Volume 8 - Higanbana: Chapter 4 – Blood

Volume 8 - Higanbana: Chapter 4 – Blood

“Tamamo-no-Mae?”

“The greatest Archdemon in the world, Tamamo-no-Mae?”

“She... Is she the legendary nine-tailed Fox demon?”

The vast majority of people had never seen Tamamo in the flesh. They had their own preconceptions and ideas of what Tamamo would look like. However, despite having several fox tails, the Army still refused to believe that this woman who seemed weak and frail was the greatest Archdemon!

However, that horrifying event had unfolded before their eyes. They were in disbelief and fear.

At this moment, the lesser Tengu’s leader, Tarobo Tengu, unfolded his white wings and flew towards somewhere close to Red Demon Mamukuro, who was floating around thirty meters high in the air. Momiji also stood on top of his shoulders to command the Army.

Tarobo asked, “is this really Tamamo-no-Mae? Her aura is definitely terrifying, but it’s still much weaker compared to my Lord, Daitengu! And it’s unstable even... Granted she is the greatest Archdemon in the world, she wouldn’t abandon the demons and defensive formations in Suno to fight the Army alone, right? Madam Momiji, you are knowledgeable. Can you tell me if there’s any trickery here?”

“Hehehe, don’t worry, Lord Tarobo. In order to save Kagami Lily, Tamamo-no-Mae barged into Mount Ooe and fell into Lord Shuten’s ancient formation. She is critically injured and is now much weaker than before!” Momiji said.

“Kagami Lily?” Tarobo’s fake bulging eyes on top of his black mask were instantly filled with spite. “That woman killed my best friend, Lord Hiei! I can’t believe that Tamamo would walk into her own death today. When I enter Suno, I’ll definitely seek revenge from Kagami Lily!”

At this moment, among the demons, an ominous man with purple hair flew over while stepping on a ghost hand. “Lord Tarobo, if you wish to seek revenge, I’m afraid it will be hard this time.”

“Ibaraki? You’re here at last.” Momiji looked at him.

“Why?” Tarobo asked.

“Tamamo-no-Mae abandoned the defenses in Suno and is facing the enemy alone. I’m afraid she knew that she was about to die and hence, she came here to risk her life so that she could buy some time for Kagami Lily and the demons in Suno to escape.” Ibaraki said.

“Hmph, although it’s dishonorable to fight with a dying enemy, this is still Daitengu’s order! I can’t believe that the world’s greatest Archdemon would die like this! After killing Tamamo-no-Mae, Kagami Lily won’t have anyone to depend on. Let’s see how long she can escape!”

At this moment, in the middle of the Army, Kato unsheathed a long sword with an engraved green snake and pointed at Tamamo who was a kilometer away. “Unleash the arrows and spells!”

Black-armored soldiers that occupied most of the land pulled out their bows and launched a volley of arrows!

Tens of thousands of Onmyojis and Dharma Masters also mounted platforms manifested from talismans. Taking the high ground, they started reciting spells against Tamamo.

Tens of thousands of people recited spells at the same time. Even the sky itself seemed to be trembling slightly.

Countless black arrows shrouded the skies and surged towards Tamamo!

Two circling fox flames appeared beside her, forming a light protective barrier.

Arrows rained like a thunderstorm! The dense numbers of arrows impacting the ground made it quake! Many of these arrows landed on the light orange barrier and were either deflected or shattered.

However, many of these arrows were also shot by individuals on the Permanence Stage or above. They carried incredible power and struck her with great accuracy. Each of these arrows would make the protective barrier shudder.

Suddenly, Tamamo’s body trembled and went down on one knee, vomiting blood nonstop!

“She can’t even handle such an attack? This fox demon is really about to die.” Tarobo said.

“We attack too!” At this moment, not only the center formation. The demons in the northern formation and the noble’s soldiers in the southern formation also started attacking.

The demons unleashed various kinds of spells, while strength-based demons like Blue Demons tossed massive boulders and javelins towards Tamamo.

Meanwhile, Onmyojis and Dharma Masters who recited spells from behind also unleashed countless magical attacks that illuminated the gloomy skies with various bright colors!

This unending wave of attacks all struck Tamamo’s barrier.

“Seems like Tamamo-no-Mae is really critically injured. She can’t even handle a volley attack from half a million soldiers.” Ibaraki said, “His Majesty’s ancient formation probably caused her lethal damage.”

“How unfortunate... Has the millennia-old Archdemon fallen just like this?” Tarobo also exclaimed.

After repeated examinations, Kato was sure that Tamamo was already close to death and couldn’t offer resistance. He raised his hand. “Executioner squad. By the Commander’s orders, execute this fox demon right here!”

More than ten tall samurai with incredibly long glaives and wore helmets that were as tall as towers, and rode on black demonic warhorses with extremely thin legs marched out of the formation, approaching Tamamo. There were also several black armored-soldiers approaching and inspecting her carefully.

Those long glaives each had a nine foot long blade. They were specifically made to execute demons and emanated a terrifying aura. These executioners slowly approached Tamamo. The Army became silent, as if waiting for this millennia-old legend to be slain.

At this moment, the sun was setting and the ground was stained in red!

Such a dazzling red sunset had not been seen for a long time. The entire battlefield seemed to be stained red by a sky of blood, forming an indescribable but ominous atmosphere.

Ueotsune stared at Tamamo who was on the ground from far away. Yet, his expression became more solemn.

“It’s you...”

Tamamo, who was on the ground in critical condition, let out a whimper.

“What?” The samurai in front exclaimed, “My Lord, she... seems to still be speaking?”

“It’s you...”

Despite standing very far away, Kato, Ueotsune, Tarobo, Momiji, and the rest still heard this obviously hushed sound. Without reason, all of them suddenly felt chills down their spine.

“It’s you people...”

This voice seemed to become louder until it echoed throughout the entire ancient battlefield. Even Ueotsune, on the Big Dipper stage, couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable terror.

Suddenly, the earth trembled. The tremors became more and more intense until the ground itself quaked!

“It’s you people... Who forced me to do this!”

An intense smell of blood suddenly pervaded the air!

Ueotsune’s body trembled and his eyes became wide, shouting uncontrollably, “Quickly! Get away from her! Get away from this woman now!”

Wham!

An intense tsunami of blood erupted in a split second and consumed everything within the radius of a kilometer. All the black-armored soldiers and demons caught within it were instantly rendered into blood puddles!

Heaven and earth itself was submerged by an endless sea of blood!

As the ground shook, that ocean of blood gradually condensed into shape...

A thousand-meter long nine-tailed fox demon with tails that could cover the sky itself appeared before the Army. Compared to this fox demon, the massive army was nothing but a swarm of ants!

“Hahaha...” The fox demon’s head was as big as a mountain. Each of its teeth was bigger than a giant tree. It opened its eerie white eyes with bloody slits as pupils and grimly stared at the Army. Its gaping mouth seemed to be laughing as rivers of blood poured down from the gaps of its teeth

1.

“How many years has it been... Since I’ve shown this form to anyone... I’m so hungry... I’m really... Really hungry...”

The fox demon’s voice trembled the sky itself.

References

Robinxen: Well... I guess that explains the path of seduction... yeah I’d want this under control too.