"It seems that the plan to go to Hōrai tonight won't work."
After dealing with the two attacking Doshi, everyone gathered again. Shion spoke.
"Hey, hey, Senta, can this whistle of yours really control those monsters?"
Yuzuriha patted the monster standing obediently beside him and asked Senta, who was holding the whistle.
"Hmm, it seems so. These monsters appear to be controllable."
Senta nodded, and Mei provided the explanation.
"These are Sōshin created by the Tensen, used to civilize the islanders."
Saying that, Mei pointed to a monster on the other side that was significantly taller than ordinary monsters: "This is a Monshin, used to ward off external enemies."
"Although we know this island is man-made, this is still too astonishing."
"If these are the Tensen' methods, then they can exhaust our stamina without any loss to themselves by relying on these man-made monsters."
Originally, everyone planned to conserve their energy during the day and launch a surprise attack on the Tensen' residence at night.
But they didn't expect the Tensen to send a large number of Doshi to hunt them down.
"Or we could find a place to hide from the pursuers, but on this island…"
Tenza pondered for a moment, and Nurugai continued his sentence: "We outsiders can't be more familiar with this island than the islanders."
"Indeed." Shion nodded: "And they can also control the insects on the island; these are their eyes and ears, making it difficult to hide."
"But we still have a chance."
Several people looked at Takatsuki: "Takatsuki-dono's strength is much greater than that of the Tensen; he can kill Tensen without taking damage. In terms of high-end combat power, we have an advantage."
Hearing Sagiri's words, Takatsuki shook his head: "No, perhaps not."
"The Tensen named Rien has unfathomable strength. Just in terms of the amount of Tao within him, he is a monster far surpassing other Tensen. I cannot guarantee that I can defeat him."
No one knew what kind of strength Rien possessed. Not even Mei, who had left long ago, knew, let alone Mu Dan.
However, combining Mei's and Mu Dan's memories, Mei was the first disciple and the one who learned the most among all the Tensen. He had mastered almost all the techniques researched by the Tensen, and coupled with his astonishingly vast Tao, all the Tensen combined might not be his match.
"Then… if Rien isn't present, can you deal with the other Tensen?"
Gabimaru, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
"Rien isn't present?"
Takatsuki thought for a moment. Excluding Mei, there were five remaining Tensen. Among them, Zhu Jin was severely injured and it was unknown if she had recovered. If the other Tensen were all of similar strength, fighting one against five…
"No problem."
Takatsuki gave his answer.
"Whoa, that's terrifying. To be able to fight five such monsters at once?"
Yuzuriha feigned surprise, and the others were also astonished. Fighting five Tensen at once—the combat power Takatsuki displayed was simply too exaggerated.
"Alright then, I'll be responsible for luring Rien away. While I do that, you go deal with the other Tensen. As for the rest of you…"
Gabimaru said, pulling his mask over his face.
"Right, right, we'll go look for the Elixir of Life and a way to escape."
Yuzuriha unhesitatingly assigned himself a position for escape.
"Wait, that's too dangerous. Gabimaru, you're going to lure away the strongest monster by yourself."
Tenza, full of a sense of justice, immediately stepped forward.
"I'll go with you!"
However, his suggestion did not receive praise from others. Gabimaru merely shook his head: "You'd only be a hindrance if you came along. Our goal isn't to kill him, but to buy time."
Gabimaru's words weren't harsh, as Tenza couldn't even defeat an ordinary Tensen.
"Tenza, finding a way to escape is the best help we can give others."
Shion stopped Tenza, who still wanted to speak: "We'll probably encounter many Doshi blocking our way, so our task here won't be easy either."
"Then the rest…"
Takatsuki looked at Mei, "What do you plan to do?"
"I…"
Mei thought for a moment and chose to go with Gabimaru, because the only person she wanted to see was Rien. She wanted to understand Rien's thoughts and then leave this place.
"As for you…"
As a Tensen, Gabimaru naturally didn't think she was weak: "Then you must follow my command. We will not engage him in conflict within the palace."
"You all go, I will stay here."
The old tree person, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
As his body transformed into a tree, he became increasingly detached. He looked at Mei: "Go, Mei, you shouldn't stay in a place like this. All this time, I've regarded you as a substitute for my daughter, who became a tree person before me. I apologize…"
Mei and the old tree person had already communicated last night, and the old tree person's tree transformation was irreversible; even Takatsuki could do nothing about it.
So, the old tree person ultimately decided to remain in the place where he was born, as his time was already running out.
After making all arrangements, everyone split up according to their initial plan.
The best way to draw out the Tensen was undoubtedly to have the controlled monsters cause destruction at the palace.
Such a large commotion would naturally attract the Tensen' attention and provide cover for those who infiltrated.
Although these monsters were brought under control once the Doshi inside arrived, this was sufficient.
Acting with the monsters, Takatsuki instantly annihilated these Doshi along with the monsters as soon as he made a move.
With no one else around, Takatsuki could finally unleash his full power.
"Wow… what an exaggerated display."
Looking at the pillar of fire soaring into the sky from a corner of Hōrai, Gako exclaimed. Even Gabimaru's fire pillar couldn't achieve such an exaggerated attack.
"It seems the opponents should all be drawn to Takatsuki-dono. Let's hurry too."
Takatsuki's pillar of fire attracted the attention of many beings, just as a few people had expected.
After dissolving the Doshi and monsters on the scene, a figure appeared before him.
"Seriously, this kind of destruction is going to add a lot of work for me."
The person who appeared before Takatsuki was a man with small braids and a sleeveless shirt.
Perhaps that's not entirely accurate, as Tensen can be either male or female, but this person maintained a male appearance.
"Is it Ran? Are you the only one coming to stop me?"
Ran's task in the city was to remodel the Tensen' residences. He could freely change the appearance of the city with his Tao, and his research focused on achieving immortality through Dō'in.
"Just me alone is enough. With your Tao, you cannot defeat me."