At this moment, Shion suddenly understood her mother's intentions.
But unfortunately, at this moment, her mother's intentions could no longer be realized.
She had gained her power too late.
With her newly controlled power, all she could do was perish together with Moryo.
Although it fulfilled half of her mother's intentions,
The Miko lineage would from then on be severed.
From now on, there would be no more power to counter demons.
Now, she had no choice.
"Damn it!"
Moryo could now feel Shion's intentions, and it filled him with shock.
He knew that at this moment, Shion was capable of perishing together with him.
Even he was shocked by the power within Shion.
Even if he spat Shion out now, he might not be able to avoid destruction.
Although Moryo would be reborn after some years,
Just as the reappearing Tailed Beast wasn't the same as the previous one, the reappearing Moryo wouldn't be him.
If he died, he would really be dead.
Having been sealed for so many years, he had not yet regained true freedom.
He was unwilling to die here.
"Stop!"
Moryo's voice was heartbreaking and filled with despair.
But just then, its savior appeared.
"Don't do anything stupid."
Takumi's gentle voice reached Shion's ears.
Shion was stunned, feeling a pulling force drag her out of the dark mire.
Moryo breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Although he hadn't noticed when Takumi had approached,
At this moment, he was extremely grateful.
Now that Shion had left his body, he no longer needed to worry about her self-destructing on him.
He returned to his arrogant demeanor.
And his true body gradually broke free from the seal, his power steadily climbing.
"Hahaha, giving up your last chance was your biggest regret."
Moryo's voice was filled with the joy of survival, and also the resentment of almost being killed. "Now, I'll let you die together, as my repayment to you."
"What do we do?"
At this moment, Shion was held horizontally in Takumi's arms, and could only hold onto his waist for balance.
She didn't notice that on Takumi's back were a pair of black fleshy wings, looking like bat wings.
"A mere demon, what's there to worry about."
Takumi chuckled lightly, his gaze towards Moryo filled with contempt.
"A mere Shinobi dares to look down on me, the King of Demons, Moryo?!"
Provoked by Takumi's gaze, more tentacles emerged from the ground, surging towards Takumi like a sky-covering wave.
But Takumi remained motionless, as if the sea of tentacles blocking his view didn't exist, completely ignoring them.
Shion's face turned pale. She looked up at Takumi and saw an extremely calm expression.
This also eased her tension.
Just then, a bright white light erupted from the ground.
"This is?!"
Moryo's voice was filled with anger and surprise.
He found that his body could no longer move.
The white light emerging from the ground bound him tightly like ropes.
The seemingly formless light possessed extremely powerful force; no matter how he struggled, he couldn't break free.
"This isn't the power of the Miko!"
Moryo could recognize that this was definitely not Shion's power.
Such an array would definitely require a long time to prepare.
Shion didn't have that time, and he had been waiting here since a day ago.
"Could it be a backup plan left by Miroku?"
He guessed, but soon dismissed it.
If Miroku possessed such power, she wouldn't have needed to sacrifice herself to seal him.
Then who could it be?
He fell into confusion and also felt a bit of panic.
He realized that the situation was gradually slipping out of his control.
"..."
Shion had only just mastered the power of the Miko and wasn't yet skilled at controlling it.
But she soon detected the source of the power from the array on the ground.
She looked up at Takumi in surprise. "You can use it?!"
"When did I say I couldn't?"
Takumi chuckled lightly. "Originally, I planned to let you handle sealing her. If you couldn't, I'd step in."
"So... sorry."
Hearing the word 'seal,' Shion instinctively apologized. "I failed to do it."
"It's okay, you didn't know anything after all."
Takumi comforted her. "What Moryo said was a trap. This talk of having to fight to the death, with only the living leaving, is all bullshit."
"Isn't it?"
Shion looked up at him puzzled. "If it weren't for this bell my mother left, I would have..."
She stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing that it was only after the bell was gone that she had mastered her own power.
"If it really required a fight to the death, why did your mother have to sacrifice herself after sealing it back then?"
Takumi countered. "It said it wouldn't stop you from sealing it because it could see you didn't understand."
"To seal it, you first need to open the seal."
"It was waiting for you to open the barrier and break the seal."
"Only then could it reclaim its body."
Takumi's words were like hammer blows, striking Shion's heart and making her droop her head in frustration.
"But don't worry, this is also what your mother hoped for."
Takumi's tone softened, becoming gentle. "Only by letting Moryo reclaim its body can we completely eliminate it."
"This way, it might be possible to change the fate of the Miko."
"At least, while Moryo is gone, no one will covet its power and try to break its seal."
"And no one will want to persecute the Miko."
"The prophetic dreams you once experienced won't happen again."
Takumi's words suddenly made everything clear to Shion.
"I understand."
A gleam shone in her eyes. There was no more confusion, no more fear or timidity.
"I will eliminate Moryo, with my own power!"
As she spoke, power suddenly condensed in her hand.
But Takumi reached out and stopped her.
"Save your energy."
Takumi looked at the puzzled Shion and said with a smile, "Leave this guy to me."
"The array I set up isn't just to immobilize it."
He looked down, his gaze full of amusement.
Shion followed his gaze, curious.
"Wait! What's going on?"
As soon as Takumi finished speaking, Moryo immediately sensed something was wrong.
"My power! This array is absorbing my power?"
Moryo felt a deep unease.
This array was extracting his power at an alarming rate.
If it were just power being drained, he wouldn't feel so uneasy.
After all, his power was essentially endless.
As long as he lived, as long as human malice existed, he could draw power endlessly.
What truly worried him was the increasingly powerful light on the ground.
The light grew brighter and brighter, gradually filling the entire volcanic cavern.