novelraw Chapter 243-2: One Slash of Ninja Slaughter, Rasasha, Jorogumo (2)
Chapter 243-2: One Slash of Ninja Slaughter, Rasasha, Jorogumo (2)
[The Fire-Worshipping Vice Palace Master of Iya Palace has died. You gained no experience.]
[You have obtained Large Chunk Spirit Essence of Sanctity x1.]
[You have obtained Complete Forging Crystal Chunk x1.]
[You have obtained Barrier Formation: Absolute Barrier Seal of the Ten Directions (Legendary Skill).]
[The Karasu Tengu that had been stepping forward to protect the Vice Palace Master suddenly froze in place, its body rigid.]
[Soon, pitch-black karmic fire ignited under its feet, reducing the unmoving crimson figure to a pile of ash…]
[You knew that when a summoner died, their shikigami would be bound by the contract to perish along with them.]
Lin Xun stared, speechless.
He had been prepared for the Ninja Master to be incredibly strong and that a fragile summoner meeting a top-tier assassin would end poorly.
But he hadn’t expected that with a single stroke, the Ninja Master would decapitate the powerful Vice Palace Master.Lin Xun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Teacher, if you’re going to assassinate, just assassinate, why chop off the head?”
To possess a shell, there had to be a certain level of bodily completeness. Wounds like severed arms or legs could be managed, but a headless corpse was obviously unusable…
[You looked at the headless body that still stood in place…]
[Shell of the Fire-Worshipping Vice Palace Master of Iya Palace: Since the High Palace Master had grown old and withdrawn from affairs, the aged woman who served as Vice Palace Master wielded all the authority of Iya Palace alone. Unfortunately, this onmyoji, despite commanding a powerful shikigami, met her fated nemesis. She died to a swift, thunderous decapitation assassination.]
“Damn, I knew there wouldn’t be compatibility!”
Lin Xun sighed helplessly, wondering if this was the game’s way of punishing him for trying to exploit loopholes.
Still, it wasn’t without its rewards, the Vice Palace Master had dropped the Absolute Barrier Seal of the Ten Directions he’d been dreaming about!
[The small figure stepped slowly to your side, lifted the edge of the straw hat, and was about to speak, only to hastily cover their mouth as a violent coughing fit overtook them.]
[You noticed a trace of black blood seeping between their fingers.]
[After a long moment, the Fire-Worshipping Heartless Flow Ninja Master finally stopped coughing. In a hoarse voice, he addressed you, saying that you must be the foreign mage, the close friend of his disciple Yoichi. Indeed, just as Yoichi had said, your strength was extraordinary.]
[The Ninja Master took out the mask of the Heartless Flow Ninja, indicating his identity, then immediately reminded you that this was no place to linger. He invited you to accompany him, as there was something important he wished to ask of you.]
[Do you wish to leave the Iya Palace with the Fire-Worshipping Heartless Flow Ninja Master?]
Lin Xun thought to himself, you have stealth escape techniques, but the President doesn’t.
If we just barge out the front door, wouldn’t we be surrounded and beaten by a horde of onmyoji mobs?
Then again, with a big boss escorting him, a bunch of small fry would just be free experience and Spirit Essence. It would be a waste not to farm them.
[You voiced your concern, even though the Vice Palace Master had been slain, there were still many onmyoji in the palace compound…]
[The Ninja Master said nothing, simply leading you toward the palace gates.]
[Along the way, though the buildings were still lit within, everything was deathly silent, no shadows moved behind the shoji screens.]
[The entire palace compound was like a dead domain, more than a hundred onmyoji slain without a sound.]
???
Lin Xun’s mouth twitched.
Earlier he’d been wondering what the Ninja Master had been doing, why he hadn’t shown up.
Now he understood… damn it, the Ninja Master truly was a pinnacle existence among ninjas. Nothing survived in his path.
Those onmyoji minions must have all died very peacefully…
This alone showed the Ninja Master’s determination to kill.
As was the ninja’s usual style, they would typically commit to one all-out strike against the target.
If it failed, they would immediately retreat and wait for another opportunity.
But the Ninja Master had been prepared to keep fighting if the first strike missed, determined to see the Vice Palace Master dead before the night was over.
To prevent any backup from arriving if he failed to kill in one stroke, he had simply, silently, massacred every living soul in the Iya Palace…
[The Ninja Master, who was leading you out of the palace, suddenly stopped.]
[You halted as well, puzzled, just about to ask what was wrong, when you saw his expression turn grim, his face dark as water, his left hand gripping the scabbard, and his right hand clenching the ninja sword hilt.]
[Your heart gave a heavy thump. You realized that leaving the Iya Palace would not be so easy…]
[A whistling sound of something tearing through the air gradually approached…]
[You sensed it and couldn’t help but look up toward the sky.]
[In the distant sky, a tiny red dot was rapidly growing larger. You opened your many eyes and focused intently. It was an enormous Karasu Tengu revealing its true yokai form.]
[Riding on the great demon soaring through the sky, there seemed to be a human figure.]
[At first glance, the Karasu Tengu was still at the horizon, but in the blink of an eye, the enormous yokai was right before you!]
[With a thunderous crash, the colossal creature landed, sending shards of stone flying.]
[You saw clearly the small human silhouette on the Karasu Tengu’s back…]
[It was a handsome young man, holding a Purifying Exorcism Wand, clad in the formal hunting robes of an Iya Palace onmyoji.]
[Unlike the Vice Palace Master’s hunting robes, this onmyoji’s robes were even more luxurious, embroidered with golden patterns.]
[He leapt down from the Karasu Tengu’s back, descending slowly to the ground.]
[The young onmyoji’s expression was emotionless as he looked at the Ninja Master and called out in a loud voice, questioning, “Iya Palace and the Heartless Flow Ninja both serve under the Shogun’s command. There was no past enmity nor recent feud…”]
[“How did the Heartless Flow Ninja find the nerve to commit such a grave offense and defy the Shogun…”]
[Before the Ninja Master could reply, the young onmyoji let out a sinister laugh and said coldly, “Since that is the case, then leave your life behind!”]
[You have discovered the Fire-Worshipping Palace Master of Iya Palace!]
[He formed seals and chanted incantations. Two massive shikigami instantly responded to the summons.]
[One was a blue-faced, fanged demon shikigami, wielding a sharp blade and clad in armor, its face hideous beyond compare. Judging by the swirling pitch-black aura enveloping it, this shikigami was exceedingly powerful.]
[In an instant, you remembered the two stone statues in front of the Iya Palace’s main hall, one was the Karasu Tengu, and the other was this identical Rasasha!]
[The second summoned shikigami was a type of yokai you had never seen before.]
[It was an enormous black spider, its eight thick, bristling legs covered in coarse black hairs. Four pairs of jet-black, eerie eyes stared straight at you, and its head bore terrifying chelicerae with hooked tips, where you could clearly see venom sacs pulsing.]
[What made your flesh crawl even more was that the gigantic spider’s body had the upper torso of a seductive, half-naked woman growing from it.]
[The woman’s gaze was completely different from the eight monstrous eyes. She looked at you with tender affection, as if you were the lover she had already pledged herself to.]
[You recalled the colored carvings you’d seen in the Trainee Quarters of the Dharma-Aspect Temple. This kind of yokai was a powerful remnant demon whose danger level was second only to the Nurarihyon, called Jorogumo!]
[At your ear came the sound of the Ninja Master taking a deep breath. Then, instead of vanishing into stealth, he drew the Dragon Sword Masamune and leapt forward.]
[Only his old, hoarse voice remained behind, “Go now! Find Yoichi at the foot of the No-Illusions Shrine mountain!”]