novelraw Chapter 107 : The Collapse of the Onmyoji
Chapter 107 : The Collapse of the Onmyoji
Chapter 107: The Collapse of the Onmyoji
Above the ruins of the Imperial Palace.
The air had frozen to the point of suffocation.
The miserable death of 【Asura】 just moments ago was like a sledgehammer, smashing apart the last psychological defenses of everyone present.
“No… don’t…”
Abe Qingtian lay sprawled on the ground, his entire body trembling violently.
That once-proud heir of an onmyoji family now looked like a mangy dog whose spine had been snapped.
He did not want to die.
He was a descendant of Abe no Seimei; he possessed noble blood; he was destined to stand atop all living beings.
How could he die in a place like this?
How could he turn into a pile of meaningless ashes?
Fear twisted his face and devoured his reason.
His gaze suddenly swept toward Chen Mo and Tsuchimikado Rin beside him.
In that instant, a mad and vicious thought exploded in his mind.
It was the hideous desperation of a drowning man grasping at the last straw.
“Shikigami, kill! Kill them for me!”
Abe Qingtian suddenly let out a shrill scream.
He violently swung his folding fan, pointing it at Chen Mo, who was vigilantly watching Asahara Shoko.
“What?!”
Chen Mo never expected the knife from behind to come so fast, so viciously.
Roar—!
Several bone-white skeleton demons burst up from the ground, brandishing rusted bone blades as they viciously hacked toward Chen Mo’s back.
“Watch out!”
Tsuchimikado Rin reacted instantly, slashing backhandedly with a single strike.
Clang!
Sparks flew everywhere.
Although the fatal blow was blocked, the enormous impact still sent both of them flying backward several meters.
The formation was broken.
“Abe Qingtian! Have you lost your mind?!”
Tsuchimikado Rin was furious beyond measure, her eyes filled with disbelief.
“I’m not crazy! I’m very clear-headed!”
Abe Qingtian scrambled and crawled out from cover, charging toward the divine silhouette hovering in midair.
As he ran, he manipulated his shikigami to frantically attack his former teammates.
“Kill them all! Kill all you heretics!”
“Use your blood to wash away my sins!”
With a thud, he dropped to his knees at Asahara Shoko’s feet, kowtowing desperately.
“God… Lord God!”
“I was wrong! I was truly wrong!”
“I should never have doubted Your divine might! Never associated with these heretics!”
“I am Your servant! I am Your believer!”
“O God! Great true God!”
“I am guilty! I was bewitched by these demons!”
He suddenly turned around, pointing at Chen Mo and the others, his eyes filled with madness and a desperate will to live.
“These are the heretics! They are the real demons!”
“I am willing to serve You! I am willing to become Your dog!”
“I am willing to offer my soul, my shikigami, everything I have!”
“As long as You spare my life!”
“I beg You to forgive me! I beg You to show mercy!”
“I am willing to help You kill them all and let You win the game!”
He raised his head, his face smeared with blood, snot and tears covering his face—there was not the slightest trace of a noble young master left.
“I am willing to be Your dog! The most loyal dog!”
“As long as You let me live… let me live…”
He humbly kissed the dust beneath Asahara Shoko’s feet, wagging his tail and begging for pity.
For the sake of survival, he had abandoned everything.
……
In the distance.
Chen Mo blasted a raging skeleton to pieces with a single shot. Watching that kneeling, begging figure, his gaze turned icy cold.
“So this is what they call the descendants of a prestigious family.”
“Absolutely revolting.”
He felt no anger, only deep sorrow.
This was the apocalypse.
It could draw out the most dazzling brilliance of human nature, and it could also expose the ugliest abyss.
“Forget that piece of trash!”
Hattori Heizo’s figure flickered in the shadows as he blocked an attack for Sano Manatsu.
“Defensive formation! Don’t let those bone racks break us apart!”
The few remaining players stood back to back.
They not only had to face that god high above them, but also guard against that traitor who had gone mad like a rabid dog.
The situation had completely collapsed.
……
In midair.
Asahara Shoko looked down at the man weeping bitterly at his feet.
His expression did not fluctuate in the slightest, as if he were looking at a stinking bug that had crawled onto his shoe.
“Dog?”
Asahara Shoko let out a soft chuckle.
The sound was not loud, yet it clearly spread across the entire battlefield.
“You think you’re worthy?”
Abe Qingtian’s sobbing came to an abrupt halt.
He lifted his head blankly, staring at that indifferent face.
“God… Lord God?”
“Look at yourself now.”
A trace of disgust flashed through Asahara Shoko’s eyes.
“No dignity, no backbone—ready to bite back at any moment just to cling to life.”
“Do you think God lacks dogs?”
He pointed toward the believers still fighting desperately in the distance.
“I have millions of believers. Every one of them is more loyal, braver, and more useful than you.”
“And you are nothing but a cowardly piece of trash.”
“God does not need trash.”
These words were like a bucket of icy water, completely extinguishing Abe Qingtian’s last shred of hope.
His body stiffened.
The hope in his eyes instantly turned into the dead gray of despair.
“No… don’t…”
“Clean him up.”
Asahara Shoko waved his hand as if swatting a fly.
“He’s an eyesore.”
Buzz—
He lightly tapped with his fingertip.
A brilliant holy light gathered at his finger, condensing into a sword of light several meters long.
The light was pure and sacred, yet carried a terrifying heat capable of destroying everything.
“In your next life, remember to die standing.”
The sword of light descended.
Without the slightest hesitation, it pointed straight at the crown of Abe Qingtian’s head.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!”
Abe Qingtian let out a despairing scream.
He wanted to run, but the oppressive pressure made it impossible for him to even move a finger.
He could only watch helplessly as that light of death slowly devoured his vision.
It was over.
Everything was over.
Was this the fate of a traitor?
Just as the sword of light was less than an inch from the top of his head, his hair already beginning to scorch and curl—
Ding.
A crisp, pleasant metallic chime rang out abruptly.
The sound was very light, very thin.
Yet at this moment, it seemed to pierce through space itself, drowning out the clamor of the battlefield.
A silver coin spun as it cut through the air.
Like a meteor, it precisely struck the massive sword of light.
Boom!!!
An unbelievable scene unfolded.
The instant the tiny coin touched the sword of light, it erupted with a strange gray ripple.
That holy light capable of melting steel was forcibly—
Deflected!
The sword of light veered off course, grazing past Abe Qingtian’s ear and slamming into the floor behind him.
Boom!
The ground exploded into a deep crater, rubble flying everywhere.
Abe Qingtian collapsed onto the ground, touching his intact head, his face blank with shock.
Not dead?
He wasn’t dead?
“Ahhh, that was really a close call.”
A frivolous, teasing, slightly lazy voice came from one corner of the ruins.
Everyone instinctively turned their heads.
They saw Sakamoto Ryuji casually tossing another coin in his hand, that signature punchable grin hanging on his face.
“I say, Mr. Onmyoji.”
“Although your kneeling-and-begging look is pretty appetizing.”
Abe Qingtian, having narrowly escaped death, was drenched in cold sweat.
He looked at the gambler who had just saved his life, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.
He did not know why Sakamoto Ryuji had saved him.
But he knew one thing.
He had survived.
……
Chen Mo watched all of this, his expression complicated.
This Sakamoto Ryuji.
He really was a madman who never played by the rules.
“What is he trying to do?”
Tsuchimikado Rin asked coldly.
“No idea.”
Chen Mo shook his head.