Not far from the South Gate, Tamamo-no-Mae quietly approached the South Gate position.
Because Suguru's Cursed Spirit army blocked the way, the battle at the South Gate was not very intense.
Tamamo-no-Mae gave orders to the surrounding area.
Not far away, the densely packed Cursed Spirits immediately dispersed, revealing a humanoid Cursed Spirit lying prone on the ground, its presence completely concealed.
Semi-Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Ōnyūdō.
After Ōnyūdō stood up, it leaped high and charged directly toward the South Gate position. Under the effect of its Technique, its body rapidly swelled once more.
"What is that?!"
"Oh no!"
Seeing a giant Cursed Spirit tens of meters tall suddenly descend from the sky toward their position, many people panicked.
"Don't panic. Hold the line. Someone will deal with that big one."
Naraku immediately shouted his command.
Utata, who had just returned from the front line and rested briefly, also leaped into the air to intercept Ōnyūdō.
"Shikigami Release, Byakuei."
Inugami Byakuei collided head-on with Ōnyūdō.
Its flexible body wrapped tightly around Ōnyūdō's flailing right arm, then bit it off in a single motion.
Ōnyūdō let out a scream of pain as its right arm was torn away, and its massive body began to lose balance.
"Hraaagh!"
Utata gathered all his strength and drove a punch straight into Ōnyūdō's abdomen.
Bang.
A full-powered strike from a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer blasted a huge hole through Ōnyūdō's torso.
At the same time, Inugami Byakuei leaped back, clamped its jaws onto Ōnyūdō's neck, and yanked it backward.
In this way, Ōnyūdō was stopped by Utata before it could reach the defensive line.
Inugami Byakuei then bit off Ōnyūdō's head completely and began to devour it.
"Well done."
A bewitching voice sounded from behind Utata.
A chill ran down Utata's spine.
He turned around to counterattack.
But before his strike could land, Tamamo-no-Mae's attack arrived first.
Several fireballs exploded around Inugami Byakuei in an instant.
Caught completely off guard, Inugami Byakuei was heavily damaged and temporarily dissipated.
Tamamo-no-Mae drew her katana and slashed toward Utata's wrist.
The Sesshoseki was embedded in the back of Utata's hand, and Tamamo-no-Mae clearly intended to sever his hand to reclaim it.
'I can't dodge!'
Realizing her target, Utata tried to evade, but it was already too late.
Clang!
To Tamamo-no-Mae's surprise, a Sword of Exorcism radiating intense positive energy suddenly appeared and blocked her attack.
Mahoraga emerged from the shadows.
"Ma… Mahoraga."
Standing beneath Mahoraga's towering body, Utata felt a sense of security he had not experienced in decades.
It was just like when his tall, aging father had stood in front of him long ago.
Everyone knew the relationship between Tamamo-no-Mae and the Sesshoseki.
Because of this, it was obvious she would target Utata in this war.
The only problem was that once the battle began, it was impossible to watch over Utata at all times.
After careful consideration, Eichi ultimately decided to assign Mahoraga to protect him.
This was also why Eichi had been using other Shikigami at the East Gate and had not deployed Mahoraga there.
Mahoraga swung its right hand with overwhelming force, sending Tamamo-no-Mae flying.
With its left hand, it gently picked up Utata and leaped back into the formation.
After placing Utata safely down, Mahoraga immediately launched a ferocious assault on Tamamo-no-Mae, who had just landed.
"Damn it!"
Behind Tamamo-no-Mae, nine fox tails formed from Cursed Energy swayed violently, attempting to block Mahoraga's advance.
However, their effect was limited.
Tamamo-no-Mae reached into the fourth fox tail from the left and pulled out a long spear.
Special Grade cursed tool, Koji.
It was one of the cursed tools she had discovered within the barrier.
Clang, clang, clang.
A spear held a clear advantage at range.
Koji repeatedly clashed with the Sword of Exorcism, while the fox tails intercepted Mahoraga's fists and kicks.
Tamamo-no-Mae knew that close combat with Mahoraga was a bad choice. She intended to widen the distance and then use her Technique to annihilate Mahoraga in a single strike.
Mahoraga had not yet adapted to her fox fire.
But Mahoraga gave her no opportunity to retreat.
At the same time, Suguru sensed the sudden surge of powerful Cursed Energy behind him.
"That's Mahoraga and Tamamo-no-Mae."
Suguru's expression turned solemn as he looked toward the South Gate.
"I see. You cockroach, have you been scurrying around just to buy time for Tamamo-no-Mae?"
Suguru stared coldly at Kurourushi, which was desperately fleeing while being besieged by several Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
At this moment, Kurourushi truly wanted to cry out in injustice.
Brother, I am clearly running for my life to avoid you.
If it were simply a matter of strength, it would not hesitate to fight to the death.
In fact, it had already been exorcised once by Mahoraga just a few days ago.
But being captured by Suguru would be far worse than death.
Kurourushi had personally witnessed its fellow Cursed Spirits being swallowed alive by Suguru, then turned into his puppets to be toyed with.
If Kurourushi died, the cockroach eggs it left behind could eventually hatch into a new Kurourushi.
But if it fell into Suguru's hands, it would not even be able to die.
In its mind, it recalled the scene of Suguru grabbing the ferocious Ootengu, compressing him into a sphere, and eating him alive.
As fellow Special Grade Cursed Spirits, Kurourushi and Ootengu had been on good terms.
Moreover, Ootengu, who could use Domain Expansion, was far stronger than this second-generation Kurourushi that had only been born a few days ago.
Yet Suguru had still eaten Ootengu without hesitation.
If he could eat Ootengu, how could he possibly spare it?
Thinking of this, Kurourushi ran even faster.
A demon. This was a demon far more terrifying than itself.
"Yamata no Orochi!"
As Suguru's voice fell, a colossal figure appeared behind him.
Now that Tamamo-no-Mae had revealed herself, Suguru no longer held Yamata no Orochi in reserve.
The eight serpent heads transformed into massive cannons, unleashing a continuous barrage of Cursed Energy that blanketed a vast area ahead.
Kurourushi, trapped by several Special Grade Cursed Spirits, had little room to evade and could not escape the bombardment range.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The explosions engulfed the area where Kurourushi stood.
When the first wave of attacks finished detonating, Suguru's other Cursed Spirits withdrew from the bombardment zone.
They had already taken some damage from the initial wave, ensuring Kurourushi could not escape.
Only after sensing that Kurourushi's Cursed Energy was nearly exhausted did Suguru order Yamata no Orochi to stop firing.
"Inhale."
Two of the serpent heads began drawing in air, their bodies swelling like balloons.
"Exhale."
A violent gale burst from their mouths.
The smoke covering the battlefield was swept away, revealing Kurourushi, shattered and broken, yet barely clinging to life.
"It's still alive. As expected of a cockroach. That works just fine."
Yamata no Orochi turned and began advancing toward Tamamo-no-Mae's position.
Meanwhile, Suguru reached out and compressed Kurourushi into a Cursed Spirit Orb.
Kurourushi stared at Suguru's mouth in sheer terror.
Help me. This person even eats cockroaches.
Suguru swallowed the Cursed Spirit Orb that Kurourushi had become, then picked up Playful Cloud and moved to join the encirclement around Tamamo-no-Mae.
(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.)