In the neighboring hot spring pool, Wendy's body was surrounded by invisible wind blades, slicing into her skin as her expression twisted in agony.
Senti let out a sharp, piercing scream, her eyes flashing with a frenzied red light.
Theresa emitted a low growl like a beast while her small body swelled and distorted, clearly in the middle of transforming.
Xuanyuan grinned eerily, her body decaying like dry wood before regenerating, then decaying and regenerating again.
Sirin wielded Sky, swinging it uncontrollably like a lunatic.
Ana stared in terror at the ice spikes forming across her hand and screamed in agony.
Seven!
At this moment, seven guardians were almost completely corrupted by the curse of Nihility, turning them into frenzied beasts devoid of reason, causing the situation to spiral out of control!
"Wendy! Stop!"
Bianka screamed as she dodged the uncontrolled wind blades unleashed by Wendy.
"Ugh! Senti! It's me! Sakura!"
Sakura, clutching her head in pain, desperately resisted the oncoming mental assaults from Senti.
"Theresa! Wake up!"
Azta tried to trap the rampaging Theresa with rocks, but her efforts were negated by the binding powers of Theresa's Sentinel, Bind.
"Ana! Control yourself! Don't lose your sanity!"
Bianka had just repelled Wendy and now had to face Ana, who had also finally lost control and was transforming into an ice monster.
"Sirin! As the big sister among us, I order you to calm down, or I'll beat your ass up!"
Kyuusyou awkwardly dodged the erratic light spears thrown by Sirin, causing her precious, stylish monocle to fly off.
Facing the rampaging seven guardians, the still-sober guardians found themselves completely on the defensive.
It couldn't be helped.
Like Mei, they had also mellowed out, and some of them even hoped that their omnipotent savior, Lucian, might have found a way to solve this problem without killing. Because of this, they couldn't bring themselves to deliver a fatal blow to their comrades-in-arms, so all they could do now was dodge, block, and try to regain control, looking awkward and hesitant.
Just then, while Kyuushou and the others were desperately suppressing their transformed companions, Mei kicked Himiko through the wooden wall that separated the two pool chambers from the neighboring pool, bringing all the guardians together in one place.
"Even Himiko..." Azta muttered in disbelief, then shouted urgently, "Kyuusyou, what do we do?! If this continues, we'll all..."
"Mei, where's the boss?!" Kyuusyou asked in panic, looking at Mei. "Where's our savior?! Maybe he has a way to fix this!"
"He went out for a drink!" Mei replied while blocking Himiko's claw attacks. "He'll be back soon! Let's hold on until he returns!"
"Even if he's here, nothing will change!" Sakura shouted through gritted teeth. "People who have turned into complete oni cannot be saved and must be slain!"
"Are you saying we're going to leave the sin of killing our sisters to him?!" Bianka exclaimed angrily. "No... I can't do that! I'd rather kill them myself!"
Hearing this, Mei and the others exchanged complicated glances, thinking that Bianka's words made sense. If they had to kill their companions, there was no need to let Lucian bear this burden.
He had already done so much for Izumo, after all.
"I'll do it..."
Mei took a deep breath and stepped forward resolutely.
"All the evil of the heavens, fall upon me. May the death enter the abyss—"
Just as Mei chanted Howl's mantra and was about to strike the fatal blow—
*Whoosh!*
An invisible force suddenly enveloped the entire hot spring building!
All the frantic actions, roars, and attacks were as if the pause button had been pressed, freezing everything for a moment!
In the next moment, Lucian, wearing a calm expression, somehow appeared at the doorway of the pool chamber.
"I went out for a bit, and it's already a mess?"
Lucian, with only a white towel covering his waist down to his thighs, remarked as his gaze swept over the scene, spotting the seven crazed, monster-looking guardians who had lost their minds along with their human forms.
'Dammit, the Shadow of IX can actually do this?' Lucian frowned and cursed inwardly. 'It seems to be the result of overusing their Sentinels...'
Upon careful thought, the answer was clear: because the Nihility from the Shadow of IX had tainted Takamagahara, giving birth to the kami, and because the people of Izumo used the kami's corpses to forge Sentinels, the guardians, who had long been exposed to their powers and had constantly interacted with the kami, had a large amount of the curse deeply merged within their bodies, ready to erupt at any moment.
And their current simultaneous eruption was probably due to the previous all-out kami invasion, during which they overdrew the powers of their Sentinels.
He remembered that, in the original story, when Izumo counterattacked Takamagahara with the Sentinels they had forged, a large number of Izumo's inhabitants inevitably paid the price by turning into oni.
Unfortunately, all their efforts in fighting the kami were futile, as all of them were ultimately swallowed by the Shadow of IX, leaving only Acheron as the sole survivor.
Thankfully, he had discovered this problem in time, so the situation was not as bad as it seemed.
Lucian shifted his gaze from the transformed guardians to Mei and the others.
'Hmm?'
Lucian's gaze lingered a bit longer on Kyuusyou, Azta, Mei, Bianka, and Sakura as he finally realized that they were actually stripped bare.
Yes, amid this chaotic fight, all the guardians had inevitably lost their towels, leaving them fighting in the nude, with no time at all to put their clothes back on.
Seeing their bare bodies so clearly displayed before his eyes, he had to admit that each woman truly possessed her own unique charm—whether big or small, they were all exceptional in their own right.
Among them, Mei, Bianka, and Sakura were definitely the most impressive in every aspect. Kyuusyou and Azta weren't bad either—one was right at the peak of her blossoming, while the other was just as captivating in her own distinct way, despite having the youngest-looking body among them.
"Boss! Save us!"
Kyuusyou cried out, looking helpless.
"Boss! Can we do something about them?!"
Bianka glanced at Lucian and shouted urgently.
"Boss, don't just gawk at me! Think of something!"
Azta, realizing what Lucian was looking at, shouted with a flushed face, instinctively crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Lucian gazed at the three for a little longer before finally letting his eyes rest on Mei.
He could see that Mei's eyes were filled with pain, struggle, and a deep sense of helplessness, along with a hint of resolve.
It seemed that the task of killing her transformed companions would have to fall on her.
Seeing the torment in Mei's eyes, a complex emotion flashed through Lucian's eyes before he sighed, then walked over to her, gently placing a hand atop her head and rubbing it softly.
"Mei, step aside. I'll do it."
Mei's body trembled at Lucian's words, then she turned to look at him, her expression hesitant.
"I promise I'll give you a happy life, without the burden of guilt for slaying your comrades this time."
Lucian's voice held an undeniable force, as though it pierced through time and reached Mei's heart—his words were like a warm stream, instantly striking her softest and most painful spot.
"But..." Mei said softly, her grip on Howl loosening as her eyes misted over. "I don't want you to bear the guilt of killing them..."
"Who said I have to kill them?" Lucian said calmly, slowly raising his right hand, palm up. "You must remember one thing—I never abandon my own people."
As his words fell, several white bandages began to emerge from thin air with a soft swish. As if possessing intelligence, the bandages flew toward the seven women tainted by the curse of Nihility, who struggled desperately like mad beasts.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
However, the bandages ignored their struggles and screams, quickly wrapping around their bodies completely.
From head to toe, their bodies were tightly bound, just like mummies.
"Ugh!"
"ARGH!!!"
"AAAAAAHHH!!!"
All the oni guardians let out even more pitiful screams, their bodies writhing violently, but no matter how they struggled, they could not break free from the seemingly flimsy bandages.
"Great, we've got them under control," Sakura said with a relieved smile, glancing at Lucian. "I knew the boss could do it."
"You're capable too."
Lucian spoke with a smile, glancing back at Sakura.
Sakura, noticing his gaze, slightly turned to the side, lifting her hand to cover her reddened face and her exposed private parts.
"What do we do now?"
Kyuusyou asked earnestly, not bothering to cover her body.
"No rush, just wait a bit," Lucian replied calmly, then moved the seven mummified bodies by the pool, lining them up. "Just watch—they'll be fixed soon."
A few seconds later, as all the bandages scattered, the appearances of the seven oni guardians were revealed.
Just as Lucian had said, they had returned to normal, their skin smooth and full, their twisted limbs fully restored, and even their horns had disappeared. In just under a minute, Himiko, Wendy, Theresa, Xuanyuan, Sirin, Senti, and Ana returned to normal.
Soon enough, one by one, they opened their eyes, sat up, and looked around in confusion.
As they saw the disheveled state of their companions and the destruction in the hot spring, their gazes shifted from confusion to clarity, then to helplessness and deep guilt.
"I... Did I just..."
Himiko, her voice trembling with relief at having survived, looked at her restored human hands.
"Wh-What the hell happened...?"
Wendy stared blankly at her surroundings.
"..."
Theresa fell silent, but her small body trembled uncontrollably.
"I... I almost died..."
Ana muttered, hugging her own body in fear.
"It felt like I was about to fall to the evil side..."
Xuanyuan remarked jokingly while rubbing the empty spot on her head where her horn should be.
"What happened to my towel?! Who took it off?!"
Senti, either clueless about what had just happened or simply not caring, pulled her long hair forward to cover her modest breasts and questioned everyone, her face showing a mixture of shame and anger.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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