yorimasa finished speaking than an earth-shattering roar erupted in the South City. The intense tremor shook the manor, almost causing them to lose their footing. The immense white light that shot skyward forced them to cover their eyes, and the outrageous spiritual energy fluctuations assaulted their senses.
As the roar slowly subsided, the white light gradually dimmed, and the tremors ceased, the two figures on the rooftop stood frozen, staring in astonishment towards the south, silently sensing the sudden disappearance of a vast amount of demonic energy.
Rate on N.U.
