CHAPTER 49 – THE CRIMSON IN THE NIGHT

Only a few minutes had passed, yet this desolate suburban area located in northwest Heian-kyō was already flooded with blood!

Hundreds of warriors and soldiers died at the hands of the Throne Stage archdemon, but not many were wounded. After all, anyone who was scratched by Ibaraki Doji, even by a little, got their guts split open which guaranteed death!

Obviously, the present troops were simply not enough to overwhelm Ibaraki Doji. He slaughtered these samurai who haven’t even reached the Spirit Jade stage like killing chickens.

The only other Throne Stage powerhouse in the area, Kamo Tadayuki, the head of the Bureau of Divination, finally couldn’t stand to watch anymore.

As a Throne Stage powerhouse with a high government position in Heian-kyō, he was counted as one of the strongest experts in the country.

“Seimei, continue to harass him with the sound of the zither! Allow this old man to have a go!”

“Teacher, be careful. That Rashomon spirit is strong and tyrannical.” Seimei said grimly.

Kamo nodded and enveloped himself in a levitating spell, floating above the battlefield. The Levitation spell could allow Onmyoji masters to glide at a certain speed, but it consumed a lot of spiritual energy and was not too fast.

“Lord Kamo is about to strike!”

Kamo saw Lily as he was approaching the encirclement. He temporarily slowed down and allowed the surrounding people to retreat so they wouldn’t get caught up in the battle.

“Rashomon spirit, your atrocities end here!” Kamo’s mighty spiritual energy exploded, causing the air to freeze and the earth to tremble.

He then chanted an incantation and released a spell charm!

“Go!”

The charm drifted towards Ibaraki Doji and turned into a cloud of black smoke!

Amidst the black smoke, a golden bull phantom suddenly sprung forward. The bull was several meters tall and ten meters in length, and its body exuded endless power. Lily was watching from a distance yet her heart still palpitated. If she took this big bull’s horns head-on, she would most certainly die.

“So powerful… Kamo Tadayuki; to think I even tried to compete with him…”

Ibaraki Doji felt threatened when he saw the big bull galloping towards him. He disregarded the surrounding samurai and grabbed at the bull with his sharp claws.

Boom! A majestic shockwave overturned all the surrounding samurai and scattered rubble everywhere!

Ibaraki Doji had a hunched figure, but he was so strong that he could resist the bull’s head with one hand. Even so, the bull bucked with such tremendous force that Ibaraki Doji got pushed back.

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“Kamo Tadayuki, when I was in Heian-kyō, you were still a kid who couldn’t wipe his own a̲s̲s̲! You have no hope of achieving ascension and you will die in a few years. Are you in such a hurry for me to send you to your death?” Ibaraki Doji cursed while resisting the unrelenting bull.

“Rashomon spirit, you are the one dying today!” Kamo was fully concentrated and sweat dripped from his forehead. It consumed a lot of spiritual energy to control the big bull.

Seimei’s long, slender fingers plucked the zither handsomely, producing a piercing sound!

He ordered, “Onmyoji masters, group together and use this opportunity to destroy that demon!”

After saying this, Seimei put away the zither and jumped, floating over to the group of Onmyoji masters and stepping on the shoulders of two of them. The onmyojis brought by Seimei and Kamo split into a circular formation with Seimei as the core. The onmyoji masters began to channel all their spiritual energy to cast a great spell with all their might. A water dragon twisted around Seimei as he manipulated the spiritual energy of the whole formation like the eight trigrams. With so many onmyoji masters gathered together, the condensed spiritual energy even surpassed Kamo’s!

“How powerful!” Lily’s heartbeat sped up and her face flushed. Onmyojis possessed mystical means, but they could also gather together to cast offensive spells. With so many elite onmyojis from the Bureau of Divination, the combined power was far greater than that of Ibaraki Doji. Even if the Throne Stage archdemon didn’t die, he would be seriously injured!

Ibaraki Doji had killed his whole life and naturally saw the danger, but he was occupied by the big bull and couldn’t get away. Moreover, there were still numerous swords, spears, and arrows harassing him.

However, Kamo Tadayuki also appeared a bit exhausted. After all, his old age declined his power and his strength wasn’t as good as when he first entered the Throne Stage ten years ago.

Both Kamo Tadayuki and Ibaraki Doji were around the early to middle levels of the Throne stage and their strength was roughly equivalent to dozens or even hundreds of Permanence Stage powerhouses. This level of power was among the best of the Heian Dynasty’s high-level adepts. ‘Throne’ referred to the position of a ‘King’, meaning that one with such power could rival a country!

“Not good! If this goes on… With the onmyoji masters pooling their offensive power and that damned Seimei holding the center of the great formation, the overall power will be terrifying!” Ibaraki Doji was worried, but the golden bull was too strong and he couldn’t retreat, “Old Man Kamo, do you have the ability to fight this master one-on-one?! What kind of hero are you to besiege me with hundreds of people?”

“As the head of the Bureau of Divination, I am responsible for the safety and security of Heian-kyō so I don’t care about vain things like prestige.” At his senior age, Kamo wasn’t at all provoked by Ibaraki’s words.

Swoosh–! Suddenly, the huge purple orb darted towards the group of onmyojis.

“Not good!” If the purple orb attacked the grand formation, they would be forced to switch to a defensive spell which would interrupt their offensive magic art.

As the core of the grand formation, Seimei couldn’t afford to be distracted by the orb.

Kamo Tadayuki stretched out a hand, conjuring a huge phantom hand that grabbed towards the orb. The treasure orb retaliated with a burst of purple electricity that shook the big hand.

“Ahg–” Kamo kept sweating all over and his face alternated between red and white, his body trembling. Obviously, using one hand to control the bull and the other to control the phantom hand was pushing his limits.

But fortunately, the combined spell of the group of onmyojis was about to be completed!

“Just a bit longer; this old man can still hold on a little longer!” Kamo’s eyes protruded and his face looked fierce. Even though he was an onmyoji master, he had a brave warrior-like expression!

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Ibaraki Doji panicked and said, “Lord Kamo, I am willing to release all the captured women and leave Heian-kyō. How about we stop here so as to not hurt both sides?!”

“Stop dreaming, Rashomon spirit. You have tortured so many innocent girls and abducted the Empress’ sister. Your crimes are unforgivable! This old man will put his life on the line to kill you today!” Blue veins bulged on Kamo’s forehead as he trembled with rage.

Lily couldn’t help but sneer. In such a situation where he was in a disadvantageous position, he still wanted to seek peace? This demon’s IQ was low…

Wait, Lily had a bad premonition in her heart. Ibaraki Doji was fierce and cunning, how could he not think of this?

Suddenly, a dangerous killing aura approached Kamo from the darkness.

“Not good!” Lily shouted, “Lord Kamo!!!”

However, it was too late.

The left hand of the Rashomon spirit that Lily had severed was actually still alive and suddenly flew out from the rubble behind Kamo!

Pffft! The huge demonic hand squeezed Kamo and its sharp, knife-like nails plunged into Kamo’s old body.

“Lord Kamo!”
“Teacher!”

Kamo’s spiritual energy dissipated, causing the big bull and phantom hand he controlled to also disappear

Now without hindrances, the treasure orb rushed towards the grand formation.

“Don’t even think about hurting anyone!” Hiromasa leaped forward and slashed at the approaching orb.

Boom! The orb discharged several bolts of purple lightning, one of which injured Hiromasa and knocked him into the air, while the others struck towards the Omnyoji formation.

It was too late to switch to a defensive art and the electricity impacted the crowd. A bright explosion ensued and several onmyoji masters were killed!

The magic art being prepared by the group was completely disrupted!

“How could…this…you despicable villain!” Kamo’s mouth bubbled with blood as he was grasped tightly by the demonic hand, but he was, after all, a strong Throne Stage powerhouse. He tenaciously operated his spiritual energy to fight against the demonic hand. If he wasn’t caught by surprise, he wouldn’t have been injured by this demonic hand.

“Hahahaha! I’m a demon, not a human! Don’t you think it’s ridiculous to talk about fairness with me?!” The completely liberated Ibaraki Doji was now arrogant beyond comparison. In fact, he was only able to re-establish the connection with his severed arm by luck in a life-and-death situation. Although the arm couldn’t be connected again, he could still control it in various ways. This was the ability of a Throne Stage archdemon!

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Seimei immediately recited a spell and unleashed several shikigamis to entangle Ibaraki Doji. However, Ibaraki’s current morale and aura were so strong that Seimei’s shikigamis couldn’t hold him for long.

“B̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲!” The usually composed Seimei cursed, “If I had time to direct the combined magic art, I would be able to seriously injure this demon!”

But at this time, the orb began to release thunder and lightning again!

“Seimei, leave that demonic lightning to me!” The Secretary of the Bureau of Justice, Kimura Saburo, finally made his move. In his hand, he held a golden pillar banner that had the Genji Clan crest on it. All the samurai of the Bureau of Justice surrounded the banner and poured their entire spiritual energy into it. The big banner released a golden light and the phantom of the Hachiman Bodhisattva was faintly visible. The phantom hovered behind Kimura Saburo’s back and Kimura suddenly doubled in size, becoming a three-meter-tall giant warrior— the Buddhist Attendant.

“Genji Heroic Spiritual Possession!” Kimura yelled, rushing towards the electric orb with great strides. The sword in his hand bloomed with golden light and blocked the oncoming treasure orb.

“Thanks a lot, Brother Saburo!” Seimei waved his fan to organize the remaining onmyoji masters and restore the formation. They then resumed chanting the combined magic art!

Kimura, however, was only at the peak of the Permanence Stage. Even though he received support and protection from the Hachiman Bodhisattva Divine Deity, blocking the electric orb was the best he could do. The origin of the Genji banner was very special so Ibaraki Doji didn’t dare to touch it. After all, Heian-kyō was filled with many sleeping old tigers whose strength was beyond imagination!

However, who could currently stop him, the Rashomon spirit?!

Ibaraki Doji had already dispelled Seimei’s shikigamis and easily kicked away the surrounding samurai, simply ignoring the rain of swords. He widened his bloody mouth and charged at the grand formation!

“Not good1!” Seimei’s forehead was covered in sweat. If Ibaraki Doji personally attacked, the grand formation would be destroyed again. There simply wasn’t enough time to complete the combined magic art.

“Ah, who can block this demon, who can block this demon?!” Seimei uttered a helpless shout and looked up at the sky with unwillingness.

Suddenly, a crimson light flashed in the dark night.

Lily carried a biwa on her back and held a long, crescent-shaped sword in her hand, leaping in front of Ibaraki Doji like a flower on the other side of the shore.

Evil-slaying power condensed on Yasutsuna’s blade which reflected a bit of poignant moonlight. The lone sword slashed towards Ibaraki Doji.

“What??!” Ibaraki Doji didn’t dare to take Lily’s blade lightly. He opened his huge claw and blocked Lily’s blade with his unbelievably tough nails.

Clang–! A crimson brilliance bloomed and the collision between the girl and the evil spirit contrasted beauty and ugliness!

Ibaraki’s claws sizzled with smoke which showed how much Yasutsuna restrained the evil demon, but he was so strong that he pushed Lily away before slashing out with his claws again!

“Kagami Lily, you dare to spoil my plans again?!”

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However, Lily’s figure flickered like an illusion. She surprisingly stepped on some sakura blossoms and drifted to the side before lightly landing on the ground!

“What?!” Ibaraki Doji was shocked. Even though he was simultaneously controlling the orb and his left hand, and was injured by the golden bull which slightly reduced his strength, he didn’t expect a mere girl of the Spirit Jade stage to dodge his attack!

From afar, Seimei saw the situation and was also astonished, “Lily, this woman, can actually dodge the attack of a Throne Stage archdemon?”

Seimei immediately continued to operate the grand formation with all his strength, shouting, “Everyone, continue to cast the combined magic art! Leave the Rashomon spirit to Kagami Lily!”

 

References

LazyButAmbitious: I swear if I hear this phrase again…