“Huff... huff...”
In the steamy hot spring, a series of heavy but extremely subtle breaths could be heard, barely noticeable.
“Hm?!”
Just as Kazama Ori was teasing her senior, Kanai, Tori Natsumi suddenly stood up and looked towards the hot spring wall. A single glance, and the girl was shocked, speechless, and simply stood there wrapped in her towel.
“What's wrong? Did someone try to peep?!”
Seeing her friend's reaction, Kazama Ori frowned, wrapped her own towel and was about to stand up, ready to yell at the perpetrator. But as she turned, she saw three giant, monstrous heads resting on the wall, their crimson eyes constantly scanning them, as if they were looking at a plate of food!
Seeing those monsters, Kazama Ori froze, just like Tori Natsumi, unable to move.
“What happened?”
Seeing the two girls' strange reactions, Kanai also turned her head in confusion. But when she saw the three monsters, her eyes widened in shock!
This place, there were actually monsters here!
“Run!”
Kanai reacted first, grabbing the two girls in front of her and running towards the hot spring entrance.
“Don't let them escape!”
Seeing this, Matoumaru growled, and the three monsters instantly broke through the wall, charging towards the girls.
At the crucial moment, a talisman paper figure flew in, transforming into a giant deer in the air, no weaker than the three monsters!
“Rokushin!”
Close behind was the shout of Kaedehara Yuzuru.
With the sound, the giant deer collided heavily with the three monsters. In just one round, the three monsters were sent flying by Rokushin!
“Shikigami?! Why is an Onmyoji here?”
Seeing the giant deer, Matoumaru was startled. Before he could react, the girl's angry voice reached his ears:
“You despicable monsters, attacking bathing girls!”
“Yuzuru!”
Seeing Kaedehara Yuzuru, the girls who thought they were going to die at the hands of the monsters immediately found their backbone. At Kaedehara Yuzuru's glance, they quickly hid behind her.
“Don't be afraid! Eat them, and claim credit to Lord Gyuki!”
Seeing the shikigami, Matoumaru leaped back onto a tree branch, waving his hand and ordering all the monsters.
Two monsters that had been waiting on the side also joined the battle. Three monsters charged towards Rokushin, while the other two pounced towards Kaedehara Yuzuru.
“Bukoku!”
Kaedehara Yuzuru didn't hesitate, waving her hand and throwing out another shikigami talisman, summoning a tall shikigami wielding a naginata and clad in armor.
As soon as Bukoku appeared, he swung his blade and repelled the two attacking monsters.
“Damn it! I hate these guys who use shikigami the most! They're even trying to steal the credit from Gyuki before me!”
Seeing that the girl could control two shikigami, Matoumaru instantly frowned in annoyance.
Two shikigami, although they could be dealt with, it would still waste too much time.
Just as Matoumaru was considering whether to leave, suddenly, a sword cry echoed in the night sky:
“Oom!”
With the sword cry, a golden light already tore through the darkness. In a blink of an eye, the golden light turned into golden lines, and the monsters cut by the golden lines all had their heads severed, blood splattering everywhere.
“Na... Nani?! What happened?!”
Matoumaru looked terrified, while the girls by the hot spring all looked confused and puzzled, except for Kaedehara Yuzuru!
She had seen the sword cry and the golden light just now! Moreover, she was incredibly familiar with it!
Immediately, Kaedehara Yuzuru's gaze searched constantly, trying to find the divine-like boy.
“Yo, didn't expect to run into you guys here, I thought you would arrive a few days or half a month later at this dilapidated place.”
Sitting on the roof of the inn, Nakano Yu waved his hand to recall the Tomewa Yusu, and greeted Kaedehara Yuzuru below.
Hearing the voice, Kaedehara Yuzuru immediately looked up, and seeing Nakano Yu's figure, her eyes gleamed as she responded:
“Mr. Nakano!”
“Tch! Another human Onmyoji?! So strong, in an instant...”
Seeing this, Matoumaru smacked his tongue and was about to find an opportunity to escape. However, just as he was about to leave, Nakano Yu's voice reached his ears:
“Hey, take me to see Gyuki?”
“Ha?! Human! Who allowed you to address Lord Gyuki directly?!”
Matoumaru turned and yelled at Nakano Yu with great dissatisfaction.
Seeing Matoumaru so arrogant, Nakano Yu stood up, his figure flashed, and he suddenly appeared next to Matoumaru.
“I said, even if Gyuki were here, he wouldn't dare to be so arrogant to me.”
Grasping Matoumaru's shoulder, Nakano Yu suddenly exerted force. The terrifying power applied to Matoumaru instantly made him unsteady, causing him to kneel down.
“Damn human!”
Matoumaru tried to resist, but his strength was insignificant to Nakano Yu, so he could only curse verbally.
“Hey, come out, take me to the mountain.”
Ignoring the foul-mouthed Matoumaru, Nakano Yu shouted towards the forest.
A blue bull-headed monster emerged from the forest, looking at Nakano Yu timidly.
“Okay, okay, sir.”
After meekly responding, the bull-headed monster bowed, motioning for Nakano Yu to climb on.
Nakano Yu didn't hesitate, picked up Matoumaru, and leaped onto the bull-headed monster.
“Well, little girl from the Kaedehara family, we'll see you later.”
Before leaving, the boy waved at Yuzuru and the others who were staring dumbfoundedly. Then he kicked the monster under him, and the monster, receiving the order, ran towards the mountaintop's Myouranji Temple with its three spider-like feet.
“Hey, Yuzuru... who was that guy?”
It wasn't until Nakano Yu was far away that the group finally regained their senses. Kazama Ori immediately approached Yuzuru and asked excitedly.
Kaedehara Yuzuru gazed towards the mountaintop, and after a moment, shook her head and said:
“I don't know either.”
...
“Hmm... there are guests on the mountain.”
On the mountaintop, within the Myouranji Temple, a middle-aged man dressed in elegant kimono, with shoulder-length hair covering his right face, sat on a cushion in the temple, opened his eyes from a meditative state, and muttered.
“Boom!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a bull-headed monster burst through the temple wall, crashing in, followed by the loud shouts of Matoumaru:
“Lord Gyuki! This guy dared to be disrespectful to you! Quickly punish him!”
“Matoumaru, shut your mouth!”
Gyuki growled, stood up, and faced the uninvited guest who had arrived at the Myouranji Temple.
“You are... an Onmyoji? Such a powerful aura, even the Seimei of a thousand years ago couldn't make me feel this heart-pounding.”
“I don't know where Matoumaru offended you?”
Looking at Nakano Yu dressed in casual clothes, with an air of nonchalance, Gyuki looked solemn.
“I'm not really an Onmyoji, strong... I should be quite strong. As for this guy, he suddenly attacked my inn and yelled at me, almost injuring my friend.”
Nakano Yu said, glancing at Matoumaru, the coldness in his eyes instantly silenced Matoumaru who had been chattering incessantly.
“So, you mean...”
Hearing this, Gyuki's eyes narrowed, and he slowly drew the sword at his waist.
“You're really protective, aren't you? But knowing you can't win, are you still going to make a move?”
Nakano Yu said, throwing Matoumaru behind him, his hand flipped, and the holy sword Tomewa Yusu also appeared in his hand.
“I just want to see how strong humans are now.”
Gyuki snorted coldly, and with that, he flashed towards Nakano Yu.
......