Chapter 31 - Saving
Deep within the tranquil grounds of the Mizuki estate, the sharp, rhythmic swish of a blade cut through the quiet morning air. Ren moved fluidly across the courtyard, his sword carving precise, practiced arcs. Silver sweat beaded on his forehead as he focused intensely.
Then—
KRA-KOOM! KRA-KOOM!
The previously serene, azure sky above the estate vanished, swallowed whole by an unnaturally fast-moving mass of bruised, violent clouds. The sudden darkness fell over the courtyard like a heavy shroud, plunging the once-peaceful grounds into an oppressive, suffocating gloom.
Ren froze, his blade halting mid-swing.
Lowering his stance, he looked up at the raging heavens, his brow furrowing deeply. The air around him had grown unnervingly thick, charged with crackling static that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. A cold, sudden knot of dread tightened in his chest, a primal instinct screaming that this was no ordinary weather.
'Did something happen?' he thought, his grip tightening instinctively around the hilt of his sword.
Sheathing his sword with a sharp clink, Ren strode briskly toward the main house. A deep, gnawing worry settling in his gut. 'I need to see what's happening out there,' he decided, his pace quickening.
Sliding the heavy wooden door open, he called out into the quiet halls. "Kon! I'm heading out for a bit!"
Without waiting for a response or offering a single word of explanation, he pivoted on his heel and marched right back toward the front gates. Bless the boy's painfully honest heart, he could have easily slipped away unnoticed in the gloom, but his straightforward nature simply wouldn't allow it.
Deeper inside the estate, tucked away in a quiet tatami room, Kon had been staring blankly at the wall, dazed by his own thoughts when Ren's abrupt shout instantly shattered his stupor.
"Huh...?"
It took a split second for the fox's brain to process the boy's words. 'Heading out?! Now?!' Sheer panic struck him like a physical blow. Scrambling clumsily to his paws, Kon practically threw himself toward the hallway. "WAIT! Ren, stop! You are absolutely not supposed to go outside!"
Pushing his body to its absolute limits, Kon sprinted frantically down the corridors, chasing desperately after the young swordsman before he could cross the threshold.
By some sheer miracle of adrenaline, Kon managed to intercept Ren just before the boy could cross the shimmering threshold of the Inner Kyoto barrier.
"Wait... huff... huff..." Kon collapsed onto his four paws, panting weakly at the young swordsman, who had finally halted at his sudden intrusion.
"...Go... back... Ren-chan..." the little fox wheezed, his lungs practically burning. 'This child is way too fast! Dammit, it's all that stupid Tengu's fault for teaching him!' Kon cursed fiercely in his head, blaming the boy's agility entirely on an innocent Tengu instructor rather than admit his own glaring weakness.
"Kon..." Ren frowned slightly, looking down at his exhausted best friend. "Don't block the way. I have to go," he stated, his voice quiet but carrying a solemn weight.
"No! It's too dangerous out there!" Kon barked, having finally caught enough of his breath to shout. He planted his paws firmly on the ground, glaring up at the boy and refusing to budge a single inch.
Seeing the unyielding firmness in the little fox's eyes, Ren's rigid posture softened. "Please... Kon," he pleaded softly, before his voice hardened with quiet resolve. "I am strong now."
At those words, Kon's ears wilted flat against his head. A wry, heartbroken smile crept onto his furry face. "Yeah... You are stronger now... aren't you?"
'So strong that you don't need me to protect you anymore,' Kon thought bitterly, a painful, heavy ache blooming in his chest. 'Just like your mother back then...'
Fat tears began to well up, spilling like little pearls from Kon's eyes and dampening his fur. "Please... Ren-chan... You cannot go..." he whimpered, his shimmering eyes looking up in a desperate plea.
Seeing his best friend in such a vulnerable state, a heavy bout of hesitation crashed into Ren. He opened his mouth, desperately wanting to offer some comfort. "I..."
But the words died in his throat. The unnatural storm raging above demanded an answer, and the feeling of dread in his gut wouldn't let him stay. Swallowing his guilt, Ren tore his gaze away from the crying Yokai. Unable to bear looking at Kon any longer, he turned his back and began walking deliberately toward the shimmering barrier.
But before Ren could take another step, the shimmering energy of the barrier directly in front of him distorted. It rippled outward in glowing, concentric circles, vibrating just like a still pool of water disturbed by a single, heavy drop.
Ren froze, his instincts screaming at him as the air grew suffocating.
Then, a pale hand effortlessly pierced through the magical construct. It slid inward without a single ounce of resistance, followed smoothly by an arm, a set of broad shoulders, and finally, the imposing figure of a man clad in a pristine white robe.
"What a coincidence," the man noted calmly, a chilling, venomous hint of glee bleeding through his smooth voice as his eyes locked onto the boy standing before him.
**********
Meanwhile, in the unprotected streets of Outer Kyoto...
"AHHHHH!!!"
Agonized screams still tore through the air. The streets were a chaotic blur of panic as terrified civilians trampled over one another, desperately trying to flee the burning disaster zone.
Tucked away in the shadows of a ruined alleyway, a little girl huddled tightly into a corner. She clutched a dirt-smudged stuffed bunny to her chest, tears streaming down her soot-covered cheeks. "Mama..." she whimpered, her tiny voice completely drowned out by the roaring fires.
"Hoh? What do we have here? A little stray?" A black-robed cultist paused, his twisted gaze falling upon the child. A sickeningly wide, menacing grin stretched across his face. "Hehehe..." Dragging his boots against the rubble, he began a slow, predatory approach.
Seeing the nightmare drawing closer, the little girl's pupils dilated in terror. She pressed her back hard against the unyielding brick wall, her small body trembling uncontrollably like a leaf caught in a hurricane.
The sadistic cultist reached out, his claw-like fingers stretching eagerly toward her face.
"Mama..." she sobbed, squeezing her eyes shut in a final, desperate prayer.
SHOOOM!
A violent, shrieking gale suddenly ripped through the alley.
BOOM!
The thunderous crack of a shattered sound barrier detonated right above them.
KRA-CRACK! The solid asphalt mere inches in front of the little girl caved in with the devastating force of a meteor strike. A massive shockwave pulverized the ground, sending a dense cloud of dust and jagged debris exploding outward.
"How dare you."
The voice that echoed from the epicentre of the crater was deep, vibrating with a cold, murderous fury.
As the thick veil of dust began to settle, the towering, imposing silhouette of a winged humanoid figure slowly materialized within the ruins.
The cultist paused his assault, his hand still hovering in the air. Lowering his arm, he tilted his head, a playful, unbothered smirk returning to his lips as he peered into the settling dust.
As the thick dust finally settled, the imposing, winged silhouette of the Tengu Captain came clearly into view.
"Oh? A Tengu~?" the cultist questioned playfully, his tone sickeningly light and completely unfazed by the cratered earth before him.
Kōrōbō didn't answer. His eyes were entirely bloodshot, blazing with an unrestrained, suffocating fury. A heavy, violently murderous aura erupted from his body, bearing down entirely onto the black-robed man like a physical weight.
"Die."
A cold order intoned. Then, without another word, Kōrōbō simply vanished from sight.
'!!!' Caught completely off guard by the blinding speed, the cultist's playful smirk froze. He couldn't even twitch a single muscle to react.
SHLUCK!
A sickening spray of crimson violently painted the ruined asphalt.
'Ah. Looks like I'm dead,' the cultist thought, oddly calm as his perspective suddenly and violently spun through the air.
As his severed head plummeted toward the earth, his lips stretched back into a grotesque, impossibly wide grin. Still conscious in his fleeting, fading seconds, the decapitated head locked its gaze onto Kōrōbō and silently mouthed three chilling words:
'I'll be back.'
Thud. The heavy, wet sound of the severed head and the collapsing, fountain-like torso hitting the pavement echoed through the ruined alleyway.
Just as Kōrōbō reached out to inspect the severed torso, a blinding flash of light erupted from beneath the cultist's black robes. Before the Tengu Captain could even flinch, the brilliant light vanished, taking the mangled corpse right along with it.
Kōrōbō let his outstretched hand fall slowly back to his side. His sharp eyes narrowed at the empty, bloodstained pavement. 'Teleportation magic,' he thought solemnly, committing the strange phenomenon to memory.
Forcing the unsettling disappearance to the back of his mind, Kōrōbō turned his attention to the cowering little girl. Kneeling to make his towering frame look as small as possible, he softened his rough voice. "Ojou-san, are you alright?" he asked calmly, doing his absolute best to reassure the traumatized child.
"Hiiiii!" The girl shrieked in absolute terror.
Instead of seeing a hero, her wide, tear-filled eyes locked completely onto the Tengu's imposing, inhuman avian face and the terrifying, blood-soaked sword still grasped in his hand.
"Ah..." Seeing her sheer panic, the fierce Captain's imposing aura wilted drastically. He let out a heavy, defeated sigh, his shoulders slumping. Standing back up to his full height, he prepared to use a gentle way to render the girl unconscious so he could safely carry her out of the ruins.
But just as he raised his hand, a desperate, tearful voice tore through the alleyway. "Rin!!!"
"Mama!" The little girl's head snapped up. Scrambling to her feet and stumbling blindly over the rubble, she launched herself toward the approaching woman, crashing into her mother's arms and sobbing uncontrollably into her chest.
Kōrōbō paused, dropping his hand as a profound wave of relief washed over his stern, feathered face. Standing right beside the weeping mother was a sleek, two-tailed Nekomata, clearly a guide from the evacuation teams sent by their matriarch.
The Tengu Captain exchanged a firm, silent nod of acknowledgment with the feline Yokai. His duty here was done. With a single, explosive thrust of his raven wings, Kōrōbō launched himself back into the violently churning sky, rocketing toward the next disaster zone.
Safe within the warm embrace of her mother, the little girl slowly turned her head. She peeked over her mother's trembling shoulder, her gaze drawn upward by the powerful gust of wind left in the winged warrior's wake.
A single, pristine black feather drifted gently down from the stormy heavens.
"Ah..." the child breathed softly, watching the distant, soaring silhouette disappears into the dark clouds. "Thank you... Tengu-san."
The paralyzing terror that had gripped her only moments ago finally melted away. As she stared up at the churning sky, her wide, tear-stained eyes shone with a faint, beautiful spark of wonder.
**********
Meanwhile, on a wide, burning avenue in another district of Kyoto...
BOOM!
The earth ruptured violently as a gigantic, nine-tailed fox constructed entirely of dense, shifting wood erupted from the pavement.
Standing tall upon the head of the massive wooden construct was a woman, her twin fox ears twitching sharply amidst the ash-filled wind. Her piercing golden eyes looked down at the chaotic street below, simmering with a terrifyingly calm rage.
Ethereal, crimson markings had manifested across her beautiful face, radiating raw power. Three distinct, whisker-like stripes framed each of her cheeks, while a striking, blood-red 'O' shape rested perfectly between her brows. Sharp, vivid red markings swept upward from the corners of her eyes like war paint, completing her awe-inspiring visage.
Guided by a mere thought, the massive wooden construct lunged. Its two gigantic paws swept violently across the ruined avenue, snatching up two black-robed cultists who had been terrorizing the fleeing civilians.
Looking down coldly at the thrashing, screaming men trapped in her construct's grasp, Yako slowly clenched her hands.
Mimicking her exact movements, the colossal wooden paws squeezed mercilessly inward. The frantic struggling stopped abruptly with a sickening medley of cracking bones. Mangled beyond repair, the cultists' legs dangled limply in the air, dripping crimson onto the streets below.
Her golden eyes entirely devoid of pity, Yako released her grip. 'Fodders,' she thought with disdain.
Splat. The crushed, lifeless bodies hit the cracked pavement with a heavy, wet thud.
Without so much as a backward glance, Yako commanded her towering construct forward. Despite its colossal size, the wooden fox moved with startling agility, gracefully leaping over the panicked crowds as it bounded toward the next disaster zone.
But the moment her back was turned, a familiar, blinding flash of light erupted from beneath the mangled black robes.
In the blink of an eye, the light vanished, taking both of the crushed corpses with it, leaving behind nothing but a chillingly empty pool of blood on the Kyoto streets.
**********
Chapter 32 - Devastation
Far away from the overwhelming, one-sided slaughter led by powerhouses like Captain Kōrōbō and Yako, the reality of the invasion was proving to be far more gruelling for the rank-and-file defenders.
In a ruined commercial district of Outer Kyoto, a mixed supernatural squad was locked in a bitter, bloody stalemate. They moved in a tight, practiced formation through the debris-littered streets.
Anchored in the rear was a pudgy Gama Yokai, his webbed hands raised high as he strained to maintain a shimmering, dome-like barrier that deflected incoming spells. Pushing forward as the vanguard were a single winged Tengu warrior and an Exorcist from Touji's ranks, their swords drawn and ready to deliver lethal damage. While Kōrōbō had signalled all four hundred Tengu troops to converge on the city, only a handful possessed the sheer speed to arrive this early; after all, not every warrior was a monster like their Captain.
Meanwhile, a sleek, agile Nekomata darted silently through the shadows of the burning alleyways. Her twin tails twitched in anticipation as she stalked the perimeter, waiting for the perfect opening to launch a lethal ambush, while simultaneously keeping a sharp eye out for any trapped civilians hiding in the rubble.
Opposing them, standing amidst the burning wreckage of a flipped car, were the three black-robed cultists. Their eyes gleamed from beneath their hoods with a sickening mix of fanatical bloodlust and sheer excitement.
Serving as the trio's vanguard was a hulking cultist wielding a massive, heavy warhammer. His swings were wild, messy, and entirely uncoordinated, yet the combined strikes of the Tengu and the Exorcist completely failed to leave a single scratch on him. Whenever their blades managed to strike his body, a network of intricate, glowing runes would flare to life across his black robes, absorbing the lethal impact entirely.
By swinging his heavy weapon with such reckless, devastating sweeps, the brute created an impenetrable wall of offense. He forced the frontline fighters back and made it nearly impossible for the squad to penetrate their defences, especially targeting the agile Nekomata, repeatedly smashing his hammer into the shadows to deny her any chance of a surprise attack.
Safely protected behind their rune-clad vanguard, the remaining duo stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Their hands were outstretched, converging in the space right between them. Wisps of dense, crackling mana flowed continuously from their fingertips, weaving together to form a highly intricate, overlapping magic circle.
As they channelled their power, their voices intertwined in a haunting, guttural chant in Ancient Greek:
"Ὦ Χρόνε, πανδαμάτωρ, ἄνοιξον τὰς πύλας! Καταστροφὴ γενηθήτω!" (O Chrone, pandamator, anoixon tas pylas! Katastrophe genetheto!)
With every syllable spoken, the ambient air around the duo grew suffocatingly thick. The oppressive, heavy aura of their accumulating magic pressed down on the Yokai squad like a physical weight, signalling that a devastating spell was nearing completion.
"We can't keep going like this!" the Exorcist shouted, panic bleeding heavily into his voice. Desperate, he reached behind his waist, drew a silver holy pistol, and unloaded a rapid succession of shots at the brute. The blessed bullets merely sparked and ricocheted off the cultist's glowing runes, completely useless.
The winged Tengu beside him didn't waste breath on a reply. He only grunted with extreme effort, his arms trembling as he barely deflected another devastating sweep of the warhammer, his sharp eyes locked solemnly on the enemy.
"T-The barrier... it will only hold against t-their spell for about ten s-seconds!" the Gama Yokai stuttered in terror. His clammy, amphibian skin paled drastically as he sensed the sheer, overwhelming density of the mana the duo was weaving.
High above the fray, the Nekomata couldn't even hear their desperate exchange over the roaring flames. She was a frantic blur of motion, repeatedly darting between the crumbling walls in a futile attempt to bypass the brute's impenetrable defence.
"Kehehehehe! USELESS! USELESS! HAHAHAHA!" the hulking vanguard roared. The blunt-force impacts from the frontline duo didn't deter him at all; instead, the pain seemed to excite him deeply. His eyes widened in twisted, masochistic ecstasy as he swung his massive weapon with wild abandon.
"Retreat!" the Exorcist screamed. Seeing that their best efforts were doing nothing to the trio, his fragile resolve completely shattered.
The Tengu shot a fierce, sideways glare at his human ally. "There are civilians hiding right behind us," he intoned, his rough voice heavy with an unshakable resolve.
Sweating profusely and shaking like a leaf, the pudgy Gama Yokai still managed a firm nod of agreement. Despite his overwhelming fear, his sense of duty to Kyoto's people held him firmly in place.
"Tch..." The Exorcist gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with a chaotic mix of guilt and desperation. Without another moment of hesitation, he completely disengaged from the frontline, turned his back on the outgunned Yokai, and sprinted away into the ruined streets.
"Kusoyarou! (Piece of shit!)" the Tengu roared in furious disbelief at the sight of the fleeing deserter.
As the chaotic sounds of battle began to fade behind him, the Exorcist clenched his fists, not daring to look back. 'Sorry. I just want to live,' he thought grimly, disappearing into the thick, choking smoke.
"Hehehehe! Humans are the absolute worst, aren't they?" the hulking cultist cackled gleefully, his twisted grin widening as he watched the Exorcist's retreating back disappear into the smoke.
He didn't seem to care in the slightest about the fact that he himself was human. Or perhaps, after a century of subterranean exile, self-torture, and suffocating despair, his mind had become so thoroughly warped that he no longer even considered himself part of their fragile species.
"Well, time's up," the brute cultist sneered finally. "Goodbye~"
With a sickeningly playful wave, he leapt backward, retreating safely behind the chanting duo just as they completed their incantation. Hovering directly above their intricate magic circle, a gigantic, hyper-compressed sphere of roaring fire materialized, its blinding, white-hot core aimed dead at the Yokai squad.
The Tengu's eyes widened at the terrifying spectacle, his pupils shrinking against the intense glare. "Hold the line!" he roared, refusing to step aside.
Abandoning his combat stance, he bolted to the Gama Yokai's side. He slammed his hands squarely against the toad's back and forcefully injected his own youki straight into Gamato's fragile body.
"GAAAAHHHH!" Gamato shrieked.
Deep, glowing cracks instantly spiderwebbed across his clammy amphibian skin, unable to naturally contain the sheer overload of foreign energy. Yet, within his bulging, pain-filled eyes, an unyielding resolve burned brighter than the approaching fire. Not a single word of complaint left his lips. Fuelled by the Tengu's power, his shimmering barrier flared with blinding intensity, growing drastically thicker and more robust.
Seeing their desperation, the Nekomata abandoned her flanking position in the shadows. She blurred to Gamato's other side, pressing her paws against the toad and flooding him with her own youki.
"Guh..." This time, Gamato didn't even scream. He only grunted, his round body trembling violently under the unimaginable, agonizing strain.
"Gamato, I'm sorry..." the Tengu gritted out, a heavy, crushing guilt lacing his rough voice. "The civilians..."
But before the Tengu could finish, Gamato interrupted him. Gone was the terrified stutter from moments before. Instead, a weak but undeniable beat of pride echoed in his strained voice.
"Hehe... don't worry. Just... guh... make sure to tell the Elder... that I did... my best." His voice was fading rapidly, slowly being drowned out by the roaring flames.
The Tengu's jaw tightened. He offered a single, deeply solemn nod.
"Meow..." the Nekomata whimpered, hot tears finally spilling from her eyes as she felt Gamato's lifeforce pushed to its absolute breaking point.
BOOOOOM! The compressed sun erupted. A massive, roaring beam of pure, incinerating fire swept forward, threatening to instantly atomize the squad and the streets behind them.
But Gamato's overcharged barrier stood firm. Like a diamond wedge parting a raging river, the glowing dome took the full, catastrophic brunt of the beam, reflecting the apocalyptic flames outward. The redirected fire tore through the buildings and asphalt on either side of them, reducing the surrounding block to molten slag, but the space directly behind the brave toad remained completely untouched.
"My job... is... done..." Gamato whispered softly into the inferno.
Cra-crack.
The glowing fissures crisscrossing his skin finally gave way. In a blinding flash, his physical body shattered, disintegrating entirely into fine, glowing ash. The turbulent winds caught his remains, carrying the brave Gama Yokai away and scattering him gently across the ruined streets of Kyoto.
"GAMATO!" the Nekomata screamed, her voice breaking in shrill agony as tears streamed freely down her face.
The Tengu stood frozen in the settling ash. His wings drooped heavily as he bowed his head, offering a moment of deep, silent respect to the fallen hero.
"Hehe, how touching. A shame there are still two survivors," the brute mocked, chuckling darkly as the glowing ash settled around the Yokai. He seemed genuinely disappointed that his targets hadn't been incinerated outright.
"Bastards," the Tengu cursed, his eyes blazing with a murderous, unyielding fury. But this time, his wrath wasn't aimed solely at the cultists, a heavy, burning resentment was directed squarely at the cowardly Exorcist who had abandoned them. 'If that human hadn't fled, we could've hold out even longer...' he thought bitterly.
Now, with both his and the Nekomata's youki completely drained from overcharging the barrier, defending themselves against the remaining trio was going to be nearly impossible.
"Well, no matter. I suppose I'll just have to squash you two myself." A grotesque, impossibly wide grin stretched across the brute's face. "Even better," he added gleefully.
Without another second of hesitation, the hulking vanguard launched his massive frame into the air. He vaulted directly toward the two exhausted Yokai, raising his gigantic warhammer high above his head, fully intending to crush them both into the pavement.
But before his descending arc was even halfway complete, the sky above them suddenly darkened.
A colossal, shifting wooden paw swept violently out of the smoke, swatting the mid-air cultist like an annoying insect.
"Ah—" the brute gasped, his startled realization cut brutally short.
SQUELCH! His rune-covered body was instantly pulverized against the side of a nearby building, crushed into a gruesome, unrecognizable paste before his hammer could even touch the ground.
Back at the rear, the spell-casting duo had dropped their guards, panting and relaxing after expending all their mana on their ultimate attack. Seeing their vanguard suddenly swatted out of the air, their eyes widened in terror. But they couldn't even take a single step to run.
BOOM! The earth beneath their feet violently ruptured. Two massive, jagged wooden branches burst straight up from the asphalt, impaling both cultists directly from the bottom up and hoisting their lifeless, bloody bodies high into the stormy air.
**********
Meanwhile, at the borders of Inner Kyoto...
"What a coincidence," the white-robed man stated calmly, a chilling, venomous hint of glee bleeding into his voice as his gaze locked onto the boy.
Seeing the unfamiliar intruder, Ren's body reacted on pure instinct. He immediately shifted his weight, dropping into a wary, defensive stance. His hand whipped toward his waist, his fingers tightly gripping the hilt of his weapon.
Without a single second of hesitation, he drew.
Shing!
The sharp, metallic ring of steel tore through the heavy air. Ren leveled the tip of his blade directly at the intruder's chest, his eyes narrowed in hostility. "Who are you?!" he demanded, his voice steady despite the alarm bells screaming in his head.
"Hehe. Since the Chosen One asked—" the man chuckled, his smooth voice dropping to a theatrical whisper as he let the sentence hang in the air.
At the sound of that specific title, Ren's breath hitched. His eyes widened drastically in shock, the cold realization finally sinking in.
"—I am Orodes," the man continued, his twisted smile growing. "First Commander of the Cult of Time, the Hour Hand. A pleasure to finally meet you, Chosen One."
With a mocking, arrogant flair, Orodes executed a flawless, aristocratic bow. He gracefully crossed one leg behind the other, pressed his right hand flat over his heart, and swept his left arm grandly through the air, looking for all the world like a performer on a stage rather than an invader in a war zone.
'The Lord's return is nigh...' a gleeful, fanatical thought echoed in his warped mind as he stared down his ultimate prize.
**********
Chapter 33 - Trump Card
While the white-robed man was still caught up in his theatrical flair, Ren immediately saw his opening. He wasn't about to stand by and wait for the enemy to finish posing.
Without a single second of hesitation, Ren lunged. His entire body erupted in a brilliant white aura, his internal energy surging to meet the threat.
Closing the distance in a blinding, silver flash, he raised his blade high and brought it crashing down in a devastating, unrelenting Zornhau. A heavy, suffocating pressure exploded from the strike, the sheer weight of his intent bearing down on Orodes and firmly locking the arrogant cultist in place.
"Ah..." Orodes sighed lightly, not even bothering to look up at the descending steel. "How rude."
The exact moment the words left his lips, the space around Ren violently warped. The overwhelming, lethal momentum of his strike vanished, and his entire body suddenly felt as though it had been plunged into freezing molasses. His descending sword slowed to a sluggish crawl, trapped within an invisible quagmire.
'This!' Ren thought, his eyes widening in shock as he strained against the frozen air. 'What's this?!'
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. How scary~" Orodes mocked, pulling his hands to his shoulders in a theatrical self-hug.
Then, in a heartbeat, the playfulness vanished. His face smoothed into a cold, expressionless mask, and his eyes filled with a sudden, freezing anger. In a voice as deep and hollow as an ancient tomb, he uttered a single command:
"Sleep."
Orodes dropped into a low, disciplined horse stance. With a deliberate, measured motion, he thrust his palm forward, driving it squarely into Ren's stomach while the boy was still suspended.
BOOM!
"Pfft!"
A spray of spittle erupted from Ren's mouth. His body, previously moving in slow motion, was suddenly liberated from the time-snare, only to be blasted backward with the force of a cannonball. He blurred through the air, crashing down hard right next to a terrified Kon.
Thump.
Ren hit the ground with a heavy thud. His vision swam, and his consciousness flickered like a dying candle, threatened by a void of static. 'I can't... fall... so easily!' Ren screamed internally. He clamped his teeth down on his lower lip, biting through the skin until the sharp, metallic tang of blood flooded his mouth, the pain forcing his mind back into focus.
Ren's durability was immense, and his Ki shielding was robust, but Orodes' strike hadn't been a simple, blunt-force blow. It was a sophisticated, lethal martial technique, one meticulously perfected during the cultist's century of subterranean exile, designed specifically to completely bypass external defences and send devastating vibrations directly into the internal organs. Despite Ren's gruelling training, his insides felt as though they had been violently liquefied, leaving him gasping for air as he desperately struggled to push himself upright.
"Ren-chan!" Kon shrieked in horror, scrambling frantically to the fallen boy's side.
His small, furry frame hovered protectively over Ren. Trembling uncontrollably, the little fox pressed his paws against Ren's chest, shaking him gently in a desperate attempt to rouse him. "Ren-chan, wake up! Please!" he pleaded, his voice cracking.
But as Ren coughed, a fresh trickle of blood spilling past his bruised lips, it was painfully obvious to the terrified Yokai that his best friend was far from okay.
"Oh? You're still not completely down?" Orodes commented, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his features as he looked down at the stubbornly conscious boy.
Tap. Tap.
He began to close the distance at a leisurely pace, clasping his hands neatly behind his back. "I suppose this must be why the Lord God has chosen you. Such exceptional talent... at such a young age."
"Stay away from Ren-chan!" Kon snarled, planting his tiny paws firmly in front of his fallen friend.
Arching his back, the little fox hissed fiercely at the approaching cultist. Reacting to his desperate, protective anger, several floating orbs of brilliant, golden fox-fire flickered to life in the air around his small frame. The flames flared aggressively, radiating an intense heat that attempted to push back the heavy, suffocating aura surrounding the Cult Leader.
"Ant," Orodes intoned disdainfully, lowering his cold, apathetic eyes to look down at the trembling fox. "Why is trash like you bound to our Chosen One?"
Without a sliver of hesitation, he thrust his hand toward Kon. A heavy wave of temporal magic instantly enveloped the little Yokai, freezing his golden fox-fire in mid-air and rendering him completely paralyzed.
Unable to react, Kon could only watch helplessly as Orodes delivered a brutal, sweeping kick.
"GAH!" Kon shrieked. The sudden impact shattered his frozen defence, sending his small, furry body flying helplessly through the air. He crashed heavily into a pile of rubble, rolling to a stop far away from Ren's side.
"Kon..." Ren whispered weakly, his voice rough and laced with pain.
His vision blurred with rage and desperation. Trembling violently, Ren planted his hands against the cracked pavement. Gritting his teeth against the agonizing internal damage, he desperately tried to force his broken body back off the ground.
Orodes watched Ren's desperate struggle with complete apathy.
Raising both hands toward the bleeding boy, he stated flatly, "Let's sever the bond between you and that nuisance."
Glowing lines of mana began to materialize in the air between his palms, rapidly weaving themselves into an intricate, rotating magic circle. "We can't have our Lord's return be disrupted, after all," Orodes continued. His eyes shone with a cold intensity as he focused on constructing the spell.
Hearing the cultist's words, Ren's eyes widened in panic. 'NO!'
Ignoring the agonizing pain in his damaged organs, Ren forced his trembling arms to push harder against the pavement. But before he could even scrape himself up into a kneeling position, a heavy boot slammed down squarely between his shoulder blades.
"Guh!" Ren gasped as the swift stomp pinned his back violently to the ground, driving the breath from his lungs.
"Don't make this harder for me," Orodes warned coldly.
Above the Cult Leader's hands, the intricate magic circle began to pulse, glowing a deep, ominous crimson, the exact colour of freshly spilled blood.
It was Rule Breaker. Originally crafted centuries ago by a legendary witch to shatter her vows with a certain hero, the spell was solely made for contract nullification. Now, Orodes was using that very same ancient magic to violently tear the young Yokai's bond away from its master.
In mere seconds, the crimson magic circle expanded, washing over Ren entirely. Pinned helplessly beneath the cultist's heavy boot, he could only watch in horror as the blood-red light sank directly into his chest.
Snap!
A sharp, ethereal sound, exactly like a heavy iron lock violently shattering, echoed through the clearing.
In an instant, the warm, comforting tether that had linked his soul to the little fox was cleanly severed. A sudden, freezing void rushed in to take its place. The spiritual connection was gone.
Kon was no longer his shikigami.
'Gone... it's gone...' Ren thought hollowly, a suffocating tide of grief rushing into his heart.
The connection between Ren and Kon was never just a contract between a master and his shikigami, nor was it simply a bond between two best friends. It was the very last gift a mother had given to her beloved child. It was the final, lingering tether between a mother and her son.
Hot tears began to pour from Ren's eyes, carving tracks through the dirt on his face. His fists tightened against the cracked pavement in a desperate, white-knuckled grip, as if he could somehow physically reach out and grasp the vanishing bond but his fingers curled around nothing but empty air.
"P-please..." Ren whispered in desperation, his words choked by a mouthful of blood and tears.
"Hm?" Hearing the broken plea, Orodes leaned in slightly. His eyes danced with cruel, playful delight. "What did you say~?"
"...someone..." Ren choked out, his voice barely a breath against the pavement. "...anyone..."
"Hahahaha! BOY! Give up and come with me!" Orodes threw his head back and laughed uproariously at the boy's despair. "No one is coming to save you! HAHAHAHA!"
Suddenly, a beastly voice cut through the air with a heavy depth.
"Who decided that?"
The words didn't come from Ren. They came from the rubble to the side, a deep, resonant, and demonic growl, sounding like a primordial beast desperately trying to restrain its own wrath.
"Huh?" Orodes stopped laughing and snapped his head toward the voice, his eyes narrowing as he tried to identify the intruder. "Oh? It's you?"
Standing amidst the dust and debris was Kon. His small frame was trembling, his white fur bristling with unadulterated fury. But he was no longer a helpless little fox. A vibrant, golden aura was now flickering violently around him, expanding larger and larger by the second until it created a suffocating, physical weight that crushed the very air around them.
"This..." Orodes frowned in genuine confusion, stepping back as he sensed the sheer magnitude of the rising energy.
Around Kon, the golden aura hit a blinding crescendo and then, it began to change. The brilliant gold darkened, shifting rapidly into a deep, corrupted black before igniting into a malevolent, crimson red.
Bathed in the ominous light, Kon's small body began to violently expand. His pristine white fur was dyed a horrific, blood-soaked crimson. Behind him, his single, fluffy tail began to violently split and sprout. One. Two. Three. The appendages multiplied rapidly, whipping through the air until nine massive, blood-red tails fanned out behind his towering, monstrous new form.
It was Blood Burning. Over the last few months, watching Ren's progress and feeling a crushing sense of helplessness at his own weakness, Kon had secretly developed this forbidden technique to bridge the gap between them. By literally incinerating the Heavenly Kitsune portion of his bloodline, Kon was forcefully elevating himself to the absolute peak of the Ultimate-class in a single, desperate surge.
Of course, such a miraculous, logic-defying technique came with a devastating price. Once his Heavenly Kitsune blood was entirely burned away, he would instantly fall into a comatose state of weakness. For how long? Kon had no idea; the technique was purely theoretical. But left with absolutely no other choice, the little fox had played his final, suicidal trump card.
There was a very real chance he would lose his life right here on this street. But Kon was more than willing to trade his life to save his best friend, Ritsuzen Ren.
ROAAAAAARRRR!
A terrifying, earth-shattering howl erupted from the nine-tailed beast, echoing violently throughout the entirety of Inner Kyoto. The sheer, oppressive weight of his crimson aura permeated the Yokai City like a tidal wave, stopping every single common Yokai dead in their tracks, forcing them to look up in sheer terror toward the epicentre of the roar.
**********
Meanwhile, inside the command room of Tenko-jō...
Yasaka and the Yokai Elders were frantically barking orders to their subordinates. In the centre of the oval table, a glowing holographic map of Outer Kyoto hovered brightly. Across the projection, a sea of crimson dots indicated the invading cultists, while blue dots represented their own defending forces. Scattered chaotically between them were clusters of white dots indicating the terrified civilians.
"Squad 8, there are civilians pinned to your left!" Yasaka shouted into a glowing talisman paper, commanding the Tengu unit on the other end of the magical link.
"Understood," came the deep, static-laced voice of a Tengu warrior.
Similar orders echoed endlessly around the table as the commanders desperately tried to direct the front lines. They were doing everything in their power to quell the city's chaos and save as many lives as possible, turning the command room into a deafening, highly stressful cacophony of shouts and frantic reports.
Suddenly, an oppressive, terrifying aura swept over the entire stronghold.
The room instantly fell dead silent. Yasaka and all the Elders abruptly stopped their work, their heads snapping simultaneously toward the direction of the suffocating pressure. Their eyes widened, filling with a mixture of shock and solemnity.
"A new invader?!" the Nekomata matriarch shrieked shrilly, her hair standing on end.
Yasaka didn't reply. Instead, she closed her eyes, trying to parse through the overwhelming, violent energy to identify its core. "This aura..." she murmured.
Then, something clicked in her mind. Her golden eyes snapped open in horror. "KON?!" she shouted, her voice trembling as she recognized the underlying signature.
"K-Kon? T-That failure?" the Gama Yokai elder stuttered out in sheer disbelief.
Yasaka didn't even bother to correct the elder's insult. Moving entirely on pure instinct, she bolted from the table.
BANG!
The heavy doors of the command room violently rattled on their hinges as she threw them open and sprinted down the hall.
'Konyo-chan... Ren-chan... they're in danger!' she thought frantically, her heart pounding against her ribs as she raced toward the battlefield.
**********
Chapter 34 - The Price
"Grrrrrrr..."
The towering, gigantic nine-tailed fox stood firmly planted on all four paws, its blood-red fur fluttering wildly in the wind like roaring flames. Its pupils were glowing pools of pure crimson as it bared its massive, razor-sharp fangs at the tiny, white-robed cultist below. Steaming breath puffed from its massive maw, sweeping over the street like a hurricane gale with a heavy, deafening whoosh.
"Hehe. Interesting." Orodes slowly craned his neck upward.
He locked his eyes onto the colossal fox with apparent solemnity, the corners of his mouth twitching upward into a tight, almost nervous smile. But anyone looking deep into his eyes would see past that thin veneer of caution. What lay beneath was something far more: an intense, burning battle lust. Deep within his gaze was an overwhelming, fanatical desire to spill the blood of such a magnificent beast.
**********
"Kon..."
The teary-eyed boy, still lying broken on the pavement, looked up at his transformed best friend. His gaze held deep worry and anxiety for the Yokai's safety, but beneath all of that, deep within his heart, an overwhelming sense of security washed over him.
It was a feeling that had been with him since his infancy. A warmth that had comforted him when he was at his absolute lowest back at the Ritsuzen estate. A steadfast presence that had guided him as he grew up.
Realizing this, fresh tears spilled from his eyes. 'It isn't gone after all...'
A merely nullified contract could never break the invincible, unspoken bond between them. A broken spell could not erase his mother's final gift—a lifelong companion, a true friend who would stand by him through his absolute darkest times.
'Ah... I'm safe...' Ren thought, smiling warmly as he gazed up at the giant, crimson beast shielding him from the world.
Finally succumbing to his internal injuries and an overwhelming wave of weakness, Ren's vision darkened. He quietly slipped into unconsciousness, a small, peaceful smile still resting on his face.
**********
Looking down at the unconscious boy, the giant fox's crimson eyes softened for a brief, fleeting moment. 'Don't worry. I will protect you this time, Ren-chan.'
"ROAAARRR!" A deafening roar erupted from his massive maw, whipping up a fierce, hurricane-force gale that radiated the raw power of a High-class being.
"Ggh!" Orodes crossed his arms tightly over his face, shielding himself from the tearing winds. The sheer, violent force of the gale instantly ripped the sleeves of his white robe to shreds, scoring his bare arms with dozens of bloody cuts. But behind his raised guard, his mouth stretched into a manic grin so wide it seemed to split his face in half. "HAHAHAHAHA! COME!"
The exact moment the wind died down, he whipped both hands forward. Intricate blue magic circles instantly manifested in front of his palms. 'Kairokrýo!'
Kairós, the opportune moment, and krýo, cold. Together, they formed the spell of Time Freeze.
While the magic Orodes wielded sounded omnipotent, it came with a severe limitation: he could only affect a single entity at a time. This power, born from the blessing of his patron god, granted him mastery over many aspects of time, but the spell would outright fail if the target's raw power vastly eclipsed his own. In this clash, Kon was now stronger than the First Commander, though not by an overwhelming margin. Hence...
Grrr... grrrrk... grrrrrrk.
The harsh, metallic sound of massive, unseen gears grinding against each other echoed through the air, as if a physical force was violently tearing against an invisible film. Kon, though technically frozen by the spell, was so overflowing with raw power that he was actively straining against the temporal restriction. His massive crimson pupils twitched and rolled within their sockets, slowly angling downward to glare at the trembling man below.
"Hehe, ugh... I guess you aren't so easy to deal with," Orodes wheezed, his voice heavily strained.
His outstretched hands were shaking violently; his entire body locked in unbearable tension. In forcing the time snare onto a peak Ultimate-class beast, Orodes had essentially trapped himself. Pushing his magic to its absolute limit just to hold the nine-tailed Yokai in place, he was now, just like Kon, completely unable to move.
Realizing the temporal snare was failing and straining his own body, Orodes abruptly severed the spell. Dropping his hands, he launched himself backward in a swift, desperate evasion.
But before his boots could even touch the pavement...
BOOM!
A colossal crimson paw slammed into the exact spot he had just occupied. The asphalt shattered instantly, violently carving out a gigantic, spider-webbed crater as if a meteor had just struck the earth.
The moment Orodes finally landed, a heavy shadow eclipsed him. One of the beast's nine blood-soaked tails swept viciously toward his flank, moving with the speed of a whip.
Orodes hastily threw his arms up to guard.
CRACK! "AGH!" Orodes grunted in pain. The devastating impact hit him like a freight train, launching his body violently to the side.
Though his century of gruelling physical training allowed him to twist in mid-air and slide to a halt firmly on his feet, the sheer blunt force of the strike was undeniable. His trembling forearms throbbed with agony, the skin beneath his shredded sleeves already blooming with deep, black-and-purple bruises.
'I can't go on like this!' Orodes thought fiercely.
Quickly, he raised his hand, flattening his palm and straightening his fingers to form the shape of a blade. Before another massive crimson tail could sweep in and crush him, Orodes thrust his hand violently forward, focusing every ounce of his bodily strength into a single, concentrated point.
SHING!
It sounded as if a literal sword had just cleaved the air. A sharp, distorted line visibly tore through the space before him, the sheer physical force sending violent vibrations rippling outward from the point of impact.
PSSSSHHH!
A geyser of dark blood suddenly erupted from the centre of one of Kon's incoming tails.
"ROOOOAAAARRR!!!" An agonizing, earth-shaking roar escaped the giant Yokai's maw as the wounded tail recoiled in pain.
It was Diapérasis, the Art of Piercing Through. Forged during Orodes' hundred years of solitude, the martial technique was designed to focus all of his kinetic energy into a single point and release it as a highly destructive vibrational wave. The attack was specifically crafted to completely bypass thick armour and tough hide, instead violently shredding the muscles and arteries deep within. The internal rupture was so devastating that Kon's blood had literally burst outward from the sheer pressure beneath his skin.
It was the exact same technique he had used to strike Ren down moments ago. However, against the boy, Orodes had intentionally used his entire open palm. By widening the surface area of the impact, he had dispersed the vibrational wave, ensuring he would only incapacitate the boy rather than dealing permanent, lethal damage to his internal organs.
STOMP!
Focusing his kinetic energy entirely into his foot, Orodes slammed his boot down, violently cracking the pavement beneath him. Using the explosive recoil, he charged at a blistering speed toward the roaring fox.
But abruptly, the beast's agonizing roars ceased.
The giant fox fell terrifyingly silent. Deep within his still-open maw, a condensed, blindingly bright orb of crimson fox-fire materialized without a shred of warning.
'A trap!' Orodes realized in alarm.
Though the First Commander had managed to severely injure the beast, it was, ultimately, just a tail, not a vital organ. Kon could withstand the pain. In that brief clash, the Yokai had instantly realized that his raw physical strength couldn't overcome Orodes' piercing martial arts, so in a fraction of a second, the fox had formulated a cunning ruse.
He had intentionally shrieked as if the strike had dealt unimaginable, crippling agony, purposely pausing his own assault. He was banking entirely on Orodes' battle experience, knowing the arrogant cultist would immediately seize the opening to dash in before his opponent could recover. By baiting Orodes into using a high-speed movement technique, Kon ensured the man would have far too much forward momentum to stop or dodge.
Then, he would unleash the devastating spell he had been secretly condensing in his throat.
Kon's gamble paid off flawlessly. And the result was absolute devastation.
"You cunning little—!" Orodes roared, but his final words were instantly swallowed by the deafening blast.
BOOOOOM!!!
The condensed orb erupted into a massive, earth-shattering beam of crimson fire. It swept violently over Orodes, completely engulfing the First Commander and instantly reducing him to floating ash.
Yet, strangely, when the blinding crimson beam finally dissipated, what should have been the First Commander's ashes were completely gone, as if they had simply vanished into thin air.
Exhausted and running purely on battle instincts, Kon didn't think too much of the anomaly. The giant fox simply assumed the sheer force of his attack had scattered the man's remains to the wind.
He had won.
The moment that realization washed over his mind, the malevolent crimson aura surrounding his massive body abruptly shattered.
The terrifying toll of the Blood Burning technique finally crashed down upon him. With his Heavenly Kitsune bloodline completely incinerated, his towering, nine-tailed form rapidly began to shrink. The deep, blood-red hue drained away, leaving him as a tiny, severely battered fox once more. However, instead of his signature pristine white, his fur had dulled to an ordinary, earthly brown.
His legs gave out instantly.
Plummeting to the cracked pavement, Kon dragged his trembling, agonizingly heavy body inch by inch toward the unconscious Ren. Leaving a small trail of blood behind him, the little fox finally reached his best friend's side. With the last ounce of his fading strength, Kon curled his small, battered body protectively against Ren's chest, closed his eyes, and slowly slipped into a deep, death-like coma.
"Konyo! Ren!" a distant, frantic feminine voice cried out through the smoke.
'Ah... Yasaka is finally here...' Kon's ear twitched weakly. 'You're... late...' And with that final, fading thought, his consciousness slipped away.
**********
Still near the border of the barrier, the surroundings had been utterly devastated. Distant trees and rocks were either entirely incinerated or melted down into glowing slag. A deep, violently scorched trench scarred the earth, a horrifying testament to the apocalyptic clash that had just taken place.
"Konyo! Ren!" Yasaka shrieked in panic as her eyes fell upon her two precious boys lying motionless on the ruined pavement.
Sprinting to their side, she dropped heavily to her knees. Her hands trembled as she reached out, pressing two fingers to Ren's wrist and gently taking Kon's small paw in her other hand, desperately searching for a pulse.
Ba-dum... Ba-dum...
Two incredibly faint, fragile pulses beat against her skin. A shuddering sigh of relief escaped her trembling lips. "Whew..."
Wasting no time, she closed her eyes and extended her spiritual sense to scan their internal injuries. But what appeared in her mind's eye instantly made her blood run cold.
Ren's abdomen was a terrifying mess of internal bleeding; several of his organs were severely bruised, and a few had completely ruptured. But as horrifying as the boy's condition was, it wasn't the main source of her despair. It was Kon.
When she had first seen his dull, brown fur from a distance, she hadn't thought much of it, assuming his coat was merely caked in mud, blood, and ash. But now, as her magic swept over his tiny body, she realized the devastating truth.
"Konyo-chan... W-why... why were you so stupid...?" Hot tears welled in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks as her expression warped from frantic panic into soul-crushing sorrow.
Kon's current state was practically no better than death. There was no concrete timeline for his recovery, if he could even recover at all. He had essentially been reduced to an empty, comatose husk. With the divine half of his bloodline completely incinerated to fuel his final attack, it was an absolute miracle the little fox was still breathing.
The majestic, radiant signature of the Heavenly Fox was permanently gone. And as a Heavenly Kitsune herself, Yasaka felt that agonizing, hollow emptiness more intensely than anyone.
Carefully, as if handling fragile glass, Yasaka scooped the bruised, unconscious boy into her arms. She then gently lifted the tiny, brown fox, cradling Kon against Ren's chest just as they had been lying.
The physical weight of the two children was nothing to the Yokai leader, but the emotional weight of their broken bodies nearly brought her to her knees all over again.
A warm, radiant sphere of youki ignited around them, swirling gently to shield their fragile, battered forms from the cold wind and the lingering ash of the battlefield, whisking them both away from the devastated land.