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The battle outside showed no sign of ending anytime soon, Adashino Benio still locked in a fierce clash with the giant impurity.
After a brief glance, Asher decided to go check on Kanoe Yuuko.
At best, she was just a small ghost.
The impurities in the Calamity Realm were not something her cheap scare tactics could deal with.
With that in mind, Asher turned around with Hotaru-gusa and rushed toward the old school building that had also been dragged into the Calamity Realm.
Inside the building, Yuuko was being chased frantically through the halls by the impurities that had appeared out of nowhere.
Every one of them radiated an eerie aura far stronger than hers, beings she could not even begin to compare to.
"Wahhh!"
"Someone please save me!"
She was finally cornered inside a classroom, curling up in the corner in terror.
She covered her eyes tightly, her body shaking uncontrollably, not daring to look at the impurities slowly closing in on her.
Impurities in the Calamity Realm could grow stronger by devouring other creatures or even their own kind.
And weak, helpless Yuuko, with zero combat ability, naturally became their target.
In their eyes, she was basically a warm, fragrant pancake.
As the impurities drooled and crept closer to the trembling ghost in the corner—
A dark red figure, almost black, appeared silently on the classroom ceiling.
She lowered her head, calmly watching the scene below.
Seeing that Yuuko was about to be devoured, she prepared to act at the very last moment.
Suddenly—
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps echoed from the hallway outside.
The shadow paused.
As if thinking of something amusing, the ugly curve of her mouth twisted into a smile.
Then her figure slowly faded into the air.
And just as Yuuko was about to be swallowed whole—
When the monsters' gaping maws were only a step away—
Boom!
The classroom door was kicked open with brutal force.
At the same time, several talismans condensed from thin air, whistling as they slammed into the impurities.
Boom boom boom!
A chain of explosions erupted.
In the blink of an eye, the impurities that had surrounded Yuuko were wiped out completely.
"Huh?"
Feeling the terrifying aura vanish entirely, Yuuko opened her eyes in confusion.
The next second, Asher's face came into view.
" Mr. Onmyoji?"
"Hey, are you okay?"
Asher looked down at Yuuko, still curled up in the corner and trembling, and asked casually.
Hearing this, Yuuko immediately shook her head and stood up shakily, her legs weak.
"I-I'm fine!"
"Thank you so much, Mr. Onmyoji!"
She bowed deeply at a full ninety degrees.
It was obvious how grateful she was that Asher had arrived just in time to save her.
Asher waved it off indifferently.
"No need to thank me."
"If it weren't for little Hotaru-gusa, I wouldn't have bothered coming."
As he spoke, Hotaru-gusa beside him gave Yuuko a sweet smile.
"Eh? Hotaru-gusa?"
Yuuko stared at her cute face in surprise.
Sensing the kindness radiating from her, Yuuko's expression filled with gratitude all over again.
"Thank you so much, Hotaru-gusa!"
"It's okay, pretty ghost big sister," Hotaru-gusa replied cheerfully.
Just as Yuuko was about to say more—
Boom!
A deafening explosion shook the air.
The entire school building lurched violently, as if it were about to collapse.
When Asher and the others rushed outside, they were met with a shocking sight.
Adashino Benio was in terrible shape.
Dust and smoke filled the air.
A massive hole had been torn straight through the middle of the school building.
It was obvious she had been sent flying by the giant impurity and smashed through it.
Emerging from the smoke, Adashino Benio collapsed to one knee, her body soaked in blood as she coughed violently.
Only by leaning on her twin blades could she barely keep herself upright.
"Damn it… how can it be this strong?"
Her voice was filled with frustration and disbelief.
Born into a prestigious family and famous from a young age as a genius onmyoji, Adashino Benio was incredibly powerful.
Yet even so, she had been defeated twice in a row by this giant impurity.
Its strength had clearly exceeded her expectations.
It was easily on par with a Twelve Divine Generals–level threat.
Otherwise, it would not have crushed her twice while she was at full strength.
It was like a fighting game where your opponent clears two of your characters with a single life.
The sense of defeat and unwillingness gnawed at her heart.
Still—
Frustrated or not, defeated or not—
When the severely injured Adashino Benio saw Asher and Hotaru-gusa enter her field of vision, she gripped her blades and forced herself painfully back to her feet.
Even drenched in blood, she would fulfill her duty as an onmyoji.
To eliminate all impurities in this world.
To protect ordinary people.
Even if it cost her life.
"Run. All of you."
"I'll hold it back until the very end."
"I'll do everything I can to buy you time."
"The Onmyoji Bureau in Chiba City should have noticed something by now. They might already be on their way."
"You will survive."
After saying this, she dragged her battered body forward, limping toward the giant impurity, leaving behind only a back turned toward death.
"Roar!"
Seeing that Adashino Benio, clearly at the brink of collapse, still dared to challenge it, the giant impurity let out a furious roar.
The tangible shockwave blasted dust up from the ground, making it impossible to keep one's eyes open.
Its roar sounded almost like mockery, laughing at Adashino Benio's overconfidence.
Behind her, Asher watched her back, let out a quiet sigh, and shook his head.
That stubborn personality really was exactly the same as the Adashino Benio he remembered.
Just as Adashino Benio took two steps forward, raised her twin blades, and prepared to stake her life against the giant Filth to buy Asher and the others time to escape—
A hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.
The unexpected touch made her turn her head.
And then she saw Asher, who had somehow appeared beside her without her noticing.
"You—"
Before she could finish, Asher cut her off.
It was almost like payback for her interrupting him earlier.
"You've done more than enough. Leave the rest to me."
"…?"
"What do you mean?"
Adashino Benio looked at him, confused.
Asher didn't explain. He didn't even look back as he spoke calmly.
"It doesn't mean anything. Just stay there and watch."
With that, he stepped forward and moved to the front.
"Roar…?"
Sensing that Asher carried no trace of curse energy at all, the Filth let out a puzzled growl.
Asher ignored it.
He slowly raised his right hand and formed a sword seal in front of his chest.
The next moment, a light suddenly enveloped his body.
When it faded—
An exquisite onmyoji robe had appeared on him.
Though there was no wind, the garments fluttered loudly, snapping in the air.
This was the Onmyoji Hunting Robe from the beginner's gift pack the system had given him at the very start.
Worth mentioning was that while wearing it, any onmyoji techniques Asher used would be enhanced.
Not knowing how strong this giant Filth really was, Asher went straight for his trump card and pushed himself to full power from the very beginning.
Behind him, Adashino Benio stared in shock at Asher's back, her stunning face hidden beneath the mask.
But soon—
Something even more unbelievable made her eyes widen.
As Asher finished donning the onmyoji robe, his sword seal still held at his chest, a massive and arcane magic array suddenly rose from the ground around him.
Intricate patterns spun at high speed, inner rings and outer rings rotating together, as if gathering some terrifying force.
At the same time, Adashino Benio felt it clearly.
A kind of energy spilled from Asher's body—no weaker than curse power, and far purer.
The pressure alone was overwhelming, so heavy it made it hard to even stand straight.
As Asher's long hair whipped wildly behind him, an ancient incantation flowed from his lips.
It sounded like a distant chant, hard to make out, yet carried a natural authority that stirred an instinctive urge to kneel and worship.
Then—
Asher opened his eyes.
He raised the sword seal before his chest and pointed it straight toward the sky.
The next second—
The magic array around him seemed to receive permission and erupted with blinding blue lightning.
Thick bolts of lightning shot straight into the clouds, vanishing into the sky.
Just as everyone wondered what would happen next…
"ROAR—!!"
A dragon's roar that shook the soul echoed across the heavens.
In the blood-red sky, a massive thundercloud gathered, vast enough to blanket the land.
Lightning churned within it, flashes illuminating the clouds.
And with each flash, the silhouette of a colossal dragon could be seen writhing within.
"Th-that is…!"
Adashino Benio, frozen in place, stared in disbelief.
She recognized that enormous dragon-shaped phantom.
It looked almost identical to the image carved in the headquarters of the Onmyoji Bureau, inside the office of its current supreme commander, Tsuchimikado Arima—
The legendary strongest onmyoji in a thousand years, Abe no Seimei's guardian spirit: the Thunder Emperor Divine Dragon.
As everyone stood stunned by the apocalyptic scene, even the giant Filth—
"ROAR—!"
Another dragon's roar rang out.
A dragon of unprecedented size burst through the dark thunderclouds, lightning rolling across its body as it dove straight toward the giant Filth below.
The thunder dragon opened its massive jaws and unleashed a blinding beam of lightning, slamming it mercilessly into the Filth.
In the blink of an eye—
Boom—!
The towering body of the giant Filth, dozens of meters tall, was completely swallowed by the lightning.
The shockwave blasted outward, sending chunks of stone flying in all directions.
Even the old school building far away collapsed under the impact, reduced to rubble.
…
No one knew how much time passed.
When the lightning faded, the thunderclouds dispersed, and the Thunder Emperor Divine Dragon flew off toward the distant horizon—
Adashino Benio and Yuuko finally dared to open their eyes.
The sight before them left them speechless.
Where the giant Filth had stood, there was now a massive crater nearly a hundred meters wide.
Even worse, every building within several kilometers of the disaster zone had been reduced to ruins.
Gulp.
Adashino Benio swallowed unconsciously.
Behind her mask, emerald-green eyes stared fixedly at the figure standing ahead.
This was the first time she had ever witnessed something like this.
That level of destruction…
Even if Tsuchimikado Arima were here, could he really pull off something like that?
Just what kind of unbelievable existence had she run into?
Meanwhile, Asher stood calmly in place, his back looking relaxed and effortless.
But inside, he was just as stunned.
He knew the onmyoji techniques drawn from the system wouldn't look exactly the same as the ones he'd seen in games—
But he hadn't expected Thunder Emperor Summoning to be this absurd.
This wasn't just strong. This was straight-up broken.
He'd complained before that only being able to use it once per day was a garbage restriction.
Now?
Once per day wasn't a restriction at all—it was a blessing.
Looking at movies and anime in general, techniques on this level usually come with insane costs. One use and the caster is bedridden for half a month.
Thank god he hadn't used this against Miss Mary before.
Otherwise, forget his room—
Even entire residential blocks, maybe everything within a few kilometers, would've been wiped out.
"…?"
"Why are you all so quiet?"
Putting away the onmyoji robe and returning to his usual outfit, Asher turned to look at the group still standing there in a daze.
At his words, Adashino Benio and Yuuko snapped back to their senses, staring at him with strange expressions.
Do you seriously not know why?
[I absolutely must never provoke this Mr. onmyoji… or my afterlife is over…]
Yuuko swallowed hard, her gaze toward Asher now filled with awe.
At this level, even a casual hit would erase her completely.
"Phew…"
After staring at Asher for a long moment, Adashino Benio finally took a deep breath.
Her voice, when she spoke, was filled with confusion—and a hint of reverence.
"May I ask… just who are you…?"
But before Asher could answer—
She finally reached her limit.
Her vision went dark, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.
The curse gear on her body dissipated one after another.
As Adashino Benio lost consciousness, the warped disaster world receded like a tide, restoring everything to normal.
Having her HP hit zero twice in a row, even with Hotaru-gusa healing her back to full, the mental and spiritual exhaustion couldn't be repaired.
She remained unconscious.
Seeing that it was already past midnight, Asher had no choice but to lift Adashino Benio into his arms and leave the school with Hotaru-gusa.
Yuuko could only watch as their figures slowly disappeared into the darkness.
After a long while, she finally snapped out of it.
Just as she sighed and prepared to return to her little hideout—
She suddenly realized that the old school building had been dragged into the disaster world as well.
Even worse, it was caught up in Asher's onmyōjutsu, [Thunder Emperor Descends], and was blasted into nothing but ruins.
"Fix it up!"
"My remains!"
"Waaah…"
Coming back to her senses, Yuuko immediately burst into tears and rushed into the rubble, frantically digging through it as she searched for the most important thing of all—her own corpse.
"....."