novelraw Chapter 245-1: A Difficult Battle, the Death of the Palace Master (1)
Chapter 245-1: A Difficult Battle, the Death of the Palace Master (1)
According to the skill information learned from the Vice Palace Master, Onmyo Talisman: Filth Purification Rebirth could indeed make a shikigami incomparably powerful, but it did so by overdrawing the shikigami’s source of life force in exchange.
After using this skill, when a certain time limit was reached, the shikigami would die because its life force had been completely exhausted.
To summon the shikigami again, it would require double the nurturing time.
Therefore, the best tactic at this moment was to stall for time.
As long as they could withstand the onslaught of the three shikigami, when the shikigami’s life force was depleted, victory would come without further fighting.
The two powerful allies present, one was an ancient yokai who had lived countless years, the other a ninja master renowned throughout Sakura Falls.
Of course, they both understood the power and effect of the Onmyoji forbidden arts and knew exactly how to respond.
If it were any other time, simply avoiding the battle temporarily would be enough, but now the entire palace city was enveloped in the Absolute Barrier Seal of the Ten Directions. Where could they even flee?
[You and the Temple Master – Calamity Mage and the Ninja Master exchanged a glance, each of you understanding the other’s thoughts.]
[Facing the ferocious assault of the three rampaging shikigami, the Calamity Mage roared and stepped forward to resist the onslaught first…][The Ninja Master once again concealed himself, vanishing from sight.]
[You raised your staff and began to chant incantations…]
[Pure white Knowledge Barrier rose around the Calamity Mage. Even with your vast Knowledge stat, you could only barely extend the barrier to cover half its massive body.]
[Moreover, after forcibly enlarging the Knowledge Barrier, the white light dimmed, the magical fluctuations grew thin, and its defensive power was greatly weakened…]
[The Jorogumo lifted a thick, sharp limb, piercing the Knowledge Barrier in a single thrust and leaving a gaping wound in the Calamity Mage’s body.]
[The Karasu Tengu and the Rasasha also launched a frenzied assault on the Calamity Mage…]
[Although the Calamity Mage was formidable, it could not withstand the wild attacks of the three shikigami and was quickly pushed into a perilous situation.]
[…]
The President and the Ninja Master were both offensive classes with weak defenses, essentially glass cannons that would collapse at the slightest touch.
So it could only be the Calamity Mage who bore the responsibility of the frontline, but although the Calamity Mage appeared huge in size, in truth, it was also a magic-based yokai.
It was proficient in yokai art attacks and not skilled at close-quarters combat. Having it withstand the assault of three shikigami was truly asking too much.
The Ninja Master, who was not adept at head-on clashes, could only draw his blade when the Calamity Mage was in extreme danger.
Using strike for strike to deflect a lethal blow, and afterward immediately fleeing and concealing himself again to avoid becoming the focus of the three shikigami’s attacks.
Lin Xun had used Knowledge Barrier several times to protect the Calamity Mage, but after expanding the skill’s protective range, its defensive power declined sharply, and under the shikigami’s mighty attacks, it could not reduce much damage at all.
He simply switched to casting Pleasure-Hazed Sight to control the monsters and buy more time.
[You opened a pink eye!]
[Special skill Pleasure-Hazed Sight, activated!]
[The huge body of the black spider Jorogumo suddenly froze, its thick limb halting mid-strike!]
[You felt a slight fatigue…]
[Just as the Jorogumo stood motionless, a sorrowful sword light flashed past!]
Lin Xun nearly gave the Ninja Master a thumbs-up.
This was what you called a god-tier teammate, what you called perfect coordination! The experienced Ninja Master had demonstrated it flawlessly.
[The sorrowful sword light was about to pierce the enormous body of the Jorogumo, but suddenly a surge of Dragon Embryo power erupted from its form!]
[The spider shikigami snapped back to awareness in an instant. Its coarse hairs stood on end, and it thrust its limb violently at the oncoming sword light…]
[A small figure appeared. The Ninja Master twisted his body in midair, barely dodging this deadly strike. He tapped the spider shikigami’s thick limb with the tip of his foot, redirecting himself to the ground.]
[The small figure turned around and vanished again.]
[Only the faint sound of coughing remained in the air…]
The battle’s situation was ever-changing. Just when Lin Xun thought the Ninja Master would heavily wound the yokai shikigami, the Jorogumo used a dispelling yokai art to shake off the Pleasure-Hazed Sight.
Not only that, the awakened giant spider had nearly killed the Ninja Master.
Monsters like the Karasu Tengu and Jorogumo all possessed the The Dreamer Awakens First yokai art. Pleasure-Hazed Sight could only briefly control them for an extremely short moment.
Although the Ninja Master had escaped disaster, forcing himself to pull back his blade and evade had worsened his internal injuries.
On the battlefield, the Calamity Mage was already covered in wounds. If not for the injured Ninja Master’s support, by now it would almost certainly have perished.
At this rate, there was no chance of waiting for the three shikigami’s life force to burn out. Lin Xun’s side would be annihilated as soon as the Calamity Mage fell.
“I can’t worry about it any longer! Let it be exposed if it must!”
Seeing there was no hope left, Lin Xun no longer cared about the subsequent mission to rescue his senior sister.
If he didn’t go all out now, the Ninja Master and the Calamity Mage would both die. Once everything was lost, regret would be too late!
[You pulled out the Refined Copper Sand Maraca and began to shake it slowly…]
[The Corrupted Three-Headed Lion let out a roar and dissolved into countless specks of light.]
[The Battle Angel – Valkyrie emerged from the void, walking calmly toward the battlefield!]
[At your command, she swiftly drew an arrow, singing a wondrous, elaborate melody as she took aim at the Rasasha and pulled her bowstring back…]
[You possessed the Corrupted Earth Giant’s shell!]
[Under the astonished gaze of the Calamity Mage and the Ninja Master, your tiny body expanded in the wind, transforming in an instant into a towering giant!]
[Though your colossal form could not rival the three shikigami, and still fell short of the Calamity Mage, as long as your feet stood upon the earth, an endless surge of power flooded into your body, swelling your frame and making your muscles bulge and knot with strength…]
[Due to the effect of the Shifting Sumeru Seed, the weapon in your hand has transformed to match the size of your shell!]
[You lifted the gigantic tachi Uzuki-Kiri and strode forward to block the Karasu Tengu’s lethal claw strike aimed at the Calamity Mage.]
[The true forms of yokai shikigami were already ferociously powerful, and with the forbidden art’s enhancement, the Karasu Tengu’s attacks grew even more savage.]
[You were knocked back several steps by that claw, feeling a searing pain in your palms and a heavy pressure in your chest.]
[Only now did you realize just how difficult it had been for the Calamity Mage to hold out alone against all three shikigami for so long…]
[…]
Lin Xun clenched his teeth and activated all the skills of the Earth Giant, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Calamity Mage to resist the three shikigami.
Even so, under their frenzied assault, Lin Xun’s side still fell into disadvantage.
Although the situation was unfavorable, they could at least manage to hold out for the time being. As long as the battle continued in this state, once the Valkyrie finished charging her attack, perhaps the tide could be turned.
“We have to endure!”
[The Fire-Worshipping Palace Master of Iya Palace was still hiding within the impregnable barrier. It cast a wicked smile as it looked toward the Valkyrie at the rear of the battlefield.]
[The Palace Master took out a thick stack of bright yellow ofuda charms. The purification wand in its hand swayed slightly as it muttered an incantation.]
[Clusters of pitch-black karmic fire emerged from thin air, forming a dense curtain of flames that surged toward the Valkyrie in the rear…]
The Bow of Apollo’s weapon skill was extremely powerful, but during its charge-up, she could not move.
Moreover, taking damage while charging would interrupt the skill, and she would suffer double the damage!
The Valkyrie was forced to cancel the charge and took flight to evade the karmic fire barrage.
The Palace Master repeatedly cast spells to harass her, preventing her from unleashing her weapon skill.
Unable to use her skill for the moment, the Valkyrie dared not waste any of her three powerful arrows.
If the moment came when she needed to decide the outcome in a single shot but had no strong arrows left, it would be a disaster.
However, the ordinary arrows were not much of a threat to the three shikigami. If they could dodge, they did; if not, they simply endured it.
Right now, the Abyss Lantern was still sealed in the Valkyrie’s Crimson Candle Sword Case, and Lin Xun could not use it to draw enemy fire and create an opening for her.
Even if he had the Abyss Lantern in hand, if the three yokai shikigami all focused their attacks on him, he probably wouldn’t last long before being crushed.
Although they were still on the losing side, as long as they kept holding on, the final victory would surely belong to him.