Chapter 35 [Nine-tailed]

Somewhere around the edge of Yui's barrier...

"How is this barrier not destroyed yet...?"

One of the vampiric servants was in awe as she finds the intruder- Ten on the outside of the barrier still trying to break her way in.

No matter how much she tried... The barrier didn't bulge.

She started getting even more mad the moment she spots on of Yui's servants staring at her from a few feet away.

W-What should I do...? Should I try to take take her out...?

The servant had trouble deciding on what to do due to her expecting that Ten had already broken through, meanwhile Ten was glaring at her.

"Haaaaah!"

The humanoid cat attempted to land some hits on the barrier once again, now feeling frustrated at the sight of Yui's servant merely staring straight at her.

Her actions only resulted in the same talisman that Yui had used to capture Yoshino for the second time to activate and detain her.

Oh, Looks like the problem solved itself...

The trap quickly detains the nekomata who was caught iff guard by such a thing... Now detained, she attempts to free herself by trying to cast some spells but this doesn't work...

Oh? Mana absorbing chains, huh?

That's smart but... That won't work on me...

No matter how much of her mana was drained by the said chains, her strength did not waver.

*snap!*

The chains broke apart as Ten used her strength to pry it apart, it broke easily as if it were just mere rope being used to pull something heavier than the said rope could handle.

Oh? Looks like she fell for it... What an idiot...

Yui who was just about to finish the ritual as she sensed one of her "preparations" being activated, a grin emerged from her face as she had another thing coming right after that first trap.

Heavy-sounding footsteps from a few feet away slowly made it's way to Ten's location...

It was a golem-- A golem that Yui had placed in case the capture spell failed.

A golem, huh? You have to try harder than that to defeat me, fox....

The said golem didn't take much time to get to Ten's location.

It's body was several feet tall, made of stone that was enriched with mana, it's eyes were staring down at Ten as it began it's attacks.

*Boom!*

Despite it's slow movement, the single punch that it released was not slow...

Ten quickly dodged it's attack-- almost getting hit in the proccess.

A huge crater had been created at the place where the golem's fist had landed, it was like a small meteor had fallen...

Looks like things are about to get interesting...

The humanoid cat signalled her army to begin attacking the said golem, but no matter how much they tried... The golem did not flinch.

It was too strong for any of them to destroy.

Ten was now in quite the predicament...

She didn't anticipate something like this to show up as she tried disrupting Yui's ritual-- nor expected her to set up any surprises at all.

Her grave mistake that she has now placed her in this life or death situation...

All she could do was dodge as the golem continued to deal with the said intruders.

As expected of our new master... Her golem is perfect...

The same servant now had some of her fellow servants with her as the loud thuds attracted them to the same location, they were all admiring how well made their master's golem was and how it's oponent couldn't defeat nor destroy it.

They all just sat on the ground, not having anything to do as they knew that Ten wouldn't have a chance against it.

With only the moonlight iluminating their surroundings, Ten's battle with Yui's golem continued on... Little does she know that the ritual was now in it's "almost finished" stage.

She had no clue as she was distracted by her own thoughts on how to get rid of this golem that could potentially end her life, along with her army's life.

I can't be defeated here... For I am the commander...

Cuts and bruises from her attempts of dodging were aparent as she took her time with attempting to think of a way to get the golem out of her hair, her soldiers were also the same... if not worse.

Yui had an upper hand from the moment Ten had activated the capture spell...

The team member of the Tokyo branch were now on their way to their location as the golem had been activated.

Ten's chance of winning was now slowly shrinking as the members teleported to the same village that Yui's group did.

She senses them approaching as she continued to dodge.

She will most likely lose here if doesn't get rid of the golem that's preventing her retreat before Yui's allies manage to make it to the ritual grounds.

Shit! I under estimated her...

Why did I think she wasn't gonna be as strong as the damn fox?!

She only had herself to blame as the golem continued to now get hits on Ten, who was now weakened by all the fast movements that she had done to save herself.

Her strength was slowly draining like a battery in use.

The golem didn't show any signs of letting her go or her soldiers go, creating even more huge creaters every time it's punches hit the ground.

"Checkmate"

Was the first thing Yui said as the ritual finished...

What happened right after the ritual wasn't something that the silver-haired fox anticipated...

She now has nine tails which meant she was now at her best in terms of combat and magic... She was now a true nine-tailed fox.

Her body glowed radiantly as she looked around to see that Shami had indeed merged with her- that the ritual had succeeded.

Only a fox-like spirit remained of what used to be Shami... It had the same appearance of a fox statue that could be found at shinto shrines, it no longer had any humanoid details to speak of.

With it's snow-like fur, it stared at Yui with curiousity.

A fox...? When did it appear in front of me...?

Yui stared at this fox feeling quite confused, she thought the ritual hadn't been performed right.

But then... There wasn't a fire in the forest as she looked around.

Every single tree had been the same way they were, indicating that the ritual was performed correctly.

If it was successful... Then why is there a fox in front of me right now...?

Was this supposed to happen...?

She tried confirming it multiple times but the same result would always turn up... It was a success.

Why did a fox show up when I finished the ritual?

It doesn't look like a humanoid anymore... But could that be Shami's true form?

[To be continued...]