novelraw Chapter 291-1: The Gravekeeper’s Devotion, Fall into the Asura King (1)
Chapter 291-1: The Gravekeeper’s Devotion, Fall into the Asura King (1)
[You raised the Ogiwara Clan Command Banner high. From the silent formation erupted sky-shaking roars. War drums thundered. Battle clouds gathered.]
[Chariots bristling with blades and heavy-armored spear-wielding cavalry charged in unison.]
[A crimson torrent like a waterfall of blood poured forth in a killing surge, striking the black-armored legion garrisoned in Kyoto, striking the most elite and valiant samurai unit in all of Sakura Falls, the Anzai Army.]
[At the head of the black-armored legion was a fierce general. The general was covered head to toe in jet-black heavy armor and bore on his back a banner commanding the entire army.]
[The Extreme Evil hatamoto samurai raised his long spear, waved his arm, and launched a headlong charge. All the samurai behind him, fearless of death, howled madly with vicious malice in their eyes as they followed the banner-bearer to meet the enemy.]
[Crimson waves crashed upon black reefs, and what splashed up were sprays of blood.]
[The celestial demon sea monster slammed down its massive tentacle with brutal force. Like a sky-pillar collapsing, dozens of black-armored cavalry, men and horses alike, were pounded into pulp. The unending sounds of shattering bone and flesh became a trumpet for the charge.]
[Suddenly, the enemy corpses all froze into azure ice sculptures. The temperature nearby plummeted. In an instant, goose-feather snow fell as an ice and snow tornado rose from level ground, sweeping multitudes of enemies into the storm.]
[The burly general on the bladed assault chariot, the Chief Retainer, gripped two gigantic great tachi. Together with the rotating blade-ruts of the chariot, he became a whirlwind of blood, charging into the Anzai Army’s formation.]
[Wherever the chariot went, flesh and blood flew. Miserable screams never ceased. What plunged into the formation was not a chariot but an unimaginably bloody meat grinder.][Close behind the chariot were many spear-bearing cavalry samurai. Led by several fierce generals, the cavalry plunged like razor-sharp blades deep into the enemy’s heart.]
[In the legion of 1,500, foot samurai were the most numerous. Borrowing the advantage created by the cavalry’s charge, they followed through and carved their way in.]
[Arrows fell as dense as rain, mixed with devastating boulders and giant bolts, harvesting enemy lives without mercy.]
[With every beat of the war drum, vast amounts of scalding blood splashed, and the lives of many fanatics were sacrificed.]
[The Anzai Army was an elite unit personally trained by the Great General, the ace of aces. Every samurai was an Extreme Evil monster whose humanity had been extinguished and who knew neither fear nor pain.]
[Even for an iron-blooded legion as valiant as the Red Armor army, even with the blessing of Enma’s Divine Domain, after gaining the advantage with a fierce initial charge, the Red Armor army gradually fell into a bitter struggle and casualties mounted.]
[Faced with the Anzai Army pouring into the battlefield in an unending stream, your Red Armor army eventually fell into a numerical disadvantage.]
[The rate at which your Red Armor army killed the enemy fell far short of the rate at which the enemy entered the field.]
[Even the celestial demon sea monster and the Snow Woman shikigami were blocked by the Extreme Evil hatamoto samurai and could no longer slaughter the enemy with impunity.]
[If the battle continued like this, the annihilation of the Red Armor army would be only a matter of time.]
[Once the Red Armor army was nearly wiped out, there would be no need for the Great General to act. Endless black-armored samurai would drown you.]
Lin Xun had no strength to spare to command the Red Armor army’s operations.
He had thought that with the shell of Saio Chisoku-hime he could slowly wear down the Great General.
Yet even with the blessing of Enma’s Divine Domain on the many shikigami and summons, even with him using Saio Chisoku-hime’s shell to heal his allies, the battle against the Great General remained extremely difficult.
If not for the Nine-Tailed Fox releasing Soul-Seizing and Spirit-Stealing each time, some summons would already have been sacrificed under the focused attacks of the Great General.
But Soul-Seizing and Spirit-Stealing had the same flaw as ordinary control skills, namely an enormous cost. After using control skills in rapid succession, even a top-tier great yokai like the Nine-Tailed Fox was finding it hard to bear.
[…]
[Domineering jet-black arcs of blade light crisscrossed, not only severing the many attacks flying in but also sending the nearby Otakemaru flying with a single slash.]
[You looked around. Shuten Doji clutched the massive sword wound across his chest and abdomen, scalding blood soaking the ground. Otakemaru coughed blood again and again. His spirit body once more grew hazy and blurred.]
[Only Valkyrie and the Nine-Tailed Fox in the distance had not been injured, for they had kept far from the Great General and attacked from afar, not daring to close in.]
Valkyrie and the Nine-Tailed Fox were respectively a fragile archer and a delicate caster-type yokai. They absolutely could not withstand the Great General’s full-force slash.
Only Otakemaru was a pure frontliner, while Shuten Doji counted only as a spell-tank, barely able to coordinate with Otakemaru on defense.
The pressure on Lin Xun was greatest. He could not spare the attention to command the Red Armor army’s operations.
He needed to switch shells constantly, not only to damage output with the Greedy Wolf Star Lord but also to transform into the Earth Giant when the Great General unleashed a killing move, stepping up with Otakemaru and Shuten Doji to share the damage.
On top of that, he also had to serve as support and logistics, healing the frontline after they had just endured a wave of damage.
[Suddenly, several black-armored cavalry broke through the Red Armor army’s defensive line and charged at you.]
[Several razor-sharp arrows struck home, piercing the cavalry’s heads and knocking them from their horses.]
[Your heart jolted and you snapped your gaze to the legion battlefield.]
[You saw a dense black-armored flood inundate your Red Armor army. The red-armored samurai counterattacked without regard for their lives, but even if they fought with all their strength, they could not stop the ever-growing Anzai Army.]
“Damn. How are we supposed to fight this?”
The Red Armor army’s numbers plummeted from a full 1,500 to fewer than 500.
If he left the legion battlefield unattended, it would not be long before Lin Xun faced an endless Anzai Army.
Dealing with the Great General already required his full effort and was still so difficult. If the Anzai Army joined in as well, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Lin Xun wanted to switch to the President of the Direct Vision Association shell and use it’s ultimate to slaughter the enemy, buying breathing room for his army.
But the situation here with the Great General could not do without him.
If he left, the stalemate here would collapse immediately.
Lin Xun switched again to the Chisoku-hime shell to heal Otakemaru and Shuten Doji.
[Shell skill, Prosperity Kagura Dance, activated.]
[Your special summon, the Origin-Tracing Shuten Doji, is fully healed.]
[Your special summon, the Origin-Tracing Otakemaru, is fully healed.]
[Your shell, the Corrupted Earth Giant, is fully healed.]
[You used your healing skills frequently. The consumption is immense. You are exhausted to the extreme, drained of strength. Even standing upright is extremely difficult.]
Lin Xun gnashed his teeth.
Saio Chisoku-hime’s healing efficiency was extremely high, but the healing skill also cost quite a lot.
Now the mana bar on the healer shell was empty. He had no choice but to use a recovery item.
[Crimson Blood Coral (Item): …Using this item allows devout followers of the Ancient Heavenly Enma to recover some fatigue.]
[You used Crimson Blood Coral. The fatigue of the Fire-Worshipping Saio Chisoku-hime shell vanished.]
He had only found two branches of Crimson Blood Coral in the treasure chest on the mountain of the No-Illusions Shrine. Now only one recovery item remained.
At this rate of consumption, the first to fail might not be the Great General but Lin Xun himself.
[Dozens of black-armored cavalry appeared in your field of view again and charged at you.]
[Shuten Doji suddenly lifted his celadon wine vessel. The wine gourd on his back opened by itself and clear liquor poured into the vessel.]
[He raised his head and gulped the liquor down, puffed his cheeks, and sprayed forward.]
[A surging, scorching wave of flame crashed over the cavalry. Dozens of riders turned to charred ash without even a scream.]
[A cruel light flashed in the Great General’s eyes. He took the chance to slash out a violent strike.]
[The jet-black blade light cleaved in an instant toward the completely undefended Shuten Doji.]
“This is bad.”
There was no time for Lin Xun to switch to the Earth Giant and step forward to assist with the defense.
Letting Shuten Doji face the Great General’s full-force strike alone would undoubtedly kill him on the spot.
[The Nine-Tailed Fox’s white hair flew. Purple lightning blazed brilliantly around her. A soul force that seized and stole spirits burst forth and was projected upon the Great General.]
[The jet-black blade light paused for a fraction. Otakemaru hurriedly leapt forward to block alongside Shuten Doji.]
[When the blade light died, Shuten Doji was drenched in blood, while Otakemaru knelt on one knee braced on his sword, barely holding on.]
[Even from far away you could clearly hear the heavy breathing of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Casting Soul-Seizing and Spirit-Stealing again with its enormous cost had left her yokai power on the verge of running dry.]