Elusion

The Divine Messenger clearly hadn't anticipated the sheer power of the slash from the black-robed mystic before him, so strong that he couldn't resist it at all. The Divine Messenger's strength surpassed ordinary yokai, yet Miketsu now possessed power akin to a demon god.

The Divine Messenger drew his sword to meet Miketsu's attack, resulting in shattered bones and torn muscles. Half of his body was directly slammed into the ground, and Seimei, whom he had been holding, was jolted loose and fell to the earth. His brow furrowed, his face etched with an expression of disbelief.

But it wasn't over yet. After Miketsu landed, she delivered a direct, powerful kick to the side of the Divine Messenger's face, still half-buried in the ground. The immense force instantly crushed most of his skull. His head, dragging his body, was pulled from the earth as if uprooting a radish, flying in the direction of the kick, and slamming into a massive boulder, shattering it.

“This guy’s neck is really tough,” Miketsu couldn’t help but inwardly muse, seeing this. “Any ordinary person would have their entire head kicked off after such a fierce blow, but this one’s head not only stayed on but also carried his body flying. Such resilience is truly astonishing.”

“Are you alright?” Turning her head, Miketsu looked at Seimei, who was coughing as he stood up, and spoke calmly.

“Phew… I’m fine… but Lady Owl, if you had arrived just two steps later, I couldn’t say the same…” Seimei replied, smiling slightly as he looked at Miketsu.

After dispatching Roku, Miketsu immediately called Makoto to her side. From Makoto’s bag, she retrieved a spare set of attire, quickly changed, and then rushed over. The bandages, which were quite troublesome to wrap, she only loosely bound around her head and forearms, the areas that were always exposed.

Meanwhile, the Divine Messenger, who had been brutally kicked into the giant boulder, slowly rose amidst the shattered rocks and dust. His severely twisted and deformed skull rapidly snapped back into shape with a series of cracking bone sounds. His eyeballs, which had just returned to their sockets, adjusted their position, fixing a death-glare on Miketsu, the culprit who had reduced him to this state in mere moments.

“This level of monstrous strength… are you… an Oni of Mount Oe? And… an Oni King?!” As soon as he regained the ability to speak, the Divine Messenger uttered in a hoarse, twisted voice, his tone laced with disbelief.

In response to the Divine Messenger’s question, Miketsu casually swung her Demonic Blade, remarking with an air of ease.

“What do you think?”

“No, that’s wrong. The Four Generals of the Oni should all still be on Mount Oe. There’s no reason for you to be here… Who exactly are you?” The Divine Messenger struggled to his feet, healing his wounds as he went. During this process, much of his dilapidated armor gradually shattered and fell away due to the immense impact, revealing his almost completely crushed helmet.

After the Divine Messenger's helmet fell, his disheveled hair fanned out, reaching his shoulders. What was particularly noteworthy was a vibrant crimson streak in the front of his hair, like a highlight. Seeing this, Seimei couldn't help but flinch.

“Perhaps you can find the answer to your question in our continued fight,” Miketsu said, her demonic power gathering furiously around her Demonic Blade. She was ready for another round.

Even before flying to the scene, Miketsu had sensed the power he unleashed, the familiar Blood Sacrifice energy. Upon arriving and seeing this ancient samurai wielding a peculiar Demonic Sword, Miketsu confirmed that this person was the mastermind behind everything.

The combination of the Demonic Sword and the ancient samurai perfectly matched Mokou’s and Aoi’s descriptions. The broken blades on Roku, Kakuhanbo, and Mokou were almost certainly fragments from the Demonic Sword in his hand. He was the one secretly orchestrating all of this.

Facing Miketsu, whose fighting spirit was intensifying, the Divine Messenger, now mostly recovered, also saw the Demonic Sword in his hand emit a purplish-red glow, but it quickly faded.

Since Miketsu had appeared here, it proved that Roku, whom he had just fought, was dead. The plan to seize the Tengu-do and control all of Sugo Ungo had failed. There was no longer any point in him remaining here.

The strength of this yokai named Owl was unexpectedly formidable. Facing her head-on without preparation would be no easier than facing Kakuhanbo. Once the tengu finished eliminating the renegades, he would face the combined assault of all of Sugo Ungo. Remaining here was an unwise choice.

“Kakuhanbo is dead… the Four Symbols Seal is activated, the primary objective has been reached… there’s no need to entangle myself further…” Whispering in a barely audible voice, the Divine Messenger thrust the Demonic Sword into the ground. Immediately, a wave of shadow spread from where the sword was plunged, engulfing the Divine Messenger’s feet, and he sank directly into the darkness.

Miketsu instantly perceived the Divine Messenger’s intention to escape. Without a word, she swung her Demonic Blade, unleashing an Explosive Current Wave towards him. The Divine Messenger’s figure was engulfed by the demonic energy storm, but once the storm dispersed, only shattered rocks and broken branches remained; the Divine Messenger himself had vanished.

He possesses spatial abilities too? Seeing this, Miketsu couldn't help but think. After confirming through the threads of causality that she could no longer sense the Divine Messenger, Miketsu transformed her Demonic Blade back into a tachi and put it away.

This fight wouldn't happen now. Miketsu sighed softly, worried about where the opponent might stir up trouble next. However, amidst her concern, there was a small flicker of relief. Her previous black robe and bandages had been shredded by Roku’s wind blades. When she put on a new black robe, she had only loosely wrapped her limbs and head; the rest was still tattered, and excessive movement carried the risk of exposure.

“Did he leave?” Seimei asked, looking at the empty battlefield before them.

“Yes, his escape method was unique; I can’t track him,” Miketsu replied to Seimei, then turned to ask him a question.

“Can you tell me anything about his origins? You two seemed to be confronting each other for quite a while,” Miketsu asked tentatively, not really expecting Seimei to provide any valuable answers.

“I’m still unsure of his origins, but I do have some clues…” Seimei then shared some information about the Divine Messenger with Miketsu, including his claim to have once been a human of noble birth, relying on his sword to communicate with and pledge allegiance to a certain deity. Finally, Seimei revealed one more discovery.

“After you knocked off his helmet, there was a streak of crimson hair among his forelocks…”

“I saw that too. Is there something significant about it?” Miketsu asked Seimei, puzzled. Seimei simply smiled and continued.

“A streak of crimson hair at the forehead… that is a distinguishing feature of Minamoto men.”

The Minamoto? Them again? Could this individual be the Minamoto traitor revealed in my earlier divination?

Upon hearing Seimei’s words, Miketsu immediately connected him to her previous divination, but after a moment’s thought, it felt somewhat off.

According to Mokou’s experiences, Miketsu could ascertain that the Divine Messenger was a figure from several centuries ago. In that case, could he be an ancestor of the Minamoto clan?

At this thought, Miketsu suddenly recalled some information she had gathered about the Minamoto clan in the Onmyoryo’s archives.

The so-called Minamoto clan were actually bestowed their surname; in essence, they were imperial family members demoted to commoner status…

The samurai’s existence likely predated Mokou’s era, and the Minamoto surname didn’t exist then. This implied that the samurai was likely a member of the Imperial family, born into the Tenno’s household.