Power surged violently within Gu Chen's pitch-black arm.
Starting from his right arm, that force spread through every bone in his body, following the paths of his blood vessels until it permeated him completely.
Gu Chen rolled his wrist, giving the tachi in his hand a light shake.
He felt as though countless ants were crawling through his arm, gnawing at his flesh and bones.
The sensation made him frown slightly.
The pain seemed to be spreading from his right arm to the rest of his body—but for now, it was still tolerable.
Clenching his tachi, Gu Chen charged toward the source of the monster tide.
With a single leap, he crossed more than ten li. His blade swung out, and black flames exploded across the ground, blasting a massive crater open. The surrounding monster tide was swept away by the violent shockwave.
As he advanced, Gu Chen was also relieving the pressure on the shogunate soldiers fighting behind him.
"Be careful!"
Kitsune Saiguu called out.
She had transformed into a silver-white giant fox with nine tails.
With every flick of her tails, overwhelming yokai power swept away vast swathes of monsters.
At the same time, Kitsune Saiguu poured her power into the earth, resisting the black corruption spreading through the ground.
She understood this clearly.
The monster tide was dangerous—but what was even more terrifying was the blackness spreading across the land.
These things were like the source of all ill omens.
They were calamity itself.
If this black corruption were allowed to spread unchecked, it wouldn't take long before all of Narukami Island became a land of death.
The monster tide was frightening.
But the spreading blackness demanded even more effort to suppress.
On the other side.
Gu Chen had already closed in on the source of the monster tide.
The cube-shaped machine—resembling a magic cube—had locked onto him.
It was highly adaptive, capable of adjusting to all kinds of combat environments.
Despite the distance, it had already begun firing lasers at Gu Chen.
Gu Chen's figure flickered across the battlefield like a ghost, deliberately luring the machine's laser fire to mow down large swaths of monsters instead.
The king beast that tore through the void had also noticed him.
It roared, blasting a torrent of dark-yellow elemental energy toward Gu Chen.
That elemental torrent carried an eerie power—being touched by it would spell disaster.
Gu Chen dodged and weaved.
Lasers and elemental torrents collided midair, exploding violently. Several demonic wolves that tried to ambush Gu Chen were torn apart the instant they emerged from the void.
The king beast in the sky flew into a rage.
Gu Chen glanced once at the source of the monster tide, then looked back at it.
The king beast had to be dealt with first.
He leapt into the air. Black flames flowed along his tachi as he swung.
A streak of black blade light slashed toward the king beast.
The beast tore apart the void with its claws. Half of the blade light vanished into the void; the other half skimmed past its body.
"Not bad…"
Without pause, Gu Chen closed the distance.
At close range, the king beast had no time to tear open space again.
Gu Chen's tachi struck solidly against its body.
The king beast's physique was nearly impervious to blades and spears—but before a tachi wreathed in black flames, it was as fragile as tofu. Vast amounts of poisonous blood sprayed out.
Even nearby monsters were affected by that blood, growing weaker and weaker, as if their life force were being drained away.
"ROAR—!"
The king beast bellowed.
Gu Chen dodged the machine's laser fire. One beam slammed directly into the king beast's body.
Seizing the opening, Gu Chen brought his blade down in a vertical slash, cleaving the king beast in two.
The rear half of its body fell from the sky.
The front half tore open the void, trying to escape.
Another slash.
Gu Chen pierced its skull.
The king beast died completely.
He turned toward the cube-shaped automaton.
It lacked the ability to flee through the void. Gu Chen rushed in with a flash of blade light—
with a thunderous explosion, the machine detonated, taking countless monsters with it.
With the two major threats eliminated, Gu Chen finally turned his attention to the true source of the monster tide.
That deep pit.
Like a spring, it continued to spew out monsters.
Gu Chen guessed that the bottom of the pit had been transformed into something like a spatial tunnel, allowing monsters from elsewhere to pour through endlessly.
He raised his hand, and a blade light descended.
The black slash crashed into the pit.
Countless monsters and autonomous machines inside were annihilated.
The flow of monsters paused briefly—but in the next moment, even more surged forth.
Now that he understood the situation, Gu Chen lifted his tachi again.
The black flames burning on the blade intensified.
Power surged through his right arm. Gu Chen's expression hardened as he swung with all his might.
Boom!
A slash carrying terrifying might fell.
Earth, monsters, and machines alike were utterly fragile before it.
The original pit was transformed into a massive trench—nearly ten kilometers long and several hundred meters wide!
Black seeped out from within the trench, pouring forth endlessly.
This black substance looked like liquid, yet wasn't truly liquid.
It covered the surface of the soil and permeated deep beneath it.
Within the black calamity, monsters began to coalesce one by one.
This time, the monster tide formed much more slowly.
The calamity's speed of producing monsters was far inferior to the earlier, spring-like eruption.
Gu Chen stood by the trench, his expression grave.
"How is it?"
Kitsune Saiguu, still in her silver fox form, landed beside him and asked.
Gu Chen shook his head. "The spatial tunnel has collapsed, but it's like a broken water pipe—water still seeps up through the soil."
"So that's how it is…"
Kitsune Saiguu felt a headache coming on.
If this continued, wouldn't they have to deal with monsters forever?
"Is there any way to block it completely?" she asked.
Gu Chen shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know."
"Let's clear out the remaining monsters first. Once that's done, we'll think of a solution together," Kitsune Saiguu said.
Before her words had even settled—
The earth began to shake violently.
Soil soaked in blackness churned beneath the trench, as if massive amounts of water were surging underground, about to burst forth.
"Damn it!"
"This is going to be even worse. Is there really no way to stop it?!"
Kitsune Saiguu was furious.
"I don't know. I'll try cutting it again."
Gu Chen leapt into the sky.
Taking a deep breath, even greater power surged from his right arm.
He brought his blade down.
Boom—
The descending slash seemed capable of destroying everything.
The churning soil was erased under the blade light.
The trench's length and width didn't change—but what had once been hundreds of meters deep was now over a kilometer deep.
Gu Chen and Kitsune Saiguu, both possessing extraordinary vision, could clearly see what lay within.
Freshly blasted soil—yet after only a few breaths, it once again began seeping with black, ominous matter.
"Endless…"
Gu Chen's face grew pale, his expression heavy.
"Are you alright?"
Kitsune Saiguu asked with concern.
"I'm fine. I've just used this power too frequently. A short rest will be enough," Gu Chen shook his head.
Agonizing pain surged from his right arm, but his expression didn't change.
He had long grown accustomed to this level of pain.
"Are you sure? You look weak," Kitsune Saiguu said suspiciously.
"That's how it is when I use this power. I won't die," Gu Chen replied.
"…Alright."
Kitsune Saiguu said no more.
The other great yokai and shogunate soldiers continued fighting.
Gu Chen and Kitsune Saiguu moved quickly to support them.
Soon, all the monsters on the surface were completely wiped out.
The two returned to the edge of the trench.
Looking down, they saw black, viscous mist pooling within.
This time, no monsters could be seen.
But the black mist itself filled them with disgust.
"A very strange substance,"
Gu Chen observed for a moment, his expression serious.
"It seems to bring plagues and disease—and possibly has the ability to transform living beings into monsters."
"We must find a way to seal it!" Kitsune Saiguu said.
"The source comes from underground, from the void itself… It looks like space that's been gnawed away. Could it be the work of those wolf monsters?"
"So troublesome…"
Kitsune Saiguu had no means of repairing space.
Neither did Gu Chen.
Man and fox stared at each other in silence.
"How is it?"
Mikoshi Chiyo approached, dragging her exhausted body.
Her head felt heavy, her vision blurred.
She could barely make out Gu Chen and Kitsune Saiguu's figures.
"It's troublesome," Kitsune Saiguu replied, then noticed Chiyo's condition and asked worriedly,
"How are you?"
"Me?"
"I don't know."
Mikoshi Chiyo shook her head. She only felt terribly unwell.
If she had to describe it, it was like a severe cold.
Her mind was sluggish, her thoughts slow.
Aside from exhaustion, her body showed no other obvious problems.
"This is really a headache,"
Kitsune Saiguu sighed.
"Makoto and Ei still haven't returned. I don't know how things are going on their end."
"I suspect these things may have appeared elsewhere as well," Mikoshi Chiyo said.
At her words, both Gu Chen and Kitsune Saiguu stiffened.
"I'll go take a look,"
Gu Chen said immediately.
"That's fine," Kitsune Saiguu nodded.
Gu Chen departed at once.
After circling Narukami Island without finding abnormalities, he went on to the other islands.
Just as Mikoshi Chiyo had said, monster tides had indeed appeared elsewhere—
though their scale was far smaller than on Narukami Island.
Gu Chen began using his power.
Wherever he passed, a single slash erased the monsters.
He eventually reached the place where Orobashi had once been slain.
Here, the situation was especially severe.
Perhaps due to lingering resentment of the fallen god, the monsters were even more frenzied.
What reassured Gu Chen was that the strange black substance wasn't present here.
After hastily clearing the area, he went to Watatsumi Island.
Conditions there were also dire. After dealing with several powerful monsters, Gu Chen continued on to Seirai Island.
Seirai Island was saturated with Electro energy, still harboring a powerful Electro lifeform born of a fallen god's resentment.
It never left the island, so no one had dealt with it.
Perhaps because of Seirai's unique nature, the calamity there was far less intense than on Narukami Island.
Gu Chen then went to Tsurumi Island.
On Tsurumi Island, he encountered both autonomous machines and demonic wolves.
The slaughter there was absolute.
Everything living had been killed by those monsters.
After cutting down large numbers of enemies, Gu Chen's face grew even paler.
Only after taking a deep breath did he begin his return.
From departure to return, the entire journey took him three days.
When Gu Chen came back, he saw Kitsune Saiguu doing something by the trench.
"You're back?"
She glanced at him, then continued her work.
"All done. How are things here?"
Gu Chen looked into the trench.
In just three days, the black substance had grown thicker and more concentrated, bubbling constantly.
Beneath it, something seemed to be stirring.
"It's spreading faster. There are already cases of people being affected and going mad," Kitsune Saiguu said.
Gu Chen nodded silently—this was all within expectations.
"How's Mikoshi Chiyo?" he asked.
"Chiyo…"
Kitsune Saiguu paused, then said,
"Her mind has been severely affected. She occasionally becomes violent—most likely due to the poisoned blood. There's no cure for now."
Gu Chen sighed. Just as he raised his tachi, Kitsune Saiguu stopped him.
"What are you doing?"
"These things are all piling up. Of course I'm going to wipe some of them out," Gu Chen replied matter-of-factly.
"Not yet. You're already very weak. Using that power so frequently will cause trouble," Kitsune Saiguu said.
"Then we're just going to watch this stuff keep accumulating?" Gu Chen curled his lips.
"I have my own way," Kitsune Saiguu said.
"What way?" Gu Chen asked, surprised.
"Relax. It's definitely a once-and-for-all solution," Kitsune Saiguu said with a smile.
"Really?" Gu Chen looked doubtful.
"You'll see when the time comes."
"Alright then. What do you want me to do?" Gu Chen asked.
"As for you—go back to the Grand Narukami Shrine and check on the little fox. Also, there are plenty of books in the shrine. Go look through them and see if you can find a way to cure Chiyo," Kitsune Saiguu said, taking a puff of her pipe.
"Alright."
Seeing how confident Kitsune Saiguu looked, Gu Chen didn't press further and returned to the Grand Narukami Shrine.
The anxious little fox immediately felt reassured when she saw Gu Chen return.
After comforting her for a while, Gu Chen went to search through the shrine's books.
[Shikanoin Heizou]: I've got a bad feeling… Lady Kitsune Saiguu's "solution" doesn't sound like a good one. (Worried)
[Yae Miko]: She's not thinking of using herself to plug the calamity, is she?
[Kujou Sara]: Huh?!
[Raiden Ei]: It's possible!
[Nilou]: No, please don't! (Amber · Save me)
[Kujou Sara]: Senior Mikoshi Chiyo's condition is also very bad. (Worried)
[Collei]: Why hasn't Lady Ei come back yet? (Klee · Please)
[Raiden Ei]: Even if I came back, it wouldn't help. I can't solve this either. (Raiden Ei · Depressed)
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
While flipping through books, Gu Chen sensed a powerful fluctuation of energy.
He rushed to the edge of the shrine—and froze.
"So this is the solution Kitsune Saiguu was talking about?!"
In her silver fox form, Kitsune Saiguu activated the formation she had prepared. Carrying tremendous power, she dove deep into the trench.
Gu Chen flashed down into the depths as well.
"Kitsune Saiguu—using your own life to fill the calamity, this is your solution?"
Gu Chen asked in a low voice as he watched the source of the disaster retreat.
"At least… this is the only way," Kitsune Saiguu replied helplessly.
Deep within the trench, the calamity surged like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
"See? Something's already gone wrong. With your power alone, it's not enough," Gu Chen said.
"Then… can you still do it?" Kitsune Saiguu asked.
"Then I'll stake my life with you," Gu Chen sighed.
"After all, we're friends."
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