Staring at the figure who had suddenly appeared and stepped squarely in front of Tamazuki, Nura Rikuo and the others instinctively halted their forward charge, shock written all over their faces.
They simply couldn't imagine why Yuto would show up here—and the words he had just spoken made them uneasy as well.What shocked them even more was the group of yokai that appeared behind him.
Wasn't that the Shikoku Seven?
If that was the case… did that mean Yuto and Tamazuki were actually on the same side?Had they been wrong all along? Had Yuto also taken part in the killing of Sarugami?
That line of thought was overturned almost immediately—because Yuto and Tamazuki were already fighting each other.
At the same time, Kejoro Kinu returned to Rikuo's side. Recalling what she had just experienced, her heart was still pounding.
Kejoro was stronger than most ordinary yokai, but she was only about on par with Tsurara—still a step below the first-tier elites of the Nura Clan like Kurotabo.
There was no doubt about it: if Tamazuki, in his berserk state, had truly decided to kill her and the Hooked Needle Woman, they would have had no chance of survival. Even Rikuo and the others behind them might not have arrived in time to save them.
Kejoro and the Hooked Needle Woman had already been fighting for quite a while, both worn down. And Tamazuki's current yokai power was nothing like before—if he had singled them out, even running away would have been a luxury.
"Young master… what should we do now?"
The fodder yokai Tamazuki had brought were already almost completely wiped out by the Nura Clan. All that remained now was Tamazuki himself—and the Shikoku Seven, whose allegiance was unclear.
Seeing Hand-Washing Demon, the Hooked Needle Woman, and the others standing opposite them, Kurotabo and the rest raised their guard.
The Shikoku Seven were notorious; they'd heard of them before. They were supposed to be Tamazuki's most trusted subordinates. But now Hand-Washing Demon and Nekomata were standing together, and that left everyone confused.
If the Shikoku Seven had truly joined the Kidouin faction, then why had the Hooked Needle Woman attacked them earlier?
"The Nura Clan, please don't misunderstand," the Samurai Spirit stepped forward and spoke calmly."We did not come with hostile intentions. The Shikoku Seven from Shikoku actually attacked us first. The ones who survived have already abandoned the darkness and joined our Kidouin.As for the Hooked Needle Woman's actions—that was her own reckless behavior. Our lord will give you an explanation shortly."
As he spoke, the Samurai Spirit glanced at the wary Rikuo and the others.
The Hooked Needle Woman herself, despite having been saved by Yuto, looked completely hollow—her soul seemingly torn from her body.
She never could have imagined that the one she had devoted herself to with absolute loyalty would, at the very end, try to kill her and use her as nourishment for the Demon King's Little Hammer.
The expressions of Cliff Imp and Hand-Washing Demon weren't much better.
Compared to the Hooked Needle Woman, however, the two of them felt a grim sense of relief. The deeper the loyalty, the sharper the pain when betrayal came.
"Why… why is this happening?! My power is clearly greater!"
At the center of the battlefield, Yuto and Tamazuki were already locked in a vicious clash. The shockwaves from their battle swept everything around them aside.
The surrounding yokai retreated again and again—one stray slash from the fight was enough to kill them on the spot.
"Your swordsmanship is crude," Yuto said coolly. "You're just swinging wildly, with no technique at all.You have powerful yokai energy and a decent weapon, yet you can't turn either of them into true strength."
With ease, Yuto deflected the Demon King's Little Hammer. His Nichirin Blade came crashing down, carving a deep gash across Tamazuki's body.
As the fight dragged on, the number of wounds on Tamazuki continued to grow. Meanwhile, Yuto remained calm and composed from start to finish, as though the battle were nothing more than a casual exercise.
His terrifying combat prowess left Rikuo and the others speechless—and was utterly unacceptable to Tamazuki.
Tamazuki could clearly sense it: Yuto's yokai energy was indeed stronger than Rikuo's, but only around a B+ level at most.
That was nothing compared to his own A–class power.
So why—why was he the one being beaten? Why was he the one bleeding?
"A sword is a partner," Yuto said. "A weapon to break through enemies and cut them down.But right now, you're nothing more than its puppet.In terms of raw yokai energy, you might have a slight edge—but to defeat someone like you, I don't even need to transform. This is more than enough."
He raised his blade.
"Let me show you what true swordsmanship is.Hear the howl of the divine wind—Swift as the wind, shattering the army… Gale Rush: Break the Vanguard!"
Powerful yokai energy surged along the circulation path of the Yokai Breathing Technique. At that moment, the surrounding winds seemed to converge toward a single point.
In the next instant, a slash wrapped in a roaring gale burst forth from Yuto's blade.
The attack was enormous—fast, sharp, and unstoppable, carrying the defining traits of a raging wind. It cut through every obstacle in its path as if sweeping the battlefield clean.
The pale green slash skimmed across the ground, carving a deep trench as it screamed toward Tamazuki.
Tamazuki wanted to dodge—but the attack's speed and sheer breadth left him no room. Turning his back would only expose him further.Blocking head-on was his only option.
After all, the opponent's yokai energy was only B+.Tamazuki refused to believe that an attack from someone so far below him could overpower him.
Gripping the Demon King's Little Hammer, he charged straight into the massive green slash. The collision sent sparks flying everywhere.
But the struggle didn't last long.
Moments later, blood sprayed into the air—along with a severed arm.
"AAAAAAAH—!"
A horrific scream echoed as the arm spun through the air before crashing to the ground. It was Tamazuki's right arm—the one that had been holding the Demon King's Little Hammer.
After striking its target, the colossal slash continued onward, cleaving through the entire plaza. It finally shattered into countless wind blades, ravaging the surroundings once more before fading away completely.
As for the result—
Tamazuki, clutching his severed arm and collapsing onto the ground while screaming in agony, said everything that needed to be said.
"So… that's Yuto's Fear?" Rikuo muttered.
The Nura Clan members watching from the sidelines were completely stunned. Just moments ago, they'd been debating whether to step in and help Yuto.
After all, Tamazuki's power had skyrocketed after slaughtering so many yokai. The aura he gave off was undeniably stronger than Yuto's.
Yet the fight, brief as it was, defied every expectation.
They had only managed to fight Tamazuki to a stalemate—yet Yuto had defeated him alone.
What Rikuo found hardest to accept was this:
Yuto's yokai energy was clearly weaker than Tamazuki's.
After being utterly dominated by Yuto once before, Rikuo had come to firmly believe in Yuto's so-called "absolute yokai energy theory."
So what was this?
Hadn't Yuto himself said that when yokai energy overwhelmingly surpassed an opponent's, any Fear was nothing but a gimmick?
Then what was that massive slash that had just severed Tamazuki's arm?
Rikuo felt deceived.
And after witnessing Yuto's strength again, he realized something painful—his recent efforts hadn't closed the gap between them at all.
Instead, they had made him understand that Yuto's fight with him at the old school building hadn't even counted as a warm-up.
Because watching Yuto fight Tamazuki now, his composure was almost identical to how he'd been back then.
The only difference was that final, all-cleaving wind slash.
Rikuo guessed that must be Yuto's Fear.
In this world, a yokai's racial ability was referred to as Fear.And Rikuo believed that the technique Yuto had unleashed—Swift as the Wind—was likely his clan's Fear.
That assumption was shattered almost immediately by the Nekomata girl beside him, who scoffed openly.
"That wasn't Lord Yuto's Fear at all. It was simply swordsmanship—something Lord Yuto mastered himself.Against a third-rate opponent like that, Lord Yuto doesn't even need to use his Fear."
Tamazuki—who had once suppressed several of the Nura Clan's main fighters on his own—had just been dismissed as "third-rate."
The expressions on Rikuo and the others' faces turned incredibly awkward.
But what shocked them even more was the implication behind her words.
That terrifying slash… wasn't an innate ability?
It was a technique learned afterward?
No—more disturbingly…
Could human swordsmanship really be that absurdly powerful?
With his right arm gone, Tamazuki had lost hold of the Demon King's Little Hammer. The power coursing through his body began to drain away at a visible rate.
In truth, Yuto's "absolute yokai energy theory" wasn't entirely wrong.
One reason Tamazuki couldn't block that final slash was that Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain unleashed through the Yokai Breathing Technique was, in a sense, Yuto's strongest move. Its power far exceeded what his raw yokai energy alone should have allowed.
The other reason was simpler: Tamazuki's A–class power came from external force. It was hollow—strong on the outside, fragile within.
Failing to withstand Yuto's strongest attack was only natural.
Still, Tamazuki crawled desperately toward the Demon King's Little Hammer on the ground. The power it had given him had become an addiction—he couldn't bear to lose it.
"So you've become a slave to power," Yuto said quietly. "In that case… I'll see you off myself."
He walked toward Tamazuki, raising his Nichirin Blade high.
Just then, an aged voice rang out—
"Young man, could you grant this old one a favor… and spare the life of my disappointing son?"
..
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