Someone They Both Wanted to Understand

"Hecate."

Hum!

Phrolova's command rang out alongside the soaring music around her.

Whoosh—

And that wasn't all. Her right eye, which had always been hidden beneath bandages, was revealed.

Swish!

In that instant, Hecate grew faster, her movements more fluid as she danced.

Clang!!

"She blocked it?"

Mo Bai narrowed his eyes when he saw his Piercing Blood stopped head-on and began to think.

A move he had improvised on the spot really did lack some of the original's power.

And besides...

"Hmm... I must admit, you've surprised me so far." Phrolova lowered her eyelids and stroked the baton in her hand.

As Mo Bai saw it, his opponent had grown stronger because she had revealed that eye.

"I know we're in the middle of a fight, but I have to say it: isn't 'a mysterious power sealed in my right eye' a bit too over-the-top?"

Smack!

Mo Bai kept moving even as he made the jab.

"Oh? I'd say fighting with shadows fits that description better. Protagonists in stories these days love doing that."

Mo Bai was a little surprised that Phrolova had played along.

Hum—

But after that brief exchange, Phrolova flicked her baton again, sending Hecate hurtling toward him.

"Roar!"

Clang!

A winged tiger Shikigami burst from the shadow beneath Mo Bai's feet once more and tangled with Hecate in midair.

Qiongqi was a three-part Fused Shikigami: Mo Bai had added Nue to the original combination of Tiger Funeral and the Divine Dogs.

It was the strongest attacking Shikigami he could summon while conserving Cursed Energy.

Judging by the two Black Flashes he had landed earlier, Etu no longer drained nearly as much Cursed Energy as it once had.

But he had also opened his Domain once, so Mo Bai wanted to save what Cursed Energy he