Chapter 621: 207. Natsuki Kuri + Tamamo-no-Mae, double the happiness...
The white clouds drift drunkenly across the sky, covering the earth.
The edge of a bright light appears on the cliff, with white morning mist floating among the dark pine trees, as if steam were flowing.
Fujiwara Reya’s gaze looks down from the sky, the horizon gradually rising.
Upon entering the core area of the Nasu Plateau, countless volcanoes rise bizarrely from the ground, the peaks piercing the waves of cloud layers. In many cavernous stone houses of the mountain walls, stone-carved monks sit cross-legged.
Some have wrathful expressions, some appear compassionate, some have already merged with the mountains.
These are the magic artifacts used to suppress Tamamo-no-Mae.
But at this moment, the core area is filled with a violent aura, with volcanoes trembling in every direction and the air saturated with the scent of sulfur. In the intense vibrations, one stone-carved monk after another shatters.
In such a dangerous environment, there are still scattered priests and monks battling against the invading fox demons.
The ground is littered with numerous large corpses.
Fujiwara Reya flies over the battlefield.
His eyes are clear and cold, like moonlight cast on snow, overlooking them.
Among the crowd, he sees the figure of the Tsuchimikado Family Head.
His brow is tightly knit, his expression extremely grave.
It seems this Family Head is still very apprehensive about the coming emergence of the fox demon Tamamo-no-Mae.
A fox’s cry echoes from the mountains.
A massive red blood fox phantom roars atop the highest volcano.
"Boom!"
Rolling lava erupts forth.
The peaks of several nearby mountains turn dark red, and the lush pine forests ignite like candles.
The sky transforms into a bloody hue.
The blood-like color reflects on the scarlet land.
The Tsuchimikado Family Head grits his teeth.
He sees Fujiwara Reya and shouts: "Please, Mr. Fujiwara!"
The uneasy atmosphere in the air intensifies again, with the demonic fox stirring restlessly.
A tidal wave of flames rushes in, and Fujiwara Reya turns and dives, plummeting into the volcano’s crater.
At the same time, the priests and monks on the ground once again unleash a torrent of incantations.
On the left is a flow of divine power entwined with blue light, on the right is a golden and brilliant purple demonic power flame, the two forces collide and erupt fiercely.
The roaring mountain winds, raging lava, waterfall-like chantings, and the blood fox’s roar... The Nasu Plateau before their eyes has become an inferno, and eventually, everything will settle; the onlookers need only await the story’s ultimate conclusion.
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Below the Toumoto volcano crater.
This is a bizarre space, filled with crimson lava above and below, left and right, yet eerily suspended mid-air, resembling flowing blood - extremely glaring and scorching.
The Killing Stone is here.
This world’s strongest seal, after millennia, is riddled with cracks on its surface.
Entering through the cracks into the interior of the Killing Stone, reveals another world.
Yayako falls in, her feet landing on the ground.
The surrounding stone walls begin to rustle, as if some ancient formation has sensed an intruder.
"Boom!"
Several streams of crimson lava erupt from the stone walls, pouring down.
Yayako casually flicks her wrist.
Nine tails emerge from beneath her, tightly wrapping around her like a shield. The lava falls on those tails, causing the glossy white fox fur to curl slightly, but failing to break the defense.
"It’s indeed something from over a thousand years ago, its power long gone..."
Yayako laughs lightly.
She channels her demonic power, swimming over the lava like a mermaid passing by by chance, heading for the core region of the Killing Stone.
Along the way, the sound of breaking formations is incessant, completely unable to stop this intruder. As she gets closer to the core, the passage becomes wider, and on the barriers on either side, statues of Buddhas, weapons, densely packed like seaweed, can occasionally be seen; all have decayed and lost their original magic power.
As she twists and turns, numerous interconnected caves appear before her like a beehive.
Yayako navigates through the passage, sensing the path of the internal demonic power flow, and locks onto a certain space. Her figure moves, heading there quickly, arriving soon at the front of a grand palace.
The majestic and grandiose dark red palace stands shrouded in mist, Yayako drops down from above, her garments billowing in the wind behind her.
The once glorious palace is now in ruins.
The once solemn and magnificent palace is now shrouded in eternal darkness, with swirling winds and sand, all is silent and vast.
Yayako’s magnificent silhouette blends into the gray mist in front of the great hall.
In front of the chipped and peeling grand doors, remnants of guard statues stand tall and proud, silently guarding their master, like fish in the sea guarding a once-prosperous city now buried deep beneath the ocean.
This is Tamamo-no-Mae’s sleeping quarters.
When she was sealed, she and her quarters were suppressed together within the Killing Stone.
Yayako floats past slowly, her fingers lightly brushing the fox statue at the door.
With just the slightest push, the statue collapses with a crash, shattering to powder on the ground.
"Ah, how pitiful..." she mocked with a laugh.
Suddenly, the air flow becomes chill and thick.
The wind carries sand, tainted with an ominous aura.
"Oh, is it getting angry..." Yayako chuckles softly and pushes the large door open directly.
"Clip-clop, clip-clop~"
A little black fox greets her.
"Lord Yayako, please follow me..." the little fox says to her and turns to lead the way.
The door behind slowly closes.
Hope your body doesn’t disappoint me... Yayako licks her dry lips, and as the palace door closes, her imposing fox tails flutter up and she enters the palace interior.