In a blur of motion, Akira Zenin formed the [Piercing Ox] hand sign, shaping the overlapping hand shadows into the form of [Max Elephant].
"Merged Beast [Nether Elephant]!"
A colossal elephant, seven or eight stories tall, pure black with a cold metallic sheen and massive horns, crashed down from above. Carrying force well beyond ten thousand tons and enhanced by the Piercing Ox's straight-line impact technique, it slammed down with a thunderous roar, driving Mahoraga straight into the ground.
In an instant, the earth convulsed. The ground split apart, jagged fissures tearing open like deep ravines.
Because this was a full summoning, there was a real risk of the shikigami being destroyed. The moment the strike landed, Akira Zenin immediately recalled the Merged Beast. To him, the number of shikigami he possessed was the number of techniques he could wield, which meant more options and more possibilities.
Before Mahoraga could climb back out, Akira Zenin formed the Rabbit Escape hand sign with both hands. Shadows on the ground twisted and stretched, taking on the shapes of rabbits.
Countless misshapen hares burst out from within the shadows, instantly surrounding the newly emerged Mahoraga and plunging the area into chaos. Their lower halves remained submerged in the surface shadows, while their upper bodies clung desperately to Mahoraga, yanking at its joints again and again.
[Should I use a Domain? No. That would let Mahoraga come into direct contact with the source of the Ten Shadows Technique. And I don't have any way to recover after technique burnout. If subjugation fails, I'll really be done for.]
Akira Zenin spoke his thoughts out loud, a strange form of "public disclosure" in its own right.
"Looking at history, the Ten Shadows Technique has never been able to subdue Mahoraga on its own.
But those people all treated it like a Shikigami Master's art. They turned each part of the Ten Shadows Technique into nothing more than ten separate shikigami."
"Mahoraga is the final piece of the Ten Shadows puzzle. The technique's flexibility, and the differences between each shikigami's abilities, are exactly what make it effective against Mahoraga.
Mahoraga can't adapt to every shikigami's technique in such a short time!"
Since Max Elephant had already been adapted to, then he would switch to other shikigami. Since the shadows themselves had been adapted to, then he would stop using shadows as defense.
Akira Zenin first ended the summoning of Max Elephant, then quietly murmured, "Nue."
Mahoraga was still forcing its way through the mass of weak Rabbit Escape shikigami. Every rabbit threw itself at it with reckless ferocity, but Mahoraga's body lines were steadily becoming more fluid, more flexible, as if it would soon be able to slip through the gaps between them.
For a numbers-based shikigami like Rabbit Escape, there was little difference between partial summoning and full summoning when it came to preventing destruction.
The reason Akira Zenin chose partial summoning was because a shadow was half of a person, a projection of the soul itself. A shikigami formed from shadows, when incompletely summoned, was effectively a "shadow clone" of its original body. It could even chant incantations.
Akira Zenin shifted his consciousness into Rabbit Escape.
Beyond restraining his opponent, he had discovered another way to use it. Under a complete ritual framework, sometimes the number of selves was directly proportional to power.
"Give this a try.
Are you ready to witness my masterpiece, Mahoraga?"
Several thousand Rabbit Escape shikigami suddenly closed in around Mahoraga.
Every rabbit let out a childish voice, impossible to tell male from female, thousands of voices weaving together. Different voices, yet perfectly unified.
"Imperial Soul
Judge and Sever
The Lament of Heaven."
"A Thousandfold Chant — [Lightning Punishment]!"
There was no warning at all.
Violent, densely packed lightning instantly drowned the entire inner compound. Anyone who saw this scene no longer complained about being evacuated so far from the clan's inner lands. They could only stare blankly at the enormous pillar of light that swallowed half the clan territory, linking heaven and earth.
Roaring thunder, shattering impacts, and explosive blasts came crashing in waves, riding on searing heat that tore through the barrier.
Within the crowd, Naoya Zenin stood frozen, eyes stretched wide as he stared at the scene before him. His lips twitched for a long while before he finally managed to force out four meaningless sounds:
"A-ba… a-ba."
Could something like a natural catastrophe really be unleashed by a single jujutsu sorcerer?
Off to the side of the group, a young girl gazed at the lightning storm with open fascination. She turned her head toward her younger sister, who was crouched on the ground, trembling in fear, and gently placed a hand on her head.
...
"Don't be afraid."
"Mhm!"
...
When the thunderstorm, which lasted a full minute, finally faded, the entire clan grounds had been reduced to rubble.
At the very center, the land had collapsed into a perfectly round abyss, its interior completely scorched black. Mahoraga's figure had long since disappeared.
Akira Zenin, his entire body charred, let out a heavy breath. He dropped to one knee and spat out a mouthful of blackened blood, then took in the burnt, acrid smell lingering in the air.
'There's still some Cursed Energy left, but even reinforcing my body, shielding myself with a Domain, and relying on my technique's adaptation, I still took serious damage.'
"The subjugation ritual is barely complete. Mahoraga should be able to protect me properly out in the dangerous outside world."
"That move drains far too much Cursed Energy, and the range is massive. It doesn't distinguish between allies and enemies at all.
My internal organs and blood vessels took some damage too.
Once the burnout period ends, I'll just use Round Deer's technique to recover. I didn't expect the worst injuries to come from my own attack. Looks like I'll need to use it as little as possible in the future."
Akira Zenin looked around.
There was still a faint, lingering smell of charred flesh in the air.
That's right. Subjugating Mahoraga was only incidental.
Akira's true goal was to use this opportunity to wipe out certain "eyes" that had been planted within the Zenin clan.
"Rebuilding might be a good thing. Now there isn't even a place left to take disciples, so certain people won't have anything better to do than come bother me.
In that sense… this counts as a kind of rebirth."