As before.
From the beginning, Shinji had no intention of fighting the thunder beast head-on, fair and square.
Before entering the Imagawa main castle, he had already begun his setup.
[Blood Change] and [Bone Soul Change] worked simultaneously.
Blood mist seeped from his pores, spreading step by step. Bone spurs burrowed from his soles into the ground, extending through the cracks in soil, stone, and walls.
It was a slow process.
One that required immense patience.
He had spent a full half hour covering the entire castle.
The blood mist was his eyes, any area touched by it, he could perceive clearly.
The bone spurs were his weapons whenever he wished, those buried spurs could burst from the ground, forming a forest of death.
This was his confidence in overcoming a stronger foe.
Not head-on collision, but advance preparation.
Not tanking damage, but controlling the battlefield.
A Sixth Change demon warrior, even after merging one transformation and being theoretically stronger than an ordinary Sixth Change demon, knew his chances against a Quality-level thunder beast in direct combat were still slim.
But what if it was like this?
What if the entire castle was his battlefield?
What if the entire castle was his trap?
The outcome would be vastly different.
Imagawa Yoshimoto stood by the blasted opening of the tenshu, watching the figure at the city's center.
Her legs were weak.
Not from fear.
From sheer awe.
The thunder beast.
The giant beast that had emerged from underground, she finally saw it clearly.
Its white fur looked like solidified lightning, glaring under the moonlight. Its limbs were thick as the temple's pillars. Each claw tip crackled, purple arcs jumping between them.
Its size was suffocating, its shoulder height alone was over three jō.
Its beastly face was terrifying, fangs exposed, its eyes glowing with an eerie blue like two burning ghost flames.
This was the demon that had lurked beneath her castle for three days.
This was the cause of her nightmares.
"So big…" Imagawa Yoshimoto murmured.
Her finest samurai would probably last an instant before this thing.
The monks she had paid so handsomely to hire would probably have no chance to even flee.
But
Her gaze turned to the top of the tenshu.
That grey figure stood there, looking down at the giant beast below.
Blood mist swirled around him. A forest of bone grew beneath his feet.
The entire castle was at his disposal.
This was that 'demon's' method.
This was what he meant by borrowing the castle.
He wasn't borrowing the castle.
He was turning the whole city into a giant cage.
Good thing she had agreed.
Good thing she had coordinated, evacuating all the castle's soldiers and residents as quickly as possible.
This was truly
"Amazing." A demon specifically to slay demons.
Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't help but be intrigued.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Shinji…" The thunder beast's voice was like thunder, echoing in the night sky.
"You're asking for death!"
Lightning surged around it, purple light turning the night sky as bright as day.
Then it moved.
Its limbs pushed off, its massive body like a bolt of purple lightning, charging toward the tenshu's peak.
Incredibly fast.
So fast that Imagawa Yoshimoto only saw a purple blur.
So fast that the bone spurs couldn't intercept.
But
Shinji moved too.
He didn't dodge.
He even charged toward the thunder beast.
Right hand, Muramasa. Left hand, Sōza Samonji.
Both blades drawn simultaneously.
One black, one silver. Blade-light intertwined.
[Sharp Body Change] fully activated. Every muscle in his body burned.
[Spear Waist Change] activated. His waist twisted, channeling power through his whole body.
[Bone Soul Change] activated. Bone armor surged from beneath his skin, covering him completely.
[Blood Change] continued. Blood mist condensed around him, forming a thin shield.
A crimson demon mask formed on his face. Its ferocious visage was eerily contrasted with his pale hair.
Two-blade style.
This was Shinji's first attempt at dual-wielding.
Muramasa was his old partner, used for months. They worked together seamlessly.
Sōza Samonji was newly acquired. Still unfamiliar.
But it didn't matter.
He didn't need them to work in perfect coordination.
He just needed enough speed and enough strikes.
Boom—!
The two figures collided in midair.
For an instant, the air seemed to tear.
The shockwave spread outward, tearing off nearby rooftops, shaking stones loose from the castle walls.
Imagawa Yoshimoto was forced back by the blast, her hands gripping the doorframe to avoid being blown away.
She saw it.
The thunder beast's massive claws met Shinji's twin blades.
Purple lightning and blade-light tangled. Sparks flew.
The grey-clad figure was pushed back by the beast's strength, his body flying backward through the air.
But his blades didn't stop.
Muramasa aimed for the thunder beast's left eye. It turned its head, avoiding it.
Sōza Samonji thrust at its throat. Its claws deflected it.
Shinji was still flying backward, but bone spurs erupted from his back, piercing into the wall behind him, steadying him.
"That's it?" The thunder beast grinned.
The expression on its beastly face seemed mocking.
"I thought you were stronger—"
It stopped mid-sentence.
Its body suddenly stiffened.
It looked down.
A white bone spur had emerged from the ground, piercing through its hind leg.
"What—" It tried to move.
But more spurs surged up.
From the ground, from the walls, from the rooftops.
The bone forest it had dismissed as decoration, all of it came alive.
Like countless white hands, reaching for it.
As before.
This was his preparation.
Though he couldn't directly control the spurs' movements at a distance, making them grow was within his ability.
"I told you," Shinji's voice came from the blood mist. "This castle is my battlefield."
He was already charging again.
Twin blades crossing, blade-light like a ribbon.
Muramasa slashed at the thunder beast's belly. Sōza Samonji stabbed toward its ribs.
The beast swung its claws to block, but found its movements slowed, those spurs piercing its hind leg kept growing, entangling, restricting it.
Clang!
Muramasa was blocked by the massive claw.
But Sōza Samonji wasn't.
The silver blade sliced across the thunder beast's ribs, drawing a line of blood.
"Damn it!" The thunder beast roared. Lightning surged around it.
The spurs entangling it were shattered by the electricity, turning to ash.
But Shinji had already retreated.
He stood within the blood mist, both blades lowered.
The bone armor had several black scorch marks where lightning had grazed it.
But his eyes remained calm.
"Fast, I'll give you that," he said. "And strong."
"But you know what?"
He looked up, meeting those beastly eyes glowing with an eerie blue light.
"In this castle, you can't escape."
The blood mist surged again.
The bone forest grew again.
This was a battle of a trapped beast.
The fight had only just begun.
[Sōza Samonji: Affection +5]
[Current Affection: 5 (Budding)]
[It's excited. It hasn't had a battle like this in a long time.]
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