The Warrior of Love

It’s just that Shuten himself doesn’t have the ability to test it. After all, when it comes to saving one’s life, Nura is top-notch.

On the battlefield, all the little monsters fell into chaos due to the death of their leader. They began to flee in all directions or retreat in the direction of Shuten Douji. Jiang Liu and others had no interest in chasing them.

"Mmm, it turns out that my husband and I have such a good teamwork."

"Obviously I'm faster!"

"Haha, you're cute when you refuse to admit defeat. It's okay, don't be so nervous. I won't take your brother away from you. If you love someone, you have to love his family - I can love you and my husband!"

"Brother, did you hear that? This woman is so indecent—"

"By the way... were you two acting just now, deliberately trying to make the cunning ghost reveal his flaws?" Jiang Liu was a little confused.

"if not?"

Zao Nu laughed: "I am determined to be the best wife and assistant, how could I possibly cause trouble for my husband on the battlefield?"

"Me, me too." Ritsuka straightened his chest, "I don't bother to argue with this woman. After all--"

[I will definitely win in the end anyway! ]

The two women's voices overlapped, and their expressions froze at the same time.

Jiang Liu: “…”

It seems that compared to the enemy in front of us, the crisis around us is more tormenting.

"You guys, please behave yourself for a bit—ok?"

Jiang Liu frowned, suddenly broke away from the two people, and signaled them to step back.

"Something's wrong. Be careful."

"Ugh?"

Everyone's attention was focused on the pile of flesh and blood left behind by the slippery ghost, because the corpse, which should have lost all life, was now shaking inexplicably.

"Is it a fake corpse? Disgusting thing, such an eyesore."

Because of Shuten, Ibaraki Douji, who had been doing nothing in the battle, now took action and sprinkled a flame, covering the wreckage.

"It's quiet now-what?!"

Unexpectedly, Ibaraki's attack failed to completely destroy the wreckage. Wisps of dark mist floated from the scattered fragments of flesh and blood, gradually gathering into a ball in the air.

"Hmm... what is that?" Tsuda's expression became serious. "It feels like... there is a bad atmosphere."

Xingbu Ji and A Rong hugged each other nervously: "What's going on? It feels so scary!"

Even Jiang Liu couldn't help but clench his Immortal Slash tightly when he saw the mist.

He was very familiar with this feeling, and encountered similar things every day in hell. But... none of them could be more powerful than the one in front of him!

"Ka, ka, ka..."

The sound of armor clashing continued, and a tall, ferocious silhouette gradually emerged from the fog.

A pure white warhorse, its hooves and mane burning with red lotus flames, and its powerful muscles containing unimaginable explosive power.

Riding on its back was a ghost warrior wearing heavy armor with a black background and red stripes. In his hand he held a nearly three-meter-long broad naginata, with three swords of various shapes tucked on his waist. He drove the horse forward, and with every step he took, his momentum became more powerful.

Top-level combat power... no, it's even higher than that!

"No wonder I felt there was something strange about Naughty Ghost. It turns out it was because of you."

Everyone was ready for battle, and Jiang Liu raised the magic sword to kill countless evil spirits.

"Who are you?"

"Son of the garrison general Ryoumochi, lord of Shimosa Province!"

The demon warrior came riding forward, holding his naginata high.

"General Ping's door—come up!"

Chapter 139: Shadow Warriors

"I didn't expect it to be Taira Masakado!"

Shuten-doji showed a mixture of astonishment and fear on his face, and it was the first time he lost his composure since his debut.

"Why would this guy... My dear "father", you really don't trust me."

Shuten-doji's intense reaction is understandable. After all, the name "Taira Masakado" is of great significance to Japanese monsters and demons.

He was a military commander in the Heian period. He was born into the noble Taira clan and was the fifth-generation grandson of Emperor Kanmu. He was also known as Soma Kojiro.

In history, he was at odds with other members of the Taira clan because of his overly rigid and violent personality and his tendency to do things out of line. In the end, he even went so far as to rise up in arms against the imperial court. He was the only man in Japanese history who dared to call himself the "new emperor."

It is said that he was extremely powerful at that time. With Shimotsuchi as his base, his influence spread to eight provinces including Hitachi, Musashi, Awa, and Sagami. At the same time, he established a new imperial court and appointed civil and military officials.

But he was eventually defeated and killed.

Originally, Taira no Masakado was extremely brave and skilled in strategy. Although he was fighting against the imperial court in a corner of the country, he was able to win every time.

But later, Taira Masakado's arch-enemy Taira no Masamori met the warrior Fujiwara no Hidego, also known as Tawara Tota (yes, the one who resisted Rice in FGO).

With the help of his sister, Taira no Masakado's favorite concubine Kikyoumae, Tawara Tota discovered the secret of Taira no Masakado's strength and shot him to death with one arrow. The rebellion was suppressed and is known in history as the "Taira no Masakado Rebellion."

But Taira Masakado was not at peace even after his death. First, Kikyo, who betrayed him, died suddenly and mysteriously, then his body disappeared, and even his head began to speak...

When he was hung in Kyoto for public display, many strange things happened. There was chaos for several months before he was gradually calmed down by building shrines and temples for him.

Therefore, Taira no Masakado is also known as one of the four evil spirits of Japan.

——However, these are just records in legends. If that were the case, Shuten would not need to be so surprised.

What really wavered Shuten was that Taira no Masakado was actually her "relative".

A giant snake living in Soma, Shimosa Province, transformed itself into a human woman and fell in love with a mortal noble. The child they gave birth to was Soma Kojiro, who later became Taira no Masakado.

Shuten is the son of Ibuki Daimyojin (Yamata no Orochi), but of course this does not mean that Yamata is really her "father".

Rather, it is said that Shuten is a spirit-like being that was born from the meeting of the essence of the Yaki (earth veins) and a human woman.

Taira no Masakado's mother is actually in a similar situation to Shuten. In a sense, the two are "sisters". So, Shuten is Taira no Masakado's... aunt?

However, although Shuten is older than him, when it comes to fighting power and fame... Taira no Masakado is a top-level hero in Japan.

In this land, excluding gods, the strongest pure human being should be a certain Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, the strongest demonic being is Minamoto no Raikou, and the first-class demon and god is Taira no Masakado (Shuten is half a level lower than these three).

Even the Yamata no Orochi cannot command a demon general of this level while being sealed. The reason why it can summon Taira no Masakado is probably because of the compatibility issue, the so-called "the son cannot defeat the father".

It would be a great idea to let Taira no Masakado manage the One Hundred Demons Night Parade. Both his strength and leadership charisma are enough to suppress the Hundred Demons.

However, even though Nura's true identity was so terrifying, Yaki had been hiding it from him and had not told him - this made Shuten extremely unhappy.

"However, in this case, this battle is really worth looking forward to." Shuten held a large wine vessel and looked at the battlefield below with a smile, but he was thinking about something in his mind.

Putting aside the person who has a loli body but is a Shuten, Jiang Liu and others were soon suppressed and put at a disadvantage after they started fighting with Heping Jiangmen.

It's not that they are useless and several people can't beat one person, but when Taira Masakado charged, he separated out several warriors who were exactly the same as himself from the shadows, and each of them rode on a warhorse to join the battle. They quickly attracted the Chaldean combat forces one by one, and the whole battlefield fell into chaos again.

There are seven people in total, including the original body and the clone. There is no difference in their appearance, but their fighting methods are different. The wild sword, naginata, bow and arrow, and jumonji spear, almost all weapons that can be used in horse battles can be used. However, each of them shows an extremely high level of martial arts, and it is impossible to tell the real from the fake.

The seven cavalrymen trampled and easily dispersed the Chaldeans whose combat skills varied greatly, turning them into several small-scale battle groups in chaos and entanglement.

Tsuda faced Taira Masakado alone. He was completely suppressed in terms of strength, and his attack range was also inferior to that of the enemy who had the advantage of being on high ground during the Arima battle. He could only rely on his superb skills and agility to dodge.

If war horses could not change direction freely like humans, Tsuda would probably not even have a chance to restrain the opponent.

"But in the final analysis, they are enemies who have already revealed their identities. Once demons and monsters know their names, there is nothing to be afraid of."

Tsuda moved as fast as a rabbit, dodged Taira Masakado's spear as nimbly as a swallow, and jumped onto the back of the white warhorse in three consecutive steps, just behind the ghost warrior. The long sword in his hand finally aimed at the gap in Taira Masakado's armor.

The armor worn by Taira no Masakado is different from the armor of modern generals. In addition to the heavy metal plates similar to plate armor, a chain mail structure is used between the chest and abdomen to facilitate movement.

The head is similar to a traditional military helmet, except that the neck is semi-closed and covered with a seemingly thick metal "collar", leaving almost no visible gap.

As for the ghost mask on the helmet... there is nothing much to say. Using masks to cover up the real face is also a certain culture in East Asia. From King Lanling to Di Qing to many Japanese generals, it is a common means of deterring the enemy.

"Qiang!"

The sound of golden swords rang out, and it seemed that Tsuda was going to attack the enemy's neck with great force, but in fact, after the blow, he cleverly entered the gap between the armor, and with a slight shake of his hand, the black helmet naturally flew into the sky.

"Chance!"

Realizing that the enemy was already behind him, Taira Masakado realized that it would be too ignorant of the situation to use his spear to defend himself. He drew out a spare katana from his waist and stabbed at Tsuda with his backhand.

As expected, Taira's plan failed.

The agile Tsuda could be so calm on a mere horse, his lithe posture seemed beyond the reach of flesh and blood.

"It's over now!" Tsuda swung his sword to cut off Taira Masakado's head.

As a result, although the blade touched Taira Masakado's body, there was no expected blood splattering, but instead there were many dazzling sparks.

After being slashed by a sword, Taira no Masakado was unharmed!

Chapter 140: Divine Servant

Tsuda's pupils shrank: "Headless?"

Although the helmet was cut off, there was no head inside, only an empty space.

Tsuda was skilled in martial arts, and he did not stop his movements even when he was surprised. In a split second, his slender nodachi had already slashed at Taira Masakado continuously, making a loud and powerful metallic collision sound.

But even so, there were no obvious scars on the ghost general's body, and the samurai sword that could easily kill monsters seemed meaningless to him.

"presumptuous!"

An angry roar came from nowhere, and a wave of air was released with Taira Masakado as the center. The overwhelming force immediately sent Tsuda, who was unable to dodge, flying away.

"Drink ah ah ah!"

The magical power that was almost visible to the naked eye shattered the atmosphere, and Tsuda's fragile body suddenly began to twist unnaturally.

This is also his biggest weakness: no matter how high his swordsmanship is, his body is still flesh and blood.

Without armor to protect him, his defense is not even as good as that of an ordinary human warrior.

Perhaps in a normal level of battle, this can be avoided by agility, but when faced with an area attack that cannot be dodged, there is nothing you can do. As a veteran of the Oni warriors, Taira Masakado would naturally not let go of such an obvious weakness.

The next moment, a large bow and arrow that was more than a person's height appeared in Taira Masakado's hand. He drew the bow and aimed in one go, and shot an arrow at Tsuda. The strong wind immediately pierced the atmosphere.

"Qiang!"

The arrow was broken by the sudden appearance of a sword. Jiang Liu held a sword in front of Tsuda, and narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Taira Masakado... or his clone.

He had previously held back two shadow warriors, but at the same time he was also observing the situation of each battle group, and finally came to the conclusion: this guy is immortal.

Whether it was Tsuda's katana, Mashu's shield attack, Algae's curse, Ibaraki's demon sword, or even the Black King's holy sword, none of them could cause real and effective damage to Taira Masakado.

This can only prove one fact: Taira no Masakado has an immortality protection similar to the "Dragon Blood Armor".

This is not groundless speculation, but is deduced from legendary records.

It is said that Taira Masakado's mother was a giant snake. After giving birth to Taira Masakado, the snake licked his entire body with saliva, giving him unparalleled divine power and an invulnerable body of steel.

His only weak spot is the area between his eyebrows that has not been licked, but this fact is only known to Taira no Masakado himself and his mother, so he has always been invincible on the battlefield.

Until one day he told his weakness to his favorite concubine Kikyo, and then he was shot dead by his brother-in-law Tawara Tota...

(This guy has a serious sense of legend, he is simply a combination of Phineas and Heel.)

Being summoned from mainland Japan, as the most famous vengeful spirit in this land, Taira no Masakado was able to display all of his legendary powers, so he must have brought his immortal body with him as well.

Generally speaking, the most effective way to deal with this kind of enemy is to replicate the way of death in mythology and break his forehead, but -

"This guy is clueless..." Jiang Liu's eye twitched.

Besides the immortality, the clone ability is also very tricky. This is not a trick like the ninja, but a legendary treasure - Taira Masakado has six identical Kagemusha.

The means used to confuse the enemy during life became a treasure after death...

“Hoo—let’s get started!”

The domineering aura that could eclipse the heaven and earth engulfed the battlefield. The actions of all enemies and friends were forced to stop for a moment, and the chaotic battlefield suddenly became quiet.

Even a strong man like the Black King felt uncomfortable, and his body instinctively burst out with the majesty of a king mixed with magical energy to fight against it. The reactions of the others were even worse. Arong, who had the physique of an ordinary person, fainted directly (it is worth mentioning that Ritsuka had no reaction at all).

"I don't care about my life——"

The pitch-black blade completely blended into the night, with only a few red rays shining with an eerie glow.