Rumble!
Within the boundless starry sky, two massive silver-white nebula pillars of light suddenly descended.
Within the area illuminated by these pillars, it was as if one had been struck by an enhanced version of Judgment of the Ten Kings · Veil of Light and Shadow.
An aura that could cause all things to wither and bring the entire world to a halt swept through everything. Sesshōmaru, Kikyo, and even the Kyoto shikigami observing secretly from afar were all frozen in place. In that instant, not only were their five senses taken away, but even time itself was locked. Even the lightning dragon summoned by Bankotsu in the sky was frozen motionless in midair.
Bones throughout their bodies trembled unconsciously. Their muscles entered an uncontrollable state of rigidity. Blood stopped flowing. Neurotransmitters ceased signal transmission. Even their brains seemed to stop thinking, quietly sinking into slumber.
This was instinct from the flesh, the rule of life itself. Impossible to resist. Impossible to reverse. Impossible to block.
In the starry sky above, countless nebulae intertwined and condensed, and amid the surging nebulae, they ultimately formed an ultra-colossal starry sky dragon shadow—millions of times larger than Ryūkotsusei. The source of the pillars of light was precisely the eyes of this enormous starry dragon.
Under the gaze of this colossal starry dragon, the past, present, and future were completely frozen.
A vast dragon roar echoed across the entire starry sky. The sound seemed to originate from the highest heavens, yet also appeared to rise from the depths of the underworld.
The gigantic starry sky dragon, whose body length was no longer knowable, stretched its immense form slightly. With just this relaxed, unconscious movement, countless spatial fissures and annihilating lightning emerged around its body. Within the nebulae, one could even see small meteors and satellites being swept into powder by the starlight.
An ancient dragon might that dominated eternity surged skyward. An incomparably ancient aura, as though it had endured endless epochs and crossed tens of millions of years, soared upward and filled the entire firmament.
"This seems to be only the second time I have used Sage Mode. I never expected it to become like this now..."
Amid this resplendent heavenly might, a clear and cold voice murmured softly.
"Although Candle Nine Yin has obtained part of the Candle Dragon bloodline, it has been influenced by that world for far too long and has suffered excessively severe injuries. It will probably never reach this level in its lifetime. However, its data is quite valuable for perfecting Sage Mode · Candle Dragon."
The enormous dragon shadow within the starry sky was precisely the Candle Dragon. And at this moment, Satsuki's figure flickered and appeared upon the Candle Dragon's forehead in the sky.
Her exquisitely beautiful visage now bore supreme authority. Extending outward from both sides of her forehead were no longer the small horns from her first entry into Sage Mode, but crown-like horns intertwined and stretching upward toward the sky—rebellious heaven-defying antlers.
Although the Candle Dragon did not possess the human-faced, serpent-bodied, crimson form described in mythology, the divine authority contained within its dragon eyes was identical.
This was precisely the Sage Mode Satsuki had not used in a long time. She had only entered Sage Mode once before, when she had rescued Ranzuki Ōtsutsuki.
There was no denying that Sage Mode was an extremely powerful force. However, ever since she had obtained the Aspect of the Demon Buddha and the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, she had rarely used it.
Moreover, due to Candle Nine Yin's slumber, the Sage Land mark had never been fully constructed, and Satsuki had never thought to employ this power.
However, within this world, Candle Nine Yin, slumbering deep within the lunar core, had always been drawing in the world's yōki.
And ever since the opportunity created by the revival of Suzuki Kaguya, using the Outer Path Demonic Statue's Sealing Technique · Phantom Dragon Nine Seals Devourment, together with the collected Spiral Seals and the power of the Shikon Jewel, Satsuki had actually opened a channel that guided this planet's power toward the Lunar Palace.
More precisely, it was guided into Candle Nine Yin's body.
That was right. The true form of the entire Lunar Palace was actually a part of Candle Nine Yin's body. And that enormous moon was not truly a moon at all, but Candle Nine Yin itself in a state of slumber.
Satsuki, standing in the starry sky, had not yet used any power. Merely by casting her gaze downward, the entire world was frozen solid.
The eyes of the Candle Dragon—ancient and weathered—froze all things in heaven and earth, spanning the entire solar system. The past ceased to exist, the present stagnated, and the future vanished. All returned to extinction.
This was the vast divine will of time's end, capable of freezing even heaven and earth. Nothing could resist it. Not even the fundamental particles that constituted energy were exempt from being forced to halt their motion.
This was not even a technique, nor could it be said to have a name. It was merely a natural extension of Satsuki's power at this moment.
Just as a normal person's breath can condense into droplets of moisture on a table or chair, under Satsuki's gaze at this instant, the solar system had already been frozen, on the verge of entering extinction.
Such might was more than sufficient to deal with an entire planet, let alone the fact that Satsuki was merely planning to use it to give the Seven-Man Squad a little greeting.
This could no longer be called bullying. Even describing it as a dimensionality-reduction strike would not be accurate.
While everyone else was still exchanging blows fiercely on the ground, Satsuki had directly thrown out a dual-vector foil. How was this even playable?
If Bankotsu still retained consciousness at this moment, seeing this situation, he would probably have nothing to say except muttering an obscenity.
This was not really Satsuki's fault either, because she herself had not known that her Sage Mode had already become this powerful. Even if the Candle Dragon were alive, it would probably be no more than this.
"Since the data verification of the Candle Dragon form is correct, and the combat data of the Seven-Man Squad has been collected almost completely, then this farce shall end here."
In the starry sky, a sharp gleam flashed through Satsuki's gaze.
At once, the entire world seemed to tilt and collapse. The pillar that held up the heavens snapped apart. Vast stretches of space before the Candle Dragon were compressed and shattered. Annihilating energy scattered as lightning, and at the center, a gigantic black hole formed.
A black hole with a diameter of a thousand meters descended from the sky. Wherever it passed, space twisted and lightning dissipated.
From top to bottom, it directly bored through the land beneath the Candle Dragon's shadow. Yet this was far from over. The massive black hole even pierced straight through the planetary core, completely punching through the entire planet.
If not for the Candle Dragon's gaze having already solidified vast regions, halting even the smallest-scale atomic motion, this single strike would likely have been enough to destroy the planet.
Even so, everything near Kyoto was erased by the impact of this black hole, as if wiped clean from a picture by an eraser, leaving behind an incomparably smooth-edged yet unfathomably deep black abyss.
After completing all of this, Satsuki's figure descended from the nebulae. Standing in midair, she looked down at the massive void below and let out a soft sigh. This was already the result of her exerting extreme control.
This was precisely why she did not often use her power. Her strength was expanding more and more, and the more it did, the more acutely she sensed the fragility of this planet, this world, and even this universe.
Immediately afterward, she began her restoration work.
The power of the Tenseigan was activated once more.
—Judgment of the Ten Kings · Samsara Genesis
Under the power of Samsara Genesis, the time of this land was pushed forward, and the earth gradually returned to its original state. After all, this planet still had to continue to exist, to be used to perfect her Black Domain Buddhakṣetra.
Splash!
Everyone's consciousness seemed to have passed through a very long time, yet also as if only an instant had gone by, before time began to flow once more.
Whoosh—
The sound of tearing air struck.
Sesshōmaru's light whip was retracting from the shattered, modified body of Ginkotsu, while among the Seven-Man Squad, the remaining Jakotsu and Renkotsu were already lying off to the side, covered in wounds.
Most of their bodies bore signs of corrosion, while the other members of the Seven-Man Squad had already all been slain by Sesshōmaru.
And in the sky, Bankotsu's figure and the thunderclouds seemed as though they had never existed at all. Along with the overwhelmingly powerful Heavenly Dragon Flash from just a moment ago, they vanished abruptly in the very next instant.
"Where did big brother go? Did he run away?"
Renkotsu stared blankly at the place where Bankotsu had been before. Could it be that this big brother, who had always behaved like a dull brute, had actually been acting all along?
"Impossible. Big brother Bankotsu would never abandon his brothers."
Holding a Jakotsu Blade broken into several segments, Jakotsu struggled to his feet and, together with Renkotsu, faced Sesshōmaru with grim resolve.
Compared to the others, his movements were much more agile. Although injured, his wounds were relatively the lightest.
"Still not giving up?"
Sesshōmaru frowned slightly. Although he did not understand what had happened to them, it was clear that this was also an unexpected event for the Seven-Man Squad.
He likely would not get any answers even if he asked. A pity, another clue related to the Lunar Palace had been cut off.
Since the trail was broken, Sesshōmaru directly launched an unrelenting assault against the remaining members of the Seven-Man Squad.
Although the Seven-Man Squad were renowned among humans as formidable warriors, before Sesshōmaru, they had no ability to resist at all.
In just an instant, Jakotsu and Renkotsu sprayed blood across the sky. Renkotsu was sent flying backward, his leather armor and the iron cannon on his shoulder cracking with clearly visible fissures. These cracks continuously spread toward his body. Amidst the sharp hissing sounds, transparent, nearly invisible, extremely sharp golden-green light burst forth from the gaps, violently piercing through his wounds and blasting several meters outward before dissipating into the void.
This was the power of Bakusaiga.
During this period of time, Sesshōmaru had gradually integrated Bakusaiga's power into his regular attacks, though he had still not succeeded in fully fusing the powers of Tenseiga and Bakusaiga.
On the other side, Jakotsu only managed to twist his body slightly, barely avoiding Sesshōmaru's claw wind.
However, his right arm was still torn open along with flesh and armor by the claw strike. From the wound, the same type of damage spread upward. In the blink of an eye, it covered his entire arm.
This pain, akin to death by a thousand cuts, instantly drained the color from Jakotsu's face. Beads of sweat the size of beans streamed down his forehead like a small river.
Even so, the Seven-Man Squad truly lived up to their reputation as mercenaries who killed without blinking. Ruthless to others, they were equally ruthless to themselves.
With a sudden shnk of the blade—
Jakotsu reversed his grip and severed his own right arm. Yet he did not choose to flee.
He already knew that this operation had no chance of victory. Moreover, facing an existence like Sesshōmaru, it was far too easy for the opponent to track him by scent.
Now, all he could do was fight as much as he could.
"Not running? Commendable courage..."
Sesshōmaru offered rare praise.
"Ha~ ha~ ha~, not fini—"
The androgynous-looking Jakotsu could no longer even finish his sentence. Though his hobbies were strange, his personality was straightforward and without duplicity, often revealing a childlike expression. At the same time, he possessed a brutal sadism that treated human life as worthless, and a penchant for wantonly tormenting those he fancied.
"No. Your fate as chess pieces has already ended."
A cold, clear voice came from behind Jakotsu.
Jakotsu was startled. In the final moment of his life, he suddenly turned his head, meeting Satsuki's golden eyes head-on.
In that instant, Jakotsu felt as though everything around him had fallen into absolute darkness. His vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste all seemed to vanish completely. It was as if the entire world had sunk into total nothingness. Within the boundless abyss, he could not even sense his own existence.
In the next moment, from the eyes of that peerlessly beautiful shrine maiden before him, two reincarnation sword pressures flashed forth. Those two rays of light pierced directly into Jakotsu's perception, completely erasing everything that was Jakotsu.
Thud!
A pain that penetrated deep into the marrow instantly swept across Jakotsu's entire body. The incomparably sharp sword pressure bored inward through every pore of his body, crashing straight into the depths of his soul.
In an instant, the leather armor protecting Jakotsu became tattered and ruined under the eruption of sword pressure. Countless fine blade auras continuously destroyed Jakotsu's cells at a microscopic level.
That kind of pain, seemingly transmitted from every single cell, was already enough to drive a person mad. Yet Satsuki's final mercy was the deprivation of the five senses, allowing Jakotsu's death to occur without suffering.
Blood sprayed forth. Jakotsu collapsed to the ground like a broken puppet, his face still frozen in the expression he had worn just before death, as though he had not even realized that he was already dead.
Satsuki, meanwhile, remained expressionless. Her black robes billowed violently backward as she withdrew from Sage Mode.
She then shifted her gaze toward another direction. There, a shikigami was scrambling out of the ground in panic, attempting to flee toward Kyoto.
"The third one already. Trying to run now? Don't you think it's too late?" Satsuki said slowly.
Hum—!
With one hand, she drew a reincarnation sword from the void.
"Since you want to probe my strength, then you should take a good look."
In the next instant, she slashed horizontally with a single strike. In that moment, a long rainbow arced down from the sky, tearing through the air from high above. Wherever it passed, everything was calm and still, without the slightest ripple. Yet along the entire path of the sword pressure, space itself twisted.
This was not like the Seven Buddhas' Sin-Purging · Six Senses Purified Slash she had used previously against Tōga.
It was merely a casual strike from Satsuki.
This resplendent and vast torrent of sword pressure surged straight toward the distant shikigami.
Far away in Kyoto, the instant Abe no Seimei observed this strike through the shikigami, his entire mind was seized by the divine intent contained within the sword pressure. In his shock, an unprecedented feeling arose within him—fear.
The speed of this sword pressure had completely surpassed sound. Killing intent had already locked onto the sliver of Seimei's divided consciousness attached to the shikigami. There was no possibility of evasion at all.
The speed of the sword pressure itself utterly ignored spatial distance. Slashing across space from afar, long before it arrived, Abe no Seimei already felt that terrifying blade aura, that sword intent capable of overturning heaven and annihilating earth, inverting samsara itself. It nearly dragged his very soul backward into it.
At this moment, several Seimei Kikyo seals immediately manifested around Abe no Seimei. A blue glow of released spiritual power flashed within his eyes.
Multiple barriers appeared around him, attempting to conceal his true body.
Hagorome Gitsune beside him also realized that the situation had turned dire. She had no time to be shocked by the overwhelming strength displayed by that shrine maiden.
In the next instant, she fully released her eight fox tails, tightly wrapping both herself and her only son, Abe no Seimei, within the massive tails like layers of an onion.
Immediately afterward, streams of yōki vortices manifested around her, spiraling and encircling them.
At the same time, the sword pressure that had tracked along the shikigami incarnation arrived in an instant. It shattered the surrounding Seimei Kikyo seals and charged straight into the Onmyōryō.
It then collided violently with Hagorome Gitsune's yōki vortices.
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