First of all, as always—and for the last time—I'm taking a leave.
Also, although I'd said this book would end in August, plans couldn't keep up with changes, so I had no choice but to postpone it until next month. How embarrassing.
Lately, I've been focusing on depicting the sparring and clashes between the protagonist and his teammates. Originally, I'd planned to brush over this part in a single stroke and then end the whole story directly. But after thinking it over and over, I felt that ending things so blandly would be a little too uninteresting.
After all, the core purpose of this book's creation had, from beginning to end, been built around the central element of "fighting." Since that was the case, why not stay true to my original intention as the ending drew near and write one last substantial stretch of combat?
With that thought in mind, I continued writing, and thus came these past days' battles in the Spirit Realm. At the same time, the book had no choice but to be changed to a September completion. I'm truly sorry!