Hado #33: Sōkatsui

Ground-level side entrance.

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

"Bai Zhu, the underground altar's been confirmed."

"Get to the point."

"They've hooked all those numbered women and the children in their wombs into fuel for the ritual! The elder was driven mad by the two Number Fifteens above and below ground, and he's starting the ritual ahead of schedule!"

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

"There's something worse!" Milluki spoke as fast as machine-gun fire. "That black crystal fragment absolutely cannot touch Ella! Big Brother may be free now and able to support us underground. According to the original plan, even if Ella got captured, it wasn't unmanageable."

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

"You sure?"

"I'm not! That's why I'm pissed!" Milluki gritted his teeth. "Letting her get captured was to bait out the complete ritual process. But that black crystal stretcher is fucking weird. If it touches her, Ella could be done for 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 atop the stretcher was heaving more violently by the second. He had tested it with Byakurai before, but it had not even scratched the thing.

"Fine."

He exhaled heavily.

"Then it doesn't get to touch her."

As if he had heard those words, the silver-robed bishop immediately stepped in front of Bai Zhu, his voice cold.

"You're not getting past."

Bai Zhu raised his blade.

"Move."

The bishop slammed his silver staff into the ground. His psychic energy exploded outward, forcibly driving Bai Zhu back two steps.

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

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

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

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

They would do.

"Bakudo #4: Hainawa!"

A streak of yellow light shot out and wrapped precisely around a fallen wooden beam. Bai Zhu flexed his arm and yanked hard to the side!

The beam scraped sideways across the snow with an ear-piercing screech, sliding directly into the path of the white-robed deacons.

"Hado #1: Sho!"

Reiatsu exploded beneath the beam. The heavy timber was flung halfway into the air, rolling into the passage on the other side and sending several fanatical believers scattering with their heads covered.

Bai Zhu did not stop. He cast two more Bakudō in succession, dragging over iron railings and crates to forcibly pile up a crooked barricade in front of the abandoned warehouse.

Milluki was stunned for a moment.

"Your ability is really damn versatile...?"

"Shut up."

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

"Hado #4: Byakurai!"

Electric light burst forth. Several deacons trying to climb over the barricade were instantly forced back, and the restraint straps in one man's hands were burned straight to charcoal.

Seizing the opportunity, Ella immediately edged one step toward the warehouse's blind corner.

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

Ella gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face from the pain.

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

"That thing listens better than you do."

"..."

Bai Zhu had only just let out half a breath of relief when the silver-robed bishop suddenly fell silent.

He did not charge forward again.

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

The emblem abruptly lit up, and a circle of intricate holy psychic sigils appeared behind him.

Milluki's warning immediately rang out. "Bai Zhu, be careful! His psychic energy is skyrocketing. It's some kind of self-destructive ability!"

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

He's not attacking me?

The next second, he realized.

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

"If we can't capture her intact, we'll cripple her first." The bishop panted heavily. The charred wound on his arm, grazed by Byakurai, was 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 psychic sigils had already compressed into a blinding beam of light. It pierced through the swirling smoke and shot straight at Ella!

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

But her body would not obey her. The excruciating pain only allowed her to instinctively raise her hands 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 silver-robed bishop, it was too late!

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

"Bang!"

The psychic blast smashed viciously into the blade, releasing a deafening shriek like tearing metal!

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 agony, his chest tightened, and the taste of blood rushed up his throat.

Yet he did not give an inch.

The blade hummed violently as Reiatsu and psychic energy clashed and canceled each other out. Most of the beam scattered off the back of the blade, blasting a washbasin-sized crater into the nearby doorpost.

Ella collapsed onto the ground. Through the earpiece, all that remained was Milluki's shriek, his voice cracking.

"Bai Zhu!"

Bai Zhu coughed and forcibly swallowed half the blood surging up his throat, though a trace of red still spilled 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 life-draining attack to be blocked so forcefully.

Bai Zhu caught his breath, slung the blade back over his shoulder, and grinned at him with something savage in his smile.

"This road is closed."

Milluki went quiet for a second, then cursed, "Stop pretending. You look like shit!"

Bai Zhu replied quietly, "Quit ruining the moment. The atmosphere was finally there."

"Atmosphere 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 begun.

If this dragged on, everyone was finished.

He quickly glanced at the translucent panel in his vision.

[Remaining spendable achievement points: 186]

[One new Kidō draw permission]

This was the free chance he had received from the previous settlement. He had wanted to save it in case he drew some god-tier technique like Dankū or Kurohitsugi. That would have been a massive win.

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

"System, draw Kidō!"

Bai Zhu roared in his mind.

[Free draw permission consumed.]

The translucent panel immediately began flashing.

At the same time, the silver-robed bishop raised his staff again. The circle of holy psychic sigils behind him began gathering light once more.

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

Ella clutched her abdomen, panting weakly in the snow.

Milluki's voice was so urgent it was nearly cracking.

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

"Yes." Bai Zhu stared fixedly at the panel. "I'm drawing one."

"What the fuck are you drawing?!"

"My life."

The text on the panel flickered rapidly.

[Drawing Kidō...]

[Draw complete.]

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

Bai Zhu's eyes instantly lit up with terrifying brightness.

Good.

Very good.

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

The silver-robed bishop's second holy ring psychic blast had already taken shape.

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

"Who said I was using my old techniques?"

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

"Stop him!"

Too late.

A strange blue flame flared in Bai Zhu's palm, staining the surrounding snow with an eerie glow.

He stared at the black crystal stretcher, and his chant rang out, clearly overpowering every other sound.

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