The Real Scheme / For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Power of Will that Uka no Mitama can summon is nearly limitless!

This is His greatest source of confidence as the chief deity of Inari Shrine!

I can't beat you, but I'll wear you down!

"Uka no Mitama" thought viciously to himself.

His eyes flickered, and plants continuously sprang from the void.

Before His eyes, at the heart of those intertwined layers of plants, faint crimson flames and black fires blazed, and He could sense the plants being frantically destroyed.

Indeed, Shuya unleashed beams of fire with his crimson-gold wings, while his black flame wings swept across the surroundings, making it seem impossible for him to break free for the time being.

Shuya never used his full strength.

He's waiting.

When Uka no Mitama couldn't hold back any longer, he attacked him with all his might.

Only then will he launch his real plan.

Section 279, Chapter 263: The Real Calculation

Uka no Mitama watched as the Monster on the ground ravaged his divine Divine Domain, and finally could not bear it any longer.

He shouted towards the Shrine, "Help me!"

Upon hearing her message, the Four Pillar Gods abandoned their efforts to revive and, through a mysterious connection, extracted their Power of Faith and transferred it to the Uka no Mitama.

His aura continued to rise, and the plants surrounding Shuya grew rapidly, covering the sky.

At this moment, Uka no Mitama and the other four pillar gods focused all their attention on Shuya.

Shuya decisively activated his true trump card.

With a thought, he sent a mental message out of the Fushimi Inari Divine Domain, instantly causing countless resonances.

At this time, Monster) were waiting everywhere in the Japan Spirit Realm.

They were the Monster army that set off ahead of schedule under the pretext of rebellion and quelling unrest.

Shuya handed over full command to Tamamo Ren and Oniichi Tenba.

Yamatano Aoyama Yamata no Orochi to prevent it from causing trouble, so he didn't take charge of command.

These past few days, Shuya and his men have been putting on an act to buy them time.

What Tamamo Ren and Oniichi Tenba need to do is select a suitable Inari Divine Domain as their target, mobilize troops in the Spirit Realm beforehand, and then storm in when the time is right, throwing the Divine Power feather that Shuya left them into the Divine Domain Main Hall.

Before carrying out the plan, Tamamo Ren and Oniichi Tenba had to pretend to be chasing the rebellious Monster normally, because initially many gods sent people out to investigate, but it took two days to recall them.

These two days were wasted; Tamamo Ren and the others dared not make any unusual moves.

They would only take formal action after the gods' scouts returned.

First, they need to find a suitable Divine Domain.

The Monster possessed information on the distribution and strength of the Divine Domain in Japan, but this information was decades out of date and had not been updated since the war.

Therefore, it is necessary to divide forces to observe, send Monster to perceive Divine Domain of various targets, and integrate the intelligence with Tamamo Ren and Oniichi Tenba.

This is a huge undertaking; besides Inari Shrine, there are other Shrine that need to be investigated.

It took Tamamo Ren and Oniichi Tenba several days of research with their capable subordinates to determine the order of their targets.

Once the objective is set, dividing the forces becomes relatively easy.

They didn't deploy troops only after completing their research; they had already done so based on previous intelligence, using the pretext of pursuing the rebels to divide their forces, while in the Kanto region they divided their forces under the pretext of searching for the missing Tamamo-no-Mae.

The main focus remains on the Kansai region. There's one target in the Kanto region that we absolutely must take, but the others are beyond our reach.

After dividing the troops in advance, they studied the new formation, and once completed, they sent out Tengu to make contact and make minor adjustments.

The redistribution was finally completed a day before Shuya's operation.

The number of Monster is insufficient to deal with the 30,000 Inari Divine Domain. They need to ensure that they can suppress the Shrine instantly, so they cannot send too few Monster to attack, making their yokai manpower even more insufficient.

The smaller Divine Domain were to be ignored, but the larger Divine Domain had to be taken; the more famous the Divine Domain, the more Monster would gather there.

It's easy to find the most famous Shrine besides Fushimi Inari Shrine; they're the ones that are well-known. It took some effort to compile the following ranking.

Even Tamamo Ren and Oniichi Tenba couldn't guarantee that all the arrangements would be successful. As long as the largest batch of Divine Domain didn't encounter any problems, it was acceptable for the smaller Divine Domain to have some issues.

There are various accounts regarding the Inari Shrine on the front lines, besides Fushimi Inari Shrine.

What about Japan's two major Inari, three major... well, the "O" in "O-Inari" can be filled in as two, three, four, five, six, or seven.

Anyway, these are the targets.

However, it's important to note that some Shrine enshrine other deities, so you shouldn't choose those to avoid leaking information.

The most important target of this operation is Toyokawa Inari.

Toyokawa Inari is a Buddhism temple that enshrines Toyokawa Dakiniten, who is regarded as the same as Uka no Mitama because of the syncretism between Shinto and Buddhism.

According to reports from his subordinates, the scale of the Toyokawa Inari Divine Domain is second only to the Fushimi Inari Divine Domain.

At this moment, Toyokawa Inari Divine Domain, Tamamo Ren led three thousand subordinates, forming ranks at a slightly distance away.

Otake-maru was among them, bringing with him two thousand men.

The Toyokawa Inari Divine Domain is very powerful. Even though Uka no Mitama is restrained by Shuya, it still has enough power to summon Arhat Vajra (a Buddhism version of Heavenly Soldiers and Heroic Spirits).

To ensure success, Otake-maru, who was supposed to be guarding the pass, came to join the battle.

The group of Monster had been waiting for a long time, but Otake-maru and Tamamo Ren were resting and didn't say anything.

Finally, Tamamo Ren and Otake-maru's expressions changed, and a feather flew out from each of their arms, the feathers radiating light.

Tamamo Ren and Otake-maru exchanged a glance, knowing that the time had come.

Tamamo Ren decisively declared, "Attack!"

Otake-maru also shouted, "Follow the plan, don't get entangled with the grunts!"

Some large, feathered Monster responded.

Shuya scattered a lot of feathers, and whoever has the opportunity can rush up and release them.

Tamamo Ren and Otake-maru wasted no precious time; they led their men and stormed into the Toyokawa Inari Divine Domain.

As they violently crashed into the Divine Domain, the Alliance's fortune flashed by, pushing aside the Divine Domain's oppressive aura.

The Toyokawa Inari Divine Domain is not as spiritually beautiful as the Fushimi Inari Divine Domain, but it has its own solemnity.

This Divine Domain was a continuous stretch of Buddhist temples. As soon as Otake-maru entered, he shook his head, disliking the Buddhist chants echoing throughout the place.

When he saw that the Toyokawa Inari Divine Domain was completely unguarded, he realized he had been worrying unnecessarily.

It's safe now.

"Roar!"

With a loud roar, he announced the start of the attack.

Otake-maru revealed his demon form and led the charge, breaking through the tightly closed gate and rushing inside. The monks inside stared in disbelief at the Monster filing in.

Otake-maru ignored the monks who rushed off to ring the bell in a panic, and also paid no attention to the Arhats and Vajra Warriors that had spawned.

He revealed his demon form and charged forward frantically, unleashing a barrage of Strange Arts. Tamamo Ren also continuously activated her Strange Arts, and the Monster surged in to hold off the enemy, allowing the great Monster Otake-maru to advance smoothly.

"Monster... Monster invasion!"

"Quickly, go and invite the Buddha Mother!"

"Aaaaaah!"

A large number of monks were sent flying by Otake-maru, and then blasted away by waves of Monster, their screams echoing throughout the area.

Otake-maru charged straight toward the place where the divine aura was strongest, smashing through building after building with his immense strength.

"Stop, you Monster!"

"Presumptuous!"

Several imposing old monks flew over and attacked simultaneously.

But just how powerful Otake-maru is Monster?

He was already strong, Shuya unified the Monster, he distributed a lot of the Power of Awe, which further enhanced Otake-maru's strength. He roared and threw a punch with all his might.

They actually used their fists, as big as earthenware pots, to smash the old monks back.

They crashed through a temple door and fell together in front of a Buddha statue.

The old monks, coughing up blood, cried out in despair as they watched the grinning Otake-maru and the elegantly approaching Tamamo Ren, "Why... why didn't the Buddha Mother respond!"

Otake-maru ignored them and smiled at Tamamo Ren, "Are the people here so weak? Looks like we don't even need me?"

Section 280, Chapter 264: For Whom the Bell Tolls

Tamamo Ren said, "The main reason is that the Alliance Leader is holding back Uka no Mitama, and also... our improvement during this period seems to be stronger than we expected."

He said leisurely, "I understand now why our ancestors loved to stir things up so much; their progress is truly rapid. Alright, enough talk, let's throw the feather in. Looks like we should have time to move on to the next place."

"All right."

Otake-maru responded, knocked the old monks unconscious, and then flicked his feather, which merged into the Buddha statue.

Seeing this, Tamamo Ren nodded and instructed her subordinates who had followed her, "Let's go to the next place."

If the operation goes smoothly, we'll move on to the next location; this was a plan that had been discussed long ago.

In reality, there are many plans, and the key is to adapt to changing circumstances.

As for the feather, it doesn't need to be guarded; only a god can retrieve it, which these monks cannot do.

The Monster responded with a resounding roar and vanished like the wind.

All that remained was a ravaged Divine Domain, and the echoing of bells.

After leaving the Toyokawa Inari Divine Domain, Otake-maru and Tamamo Ren separated and headed towards other chosen Divine Domain.

The other powerful Monster also led their demons away.

The Toyokawa Inari Divine Domain is the primary target. If this Divine Domain cannot be conquered, they will leave as quickly as possible and head straight for other Divine Domain.

Now that the Divine Domain has been breached, while there is still time, the Monster must strive to maximize their gains.

The fire feathers left behind by Shuya will all erupt ten minutes after the plan is launched.

Within this timeframe, destroy as many Divine Domain as possible.

Following Otake-maru and Tamamo Ren, Oniichi Tenba also made his way to the Divine Domain in the Kansai and Shikoku.

Even the Yamata no Orochi and Yamatano Aoyama, far away in Kyushu, separated and led their subordinates on separate missions.

Yamatano Aoyama is no longer worried that the Yamata no Orochi will really rebel. After going to war with the gods, he has no choice but to stand on the same side.

The gods will not let someone of his rank go unpunished.

Even if they were willing, it would only happen when the gods were at a disadvantage and were willing to swallow their pride to win over the Monster.

Don't worry about what happens after that, just make sure it works for now.

Yamatano Aoyama allowed him to act freely, even entrusting him with the responsibility of the first-tier target Divine Domain.

He himself quickly launched a series of attacks on the Inari Divine Domain.

While the gods, including Uka no Mitama, focused their attention on Shuya, the Inari Divine Domain was practically defenseless.

The powerful Monster like Tamamo Ren had carefully calculated their targets before deciding on them, and their forces were absolutely capable of overwhelming them.

Soon, the first tier of the Divine Domain strategy was completely conquered; what happens next, whether much or little, is up to fate.

The Japan Monster Alliance's launch has brought about a complete upheaval.

The culmination of days of planning erupted at this moment.

What it will bring about is the destruction of the Five Pillar Gods...