"BOOM—!!!"
A thunderous collapse erupted beneath his feet.
Already under heavy suppression, Ren Kuroda felt the rooftop beneath him finally give way. The structure, pushed far past its limits, shattered outright—and with his footing gone, Ren was struck head-on by Abe no Seimei's blade and sent flying.
Ren couldn't stabilize himself at all during the fall. After crashing straight through the roof, he slammed into the ground below, carving out a massive crater like a fallen meteor.
In just a brief exchange, the two leaders of the Nura Group and the Kidōin—one after the other—had already been completely suppressed by Abe no Seimei.
This made the overwhelming majority of yōkai present understand, in the most visceral way possible, just how terrifyingly powerful the onmyōji standing before them truly was.
After all, whether it was Nura Rikuo or Ren Kuroda, both had previously fought Hagoromo Gitsune and Nurarihyon head-on without being defeated.
And who were those two?
They were the strongest yōkai of four hundred years ago.
The fact that Rikuo and Ren could contend with beings of that caliber—and only lose—already proved that their own strength was on the same tier.
Especially Ren.
Everyone present had witnessed his earlier feats with their own eyes: single-handedly holding back the Nura Group's three greatest powerhouses, including Nurarihyon himself.
After that, he had forced a peak-condition Nurarihyon to concede defeat. And then there was that map-wide onmyōjutsu barrage—an indiscriminate, overwhelming display that repeatedly disrupted Abe no Seimei's plans and stunted his growth.
That was precisely why most of Abe no Seimei's hostility was now focused squarely on Ren.
And yet—
Despite being such a terrifying existence, Ren still couldn't even take a single blade strike from Abe no Seimei head-on.
If someone as strong as Ren Kuroda ended up like this… then if the rest of them charged in, wouldn't they amount to nothing more than disposable cannon fodder?
"Your strength is indeed impressive," Abe no Seimei said calmly."Even in the era I lived in, very few yōkai ever reached your level.
"But in the end, it is still far from enough. This applies to you—and to that slippery old tanuki over there as well."
Standing atop the highest rooftop, Abe no Seimei gazed down at the massive hole Ren's fall had created, his expression as placid as an ancient well.
It was as if Ren barely managing to block that earlier strike hadn't drawn even the slightest interest from him.
On the other side, Nura Rikuo, who had been kicked away by Ren earlier, finally managed to catch his breath—and only then realized that kick had been meant to save him.
What he didn't understand was why that bastard always chose to save him by aiming straight for his face.
Of course, now wasn't the time to dwell on nonsense like that.
From that brief clash alone, Rikuo had clearly grasped the terrifying gap between their side and the enemy.
This disparity was far greater than the one he'd felt when he first arrived in Kyoto and fought the Earth Spider. If he relied on his own strength alone, victory was simply impossible.
Even with Demon Binding, wrapping himself in a single yōkai's karma wouldn't be enough. He would have to shoulder far more karma—pile on far more fear—to even glimpse a chance of winning.
But just as Rikuo prepared to call upon the Hundred Demons behind him, ready to bear greater karma and entwine himself with even more fear—
A suffocating, overwhelming wave of yōki suddenly flooded all of Kyoto.
The source of that crushing aura was unmistakable.
It came from the circular crater at the center of the battlefield.
And from within that pit, its occupant began to step forward—slowly, deliberately.
At that moment, the yōki grew so dense it was almost tangible, as if it had condensed into a three-headed, six-armed asura-like demon god, sweeping its contemptuous gaze across everything around it.
"Don't forget," Ren Kuroda said quietly,"I'm a half-demon. And as a half-demon… of course I have a yōkai form.
"Honestly, this is the first time I've ever met someone who forced me to reveal all my cards.So, to be frank—this state I'm in right now? It's also my first time using it."
From within the swirling dust, accompanied by the steady sound of footsteps, Ren's figure gradually came back into view.
Crimson hair cascaded down to his hips. His twin horns—now crystalline and translucent, as though most of his yōki had condensed within them—gleamed ominously. On his handsome features, eerie, otherworldly markings had emerged.
He wore a fearsome oni-faced battle armor, exuding overwhelming authority. In his hand, the Nichirin blade Shinyū had also undergone a transformation—the silver yōkai patterns along its purple blade now shining with even greater brilliance.
Where the hilt should have been, it now looked as though the sword had fused seamlessly with Ren's arm, fitting together as one.
Using Blade Spirit Release together with Half-Demon Transformation—
This truly was Ren's first time doing so.
Whether in the previous Moonlit World or later during the Tokyo District War, he had only ever used one of these powers at a time.
When resisting the Evil of This World, he had relied solely on Half-Demon Transformation; the blade spirit had only awakened him with its voice.
And during the Tokyo District War, Shinyū had remained in the hands of his Tennomiya Yuto persona, leaving no chance to activate Blade Spirit Release at all.
So yes—this state, combining both powers, was something even Ren himself was experiencing for the first time.
Before, the demon-god projection formed from his yōki during Half-Demon Transformation had merely been a blue-faced, fanged oni.
But now, under Blade Spirit Release, it had transformed into a three-headed, six-armed asura.
In terms of sheer presence alone, it left the previous form so far behind it wasn't even a comparison.
And thanks to his Regeneration ability, the injuries Ren had suffered in the main world from the Kusanagi Sword had already fully healed.
He was back at his absolute peak.
Now, under the dual states of Hundred Demonization and Blade Spirit Release, Ren's yōki had reached an unprecedented SS-tier.
Leaping from S-tier to SS-tier in such a short span of time was nothing short of absurd.
Even Abe no Seimei—who had looked down on everyone until now—finally showed a change in expression upon seeing Ren in his current state.
Because even he hadn't expected that in this era, a yōkai of this level could still be born.
"BOOM—!!!"
Those crimson eyes, arrogant and burning with battle intent, merely glanced at Abe no Seimei above.
The next instant, Ren moved.
With nothing more than a single push of his leg, the ground beneath him collapsed outright. The building he stood on lost its stability and caved in as well.
And propelled by the immense recoil of the collapsing earth and structure, Ren shattered the sound barrier—appearing before Abe no Seimei in the blink of an eye.
"CLANG—!!!"
Two longswords of different designs—but equally terrifying rank—collided once more in midair.
The weapons hadn't changed.Their wielders hadn't changed.
But the outcome was completely different.
Before, Ren's yōki had only been S-tier, a full level below Abe no Seimei's SS-tier. Being overpowered in a direct clash had been inevitable.
But now—
His yōki had risen to match Abe no Seimei's.
There was no way he would be sent flying again so easily.
At the moment Shinyū and the Demon King's Mallet collided, two terrifying auras—one crimson, one golden—erupted violently from their bodies.
Red and gold yōki each claimed half the sky, like two rival forces crashing head-on.
Where they clashed, space itself began to fracture under the pressure, spiderweb cracks spreading outward. The shockwaves from their colliding yōki blasted away every surrounding structure in an instant.
"Weren't you talking pretty big earlier?" Ren sneered."So this is all you've got? In that case—now it's my turn to get serious."
Ren didn't know exactly what kind of yōkai Abe no Seimei was. But given that his mother was a fox immortal, his blood was likely fox-based as well.
But when yōki levels were equal—
In a head-on clash, the oni race had never feared anyone.
Using the oni clan's fear—Monstrous Strength Unbound—with SS-tier yōki produced a result completely different from before.
As Ren's expression turned wildly arrogant, the Demon King's Mallet in Abe no Seimei's hands was forced steadily downward. Before long, even the back of the blade began to sink into Abe no Seimei's shoulder.
When the veins bulged along Ren's arm and he unleashed one final surge of power in a single breath—
Abe no Seimei finally gave way.
Man and blade alike were sent flying by Shinyū.
And just as Abe no Seimei was knocked back by the frontal clash, his body flung through the air by inertia—
Several glowing crystal shards suddenly shot out from different angles in the sky, pinning his body in place midair.
"Bakudō No. 61 — Six-Rod Light Prison!"
A chantless Kidō.
Against an Abe no Seimei whose yōki now rivaled Ren's, it wouldn't hold for long.
But in a battle between powerhouses, even a single instant was enough to decide victory.
"Hear the howl of the divine wind—Witness the momentum of a shattering army!Swift as the Wind—Breaking Army!"
The six cicada-thin light rods shattered instantly under the eruption of Abe no Seimei's yōki.
But the moment he fully broke free—
He saw it.
A colossal slash, nearly a hundred meters across, bearing down on him head-on.
The cyan wind-blade, amplified by Blade Spirit Release, advanced like a disciplined army wielding heavy weapons—unstoppable, annihilating everything in its path with crushing force.
Faced with such overwhelming scale and power, Abe no Seimei knew dodging was no longer an option.
He raised his hand and activated onmyōjutsu to defend.
The space before him collapsed inward, and a massive gate engraved with a demonic visage gradually manifested in the air.
The howling wind slash charged forward like an invincible vanguard—
Yet the demon-faced gate that appeared before Abe no Seimei stood like an impregnable city wall.
The two collided in an instant.
The divine wind screamed, like soldiers charging into battle.
The demon gate roared, like the wrathful bellow of an ancient god.