I, Den-O, the Contract Urban Legend

Seeing this, the Skeleton Demon God finally breathed a sigh of relief and returned control of his body to Yuyuko.

Having regained her consciousness, Yuyuko fell into a brief daze, but the abdominal pain from the reincarnation ritual brought her back to her senses. She then said, "The seal of Seiyōji Temple has been removed by me! All Kyoto monsters present, follow me to the next seal immediately!"

……

In the pure white space created by Kidomaru, Inoue Ueya observed his surroundings with great interest, saying in amazement, "Oh, interesting! Is this the legendary inherent barrier?"

Seeing the armored man in front of him still maintaining a nonchalant look, Kidomaru couldn't help but snort coldly, "If you want to pretend, then do it now. I'm afraid that before I can get serious, you will all be killed by my sword."

"Sword Halberd - Plum Wood!"

Kidomaru, who had completely transformed into a demon, was seen holding a katana in each hand. Countless "fears" like plum tree branches emanated from his body and extended towards "Inoue Ueya" and others, accompanied by the attacking black branches and the fatal slash from the old man.

After obtaining the power of the alien demon god, Kidomaru's strength seemed to have completely broken through the original shackles. Although he was now using the sword skills he had comprehended using tree branches as a reference, the tree branches that appeared in the eyes of everyone at this moment were more like black lightning-like slashes.

Although everyone tried their best to resist this storm-like attack, the monsters still suffered injuries of varying degrees.

Chapter 245: Submit to the Kyoto Monsters

Faced with an enemy with such terrifying strength, even the Nura clan and others began to panic.

[Is this the Kidomaru who became a great monster? ]

Inoue Ueya was a little surprised at the strength displayed by the old man in front of him. If he remembered correctly, the "Plum Tree" that Kidomaru had just used was only his simplest move. He didn't expect that after this move, the Nura group would become so embarrassed in an instant.

Kidomaru's moves are basically slashes derived from his specialized speed. That move just now was just an appetizer... The next slashes might be ten, a hundred times faster, or even faster. Hanako, don't underestimate him!

The long-awaited battle made Hanako Natsukawa put aside her usual otaku look. Unlike those unknown people who could be crushed by force at will, the old man in front of her was indeed an opponent worthy of fighting. She became a little serious.

"Is that so? I really want to see this old man use his full strength. He seems to have a lot of interesting moves hidden."

Beneath the mask, the corners of Inoue Ueya's mouth curled up slightly. His eyes, originally red due to the possession, now shone faintly with a crimson light, and the things he saw gradually slowed down...

Hanako Natsukawa did not take the initiative to attack as usual, but secretly observed Kidomaru's movements while parrying the oncoming attacks, as if she had other intentions.

At this moment, Kurodabo, a member of the Nura group, looked around and saw that everyone was at a disadvantage due to Kidomaru's attack. He knew that if he didn't find a way to break the deadlock, the monsters would probably collapse from exhaustion. Then he whispered to Nura Rikuo behind him, "Young Master, it's time to use that power."

Upon hearing this, Nura Rikuo immediately understood. He hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

"I was planning on saving this move for the duel with Yuyuko, but I didn't expect it to be exposed early."

Ever since his last defeat to Yuzhang, Nura Rikuo has begun studying combat techniques.

Nura Rikuo was first sent by his grandfather to train in the monster village of Tono. During his training there, he learned many ways to use "fear". Then, the increasingly talkative Ushio-ki was still worried about Nura Rikuo's safety and captured him after he returned home and took him to Twisting Eye Mountain for a tough training...

Although the training process was a bit embarrassing to recall, Nura Rikuo, who only had one-quarter demon blood, still successfully realized the secret technique of "Ghost Entanglement" which was a combination of his half-demon body and Nura's Mirror Shisui!

"Come on, Ah Hei! Entrust your fear to me!"

Kurodabo nodded, and his body instantly transformed into a dark "fear" as black as ink, wrapping around Nura Rikuo...

Nura Rikuo also opened his heart and entered the state of mind of Mingjing Shisui, allowing "fear" to wrap around his whole body and merge with Kurodabo's consciousness.

Influenced by the ghost, Nura Rikuo's kimono was changed into a black robe, and a white robe embroidered with the words "Yugenmu" was wrapped around his left half. He held the Mimi Kirimaru in his right hand and the staff belonging to Kurodabo in his left hand. He wore several Buddhist beads on his forearms. A blood-red pattern appeared on his left cheek, and countless weapons emerged from the gaps in the black and white robe behind him.

Carrying Kurodabo's fear, Nura Rikuo's strength increased dramatically. Feeling the endless power within him, he smiled his signature confident smile and said softly, "I can definitely feel the bond between Kurodabo and me, and the excitement in my heart that longs to fight a powerful enemy - now I am invincible!"

"This is the second generation's move, 'Ghost Entanglement'. I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime..."

"Great! This way, even the big monsters won't be our match!"

Seeing Nura Rikuo's successful transformation, many monsters in the Nura group, in addition to those from Tono and the new generation of monsters, cheered.

After all, not all the monsters joining Nura Rikuo in the battle are new generation monsters. Some of them are old veterans who have experienced the Edo period. That was the most prosperous era of the Nura group. They are not unfamiliar with the ghost entanglement technique.

Putting aside Nura Rikuo's bad remarks, the monsters subconsciously overlooked one problem. With Kidomaru's current strength, it would be easy for him to stop Nura Rikuo and Kurodabo from launching a demon entanglement, but why didn't he take action to stop the other party?

"Hey! Don't be careless, the big monster is not as easy to deal with as you think!"

From the beginning, "Inoue Ueya" had been observing Kidomaru's actions. He did see that when Kidomaru heard Kurodabo propose to Nura Rikuo to use "Ghost Entanglement", his movements became vaguely slow, as if he was deliberately creating an opportunity for them to use Ghost Entanglement.

Nura Rikuo nodded and ran towards Kidomaru.

Seeing this, Kidomaru raised the two swords in his hands again, and the same black branches began to extend again, but this time the attack was only aimed at Nura Rikuo.

If the last slash was a "plum tree", then the oncoming slash now is a large sea of ​​plum trees!

The pitch-black sea of ​​trees wanted to swallow Nura Rikuo in an instant, but he waved his staff with his left hand, and countless weapons emerged from behind him to fight against the "sea of ​​trees".

Although the weapons behind him shattered under the slashing attack from the sea of ​​trees, Nura Rikuo could always generate new weapons to fight back in the next moment, and he managed to take all of Kidomaru's attacks.

Even so, Nura Rikuo knew that it would be impossible to defeat the old man in front of him just by doing this. The recovery ability of the big monsters was far inferior to theirs. If he didn't defeat Kidomaru quickly, his physical strength would be exhausted sooner or later.

Just like now, after receiving the next wave of attacks, Nura Rikuo has begun to gasp for breath, but Kidomaru still maintains a calm and composed look, as if performing that terrifying move does not exhaust him at all.

"...So this is the extent of the century-old enemy of Kyoto's youkai."

A hint of disappointment crossed Kidomaru's face. Facing overwhelming power, the Nura Clan was no match for them. "The true Lord of the Demons, Nue, is about to be resurrected. Next up is a world where youkai will dominate over humans."

"Nura Rikuo, I can spare your life and let the Nura Clan submit to the Kyoto monsters."

Chapter 246: Leave the rest to me

"The law of the jungle is an eternal law. Compared to the corrupted human race, youkai are more suitable to rule the world in every way. Join us and contribute to Nue's ideal world!"

"Ha, that sounds quite appealing, but unfortunately your ideas seem to be so far from my ideals..."

Even when he was in an unfavorable battle situation, Nura Rikuo remained unmoved by Kidomaru's sudden recruitment. Whether in human or monster state, although his personality had changed, he was still "Nura Rikuo" after all, and his inner beliefs had never changed.

"The impression that monsters give to humans isn't all pure terror. In this world, there are monsters who want to coexist with humans, and there are humans who are willing to accept monsters. Times have changed. You stubborn old bastards should just find a place to retreat!"

As he spoke, Nura Rikuo swung his staff again, and endless weapons attacked Kidomaru. However, the old man remained calm and nonchalantly blocked the oncoming blades.

"Judging from your reaction, it seems that the strength I have demonstrated so far is still not enough for you to realize the obvious gap."

As he finished speaking, the fear emanating from Kidomaru surged again, and he slowly said, "Then I will have to get serious..."

Kidomaru crossed the two swords in his hands in front of his chest, and the original dark sea of ​​trees quickly dissipated, replaced by a large group of blooming cherry blossoms. Even Nura Rikuo couldn't help but be stunned when he saw the scene in front of him.

At the same time, the wind moved.

To be precise, it was the strong airflow caused by Kidomaru's high-speed sword swing. The surrounding "cherry blossom trees" seemed to be affected by it, and the petals were blown everywhere by the wind. The seemingly gorgeous scenery concealed endless murderous intent.

A petal gently passed by Nura Rikuo, and a blood mark appeared on his cheek. The pain made him come back to his senses immediately. He seemed to realize something, his whole body was horrified, and he summoned endless weapons to try to block the cherry blossom petals scattered from all directions.

——I was careless and confused by the scene in front of me. These petals were actually Kidomaru’s slashes!

But when Nura Rikuo began to realize that something was wrong, the old man in front of him took the initiative to attack. Countless cherry blossom petals scattered as he swung his sword. There were so many attacks that even Nura Rikuo's endless blade could not block them. In an instant, countless attacks fell on Nura Rikuo's body. His clothes became tattered, as if he had been hit hard. He half-knelt on the ground with his mouth open and eyes closed, and a mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth uncontrollably.

"'Sakura', ten times faster than 'Plum Tree', is the second sword technique I created."

Until now, "Inoue Ueya" is still standing not far away and watching silently.

[Hey, hey, Nura Rikuo is about to die, Hanako, why are you just standing here watching! ]

Inoue Ue finally couldn't bear it anymore and urged Natsukawa Hanako to help save people.

"Don't worry, monsters have very strong vitality. I will take action when necessary."

"Besides, didn't you notice that Kidomaru's attacks have only been targeting Nura Rikuo since a while ago? The slashes that old man unleashed in this direction seemed more like an attempt to restrict our movements, as if to prevent us from interfering in their fight. And I also..."

[No, who can understand you if you say so much in one breath?]

Inoue Ueya shook his head, observing Kidomaru's movements. He sighed, "Simply put, they're currently engaged in a battle over a conflict of beliefs. For me to just walk up and interrupt them would be a bit of a letdown. Especially since this kind of manga-like development isn't something you see often. I guess I'll have to wait a bit before taking action."

"Mr. Inoue, I feel like the second half of what you said is the truth. And if you don't act quickly, Yuyuko—"

"Aren't there those seven great monsters and that stupid senior over at the temple? It's okay, just leave Yuyuko to them."

[Hmm, is this really okay...?]

Inoue Ueya was still a little worried about the safety of Iwanaga Kotoko and others.

Returning to the battle between the two, Kidomaru saw Nura Rikuo collapse, severely wounded. He slowly approached, grasped his white hair, and said coldly, "Even if you possess the power to command a hundred demons, your strength is ultimately too weak. Furthermore, compared to the ideal world Nue spoke of, your ideal of equal coexistence with humans is simply insignificant and insignificant."

At this time, Nura Rikuo looked extremely embarrassed because of Kidomaru's attack, but the determination in his eyes did not waver at all.

"Stop looking down on others! Whether they are insignificant or noble, I don't care what others think!"

Hearing this, Kidomaru sighed, "What a pity. In that case, I have no choice but to let you die."

Kidomaru raised the katana in his hand high and swung it fiercely at Nura Rikuo in front of him. Nura's body was completely split by a flash of silver light, but turned into a shadow and disappeared in the next second.

"Nurarihyon's 'fear'?"

Seeing that Nura Rikuo had lost his ability to fight and Kidomaru was in a relaxed state, Nura Rikuo seized the moment when he was about to kill him and released his "fear" to use his ability. That was Nura Rikuo's ability "Mirror Flower and Water Moon", which turned his body into an illusory move, and it was also a move that was enough to reverse the situation of the battle.

If Kidomaru had seen through his plan, the surprise attack would probably have been avoided by the opponent, but Nura Rikuo did make the right bet this time.

When Kidomaru noticed something was wrong, Nura Rikuo, who had escaped the danger, appeared behind him, holding the Mimikirimaru in his right hand and stabbing it directly at the old man in front of him. Not only that, the endless blades behind him also followed the Mimikirimaru and kept chasing it, trying to make sure that Kidomaru fell completely.

"I have to admit one thing. If I hadn't obtained the power of the Demon God, I would have been the one defeated. However, this level of moves is still a little short of the level for me who has reached the Great Monster realm."

As soon as he finished speaking, Nura Rikuo realized that all the blades he swung were caught by Kidomaru, and he himself was not hurt at all.

"This time, I won't be careless again!"

Kidomaru once again took the "Sakura" stance, and countless petals attacked from all directions. The injured Nura Rikuo was simply unable to withstand such a dense attack.

"Damn it, is this the end..."

Just when Nura Rikuo thought he was about to die, a scarlet sea of ​​trees suddenly appeared in front of him, and the petals around it were blown away by the strong air waves.

At this time, "Inoue Ueya" held the assembled long sword in his left hand and a scarlet long sword made of "fear" in his right hand, standing in front of Nura Rikuo, "Thank you for your hard work, the rest of the battle will be left to me."

Looking at the familiar "sea of ​​trees", even Kidomaru, who has been promoted to a great demon, could not remain calm and looked at Inoue Ueya with disbelief.

Chapter 247: Watch over me carefully

Kidomaru's movements paused, and the Nura clan and others who were freed from the endless slash hurriedly walked to the seriously injured Nura Rikuo and took him away from the battlefield.

"Old man! Watch over me carefully, my two-sword style!"

"Inoue Ueya" turned into a red lightning and quickly attacked the old man's position. The speed was so fast that Kidomaru, who was temporarily distracted, had to raise his sword to block.

Kidomaru said nothing, but his heart was already filled with shock. The bewildered look on his face fully reflected the confusion buried in his heart at the moment. No matter the sword skill "Plum Tree" he had displayed before, or the "Fear" he released, the armored man in front of him was exactly the same as himself, as if another self had appeared in front of him!

Having said that, the opponent's sword-swinging movements were extremely clumsy. The wide and chaotic attacks were more like casually swinging a long sword rather than swordsmanship, like an amateur who had never learned swordsmanship. Although he possessed considerable strength and speed, he did not look like someone who was capable of mastering his own sword skills.

Well, rather than calling him a swordsman, it would be better to say that his fighting style is more like that of an ordinary person.

"Don't be defensive all the time, give me a good fight!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Inoue Ueya paused, kicked out with his left foot, and a burst of force roared out. Seeing this, Kidomaru didn't dare to take it head-on and quickly stepped back to avoid it.

Seizing the opportunity when the old man retreated, Inoue Ueya adopted a stance different from the "Ume no Ki". Seeing this, Kidomaru's pupils shrank slightly, as if he already knew what he was about to face.

The "fear" in Inoue Ueya quickly spread from all sides, but this time it was no longer a sea of ​​trees, but a group of particularly strange red cherry trees.

"Tsk, in just a few minutes, you even learned my "Sakura"! "

Even for monsters of the same species, it is common for the same "fear" to have different properties. Logically speaking, the "fear" possessed by each monster is different. Kidomaru is an even more special individual among them. He is a member of the ghost clan who has always been famous for his infinite strength. The characteristic of his "fear" is to increase speed. The more "fear" he releases, the faster his movements will become. Although this does not include accelerating his thinking speed, this powerful characteristic still makes him a strong man in the monster world.

The sword techniques created by Kidomaru are all targeted at his own "fear" characteristics. They have been tailored for him over thousands of years. Even if others successfully master these sword techniques, the speed of their sword techniques will definitely be several steps slower than his, unless the other party has a way to completely imitate his "fear"!

That's right, the opponent's most dangerous aspect is not his ability to easily master sword skills, but his ability to imitate the nature of "fear" and even display strength that surpasses the former. This is the most terrifying aspect.

Just as Kidomaru thought, the Hyakumonogatari Group originally created "Hanako" with the goal of becoming the strongest monster. As one of the most famous urban legends, the power possessed by Natsukawa Hanako is no weaker than that of Sadako and Yashaku-sama.

Unlike Sadako, Yashaku-sama and Mary, Hanako's abilities were not clearly described in the Hyakumonogatari group's urban legends due to their deliberate arrangement, so people have different understandings of her abilities, which allowed her to obtain this strange power.

Simply possessing the ability to mimic her opponents isn't enough to be called the strongest, but when combined with the boundless "fear" of urban legends, Hanako can gain an overwhelming advantage in battle.

In an instant, a strong storm was generated, and countless red cherry blossoms accompanied by strong winds attacked Kidomaru from the front, its power far exceeding the original sword skill "Sakura".

Seeing this, although Kidomaru instinctively wanted to use more powerful sword skills to counter the opponent's "Sakura", his dignity as a warrior did not allow him to use other means to deal with this sword skill that imitated his own. He decided to counterattack with "Sakura" as well. The cherry blossoms and red cherry blossoms entangled with each other, and countless sword collisions rang out, accompanied by sparks flying everywhere.

Kidomaru's understanding of his own swordsmanship is definitely far superior to that of an amateur like Natsukawa Hanako. Even if the opponent performs the same moves, he does not think that his "Sakura" will be surpassed by the opponent's fake.

However, the result was far beyond Kidomaru's expectations. Although there was a certain time difference between the two in performing their sword skills, Hongying was obviously much stronger than his cherry blossoms. Even though many of the red cherry petals were blocked by Kidomaru, he was still injured after all. His originally calm appearance became embarrassed at this moment.

By this time, Nura Rikuo had long since exhausted himself and was forced to release his "ghost entanglement" state. Pulled away by the monsters, he watched the battle between Inoue Ueya and Kidomaru. Seeing the powerful enemy who had just nearly killed him become so embarrassed in an instant, a hint of disbelief flashed in his eyes, and he murmured softly, "Is this the agent of the god? It turns out he didn't really fight during the battle at Twisting Eye Mountain..."