The shockwave from the blade storm swept across the heavens, shaking the massive ghost ship fleet until they could no longer maintain formation. The ships wavered violently amid the storm, their hulls creaking under the pressure.
Smaller ghost ships spun uncontrollably like headless flies before crashing into one another and plummeting toward the earth below.
After Lana's comet-like charge through the battlefield, nearly thirty percent of the once-dark swarm of yōkai had been annihilated.
Any ordinary army would have broken and fled after suffering such losses.
But this was Ōtakemaru's elite force from Mount Suzuka. Even after sustaining such devastating damage, not one of them retreated an inch.
Having deflected Ōtakemaru's massive sword pressure with her own strike, Lana's captured blade began to tremble violently in her hand, emitting a high, ringing hum.
Moments later, it dissolved into light.
When it reappeared, it was back in Suzuka Gozen's grasp. The Queen of the Sea Kingdom, however, did not attempt another ranged attack.
The flawless coordination she and her brother had achieved moments earlier had been completely dismantled. A long-range strike now served no purpose.
On the other hand, Ōtakemaru's brutal sword pressure—though dispersed—had fulfilled its purpose. It had bought him the time he needed.
"Let's see if you're truly capable of handling me so easily, as you claim, little B-class insect!"
The divine wheel behind Ōtakemaru began to spin rapidly. Golden lightning and fiery rain spiraled behind him, coiling into the form of a crimson-gold dragon that lunged straight toward Lana.
Facing the full momentum of a great yōkai's charge, the most rational and experienced response would have been to dodge. Indeed, Ōtakemaru had predicted that Lana would evade—allowing him to unleash a near-unavoidable follow-up strike.
By combining his speed with the unleashed force of the Sanmyō Blade, his next attack would be instantaneous—impossible for any being to avoid.
However—Lana did not dodge.
Turning in midair, her golden dragon pupils narrowed slightly. Her right hand drew back, gathering strength—and before Ōtakemaru could even comprehend her motion, she drove her fist straight toward the incoming dragon.
Her reaction defied all reason. It was the most unexpected move imaginable—simple, but utterly lethal.
BOOM...!
The impact of their collision thundered through the heavens, shaking even the dense demonic clouds. The roar traveled all the way to the distant fortress below.
The resulting shockwave sent nearby yōkai flying in every direction, tumbling helplessly through the air. Many mid-level yōkai were slammed to the ground, crushed by the overwhelming force.
"Damn it! What kind of technique is this…?"
As the young lord of Mount Suzuka, Ōtakemaru had always been supremely confident in his power. Yet the outcome of this head-on clash left him reeling—he had been blown backward by the strike of that seemingly frail girl.
The force hidden within her slender form far surpassed anything he had imagined. His own strength felt insignificant before her—as if facing an endless ocean that swallowed him whole and reflected it back tenfold.
Were it not for the divine armor of Mount Suzuka shielding his body, that single punch might have left him crippled.
Even Suzuka Gozen, observing from afar, found her expression frozen in disbelief.
—"So this is the true power of a Lunar Palace member…"
...
When gods wage war, mortals suffer.
The battle raging above was beyond comprehension. Those on the ground could only watch in awe—or flee for their lives.
The chief exorcist issued orders swiftly while turning to the young castle lord beside him. "My lord, the civilians and soldiers have almost finished evacuating. You must leave as well!"
But the young lord stood pale and hollow-eyed. "To think that the castle my family has guarded for generations would end in my reign… I have no face left to meet my ancestors. I might as well end it here."
With that, he reached for the short dagger resting on the weapon rack behind him.
Just days ago, he had been full of pride and ambition. But today, he had seen the true vastness of the heavens—and the terrifying world beyond humanity.
All his ambition and dreams had been shattered in an instant. The blow had crushed not only his pride but the very spirit that sustained him.
"Calm yourself, my lord!"
The retainers rushed forward to stop him, but it was the chief exorcist—fastest among them—who acted first. In a swift motion, he hurled an iron pellet from his hand, striking the dagger and knocking it away.
"My lord, if you take your own life here, your soldiers and people will truly perish! Then you'll have lost everything—completely and utterly!"
The exorcist captain took two quick strides and grabbed the young lord firmly by the shoulders. His sharp gaze locked onto the despairing man. "This is only a temporary defeat! What you've lost is merely a city—a dead thing. But your life remains. Your people remain. Your army remains. As long as these things endure, as a certain shrine maiden once said in my village—there is always a chance to rise again."
"To rise again…?"
The lord's vacant eyes lifted toward the exorcist. Glancing back at the godlike figures clashing in the heavens above, he murmured, "Against beings like that… what chance do we have?"
"Believe me, my lord! So long as you live, there is always hope. What we must do now is regroup—send word of what has happened here to the other lords. Coming from you, the message will carry far more weight than ours."
Then, in a lower and more practical tone, the exorcist added, "Besides, the Yasaka Shrine in the Western Lands still stands. The lords there have opposed the Demon King of Mt. Ōe for centuries. They will aid you."
ROAR...!
The air trembled with the distant cries of wounded yōkai. Some unlucky souls were crushed where they stood by the corpses raining down from the sky.
Outside the fortress, masses of civilians fled in the opposite direction of the battlefield. At the head of one group ran a middle-aged man, followed by the strongest villagers and young women of nearby hamlets.
Because this was a full-scale evacuation, people split into groups—able-bodied men and young women forming one band to increase their survival chances.
The children were escorted by soldiers, while the elderly… could only be left behind.
This was not a peaceful era. In such a time, the lives of ordinary people were worth little.
No— even the lives of samurai and nobles held little value.
For this was a world ruled by powers far beyond human reach, and mankind was but a fragile thread struggling to survive within it.
BOOOOM—!
From above, a figure plummeted earthward at impossible speed, crashing violently into the ground below.
Hovering in the air above stood a slender blue silhouette—Lana—her expression devoid of emotion, her golden dragon eyes sweeping coldly across the battlefield.
Everywhere her gaze fell, not a single yōkai dared to meet her eyes.
In that moment, under the crushing pressure of her presence, the entire sky fell utterly silent.
The one slammed into the ground was none other than the pride of Mount Suzuka—the strongest among them, one of the Four Lords of the Realm—Ōtakemaru.
Now, however, he lay sprawled in a crater dozens of meters deep, his body embedded in the earth in the shape of a broken cross.
"I... don't believe this!"
His eyes were wide with disbelief and fury. Half his face was swollen, as though he had been struck repeatedly by a mere human's fist, leaving his words slurred and his dignity shattered.
He looked utterly pitiful—his body covered in bruises, one of his demon horns snapped off, his chest armor in tatters. The only thing left intact was the Sanmyō Blade in his grasp, though even its divine glow had dimmed.
Such was the result of choosing to engage Lana in close combat.
Above, the purple demonic clouds that had formed from the ghost ships were completely dispersed by the roaring wind. To the surviving yōkai, Lana's figure now overlapped perfectly with the freshly risen crescent moon behind her. Her long blue hair danced wildly in the storm, and behind her, the divine halo spun faster and faster.
"We can't wait any longer!"
Suzuka Gozen's sharp eyes narrowed. The opponent's strength was too overwhelming—she had injured Ōtakemaru in mere moments. If she delayed any further, Lana might move to strike again, and the consequences for her brother could be dire.
Most of the yōkai had already been blown away by the shockwaves from their battle. The sky's ghost fleet was nearly destroyed—seven or eight ships downed entirely. Only about twenty remained airborne, spared merely because they had withdrawn early and Lana hadn't deliberately targeted them.
Suzuka Gozen darted upward, her body soaring in a sharp ascent before stopping midair and twisting around. She allowed gravity to aid her dive, plunging toward Lana with unstoppable force.
Lana's eyes tracked her calmly. To her, Suzuka's movements were exaggerated—practically shouting, 'I'm going to attack now!'
"Miss..." Lana said softly, her voice almost pitying. "Don't you think your attempt to distract me is a bit... too obvious?"
But Suzuka Gozen remained silent, her beautiful face set in determination as she dove headlong toward her opponent. Midway through, her body twisted gracefully, and the Bow of the Underworld followed her rotation. Its string began to spin, whirring through the air like the blades of a turbine.
A heartbeat later, countless golden arrows burst forth from the bowstring, forming a rain of death that filled the heavens. The arrows crossed paths, weaving an intricate web of light that surrounded Lana from every direction.
"Secret Art—Ten Thousand Feathered Wave!"
In an instant, golden arrows filled the sky, their brilliance reflecting off one another like a celestial storm.
Lana's dragon eyes flickered to life, scanning rapidly from side to side. Her dynamic vision expanded beyond even that of an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Every trajectory, every angle, every possible strike—she saw them all.
These arrows were infused with a powerful Piercing attribute—so potent that even her dragon scales couldn't fully resist them. Worse still, the omnidirectional pattern of the barrage left her with no room to dodge.
A true great yōkai's ultimate technique—one that allowed no escape.
However, the element of surprise had already been lost due to Suzuka's overt approach.
Lana sighed softly, muttering something under her breath. Her form shimmered like a reflection upon water, and then—she simply stood still, motionless, as the rain of arrows descended upon her.
The next moment, every golden arrow pierced straight through her body, threads of light skewering her from every angle—forehead, temples, ears, armpits, back, waist, abdomen... every part that had a name was struck multiple times. The entire sky gleamed with radiant gold.
The overlapping trails of light formed a vast, intricate blossom across the heavens, with Lana at its heart.
Then, Suzuka Gozen's figure flashed past the flower's center. The Bow of the Underworld shifted seamlessly into its close-combat form as she swung, slicing the glowing blossom cleanly in two.
When Suzuka Gozen reappeared, she was already several kilometers away from Lana's position. The Bow of the Underworld, still resonating with lingering yōki, unleashed a surge of energy that tore open a colossal Gate of the Underworld. From above, it descended, swallowing the bisected golden blossom entirely.
This strike combined three different techniques into one—a complex fusion of power, precision, and timing. Even Ōtakemaru, had he been struck directly, would have faced only one outcome: total annihilation.
The Queen of the Sea Kingdom—Suzuka Gozen—had demonstrated power that even surpassed her brother's.
Is it over...?
Having unleashed her strongest secret art, Suzuka Gozen gazed toward the fading rift uncertainly. The technique's destructive power was unquestionable, yet something about her opponent's final reaction felt wrong. Lana hadn't resisted. She hadn't even cared.
On the ground below, Ōtakemaru stared blankly at the closing Gate of the Underworld. His pride as one of the Four Lords demanded satisfaction at seeing his humiliating defeat avenged—but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to feel joy.
That hesitation didn't last long.
A familiar, faint voice drifted from the empty air.
"...Hmm. So the duration of a clone created through Status Infusion has expired? Still, its combat performance is worth noting."
What...?
The next instant, the air shimmered—and there she was again.
Lana stood amidst the clouds, her body and attire pristine, her calm expression unchanged. The same faint blue radiance glowed around her. It was as though the one pierced by countless arrows moments ago had never existed at all.
"This... this can't be!" Suzuka Gozen gasped. "The Bow of the Underworld's lock-on is infallible—it cannot be deceived!"
"Miss Suzuka Gozen," Lana replied softly, "to have lasted until my clone's time limit expired... your strength is commendable."
As she spoke, her eyes flashed with azure light once more—transmitting all the combat data from the clone to the Giant Tenseigan for later refinement.
"Clone...?!"
Ōtakemaru, battered but still hovering in midair, stared in disbelief. "You mean—the one who fought me just now was only a clone?!"
"Well..." Lana said meekly, her tone quiet but cutting, "I happened to be testing my abilities... and when I overheard your conversation, I decided to use you both as... test subjects. Besides... if I fought you personally, it might have been a little too... hmm, too dull."
Though she had phrased it gently, her words struck like a blade—causing little harm, yet dealing immense insult.
"You... you—you!" Ōtakemaru sputtered, his voice trembling with rage, the Sanmyō Blade shaking in his grip as he pointed it toward her. But before he could act, Suzuka Gozen seized his shoulder firmly.
"We're no match for her," she said coldly. "Retreat."