"What? Ships floating in the sky!?"
The leading exorcist's expression changed drastically as though recalling something dreadful. Before he could even react, a thunderous horn blast echoed from beyond the city walls.
Hummmm—
The sound was long and deep—neither shrill nor chaotic, but solemn and commanding, filled with overwhelming majesty.
At once, the exorcist turned to the nearby castle lord. "My lord! Send the signal—order everyone to retreat immediately! This is not an enemy we can face!"
"What? Without even scouting their strength?" the young lord asked in confusion.
"That is the Demon Ship of Mount Suzuka—under the command of the great yōkai, Ōtakemaru! My lord, we must retreat at once!"
"The great yōkai...!"
Though the names Mount Suzuka and Ōtakemaru were unfamiliar to the young lord, the mere words great yōkai carried enough weight to make his decision instantly.
He immediately called for his general. "Quickly! Fire the red signal flare! Order a full retreat to the temporary stronghold!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Moments later, a crimson signal burst above the castle.
On the battlefield, the exorcists instantly recognized the flare's message. They began collapsing their defensive lines, regrouping toward the fortress.
They also noticed something strange—upon hearing the horn's call, even the few remaining yōkai, now fewer than ten, were overcome with fear. Recklessly, they charged through flames and traps, desperate to flee from the direction of the sound.
Perched on a tree branch, one exorcist watched the fleeing monsters scatter and suddenly understood: "So that's it... these yōkai weren't attacking the fortress—they were running away from those ghost ships in the sky!"
Hummmm—
Another blare of the horn reverberated across the land.
This time, every exorcist and soldier stared skyward, their faces frozen in disbelief.
Far above—thousands of meters in the air—vast shadows emerged from within the storm clouds that blanketed the sky.
A massive fleet loomed among the clouds. At its forefront sailed a flagship adorned with an enormous demonic face, its gaping mouth twisted into a grotesque smile—as though choosing its next sacrifice.
Shock. Terror. Despair. Helplessness...
The sight struck like the end of the world itself—a crushing display of power that extinguished all hope. Ordinary soldiers, upon witnessing such an unimaginable sight, could scarcely even move. Fear alone robbed them of the will to flee.
Then, a brilliant violet light began to glow from the mouth of the demon-faced prow beneath the ship's ram. Immense yōki surged, twisting the clouds into a gigantic vortex. Lightning crackled through the storm, writhing like serpents across the sky.
Every living being below felt the same thing—an overwhelming sense of impending doom. Only now did they realize how foolish they had been to stand frozen in place.
BOOM...!
With a thunderous roar, a colossal beam of light—tens of meters wide—erupted from the demon's mouth, blasting straight toward the plains beyond the castle walls.
Where the beam passed, the earth itself seemed to flatten, as though carved open by an invisible divine axe, exposing the bedrock buried hundreds of meters below.
All that the light touched—man, beast, and matter alike—vanished instantly, vaporized without a trace.
Then came the shockwave.
BOOM...!
A massive burst of energy radiated outward from the impact, forming a razor-sharp gale that tore up the surrounding forests and ripped the ground apart.
Even the surviving yōkai and exorcists were hurled away like rag dolls, crashing violently into the earth.
Half a minute later, the apocalyptic assault finally ceased.
What had once been a vast, open plain was now a colossal gorge—hundreds of meters long and impossibly deep.
"This... this is the power of a great yōkai...?"
From atop the castle keep, the young lord—who had once dreamed of carving out his own dominion in the Western Lands—stared at the devastation in hollow disbelief.
"If this is the power of a great yōkai... then what meaning does our struggle even have?"
Although the massive demon ship's beam cannon had not directly targeted the fortress, its world-shattering power completely destroyed the morale of everyone present.
Their bodies still lived, but their will to fight was utterly gone.
No one could blame them. When faced with a weapon capable of reshaping the very earth in an instant—while wielding nothing but spears and halberds of the old world—there was no second path but death.
—"How dull. They've already lost their nerve?"
Ōtakemaru stood proudly atop the ship's mast, lips curved into a mocking smile as he looked down upon the chaos below. To him, the terrified humans and land-dwelling yōkai fleeing in panic were nothing more than ants scurrying before a storm.
"You brat," came Suzuka Gozen's cold voice from below. The queen of the Sea Kingdom was far from pleased by her brother's reckless expenditure of power. "You used that much yōki and didn't even finish the job. What are you thinking?"
"Don't be so impatient, sis. Don't you think watching these ants flail around in despair is rather... entertaining?"
Ōtakemaru, one of the Four Lords of the Realm, was not only immensely powerful but also disturbingly twisted in temperament.
"I have no interest in your twisted amusements," Suzuka Gozen replied flatly. "I'll remind you—if you don't want this ghost ship to fall apart, you won't be able to fire the Wind and Thunder Cannon again anytime soon."
"Fine, fine. Truth be told, I'm not particularly interested in watching them die either."
Ōtakemaru shrugged and leapt down from the mast, settling into his command seat.
"I'm merely trying to draw out those who killed the Great Dog General. Otherwise, finding those rats from the shadows in this vast land would be troublesome."
"You mean the ones from the Lunar Palace?" Suzuka Gozen asked skeptically. "I doubt they'll reveal themselves so easily. If anything, I'd say your flashy display will stir up the dog-demons of the Western Lands instead."
"Without the Great Dog General, those dog-demons can barely protect themselves," Ōtakemaru said with a smirk. Though he had not set foot on the mainland for years, he remained well-informed about the balance of power. "Many have their eyes on the Western Lands—the Panther Devas, the demons of the Forest of No Return... all waiting for a chance to strike."
"In that case, why get involved at all? Wouldn't it be better to sit back and watch the beasts tear each other apart?"
"Conquering the Western Lands is easy for me," Ōtakemaru replied, stretching out his hand. The Sanmyō Blade materialized at his side, its three divine swords orbiting him in a silent storm of power. "But chances to prove I'm stronger than the Great Dog General don't come often. If I defeat the ones from the Lunar Palace head-on, it will prove that I am the strongest yōkai of the Sengoku Era."
As Ōtakemaru spoke with Suzuka Gozen, a faint, fragile voice suddenly echoed from all directions.
"Ōtakemaru of Mount Suzuka... I heard you were looking for me, is that right?"
Hearing that voice, both Ōtakemaru and Suzuka Gozen's expressions changed. The siblings exchanged a knowing glance.
—See? I told you this would work.
—Strange… I didn't think the Lunar Palace would actually take the bait from such a crude trick.
Whoosh—
The wind howled. Within the swirling mass of demonic clouds, streams of blue light converged from all directions, gathering before the massive ghost ship. There, a small, graceful figure slowly took form.
Her forehead shimmered with a brilliant blue dragon scale, her pupils slit like those of a dragon. A blue cloak draped her form, emblazoned on the back with the single character "Azure." Her long sea-blue hair flowed freely behind her, and from her back unfurled a radiant blue halo—like a divine ring of light.
The moment she appeared, a faint but undeniable pressure of dragon might rippled outward from Lana's body.
Ōtakemaru frowned for the first time, his eyes narrowing upon the petite figure before him.
"So, you dare appear before me alone?" he said with a mocking grin. "The arrogance of the Lunar Palace truly knows no bounds."
At his command, countless yōkai surged forth from the ghost ships, their forms blotting out the sky. Within moments, thousands of monstrous silhouettes encircled Lana from every direction.
Glancing around the encroaching circle of demons, Lana's soft voice broke the tense silence. "Honestly… I wasn't sure if I should even come."
"Oh? The Lunar Palace knows fear after all?" Ōtakemaru sneered, confidence returning to his tone. So even their people can tremble before power… and such a pretty little thing, too. Perhaps I'll spare her after her defeat…
But just as he prepared to move, Suzuka Gozen raised a hand, halting him. The queen of the Sea Kingdom regarded Lana with sharp, wary eyes.
As the wielder of the Bow of the Underworld, Suzuka Gozen's intuition far surpassed her brother's. From the moment Lana had appeared until now, her expression hadn't changed—not the slightest flicker of emotion. That stillness unsettled her deeply.
"Did the Lunar Palace send you alone to stop us?" Suzuka Gozen asked.
"Stop you?" Lana blinked, shaking her head gently. "No… I wasn't given such an order."
"What? Then why show up before the Suzuka Mountain Fleet like this? Have you lost your mind?" one of the Suzuka yōkai jeered.
"I doubt she's even part of the Lunar Palace," another mocked. "Just some foolish little girl playing hero."
"Haha! Little girl, go home. Even if you're dragonkin, this war isn't for children like you."
...
Suddenly, a powerful yōkai among the Suzuka ranks burst into motion. His form streaked through the sky, leaving an afterimage as he lunged toward Lana.
"Dragon blood, huh? I've never had a taste of that before."
He was one of Ōtakemaru's Four Generals—Ōgyokumaru, the lord of the Hundred Demons Bat Clan.
BOOM...!
The next instant, Ōgyokumaru's body shot backward even faster than he had advanced, crashing violently into one of the nearby ghost ships. The impact released a deep, concussive shockwave that blasted outward, hurling several nearby spectators into the air.
Fortunately, Ōgyokumaru was highly skilled in barrier arts. In the instant he was struck, a blood-red ward flared around him, shielding him from fatal harm. Even so, his eyes widened in shock.
"What… what just happened!?"
He hadn't even seen her move. There had been no strike, no counter. Yet somehow, he'd been thrown back as though by an invisible force.
"Hmm?"
Even Ōtakemaru, who had been watching with a calm smirk, now showed visible surprise. His keen sight far surpassed that of lesser yōkai, yet even he had seen no motion—no clue.
It was as if Ōgyokumaru had charged forward… only to collide headlong with some unseen wall of his own making.
"Ōgyokumaru's force was reversed in an instant," Suzuka Gozen said, her eyes narrowing as she studied the scene through the aura of her Bow of the Underworld. "But how…?"
"If we can't see it, then let him test again," Ōtakemaru said softly, his tone calm but curious. With a wave of his left hand, a blood-red coral crystal glowed in his palm and flew toward Ōgyokumaru, infusing him with fresh yōki.
Empowered by Ōtakemaru's aid, Ōgyokumaru's barrier flared a deeper crimson. Letting out a manic laugh, he once again charged straight at Lana.
Lana's calm gaze followed his movement. Tilting her head slightly, she spoke softly, "An enhanced barrier? That… won't help you."
As she finished speaking, she extended her slender right hand and pointed a single finger toward the rapidly approaching bat demon.
—"Status Infusion: Power Reflection."
Once this state was applied, all force exerted by the target was perfectly inverted—forward became backward, upward became downward.
That was why Ōgyokumaru had been inexplicably thrown away before: he had been repelled by his own attack. No matter how strong his barrier was, it could not protect him from the reversal of his own power.
BOOOOM!
Once again, Ōgyokumaru was violently flung backward, his massive body smashing straight through a nearby ghost ship. This time, his reckless momentum made the recoil far stronger, sending him hurtling like a cannonball.
Though his barrier shielded him from serious injury, the ship was not so lucky. He crashed directly into its yōki engine core, triggering a violent chain reaction.
Within seconds, alarms blared across the vessel. A series of yōki explosions erupted, and purple fire spewed from the ruptured hull. In the blink of an eye, nearly a third of the ship was engulfed in flames.
This time, even Ōtakemaru could no longer remain composed.
Ōgyokumaru's earlier strike had been no act of recklessness—it had been done at Ōtakemaru's silent command. Despite his youthful appearance, Ōtakemaru was a calculating yōkai, his seemingly brash demeanor a carefully maintained façade.
From the moment he learned his opponent was from the Lunar Palace, he had been on guard. He had chosen Ōgyokumaru precisely because of the latter's formidable defense, making him the safest choice to probe the enemy's strength.
Yet the frail-looking girl before him—this member of the Lunar Palace—had effortlessly neutralized his test with an unknown technique.
In that instant, Ōtakemaru realized his little gambit had been seen through and crushed.
With a wave of his hand, he ordered the surrounding yōkai to withdraw, then leapt down from the flagship himself. From that exchange alone, he knew: if he could not unravel the secret of her power, no number of followers would make a difference.
"Impressive… So this is the kind of strength it takes to slay the Great Dog General," Ōtakemaru said with a low chuckle. "The Lunar Palace truly lives up to its name. But tell me—how many of you did it take? How many lives did you spend to bring down that white-haired beast? You'll find I'm not so easily defeated."
"How many… lives?" Lana blinked, tilting her head in confusion. Her gaze lingered on Ōtakemaru for a brief moment before she answered softly:
"But… from what I can tell, your yōki is still weaker than his. And as for that big white dog… I didn't need anyone else."
She smiled faintly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I alone was enough."