Although the Samurai Spirit and the others had never actually met Ren Kuroda's mother—Tenjoin Ayami—they had long heard of her.
Just from the way Ren spoke about his mother in everyday conversation, the unmistakable concern and care in his tone, combined with the deep respect Spider Princess had shown toward Ayami in the few encounters they'd had with her, the group had already formed their own conclusions.
Ren Kuroda's mother—Tenjoin Ayami—was undoubtedly an existence of terrifying strength.
Perhaps that was precisely why someone as seemingly flawless as Ren would be so genuinely afraid of her.
Honestly speaking, Hooked Needle Woman's suggestion was extremely feasible. After all, the Samurai Spirit and the others truly couldn't think of anything Ren feared—aside from Ayami's scolding.
Would using something like that really wake up a drunken Ren?
If Ren were sober right now, he would absolutely say: Of course it would!
They hadn't guessed wrong. There were very few things in this world that Ren Kuroda feared—and his mother, Tenjoin Ayami, was unquestionably one of them.
But the reason had nothing to do with Ayami possessing some kind of unrivaled, world-shaking strength, as the Samurai Spirit and the others had imagined.
It was simply because she was one of the people Ren cared about most.
Having already died once and been reincarnated, Ren no longer feared death. In fact, under the influence of his oni bloodline, he lived by a brutally simple creed:
Life and death are trivial. If you don't like something—fight it.
But a person doesn't live for life alone.
Family. Friendship. Love. Bonds like these were what truly mattered.
Without them, living only for oneself—numb and detached—was no different from being a puppet.
Especially since, before his reincarnation, Ren had been completely alone. Having finally gained something as precious as family, he treasured it all the more.
There weren't many things Ren feared.
But he feared making his mother angry.He feared seeing his sister upset.He feared his friends and loved ones coming to harm.
That was why Hooked Needle Woman's suggestion had an extremely high chance of success. After all, if Tenjoin Ayami were to find out that Ren—at his age—was already drinking…
Just imagining it was enough to make Ren's spine go cold.
However, just as the Samurai Spirit and the others were about to try this method to wake him, Ren—who had been lying at the bottom of the crater drinking—suddenly twitched.
A sharp glint flashed through his eyes and vanished in an instant.
True, Ren was drunk beyond saving, barely able to maintain conscious awareness—but for an existence at his level, the instincts of survival engraved into every living being still remained.
The third meteor was still falling.
And Ren, standing within the affected area, was naturally one of its targets.
As an oni, even when his mind was clouded, his instincts would still react when faced with mortal danger.
So before the Samurai Spirit and the others could even put their plan into action, Ren moved first.
One moment, he was still at the bottom of the crater, head lowered as he drank.
The next—his figure vanished without warning.
When everyone finally regained their senses, a massive shockwave had already erupted high in the air.
On the surface of the colossal meteor, a single, unremarkable bare footprint was pressed into the rock.
Yet it was precisely this seemingly ordinary flying kick that unleashed an overwhelming impact. Before everyone's stunned eyes, the meteor was actually forced backward, retreating slightly!
They had previously gathered everyone's strength just to slow its descent—only briefly.
And now, this man had sent it flying back with a single kick.
They had once believed that trying to oppose natural disasters with individual strength was laughably foolish—because monsters like that simply didn't exist.
But now it seemed they had been painfully shortsighted.
Such a beast truly existed.
And it was standing right in front of them.
"Tch… one after another," Ren muttered lazily."Always ruining my drinking. I'll smash you into dust."
After kicking the third massive meteor backward, Ren didn't stop. He took another huge swig of wine, then gathered all of his yōki into a single point in his right hand.
"True · Chaotic Divine Strength Strike!"
How terrifying was SS+–rank yōki?
No one had ever truly known—until now.
Yōki so dense it bordered on madness was endlessly compressed, condensed into a single point on Ren's right fist. When he finally threw the punch, it was still just a plain, straightforward jab.
Ordinary in appearance.
Utterly absurd in power.
The moment Ren punched, everyone clearly heard a sharp crack echo through the space in front of him. A vacuum instantly formed—and then, as if unable to withstand the pressure, space itself shattered.
A pillar of pure yōki erupted from his fist, piercing straight through the heavens.
It was nothing more than a basic straight punch—yet it unleashed an effect worthy of a million special effects. The punch didn't just create a vacuum; it crushed space itself.
And the meteor directly in its path stood no chance.
The beam of light surged outward, expanding violently the moment it was released. By the time it struck the meteor, the entire massive body was completely engulfed.
The so-called True · Chaotic Divine Strength Strike pulverized the meteor with overwhelming force, erasing it utterly before vanishing into the sky.
One punch.
Just one punch.
A calamity that had nearly doomed everyone—something that even their combined strength could only slow—had been obliterated in an instant.
The sheer, unmatched terror of that power made everyone look at the young oni again with indescribably complex expressions.
They suddenly felt… ridiculous.
What meaning did the so-called Hyakki really have, in front of beings like Abe no Seimei or Ren Kuroda?
Many yōkai dreamed of becoming the "Lord of the Hundred Demons."
But in front of monsters like these, did the Hundred Demons even matter?
Abe no Seimei.Tenjoin Ren.
With just a gesture, either of them could erase an entire Hyakki faction.
Or perhaps—each of them alone already equaled a Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.
As the third meteor was destroyed, the yōkai and onmyōji inside the barrier erupted into cheers.
They had survived.
But while some rejoiced, others despaired.
For example—a certain great onmyōji who had been fighting two opponents at once completely lost his composure when he saw that sky-piercing punch.
Abe no Seimei's mentality genuinely shattered.
He had paid an enormous price to alter the trajectories of three celestial bodies—only for all of them to be dismantled by the same person.
The first meteor had been cleaved in two by a single blade.
The second had been stopped head-on.
And the largest, final meteor… had been punched apart with bare hands.
After forcibly changing the paths of the stars, his body was already suffering severe backlash. His condition was far worse than at the start.
And his opponent?
Though Seimei didn't know how Ren had done it, the yōki radiating from him was even greater than before—surpassing even Seimei's own peak state.
Facing SS-rank yōki with less than S-rank strength…
That wasn't fighting. That was suicide.
In his current state, Seimei could still bully Nura Rikuo or Hagoromo Gitsune without issue.
But against Ren?
He wouldn't last two exchanges.
When the gap in power reached absolute suppression, experience became meaningless.
And even if experience mattered, Ren Kuroda was no less seasoned than Abe no Seimei.
Just like Seimei feared, everyone else now believed the battle was all but decided.
Ren was a nightmare as an enemy—but as an ally, nothing could be more reassuring.
Seimei was growing weaker.
Ren was growing stronger.
If a meteor of that size could be obliterated with one punch, then Abe no Seimei would be reduced to dust just as easily.
Yet just as everyone eagerly awaited Ren to end the war with a single blow—
They discovered that after destroying the meteor, he had curled up on the gourd and started snoring again…
With the meteor threat gone, Ren no longer sensed danger to his life and naturally slipped right back into a drunken stupor.
After all, he had only dealt with the meteor because his instincts had screamed danger.
Now that the crisis was over—and Seimei no longer posed a threat—alcohol reclaimed him completely.
"Hahahaha! Looks like fate still isn't on your side!""Remove that monster of an oni from the equation—what does your numbers even matter?"
"As long as I don't interfere with him, he'll keep sleeping. Once I kill all of you and leave, I can recover—and come back for revenge later."
Seeing Ren asleep with a snot bubble forming, every yōkai and onmyōji inside the barrier was dumbfounded.
Only Abe no Seimei burst into laughter.
This was what a true reversal of fortune looked like.
He had thought he was doomed—but heaven still favored him.
As long as that monster-like oni didn't rejoin the fight, no matter how many opponents there were—
Abe no Seimei wouldn't fear them in the slightest.