Chapter 27 - Rampage.

Under the seemingly tireless and constant assault of the Demon-Faced Centipede, Tsuruha was gradually reaching her limit. In this contest of stamina, she began to fall behind, nearly getting struck directly several times.

Seeing the increasingly dire situation, Miketsu gritted her teeth and communicated with Tsuruha through her thoughts.

"Tsuruha, find a way to throw me onto the mask on that thing's head. Its weak point should be there!"

Miketsu wanted to use her ability to burn yokai to directly attack its weak point, just as she had against the One-Bite Yokai. She figured it couldn't possibly absorb her demon-purifying power.

"Absolutely not, Lady Uka! That's far too dangerous! Although your demon-purifying power is the natural enemy of yokai, using it through mere contact is too inefficient. Given its size, even attacking a weak point won't kill it instantly, and might even enrage it."

After hearing Miketsu's words, Tsuruha vehemently objected. She was unwilling to let Miketsu take such a risk, and her reasoning was very sound.

"I know it's risky, but if this continues, none of us will survive. Since normal attacks are ineffective, we have no choice but to try the demon-purifying power!"

Miketsu continued to persuade her. Facing the Demon-Faced Centipede, they had no other options. After hearing Miketsu's words and a moment of silence, Tsuruha gave her reply.

"Lady Uka... please be ready!"

Hearing Tsuruha, Miketsu held her breath, focused her mind, and tightened her grip on Tsuruha.

The Demon-Faced Centipede's giant tail swept towards them. Tsuruha pushed off with all four limbs, leaping high to dodge it. Then, she kicked off a tree branch and continued her ascent, vaulting directly above the Demon-Faced Centipede's head in one go. At that moment, Miketsu, who had been waiting for this chance, sprang forward and landed precisely on the hard, enormous demon mask.

The moment Miketsu landed on the mask, she thrust both hands out, aiming for its eyes. Realizing something was wrong, the Demon-Faced Centipede immediately shut its eyes. Hard eyelids, like armor, blocked Miketsu's path, but she didn't stop.

The instant Miketsu's arms touched the demon mask's eyelids, a fierce sizzling sound erupted. The hard carapace, which normally wouldn't even chip when striking giant rocks, melted like butter on a hot iron under Miketsu's hands. Her hands pierced through the mask without resistance, directly damaging the eyes beneath.

"Gaaaaaaah!"

The Demon-Faced Centipede let out a piercing shriek. Then, the mask's large mouth opened, and a long spike shot out, attempting to impale the attacker standing on it.

The moment the mask's mouth opened, Miketsu sensed the danger. She pulled her hands out and dodged the piercing spike, but lost her balance in the process and fell from the mask.

"Lady Uka!"

Seeing this, Tsuruha panicked. She wanted to rescue her but was too far away at that moment. This was bad...

Feeling herself in freefall, Miketsu had a bad feeling. Just then, a pale, swift shadow caught her in mid-air. Looking closely, she saw it was Yura's Tanrou!

"Yura!"

"Don't talk! We need to run, now..."

Caught, Miketsu quickly righted herself. Taking advantage of the fact that the Demon-Faced Centipede had not yet recovered from its pain, they fled the scene at top speed. Tsuruha, seeing this, breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to disengage and follow them.

"Aaaah... it hurts... it hurts... IT HURTS!! All... of you... will die!!" Its eyes burned by the demon-purifying power, the Demon-Faced Centipede writhed in agony. Two streams of bloody tears flowed from the giant demon mask on its head. Its heart was now filled with rage.

The joy of hunting its prey had completely vanished. The Demon-Faced Centipede was no longer thinking about devouring them; it now only wanted to tear these insignificant offenders to shreds.

"Kaka kaka..."

Accompanied by a series of sounds like breaking bones, all the demon masks along the centipede's body opened their mouths. Spikes as thick as small trees extended from these mouths. In an instant, the Demon-Faced Centipede's entire body was covered in long spikes.

Then, an immense amount of demonic energy erupted from the Demon-Faced Centipede. Through Spiritual Vision, one could clearly see the black aura rapidly spreading out.

What is happening?!

Riding on Tanrou behind Yura, Miketsu was able to observe the situation behind them. When she saw the Demon-Faced Centipede's transformation, a sense of dread washed over her.

"Lady Uka, run! It's going to destroy everything around it!" Tsuruha, following closely behind, sent the message to Miketsu. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

"Speed up, Yura! That thing is about to use its ultimate attack!"

"I know... but I can't maintain this speed for long!"

Although she didn't know what "ultimate attack" meant, Yura instinctively understood the gravity of the situation from the burst of demonic power behind them. She took another paper charm from her sleeve and immediately said to Miketsu.

"Recall your shikigami."

"Tsuruha!"

Tsuruha understood. She suddenly accelerated and leaped, shrinking rapidly in mid-air and landing securely in Miketsu's arms.

"I'm counting on you... Tanrou..."

"Swift!"

With a sharp command, Yura slapped the charm onto Tanrou. In that instant, pale blue flames erupted from Tanrou's four paws, and its speed immediately increased by another level.

At the same time, the Demon-Faced Centipede began its strange movement. The wildly dispersing demonic energy started to form a vortex. At the center of this vortex, the Demon-Faced Centipede began to twist its body.

"Earth Dragon Needle Burst..."

The Demon-Faced Centipede's long body began to rotate at high speed around its own axis, defying the laws of physics, spinning faster and faster. The long spikes on its body began to churn the surrounding demonic energy. The vortex of demonic energy spun along with the Demon-Faced Centipede, instantly forming a demonic storm.

"RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!"

Spinning at high speed within the demonic storm, the Demon-Faced Centipede had transformed into a tornado—a living, moving land-spout. Engulfed in a demonic storm that leveled everything in its path, the centipede flipped up, down, left, and right like an emerging earth dragon, destroying everything around it. No matter how thick the trees or how hard the boulders, they were all instantly pulverized in this catastrophe.

The tremendous commotion shook the area for dozens of miles around. Everyone within range—be they human, yokai, or beast—simultaneously looked towards the center of the sound, towards that ominous place where demonic energy surged into the sky.