Naturally, Hagoromo-Gitsune also saw the outrageously arrogant Cú Chulainn and desperately wanted to teach him a lesson.
Unfortunately, Nurarihyon had her completely tied down, leaving her no opportunity to act elsewhere.
At the same time, Heracles abruptly turned and launched an attack toward the area where the yokai were most densely gathered.
He lowered his body slightly, his muscles bulging as he raised the stone axe high before smashing it down with tremendous force!
Boom!
The instant the axe blade struck the earth, a fissure exploded beneath his feet and spread forward like a bolt of black lightning. Wherever it passed, the stone paving was pulverized, while a chasm several meters deep tore open across the ground.
Every yokai along its path, large or small, was either blasted into the air or hurled directly into the depths of the fissure, screaming as they fell into the bottomless darkness.
The entire terrain of Nijō Castle's northeastern section was completely transformed by that single blow.
Seeing this, Rowan could not help whistling.
"Those two are doing pretty well. But we can't let them keep killing like this. If they wipe out every yokai in Kyoto, who are we supposed to use as experimental specimens?"
He turned toward Medusa.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Medusa."
Medusa nodded and looked toward the yokai of Kyoto.
Mystic Eyes of Petrification, activate.
The next second, huge numbers of yokai were petrified, transforming into stone statues one after another.
Medea and Serie immediately took the opportunity to collect all the petrified yokai.
From now on, they would all become experimental specimens.
"It looks like you've reached the end of the road, Hagoromo-Gitsune."
Seeing this, Nurarihyon laughed happily.
With this group of powerful humans interfering, Hagoromo-Gitsune's defeat was now only a matter of time.
At the thought of finally ending this centuries-long grudge, the smile on Nurarihyon's face became brighter than the sun.
Hagoromo-Gitsune stared darkly at the smug Nurarihyon. Her nine tails danced continuously behind her as her surging yokai aura spread farther and farther.
"You foolish nurarihyon. Do you truly believe you've already won?!"
She suddenly calmed down, and an eerie smile appeared on her face.
The sight of that smile made Nurarihyon's heart jolt.
Putting himself in her position, he knew that if he were facing such a hopeless situation, he would never be able to smile.
Yet Hagoromo-Gitsune could.
That meant she had not yet reached the end of the road.
An intense feeling of unease instantly swept through his heart.
Hagoromo-Gitsune said coldly, "Why do you think I chose Nijō Castle as my stronghold? Because it looks pretty?"
She had no intention of waiting for Nurarihyon's answer and immediately answered her own question.
"No. Of course not."
"We chose this place because it was once the center of political power."
"It is also where the underground leylines converge."
"We used the leylines here to nourish the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons—but more importantly, to suppress something."
"And now, it is time to release it."
The moment Hagoromo-Gitsune finished speaking, a sound resembling shattering glass echoed throughout Nijō Castle.
In an instant, the entire castle began producing a deep rumble.
It was the sound of the leylines being forcibly destroyed.
The earth beneath their feet cracked apart. The ruins collapsed as an ancient and malevolent power awakened from deep underground, reducing every stone, broken beam, and shattered tile to powder before rising into the air.
Strands of black energy seeped from the ground beneath them.
In the blink of an eye, they formed a black torrent that surged toward the heavens.
Within that black flood, Rowan saw countless ghosts and vengeful spirits.
The spirits gathered together and released silent roars, desperately attempting to escape. However, the black torrent bound them tightly, leaving them completely unable to break free.
"Hey, hey, you've got to be kidding me. How could something like this possibly exist?"
Beads of cold sweat formed across Nurarihyon's forehead.
He recognized the black torrent.
It was a curse.
It was the collective curse of every innocent soul who had died at the hands of Hagoromo-Gitsune and her yokai subordinates.
Hagoromo-Gitsune had lived in this world for over a thousand years. After becoming the Lord of Pandemonium, she had acted even more recklessly.
Over the years, far more than a hundred thousand people had died directly by their hands.
The number who had died indirectly because of them was countless.
Logically, the dead should have entered Hell and moved on to reincarnation.
But Hagoromo-Gitsune had refused to release them.
Instead, she had gathered every one of their souls and sealed them beneath the leylines of Nijō Castle.
Unable to reincarnate, these spirits had spent every moment cursing Hagoromo-Gitsune and her subordinates.
The resentment and curses accumulated over several centuries had long since become tangible, entangling with one another.
The instant the seal was removed, all of that resentment, those curses, and those tormented souls erupted at once.
Hagoromo-Gitsune's figure slowly rose from the center of the torrent of curses.
Her clothes had already been soaked black by the corruption, yet a smile remained on her lips.
Around her body, the curses began taking shape.
They formed an enormous, pitch-black cocoon of curses.
Across the cocoon's surface, the faces of those who had died over the past several centuries rolled, struggled, and wailed.
Every face desperately tried to tear itself free from the cocoon's walls, but each struggle only caused it to sink deeper.
Their suffering continuously supplied the cocoon with energy.
Every time the cocoon pulsed, the sky above Nijō Castle grew a shade darker.
"Is that thing… All the World's Evil?"
Staring at the cocoon behind Hagoromo-Gitsune, Rowan could not help exclaiming.
There was no helping it.
What Hagoromo-Gitsune had released looked far too similar to All the World's Evil.
It could not be called completely identical, but it was at least ninety percent alike.
"What a genius."
Rowan could not help expressing his admiration.
Someone capable of artificially creating something similar to All the World's Evil could certainly be called talented.
"This isn't the time for sarcastic praise, is it?"
Heroic Spirit EMIYA retorted, "Hagoromo-Gitsune is obviously planning to use that thing as a crucible to cultivate something enormous. If we don't stop her, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Rowan thought about it and realized he was right. He pointed at the pitch-black cocoon.
"You handle it."
EMIYA nodded and raised his head.
Hagoromo-Gitsune's figure was gradually being absorbed into the cocoon of curses.
Her body was becoming translucent, merging with the wailing faces across the cocoon's surface.
At that moment, EMIYA's pupils contracted violently.
He realized he had underestimated Hagoromo-Gitsune.
She was not merely trying to use the cocoon to cultivate something enormous.
She clearly intended to devour the entire cocoon as nourishment.
Then she would transform herself into an unprecedented monster.
"We can't allow that."
EMIYA's gaze became more serious than ever.
The moment he raised his right hand, a bow appeared within it.
The bow was entirely black, with silver circuits emerging across its body. Its two ends extended into asymmetrical curves, as though the remains of some weapon had been forcibly twisted into the shape of a bow.
His right hand began pulling back the bowstring.
There was no arrow upon it.
But that did not matter.
He could create one himself.
EMIYA locked his gaze onto Hagoromo-Gitsune. The crease between his eyebrows deepened like a scar carved by a blade, and his lips moved as he recited an incantation that did not belong to this world.
"I am the bone of my sword."
In an instant, his Magic Circuits roared to life like an ignited fuse.
Particles of magical energy gathered between his ten fingers at a visible speed, rotating and colliding with one another. The radiance they produced illuminated the entire night sky as brightly as day.
Projection magecraft operated at full power.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."
An arrow appeared.
No—it would be more accurate to call it a sword.
However, this sword had an extremely unusual shape.
How unusual was it?
Rather than a sword blade, its body resembled a spiraling spear, completely different from what people normally imagined a sword to look like.
Yet it was the demonic sword once wielded by Fergus mac Róich, the hero of Celtic mythology.
Forged by fairies and containing the power of lightning, its name meant "hard lightning" or "a strike like lightning."
Fergus had once used this sword to blast the peaks off three mountains in Ulster. According to legend, the sword light produced by its swing extended like a rainbow.
For this reason, the weapon was also known as the Spiral Rainbow Sword.
EMIYA was not Fergus, so naturally, he did not possess the true spiral sword.
This sword had been created through EMIYA's Projection magecraft—
Caladbolg II: The Fake Spiral Sword!
When combined with EMIYA's technique, Broken Phantasm, the destructive power it unleashed would not be much weaker than the original.
At that moment, EMIYA drew the bowstring to its limit.
The bow creaked beneath the unbearable strain. The projected sword-arrow rested against the string, while the spiral patterns along its body began rotating at tremendous speed.
With every revolution, the surrounding air was torn apart even more violently.
Sensing the danger from afar, Hagoromo-Gitsune roared.
"Don't even think about it!!!"
Her voice exploded from within the cocoon of curses.
Her nine fox tails stabbed simultaneously toward EMIYA.
The black torrent of curses condensed into nine enormous serpent-like tentacles that extended across the battlefield.
However, EMIYA remained unmoved.
He did not even look at the nine cursed tentacles rushing toward him.
Because he knew they would never reach him.
"Get the hell…"
A fierce, defiant voice exploded through the air.
Nurarihyon's figure appeared out of nowhere before the cursed tentacles.
His stamina was far from recovered, and even his legs were trembling faintly.
Yet he stood firmly in their path.
Nenekirimaru was held horizontally in his hands, silver light erupting brilliantly from its blade.
"…away!!!"
He slashed.
The shockwave from the collision shattered every roof tile within several hundred meters.
Both of Nurarihyon's sleeves exploded into fragments, and countless beads of blood seeped from his skin.
Yet he did not retreat a single step.
The tentacles formed from curses shattered into pieces.
Nurarihyon's exhilarated voice echoed through the air.
"Don't think you're the only one who knows how to risk your life, you filthy fox!"
"NURARIHYON!!!"
Hagoromo-Gitsune roared in madness.
At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to slice the old bastard into ten thousand pieces.
Several centuries ago, he had stopped her.
And now, several centuries later, he was stopping her once again.
Could this man truly be her destined nemesis?
But Hagoromo-Gitsune no longer had time to curse Nurarihyon.
Because—
the arrow had already left the bowstring!
~~~
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