Kaneki also caught Kenjaku's veiled jab at Tengen.
Just then.
A deer emerged from the shadow behind Naobito Zenin, revealing only its head rather than its whole body.
Its nose, glowing white, lightly touched his calf.
Then.
His wounds healed at a visible rate, including his severed arm.
"Hmph!"
Kenjaku snorted. "You think I'll give you time to recov-"
Before he could finish.
A mass of Rabbit Escape shikigami surged out of the shadow beneath his feet, crowding him until he stumbled.
Then...
With the shikigami's help, Kaneki, Naobito Zenin, and Kusakabe all slipped into the shadows.
As soon as they entered.
They realized there was no oxygen inside.
If...
The shikigami hadn't carried them, they would have sunk into the endless shadows, as though falling into an abyss.
By the time Kenjaku finished dealing with the rabbits around him.
He found only Choso left on the battlefield, along with a few scattered rabbits keeping their distance.
At the sight.
Kenjaku's smile turned ugly.
His gaze toward Choso filled with murderous intent.
But Choso, equally intent on killing him, acted first.
-Piercing Blood!
Something whistled through the air.
A column of blood capable of piercing anything shot toward him at the speed of sound.
Kenjaku ducked beneath it.
For an expert...
As long as they dodged the first shot of Piercing Blood, the attack would never hit them afterward.
He opened his palm.
Several crawling, centipede-like cursed spirits, reinforced with his cursed energy, emerged from the black smoke in his palm.
They lunged at Choso.
They were fast.
A second later, Choso's razor-sharp Piercing Blood sliced them in half.
But.
A few still slipped around Piercing Blood and rushed toward Choso.
Seeing this.
Choso's expression remained cold as he calmly uttered, "Supernova!"
Boom!
A deafening blast rang out.
Blood sprayed forward in every direction like a shotgun blast!
By then.
Kenjaku had closed in on Choso and engaged him in hand-to-hand combat.
This was Punching Kaisen: sooner or later, every fight turned into a close-range brawl.
Soon.
Having grown bored, Kenjaku began using Kaori's cursed technique.
Gravity pressed down on the surrounding area.
The healed Kusakabe returned, emerging from Choso's shadow and immediately unleashing his specialty!
"New Shadow Style: Simple Domain."
A moonlight-like circle appeared beneath his feet again.
Once weakened by Simple Domain, the gravity pressing down on them barely mattered.
Kusakabe only bent his knees slightly.
He couldn't resist commenting right to Kenjaku's face, "The gravity's a lot weaker this time-"
At that moment!
Kenjaku had no interest in what he thought.
Activating a large-scale cursed technique inevitably involved a step called "cursed energy awakening."
Upon sensing that powerful surge of cursed energy.
Kenjaku whipped his head around, and the first person he saw was Naobito Zenin, whose severed arm had grown back.
Behind him.
Kaneki formed the hand sign for summoning Mahoraga and recited the Furube incantation.
"Furube, yura yura."
As he chanted, he fell backward into the rippling shadow behind him.
"Awooo-"
With a long, drawn-out wolf howl.
The strongest shikigami, Mahoraga, descended upon the Tombs of the Star Corridor!
The instant Mahoraga appeared, he kicked at the spot where Kaneki had just been.
But...
Naobito Zenin had been ready.
The moment Mahoraga appeared, he activated Projection and fled with extraordinary agility.
Mahoraga straightened back up.
A Dharma Wheel hovered over his head. He had no eyes, an ivory-white body, four wing-like appendages along the sides of his head, and a tail extending from its back.
This was...
The strongest shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique.
Eight-Handled Sword: Otherworldly Divine General Mahoraga!
With Kusakabe and Naobito Zenin joining in, Mahoraga's chances of survival increased dramatically.
That was why Kaneki hadn't summoned him earlier!
Mahoraga immediately locked onto Kenjaku, the strongest sorcerer and the one closest to him.
He charged toward him.
Kenjaku released a few cursed spirits to buy time.
He knew how Mahoraga worked, so he immediately unleashed the ultimate art of Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
"Maximum Technique-Uzumaki!"
This attack.
Could kill Mahoraga in one hit!
Cursed spirits gradually merged in the space above him, forming a black vortex.
The few cursed spirits below.
Were exorcised in a single slash by Mahoraga, who had extended his Sword of Extermination.
Purple blood splashed through the air.
"This is bad!"
Choso, whom Kusakabe had pulled aside, immediately fired Piercing Blood to try to stop Kenjaku.
"Too late."
Kenjaku sneered.
A visibly bloated, disk-shaped cursed spirit appeared beside him and blocked the Piercing Blood shot!
The next second!
An ultradense blast of cursed energy, formed by merging over a thousand cursed spirits, roared outward, yet it only destroyed most of Mahoraga's body.
He wasn't dead!
At the critical moment.
A hand emerged from the shadow of a rabbit on the right.
The instant Kaneki appeared, Mahoraga switched targets and ran toward him.
It was precisely that movement.
That kept Kenjaku from killing Mahoraga outright with a single blow!
Click!
The Dharma Wheel turned with an audible click.
Mahoraga, who had fallen to the ground after losing half his body, now flashed a savage grin.
Then...
His body rapidly regenerated at a visible rate!
"Ken Kaneki!"
Kenjaku's face darkened to the extreme.
While Mahoraga was down, Kaneki poked his head out to catch his breath, making sure to give Kenjaku a mocking smile.
Now.
You have no choice but to open your domain!
Although Kenjaku knew about Mahoraga's ability to adapt, he didn't fully understand its mechanics.
An untamed Mahoraga would prioritize attacking his summoner!
If...
Kenjaku had known that, he would have stayed on guard against it.
Unfortunately...
In the Main Hall of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
"Well done!"
Yuki Tsukumo couldn't help clapping in praise. Beside her, even Okkotsu, whose expression had remained tense, smiled.
"Don't celebrate too soon."
Though Tengen hated to dampen their spirits, she had to speak. "Kenjaku isn't that easy to deal with."
"We still don't know exactly how many special grade cursed spirits he has."
Mahoraga was a natural counter to cursed spirits.
But.
With the right tactics, those cursed spirits could still be used to turn the tables and kill Mahoraga!
With Kenjaku's skills.
He could pull it off!
Even as she spoke, Tengen kept working. Before long, she would be able to turn this barrier into an Emptiness Barrier!
Inside the barrier.
Kenjaku didn't try to finish Mahoraga off.
Instead, he considered how to respond.
He knew perfectly well that, given Mahoraga's regenerative ability, trying to finish him off would only waste time and further his adaptation to the cursed technique.
Sure enough.
Before he could ponder further.
Mahoraga stood back up and stared at Kenjaku with a savage grin.
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
Mahoraga swung his Sword of Extermination down hard at Kenjaku!
Unexpectedly, Kenjaku neither summoned cursed spirits nor used Reverse Cursed Technique: Gravity.
Instead.
He stalled Mahoraga using only cursed energy to reinforce his body.
He didn't attack, only retreated.
"This is bad!"
Choso, Kusakabe, and Naobito Zenin cried out together as they saw Kenjaku running toward them.
He wanted to lure the monster their way.
And force them to face Mahoraga alongside him.
Choso wanted to retaliate with Piercing Blood and use his cursed technique to force Kenjaku away, but Kusakabe stopped him.
"Scatter!"
With that, the three split up, each relying on his own abilities.
Thank you to Oda Ichika of Lingju Palace!
Wishing you:
Much joy and lasting peace.
May you always be happy, and may everything go smoothly.
May your days brim with warmth and your happiness last.
May you be free from disaster and hardship, and safe year after year.
Eat well, drink well, and leave your worries behind.
I don't have many chapters saved up, and with the New Year coming, I won't be able to write, so I can only post one extra chapter. I'm terribly sorry!
Before you continue