Chapter 132: Siege
"So those ridiculous rumors spreading through Onmyōdō... were all true?"
Keikain Ryūji stared at the figure confronting Yaksha Oni in the sky.
No matter how slow he might have been, even he understood now.
The handsome young man who had appeared before them was none other than White Fox Gin Tsumugi.
And those rumors that had sounded absurd, exaggerated, and utterly impossible were all real.
The source of those rumors was likely the upper echelon of Onmyōdō itself.
As for why they had spread them in such a half-concealed, half-revealed manner, the reason was now obvious.
Ryūji was not the only one who realized this.
Keikain Yūra and Keikain Akifusa, standing nearby, understood as well.
"Massacring the Emperor's lineage?"
Gin was slightly stunned.
Then he understood.
During his last system advancement, when he had dreamed his way back to the Heian Period a thousand years ago, there had indeed been hostility between "him" and the Imperial family.
However, at that time, the conflict had not yet developed into something completely uncontrollable.
"You still intend to deny it, Abe no Seimei?!"
"There is nothing to deny."
Gin looked up at Yaksha Oni, his expression calm.
"What he did is, in a certain sense, inevitably connected to me."
His gaze turned cold.
"But Yaksha Oni, your fall today is also a fact."
The air around him sharpened.
"You touched something you should never have touched."
"Hahaha!"
Yaksha Oni let out a piercing laugh, loud enough to shake the ruined sky above Kinkaku-ji.
"Abe no Seimei, I acknowledge your terror. Even now, you Great Onmyoji still make us Great Yokai feel fear. It is as though that fear has been carved into the depths of our souls."
Its voice suddenly changed.
"But do you truly believe you are still the myth of Onmyōdō who once suppressed an entire era alone?"
Yaksha Oni sneered.
"Your current strength is indeed not weak. But if I wish to leave, you cannot stop me."
Its confidence was not false.
For a Great Yokai, escaping with its life was not difficult. Especially after unfolding a Spirit, if it abandoned the battlefield and focused entirely on fleeing, even a National Level Onmyoji would find it extremely hard to intercept.
"Is that so?" Gin asked.
"Isn't it?"
Yaksha Oni's gaze became sharper.
"You appeared here because of the Nue. Its birth has made even you unable to sit still."
Hearing those words, the Thirteenth Generation Keikain Hidemoto felt even more doubtful.
Could my previous guess be wrong?
The thing inside Hagoromo Gitsune's womb is not Abe no Seimei, but something else?
No.
The Nue must have some connection to Abe no Seimei.
Yaksha Oni's words prove that much.
There was still too little information.
He could only make further deductions later.
Gin gave no explanation.
Whether Yaksha Oni had misunderstood something or not, he had not come here to explain himself.
Nor had he come to defend the past.
"Say whatever you want."
His voice was flat.
"But today, you will die here."
"Hmph. Then let me see whether you have the ability."
Yaksha Oni snorted and immediately mobilized the full power of its Spirit.
The entire Spirit trembled.
Its authority poured into Yaksha Oni's body, strengthening its presence as it prepared to flee.
Gin raised his eyes.
"Shōran. Ro."
The command fell.
Two completely different divine powers erupted at once, soaring into the sky.
One was Azure Wood divine power.
It descended like a pillar from the heavens, piercing directly through Yaksha Oni and the Spirit it had unfolded. The ghostly shadows hidden throughout the Spirit were purified beneath that divine power, vanishing one after another.
Kinkaku-ji, already reduced to ruins, was swept by the vast Azure Wood aura. The shattered earth began to violate natural law. Grass blades grew from cracks between stones, spreading over blood, severed limbs, and broken tiles.
The other was Crimson Lotus divine power.
It carried the scorching heat of Ashura Hell, as though it could burn every Yokai and living creature in the world to ash. The terrifying temperature distorted the space around it.
Before Yaksha Oni could react, that Crimson Lotus power condensed into more than a dozen spears.
They pierced through its body and nailed it in place.
Splat.
Yaksha Oni spat out a mouthful of pitch-black corrosive blood.
Its eyes widened in disbelief as it looked to its left and right.
On one side stood Seiryu, wrapped in Azure Wood divine power.
On the other stood Tensei, his face hidden beneath white cloth, Crimson Lotus divine power burning around him like an omen of catastrophe.
"Seiryu... Tensei..."
Yaksha Oni's voice shook.
"When did you summon them?!"
[Seiryu] and [Tensei].
Among Abe no Seimei's [Twelve Divine Generals], both stood within the top five in combat strength.
Especially Tensei.
The Ominous General who presided over terror.
A fierce general filled with ill fortune and calamity.
In terms of combat power, he could almost be called the strongest among the [Twelve Divine Generals].
Even Seiryu alone would have been troublesome enough for Yaksha Oni.
Now Tensei was here as well.
This situation had turned grim.
Very grim.
Gin glanced at Yaksha Oni and said calmly, "The moment you appeared, I had already hidden them beside you. It was to prevent you from escaping."
He did not bother disguising the truth.
"After all, with my current strength, if I truly wanted to stop a Great Yokai from fleeing for its life, then as you said, it would be a little difficult."
"So this is the [Twelve Divine Generals] commanded by the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei?"
The Thirteenth Generation Keikain Hidemoto could not help sighing in admiration.
"They are terrifying indeed."
The Keikain family's shikigami, Hagun, was certainly powerful.
But when compared with these legendary [Twelve Divine Generals], there was still a considerable gap.
"Damn it..."
Yaksha Oni knew its situation was terrible.
Even so, it brandished the enormous axe in its hand.
The power of its Spirit surged into the weapon. A huge projection appeared once more, slashing fiercely toward Gin.
"Foolish."
Seiryu moved.
Azure Wood divine power transformed into surging waves, vast enough to shake heaven and earth. The spear in his hand danced through the air, its movements elegant, sharp, and merciless.
In the next instant, waves and spear shadows overlapped.
Each strike carried an overwhelming divine majesty.
Boom!
A roar that shook heaven and earth erupted across Kinkaku-ji.
The impact nearly blew away Otomo Jin and the others watching from below.
Under that blow, Yaksha Oni was sent flying over a hundred steps.
A bloody hole had been pierced through its chest by Seiryu's spear. Pitch-black, corrosive blood flowed continuously from the wound, hissing when it touched the ruined ground.
And Tensei was not idle.
His Crimson Lotus divine power erupted.
Flames began to burn Yaksha Oni's Spirit, spreading through its laws and order. Tensei himself transformed into a stream of crimson light and attacked with a force that crushed rotten wood and shattered decayed bone.
Kinkaku-ji trembled under the siege.
Meanwhile, at Shōkoku-ji, where the Spiral Seal node had just been destroyed, Hagoromo Gitsune suddenly looked toward the distance.
"That is divine power..."
Her gaze sharpened.
"The [Twelve Divine Generals]?"
She could not mistake those two familiar powers.
They were the divine powers of [Seiryu] and [Tensei], two of Abe no Seimei's [Twelve Divine Generals].
"If I remember correctly, Tensei remained with the Onmyo Alliance."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"But Seiryu should have fallen silent after Seimei's death."
A thought surfaced in her mind.
"Did the Onmyoji use some secret technique to awaken Seiryu?"
That was the only explanation she could think of.
Beside her, Tsuchigumo, who had only just emerged from the Spiral Seal, burst into excited laughter.
"Interesting! Interesting!"
His voice was full of battle lust.
"Abe no Seimei's [Twelve Divine Generals] have actually reappeared!"
But Kidōji, Ōjizō, and the other Yokai were not so excited.
Looking at the two visible pillars of divine power rising from the direction of Kinkaku-ji, a bad premonition surfaced in their hearts.
They could not help recalling the rumors that had spread through Onmyōdō not long ago.
Impossible.
That cannot be true.
The Nue is the only one.
That Onmyoji must be fake.
He has to be fake.
Kidōji, Ōjizō, and the other Yokai clenched that thought in their hearts, as though repeating it enough times would make it true.
.....
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