With Ryu and the others defeated one after another, only Nanmen was still maintaining a Special Grade level of high-intensity combat on the brutal battlefield.
Tamamo-no-Mae wielded the Special Grade cursed tool Koji as she retreated while fighting, her fox tails condensed from Cursed Energy lashing out continuously.
She was constantly looking for an opportunity to defeat Mahoraga in a single strike.
In the earlier battle, because others had taken the lead, Tamamo-no-Mae, who joined the fight the latest, had not yet had her flame attacks adapted to by Mahoraga.
Because of that, she still had a chance to defeat it.
However, Eichi was clearly aware of this as well.
As a result, Mahoraga was now relentlessly pressing Tamamo-no-Mae.
She could not even find a moment to gather power for a high-intensity flame attack.
At the same time, she also could not use ordinary fox fire attacks.
If she did, Mahoraga would adapt to her fox fire, and then she would truly have no chance of victory.
"Damn it, this can't continue."
Just as Tamamo-no-Mae was thinking of a way to break the stalemate, another powerful Cursed Energy presence locked onto her.
Her hair instantly stood on end.
Several fox tails lashed out at Mahoraga.
Using the moment when Mahoraga knocked aside her fox tails, Tamamo-no-Mae turned to look at the source of that Cursed Energy.
What entered her sight were eight cannon muzzles.
Looking at those eight muzzles, each clearly brimming with terrifying power, Tamamo-no-Mae could not help but want to curse.
Where did this monster come from, and why did it look a little familiar?
'Wait, this guy… maybe he can be used.'
The experienced Tamamo-no-Mae immediately realized that the arrival of this enemy might not be a bad thing.
Clang.
Tamamo-no-Mae blocked Mahoraga's Sword of Exorcism with her spear.
The immense force sent her flying backward.
The eight Cursed Energy cannons that Yamata no Orochi was about to fire were forcibly restrained.
Then, Yamata no Orochi adjusted its muzzles, tracking the direction Tamamo-no-Mae had been blown away.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Several clusters of fox fire appeared, transforming into multiple Tamamo-no-Maes along with a fire fox.
The moment they appeared, the illusionary Tamamo-no-Maes surrounded the pursuing Mahoraga.
These illusions had already been adapted to and were useless against Mahoraga.
But they were effective against Yamata no Orochi.
Seeing one Tamamo-no-Mae suddenly become many, Yamata no Orochi adjusted its muzzles to cover every target.
That coverage also included Mahoraga, whose figure was obscured by Tamamo-no-Mae.
Boom, boom, boom.
One Cursed Energy cannon after another fired, their overwhelming power covering a radius of nearly a hundred meters.
Whoosh.
Riding the fire fox, Tamamo-no-Mae finally escaped and began to gather flame power.
Mahoraga dispersed the smoke and glanced at Yamata no Orochi.
It remembered this rare Yamata no Orochi, one that had once allowed it to fight to its heart's content.
Since the opponent had taken the initiative to attack, Mahoraga wanted to go and fight it.
However, according to Eichi's instructions, this one was now an ally.
"Hmph."
Mahoraga exhaled a murky breath and continued its pursuit of Tamamo-no-Mae.
At this moment, Tamamo-no-Mae rode the fire fox, flying constantly through the air as the fireball in her hand grew larger and larger.
Suddenly, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Taotie appeared behind her.
Taotie opened its massive mouth, almost biting down on the fireball she was charging.
At the same time, several bone spikes shot up from the ground toward her.
Just as Tamamo-no-Mae was about to dodge, Rainbow Dragon suddenly rammed into her from below.
The fireball in her hand was launched prematurely and exploded.
The scattered Cursed Energy was swallowed by Taotie's huge mouth.
On the other side, atop one of Yamata no Orochi's heads.
"You need to recognize your allies, otherwise…"
Suguru, his eyes half-lidded, revealed a sinister smile toward Yamata no Orochi.
Yamata no Orochi's body trembled.
In the next moment, its snake heads became longer and thinner, and the wide-area bombardment turned into precise sniping.
Suguru withdrew Yamata no Orochi's automatic firing mode.
"Damn it, why does this guy have more Special Grade Cursed Spirits than I do?"
Facing the several Special Grade Cursed Spirits attacking her at once, Tamamo-no-Mae could not help but widen her eyes.
"Is that really Yamata no Orochi?"
At this moment, the way she looked at Suguru completely changed.
That sinister smile he directed at Yamata no Orochi, combined with that fox-like expression so similar to her own.
Tamamo-no-Mae's first reaction was that she had found someone of the same kind.
Shouldn't someone like this be on her side?
Why was he standing on the opposite side?
How could she recruit him?
This one was far stronger than Dhruv, Kurourushi, and the others.
Unfortunately, Rainbow Dragon and Taotie had no intention of giving her time to think.
Under Suguru's command, several Special Grade Cursed Spirits successfully forced Tamamo-no-Mae to lower her altitude.
Mahoraga's attack arrived.
"Damn it, this really can't go on."
Tamamo-no-Mae shifted her gaze toward Suguru.
"To catch the bandit, first catch the king. He has to die first."
Although she genuinely wanted to recruit Suguru, this fox-like kindred spirit.
In her current sorry state, she simply did not have the leverage to do so.
With that thought, fox fire flared violently.
A large number of Tamamo-no-Mae illusions were released.
Her true body quietly flew toward Suguru.
Then she realized that her attempt had already failed.
Mahoraga on the ground was closely following her.
Suguru also judged which was the real body based on Mahoraga's movements.
"Kuroi… is dead?"
Tamamo-no-Mae was about to call Kurourushi for support, but in the next instant she realized that Kurourushi's presence had vanished.
Then she sensed Ootengu's aura.
Ootengu was clearly dead.
At that moment, Tamamo-no-Mae, as a woman, felt a surge of helplessness rise in her heart.
But she quickly steadied herself.
Looking at Suguru, who was already not far away, Tamamo-no-Mae clenched her teeth, formed hand seals, and prepared to go all out.
"Domain Expansion: Calamity Flame Heian Palace!"
A Heian-style Shinto shrine appeared at the very center of the Domain.
Outside the shrine stretched a desolate wasteland, and at the outermost edge of the Domain stood clusters of vermilion torii gates.
The torii gates were stacked layer upon layer, like the windows of a towering building, all the way to the top of the Domain.
Beneath each torii gate crouched a fire fox.
"Burn to ashes for me!"
In an instant, Suguru and all the Special Grade Cursed Spirits within the Domain were engulfed in flames.
'No, the power is too scattered.'
To prevent the Domain's outer shell from being shattered by those Special Grade Cursed Spirits before she could defeat Suguru and Mahoraga, she had no choice but to pull all of them into the Domain.
Tamamo-no-Mae's gaze locked onto Suguru.
'His technique should be related to controlling Cursed Spirits. After he dies, what happens to the ones he controls?'
'Never mind. I'll burn him to death first.'
In the next moment, the flames on all the Special Grade Cursed Spirits, except Yamata no Orochi and Mahoraga, vanished.
Countless fire foxes crouching beneath the torii gates leaped down and began to entangle those Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
Suguru's body twisted in apparent pain, then, shrouded in black mist, he transformed into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
"Eh?"
"Looking for me again?"
Suguru, holding Playful Cloud, burst out from Taotie's mouth, his body still carrying traces of Tamamo-no-Mae's Cursed Energy.
That was the residual energy from the fireball that had scattered earlier.
Suguru showed no intention of holding back.
Playful Cloud bypassed Tamamo-no-Mae's fox tails and smashed heavily into her body.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)