Chapter 295: Ibaraki-dÅji
As Tokugawa Daliang finished forming the hand seal, the spiritual pressure around him surged to its peak.
The ground cracked inch by inch under the invisible force, and the surrounding Exorcist Division agents were forced to retreat.
At the epicenter, crimson demonic energy burst into the sky.
Tokugawa Daliangâs eyes flew open as he held his sword with both hands, bowing deeply in kneeling worship.
The Tokugawa family held a forbidden technique known as the Reverse Summoning Ritual. OnmyÅji typically had three ways of dealing with demons and monsters: annihilation, sealing, and banishment. The thirdâbanishmentâwas only used when facing overwhelmingly powerful creatures and often required the sacrifice of many OnmyÅji to successfully exile a single monster.
And even then, there was still a chance the monster would return.
The so-called Reverse Summoning Ritual was about bringing back the banished.
The Tokugawa family had once used this technique to fight the heavily armed U.S. military to mutual destruction. The summoned monster had taken a direct hit from a nuclear blastâfalling silent in the aftermathâbut it also happened to spare the Tokugawa family from extinction.
But he could use the Reverse Summoning Ritual to connect with Osakaâs Hyakki YagyÅ.
Drawn by the ritualâs energy, the resulting spatial rift would be immediately sensed by the most powerful nearby demon.
How strong the summoned demon might beâTokugawa Daliang had no idea. It was basically like pulling a random item from a blind box.
The summoned monster would attack indiscriminately, which was exactly why his subordinates were all terrified.
But it was also the only way to survive now.
âLet me show you the demons of Neon!â
Tokugawa Daliang focused and shouted, a mist of blood spraying from his mouth: âOpen!â
BOOMâ!
A crimson rift tore open above his head. A pale giant claw, covered in red runes, reached out from the rift, gripping its edge. With a crack, it tore the portal wider, revealing a monstrous face and golden beast-like pupils.
âMmmâ! The scent of humans!â
The creatureâs language was twisted and ancient, yet every word echoed clearly in everyoneâs minds, easily understood.
The monster pushed its head out of the spatial rift. Fiery orange-red hair whipped wildly behind it. Crimson bull horns curved from both sides of its skull. A massive mouth stretched across half its face, filled with fangs that gleamed menacingly under the twilight sky.
It wore a tattered samurai armor on its upper body, exposing a broad chest covered in blood-red demonic tattoos.
The moment they saw the creatureâs faceâ
Tokugawa Daliang stood frozen in place, eyes wide, as if something had stuck in his throat.
âIbaraki-dÅji?â Zhao Yingâs face darkened. This was bad.
Ever since the Hyakki YagyÅ erupted in Osaka, all sorts of legendary demons from Neonâs mythology had emerged.
And Ibaraki-dÅji was one of them. Legend said he was the subordinate of Shuten-dÅjiâimmensely powerful, nearly impervious to blades or bullets. Arrogant, brutal, yet cunningânot just brute force but also a formidable schemer. A top-tier demon.
The joint task system between Neon and Huazone hadnât been updated in ages.
It was likely Neonâs OnmyÅji organizations were overwhelmed and could no longer manage system updates. Based on last weekâs expired data, Ibaraki-dÅji had been ranked as Marshal-Level upon arrival, same as the Demonic Blade.
Since then, he had wreaked havoc across Neonâhis power had undoubtedly soared.
Zhao Ying herself was now at Marshal-Level.
And yet, even with Ibaraki-dÅji not fully emerged from the rift, she could already feel the crushing pressure.
That meant Ibaraki-dÅji was at least Marshal-Level⦠possibly even King-Level!
âOh? So youâre the one who summoned me, little bug from the Tokugawa clan,â Ibaraki-dÅji's gaze landed on Tokugawa Daliang, a wicked grin tugging at his lips. He stepped out, slamming a massive foot to the ground.
BANGâ!
The ground buckled violently.
Blood and flesh splattered, drenching the Neon agents nearby.
âSummoning me comes at a cost. Your lives will do! Heh heh!â
Under Ibaraki-dÅjiâs oppressive presence, the Tokugawa OnmyÅji could only watch in horror as his foot came downânone could even move.
Once all the summoners had been crushedâ
Ibaraki-dÅji suddenly spun around, his savage gaze locking onto Zhao Ying and her group.
Only then did he have time to observe his surroundingsâon nearby storefronts were familiar yet unfamiliar block-style characters. Ibaraki-dÅji froze, pupils narrowing into slitsâwhere the h*ll had he been summoned to?
Could it beâHuaxia?!
âHey, woman. Is this the Huazone?â
Ibaraki-dÅji turned his head toward Zhao Ying and the others.
âThatâs right. This is indeed the Huazone,â Zhao Ying replied. Sheâd used the moment he was slaughtering to evacuate all Exorcists below Marshal-Level. Now only a dozen remainedâeither Marshal or Pre-Marshal ranks.
Only they might have a chance of contending with Ibaraki-dÅji.
Too bad the Governor was still at the Monster Hunting Tournamentâotherwise, this foreign demon wouldnât have had the chance to act so wildly here.
What Zhao Ying didnât know was that just hearing this was Huazone had already made Ibaraki-dÅji hesitate.
âI'm not allowed to descend into Huazone yet... That damned Tokugawa bugâwhy the hll did he summon me here?!â*
Ibaraki-dÅjiâs gaze flicked between the Exorcists who were already forming a battle formation, a storm of uncertainty in his eyes.
He hadnât gotten official permission to descend.
But slinking back to Osaka with his tail between his legs wasnât his style.
He was one of Neonâs most infamous demonsâhe had appearances to maintain.
âItâs just a projection anyway. Iâll kill a few and leave... Whatâs the big deal? Those higher-ups probably wonât even notice...â
With that thought, his eyes turned vicious again.
He raised his hand and pulled a mass of sticky flames from the voidâ
The fire condensed into a three-meter-long spiked mace.
Then, with a stomp of both legs, he launched like a crimson blur straight toward Zhao Ying at the front.
âKill ten!â
âKill ten and then leave!â
The blazing mace slashed through the air in a wide arc, like it was about to shred the dawn light itself.
Unstoppable! Zhao Yingâs heart screamed a warning.
âAll units, fall back! Donât take the hit head-on!â
Before the words finished, in that critical momentâ
Zhao Ying pulled out two sword spheres from her spatial gear and activated them, diving into a roll to avoid Ibaraki-dÅjiâs strike.
âItâs useless! Just let me kill you! Once Iâm done, Iâll leaveâdonât waste each otherâs time! Heh heh!â
He didnât even care about the two black spheres Zhao Ying threw.
Assumed they were just fragment grenades or somethingâmaybe laced with holy water.
But diluted holy water had no effect on a demon of his rank.
All pointless struggleâ¦
Howeverâ
The moment those black spheres hit the ground, a terrifyingly sharp aura erupted.
From where the spheres activated, two phantom sword cultivators appearedâeach in gray robes, right hand loosely gripping invisible sword hilts.
Their features were blurry, but both raised their heads, cold light glinting beneath messy hair.
They stepped forward, lowered their stancesâ
Then suddenly drew their swords.
SHINGâ!
Twin arcs of sword light slashed the gloomy sky into four,
Sword Qi howled in all directions.
Ibaraki-dÅjiâs armâgripping his maceâwas instantly severed and torn to shreds by the rampaging Sword Qi.
â¦
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Currently known female actors: En Jing, Lin Qiting; the other two remain unknown.