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Chapter 225 - Confrontation and Spiritual Warfare

Keiji Mogami, the most powerful psychic of the last century, was a genius in spirit vision and exorcism. He once accepted commissions to solve spiritual disturbances and was a darling of the media. However, because his mother suffered from an unknown illness, he secretly strayed into the dark path of using curses for profit to fund her medical bills.

Ultimately, his mother succumbed to her disease, and Mogami's psyche shattered. He began absorbing evil spirits to amass power, eventually committing suicide to become the ultimate evil spirit and exact revenge upon the world.

"A God? Don't make me laugh!" Upon hearing Aosora's claim, Mogami suddenly exploded with power.

Aomori intercepted the resulting shockwaves, preventing the building from collapsing.

"If Gods truly existed, why didn't they save my mother?!" Mogami raised his hand, and dark-red, sinister spiritual energy swirled around, lifting debris to form a high-powered tornado.

"Unless it's by chance, we don't go out of our way to intervene," Aomori released a massive amount of holy light, enveloping the area around Mogami and trapping him within.

"Then what use are you? All of you, just die!" Mogami descended into madness.

The dark-red spiritual energy and the white holy light collided, neutralizing each other in a temporary stalemate. Abandoning technique, Aomori decided to overwhelm his opponent with sheer volume, turning the fight into a raw contest of energy reserves. Fortunately, his holy light held a natural advantage over Mogami's dark energy.

Meanwhile, the onlookers were in a state of absolute shock.

"Hey, hey, a real God has appeared. I must be dreaming."

"Ow! That hurts. It's not a dream!"

"There's really a God? I've made so many false oaths to heaven growing up... Kami-sama, please don't take those words to heart!"

"Heh, now you're scared? Too late!"

"With Kami-sama here, he probably doesn't need us, right? Can we leave?" Sensing the intensity of the duel, some felt staying wasn't a wise choice.

"Why leave? This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Besides, the God has the upper hand; it'll be fine." Others refused to budge; being able to say they stood beside a God was a story worth a lifetime of bragging.

"Ahem, everyone, excuse me." Reigen Arataka wasn't about to miss this chance to boost his reputation.

He stepped in front of the crowd and said, "Kami-sama is focused on the exorcism. Please keep your voices down so you don't disturb him."

The room went silent, though someone muttered, "Who are you?"

Good question! Reigen flashed a brilliant smile, showing off his white teeth. "I am the human world partner and close friend of Aosora-sama. I accompanied Him here for this very purpose."

We've shared meat and drinks before; calling us 'close friends' isn't a stretch, Reigen thought smugly.

"Partner and close friend... so you're basically His envoy in the human world?" someone gasped. Reigen neither confirmed nor denied it, simply maintaining his practiced smile, which everyone took as a "yes."

Immediately, Reigen became the center of attention. Even the tycoon Masashi Asagiri nearly knelt before him. "Please, ask the God to save my daughter."

"Don't worry. We must have unconditional faith in His power. Believe that light will always overcome darkness. Your belief will aid Him. It's called... yes, Faith."

Reigen's serious-faced nonsense was met with nods of approval. Everyone closed their eyes and joined their hands, offering silent "mental praise" to Aomori.

"Tch! That guy Reigen… first he tries to steal Mob from me, now he's trying to claim my Kami-sama? No way! I was here first!" Seeing Reigen use Aomori's name to pull rank, Dimple was fuming and decided to tattle later. I won't disturb Him now, let that fraud smile a bit longer.

Dimple flew to Aomori's side, adjusting his expression to show exactly 40% admiration, 30% longing, 20% concern, and 10% disdain toward Mogami. Behind them, Miko's face was full of worry: "Aosora-sama, please do your best!"

Mob, on the other hand, looked on with pure admiration. He had never met anyone stronger than himself, so he usually suppressed his emotions to avoid a rampage. Now, he had encountered two individuals who could suppress him, and one was a benevolent God.

If that's the case, even if I lose control, Kami-sama can stop me from hurting anyone. The pressure in Mob's heart eased considerably.

Keiji Mogami was indeed the most powerful of evil spirits. His spiritual energy was no less than Aomori's. However, due to the elemental disadvantage, his dark energy was steadily pushed back until it was compressed against his very skin.

Yet, this pressure caused Mogami to fuse even further with Minori Asagiri's body, threatening to make the possession permanent.

"This is bad. If we don't stop him soon, we won't be able to separate them," the experienced Kikyo warned.

"Hehehe, I haven't lost yet." Mogami abandoned the external battlefield, pulling his energy entirely into the girl's body. He laughed wildly. "God! What will you do? Will you destroy me at the cost of this girl's life?"

"What do we do?" Miko asked anxiously.

Aomori didn't answer immediately. He layered the holy light around Mogami like a cocoon to ensure he couldn't escape. Only then did he stop. "To save the girl, we must enter her body and destroy Keiji Mogami from within her spirit world."

In truth, Aomori had intentionally moved the battle inside. If those thousands of spirits within Mogami were released outside, the entire city would be leveled.

"In the clash just now, I've used much of my energy, and I need to guard her physical body. It's not convenient for me to go in." Aomori looked at Mob. "Can you go in for me and defeat Keiji Mogami?"

"M-Me?" Mob pointed to himself in surprise.

"Yes. You possess great power, don't you? That power should be used to help others. What do you think?"

"Power should be used to help others..." Mob's gaze sharpened. He nodded. "I will definitely save her!"

"Just in case, I'll give you a partner."

"A partner? It's got to be me, right?" Dimple puffed out his chest, but Aomori called a different name.

"Darkrai, accompany Mob."

"Understood," Darkrai said, emerging from the shadows.

"Darkrai-san, I'll be in your care." Mob had a good impression of the Pokémon; it was a reliable fellow.

"No time to lose. Go!"

"Yes!"

Mob's soul left his body, and along with Darkrai, they dove into Minori Asagiri.

Inside Minori's mental world, Mob met Mogami.

"Tch! That God sent a brat like you to face me?" Mogami reverted to his original male form. "Do you know? If you die here, your soul vanishes. That God sure is cunning. He's too afraid to come in, so he sent you to die."

Where is Darkrai-san? Mob looked around while responding, "Kami-sama believes in me, and I believe in myself. Give it up, Mogami-san. You won't win against Him."

"Give up? Are you kidding me?" Mogami lunged with spiritual energy. "Let's settle this!"

Mob countered with his esper powers and easily knocked Mogami down. But looking at Mogami lying in a pool of blood, Mob hesitated. He couldn't bring himself to kill someone who looked so human. In that moment of hesitation, Mogami caught him.

"My power... why is it gone?" Mob fell to the ground, helpless.

Mogami stepped on Mob's head, sneering. "Still don't get it? You've fallen into my trap. Powers come from emotional outbursts; I intentionally triggered a mental block in you."

Under his foot, Mob began to turn into grey, lifeless stone.

"A question: Who has stronger emotional fluctuations, the human living happily, or the human struggling in agony? The answer is the latter. Negative emotions are stronger. The more pressure a person is under, the more powerful their internal energy becomes."

"I disagree!"

Suddenly, Mogami heard Mob's voice. He looked up and saw Mob standing before him.

"How? I froze his consciousness!" For the first time, something happened that Mogami couldn't comprehend. He frowned and "killed" Mob again, only for two more Mobs to appear.

"Impossible!"

"Stop this. Leave her body." More and more Mobs appeared, surrounding him.

"Wait... is this an illusion? When was I affected?" Mogami realized something was wrong. "Visual tricks alone won't defeat me!"

As if in response, the scenery shifted. He was suddenly inside a house.

"This place?" Mogami's body trembled as he looked at the familiar surroundings. He opened a door. As expected, a woman he knew all too well lay on the bed, looking at him with gentle eyes.

"Mother..."

"Stop, Keiji. It's enough." The woman wept.

"No, I won't stop!" Mogami roared. "Whoever is doing this, you're dead!"

His dark-red spiritual energy erupted, shattering the house. Mogami flew into the sky, entering his ultimate evil spirit mode. His energy split into thousands of hideous spirits that flew in all directions, turning the mental city into a ghost town.

Hidden in the clouds, Darkrai spread its hands toward Mob. "Sorry. I'm only good at giving nightmares. It seems trying to move him with happy memories won't work."

"It's okay," Mob said, clenching his fists. "I don't like fighting. But to save someone, I'll fight with everything I have. My power has meaning only when I use it at a moment like this!"

Limitless power surged from his body. His bowl-cut hair stood on end, his eyes turned red, and his body glowed with a blinding radiance.

The hymn of mankind is the hymn of courage, 100% Courage Mode, Activate!

The glowing Mob raised a hand, and a burst of blue energy obliterated an approaching spirit.

"Found you!" Mogami, now a skeletal figure, commanded the spirits to swarm them.

"It's useless." In this mode, Mob's strength was absolute. With every gesture, spirits were erased before they could get near him.

"Impossible... this power... Who are you?!" Mogami was horrified.

"Mogami-san, you're wrong. You only see negative emotions, but you completely ignore that positive emotions have an indestructible resilience!"

"Nonsense!" Mogami absorbed every remaining spirit, concentrating his power to become a skyscraper-sized giant. An arm the size of a city block slammed down on Mob.

Mob's power exploded. He countered with a single punch.

BOOM!

The collision sent out a shockwave that reduced every building and street into tiny cubes, then into dust. The city was plowed over until not a trace of the original landscape remained. The sky was torn open, revealing a pristine outer space.

Having been drained of too much spiritual energy earlier by Aomori, Mogami was no match for Mob and was obliterated by the full-power strike. However, only the vessel of "Keiji Mogami" was destroyed; the thousands of spirits he had previously absorbed were all released at once. The sheer number was beyond Mob's imagination.

"I have to save Asagiri-san... and I have to go back alive. Master, Ritsu, and so many people are waiting for me!"

But the spirits were too numerous. Soon, Mob was pinned in the center of the swarm, unable to move.

"Let me lend you a hand," Darkrai said, turning into a shadow and merging into Mob.

"Darkrai-san?" With the infusion of Darkrai's energy, Mob felt his power overflow.

"HAAAAA!"

Mob released every ounce of energy in his body. In the center of the red swarm, a pinpoint of light appeared. It expanded instantly, sweeping across the entire city. Every spirit touched by the light was wiped out.

Mob and Darkrai vs. The Great Evil Spirit Keiji Mogami: Total Defeat for Mogami.

Keiji Mogami was gone. His residual spiritual remains could not escape Aomori's blockade and were wiped out in one fell swoop. Minori Asagiri successfully woke up. Mob and Darkrai were drained of energy but otherwise unharmed.

The possession incident was perfectly resolved.

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