Chapter 339: Want to Run? No Way!
"Is this a joke?"
At the thought that it had actually felt a trace of trepidation toward "Totsuka Saika" just now, the Nine-Tailed Fox felt a wave of shame and annoyance. It cast aside its playful thoughts, and black smoke converged in its hand to form a small orb, which it hurled at the tiny human before it.
However, "Totsuka Saika," having evolved into the Assault Form, had seen his speed further enhanced. With a flash, his figure vanished from the spot. An instant later, he reappeared behind the Nine-Tailed Fox, slashing his sword toward its defenseless back.
"Damn it!"
The Nine-Tailed Fox hadn't expected "Totsuka Saika's" speed to be boosted to such a degree. With a grim expression, it released the energy within its body, creating a shockwave that blew "Totsuka Saika" back once again.
Then, the Nine-Tailed Fox stopped holding back. The nine tails behind it acted like nine violent whips, lashing out at "Totsuka Saika" in mid-air. Countless whistles of sliced air echoed through the surroundings. In just a few seconds, the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked "Totsuka Saika" hundreds of times!
Crack...
Under the Nine-Tailed Fox's violent offensive, the armor's protective shield—which had sacrificed defense to boost attack power—developed a crack. This crack rapidly spread to the surrounding areas under the Fox's relentless barrage.
"Nothing more than this."
A serious bout of attacking had successfully suppressed "Totsuka Saika" to the point where he couldn't even raise his head. Although the Nine-Tailed Fox wasn't entirely satisfied with the result, it acted nonchalant in front of Kazuhiro Mitogawa, as if the previous attacks were merely a casual effort.
"Enough, stop playing around. Kill her quickly so we can leave!"
Just as the Nine-Tailed Fox expected, Mitogawa truly believed it was merely toying with "Totsuka Saika," which was why the opponent was still alive. Once the restriction of the Phantom Spirit Fire Pillar ended, the newly freed Mitogawa immediately urged the Fox to deliver the killing blow. After all, the commotion from the fight was too loud; the people from the Inari Shrine were undoubtedly on their way.
"I know, you don't need to push me!"
The Nine-Tailed Fox was quite irritated by Mitogawa's commanding tone. Frowning, it gathered energy in its hand once more. Once the energy was compressed to its absolute limit, it tossed the orb toward "Totsuka Saika" and signaled for Mitogawa to take Komachi and get out.
[Detection: Massive danger source approaching. Redirecting all energy to the protective barrier...]
The message flashed through Totsuka's mind. Then, "Totsuka Saika" spread his arms, and a red barrier appeared before him. In the next second, the black orb collided with the barrier and rapidly expanded; the red barrier, despite the full-power defense, held for less than half a second before shattering.
With the obstacle gone, the orb began to grow even larger. Just as it was about to swallow "Totsuka Saika," a sword light flashed from the distance, halting the orb's advance.
"Hmm?"
Mitogawa had reached Komachi's side and was about to take her when he suddenly sensed something and looked up at the sky. Dense clusters of talismans rained down from above, followed by the appearance of Hikigaya Hachiman—showing a face filled with rage for the first time.
A flash of sword light followed, and the hand Mitogawa had extended toward Komachi was instantly severed and fell to the ground. This time, Mitogawa couldn't turn into butterflies to dodge the attack as he usually did!
"Eh?"
With his ability failing to activate, Mitogawa was visibly dazed. He stared at his severed right arm on the ground for several seconds before realizing he had been injured.
"The Sessho-seki can't heal the wound?"
Clutching the massive wound on the right side of his body, Mitogawa began to retreat toward the Nine-Tailed Fox. The failure of the powerful self-healing abilities granted by the Sessho-seki made him panic.
However, how could Hikigaya Hachiman easily let go of someone who had bullied his sister? With a flash of his silhouette, he appeared behind Mitogawa, his Ghost-Slaying Blade wreathed in spectral fire as it swung toward the other's remaining arm.
Clang!
The sound of clashing metal rang out in the street. Mitogawa stood behind the Nine-Tailed Fox, clutching the stump of his right arm and gasping for breath with lingering fear. It was so close—if the Nine-Tailed Fox hadn't stepped in just in time to block Hachiman's attack, his only remaining arm would be gone too!
"A fox?"
The Nine-Tailed Fox's half-human, half-fox form made the enraged Hachiman regain a sliver of reason. In his knowledge, only those from the Inari Shrine had fox-like forms. However, in the next second, he dismissed the idea that the Nine-Tailed Fox belonged to the Shrine; no Inari fox would be shrouded in the black aura of an evil spirit. Furthermore, even if it were an Inari fox, if it dared touch Komachi, it had to die!
"Troublesome fellow..."
Looking at Hachiman's furious entrance, the Nine-Tailed Fox's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. Although it had never dealt with him before, it had heard rumors of his deeds. Connecting the energy on Komachi—which was from the same source as Hachiman's—with his current "fight to the death" stance, the Fox realized it had picked the wrong target this time.
But since they had already made their move, it meant there was no room left for reconciliation.
"I'll hold him off; you take the target and go."
The fourth puppet material they had found with such difficulty could not be given up easily. Moreover, although Hachiman was berserk because of the attack on Komachi, his strength was still only at the Ghost Emperor level. After being free for so long, the Nine-Tailed Fox's strength had already recovered to the level of a Low-rank Ghost God. How could a Ghost God lose to a Ghost Emperor? Even if it turned into a war of attrition, the Fox was confident it could wear this human to death!
"Want to leave?"
Hearing the Nine-Tailed Fox's instructions to Mitogawa, Hachiman let out a cold laugh. They had injured Komachi and Totsuka, and now they wanted to take his sister away? What a beautiful dream they were having!
"Spirit-Locking Array!"
With Hachiman's low growl, the space within a radius of several hundred meters was rapidly stripped from the main world, transforming into an independent pocket dimension.
"Spatial abilities?"
The Nine-Tailed Fox was slightly startled by Hachiman's activation of the ability, but it immediately began manipulating spatial power to obstruct the formation of the pocket space.
"The skill didn't fully succeed?"
Looking at the space that was half-night and half-day, Hachiman took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. The specific reason for the skill's failure didn't matter; what mattered was that his mood was currently beyond foul, and he desperately needed these two to vent his frustration!
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