Shamu flew onto the rooftop beside him.
"Get up here yourself."
Below, sweat beaded on Akahoshi's forehead as he glanced at his dead teammate nearby.
He had no choice but to obediently jump onto the roof.
Shamu raised one finger. Akahoshi looked at him in confusion, and then Shamu lowered it.
Their eyes met, and Akahoshi immediately fell into a dazed state.
Shamu looked at the villagers below, who resembled zombies, and asked,
"How do we remove the control over those villagers?"
Akahoshi said blankly, "They've been afflicted with the boss's Puppet Curse. Only the boss can remove it."
"Without continued control, it'll also wear off on its own after an hour."
"Where are Tonbee and Bairon?"
Akahoshi answered dully,
"Tonbee is imprisoned in the village chief's room. The boss is on the northern peak."
Lightning flashed in Shamu's hand, striking Akahoshi directly in the forehead.
Akahoshi regained consciousness in the instant before his death, but it made no difference. Shamu had never intended to spare him.
The Lightning Spear pierced through his skull in an instant.
Shadow Clone Technique!
Shamu created a Shadow Clone to rescue Tonbee, while he and Utakata flew toward the northern peak.
Fire Binding Technique!
Bairon wrote the character for "fire" in the air, and it transformed into two streams of flame.
They ignited the two bonfires before him.
A prepared ritual array had long since been laid out on the ground.
Thinking that he was about to obtain the forbidden technique he had dreamed of for so long, Bairon could not help but reveal a smug smile.
"All those long years of preparation weren't wasted after all."
"I never expected you to actually go to the Hidden Tsuchigumo Village."
"All that time I spent keeping watch there was not in vain."
"You must have