Chapter 41: Battle Breaks Out...

When Nue was looking at Leo with a deep frown, trying to see what type of yokai he was facing.

Because this is no small task to stop the hell gate, which is absorbing one's power and life force.

Some might even perish within a few minutes if they were caught in the hot magma.

"Who are you?"

After analyzing Leo to see through him, Nue opened his mouth and asked his question, while trying to pressure Leo to kneel with his fear.

"I am... I am Leo Morningstar, the owner of the Continental Hotel."

When the concentrated aura of fear was poured on Leo, he stood still without being affected by it, placing Hagoromo Gitsune down and replying calmly.

Leo turned to look at Kyokotsu and Gashadokuro and passed the exhausted Hagoromo Gitsune to them.

He knew they were loyal to Hagoromo Gitsune, who stayed behind in Kyoto instead of following Nue back to hell like many other yokai who abandoned their supreme commander to die without any remorse.

"____"

Seeing Leo was not taking him seriously and was turning his back like he was air, Nue, with a cold face, pointed his finger towards Hagoromo Gitsune, about to launch his attack.

In Nue's right eye, there is a half-completed star symbol, along with the big one on his chest, which is also half-complete.

He needed his mother to die and go back to hell, where he could absorb her power and the rich vitality she had.

So he could become a complete existence where no human or Ayakashi would be able to pose any threat to him.

He would become the sole head of the food chain in this world, so he could change it by bringing all humans under Yokai rule.

"Hahahaha~"

"Let's fight, Seimei!!!"

"Ahhhh~"

With a scream, Tsuchigumo jumped from one of the tall buildings to launch an attack on Nue with an excited laugh.

With his full strength and an excited smile plastered on his face, Tsuchigumo swung his fist at Nue, aiming to hit his head.

Boom~

The building, which had been half destroyed by the huge mass of black flesh, was blown away by the impact.

The area around shook like an earthquake from the impact created by the punch.

When everyone was expecting to see a huge fight about to begin, because they had seen how strong Tsuchigumo was and also heard how even the strongest onmyoji, like Hidemoto, needed to use tricks to fool him and seal him in the second guardian pillar.

When the dust cleared off, they were shocked to see Nue standing calmly while the punch was blocked by a golden rune with a star at the centre.

There wasn't even a single scratch on the golden rule, which withstood the full force of Tsuchigumo's attack.

Even Nurarihyon frowned. Tsuchigumo's single attack is powerful, and even he needs to be very careful with it. But Nue dealt with it like it was nothing.

"Oh, a familiar face, I see. Destroy."

Looking at the shocked expression on Tsuchigumo's face, Nue cracked a little smirk at the sommelier's face before him.

"____"

Before Tsuchigumo could react, Nue pointed his two fingers at him and waved them calmly, launching his attack.

When the attack landed on Tsuchigumo, a huge amount of fear aura poured onto him and pushed him downwards with great force.

Due to the huge pressure descending on him, Tsuchigumo could only watch himself being pushed into the magma at the entrance of the hell gate.

"Damn... Seimei, we haven't fought completely yet..."

With a desperate scream, Tsuchigumo fell into the magma, which soon started to absorb his power and his life force. His strong vitality allowed him to regenerate his limbs with a good rest.

Many hands came out of the magma, the same ones that tried to pull Hagoromo Gitsune inside previously, catching him tightly.

No matter how much Tsuchigumo tried to free himself, more hands appeared from the magma.

The desperate Tsuchigumo struggled, but the more he did, the more hands appeared from the magma.

Within a few seconds, Tsuchigumo was fully pulled inside the hell gate, cursing Seimei, who tossed him aside like trash into the hell gate.

After fully absorbing the fallen Tsuchigumo's power and life force, the half-golden star ran on Nue's chest, and his right eye's retina turned into a fully formed golden star.

"Lord Seimei... I have brought the sword that I promised all those years ago."

With an excited smile blooming on his face, Jizo pulled an old sword from its sheath, with a worn-out look that showcased the intense battles the sword had gone through.

The sword had sharp edges like a shark's teeth. Its name was Kyouka Suigetsu.

The Kyouka Suigetsu sword symbolizes illusions, representing things that are beautiful but unattainable, much like reflections in water or flowers in a mirror.

"Hmph~"

Nue calmly took the sword from Jizo's hand and looked around the city, where humans were bustling in the streets.

"This city has become so dirty. It's no longer suitable for us. You did a good job, Sanmato Gorozaemon."

With a satisfied nod, Nue turned to look at Jizo and called him by his original name.

Hearing this name, everyone from the Nura clan was shocked, because Sanmato Gorozaemon was once the worst enemy of the Nura clan, later defeated by Rihan Nura, the second supreme commander of the Nura clan.

So finally everything clicked in their minds, and they remembered the enmity they had with Sanmato Gorozaemon.

Slash~

"I will clean the city."

With a simple wave of his sword, which cut through the air, Nue declared loudly that he would clean the city.

Even though it seemed like a single wave of the sword without any power, Nue launched one of his sword attacks intending to destroy the city.

Several arcs of sword slashes appeared when they made contact with an invisible barrier.

The invisible barrier and the sword slashes collided, battling while one wanted to pierce through it and the other wanted to stop it like impenetrable armour.

In the end, the sword slashes dispersed after being completely withstood by the barrier.

"____"

"____"

"____"

Nue and the others who watched were shocked to see that a simple slash of Nue's, containing so much power, was easily withstood by the barrier without even a scratch.

"Impossible."

Jizo, seeing his lord's attack blocked by a barrier that showed no sign of a scratch, was in disbelief.

Even Nue was shocked and couldn't believe his eyes, seeing his attack effortlessly stopped by a simple barrier.

Pfft~

"No matter what you try, you won't be able to break it until the 24-hour time limit of the barrier passes. Its name is '24 Hours'... how is it? It was a product of one of my witch companions."

Stifling his laughter at Nue's confused look, Leo tried his best to control his amusement and proudly stated this.

"____"

Seeing he was being mocked by an insect, the anger and disgust in Nue started to rise.

Slash~ slash~

Slash~ slash~

Tightening his grip on the handle of the sword with narrowed eyes, Nue launched several attacks on the barrier, trying to break it.

He could have killed the insect mocking him, but he wanted to kill him after seeing the desperate look on Leo's face, so he could finish him off.

Many huge sword arcs, containing immense amounts of fear, slammed into the barrier one after another.

Thud~ thud~

Thud~ thud~

But no matter how many times the powerful attacks landed on the barrier, it didn't budge, and not a single crack formed.

"Well now... let's discuss."

Stopping his laughter, Leo turned to look at the yokai from Kyoto who had gathered to witness the rebirth of Nue.

"Yokai who were loyal and willing to follow Nue, hear me. I am declaring war on you... and those loyal to Hagoromo Gitsune, stop resisting and join forces with us. I declare we are allies."

With a loud declaration, Leo made his announcement, causing a huge uproar.

Suddenly, one of the yokai loyal to Nue attacked a yokai beside him who was loyal to Hagoromo Gitsune.

This caused a huge commotion, and an internal fight began, as the Kyoto yokai split into two factions: one following Nue, and the other following Hagoromo Gitsune.

The Continental forces also joined the fray, aiding the faction supporting Hagoromo Gitsune, which turned the tide in their favour outside the barrier.

"Now, shall we fight... Mr. Mama's Boy?"

"Hehe~"

Flash~

Leo vanished from where he was standing and appeared in the air, floating beside Nue.

"Insect, don't even think we're equal."

With clear disgust in his voice, Nue launched the first attack to quickly dispose of the nonsense mocking him.

Clank~

But his attack was stopped by Leo with Raikiri's sword, with ease and a little smirk on his face.

"____"

"You..."

This time, seeing his attack stopped by Leo, Nue was stunned and began attacking faster, now taking Leo seriously.

He couldn't accept failure after waiting all those long years, meticulously crafting plans to succeed no matter what.

He couldn't afford to be stopped by an insect before him from achieving his dream society.

Both Leo and Nue became blurs to the onlookers watching the fight.

While one was attacking desperately, the other was dodging with ease, with a mocking smirk on his face.

This irritated Nue, who started to see the gap between their agility.

'Damn... why is he so fast? Stop... stop in one place, damn it.'

Looking at Leo, who sometimes vanished with a spark of blue electricity and other times disintegrated into bats.

When all those bats were slashed numerous times, they split into more bats from the numerous cuts.

When all the bats integrated, Leo formed again.

"Fuck, you bastard... stay still in one place."

After the game of hide and seek continued for a full six hours, Nue started losing his composure, and his cold look cracked. He roared at Leo angrily.

"As you wish, my lord."

With a mock salute, Leo, who had been taunting Nue by only dodging and blocking his attacks, suddenly made his first strike using his sword.

The sword attack came from down to up, catching Nue off guard.

But Nue didn't care, thinking the sword wouldn't hurt him.

Using this, he planned to finish off Leo, who would be caught off guard when the sword didn't penetrate his muscles.

He was preparing to cut Leo's head when the distraction came.

Slash~

"____"

But before Nue's sword could reach Leo's neck, a huge wound appeared on his pale chest.

Leo's sword had cleanly sliced through Nue's chest like paper.

A black mist, along with the fear contained in his body, started to pour out of the wound on Nue's chest.

"How... how is this possible?"

With wide eyes, Nue looked at the wound on his chest in disbelief.

He couldn't believe all his efforts over the years were in vain, just because of the existence before him who could penetrate his indestructible hard skin.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************

(Author's POV)

Thanks for reading the chapter!

Please give a review and power stone!!!