Holding the Rear

"Tsuruha!"

Seeing the scene before her, Miketsu immediately called out to Tsuruha. The divine fox, reacting instantly, followed Miketsu's gaze and also spotted the strange centipede. Without a word, she immediately spat out a wisp of flame.

Struck by Tsuruha's flames, the creature twisted in agony, instantly turning to ash in the fire. However, upon seeing the centipede incinerated, neither Tsuruha nor Miketsu showed any joy. Instead, their faces were grim.

"Tsuruha... was that one of the centipede demon's...?"

"Yes... that was likely a Servant Demon of the Demon-Faced Centipede. Lady Uka, I'm afraid we've been discovered..."

Hearing Tsuruha's words, Miketsu couldn't help but swallow. She hadn't expected to be found by the centipede demon after such a short time.

Miketsu believed that the information seen by the small centipede would be faithfully transmitted to the main demon. Given its speed, it wouldn't take long to reach them.

Gazing at the tall, dark forest, a drop of cold sweat trickled down Miketsu's forehead. She could almost feel a terrifying figure, like a speeding train, rushing through the distant woods.

"Let's go... Let's go now, Tsuruha! Carry Yura on your back! We have to run before it gets here!" Miketsu turned to Tsuruha, but found her divine messenger standing calmly in place, gazing into the distance, her thoughts unreadable. Miketsu had never seen her in such a state.

"Tsuru...ha?"

Miketsu called out to her divine messenger, who then turned her head and spoke calmly.

"At that yokai's speed, we'll be caught quickly if we all go together. Lady Uka, you must escape first. I will go and delay the Demon-Faced Centipede. Use that time to get away from here as fast as you can, find a safe place, and set up another Concealment Array. Hold out until the onmyoji from Heian-kyo arrive."

Hearing Tsuruha's words, Miketsu stood stunned, at a loss for what to say. After a moment, she finally spoke.

"No... You can't! You can't handle that thing alone, Tsuruha!"

"I'm only going to delay the Demon-Faced Centipede, not fight it head-on."

"But you'll still be defeated in the end!"

"Rest assured, Lady Uka. With my speed, I can definitely escape safely. Without a passenger, I can move even faster."

"It's still no good, it's too dangerous! Tsuruha, I command you in my name as a god not to do this!" Seeing that her divine messenger seemed to have made up her mind, Miketsu grew anxious and invoked her divine authority.

This was the first time she had ever given Tsuruha a command in such a formal tone.

Seeing her goddess like this, Tsuruha revealed a gentle smile and spoke in a soft tone.

"Unfortunately... Lady Uka, you have not yet mastered your divine power, which includes the contract with your divine messenger. Please do not worry, Lady Uka. As the leader of the Inari foxes, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."

With that, Tsuruha suddenly leaped up. After a few bounds, her agile figure was already standing on a distant tree branch, in the direction from which the Demon-Faced Centipede's demonic aura was coming.

Her earlier words were clear: the current Miketsu could not issue a binding command to her.

"Please hurry and leave, Lady Uka."

Although I want to urge you to leave that girl behind and escape alone, in the end, with your love for humans, you wouldn't be able to abandon her, would you? In any case, please cherish every second that I've bought for you!

Tsuruha knew that although her goddess's current personality was somewhat carefree and slow, she was still rational at her core. If Tsuruha went to stop the Demon-Faced Centipede like this, Miketsu would leave directly once she saw there was no hope of changing her mind.

"Tsuruha..." Watching Tsuruha leap away through the branches in the distance, Miketsu stood frozen, feeling a sudden emptiness in her heart.

Her greatest support since she had crossed over, her fiercely loyal divine messenger, was leaving her just like that, and might never return.

"Damn it..." Miketsu clenched her fists, her teeth gritted. An unprecedented sense of frustration and helplessness rose in her heart. In the end, not only could she do nothing, but she had also become a burden to Tsuruha, a burden to the one who cared for her most in this world.

"...I'm completely useless..."

Her legs gave way, and Miketsu fell to her knees, supporting herself with her hands on the ground. A profound bitterness welled up in her heart...

Just then, Miketsu felt her hand touch something. Looking down, she saw it was a scroll—the one Yura had given her to copy the array from. After she had finished drawing, she had tossed it aside carelessly.

This scroll seemed to be what Yura used to record the onmyojutsu she had collected herself. The techniques inside were varied and disorganized, covering a wide range of types.

At this moment, the scroll lay half-open before Miketsu, and her gaze was firmly captivated by one particular section.

Miketsu couldn't help but pick up the scroll and bring it closer to examine it carefully. The bitter expression on her face began to fade.

A glimmer of light appeared in her eyes.

"This is..."

...

In another part of the dark forest, the Demon-Faced Centipede moved like a high-speed train between the towering ancient trees.

"Found you... found you... found you... Hehehe... So what if you hide your aura... So what if you block your spiritual power... I still found you..."

Its voice filled with excitement, the Demon-Faced Centipede, with its blood-crying faces, accelerated, speeding toward the location reported by its Servant Demon.

"Just you wait... This time... I'm going to... crush you all..."

Just as the Demon-Faced Centipede was racing through the forest, a jet of flame shot down at it from the treetops. Caught off guard, the Demon-Faced Centipede was hit squarely.

"Aaargh!"

The Demon-Faced Centipede's body screeched to a halt, knocking down two large trees in its path. Its burning body writhed, and the demon faces on its body opened once more, absorbing all the flames.

"It's you... little fox..."

Using its antennae, the Demon-Faced Centipede quickly sensed the source of the attack. It was Tsuruha, who was now standing on a treetop, looking down at it.

The blood-crying demon face opened its mouth, and the previously absorbed flames shot back out. Already prepared, Tsuruha leaped down from the treetop. The flames that had been aimed at her instantly incinerated the entire canopy.

Tsuruha landed nimbly on the ground, directly facing the monster a hundred times her size.