Female Swordsman Training Dojo

But she still thought she could get there... no.

The Red Dragon Queen shook her head in frustration, ending her thoughts, and turned her gaze to the void behind which cracks were beginning to appear. A scorching dragon's breath was poised to strike.

“Leave some survivors, Arthur.” Harunobu patted the Red Dragon Queen’s paw. “That Shuten-dōji’s reaction just now was definitely not normal. Something’s definitely fishy.”

The Red Dragon Queen nodded, adjusting the power of her dragon breath.

Meanwhile, inside Mount Oe.

Ibaraki-dōji, supporting the bloodied and mangled Shuten-dōji who had shrunk back to his three-meter height, sternly commanded the remaining demons below who were in a frenzy: "Hoshiguma! Go activate those prototypes left behind by Yamata no Orochi! Kinkuma! Organize the wind demons and water demons to maintain the gate to the demon realm! If the gate is breached, we'll all die!!"

Ibaraki-dōji's hoarse roar successfully overwhelmed the chaotic demons, who habitually began to act according to the Second King's orders. Hoshiguma-dōji hastily activated the two prototypes of living gods left behind by Yamata no Orochi—the seven- or eight-meter-tall robots that Hira-yukiko and the others had previously cut down.

Golden Bear Child quickly led all the demons skilled in spellcasting to the core of the demon realm, doing his utmost to maintain the stability of the demon realm's entrance, trying to avoid being destroyed by Izanami.

The others weren't idle either; some were organizing their subordinates to prepare defenses, others were organizing people to escape—basically, regardless of whether it would be useful or not, they were busy getting things done first. Even if it was highly likely that it really wouldn't be of any use.

The demons have never been skilled in magic, and their magical power is relatively weak among demons. To compare their magical power with Izanami, who has the backing of the Underworld and whose magical power is virtually inexhaustible, is simply laughable. Moreover, even if Izanami's Underworld has six sealed areas, preventing her from unleashing her full power, these demons' skills still cannot compare to the Mother of the Underworld.

Putting aside those ancient magical techniques, although she seems to be glued to Harunobu every day, that doesn't stop her from using her clones to learn modern magic and new techniques from Yakumo Kurenai and the shrine maidens. She's already mastered Thunder Breathing and Flying Sword Style to the middle level.

Despair spread through Mount Ōe. The demons were merely making their last desperate struggle, and none dared to even consider concentrating all the power of the demon realm to fight Hiraharunobu. Shuten-dōji was already severely injured, and even their strongest, Hoshiguma-dōji, combined with the power of the demon realm, was only roughly equivalent to the previous Shuten-dōji in strength.

They couldn't even escape. Only Shuten-dōji and Ibaraki-dōji could control the demon realm, and they certainly wouldn't be so kind as to allow their subordinates to flee. Besides, it wouldn't matter anyway; once no one supported the demon realm, Izanami and Hiranobu would immediately storm in! They weren't tengu; they couldn't possibly get very far in such a short time!

Inside the main hall, Ibaraki-dōji was rapidly destroying Shuten-dōji's throne. She could think of anything her demon subordinates could think of, but there were things she knew that her subordinates might not. For example, there was another demon realm within Mount Ōe, a final escape route hidden beneath Shuten-dōji's throne.

The throne, forged from orpiment and demon horn, which even ordinary demons could not leave a mark on, crumbled like tofu in her hands until it was completely destroyed, revealing a large, dark hole, like the gaping maw of some kind of monster.

Ibaraki-dōji breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Shuten-dōji, whom she had carefully placed aside. She could see the anxiety and panic on his face. She picked up Shuten-dōji and comforted him gently, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, we'll be safe soon."

Concerned and confused, Ibaraki-dōji failed to notice Shuten-dōji's severe injuries and frailty—the heavily injured demon king was no match for his most capable lieutenant—just as she failed to realize that Shuten-dōji had not escaped by activating the power of the demon realm himself.

He was prepared to die, and had even arranged for a successor. How could he possibly run away again? But he didn't know who had rescued him and brought him back to the Demon Realm. It couldn't have been Ibaraki; her control over the Demon Realm was not as strong as his... until he saw Ibaraki break the seal under the throne.

Izana——

Shuten-dōji's silent scream was drowned out by the sound of Ibaraki-dōji jumping into the deep pit, his distorted face was swallowed by the crawling darkness, and the luxurious hall returned to calm; even the large hole that could accommodate both Ibaraki-dōji and Shuten-dōji at the same time was slowly healing.

Boom!

The tightly closed doors of the main hall were suddenly flung open by countless wisps of black mist, and the corrupting power of the Mother of the Underworld instantly filled the entire space. The large hole, less than a quarter of which remained unhealed, seemed to be stimulated, bursting open again in one breath.

Chapter 510

It shrank by half—but that's about it.

The space suddenly turned a blood-red color. The flickering candlelight and the flying pebbles all stopped in mid-air and faded. Of course, the same was true for the huge hole that had swallowed Ibaraki-dōji and Shuten-dōji.

Free method·Fengjue!

In the blood-red world, Izanami reformed and set down Harunobu, who was shrouded in black mist. Unusually, her gaze didn't linger on Harunobu, but was fixed on the large hole, though it could no longer be called a large hole.

Approximately 10cm in diameter?

However, this size was already large enough for those present to see the white light contained within.

"So, Izanagi is behind Mount Ōe?" Harunobu looked at the white light he had seen before. "Is that definitely Izanagi's power of creation?"

"It's that green-haired bastard! I'd recognize him even if he were burned to ashes!" Izanami said bitterly. "I knew the taste was off! How dare a bunch of demons hold me back for so long!"

Qingxin patted her bottom: "Calm down, it's not like we caught his real body."

Izanami wiggled her hips, but was soothed down by Harunobu's large hand. She leaned against Harunobu's chest and muttered, "I know, but I just want to kill this bastard whenever I see him!"

King Arthur, now back in human form, approached, his eyes filled with amazement: "To be able to hide another demiplane within a demiplane, what an exquisite magical skill."

"However, it still can't compare to your strange magic... It can actually cut and separate the entire space from the world, even taking the objects in it with it... Even we dragons don't have this kind of magic passed down."

Qingxin shrugged: "Let's save the praise for when we get back. For now, let's think about how to deal with this demon realm within a demon realm."

Their gaze returned to the hole and the white light within it.

Chapter 475: Izanagi’s Secret

In the blood-red space, everything faded, except for a tiny hole from which a milky white light shone, as if it were the embodiment of hope and beauty, the only hope in this terrifying world—

Harunobu shoved his fist into the hole, a 10cm diameter opening that barely accommodated his large hand, and the white light could no longer contain it. What had initially resembled a sphere of light rapidly elongated, transforming into a thin beam of light that grazed Harunobu's hand and flew sideways out of the hole. During this process, Harunobu vaguely saw the unconscious Shuten-dōji and Ibaraki-dōji within the white light.

Then, he opened his right hand, which was stuck into the hole, and blocked the light. The immense force struck his fingers, the impact even causing his little finger and ring finger to crack, injuring his finger bones.

But that was all. As the thick black mist spread from Qingxin's hand, the white light, like a mouse seeing a cat, shrank back and disappeared into the soil.

But after a short while, it reappeared outside, flashing rapidly, like a fluorescent light that had short-circuited.

Even setting aside the fact that the seal has already isolated this space, it has no way to escape unless it kills Qingxin; Izanami has already spread the corrupting power everywhere, so if it wants to touch the seal, it would have to pass through those thick black mists first. Considering that it is even afraid of the little corrupting power in Qingxin's hands, this is also impossible for it.

"However, given that it can move freely within the sealed area, what exactly is Izanagi...?"

According to the original setting, once the seal is activated, everything will be frozen in place unless it is a creature with the power of existence, or possesses a corresponding treasure or spell. The white light in front of us clearly has no power of existence; it can't even be considered a living being. However, it can move freely and quite nimbly within the seal.

That's a bit scary, bro. Looks like we'll have to do some testing and research on the Freedom of the Dharma later, to avoid this kind of "inconsistent with the original text" stuff coming up.

As Harunobu pondered this, he unleashed a torrent of black mist, forcing the white light towards him. Just as Izanami had predicted, the white light launched a devastating attack the moment it approached Harunobu—crashing into Izanami's corrupting power.

"Does this thing really have no self-awareness?" Qingxin poked at the white light that was shrouded in black mist and whose brightness had suddenly decreased. Hmm, it felt like poking at thin air; it was as if it really was just a ball of light.

"No, this should just be some kind of spell left behind by Izanagi beforehand. It has a certain ability to judge and collect information, but it is all pre-programmed and does not mean that it has self-awareness."

“Hmm…” Harunobu thought for a moment, “Just like the corrupting power you gave to the Tongxin Society before? It seems somewhat similar when Yakumo Kurenai fully transformed.”

"Pretty much." Izanami originally wanted to explain to Harunobu the differences between the two spells, but then thought it would be too much of a waste of time, so she decided against it.

She paused, then continued, "In short, since this thing is so 'lively,' it means that Izanagi must have left a lot of information here, at least including information to distinguish friend from foe, as well as a way to return to his side."

Upon hearing this, Harunobu became excited: "Looks like we can beat Amaterasu to a pulp and destroy this green-haired turtle?"

"I hope so."

Izanami stretched out her right hand, enveloped in filthy power, and grabbed at the dim orb of light. This time, the cunning little thing couldn't pull off any new tricks and was caught red-handed by Izanami. Then, just as Izanami had previously distributed the power of creation to Tachibana Seiko and the others, she tossed the white light to King Arthur.

This is the only option. Izanami couldn't possibly absorb Izanagi's power, much less give something potentially dangerous to Harunobu. That leaves only King Arthur present.

However, King Arthur had no intention of absorbing the power of this mysterious wild god, and easily blocked it in front of him: "What are you doing?"

King Arthur never had a good attitude towards Izanami; the evil lord of hell and the noble knight king were naturally at odds.

"Alright, Xiao Yi," Qingxin interrupted the stalemate between the two, "Give it to me, this thing can at least enhance my physical abilities, right?"

"Husband, this..."

"It's alright, we'll have to fight Izanagi sooner or later. It's impossible for him to miss every single hit," Harunobu comforted Izanami, speaking from the heart. If he couldn't even handle the magic used to plot against the Oni clan of Mount Oe when Izanagi was out there, wouldn't he be too afraid to fight him when they finally faced him in direct combat?

"Besides, aren't you here? How about we team up again?"

Harunobu chuckled and pinched Izanami's plump, round bottom, eliciting a soft moan from her, a sign of her submission to Harunobu's request. What could she do? She was already captivated by this man; she couldn't very well impose her will on him.

Sensing Izanami's obedience, Harunobu contentedly embraced her slender waist and reached for the ball of creative power. At that moment, King Arthur spoke up, "Wait, Harunobu... this thing seems to be trying to tell me something."

King Arthur's face showed obvious confusion, and even Izanami didn't argue with her at this moment. Instead, she carefully examined the power of creation again. The result was completely normal, and she didn't hear it convey any message.

"Never mind it, let me see what's inside." Harunobu habitually prepared to handle dangerous situations himself, but King Arthur was also used to doing the same.

So she first released her resistance to that creative power, allowing it to merge directly into her body. Moreover, she appeared completely normal, still standing there with her heroic bearing.

晴信

Chapter 511

He paused for a moment, but quickly recovered. There was clearly no point in arguing anymore; he could only sigh, "Is everything alright, Arthur?"

"Yes, but I'm a little sorry, the knowledge it contains is extremely useful." King Arthur shook his head, a hint of embarrassment on his face, as if he had accidentally stolen something from someone else, and a priceless treasure at that.

Fortunately, this treasure is knowledge that can be shared.

The Red Dragon Queen, relieved, once again concealed her immature side and gave Harunobu an elegant smile: "But thankfully, we can communicate."

"Well... let's get to the key point. The knowledge contained there includes Izanagi's ultimate goal—he wanted to become a true creator god who surpassed all other gods; and he also found an effective way to achieve this, well, at least that's what he thought."

"A pipe dream, so unrealistic and greedy." Izanami sneered, making no attempt to hide her malice towards Izanagi.

Harunobu, on the other hand, restrained himself slightly: "Are you alright, Arthur?"

"Of course, this amount of information is nothing to a dragon," King Arthur said with a smile. "Speaking of which, if you were willing to form a pact with me, we could share this knowledge much faster..."

The author says:

Author's note: Update progress +25~ Tomorrow will be a bit sad~

Chapter 476: King Arthur Unleashes His Bestial Nature

Dragon Speakers can forge contracts with dragons, establishing a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship. They gain magical power, knowledge, and even extended lifespans from the dragons—a virtually guaranteed win for most, who are still fundamentally mortal. The only cost is absolute loyalty to their dragon lord.

So unfortunately, Harunobu couldn't possibly agree to King Arthur's suggestion. Firstly, with the Yellow Springs, he wasn't lacking in magic power; secondly, he didn't value dragon knowledge much because of the Vortigern gift package; the only thing he lacked was lifespan. Although he could currently fight monsters hundreds or thousands of years old, when it came to lifespan, he probably couldn't compare to the monsters, even if those monsters were weaker than him.

However, he is only 25 years old this year, so there is no rush to extend his lifespan.

"So, let's just say it directly. You wouldn't be deliberately hiding anything, would you?"

Harunobu was just joking; the Knight King's integrity is still trustworthy.

"That's hard to say..." King Arthur said playfully. She hadn't expected Qingxin to agree to form a Dragon Speaker contract with her, but she just really wanted to make the suggestion.

Looking at King Arthur's lively expression, Qingxin suddenly remembered something: "Speaking of which, what was that about when you said that the power of creation was calling to you?"

King Arthur blinked, unable to suppress a smile: "Speaking of this, we have to mention those Christian traitors killed by Amaterasu; they were actually allies of Izanagi, and their trouble-making against Amaterasu was also guided and aided by Izanagi; that power probably sensed the Christian aura on me, or rather, the aura of a Westerner? In any case, it regarded me as an ally, so when there was no hope of escape, it tried to ask me for help."

"You still have the power of the Church?" Qingxin asked in surprise, as he had not seen any Christian qualities in King Arthur.

“Europeans and Americans are either Crusaders or Crescent-Star worshippers, but I am a female dragon,” King Arthur shrugged. “Therefore, I am a staunch advocate of monogamy and prohibition of premarital sex.”

This is an even more obvious jab.

Izanami watched from the sidelines, sensing that something was amiss.

Was King Arthur's aggression a bit too intense?

Because the evil lord of hell and the noble King of Knights were somewhat at odds, she kept a close eye on King Arthur. It must be said that King Arthur's daily life was very simple—except for meals—and his personality tended towards conservatism and restraint.

Typically, she almost never jokes, and can even take jokes seriously. Aside from fighting, she's very amiable, even to the point of being rigid… Considering her age, perhaps that's considered open-minded?

But no matter what, this kind of joke that happens several times in a short period of time, and even the subtle attempt to break through the personal relationship with Harunobu, is definitely not the normal King Arthur.

Although she had seen through it, Izanami hesitated whether to expose it, since it seemed like it could help Harunobu capture this Western dragon. However, what if there was danger...? King Arthur was no delicate woman, and if she attacked the unsuspecting Harunobu, it could very well lead to irreversible consequences.

These thoughts swirled in Izanami's mind twice, and Harunobu, of course, found out, inwardly rolling his eyes at Izanami. This woman was deliberately pushing the problem onto him; otherwise, why would she keep repeating it in her mind?

Izanami let out a silly giggle and got away with it by being cute.

"Harunobu? Why are you daydreaming? Is this spell too draining?" King Arthur's concerned voice pulled Harunobu back to his senses, and he looked at King Arthur.

Yes, his crimson eyes remained resolute, and he seemed perfectly normal. But that was precisely the biggest anomaly. Even when King Arthur was showing concern for someone, he wouldn't put on such a firm and stern face, as if he were about to charge into battle at any moment, would he?

"I'm fine, but you, don't you think something's off? Arthur." Harunobu's direct approach made King Arthur frown slightly: "Me? I feel perfectly fine, nothing's wrong?"

"Really? Don't you think you're too lively?" Qingxin looked King Arthur up and down, while the latter stared at Qingxin with his big, bright ruby ​​eyes, and said with a hint of anger, "What's wrong? Do you think I'm just a rigid old man?"

“No…” Qingxin found the decisive evidence, raised his finger and pointed to the position of his Adam’s apple, “The Reverse Scale, come out.”

"You're joking, I'm an adult now—" The Red Dragon Queen suspiciously touched her delicate neck, but the hard, scorching scales interrupted her.

According to the information Harunobu obtained from Vortigern, the dragon's reverse scale, a weakness in their resilient bodies, is protected by layers of scales after they reach adulthood and is never exposed. It only reveals itself on two special occasions: one is during the traditional ceremony of confirming the relationship with a mate, as a way to express absolute trust between them; the other is when their emotions fluctuate excessively, causing them to lose control of their reverse scale.

It only shows up when you're fucking or killing, but right now it clearly doesn't match up with any of those. The Red Dragon Queen wasn't this excited when she breathed dragon fire before, and even earlier, when she was kicked in the chest by Qingxin, she wasn't this excited.

So there's only one possibility... King Arthur really fell for it.

"Well, it seems I was too overconfident." King Arthur's red eyes flickered slightly, and his expression was no longer so lively. He seemed to have returned to normal, but Harunobu still felt that something was wrong.

What's wrong?

Hmm...? Did King Arthur just laugh?

Just as a fleeting thought crossed Qingxin's mind, the Red Dragon Queen launched her attack, grabbing his hands and locking him firmly in place.

"Arthur, what are you doing?" Harunobu was surprised, but not flustered. King Arthur was strong, but in human form he was no stronger than Harunobu. Even if his hands were grabbed first, Harunobu was confident he could easily break free and fight back—besides, Izanami was right there beside him.

However, King Arthur seemed a bit off, so Harunobu decided to wait and see what was going on.

King Arthur did not respond to Harunobu, but instead lowered his head and muttered to himself: "Think about it carefully, although Harunobu, your philandering and lustful nature is a big flaw, in other words, as long as I can't make you go looking for other females, isn't that enough?"