Because of the violent impact of the explosion, Ren Kuroda's innate domain was shattered yet again. This time, recovering its vitality would likely take far longer than before.
But did the collapse of the innate domain truly mean that Ren Kuroda had fallen?
As for the final answer, it became clear soon enough—after the innate domain crumbled and everyone was returned to the original Tokyo district cityscape.
The dust and sand thrown into the air gradually settled. After unleashing its strongest strike, the Kusanagi Sword had embedded itself deep into the wall of a nearby high-rise building.
Fresh blood was still dripping from the blade.
Every drop served as undeniable proof that the Kusanagi Sword's ultimate blow had, in the end, inflicted real damage on its target.
At that moment, as everyone's gaze turned toward the massive circular crater at the center of the battlefield, they peered through the lingering haze of dust—and saw a figure still standing within the veil of sand, half-bent but upright.
The instant they caught sight of that silhouette, the first reaction of the Kagamori family head and the others was sheer disbelief.
They simply couldn't accept it.
To think that after taking a direct hit from one of the Three Sacred Treasures, in such circumstances, that monster hadn't died outright—it was almost beyond comprehension.
Yet as the surrounding dust finally settled and Ren Kuroda's figure gradually came into clear view, the exorcists' side let out a collective, long-held breath of relief.
Because although Ren Kuroda hadn't completely died, his current state was nothing short of horrific.
His waist-length crimson hair now hung loose and disheveled, obscuring half his face. In his right hand, he still clutched the demon blade Oni-Wound—now broken cleanly into two pieces.
Even more terrifying was the sight of his left shoulder.
A massive, gaping hole had been blown straight through it. Through that bloody cavity, one could faintly see his heart still beating.
Honestly speaking, if an ordinary human had suffered such injuries, they would have died countless times over.
But Ren Kuroda was a yokai—an S+–rank yokai at that. His vitality was naturally on a completely different level from that of humans.
Even so, the damage he had taken this time could be called the most severe injury he had suffered since crossing over into this world.
At the critical moment earlier, Ren Kuroda had enveloped Oni-Wound in yokai power and used it to block the Kusanagi Sword as it came blasting toward him.
However, no matter how much yokai power he poured into it, Oni-Wound's inherent rank was what it was.
Facing the full-force eruption of one of the Three Sacred Treasures—and the most offensively powerful among them, the Kusanagi Sword—it had ultimately been overwhelmed.
With a sharp crack, the long blade that had accompanied Ren Kuroda from the very beginning finally failed to escape its destined end.
It snapped in two under a single strike from the Kusanagi Sword.
Of course, the breaking of the demon blade Oni-Wound hadn't been meaningless.
At the very least, the Kusanagi Sword—originally meant to pierce straight through Ren Kuroda's heart—had been deflected by Oni-Wound's resistance, missing his heart and instead blasting clean through his entire left shoulder.
Now, with his hair in disarray, the ghost-mask armor covering Ren Kuroda's body had long since shattered. The yokai power within him had plunged to around S– level, and even that was in an extremely unstable state.
Yet while Ren Kuroda's condition was dire, the situation of the five great demon-slaying family heads was hardly any better.
The Jisō family head had both arms crippled. The heads of the Hozumi family and the Hiiragi family, after taking repeated heavy blows, were left with barely any spiritual power remaining, their injuries equally severe.
As for the Kagamori family head and the Kusu family head, their conditions were even worse.
The Kagamori family head, due to the corrosion of his triple-sealing demonic suppression by "All the Evils of This World," had suffered catastrophic backlash and was now completely unconscious.
Kusu Ryosuke's final desperate gamble had succeeded—but after forcibly enduring Ren Kuroda's strongest counterattack, every bone in his body was now broken. He couldn't even crawl.
And that was only because the Kusanagi Sword had diverted a portion of its power to protect him beforehand.
Otherwise, the far more likely outcome would have been Kusu Ryosuke dying outright the moment he collided with Ren Kuroda.
As they looked at the five great family heads, all clearly incapable of continuing the fight, and then at Ren Kuroda standing at the center of the battlefield—seemingly on the verge of collapse—the hearts of the surrounding exorcists immediately began to stir.
This was the decisive battle for the entire Tokyo district.
And that oni yokai was the leader of the yokai faction—the strongest being in this war, whose terrifying combat power had allowed him to overwhelm the heads of the Five Great Demon-Slaying Houses, and who had even survived an attack from the divine artifact Kusanagi Sword.
Yet no matter how fearsome he had been, after the combined onslaught of the five family heads and the Kusanagi Sword, he was now clearly at death's door.
So if someone were to rush in now and finish him off…
Wouldn't that be an instant rise to fame?
Slayer of an S+–rank yokai.Hero of the Tokyo District campaign.The strongest exorcist who turned the tide of battle.
Countless titles and dazzling halos would descend upon them in an instant.
There were plenty of people harboring such thoughts.
If the five great family heads had still possessed the strength to fight, no one would have dared to entertain ideas like this.
But now, with the heads of the Five Great Demon-Slaying Houses clearly unable to continue, they couldn't really be blamed for trying to snatch the final fruits of victory.
After all, they could justify it as acting for the sake of all humanity in Tokyo.
The first exorcist who charged toward Ren Kuroda seemed to act as a signal.
In the very next moment, the majority of the self-confident exorcists present abandoned their original opponents and surged toward Ren Kuroda, who appeared to be barely clinging to life.
Ren Kuroda was the leader of the yokai faction—and the strongest combatant in this entire battle.
Whoever killed him would undoubtedly claim the greatest merit.
According to the rules previously discussed at the Tokyo Exorcists' Assembly, whoever delivered the final blow to a yokai would claim all the spoils from its body.
This was an S+–rank yokai.
Even a few hundred milliliters of his blood could fetch an astronomical price on the black market—let alone his entire body.
In the past, they wouldn't even have dared to look directly at a monster of this level.
But now, in his current state, he was nothing more than meat on the chopping block.
And if they truly managed to kill him, aside from the staggering wealth, their fame would instantly spread across the entire nation.
After all, no exorcist had ever killed an S-rank yokai before.
The temptation of fame and fortune made most of the exorcists present completely ignore the gap in strength between themselves and the enemy.
They scrambled forward, tripping over one another as they rushed toward Ren Kuroda, terrified that if they were even a step too slow, someone else would steal their chance at glory.
To be fair, among those active on this battlefield, there were certainly some exorcists who remained rational.
But when weighed against the enormous rewards—and the risks they faced right now—many still chose to gamble everything.
As for Ren Kuroda, who was supporting his body with his broken blade, watching the wave after wave of exorcists charging toward him, a trace of self-mockery appeared on his face.
"So my head really is worth a lot, huh?So many people want it."
Then his eyes sharpened, his voice low and cold.
"But it seems you've all forgotten one thing."
"Even a wounded tiger…isn't something a swarm of ants can toy with whenever they please."