Hado #33: Sōkatsui

Side entrance, ground level.

Bai Zhu had just knocked a guard down with the flat of his blade when Milluki spoke urgently.

"Bai Zhu, the underground altar has been confirmed."

"Get to the point."

"They connected all those numbered women and the children in their wombs as fuel for the ritual! The elder was driven mad by the two Number Fifteens above and below ground and wants to start the ritual early!"

Bai Zhu spat and cursed, "The client changed the requirements at the last minute and wants an emergency launch too?"

"There's an even bigger problem!" Milluki spoke as fast as a machine gun. "That Black Crystal Fragment absolutely cannot touch Ella! Big Brother may be free and able to provide support underground. According to the original plan, even if Ella was captured, it could still be handled."

Bai Zhu knocked aside the silver-robed bishop's staff with one slash, then kicked away a lunging believer with his back foot.

"You sure?"

"I'm not sure! That's why I'm pissed!" Milluki gritted his teeth. "Letting her get captured was to lure out the complete ritual process. But that Black Crystal stretcher is too fucking weird. If it touches her, Ella might be finished on the spot!"

Bai Zhu looked toward the stretcher.

The four white-robed deacons were already less than ten meters from Ella. The black cloth over the stretcher was bulging more violently by the second. He had tried White Lightning on that thing before, and it had not even broken the surface.

"Fine."

He let out a breath.

"Then I won't let it touch her."

The silver-robed bishop seemed to have heard him and immediately stepped sideways to block Bai Zhu's path, his voice cold.

"You're not getting through."

Bai Zhu raised his blade.

"Excuse me."

The bishop slammed his silver staff heavily into the ground. His Nen erupted, forcibly driving Bai Zhu back two steps.

Taking advantage of that, the white-robed deacons behind him continued advancing.

Ella had already been forced back to the church warehouse entrance. There was nowhere left to retreat.

Bai Zhu swept his eyes over the wreckage littering the ground.

Collapsed wooden beams, broken iron railings, shattered crates, and the still-burning remains of a chandelier.

Still usable.

"Bakudō #4: Hainawa!"

Yellow light shot out and precisely wrapped around a fallen wooden beam. Bai Zhu flexed his arm and yanked it hard to the side!

The beam scraped across the snow with a piercing screech, sliding sideways and wedging itself directly in front of the white-robed deacons.

"Hado #1: Sho!"

Reiatsu exploded beneath the beam. The heavy timber was lifted halfway into the air, then rolled into the other passageway, forcing several frenzied believers to flee in panic.

Bai Zhu did not stop moving. He flung out two more Bakudō, pulling iron railings and wooden crates into place, forcefully piling up a crooked barricade in front of the abandoned warehouse.

Milluki stared blankly.

"Your ability is really versatile...?"

"Quiet."

Bai Zhu raised a finger toward the iron railing in the snow.

"Hado #4: Byakurai!"

Lightning burst forth. Several deacons about to climb over the barricade were instantly forced back, and the restraint strap in one man's hand was burned directly into charcoal.

Seizing the chance, Ella immediately shuffled one step toward the dead corner beside the warehouse.

Milluki shouted through the earpiece, "Yes, right there! Half a step farther back. Don't step on my spider!"

Ella gritted her teeth, sweat soaking her face from the pain.

"Can you... stop reminding me about your spider?"

"That thing listens better than you do."

"..."

Bai Zhu had just begun to relax when the silver-robed bishop suddenly fell silent.

He did not charge again.

Instead, he raised a hand, bit through his own finger, and smeared blood over the emblem atop his silver staff.

The emblem suddenly lit up, and a circle of intricate Holy Ring Nen patterns appeared behind him.

Milluki's warning immediately rang out. "Bai Zhu, watch out! His Nen is skyrocketing—it's a self-draining ability!"

Bai Zhu watched the bishop's movements, and his brow twitched.

He's not attacking me?

The next second, he understood.

The silver-robed bishop raised his staff. It was not aimed at Bai Zhu at all, but at Ella!

"If we can't capture her intact, then we'll first take away her ability to move." The bishop panted heavily, blackened wounds from where White Lightning had grazed his arm still smoking. "As long as the Holy Infant remains, she must be brought back!"

"You animals really have no bottom line."

Bai Zhu charged forward with his blade.

But the Holy Ring Nen patterns had already compressed into a blinding beam of light, piercing through the haze of smoke and dust as it shot straight at Ella!

Ella heard Milluki screaming himself hoarse through the earpiece, telling her to dodge.

But her body would not obey. The agony only allowed her to instinctively raise a hand over her abdomen.

Too late!

Bai Zhu was still a little short of reaching her.

Whether he used Bakudō to pull her away or rushed over to interrupt the bishop, neither would be fast enough!

Gritting his teeth, he frantically poured what little Reiatsu he had left into his Zanpakuto and turned sideways into the beam's path!

"Bang!"

The Nen strike slammed viciously into the blade, producing a deafening sound like metal being torn apart!

Bai Zhu's feet instantly sank into the snow. An irresistible force shoved him backward, making him slide across the ground. His arms went numb with pain, his chest tightened, and the taste of blood rushed into his throat.

Yet he did not give an inch.

The blade hummed violently as Reiatsu and Nen collided and canceled each other out. Most of the beam scattered off the back of the blade, blasting a basin-sized hole into the nearby doorpost.

Ella collapsed onto the ground. All that remained in her earpiece was Milluki's shriek, his voice cracking.

"Bai Zhu!"

Bai Zhu coughed, forcibly swallowing half the blood rising in his throat, though a streak of red still seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Leaning on his blade, he stood in front of Ella, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

The silver-robed bishop had not expected his desperate attack to be blocked so forcefully.

Bai Zhu caught his breath, slung the blade back onto his shoulder, and grinned at him with a somewhat feral expression.

"This road is closed."

Milluki fell silent for a second, then cursed, "Quit putting on a show. You look terrible!"

Bai Zhu replied under his breath, "Stop ruining it. The mood's right there."

"Mood my ass! Take two more hits like that, and I'll be the one collecting your corpse!"

Bai Zhu did not argue.

He really could not take many more hits.

The silver-robed bishop could still burn his life away, the white-robed deacons were still moving that damned Black Crystal stretcher, and the underground altar had already been activated.

If this dragged on, everyone would be finished.

He quickly glanced at the translucent panel in his field of vision.

[Remaining disposable achievement points: 186]

[One free Kidō draw available]

This was the free chance he had received from the earlier settlement. He had wanted to save it; if he drew some god-tier technique like Dankū or Kurohitsugi, it would be a huge win.

But now, there was no time to pick an auspicious day.

"System, draw Kidō!"

Bai Zhu roared in his mind.

[Free draw permission consumed.]

The translucent panel immediately began to flicker.

At the same time, the silver-robed bishop raised his staff again, and the Holy Ring Nen patterns behind him began gathering light once more.

The white-robed deacons had already dismantled the wooden beam barricade Bai Zhu had piled up.

Ella clutched her abdomen and breathed faintly in the snow.

Milluki's voice was so frantic it nearly cracked.

"Bai Zhu! Do you have any backup left? If not, I'm forcibly sedating Ella right now!"

"Yes." Bai Zhu stared fixedly at the panel. "Drawing it now."

"What the fuck are you drawing?!"

"My life."

The text on the panel rapidly changed.

[Drawing Kidō...]

[Draw complete.]

[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained: Hado #33: Sōkatsui.]

Bai Zhu's eyes lit up with frightening intensity.

Good.

Very good.

You damn system, you finally didn't screw me over this time!

The silver-robed bishop's second Holy Ring Nen strike had already taken shape.

But Bai Zhu put away his blade and slowly raised his hand, aiming his palm at the constantly writhing Black Crystal stretcher ahead.

Milluki shouted through the earpiece, "What are you doing? Your ability doesn't work on that thing!"

Bai Zhu drew a breath, feeling Reiatsu gather and compress in his palm in a way it never had before.

"Who said I was using my old moves?"

The silver-robed bishop suddenly sensed an extremely dangerous presence, and his expression changed dramatically.

"Stop him!"

Too late.

A sinister blue flame flared in Bai Zhu's palm, dyeing the surrounding snow in a ghostly hue.

He stared at the Black Crystal stretcher, and his chant rang out, clear enough to drown out all the noise.

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