The fierce winds in the high altitude whipped at Seimei's kariginu. The young onmyoji, riding on a White Crane, soared through the sky above Ogura Pond, evading the sky-filling fire clouds and high-speed demonic flame Bullets.
"Where did this onmyoji brat come from! Meddling in others' affairs!"
Seeing Seimei suddenly appear and ruin her plans, Kaen appeared extremely furious. She spread her hands, and the fire clouds split into countless fire snakes, encircling Seimei from all directions, forming a constantly shrinking giant net of flames. Seimei was trapped within, with nowhere to escape.
Facing the incoming flames, Seimei's expression remained unchanged. He formed hand seals and silently chanted a spell.
"Red robes and golden armor, shield the body from fire..."
Seimei, riding the White Crane, charged into the fire clouds, then burst out from the other end, his entire body without a single trace of being burned or scorched. This made Kaen gasp in surprise.
It wasn't over yet. After bursting out of the fire clouds, Seimei, still on the White Crane, continuously ascended, slowly stopping only after his altitude far surpassed Kaen and the black fox yokai.
"What is that guy... trying to do flying so high?" Inside the barrier at the cave entrance below, Yura gathered spiritual power to restore her shikigami while observing the battle outside. She was somewhat perplexed by Seimei's current actions.
Above the firmament, Seimei stood on the White Crane's back, silently watching Kaen and the black fox yokai rapidly catching up below. Then, he pointed towards the sky.
Powerful spiritual power erupted from Seimei, converging at his fingertip, then transforming into a pale blue beam that shot straight into the sky. The clouds in the sky rapidly gathered under the pull of Seimei's spiritual energy, obscuring the night sky's stars and moon. Seeing this scene, Yura's heart tightened, and her mouth fell open.
"No, it can't be... Is this perhaps..."
Feeling the clouds gathering above, Seimei took a deep breath, then shouted loudly.
"Spiritual Tome of the Northern Emperor, command of heavenly might! Reverence to the Nine Heavens, gather the five thunders! Earth-shattering thunderbolt, slay demons and vanquish evil! As swift as the law commands!"
A muffled roar echoed from within the clouds, like a giant dragon turning over. As Seimei swept his sky-pointing hand downwards, a startling thunderclap exploded, and a stark white electric light fell from the cloud, piercing through layers of flames, accurately striking Kaen, who was flying in mid-air.
"Aaaah!"
Struck by the thunderbolt, Kaen screamed amidst the electric light, her entire body charred black, eyes rolled back, all her fur standing on end. Her whole body swayed precariously, as if about to fall at any moment.
The black fox yokai condensed another demonic flame Bullet in its mouth and sprayed it directly at Seimei. Seimei waved his hand, and a second bolt of lightning struck from the clouds, accurately hitting the demonic flame Bullet flying towards him, causing the entire bullet to explode in mid-air.
Without giving the black fox yokai time to prepare another attack, Seimei unleashed a third lightning strike. The bright electric light, like the claw of a blue dragon, struck the black fox yokai, which then let out a wail.
Seimei, standing high in the sky, gazed down at the ground. His eyes scanned the distance, spotting Kaen rapidly flying towards the northern end of the island.
"Faster... faster... faster... Blood Sacrifice Power! Blood Sacrifice Power!"
At this moment, Kaen, charred black all over, with large burns and not a single patch of unblemished skin, had a terrifying expression. She continuously muttered to herself, thinking only of more Blood Sacrifice Power. The automatic supply of Blood Sacrifice Power to her had suddenly stopped for some unknown reason, which not only diminished her strength but also prevented her from recovering quickly from her injuries.
Another bolt of thunder and fire exploded in the sky. Seimei unleashed a fourth lightning strike, accurately hitting Kaen as she fled. This caused Kaen to plummet directly from the sky, landing on the northern beach.
The black fox yokai, treading on fire, angrily charged straight into the sky. Seeing this, Seimei decisively unleashed a fifth thunderbolt. The black fox yokai was struck again, plummeting directly from the sky with large patches of scorched fur, disappearing into the dense forest of the island.
After five thunderbolts had struck, the forcibly gathered clouds in the sky slowly dispersed, revealing the stars and the moon once again. Both Kaen and the black fox yokai had now vanished from the sky, leaving only the white-robed youth standing above the firmament.
"So... so powerful. This is actually a Thunder Summoning Spell... How, how did he do it? He, he's clearly so young..." Inside the barrier, Yura stared blankly at Seimei in the sky, muttering to herself. She had witnessed the might of the heavenly thunder very clearly and couldn't believe that such a technique was unleashed by a boy roughly her age.
Yura had once considered herself exceptionally powerful, far surpassing the Onmyo-sei and other practitioners in the Onmyoryo, and even some official Onmyoji might not have been her match. Her deceased master had also called her a genius, and Yura had taken pride in this.
However, only now, after witnessing the power of this young man named Seimei, did she realize what true genius was... Suddenly, an indescribable sense of urgency arose in Yura's heart.
"I am... truly too weak right now..."
...
In the distant Heian-kyo, within the Minamoto Residence, Minamoto no Yorimitsu opened his eyes. A hint of coldness appeared on his still smiling face.
"Abe no Seimei has made his move. He used the Beichen Five Thunder Spell; the leopard cat yokai and the 'Beast' have both been struck down."
"Abe no Seimei! Kamo no Tadayuki made a move?" Hearing Minamoto no Yorimitsu's words, Minamoto no Mitsunaka's eyes widened, and he said in disbelief.
"No, if Kamo no Tadayuki truly knew about the situation here, it wouldn't just be Abe no Seimei who came. An attack on the Vermilion Bird Seal is no small matter," Minamoto no Yorimitsu continued.
"This should be Abe no Seimei's own action. Hmph, although Abe no Seimei is Kamo no Tadayuki's disciple, he is fundamentally not the type to merely obey others' wills. Kamo no Tadayuki cannot control him." Minamoto no Yorimitsu said, while fumbling in his sleeve for a moment before pulling out a wooden plaque carved into a human figure. Upon the plaque, layers of ropes were bound.
"What are you trying to do?" Seeing the wooden plaque his son produced, Minamoto no Mitsunaka frowned.
"Naturally, to turn the situation around. No matter how much of a genius Abe no Seimei is, he can't have much spiritual power left after using the Beichen Five Thunder Spell. We must seize this opportunity. With some luck, we might even make Kamo no Tadayuki suffer the loss of his beloved disciple." Minamoto no Yorimitsu placed the wooden plaque down, and it floated in mid-air.
Minamoto no Yorimitsu formed hand seals and began to silently chant a spell. The floating wooden plaque emitted light, and the ropes bound upon it automatically loosened slightly, continuing to hover around the plaque.
The loosened plaque revealed three Kanji characters carved upon it—Hakuzosu.
"Come... I'll loosen some of your restraints. Now, go bite that onmyoji to death... Lord of Dream Mountain!"
...
The golden flames gradually subsided. Tsuruha panted, looking at the hovering sphere of blood mist before her.
From the moment she learned through the contract that the battle underground had been resolved, Tsuruha had been continuously using her foxfire to burn this sphere of blood mist, attempting to evaporate it. However, to her surprise, this Blood Sacrifice Power was unexpectedly tenacious. Tsuruha had been burning it with foxfire until now, and only about half had evaporated.
"Hoo... hoo... What, what kind of strange power is this..."
Taking several deep breaths, Tsuruha intended to redouble her efforts and completely evaporate the sphere of blood mist before her. However, at that moment, accompanied by a clap of thunder in the sky, a figure trailing a long black shadow plummeted from the sky to the ground, coincidentally landing right in front of Tsuruha, within the hovering sphere of blood mist.
Submerged entirely in the blood mist, Kaen opened her eyes, which had turned crimson.
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