The pitch-black torrent carried Hagoromo Gitsune towards the abyssal Gates of Hell.
In that instant, Luo Shu decisively drew Tenseiga and swung the blade, unleashing a dark purple crescent.
—Meidō Zangetsuha!
A secret technique using Tenseiga's ability to connect two realms, slicing open the boundary between reality and the Netherworld, creating a spatial rift to defeat enemies.
Outside the Abyss Warring States, in a reality devoid of the Netherworld, Tenseiga instead opened a path to the gap between the human world and Hell.
Luo Shu intended to exploit this, sending Hagoromo Gitsune into that gap to prevent her from being sucked into hell.
Without any communication, the moment Luo Shu unleashed the crescent, Hagoromo Gitsune—having lost the initiative—instantly extended her nine fox tails, whipping the air to propel herself towards the crescent created by Tenseiga.
Clearly, she aimed to cooperate with Luo Shu's plan and take refuge in the gap between worlds.
Witnessing this, Nue suddenly raised his right hand slightly before violently pulling it downward.
The suction force of the Gates of Hell abruptly multiplied tenfold, instantly dragging Hagoromo Gitsune's neglected puppet into hell.
Her expression twisted at the sight, but she gritted her teeth and plunged into the rift.
Meanwhile, Nura Rihan joined forces, activating Matoi to fire a dozen black threads at Hagoromo Gitsune's puppet in a desperate attempt to intercept it.
Just then, a blade flashed—Abe no Yoshihira, waiting nearby, delivered a fierce slash towards the black threads.
In just an instant, that razor-sharp slash cleanly severed the threads released by Nura Rihan after activating Matoi!
Simultaneously, Luo Shu—who had just unleashed Meidō Zangetsuha—drew So'unga from his waist with his free right hand. From another angle, he swung it towards Hagoromo Gitsune's puppet, unleashing the greatsword's secret technique: Prison Dragon Blast!
A terrifying black-purple tornado, infused with sinister energy, swept up and shattered the stone tiles before the Inner Citadel Palace gates before surging towards Hagoromo Gitsune's puppet.
But at that moment, a golden flash of light intercepted the dark vortex, laden with dreadful malice, and delayed it just long enough to miss the Gates of Hell's suction.
Witnessing this, Luo Shu calmly turned his gaze towards the unexpected third party.
Observing Minagoroshi Jizō—his head crowned with a massive eye, cradling a broken greatsword—Luo Shu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.
At that very moment, Nue spoke indifferently:
"You're late, Minagoroshi Jizō."
"Keh heh heh, evading those experts who infiltrated took a bit of time."
Minagoroshi Jizō presented the blade with both hands, smiling as he offered it to Nue:
"But thanks to that, Maō's Hammer has absorbed Kyoto's darkness in a more perfect form before its birth."
Nue grasped the greatsword Maō's Hammer and casually swung it, cleanly bisecting Minagoroshi Jizō's form.
Yet bizarrely, the severed Minagoroshi Jizō didn't bleed. Instead, his liquid form was absorbed by the Maō's Hammer like a sponge.
Witnessing this horrifying spectacle, the yokai of the Nura Clan gaped in shock.
"The sword... ate a person?"
However, Nura Rihan showed no surprise, his expression grave as he said:
"Just as Luo Shu predicted. Both the Maō's Hammer and Minagoroshi Jizō are fragments of Sanmoto Gorōzaemon, whom I killed long ago."
In response, a crimson eye slowly opened on the Maō's Hammer's hilt, followed by Minagoroshi Jizō's mocking laughter:
"Nura Rihan, you'll soon regret not finishing off my human self completely back then!"
Nura Rihan tensed, tightening his grip on Nenekirimaru.
But compared to this ancient feud, Nue's attention was drawn to Luo Shu standing nearby:
"You seem to have anticipated I'd dispose of my mother?"
"Merely deductions based on ritual patterns."
Luo Shu swung Tenseiga again, but this Meidō Zangetsuha wasn't an attack—it opened a gateway.
From within the crescent moon portal emerged a pale wrist, followed by Hagoromo Gitsune stepping forth—her black robes and hair contrasting starkly against her gaunt, pallid features.
Emerging from the Netherworld, she immediately looked skyward at Nue, her expression complex:
"So it was like this all along. The one you needed to cast into Hell had to be your birth mother."
"And because I used a puppet to bear you in my stead, that puppet became your target all along."
"Attacking me was merely your surface-level deception."
"Is that it, Seimei? No, Nue!"
To Hagoromo Gitsune's accusation, Nue responded impassively:
"You've fulfilled your final purpose, Mother."
"Don't call me that!"
Hagoromo Gitsune's rage erupted, nine golden tails lashing through the air with explosive cracks.
"Where have you hidden my true child? Answer me!!"
Nue regarded her with faint pity:
"If anything, I should be asking you."
"When exactly did you develop this delusion of having borne offspring?"
Hagoromo Gitsune froze.
She stared blankly at Nue, utterly speechless.
Meanwhile, Nue continued calmly:
"From the beginning, Abe no Seimei's mother—the reincarnating yokai called Hagoromo Gitsune—never existed."
"Abe no Seimei, or rather, the one who holds Abe no Seimei's true name... whether you call his mother Kuzunoha or Asanoha, neither name has any connection to Hagoromo Gitsune."
"The reason Hagoromo Gitsune and Nue came into existence was simply because people feared that person's presence. They forcibly imposed the experiences of those two onto fictional characters as a way to avoid directly naming him."
As Nue spoke this, his expression remained indifferent:
"So from the very beginning, you and I are the same – both born from people's delusions, forcibly bestowed with others' experiences, Legend Yokai conjured from human imagination."
"In other words, the mother-son relationship between Hagoromo Gitsune and Nue was always a falsehood imposed by the world."
"It's time to wake from this fabricated dream, Mother!"
After hearing Nue's words, Hagoromo Gitsune's mouth fell open as she stood frozen in place, her gaze vacant.
Witnessing this, Nue raised Maō's Hammer with pitiful solemnity, pointing it at Hagoromo Gitsune while shaking his head mournfully:
"Unable to accept the truth?"
"Very well. Then let me, your nominal offspring, deliver your final ending!"
As his words fell, the Maō's Hammer began its merciless descent.
Yet in that instant, Luo Shu suddenly looked up, locking eyes with Nue's form.
—Calamity Bestowal!
The Sorrow of British Shorthairs!
In that moment, Nue's face twisted grotesquely.