Subduing Demons

"Alright... no problem..." After the final confirmation, Gonnosuke chuckled, then had his subordinates place several boxes they were carrying onto the ground. "The stakes are all here, Lord Kageyori, please inspect them." "No need, I trust Sir Gonnosuke's word," Taira no Kageyori said, then he took a key from his waist and handed it to Gonnosuke. Just as Gonnosuke contentedly accepted the key, a loud bang suddenly echoed from afar, and the ground trembled slightly.

"What happened?!" Seeing this, Taira no Kageyori immediately roared at his subordinates. A moment later, a samurai rushed from afar, kneeling before Taira no Kageyori, panting as he spoke. "Reporting, my lord! Yokai are attacking the city from the south!" "More yokai? How many this time?" Taira no Kageyori asked urgently, immediately recalling the large-scale yokai horde from last night. "Only one. We and the Onmyoji sirs have already gone to meet it!" "One?" Taira no Kageyori was instantly puzzled. Could just one cause such a commotion?

"Sir Kageyori, what's happening?" Gonnosuke asked with a worried expression. "Nothing, just a small issue. I'll personally resolve it immediately. Sir Gonnosuke, please take Itsumaden into the residence first and guard it well, lest the enemy try to feign an attack to draw us away." "Alright, alright, Lord Kageyori, you must slay the demon."

After this, Taira no Kageyori rushed to the south of the city, while Gonnosuke and his guards took Itsumaden into the residence...

To the south of Fangshan Castle, on the vast ruins created by the Eight Directions Spirit Blast Array, Miketsu, wrapped in bandages and cloaked in black, stood alone, shouldering a massive demonic blade. Before her, countless Taira clan samurai, fortified by medicine and talismans, charged towards her.

Watching this scene, Miketsu tightened her grip on the hilt of her blade. A chilling aura immediately surged forth from the broad demonic blade, and the entire blade transformed into ice in an instant. "Cold Ice Break!"

Miketsu brandished the giant ice blade, and the icy demonic energy on it transformed into a fierce blizzard, sweeping towards the charging samurai. In an instant, it completely froze all the samurai along with a large section of the ground, shattering an entire wave of attack with just one move.

Miketsu had carefully adjusted the power; with the samurai's superhuman physique, the ice wouldn't be enough to freeze them to death.

"What?!" Kamo no Yasunori, who had been carried into the air by his shikigami and was preparing to launch an attack alongside the samurai, clearly hadn't expected the Taira clan samurai to be dealt with so quickly. His side had just pulled out their talismans, and the fight was already over.

At this moment, Kamo no Yasunori suddenly realized the gravity of the situation. The unknown yokai before him might be far more powerful than he imagined. If they didn't go all out, his side probably wouldn't stand a chance.

"Tsunehira, Masachika, this guy might be a yokai general! Form the array immediately!" "Understood!" The onmyoji, who were cooperating with Kamo no Yasunori and had already flanked Miketsu, immediately responded and shouted upon hearing Kamo no Yasunori's words, then successively drew out their talismans.

"Yosuzume, Blind Feather!" Kamo no Yasunori called out, looking at the Yosuzume shikigami below, which had transformed into a black bird. "Understood, Lord Yasunori!" Obeying its master's command, Yosuzume flapped its wings, scattering black feathers. Any person or yokai who saw these feathers would be forcibly blinded by Yosuzume, plunged into darkness.

Seeing that Yosuzume's blinding spell had been activated, the onmyoji began their next move. The three of them simultaneously pulled out several talismans and threw them towards Miketsu. "Demon-Suppressing Talisman!"

The onmyoji's talismans shot towards Miketsu, but Miketsu didn't dodge in the slightest, allowing the talismans to stick to her body.

Yosuzume's flight altitude lowered, and Kamo no Yasunori jumped directly from Yosuzume's back. He had already begun chanting in mid-air, and the jutsu-shiki was activated upon landing. "Subdue demons and bind spirits, golden chains connect, by my command! Golden Chain Demon Binding Spell!"

As Kamo no Yasunori's words faded, translucent golden chains appeared out of thin air around Miketsu, then tightened, binding her securely.

Seeing the spell successfully cast, a faint smile appeared on Kamo no Yasunori's lips. Then, he and the other two onmyoji chanted together. Moments later, white light began to emanate from their bodies, revealing spiritual power fluctuations. "Three-Point Evil Dissolving Array!"

The three onmyoji resonated with each other, and lines of light extended from their feet, connecting to form a triangular magical array. Miketsu was positioned at the center of the array.

It's done! Seeing the array formed, Kamo no Yasunori's heart swelled with joy. This array's purpose was to dissolve evil and exorcise demons; everything from the demon realm within it would suffer, become weak, and gradually evaporate.

Because setting up this array required preparation time and the opponent had to be immobile, Kamo no Yasunori used a control chain method to facilitate the array's formation.

First, Yosuzume's blinding spell, which prevented the opponent from seeing the direction of incoming attacks, allowing their Demon-Suppressing Talismans to accurately stick to the opponent's body to suppress their demonic energy. With the opponent's demonic energy restricted, they then used the Demon Binding Spell to restrain their movements.

Finally, with the opponent unable to see, demonic energy sealed, and movements restricted, they activated the Evil Dissolving Array, ensuring a 100% capture and direct subjugation!

This combo had a clear strategy, with interlocking steps and perfect coordination. The preceding series of controls were all preparations for the final killing blow of the array. This was the most traditional method of demon subjugation used by onmyoji families in Heian-kyo, a classic routine!

Now, Kamo no Yasunori and his companions just had to wait for the demon within the array to slowly dissolve.

But after several seconds, Kamo no Yasunori realized something was amiss. The black-robed demon trapped in the center of their array showed no reaction whatsoever—no struggle, no screams, no resistance. It simply stood there silently, as if nothing were happening.

Seeing this, Kamo no Yasunori was stunned. He and his two companions exchanged glances and immediately increased their spiritual power output to the array, but the opponent still showed no reaction.

Looking at the magical array beneath her feet and the surrounding light barrier, Miketsu let out a soft breath. She slowly turned her head, fixing her crimson single eye clearly on Kamo no Yasunori, who, caught in her gaze, suddenly shivered.

"An Evil Dissolving Array, is it? Young onmyoji, I have a question for you. Am I... evil?"

As she spoke, Miketsu easily broke free from the demon-binding chains on her body, raised the giant blade in her hand, and then a surge of immense demonic power shot into the sky. The light barrier constructed by the Three-Point Evil Dissolving Array instantly shattered layer by layer.

"Or rather... are all yokai evil!?"

Miketsu swung the Demonic Fang Blade, and her vast demonic energy transformed into a hurricane, violently tearing apart the magical array around her. The three onmyoji around her immediately suffered spiritual backlash as the array was broken. Before they could even spit out blood, they were caught in the demonic energy storm, blown far away, and fell to the ground. The two other onmyoji were instantly unconscious, while Kamo no Yasunori, after spitting a mouthful of blood, almost fainted. His spiritual power was now in chaos, and he had almost completely lost the ability to move.

When Miketsu saw the trio of onmyoji, she fully activated her Causal Vision to anticipate any impending crisis. However, to her surprise, although these guys were casting spells from beginning to end, none of them posed a threat to her. So, she simply stood there and took all their attacks.

Demon-Suppressing Talisman, Demon Binding Spell, Evil Dissolving Array... these things seemed powerful, but they were all specifically designed for yokai from the demon realm. As a deity, Miketsu could not be affected, so their techniques were all ineffective from the start!

Onmyojutsu that could be used against Miketsu would need to possess strong physical destructive power. Perhaps Asakura Hao's Asakura Style Onmyojutsu would have more say in this regard.