The Death of Hantengu
Just then, another unexpected event occurred!
The moment the Sekido was met with a devastating blow, perhaps the severe injury triggered a splitting mechanism, or perhaps the original entity sensed extreme danger.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Two soft thuds! From the back of the Sekido that had been smashed into the mountainside and was temporarily unable to move, two more figures suddenly emerged!
A ghost with wings on its back, pale skin, a wildly joyful smile on its face, and claws like hooks— Urogi! The character "Xi" was carved on its tongue!
Another ghost, with a sorrowful expression and mournful eyes, holding a cross-patterned gun in his hand— Aizetsu! The word "Ai" was carved on his tongue!
All four split versions of Upper Rank Four — Sekido, Karaku, Urogi, Aizetsu —have appeared!
"Hehe! I'm flying! I'm so happy!" As soon as Urogi appeared, it flapped its wings and soared into the air, emitting a piercing ultrasonic attack! The invisible sound waves surged towards Moyu like a tide!
"Alas... why fight like this... only adding to the sorrow..." With Aizetsu, the cross-patterned spear in his hand thrust out without mercy! Blood Demon Art - Tears of Rage Thrust! Several condensed shockwaves shot towards Moyu like spears!
Coupled with the Sekido of the newly risen demon and the ever-watchful Cola, who was constantly fanning his banana leaf Karaku to create wind pressure, the four demons launched a fierce attack from the air and the ground simultaneously! Lightning, sound waves, wind pressure, and shockwaves! Four different Blood Demon Art intertwined to form a devastating net of death, completely enveloping Moyu!
Faced with this ferocious attack that could level an entire Mountain Forest, Moyu's eyes finally became serious.
"That's more like it."
"Azure Star," unsheathed!
"Azure Flow Breathing - First Form - Vortex Slash - Hundredfold Waves!"
The blade light flowed like mercury! It was no longer a single spiral, but burst forth with hundreds of intertwined and swirling Azure energies! These blade energies did not clash head-on, but rather, as if they possessed a life of their own, precisely cut into the energy gaps of the four Blood Demon Art, either pulling, deflecting, cutting, or Annihilation!
Rumble--!
Violent explosions rang out one after another! Lightning was deflected and shattered into rocks, sound waves were cut and dissipated, wind pressure was disrupted by vortexes, and shockwaves were neutralized by the collision of sword energy! Moyu's figure moved nimbly in the center of the explosion, his sword light like a dragon, deflecting attacks from all directions one by one! Occasionally, some residual energy waves would slip through, but they were easily blocked by "Inviolable"!
"Impossible!!" The four ghosts roared in disbelief at the same time! Even with all four of them working together, they still couldn't defeat this human?! What kind of monster is this?!
"Blood Demon Art - Thunder Kill!" Sekido to the point of madness, he coiled lightning around his staff and unleashed it at Moyu! Karaku fanned out a massive tornado! Urogi swooped down from the sky, his claws tearing through the air! Aizetsu, creating shockwaves like a torrential downpour!
"Boring." Moyu snorted coldly, his six eyes locking onto the weakest link in the Four Ghosts' attack— Urogi! His figure flickered, dodging most of the attacks as if by teleportation, and instantly appeared in front of Urogi's flight path!
"Die!" Urogi's sharp claws aimed at Moyu's face!
Moyu neither dodged nor evaded; the blade of "Azure Star" was instantly covered in a blazing crimson! Red Nichirin Blade, activate!
"Azure Flow Breathing - Second Form - Mirror Dissection - Breakthrough!"
The blade tip shot out with speed beyond the reach of sight, precisely striking the energy node of the Urogi Claw!
"Crack!" Urogi's claws shattered instantly! The Red Nichirin Blade continued its momentum, slicing across his neck!
Urogi's head flew off, a wildly joyful smile still on his face, before falling to the ground!
"Urogi!" The other three ghosts were filled with shock and anger!
Without hesitation, Moyu's blade flashed, the crimson "Azure Star" piercing the night sky, heading straight for Ai Jue, who had just unleashed the Aizetsu! "Keep your sorrow to yourself!"
Aizetsu his spear to block, but the "Azure Star" enhanced by the Red Nichirin Blade was indestructible! Clang! The cross-patterned spear was severed! The blade grazed Aizetsu's neck!
In the blink of an eye, two out of four were gone!
Sekido and Karaku by the cola, their attacks became noticeably hesitant and flawed!
"Bastard! I'll fight you to the death!" His eyes were bloodshot with Sekido, and he suddenly opened his arms, creating a powerful suction force that Karaku pulled the terrified Coke next to him towards himself!
"No! Sekido! What are you trying to do?!" Karaku screamed and struggled, but she couldn't resist!
"Merge! We must merge! Otherwise, we will both die!" Sekido, their bodies beginning to merge, twist, and expand like liquid, emanating a terrifying aura that sent chills down the spine!
Moyu didn't stop him, he just watched coldly. He knew that this was Hantengu's last trump card— Zohakuten was about to appear. Perfect, he could deal with it all at once.
A few breaths later, a brand-new figure exuding overwhelming resentment and hatred appeared on the spot. He was tall, with blue and black skin, and two dark red horns on his forehead. He had a twisted expression of extreme anger and sadness on his face, and carried several huge drums with the word "hate" engraved on his back. It was Hate Boten! The word "hate" was engraved on his tongue!
"You mere human... how could you... drive my 'joys and sorrows'... to this point..." Zohakuten's voice was deep and filled with a destructive will, "Bear my hatred! Blood Demon Art: Countless Striking Trees! (Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique)"
He pounded the taiko drum on his back! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground trembled violently, and countless massive, lifelike wooden dragons burst forth from the earth! These wooden dragons were incredibly ferocious, their enormous mouths agape, some spewing out violent lightning, some emitting destructive ultrasonic waves, some unleashing hurricanes that tore everything apart, and some shooting out dense shockwaves! Their power was several times greater than that of a single clone! Countless wooden dragons swept across the sky, crushing towards Moyu! It seemed they intended to destroy him along with this entire Mountain Forest!
Faced with this seemingly catastrophic attack, Moyu took a deep breath and pushed the "Azure Flow Breathing" to its limit, causing the Red Nichirin Blade to shine even brighter! His figure moved like lightning, weaving through the siege of the wooden dragons. With each flash of the crimson blade, a wooden dragon was severed and shattered! Lightning, sound waves, gales, and shockwaves were all cut, deflected, and neutralized by the Red Nichirin Blade and the "Inviolable" power!
The battle entered its most intense phase! Zohakuten frantically pounded the taiko drum, summoning even more wooden dragons, unleashing a barrage of Blood Demon Art! Moyu, on the other hand, brought his movement and swordsmanship to their peak, his six eyes precisely capturing the attack trajectory and energy core of each wooden dragon, his Red Nichirin Blade invincible!
However, the wooden dragon seemed inexhaustible, and the power of the Zohakuten appeared endless! Normally, Moyu wouldn't mind taking his time playing around like this, but Six Eyes sensed that Mitsuri and Muichiro were locked in a fierce battle on the other side, and decided to resolve the situation quickly to avoid any unforeseen circumstances...
"I don't have time to play puppet shows with you." A cold glint flashed in Moyu's eyes as he decided to use his trump card. He had been saving most of his energy to deal with the possible appearance of the main body, and... to quickly resolve this troublesome combined form.
He seized the moment when Zohakuten had exhausted his old strength and had not yet generated new strength by striking the drum with all his might, and suddenly rushed forward, ignoring the several wooden dragons attacking from the side. He withstood the attack with his "Inviolable" power and closed the distance between himself and Zohakuten!
"Spell Reversal -- Hmm!"
He made a fist-sized, deep red energy sphere, radiating a terrifying aura of repulsion and Annihilation, instantly condensing within him! The surrounding wooden dragons collapsed and disintegrated as they approached this sphere!
"What?!" Zohakuten felt the destructive aura, his pupils contracted sharply, and he tried to retreat, but it was too late!
Moyu slammed the dark red sphere toward Zohakuten! Wherever the sphere passed, space distorted and everything Disintegration!
With Zohakuten struck the taiko drum, summoning the thickest wooden dragon barrier to block his path, while simultaneously retreating rapidly!
"Boom!!"
The dark red sphere crashed into the wooden dragon barrier. There was no explosion, only a chilling sound of destruction! The wooden dragon barrier melted away like snow under the sun! The sphere continued its momentum, instantly catching up with the retreating Zohakuten and piercing his chest!
Zohakuten froze. He looked down at the rapidly expanding void in front of him, its edges flashing with dark red lightning. His eyes were filled with disbelief and... a hint of relief? His body, starting from his chest, quickly turned to ashes and vanished.
The enormous wooden dragons, having lost their support, collapsed and turned into rotten wood. The Mountain Forest returned to silence for the time being, leaving only a mess behind.
Moyu was slightly out of breath; the continuous high-intensity battle and the use of "He" had taken a toll. But he knew the battle was not over. His six eyes were like the most sophisticated radar, instantly scanning the entire battlefield and capturing any trace of residual energy.
Found it!
In the gap between a pile of collapsed rubble in the distance, a super-small ghost that is only the size of a mouse and looks exactly like a normal half-tengu, but with "" engraved on its left eye, "" engraved on its right eye, and the word "coward" on its tongue, is trembling and curling up there, trying to escape with the help of the shadow! It is the real body - the ghost of coward!
That's the key! As long as its head isn't cut off, even if the other split entities are destroyed, they can regenerate again!
"Still trying to escape?" Moyu's figure flashed, and he appeared above the pile of rubble. The crimson tip of the "Azure Star" blade pointed downwards, locking onto the tiny figure that carried the entire life essence of Upper Rank Four!
"No... don't kill me! I was wrong! I'll never eat people again! Please spare me!" The Cowardice Demon uttered a weak, desperate plea for mercy, his face streaked with tears and snot.
Moyu's gaze remained unwavering. To pity a ghost is to be cruel to the innocent, especially a ghost that uses "cowardice" as an excuse to commit heinous acts.
The blade flashed.
However, just as the blade was about to touch the Cowardice Demon, a sudden change occurred!
The body of the Cowardice Demon suddenly swelled and twisted! In an instant, it transformed into a terrifying giant— the Hate Demon —with an enormous, ferocious face and an aura of boundless hatred! The word "Hate" was carved on its tongue! This was the ultimate life-saving measure that the Hantengu used when its true form was in dire straits! Terrifying energy fluctuations gathered in its enormous mouth, ready to unleash a fatal blow!
But Moyu's six eyes had already seen through everything! The moment the Hate Demon took shape, he "saw" the tiny, true form hidden in its enormous heart!
"Sucker Punch."
Moyu's sword strike remained unchanged, even becoming faster! The crimson blade light sliced through the massive, newly formed body of the Hate Demon with the speed of a hot knife through butter, piercing its heart with unparalleled precision—the place where the Cowardice Demon's true form was hidden!
"Pfft!"
A soft sound, like an airbag being punctured.
The massive body of the Hate Demon stiffened abruptly, then deflated and dissipated rapidly like a punctured balloon, revealing the Cowardice Demon within—the size of a rat, its face contorted in utter terror, precisely struck by the crimson blade tip.
The scorching heat and cursed power of the Red Nichirin Blade erupted instantly!
"No... it... is... possible..." The Cowardice Demon let out a final, weak, and unwilling cry before turning to ashes and vanishing without a trace in the crimson light of the blade.
[Defeat Upper Rank Four - Hantengu, Coins +50,000.] The system notification finally sounded, announcing the complete end of this battle.
Moyu sheathed his sword, the crimson blade returning to its Azure. He stood on a ravaged hillside, the night wind ruffling the hair on his forehead, his Azure pupils reflecting the faint lights of the distant Swordsmith Village. Meanwhile, Mitsuri and Muichiro were likely still locked in fierce combat with Gyokko. He needed to get there as soon as possible to provide support.