Chapter 106

Uesugi Toru blinked, discovering that this time the prompt that popped up was not just a single short line.

【Ai Betsuri · Ten Thousand Transformations One (Three-Star)】

【Talent: Self-Knowledge, Peek Heart】

【Self-Knowledge: Centering on one's own body, Ai Betsuri can achieve broad-range or even Refining Detail spiritual Control.】

【Peek Heart: Ai Betsuri can see through the emotional fluctuations in the hearts of all humans, yokai, gods, ghosts, and Yaoguai.】

He could also see that behind Ai Betsuri's clone of that salaryman male, there followed ten-odd ordinary people, some startled, some weeping, some angry.

Girls, youths, women, elders...

But without exception, none of them could Control their own bodies.

In the desolate ruins specially cleared out with Earth Path Yin-Yang Technique, Ai Betsuri revealed a delighted smile, and toward Nanjo Ai not far away, who was Expressionless, said,

"Although I've seen the name many times already, in Reality this should still be our first meeting, right, Little Ai?"

Wearing the salaryman male's appearance, she bowed slightly toward Nanjo Ai, but when her waist bent Halfway, she couldn't help letting out a greedy Mumble: "Ah... what a beautiful heart, just like a black Mandala, surging, Intense, yet incomparably calm."

"Mm, although I feel it's unlikely."

Ai Betsuri winked playfully at her, turned sideways to display the ten-odd ordinary people behind her: "But I still have to specially ask, Little Ai, are you willing to surrender for their sake?"

Nanjo Ai did not answer, merely Snapped Fingers Expressionlessly,

"Water Path · Blood Explosion Technique."

The next moment, including Ai Betsuri's this salaryman clone, everyone went bang and exploded into a mist of blood in an instant, only Zero-Star bone fragments and blood Tissue splashing into the Seams of the Gravel.

This is the swiftest, and also the most painless, way to die.

Ordinary people's Nerves didn't even have time to transmit signals of "Fear" and "Pain" before they were blown to smithereens.

But in a few Seconds, another childish voice drilled out.

"Ahaha~ So Ruthless to your own kind too, Little Ai? The people I met before would at least Hesitate a bit, you know."

Nanjo Ai turned her gaze, and a little girl wearing a floral dress entered her Vision.

In Uesugi Toru's Vision a prompt popped up again——【Ai Betsuri · Ten Thousand Transformations One (One-Star)】.

It possessed the same Talents as the previous salaryman clone, only the Rank differed by a lot.

"Don't rush to act now..."

The little girl put her hands behind her back, revealing a sunny, cheerful smile.

She clapped her hands: "Everyone—— we've arrived at the amusement park!"

Thereupon, dozens of children merely six or Seven Years Old, blinking innocent big eyes, cheerfully came before this "amusement park" of dazzling lights.

In the distance, Uesugi Toru, who had just protected a kindergarten, Subconsciously gripped the Sword Hilt, making the girl in front of him shrink back.

But she soon mustered Courage and said,

"Nice Ghost Mister, we won't run around and cause trouble for you, so please Don't Get Angry."

Uesugi Toru fell silent.

"——Stalling will only make you lose faster, Ai Betsuri."

Nanjo Ai tilted her head in Confusion: "Do you think bringing more innocent ordinary people will make me waver even a shred?"

"Don't put it like that, psychological warfare is a very important link for me too."

The girl covered her mouth and giggled: "Maybe, just maybe. After all, to me they're just disposable materials found everywhere; if it can make even a shred of guilt appear in Little Ai's heart, that counts as success."

Ai Betsuri could Peek into Nanjo Ai's heart; that was a heart she had never seen before, a world Rare and Tasty heart.

Beneath that shell calm as an Antarctic ice surface, lay hidden absolute confidence, arrogance that looked down on everything, and a "Correctness" as if having received Heaven's Mandate.

——"I Am Correct."

What's regrettable is that such a beautiful, Powerful heart was seamlessly self-sealed, not letting her taste even a shred of leaked emotional fluctuation, even though myriad emotions surged ceaselessly within that heart.

This situation of only being able to admire from afar but not profane almost drove Ai Betsuri mad.

——If she could swallow this heart, then all other schemes and plans would become unimportant.

This one heart alone could let Ai Betsuri in an Instant ascend to the Ghost God realm.

So No Matter what price, what loss, Ai Betsuri didn't care anymore.

She only wanted to eat that heart.

"Earth Path · Earth Devour Technique."

Amid violent Tremors, giant snakes formed of condensed earth and stone surged from underground, their tens-of-meters-long bodies undulating; in mere Seconds they swallowed all those clapping, cheering children into their Stomachs.

Then, a stretch of silence.

"——If you think doing this works on me, then Come On."

Nanjo Ai spoke calmly: "Be it ten, Hundred, Thousand, or ten Thousand... or more, however many come I'll kill that many."

She lowered her head and stroked a fingernail, casually saying,

"In the end, I'll kill you——Ai Betsuri."

Bang!

The girl's body likewise exploded into a cluster of blood mist, scattering on the Wind.

"Too Ruthless, Little Ai, I'm even starting to Suspect whether you're human at all."

Fine Raindrops fell; a woman with long white hair walked out from somewhere, puzzledly tapping her head.

One, ten, Hundred...

Hundreds, even thousands of white-haired women slowly Walked Out, Encirclement Nanjo Ai in the center of the ruins.

They spoke in unison: "But peeling open an iron-like heart layer by layer, then savoring the Shiretsu emotions within, isn't a bad alternative pleasure either."

All the Ai Betsuri gazed salivatingly at that woman standing towering and unmoving, who even had the leisure to light a Cigarette, and simultaneously said,

"Unification."

An ethereal voice rippled outward, and all the Aibetsuri figures began to turn illusory — only one of them remained as clear as before.

In the Hyakume Oni Medama's vision, a prompt popped up, blood-red and nearly filling half the sky.

——【Aibetsuri: Ban Ka Ki Ichi】

【Aibetsuri: Ban Ka Ki Ichi (Three-Star Half)】

【Talents: Self-Knowledge, Peek Heart, Ban Ka, Molding.】

【Ban Ka: Aibetsuri can freely split its own body and consciousness, forming brand-new individuals. At the same time, it can freely recall all individuals into itself, gaining the growth and memories those individuals accumulated during the separation.】

【Molding: Aibetsuri can arbitrarily remodel flesh and soul.】

Nine heads and eighteen pupils gazed down from the high heavens; crimson feathers drifted slowly through the air, and the baleful oni aura corroded the surrounding earth and stone to nothing in an instant.

Mountain-like shadows drooped down, causing quite a few Onmyoji who had noticed this place in the distance to involuntarily break out in cold sweat.

Kisha!

The moment it achieved Ki Ichi, Aibetsuri molded itself into a legendary Great Demon.

Pitch-black flames surged from Aibetsuri's nine giant mouths like a tide, completely submerging Nanjo Rituna's figure in the blink of an eye.

"How about it, little..."

Before Aibetsuri could even laugh, it felt a sharp pain in the center of its neck — the dozen-meter-long neck and head snapped apart with a tearing sound.

Nanjo Rituna stood expressionless behind the nine-headed Great Demon, retracting the Kinkou no Yaiba that stretched several meters.

Several spell formations representing Onmyojutsu activation lit up beneath her feet in an instant.

Every wisp of Spirit Power flowed from her fingertips into one formation after another — whether her own Spirit Power or that borrowed from Heaven and Earth, not a single fraction leaked or went to waste.

Therefore, Aibetsuri couldn't even tell from the Spirit Power fluctuations that it had already been enveloped by multiple Onmyojutsu.

"Lou Ke Subjective Time Slow."

"Tian Wen Binding Dragon Lock."

"Yin Yang Bestow God."

Before the remaining eight heads could even twist around, chains thick as pillars and supple as dragons burst from beneath Aibetsuri's feet.

Those pitch-black chains seemed to possess consciousness of their own, weaving out from amid Aibetsuri's clumsy strikes and breath attacks.

Then, they bound it tight!

"Roar—!"

The Kisha that Aibetsuri had become let out a terrified howl, its body larger than a high-rise building writhing nonstop.

Earth-shaking.

Nanjo Rituna stood in midair, face pale, drawing a deep breath as a formless, substanceless blade coalesced in her hand.

"Great Yin-Yang Art: Goryo Shousatsu."

Slash!

……

Uesugi Toru silently gazed at the images transmitted by the Hyakume Oni Medama.

A moment later, he took out a black Black Wrath God Mask from his Storage Space.

This was the highest-spec mask among those Katsumi had given him; according to Katsumi, it was a mask used only for deals worth at least fifty thousand points of Soul Ash.

Correspondingly, Katsumi would also rush to the scene at the fastest speed.

Uesugi Toru did not hesitate, lightly fastening it onto his own pale Hannya Mask.

Ding-ling~

Like the sound of a wind chime swaying slowly outward, Uesugi Toru — already walking alone into a half-collapsed classroom — waited without a word.

In less than a minute, the wind chime rang again.

Appearing along with the wind chime sound was a Straw Doll in the shape of Katsumi, wearing a God of Wealth Hat on its head and holding a Folding Fan, standing on the Window Sill.

The Straw Doll looked around in puzzlement, finally letting its gaze settle on Uesugi Toru.

It made a rustling sound in puzzlement: "You are... Toru-sama?"

Uesugi Toru, wearing the Black Wrath God Mask, looked at him: "It's me."

"You..." Katsumi hesitated a moment, then stepped back half a pace, his tone turning cold in the end, "You should know the value of fifty thousand Soul Ash."

"Fifty thousand Soul Ash is indeed precious."

Uesugi Toru nodded: "But compared to a deal involving one of the Eight Sufferings, what is its value?"

"Eight Sufferings!?"

Katsumi cried out, the Straw Doll trembling violently several times before calming down again.

He hurried forward and grabbed Uesugi Toru's sleeve, asking urgently: "But Birth, Aging, Sickness..."

"Aibetsuri."

Uesugi Toru cut off Katsumi's words, pointing toward the distant wasteland — no longer even worthy of being called ruins — where explosions, Spirit Tides, and all manner of Great Demon shadows kept emerging.

"My companion is fighting Aibetsuri right now; they might win. But once the outcome appears, win or lose, Aibetsuri will flee this place."

"When the tide arrives then, there won't be a rare opportunity like the one right before our eyes."

He stared at the Straw Doll: "Doesn't Boss Katsumi want to add to his collection..."

"Toru-sama!"

The Straw Doll nearly jumped off the Window Sill: "The Eight Sufferings lot — everyone has the right to execute them! Why would I need to discuss collecting or not collecting with you?!"

Huh?

Uesugi Toru, who had originally planned to move Katsumi with lines like "unique collection" and "fame of slaying an Eight Sufferings," froze and shut his mouth.

Looks like Katsumi has quite a deep hatred with the Eight Sufferings.

This is an unexpected delight.

The Straw Doll pounded its chest hard, its voice rising with fervor: "Whatever Toru-sama needs, just say the word!"

Uesugi Toru plucked the heartstring to have the Two-Shaku Adult on the rooftop issue a curse-location, and after receiving the latter's successful reply, he said: "I need one item—a prop that can directly reach the marked target, ignoring distance."

"Wait a moment."

The Straw Doll thrust both hands into the small leather pouch at its waist, as if searching for something.

A few seconds later, Katsumi took out from it a copper arrowhead larger than the leather pouch itself, with black-red bloodstains still clinging to it, looking quite ominous.

Uesugi Toru took the arrowhead, and his skin actually felt a faint stinging pain.

【Nail Head Seven Arrows Nail】

【Quality: Super Epic】

【Effect: After use, will instantly teleport within ten meters of the locked target.】

【Note: Cannot lock on without the corresponding accessory. Cannot perform curse-killing without the corresponding accessory. Curse-killing power weakened without the corresponding accessory. Currently only teleportation is available.】

【——Between heaven and earth, none can escape this arrow.】

"This item should satisfy Toru-sama's request; I shall take my leave now." The Straw Doll bowed, "The tide has not yet arrived; lingering too long in this world will damage this precious incarnation."

"When we meet again, Toru-sama need only report good news to me."

Amid the rattling of wind chimes, Katsumi departed.

Uesugi Toru gripped the arrowhead in his hand, and through the Hundred-Eyed Demon's eyeball saw Nanjo Ai, whose chest was nearly half-pierced through.

——That was the injury inflicted when Ai Parting Li, transformed into a ghost carriage and slain by her, backstabbed Nanjo Ai from behind at the moment everyone thought everything was over.

At the same time, Uesugi Toru could see the third panel of Ai Parting Li after 【Ten Thousand Transformations One】 and 【Ten Thousand Transformations Return to One】—

【Ai Parting Li · Ten Thousand Transformations Red Tide】

【Talent: Self-Knowledge, Heart-Viewing, Ten Thousand Transformations, Shaping, Red Tide, Void Escape, Ai Parting Li.】

【Red Tide: Planting, Blooming, Scattering Pollen, Bearing Fruit. Ai Parting Li can draw the emotions of the "fruit-bearing" seed to use as its own nourishment.】

【Void Escape: Ai Parting Li can instantly transfer itself into any "fruit-bearing" seed. Can only be used once within a short time.】

【Ai Parting Li: Ai Parting Li can drag the target into the most moving parting of this life, attaching a thousandfold sensation, and draw the emotions within as its own nourishment.】

"Can Three-Star Half reach such a level……"

Uesugi Toru recalled his battle with the wax figure in Edo Castle.

Though the opponent was overwhelmingly oppressive, with terrifying strength and speed, two strikes could cleave him in two, counting as an extremely strong rival.

But compared to those two figures, it was hardly worth mentioning.

In silence, Uesugi Toru suddenly discovered that the radiance constantly blooming in his vision vanished abruptly.

——It's over?!

The end of the volume is too hard to write, feels like it wasn't written well either

Anyway, this little plot will be wrapped up in two chapters! Entering the Second Volume after the tide arrives!

The update was delayed a bit, sorry miao

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