The Calamity Bringer's technique always requires two conditions to be met in order to activate.
First: visual confirmation of the enemy's presence.
Second: the bestowed misfortune must be of a type personally absorbed through physical contact.
The former targets the enemy, while the latter serves as the ammunition.
As a modern-era Calamity Bringer, Luo Shu's arsenal contains numerous categories.
Slow-acting, long-term afflictions like AIDS or lung cancer are classified as Chronic-Type.
Conditions like Pollen allergy, inevitable urine stream bifurcation, or tripping while walking fall under Prank-Type.
Then there are Combat-Type misfortunes – immediately effective with specialised lethality: kidney stones causing renal agony, toes crushed by heavy objects, lightning strikes, or severe diarrhoea.
And The Sorrow of British Shorthairs belongs to the Combat-Type.
Sourced from that neutered British Shorthair at the cat cafe he visited earlier with Kurumi Tokisaki, enemies bestowed with this misfortune briefly experience unanaesthetised testicular trauma!
The pain, coupled with its accompanying humiliation and madness, proved unbearable even for Nue!
After receiving this "critical hit", Nue arched his back and shrieked at Luo Shu:
"Vile human! What have you done to me?!"
"Just a friendly greeting – don't mention it!"
Luo Shu pointed finger-guns at Nue's position, bestowing a second affliction: kidney stones.
Before the groin pain could subside, abdominal spasms flooded his nervous system.
Nue's face contorted wildly.
Simultaneously, Luo Shu suddenly raised Tenseiga and So'unga in an X-formation above his head in a prearranged signal.
...
Eastern Inner Citadel Palace, the highest point of Ninomaru Palace.
Tatsuya Shiba, clad in black tactical gear, raised his futuristic firearm and aimed at the distant Nue.
[Technique Activation!]
[Matter analysis commencing, structural parsing initiated, decomposition prepared!]
[Strategic Magic – Micro Mass Burst! FIRE!!]
Blue runes flashed across Tatsuya's eyes as he pulled the trigger.
The next instant—
...
Nue's location.
Matter deteriorated in an instant, erupting into a blinding, overwhelming radiance!!
In that fleeting moment, a figure moved with astonishing speed, positioning itself before Luo Shu.
Simultaneously, countless beams of light engulfed Nue entirely.
Then—BOOM!
A colossal mushroom cloud, nearly a hundred metres in diameter, erupted from the ground, surging into the sky!
Before the shockwave could reach him, Tatsuya Shiba leapt backwards without hesitation, landing beside a pre-calculated manhole cover. He flipped it open and plunged inside.
The next instant, a massive shockwave obliterated the Inner Citadel Palace of Nijo Castle, along with the bridges and the entire moat area of the inner citadel!!
As the dust settled...
Dark grey smoke began to spread across the sky, blotting out the sunlight.
At the epicentre of the mass disintegration...
Luo Shu exhaled slightly behind the barrier Sharon had erected with her arms and the Sacred Relic.
He glanced at Hagoromo Gitsune, whom he had pinned to the ground—her face devoid of colour or reaction—before turning his gaze to where Rihan Nura stood.
A wash of ink-like darkness spread as Rihan Nura and his yokai gradually materialised. The moment they appeared, Rihan collapsed to his knees with a thud, his arms trembling uncontrollably.
Behind him, the other yokai were visibly drained, their Fear energy depleted from evading the direct blast.
After several shaky breaths, Rihan finally lifted his head, taking in the scorched, lava-like earth. His lips twitched as he muttered,
"Hey, hey, hey... I know this was part of the plan, but are you sure Tatsuya Shiba used a miniature mass disintegration? This scale is insane!"
"Obviously," Luo Shu retorted as he stood, eyeing Sharon, who was panting heavily ahead of him.
"Can you hold on?"
Sharon turned her head, shooting him an exasperated glare.
"Next time you need a meat shield, don't call me."
Luo Shu chuckled. "This was an accident, really! In such a short timeframe, only a defence specialist like you could block the aftermath of an attack like this."
He added teasingly, "Besides, doesn't this fulfil your ritual? 'Guarding the sanctuary of your heart against a Hero Rank attack'—even if it wasn't five minutes, a Demigod Rank attack far exceeds the requirements. The ritual's effects should be quite potent."
"Unless, of course, the place I was standing wasn't the sanctuary of your heart. In that case, forget I said anything."
Sharon rolled her eyes again, unwinding the bandages from her hands to wrap them around her nun's habit. Clearly, she hadn't fully blocked the impact and had sustained minor injuries.
Noticing this, Luo Shu smirked briefly before swiftly drawing Tenseiga and So'unga, crossing them defensively in front of him.
CLANG!
Maō's Hammer was intercepted mid-swing by Luo Shu's twin blades.
"You blocked it?"
Nue—his skin charred black, veins of molten red pulsing beneath—looked momentarily stunned.
"Even now, you remain on guard?"
He had secretly activated Yin-Yang Reversal to transfer his injuries to Minagoroshi Jizō, feigning death to ambush Luo Shu, the detestable bastard. Yet, his enemy had anticipated the sneak attack, thwarting his scheme.
This awareness that he would inevitably be the first target left Nue unsure whether to admire Luo Shu or say he had self-awareness.
'This guy has probably used such underhanded tricks to screw people over and gotten payback more than once, hasn't he?'
In that instant, sensing something amiss, Sharon pressed down hard with her right foot, causing the blade concealed in her shoe to spring out.
With a powerful twist of her waist, she pivoted her body, the blade at her toe aiming straight for Nue's temple.
In that instant, Nue seemed to foresee the attack. He abruptly bent his body, dodging the side kick while swiftly spinning and sweeping his leg to break Sharon's balance, then delivered a powerful kick to her abdomen, sending her flying.
As she was kicked away, Sharon grunted and swung her arms, sending several bandages coiling around Nue's body. With a sharp tug, she began disrupting his movements.
At the same time, Luo Shu gripped So'unga with one hand and slashed repeatedly at Nue's forehead.
Just then, nine fox tails suddenly sprouted from Nue's back, shielding his head. The tails, now dripping with blood, blocked Luo Shu's heavy strikes.
Pressing forward despite the tails, Luo Shu snarled through gritted teeth, his entire body straining: "Did you really think I'd let up before confirming you're thoroughly crushed and dead?"
"What do you say, Mr. Nue?"
With a thud, Sharon crashed onto the charred ground.
Meanwhile, Nue—who had endured two kidney stones, three castrations, and excruciating pain in his lower body and abdomen—revealed a twisted, furious expression:
"You vile, shameless, wretched human!"
"Still resorting to underhanded tricks?!"
"If you're unhappy, why not just die?!" Luo Shu's right arm muscles bulged violently as he swung So'unga, wrapping the Prison Dragon Blast around its blade.
"Hah!"
With a cold shout, a black-purple tornado of malevolent energy surged toward Nue at point-blank range.
Yet at that moment, Nue abruptly abandoned Maō's Hammer—now on the verge of collapse from bearing his injuries—ignoring Minagoroshi Jizō's screams as he flung it aside and grabbed So'unga with both hands.
Squelch.
The blade sliced into his palms, blood spraying.
But in that instant, Nue sneered:
"Got you!"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's pupils contracted. He instantly released So'unga, choosing to retreat rather than hold onto the weapon.
Just then, Nura Rihan arrived belatedly. Having reforged his Matoi with the yokai Kubinashi, he extended countless black threads, coiling them around Luo Shu and yanking him backwards.
At the same time—hum—
Above the sky, beyond the black clouds torn apart by the mass explosion, a colossal meteorite, wreathed in vivid orange flames and visible shockwaves, hurtled toward their location!
It was the meteorite summoned by Nue's supreme astronomical technique, Celestial Control—the pinnacle of his Tenmon-dō mastery.
"Bloody hell!"
Nura Rihan, hastily pulling Luo Shu back, had no time to spare. He immediately rallied his subordinates to flee the meteorite's impact zone.
Seeing this, Sharon didn't hesitate either, scrambling away on all fours.
"Think you can escape?"
Nue smirked, forming a hand seal—
Tenmon-dō: Gravity Seal!
In an instant, the abruptly altered gravity slowed everyone's movements.
And then—
The meteorite descended mercilessly.
BOOM!!!