Chapter 43: Plunder
"Is this really the limit of your abilities?" Tsuchigumo's voice echoed from behind his mask, deep and heavy like the booming of a war drum.
He knew perfectly well that the only reason Nyanko-sensei was this fragile and easily overpowered was because he was already injured, but that didn't stop him from mocking the creature. After all, their mutual dislike went back several centuries.
Nyanko-sensei crawled back to his feet from the ground. Not a single trace of fear showed in his eyes; instead, the other party's taunts only stoked the fires of his rage.
"Go to hell, you bastard."
Nyanko-sensei opened his jaws and unleashed a blazing ball of Yoki, which shot forward with a deafening roar. The sheer intensity of the blast tore the ground apart, carving a charred, blackened trench along its path.
Tsuchigumo didn't even bother to dodge or step back. He simply crossed his upper arms in front of his torso, taking the attack completely head-on.
The impact triggered a massive explosion, throwing up a thick cloud of smoke and dust. As the haze dispersed, it revealed only a few faint scorch marks across his arms. He hadn't sustained a single scratch.
"You really are as stubbornly tough as always, you oversized spider..."
Nyanko-sensei gritted his razor-sharp teeth. Putting all his strength into his four limbs, he relied on his superior speed to sprint in a blur around Tsuchigumo's massive frame, searching for a weak spot. Spotting the perfect opening, he leaped from the blind spot behind Tsuchigumo's shoulder, opening his bloodstained jaws wide to bite deep into the joints connecting the giant's limbs.
But Tsuchigumo's movements were far more fluid than Nyanko-sensei had anticipated. His lower pair of arms shot out with terrifying speed that completely defied his massive bulk. One hand instantly pinned Nyanko-sensei's front right leg, while the other clamped down hard on the scruff of his neck.
Nyanko-sensei's heart sank. He tried frantically to break free, but the strength in those arms was monstrous. Tsuchigumo's thick fingers dug mercilessly into his flesh.
"I've got you, Madara," Tsuchigumo roared with triumphant laughter.
In the next heartbeat, he swung Nyanko-sensei's massive form—which was several times larger than his own—like a tattered ragdoll and slammed him violently into the earth.
The ground fractured under the impact, forcing a choked groan right back down Nyanko-sensei's throat.
But Tsuchigumo wasn't finished. He hoisted Nyanko-sensei back up and smashed him down into the asphalt once more with even greater force.
Another booming crash resounded through the area.
The asphalt road shattered completely into pieces. Nyanko-sensei coughed up a mouthful of blood, staining the broken stones beneath him a vivid crimson.
Crash after crash echoed out.
Tsuchigumo alternated between his arms to continue the brutal slamming, each impact causing the earth to shudder violently. Nyanko-sensei's vision blurred into a hazy mess as he felt the bones throughout his body shattering inch by inch.
After slamming him down over a dozen times in rapid succession, Tsuchigumo finally released his grip. Nyanko-sensei slumped heavily into the pile of rubble. His long, lustrous silver-white fur was now a matted, tangled mess, clumped together by a mixture of blood and mud.
He struggled to stand, but the agonizing pain left all four of his legs trembling uncontrollably. This time, he truly couldn't force himself up again.
Tsuchigumo had absolutely no intention of giving Nyanko-sensei a single moment to catch his breath. Being a powerful Yokai himself, he understood the absurd recovery rate of a high-ranked beast. If he gave the creature even a brief window of time, Nyanko-sensei would undoubtedly launch a counterattack. Therefore, taking his life while he was down was the most logical choice.
Tsuchigumo took massive strides forward. Raising his third and fourth arms high into the air, he clenched them into colossal fists and brought them crashing down onto Nyanko-sensei's broken body.
The heavy, rhythmic sound of flesh-rending impacts filled the air.
Each punch carried destructive power, tearing skin and splitting flesh wherever they landed. Nyanko-sensei could only curl his body into a tight ball, forcing his remaining Yoki to protect his vital organs. Despite his efforts, horrific gashes quickly tore open across his spine and ribcage, and fresh blood surged out, staining his once pure-white fur a deep, sickening red.
"You bastard..."
Under Tsuchigumo's relentless assault, Nyanko-sensei let out a low, muffled growl. Forcing his head up with the last of his strength, he snapped his jaws shut around one of the descending arms. His sharp fangs finally pierced through Tsuchigumo's thick hide, causing dark, blackish blood to drip onto the ground.
Unfortunately, such an injury meant nothing to Tsuchigumo.
He simply swung his other arm around, delivering a vicious backhand slap to the side of Nyanko-sensei's head.
With a sharp crack, Nyanko-sensei's head snapped violently to the side. The left half of his face went entirely numb, and thick red blood began to seep into his left eye. His massive body rolled uncontrollably across the ground for dozens of meters, leaving a long, gruesome trail of blood in his wake.
Tsuchigumo refused to grant him another opening, launching all four of his arms into motion at once.
Two arms pinned Nyanko-sensei's hind legs firmly to the ground, while the other two locked his front limbs in place. He then drove one of his massive feet down like a spike, stamping it directly over Nyanko-sensei's ribs.
With that, Nyanko-sensei's true form was completely pinned to the earth, entirely unable to move.
"Nyanko-sensei!"
Natsume's frantic voice cried out.
He could see everything with painful clarity. There wasn't a single uninjured spot left on Nyanko-sensei's entire body. His silver-white fur was thoroughly drenched in fresh blood, clinging tightly to his torn skin in ragged clumps. Beneath his ribs lay three deep gashes that exposed the bone beneath, and with every ragged, difficult breath, frothy blood bubbled outward from the wounds.
Natsume knew all too well that if it hadn't been for him, Nyanko-sensei would never have suffered such a crushing defeat. When it came down to it, his own weakness had dragged Nyanko-sensei into this mess.
Tsuchigumo pulled back his terrifying mask slightly, letting a pair of glowing red eyes stare down at the enemy he had pushed to the brink of destruction.
"This is your loss, Madara."
"What a shame."
"If it weren't for that brat, you might have actually given me a proper fight."
Nyanko-sensei didn't offer a verbal reply. The only sound coming from his throat was a wet wheeze mixed with bloody froth.
Tsuchigumo raised his head, shifting his gaze toward Natsume. "Brat, if you want Madara to live, hand over the Book of Friends. Give it to me right now, or don't blame me when I crush the life out of him."
Natsume didn't hesitate for a single second. He reached into his shirt and pulled out the Book of Friends.
The book was incredibly important to him, but it held absolutely no weight when compared to Nyanko-sensei's life.
"I'll give it to you, but you have to let Nyanko-sensei go."
"Deal," Tsuchigumo agreed smoothly, his eyes locking onto the book in Natsume's hands.
Natsume took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and threw the Book of Friends toward the monster.
The corners of Tsuchigumo's mouth twisted into a sinister grin as he reached out a hand and caught the flying book out of the air.
"I've given you the Book of Friends. Now please, release Nyanko-sensei," Natsume demanded.
Tsuchigumo let out a low, mocking chuckle. "What an incredibly naive creature you are, brat. To think you would actually place your trust in a Yokai."
"What do you mean by that?" Natsume's pupils dilated with sudden dread. A cold spike of panic hit his chest as the terrifying realization dawned on him that the monster had no intention of keeping his word.
"My meaning is quite simple." Tsuchigumo's smile grew increasingly monstrous as he looked down at the utterly helpless Nyanko-sensei. "You die right here, Madara!"
He hoisted his fist high into the air and brought it hurtling down toward Nyanko-sensei's head with lethal force.
"No!!" Natsume screamed, throwing himself forward to sprint toward Nyanko-sensei without a single thought for his own safety.
A sudden explosion shattered the air.
Right at that critical juncture, a jarring anomaly occurred. A pillar of pitch-black flames erupted from the flank, stabbing violently into the side of Tsuchigumo's torso.
The pillar detonated the moment it made contact. The black tongues of fire spread rapidly across his iron-hard skin, burning through his tough hide with a loud, violent sizzling sound.
Tsuchigumo let out a muffled groan. His massive frame shuddered from the sheer force of the impact, forcing him to stumble several steps sideways and release his hold on Nyanko-sensei.
A pitch-black Shikigami resembling a colossal hound materialized on the battlefield. Sparks of black fire still crackled inside its jaws, and its entire body was enveloped in an ominous, dark shroud of flames. Every single step it took left a charred, blackened paw print seared into the ground.
Tsuchigumo turned his head to stare at the severe burn wound on his flank, his deep voice finally carrying a trace of genuine surprise. "What kind of creature are you supposed to be?"
"He's my Shikigami."
The voice cut through the air, causing Tsuchigumo to instantly freeze.
Only now did he realize that besides Natsume, Nyanko-sensei, and this newly arrived black hound, there was actually someone else standing on the road.
No, to be completely accurate, there were two people.
A young man and a young woman.
These two were, naturally, Yumesaki and Nero.
Yumesaki hadn't anticipated that following the guidance of Huodou and Okuchi-no-Makami would lead him straight into an encounter with Tsuchigumo from the Nura Clan. Along with him, of course, were Natsume and his bodyguard cat, Madara.
However, Madara had clearly been beaten to a disastrous state, lacking even the strength to mount a proper defense. Watching this unfold, Yumesaki naturally couldn't just stand by and watch. After all, back when he used to read Natsume's Book of Friends, he had grown quite fond of both Natsume and Nyanko-sensei.
Natsume, in particular, was always kind to others and possessed an incredibly gentle personality. Even though he had suffered immense bullying since childhood and still occasionally experienced nightmares as a result, he never harbored hatred toward the Yokai or the humans who had mistreated him. Because he hated making others worry, he consistently kept his problems and injuries to himself. Yet, he often downplayed his own kindness, thinking of it as nothing more than self-righteous arrogance.
How could anyone dislike a boy like that?
Even though Yumesaki was a guy himself, he held a deep sense of admiration for Natsume. Therefore, the moment Tsuchigumo moved to deliver the killing blow to Nyanko-sensei, Yumesaki had decisively ordered Huodou to strike, easily extracting Nyanko-sensei from Tsuchigumo's clutches.
"And who exactly are you?" Tsuchigumo demanded, bracing his stance and glaring at Yumesaki with a thoroughly hostile expression.
Yumesaki offered a faint smile, replying in a perfectly calm demeanor, "I suppose you could just consider me a passing do-gooder who happened to be in the area."
Natsume raised his head, staring blankly at Yumesaki in utter bewilderment.
Tsuchigumo narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing within them. "Are you planning to interfere in this matter?"
"Naturally. Now that I've seen what's happening, it's impossible for me to just remain indifferent, isn't it?" Yumesaki stated evenly. "Return the Book of Friends to that boy and surrender without a fight. If you do, I can spare your life and simply allow you to become an experimental specimen. What do you think of that proposal?"
Tsuchigumo almost laughed out of sheer fury. He had encountered arrogant individuals before, but he had never met anyone quite as outrageously conceited as this human.
"Go die for all I care!"
He let out a ferocious roar, swinging his arms high as he unleashed a massive wave of Yoki, intending to crush Yumesaki with a devastating technique.
But right at that instant, the sunlight overhead was suddenly severed by a blinding flash of cold light that descended without warning.
It was a massive, silver-white beast—or more accurately, a colossal white wolf, draped in a howling gale of biting frost and snow. It opened its massive jaws, its freezing, razor-sharp fangs biting down cleanly into the very arm Tsuchigumo had just raised.
The sickening sound of shattering bone echoed across the street. Tsuchigumo's dark blood sprayed outward, painting the wolf's pristine white snout a shocking shade of black.
It was Okuchi-no-Makami.
Yumesaki's second Shikigami had also been present from the very beginning, masking its presence until the perfect moment to strike and teach Tsuchigumo a brutal lesson.
Tsuchigumo let out a muffled shriek of pain as blood spluttered from the wound.
"Fall back," Yumesaki commanded. Okuchi-no-Makami immediately released its grip and leaped backward. Upon landing, it casually tossed Tsuchigumo's severed arm into a nearby pile of debris.
Tsuchigumo was completely consumed by rage. He glared at Yumesaki with pure, unadulterated venom. "Splendid... absolutely splendid."
Not long ago, he had launched a surprise assault on Nyanko-sensei, only to have the exact same tactic turned against him by someone else entirely. The realization drove his fury to its absolute peak.
"Every single one of you... just die! Die!!"
Completely losing his sanity to rage, Tsuchigumo went completely berserk, his volatile Yoki exploding outward with a thunderous roar.
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