Demon Realm: Showdown in Izumo (7)

Kashimo landed back on the ground.

The moment his feet settled on the scorched earth, he looked down at Zenin Sawa, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"Get on with it." His lips curled. "Whatever you've got, throw it at me."

Zenin Sawa leaned against a pile of rubble. Half his body had been charred, and the pain had long since faded into numbness, yet he suddenly smiled at those words.

There was no fear in that smile, no despair. Instead, it held an indescribable sense of release.

"So you knew."

He murmured those words, then drew a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and used the last of his strength to prop up his ruined body. He clenched both fists and held them firmly before him, one above the other.

It was an ancient, solemn opening stance.

The next moment, he opened his mouth with difficulty.

"Furube... yura yura."

His voice was quiet, yet it seemed to pierce space itself.

Suddenly, a desolate wolf's howl rang out from the void, drawing closer from afar and shaking the rocks until they rattled.

Several shikigami quietly settled behind Zenin Sawa. Their postures differed, but all bowed their heads in utter submission, as though welcoming something.

At the far end of the shikigami formation, an enormous cocoon floated in midair. Eerie patterns covered its surface, which pulsed slowly to some ancient rhythm, like something stirring in the womb.

The next second.

The cocoon burst apart.

Its fragments scattered as pitch-black remnants of cursed energy, and a violent shock wave overturned everything nearby.

The smile on Zenin Sawa's lips deepened.

"I'll go ahead and die first." He watched the white figure emerge from the cocoon, his tone as casual as if he were discussing something trivial. "Give it your best."

As soon as he finished speaking, a white blur swept toward him with overwhelming force and slapped him away. His ruined body traced an arc through the air before crashing into a nearby pile of rubble, raising a cloud of dust.

And now, standing firmly before Kashimo...

Was the strongest shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique.

The embodiment of perfect harmony.

Possessed of the ability to adapt to all things.

Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga.

Their standoff lasted only an instant.

Mahoraga moved.

Without warning, the white figure's right arm shot out. The Sword of Extermination traced a vicious arc, cleaving down at Kashimo's head with devastating force.

Before the blade's wind reached him, its killing intent had already arrived.

Kashimo raised his hand and steadily blocked the strike with one arm.

A deep crash erupted the instant the blade struck his arm. A shock wave exploded from the point of impact, sending loose stones flying. He did not budge, but the ground beneath his feet could not withstand the force and fractured into a web of cracks.

Kashimo raised his head and stared straight at the legendary shikigami before him.

His eyes held neither fear nor wariness, only a pure, almost scorching interest.

Three months earlier, this very problem had troubled him. How could he kill Mahoraga, the strongest shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique, the embodiment of perfect harmony that could adapt to all things? He had played it out in his mind countless times, and every scenario had ended in a deadlock.

But the moment Mahoraga truly stood before him, all those worries, calculations, and rational projections were swept away by something surging within his chest.

His blood began to boil of its own accord.

Heat kindled deep in his marrow spread through his veins, burning through every limb and bone. Each beat of his heart sounded like a pounding drum, making his ears ring.

He stared at Mahoraga's face, its large teeth bared, and his lips lifted without his realizing it.

This was what he wanted.

Mahoraga suddenly twisted its arm. The Sword of Extermination bent through an uncanny arc in the air and slashed down again.

But Kashimo was faster.

He ducked, skimming past the blade's edge. Cursed energy erupted beneath his feet, and he flashed to Mahoraga's side like a phantom. In that split second, he had already gathered his strength.

He drove a punch forward.

He poured all his strength into that heavy, crushing blow, its pressure forcing a shrill scream from the air. Yet the anticipated electrical explosion never came. Pure physical impact slammed squarely into Mahoraga, sending the white figure flying.

Mahoraga crashed into a heap of broken rocks like a cannonball. With a thunderous boom, rubble sprayed into the sky, leaving an enormous crater where it had landed. Spiderweb cracks spread in every direction.

Kashimo landed and clicked his tongue.

I can't inject a charge yet. If Mahoraga adapts to my lightning, I won't be able to keep fighting.

He glanced to the side. The Soul-Devouring Blade had been destroyed in their earlier, nuclear-blast-like clash, without even a scrap left behind. What a pain. He had lost an important option.

His gaze darkened.

He had already considered using Mythical Beast Amber. The all-around enhancement that form provided might open a way through this fight. But it was not time yet.

The sound of tumbling stones came from the crater.

Mahoraga pulled himself free of the rubble without a single mark on his body. His white frame stood out sharply against the dim battlefield. He turned toward Kashimo again, baring his large teeth.

It was not actually a smile.

Mahoraga had simply been born with that face: fangs forever bared, expression forever blank, never betraying the slightest emotion. Yet that very unchanging appearance made him seem more troublesome than any ferocious expression could have.

Kashimo stared at him, and instead, his lips curled upward.

Then he stopped hesitating and charged straight at Mahoraga.

Moving like lightning, he drove a fist straight at his opponent's face. With a dull boom, his knuckles slammed squarely into Mahoraga's bared white teeth. But before the punch could inflict any further damage, Mahoraga had already reached back and seized him.

Five fingers clamped around his arm and torso like iron pincers, their strength astonishing.

The next second, the world spun. Kashimo was hurled high into the air above the battlefield. Before he could adjust his position, he caught sight of Mahoraga gathering strength in his legs. The ground exploded beneath the shikigami's feet, and the white figure leaped into the air after him.

Mahoraga rose directly above him, raised his clenched fists overhead, and hammered them down at him.

BOOM-!

The instant Kashimo hit the ground, he braced himself with one hand and used the momentum to flip over, barely steadying himself. But the terrifying impact still burst through the earth, throwing up a ring of rubble and dust around him. The ground cracked and sank, and flying stones pelted his body.

Without time to catch his breath, he pushed off with both legs and sprang upward, throwing a punch at Mahoraga.

BANG-!

Fist met fist in a head-on clash.

Two forces of pure strength collided in midair, compressing the air into a muffled boom. Kashimo's entire arm went numb from the impact, but he did not retreat a single step. Instead, he gritted his teeth and pressed in again.

Fist met palm.

Before Mahoraga's Sword of Extermination could descend, Kashimo used his fingers as a blade to brace precisely against it. When Mahoraga's free hand swept across in a chopping strike, he blocked it with his palm.

Sword against fingers, palm against fist, attack and defense switched furiously within the narrow space between them.

Their figures crossed and collided in the air, each exchange erupting in a heavy crash. They moved so quickly that their techniques were almost impossible to make out, leaving only a string of sharp cracks as fists and palms collided above the battlefield.