Chapter 109: Ending the Battle
Hokuto?
The name did not sound like a mantra.
It did not carry the structure of an Onmyō Art, nor the cadence of an incantation. It sounded far more like a name.
A shikigami's name.
When the watching Onmyoji saw the hand seals Gin Tsumugi was forming, that suspicion deepened. Those were summoning seals, old in structure and clean in execution, the kind of formula used to call forth a contracted familiar.
But a shikigami?
At this point?
Many of the Onmyoji watching through secret arts frowned.
Was this White Fox Gin Tsumugi's final trump card?
His spiritual power had already been drained to the bottom. The battle had pushed him past the limits of what most National Level Onmyoji could endure. What kind of shikigami could help him slay a Great Yokai under these conditions?
And not just any Great Yokai, but the Slaughter Ghost.
A monster soaked in slaughter, malice, and blood.
Inside the Tsuchimiya estate in Bunkyo Ward, Tsuchimikado Arima, who was still staying as a guest, narrowed his eyes.
"Hokuto?"
A trace of doubt crossed his face.
Tsuchimiya Garaku, lying nearby and watching the battle with Arima's assistance, caught the change in his expression.
"Lord Arima, does the name Hokuto hold some deeper meaning?"
"It should be impossible," Arima said after a moment, shaking his head. "Most likely, it's only the same name."
Even so, his eyes did not leave the scene.
"That name reminds me of the guardian beast the Tsuchimikado Clan has raised for more than a thousand years. A dragon. One of the few true dragons left in this era. Only the current head and heir of the Tsuchimikado Clan should be qualified to command it."
Garaku nodded.
He understood Arima's hesitation.
The Tsuchimikado Clan's guardian dragon was not some stray familiar that could be summoned by anyone. It was a legacy of the clan itself, bound to the Tsuchimikado bloodline and guarded for generations.
There was no reason it would appear in the hands of an outsider.
It should have been impossible.
Then the sky above Shinomiya Manor split open with a roar.
A dragon's cry shook the Slaughter Kingdom.
The blood-red world trembled.
A massive brownish-gold dragon, more than a hundred feet long, surged through the air with majestic grace. Its scales gleamed beneath the bloody light of the Spirit, each one carrying the heavy, accumulated spiritual energy of a thousand years. Its body coiled through the sky like a river of gold and earth, ancient and alive.
It descended behind Gin.
Then, before countless stunned gazes, the dragon lowered its head and nuzzled Gin with open affection.
Like a child finally finding its master.
The silence that followed was more violent than any explosion.
Tsuchimikado Arima froze.
Tsuchimiya Garaku stared.
At the Onmyo Bureau, the Onmyo Alliance, the Onmyō Academy, and several hidden observation points across Japan, every Onmyoji who recognized Hokuto lost their composure at the same time.
That was the Tsuchimikado Clan's dragon.
That was truly Hokuto.
"How is it in his hands?"
No one immediately answered.
Because no answer made sense.
Even the Slaughter Ghost recognized it.
"So the dragon raised by that man still exists."
Hokuto's eyes snapped toward it.
The Slaughter Ghost's aura was foul enough to make the ancient dragon restless. Malice, slaughter, and the heavy stench of blood rolled from the Great Yokai like a rotting sea. Hokuto bared its fangs and roared, anger shaking the sky.
The Slaughter Ghost did not care.
It lifted one hand.
Countless Blood Blades condensed in the air, each one carrying dense killing intent and the law of slaughter. They hung across the sky like an army of executioners, their edges aimed at Gin and Hokuto.
"Onmyoji," the Slaughter Ghost said, "if this is your final hope, then you're about to be disappointed. It's only a dragon that has lived a thousand empty years."
"That," Gin said, "is not necessarily true."
He stopped wasting words.
The memories from that thousand-year dream stirred inside him. His fingers moved, forming one obscure seal after another.
The seals were unfamiliar to his present body.
Yet they also felt natural.
They were etched into his instincts, inherited from a past that was no longer merely a dream.
Hokuto, who had been circling him with visible joy, began to change.
Its solid body gradually turned translucent, becoming a phantom of flowing spiritual light. The dragon's massive form coiled around Gin, then fused into him like a guardian dragon settling upon a Vajra soaked in blood.
In the next instant, Hokuto's spiritual energy poured into Gin's body.
It was not a river.
It was an ocean.
A thousand years of accumulated spiritual power flooded every limb, every meridian, every spell formula carved into his soul. The Slaughter Kingdom shook under the impact, the crimson world trembling like a beast that had sensed something far larger waking beneath its feet.
Gin's exhausted spiritual power recovered in an instant.
No.
It surpassed his previous peak.
It rose higher.
And higher.
The Slaughter Ghost's eyes widened.
"How is this possible?"
It was not the only one shocked.
Kurahashi Genji, Tsuchimikado Arima, Tsuchimiya Garaku, Amami Daizen, and every observer who knew Hokuto's origin all stared in disbelief.
Summoning Hokuto was already unbelievable. That alone could barely be forced into an explanation, perhaps through some unknown agreement between Gin Tsumugi and the Tsuchimikado Clan.
After all, the Tsuchimikado Clan's attitude toward him had been strange from the start.
But attaching Hokuto's thousand years of accumulated spiritual energy to himself?
What was this technique?
A Tsuchimikado secret art?
If the Tsuchimikado Clan possessed a secret technique of this level, how could no one in the Onmyōdō world have heard even the slightest rumor of it?
"No."
Tsuchimikado Arima's eyes were locked on Gin.
"That isn't a Tsuchimikado secret technique."
Garaku looked toward him.
"If the Tsuchimikado Clan had such a technique," Arima said, "Hokuto wouldn't have spent centuries being treated like the clan's mascot."
The word mascot was crude, almost disrespectful.
But as a former heir of the Tsuchimikado Clan, Arima knew Hokuto's true place in the family better than most. Hokuto was precious, ancient, and symbolically important, but its direct combat power had never been treated as the clan's greatest weapon.
The reason was simple.
No one had been able to use it like this.
Garaku's expression shifted.
"The secret technique White Fox Gin Tsumugi just used resembles the fragment our Tsuchimiya ancestors once obtained."
"So that is the technique your daughter mentioned," Arima murmured.
His frivolous expression had vanished.
Something was hidden beneath all of this.
Gin's Myriad Laws had already felt strangely familiar to him. Now there was the Tsuchimikado Clan's attitude, Hokuto, and a complete secret technique connected to Abe no Seimei.
Too many pieces were pointing in the same direction.
In the sky above Shinomiya Manor, Gin opened his eyes.
His aura had changed.
The exhaustion from before was gone. Spiritual power surged through him in deep, stable waves, with Hokuto's dragon shadow coiling faintly behind his body.
"Slaughter Ghost," Gin said, "we can begin the third round."
His gaze remained calm.
"And this will be the last."
He did not wait for the Slaughter Ghost's answer.
A dozen talismans flew from his sleeve and scattered around the Great Yokai.
"Transform."
The talismans flared.
In an instant, they turned into more than a dozen clones identical to Gin. Each clone carried dense spiritual power, and together they surrounded the Slaughter Ghost from every direction.
The Slaughter Ghost's expression sank.
It understood.
If it allowed this Onmyoji to continue setting the pace, it might truly become a stepping stone beneath his feet.
It could not allow that.
"Slaughter Kingdom!"
The entire Spirit roared in response.
"Suppress and kill!"
The laws of the Slaughter Kingdom began to move.
Bloodlust gathered.
Killing intent condensed.
The authority of the Spirit pulled every strand of slaughter in the crimson world together, shaping it into a colossal blood-red blade that pierced toward the sky.
The blade carried the full force of the Slaughter Kingdom.
Where it passed, the sky tore open. The ground collapsed. Flowers, trees, and stone turned into nothingness. Ghostly shadows howled along its edge, and every inch of the blade seemed to drag countless dead souls behind it.
The giant blade descended toward Gin.
"Barrier."
Gin raised one hand.
A thin barrier appeared before him.
The Slaughter Ghost laughed.
"A mere barrier?"
Its voice was full of contempt.
"You think that can withstand a full-force strike from my Slaughter Kingdom?"
From below, many Onmyoji watching the battle were equally stunned.
A barrier?
At this point?
Against a full-power attack from a Great Yokai's Ghost?
Only a few from the Tsuchimikado Clan, including Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi and those beside him, noticed something different. Their eyes flickered, then faint smiles appeared on their faces.
They had seen this before.
Boom!
The blood-red blade slammed into the barrier.
The impact shook the heavens and earth.
For a moment, the entire private scenic area seemed to sink under the pressure. The air screamed. The ground cracked. The remnants of the Slaughter Kingdom rippled like a blood sea struck by thunder.
But the barrier did not shatter.
That thin layer of light stood firm before Gin, unmoving.
The Slaughter Ghost's pupils contracted.
"This is..."
Its voice turned hoarse.
"A Strategic Barrier?"
The words sent a shock through the watching Onmyoji.
"A Strategic Barrier?"
"He cast a Strategic Barrier casually?"
"That's impossible. A Strategic Barrier requires preparation, materials, ritual anchors, manpower, and time. No single Onmyoji should be able to deploy one instantly."
"Then how do you explain what we're seeing?"
No one could answer.
Too many things had happened tonight that overturned their understanding of Onmyōdō. The people qualified to spy on this battle through secret arts were not weaklings. The weakest among them were Ninth-Rank Professional Onmyoji, and many were National Level Onmyoji.
Yet again and again, Gin Tsumugi had forced them into silence.
The full strike of the Slaughter Kingdom ground against the Strategic Barrier, unable to advance.
Gin looked past the barrier.
"It's my turn."
The talisman clones surrounding the Slaughter Ghost began forming hand seals at the same time.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized.
Then their voices rang out together, layered across the Slaughter Kingdom like a ritual performed by an entire temple of exorcists.
"Namo siddhi…..
The sound expanded.
Spiritual power surged.
"Suppress. Purify. Destroy."
The clones completed their seals.
"Swiftly, as the laws and decrees command."
"Acalas Demon Subduing Mantra."
Sacred Buddha light erupted from more than a dozen directions at once.
Layer upon layer of the Acalas Demon Subduing Mantra illuminated the Slaughter Kingdom, each one overlapping with the next until the power to slay evil and cleanse filth rose to a terrifying level.
Ancient Sanskrit chanting filled the sky.
True Words appeared in every inch of space, shining with solemn golden brilliance. The crimson darkness was forced back. The night turned bright as day. The blood-red world began to tremble beneath the weight of sacred law.
"Aaargh!"
The Slaughter Ghost roared in pain.
"Damn this light!"
Its flesh smoked.
Its blood boiled.
Its spirit and soul were burning under the layered purification.
"Slaughter Kingdom, suppress them!"
The Ghost answered.
Blood-red authority surged upward, trying to crush the Buddha light and reclaim control. But this time, the Slaughter Ghost did not hold the advantage.
The Acalas Demon Subduing Mantra pressed down from all sides, purifying the killing intent and filthy power of the Slaughter Kingdom bit by bit.
The blood color began to fade.
The Slaughter Ghost's expression twisted.
Gin watched quietly.
"Still not enough."
Even with more than a dozen layers of the Acalas Demon Subduing Mantra stacked together, it could only push the Slaughter Ghost into a disadvantage.
It could not completely purify it.
"As expected of a Great Yokai," Gin said. "And not an ordinary one."
The clones moved again.
Each drew another talisman.
The Slaughter Ghost's face changed.
It understood immediately.
It could not survive the next strike.
The Slaughter Kingdom contracted violently. The Slaughter Ghost was already preparing to abandon the fight and flee with the Ghost itself.
Gin would not give it that chance.
"Immovable Binding Technique."
More than a dozen binding arts activated instantly.
Chains of spiritual energy shot out, locking around the Slaughter Ghost's limbs, torso, neck, and soul. They bound it in place from every direction, dragging it back into the center of the purifying light.
The Slaughter Ghost gritted its teeth.
"Break!"
Countless claw shadows flashed.
Bloodthirsty killing intent erupted around its body. It endured the burning of the layered Acalas Demon Subduing Mantra and tore into the spiritual chains binding it.
The Immovable Binding Techniques had been instant-cast through Myriad Laws. Their speed was exceptional, but their individual power was reduced.
Within a few breaths, most of the chains began to crack.
Then snap.
One after another, they shattered beneath the Slaughter Ghost's claws.
But those few breaths were all Gin needed.
The clones finished forming their seals.
Their voices rose again, synchronized and solemn.
"Om subha nisubha, hum, grhna grhna, hum, trsna payamana, svaha, grhna paya, hum, anaya ho... Hu! Bhagavan Vajra Hum Phat..."
"I take refuge everywhere. All Vajras. Trailokyavijaya Samaya. Trailokyavijaya Karma. Vajrasattva. Samantabhadra Dharmakaya. Padmasambhava of the Six Realms."
The talismans burned.
"Suppress. Purify. Destroy."
Gin's eyes sharpened.
"Swiftly, as the laws and decrees command."
"Trailokya- Heart Mantra."
Trailokyavijaya was the second of the Five Great Wisdom Kings of Esoteric Buddhism, the Command-Wheel Body of the Vajra Section, stationed in the East and bearing the secret title of Most Victorious Vajra.
Its heart mantra and the Acalas Demon Subduing Mantra complemented one another.
The moment the Trailokya-Vajra Heart Mantra descended, the layered Acalas Demon Subduing Mantra erupted like sacred fire fed with oil.
The light climbed to a higher realm.
In the sky, a majestic Image slowly appeared.
It sat upon a stone throne in the form of a youth, with seven knots tied upon its head and a braid falling over its left shoulder. Its expression was wrathful. Fierce flames burned behind it. Its right hand held a sharp sword, while its left held a snare.
The Image of Acala.
The wrathful guardian feared by evil spirits and demons throughout the world.
The moment it opened its eyes, the Slaughter Kingdom began to collapse.
"No!"
The Slaughter Ghost screamed.
The scream was no longer arrogant.
It was filled with terror.
Blood-red law was purified. Slaughter authority was burned away. The filthy power anchoring the Spirit to the material world dissolved beneath the combined might of the mantras.
The Slaughter Ghost struggled wildly, tearing apart the last of the Immovable Binding Techniques.
But it was too late.
The Image raised its sword.
Sacred light fell.
The Slaughter Ghost's body began to disintegrate from the inside out. Its flesh, bones, soul, and the slaughter accumulated across countless killings were purified together. Its roars became wails. Its wails became broken gasps. Then even those vanished into the brilliant light.
The crimson world faded.
The Slaughter Kingdom collapsed.
The private scenic area returned to reality.
The night sky, once soaked in blood, regained its original darkness. The suffocating pressure vanished. The laws of Onmyōdō flowed naturally once more. Wind moved through the trees, carrying the smell of scorched earth and fading incense.
Above Shinomiya Manor, Gin lowered his hand.
The talisman clones burned away one by one.
Hokuto's phantom still coiled around him, slowly dimming as its spiritual energy settled back into silence.
Gin exhaled.
Only now did a trace of exhaustion appear on his face.
"Finally over."
Dealing with a Great Yokai was not easy.
It was far more troublesome than he had expected.
.....
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