Resentment

Facing the illusory mist exhaled by the ghost spirit songstress, Ao Andon calmly extended her hand. With a flick in the air, another card appeared in her grasp. When she revealed it, the image on it depicted ghosts being swept away by a fierce wind.

"Secret Lore Manifestation: Ghost Gate's Yin Wind." As the card in Ao Andon's hand dissolved into a blue light and vanished, a biting, chilling Yin wind arose from thin air, scattering the approaching illusory mist. The ghost spirit songstress was an aggregate of vengeful souls, and the ghostly aura she exhaled naturally needed a wind from the Underworld to disperse it.

After neutralizing the ghost spirit songstress's alluring ghostly aura, Ao Andon's eyes turned to Seimei and the other two, who were still trapped in the illusion. She once again manifested a Secret Lore card in her hand. This time, the card depicted a strange, small beast standing upright, resembling both a cat and a dog.

"Secret Lore Summoning: Yobuko." The yokai Yobuko appeared amidst a flash of blue light. It immediately opened its mouth, unleashing an incredibly loud sound. This sound was telepathically transmitted directly into the ears of the three, startling them awake.

"Ugh, ahhh! So noisy! What in the world was that?!" Slippery Nura exclaimed, covering his ears in discomfort. When his eyes once again fell upon the ghost spirit songstress before him, his expression immediately turned serious.

"We just... fell victim to an illusion. Such a powerful illusion, we didn't even have a chance to resist..." Kamo Yoshin said, wiping sweat from his forehead. He had thought all was lost when he realized he was about to be ensnared.

"Indeed... And more importantly, someone actually helped us break free from this illusion..." Seimei murmured, looking up at Ao Andon in the air. He hadn't expected such sudden assistance.

"Greetings, infiltrators. Though I don't know your identities, since we share a common enemy here, I might as well lend a hand," Ao Andon said with a smile, waving at Seimei and the others.

"Hmm... Though I don't know who you are, I truly appreciate your help..." Seimei replied to Ao Andon, but their interaction seemed to enrage Sanmen-oni.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves, you lot! Don't think for a second that breaking the enchantment means you can handle the ghost spirit songstress!"

Following Sanmen-oni's roar, the ghost spirit songstress initiated a new attack. With a mournful cry, six maidservant-like souls appeared around her. These maidservants gathered dark demonic power and unleashed it directly towards Seimei and the others. Facing the incoming attack, Seimei and Kamo Yoshin simultaneously formed hand seals.

"Kotodama: Triple Boundary Guard!" As spiritual power was channeled, three translucent barriers materialized before them. The six rapidly flying demonic energy spheres slammed consecutively against these layered barriers. Amidst continuous roars, the barriers dissolved into nothing, but they successfully blocked the ghost spirit songstress's attack.

So powerful. It took both me and Senior Yoshin working together to block that attack. This so-called ghost spirit songstress is definitely a Great Yokai, incredibly difficult to deal with... Seimei thought, sweating as he felt the power behind her single strike. Just then, Ao Andon's voice came again.

"Infiltrators, you won't be able to handle this Great Vengeful Spirit. Leave her to me. The three of you, go stop Kagura over there," Ao Andon said, pointing towards the altar at the center of the Main Sacrificial Altar.

Upon that altar, Shiranui had already begun her dance. As she moved, the stone pillars surrounding the altar lit up one after another. Countless tentacles, emitting a faint yellow ghostly light, extended from the ground of the altar, swaying and reaching into the air, touching and coiling around the Black Tortoise demonic power and the other four Yokai Lords.

Clearly, the power of the so-called Tokoyo-no-Kami was gradually awakening at this moment, and It was now demanding sacrifices!

Witnessing this, the three felt their hearts sink. Their instincts told them that if this Tokoyo-no-Kami truly awakened, none of them present would likely meet a good end.

"Alright, we'll leave this to you. We're going to rescue Ali." Kamo Yoshin immediately agreed to Ao Andon's suggestion and charged towards the altar. Slippery Nura glanced at it once and followed directly behind.

"You despicable wretches! Don't think you can hinder Lord Deity's revival!" Seeing this, Sanmen-oni commanded the ghost spirit songstress to attack the three. The ghost spirit songstress's maidservants once again gathered dark demonic energy spheres, and at this moment, Ao Andon intervened urgently.

"Secret Lore Summoning: O-Nyudo!" As the card in Ao Andon's hand flashed with blue light, a giant, bald monk, a head taller than the ghost spirit songstress, appeared in the Main Sacrificial Altar. Facing the ghost spirit songstress, who was about to attack, O-Nyudo swung his massive fist and smashed it forward. However, the instant his fist touched the ghost spirit songstress, her enormous body immediately transformed into a thousand floating vengeful female spirits, scattering in all directions.

The fragmented state lasted only an instant before all the spiritual bodies recombined, and the ghost spirit songstress reappeared. Her maidservants and the dark demonic energy spheres they had gathered were still present, and they fired directly at O-Nyudo.

"Boom!" Amidst a series of explosions, O-Nyudo collapsed with a wail, dissolving into blue light and vanishing. Witnessing this, Ao Andon's brows furrowed.

"It seems conventional attacks won't work against this one; I need methods that can directly harm spiritual bodies..." Ao Andon mused, drawing out two cards and immediately revealing them.

"Secret Lore Summoning: Onmora-gaki, Ethereal Ghost Fire..."

Amidst blue light, a monstrous bird with spread wings and eerie green ghost fire appeared from thin air. Onmora-gaki was a demonic bird formed from the aggregated spirits of the unmourned dead, while Ethereal Ghost Fire was a ghost fire that consumed lingering souls in graveyards. Both of their attacks possessed highly effective destructive power against spiritual bodies.

The instant they were summoned, Onmora-gaki and Ethereal Ghost Fire launched their attacks. Onmora-gaki spat blue flames towards the ghost spirit songstress, while Ethereal Ghost Fire lunged to scorch her. In a moment, the ghost spirit songstress's entire body was completely engulfed by blue and green ethereal flames. She let out a piercing wail from within, for if all her spiritual bodies caught fire, then even splitting apart would be useless.

Seeing this, Ao Andon's brows relaxed slightly. However, what happened next froze the expression on her face.

The ghost spirit songstress, whose entire body was being scorched by the intense flames, not only didn't disappear but swelled in size by a full circle. She extended her massive hand, directly seizing the flame-spitting Onmora-gaki and crushing it into light. Then, with a loud wail, she unleashed a burst of demonic power, completely shaking off the surrounding flames. The Ethereal Ghost Fire clinging to her also dissolved into blue light and vanished. Her spiritual body, riddled with burns, rapidly began to repair itself.

"What..." Ao Andon murmured, her mouth slightly agape in shock at the sight. On the other side, Sanmen-oni laughed loudly and spoke.

"Hahaha, you think directly burning her spiritual body can destroy the ghost spirit songstress? While that might work for individual vengeful spirits, it won't work for her! Don't forget, she's an aggregate of thousands of vengeful souls. The power of vengeful souls comes from the resentment born of their own suffering. If you can't destroy the vengeful souls themselves all at once, then continuous torment will only breed immense resentment, which in turn strengthens the vengeful souls!"

"From suffering... comes resentment?" Ao Andon murmured to herself, listening to Sanmen-oni's words. She now understood why her techniques were ineffective. The ghost spirit songstress's spiritual body was too vast for her to completely incinerate at once; she could only burn it slowly. But the pain caused by the burning itself deepened the resentment of the vengeful souls, paradoxically strengthening her power.

"To die consumed by hatred, and even after death, to remain a plaything, with even your resentment exploited... Your fates are truly pitiable and tragic..."