The real world was no game. In a chaotic battlefield, friendly fire was incredibly common and usually wasn't punished... provided you weren't too obvious about it.
With a massive face full of fury after being toyed with, Takeminakata strode through the battlefield chasing the jade fox. His massive feet crushed countless minor youkai. He could see the mocking look in the fox's eyes when she glanced back mid-leap, and this only fueled his rage.
But it didn't matter.
Perhaps the fox herself hadn't noticed yet, but in Takeminakata eyes, she had unknowingly arrived at the northernmost edge of the battlefield... and to Tamamo-no-Mae, this shift seemed entirely driven by her own actions.
'Go ahead and be smug for a little longer... you stinking fox...' Takeminakata gritted his teeth and muttered in his heart. His anger hadn't weakened because the hidden plan was going smoothly; instead, it grew even more intense.
He was going to skin this fox!
This beautiful fur would surely make a fine garment... making the majesty of Izumo even more undeniable.
A primitive hunt, where the prey unknowingly flaunted its power. Many brave gods and youkai who charged her were directly ignited by the sun's fire, becoming "torches" that could not be extinguished. They screamed and wailed until the last drop of fat and divine power was consumed, leaving behind not even black ash.
From day to night, and from night to day, the war lasted longer than any had expected. Whether by day or by night, the screams of those "torches" filled the air. The wails made even Takeminakata feel a chill in his marrow—an unspeakable terror.
No god or youkai wanted to die such a painful death.
The jade fox appeared like an invincible mountain, the sun's power protecting her body. Whether it was evil curses or a desperate death-blow, nothing could penetrate the aura on her surface. That thin shield was harder than any rock Takeminakata had ever seen.
He took in all the screams around him. This was a battle that must be won. Takeminakata performed what looked like his most common action over the past few days—charging fruitlessly and absurdly at Tamamo-no-Mae, throwing a punch only for it to be easily dodged.
The jade fox even seemed to be mocking him. Dodging the heavy but useless fist, she nimbly vaulted over Takeminakata shoulder. Her two front paws seemingly "played" with his back. It was only an appearance; her sharp claws sliced through his flesh like a hot knife through butter, the wounds deep enough to show bone. Hot divine blood dripped into the soil along his spine.
This was the most fatal wound Takeminakata had received since the start of the war. But compared to the injury, what made him unable to suppress a look of wild joy was the shadow growing from the crater behind her, under the cover of night.
Tamamo-no-Mae also sensed a crisis from a direction she couldn't see, but she was mid-air after tearing Takeminakata flesh—her old momentum was spent, and new momentum had yet to be found. The terrifying, claw-like shadow had already reached her belly!
It was a phantom growth, yet a physical nightmare. Shaped like a human hand but with long, sharp nails, a massive humanoid formed of thick darkness brushed its wide palm against Tamamo-no-Mae's flank. This attack should have been easily blocked by the barrier surrounding the Nine-Tails, just like every other attack and curse before it, yet in this critical moment, the barrier vanished.
Had it truly vanished?
The youkai energy from other demons, filled with resentment and curses, was still being blocked by the faintly glowing light. Even at the edge of these clutching claws, the only thing that could pass through was this physical nightmare.
For the first time since the war began, she was wounded. For the first time, she let out a cry of agony. The claw had already pierced Tamamo-no-Mae's body. The darkness was eroding and spreading. The claws, swung with momentum, hurled Tamamo-no-Mae violently to the side. The flesh they had pierced was torn away, leaving her bloodied, just as she had torn the flesh from Takeminakata.
Even the blood dripping from her body shimmered with golden light. Using her tails to sweep away the youkai who lunged excitedly at the sight of her blood, and ignoring her missing organs and the gushing blood—enduring the waves of pain—Tamamo-no-Mae immediately looked for the enemy who had dealt her such a massive blow.
The solidified shadow, which had hidden until now to strike, showed no intention of hiding further. It stood where the ambush had succeeded, wreathed in black mist. Not just Tamamo-no-Mae, but Sū ěr also recognized who it was.
"...Hoderi?" Sū ěr uttered the name in shock. He hadn't forgotten the Oni he had seen in the depths of Yamato. In his memory, that Oni was a figure like a mentally broken man, huddled on the ground wailing in despair, indifferent to everything.
And now, he had fully revealed his Oni form. He wore merely a piece of sackcloth to cover his private parts; his bronze muscles were sharply defined like the stones of a mountain. The massive spiraling horn on his forehead was even thicker than when they first met. In fact, Hoderi had enlarged his frame just like Takeminakata.
He chose not to follow up the attack. Hoderi was smiling, but it wasn't a sneer, nor any other simple emotion. He watched Tamamo-no-Mae with a complex expression, as if the youkai who had just torn out the Nine-Tails' organs wasn't him at all.
"How is he here?"
"At the very least, he wasn't lying before."
Following Sū ěr question, Think offered her judgment.
Think, sharing Sū ěr mind, knew exactly what he was thinking. She was certain that the Hoderi they saw in that dark underground—who had lost hope and fallen into despair until he molted into a true youkai—was no fake.
Why was he here? For the Nine-Tails?
But why were they at each other's throats?