Water Mastery

Night fell upon East Island, a subsidiary of Nightless Island. Rapid torrents erupted violently from beneath the ground, surging into the sky and condensing into a massive, dark-blue shark. Surrounded by a school of countless smaller fish, it crashed directly toward Miketsu. The Lord of Arakawa's offensive this time was far more ferocious than before.

Faced with the incoming swarm of demonic energy fish, Miketsu gripped her Demonic Fang Blade and spun in place. A powerful gale of demonic energy erupted from her, expanding outward with her at the center.

"Explosive Current Wave: Circle Guard!"

The gale triggered by the Explosive Current Wave did not sweep toward any particular direction as it usually did. Instead, it contracted around Miketsu, forming a high-speed, spherical barrier of demonic energy. The demonic energy fish striking from all directions shattered into splashes of water upon contact with the barrier. This was a variation of the Explosive Current Wave, a defensive maneuver Miketsu had developed from the offensive technique.

The scattered fish were pulverized by the demonic energy gale, but the massive water shark merely lost a large amount of water and veered off course without immediately dispersing. The Lord of Arakawa instantly tightened his control over the shark, and the water began to shift and squirm, rapidly changing its shape.

"Your little tricks are useless! Sword Thrust!"

Under the Lord of Arakawa's command, the water shark transformed into a long, slender swordfish. The long, spear-like rostrum at the front of the swordfish shimmered with brilliant blue demonic power, clearly a form specialized for piercing defenses.

The water swordfish thrashed its caudal fin violently in the air, swimming forward at high speed. It intended to use its demonic-power-saturated spike to pierce through the defensive gale. The swordfish would have no trouble breaking through Miketsu's defense, and Miketsu knew it.

"Go!"

Miketsu swung her Demonic Fang Blade forward. The demonic energy gale surrounding her immediately surged in the direction she pointed, reverting to the form of the original Explosive Current Wave tornado. The tornado collided with the water swordfish mid-air, shattering its main body, before continuing its spiral toward the Lord of Arakawa.

"Hmph..." Facing the incoming tornado, the Lord of Arakawa snorted coldly. With another wave of his folding fan, the ground before him exploded. A thick pillar of water erupted once more, and he commanded this massive flow to collide with Miketsu's tornado. Amidst the thunderous roar of crashing water, Miketsu's Explosive Current Wave was blocked by the Lord of Arakawa.

"It seems you do have some skill, Owl. But unfortunately, you cannot win against me in a place like this..." The Lord of Arakawa looked at Miketsu, his gaze becoming more solemn and focused.

"Heh... A geographical advantage?" Miketsu responded in a low voice. On this deserted island in the middle of the sea, the Lord of Arakawa, a Yokai Lord of the aquatic tribes, undoubtedly held a massive geographical advantage. Not only was the air thick with moisture, but the rocky fissures beneath the island were filled with seawater. All of this could be commanded by the Lord of Arakawa's demonic power. In terms of water manipulation, the Lord of Arakawa was the strongest Miketsu had ever seen.

In truth, it wouldn't be difficult for Miketsu to defeat any of these Yokai Lords individually. If she fought in her divine form, she could easily handle them all. However, doing so would not only expose her identity but would also likely draw a collective assault from Tamamo-no-Mae and the seven other Yokai Lords. Even without considering any other allies Tamamo-no-Mae might have, facing a god-level entity like Tamamo-no-Mae alongside seven other powerful yokai was a risk Miketsu didn't want to take head-on. Even as an orthodox god, while she might be able to suppress Tamamo-no-Mae, the risk was too great when combined with the others. Furthermore, Tamamo-no-Mae likely had other hidden supporters.

Therefore, for Miketsu—setting aside the covert actions of Slippery Nura and Seimei—the best way to stop Tamamo-no-Mae's plan was to win this contest as Owl, forcing Tamamo-no-Mae to give her the Black Tortoise demonic power willingly. However, the greatest difficulty was that she had to refrain from using any power other than that of a yokai throughout the entire contest. Unable to use spiritual or divine power, she had to rely solely on demonic power. Defeating a group of legendary Yokai Lords under these conditions was indeed a significant challenge.

"Come, Owl! Now, witness the power of the surging waves!" As the Lord of Arakawa spoke, he gave a grand sweep of his fan. Instantly, the waves along the coast of the island grew turbulent. Pillars of water rose from the shallow seas surrounding the island, flying toward the center and merging together. In an instant, the volume of water under his control increased dozens of times over.

The vast amount of seawater, driven by his demonic power, split and transformed into countless fish of various shapes. These fish were as large as the previous swordfish and sharks—not things that could be easily shattered by a demonic energy gale, and many among them possessed the power to break shields.

"Go!"

At the Lord of Arakawa's command, the massive swarm of water fish shot toward Miketsu like arrows. Their numbers were far beyond what a single Explosive Current Wave could handle.

"What a spectacular sight. Indeed... when it comes to the scale of energy manipulation, the difference between humans and yokai is more than just a little." Observing the scene, Miketsu couldn't help but sigh in admiration. Then, the Demonic Fang Blade in her hand transformed into freezing ice.

...

In a certain area of the sea near Nightless Island, only a few stray yokai soldiers flew through the sky on patrol, boredly scanning the vast, endless ocean. Beneath them, a small fishing boat sailed slowly forward. Not a single one of the yokai soldiers in the sky could see the vessel.

"Just as usual, the patrol and security here are at their weakest during this time..." Grasping his bamboo hat, the old fisherman looked up at the sparse yokai soldiers and spoke in a low voice. Not far from him, Seimei frowned at the sight.

"This is a Stealth Art... You know Onmyojutsu?"

"Heh, not bad. To be able to recognize the technique, you have some skill..." The old fisherman glanced at Seimei with a hint of praise.

"It's not just Onmyojutsu... looking at this, you specifically chose the time and place where the yokai's guard is most relaxed. You know the yokai of Nightless Island very well." Beside Seimei, Slippery Nura noted other details.

"Of course I know them. Ever since they took Ali from the sea ten years ago, I have been studying them..." the old fisherman said calmly, his gaze fixed on the distant lights that had begun to emerge.

"Ali...?"

"Yes. You people call her Shiranui. Ali was her name back when she was still human."