The Hijacked Array

Inside the dark cavern, countless Yokai Beasts continuously surged from the shadows, pouncing towards Yura and the others whose spiritual power was suppressed by the Spirit Suppression Array. However, Qin Xin, wielding her naginata, cut them down. The masks on her head constantly shifted, displaying different abilities to adapt to the battle. The acceleration from the Demonic Fox Mask and the flames from the Lion Mask provided her with great assistance. So far, no Yokai Beast had managed to approach within ten meters of Yura and her companions.

However, no matter how many Qin Xin slew, the Yokai Beasts kept coming in endless waves. A closer look would reveal that the Shikigami cut down, as long as they didn’t suffer devastating injuries, could quickly recover and stand up again under the influence of the sinister power within their bodies. As for those Yokai Beasts that were completely dead, they would immediately be devoured by their nearby companions, accelerating their recovery while also absorbing the sinister power, thus becoming even stronger.

Thus, facing a seemingly undiminishing horde, Qin Xin began to contend with increasingly powerful Yokai Beasts that couldn’t be easily dispatched in one or two strikes. This subtly increased her combat pressure, as she couldn’t freely use area-of-effect skills while guarding her charges.

“Damn it… like this, we can’t do anything…” Half-crouching on the ground, Yura, whose spiritual power was restricted, anxiously watched the situation. They were undoubtedly a burden to Qin Xin, who couldn’t fight freely while protecting them.

“Asakura Hao’s Shikigami! First, find a way to locate and destroy the array node of this Magical Array to release us, otherwise, you won’t be able to handle so many of them!” Seeing the situation, Yura couldn’t help but shout. However, Qin Xin, while continuing to slay enemies, responded indifferently.

“Denied. My orders are to protect your safety to the greatest extent possible. Leaving here to search for the array node would expose you.”

“But you won’t be able to hold out like this!” Seeing Qin Xin’s refusal, Yura’s anxiety intensified, yet Qin Xin replied without the slightest hint of panic.

“No problem. The exact location has been sent. Just a little while longer…”

Just a little while longer? What did that mean?

As Yura pondered, Seimei’s clone, who had been observing from the darkness, seemed to find an opportune moment. He immediately activated his spiritual power, initiating a pre-arranged setup.

“Earth Dragon Tremor…”

Seimei’s clone pressed his hand to the ground, and suddenly, the ground beneath Qin Xin’s feet rolled and shook, causing her to lose her balance. At that moment, several more Yokai Beasts lunged at her. Qin Xin barely managed to fend them off and kill them, which exposed a greater vulnerability for Seimei.

“Evil Sealing Talisman Seal…” Seimei threw several talismans. These talismans seemed to possess tracking abilities, flying directly onto Qin Xin. Qin Xin immediately felt her demonic power being rapidly suppressed, to the point where even the demonic energy naginata in her hand momentarily blurred and became difficult to maintain. Seizing this opportunity, more Yokai Beasts swarmed her.

“Watch out!”

“Boom—!”

Just as Yura cried out, the inner wall of the cavern exploded with a deafening roar, unleashing a violent whirlwind of Demonic Energy that swept away many of the Yokai Beasts present. Many of the Yokai Beasts preparing to pounce on Qin Xin were also knocked down. Qin Xin seized this chance to switch to her Demonic Fox Mask, erupting Demonic Energy from within to form a blue Demonic Energy Cloak, breaking through the restrictions of the talismans stuck to her. The talismans instantly burst into flames.

“What… this Demonic Energy is…”

Seimei and all the Onmyoji present were startled, and everyone’s gaze turned in astonishment to where the Demonic Energy whirlwind had erupted. Many of them were familiar with this immense Demonic Energy, and thus, expressions of disbelief appeared on all their faces.

From the cavern entrance, ripped open by powerful demonic power, a figure clad in jet black slowly stepped in. In his hand, he gripped a great blade wreathed in fierce Demonic Energy, and all exposed parts of his body were wrapped in bandages. Under the shadow of his hood, terrifying red light gleamed.

“Owl! How are you here…” The Onmyoji were stunned looking at the being before them. Behind Owl, another slightly flippant voice answered their confusion.

“That would naturally be thanks to the information from your Great Onmyoji, Asakura Hao…”

“Haha, you all look quite pathetic, Onmyoji lords of the Capital.”

Speaking coolly, Nura Rihyon and Tanuki stepped out from behind Owl and stood beside him. Behind them, countless various Yokai slowly followed.

Qin Xin stood her ground, gazing at Owl not far away, meeting her gaze with an indifferent expression.

…

Atop the Astronomical Pavilion, Kikyo once again released her bowstring. The arrow, trailing a cyan spiritual power trajectory, shot directly towards the distant council chamber, piercing through the thick ceiling and heading straight for Seimei.

Through the connection between deity and Miko, Miketsu directly transmitted the situation she witnessed as a revelation to Kikyo. Kikyo then performed an invisible shot from hundreds of meters away, obscured by obstacles, allowing the arrow to reach maximum acceleration and become even more unpredictable.

Sensing the incoming spiritual power arrow, Seimei immediately conjured several barriers, attempting to block the incoming projectile. The arrow penetrated half of them before exploding directly. The powerful spiritual power shockwave shattered the remaining barriers, sending Seimei flying back against the wall. Fortunately, at the critical moment, Hakuzosu used his unique ability to absorb some of the impact heading towards Seimei, otherwise, Seimei would have suffered severe damage.

Seeing Seimei at a disadvantage, Miketsu subtly exhaled. Without her spirit spear on her, she found it inconvenient to intervene personally. She hoped to suppress Seimei directly through Kikyo and Onikiri.

“Pfft…” Seimei, having crashed into the wall, spat out a mouthful of blood. He slowly stood up, his face grim, the purplish-red abnormal glow in his eyes now even more pronounced.

“The Miko of Inari?… Heh, to even invite such help, it seems you’ve been preparing for a long time. But don’t forget, this is the Onmyoryo, and I am the Senior Secretary most frequently stationed here… You cannot defeat me here.”

Seimei finished in a low voice, then formed a hand seal with one hand and braced himself against the ground with the other, injecting his spiritual power into the earth to connect with and activate the Magical Array already set up underground.

“Mysterious Gate Ghost Soldier Array…”

At the same time, in several hidden corners of the Onmyoryo, Seimei’s pre-arranged paper figures transformed into clone shikigami amidst ethereal flames, joining the main body in activating the array. Instantly, the temperature throughout the entire Onmyoryo suddenly dropped by several degrees, and the Yin energy within the Onmyoryo gradually began to thicken.

Within the entire Onmyoryo, individual decaying corpses, half-illusory, half-real Undead Samurai, wielding broken blades and clad in tattered armor, gradually materialized. Seeing this, Miketsu couldn’t help but frown.

“This guy actually hijacked the Onmyoryo’s defensive array…”