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Chapter 145: Battle at the Peak (3)
「I see. You’re only extremely strong against spirits.」
That was Kagura’s current evaluation of the Demon Princess after examining her moves.
The demon’s curse could nullify Arts on top of spiritual power. That was the foundation of Chimera Clauzen’s power, with which they had overcome many enemies. As overpowered as such a property might seem, it still had some weak points. Including one very vulnerable stop.
「You dare mock me… I won’t overlook that! I’ll rip everything from you until not even your soul remains!」
The Demon Princess had overheard Kagura’s mutter, answering by yelling like a banshee while tearing her burnt clothes away. Her white skin underneath also had many burn marks, showing how much of an effect Piisuke’s flames had.
But the Demon Princess merely brushed her hand, darkened by some shadow over them, and all the burns vanished without trace, her skin regaining its perfect luster.
(So she can also heal herself. I have to burst her down if I want to finish her then.)
Attempting something new, the Demon Princess’ body began spewing out more black mist. But there seemed to be a limit to how much she could produce, as it began to look gray the further it extended. It was still enough to decrease visibility though.
Noticing the change in the Demon Princess’ attitude, Kagura did not hesitate to run forward. The mist gathered in front of her like a wall, which she pierced through with her white staff. When the mist surrounded her, she focused only on opening a path forward, until she could see the main mass of mist in the center of the room.
With no hesitation, she struck the mass with her staff, before-
「No!」
Kagura quickly pulled back, and cut off the snakes of black mist that had begun to encroach on her.
「Just a bit more and I had you. You have good reflexes, girl.」
The Demon Princess’ voice came from an undefined direction.
Looking again, Kagura saw that inside the mass of black mist were coils of wriggling black ropes. They were made with Dharma, and looked darker than anything before them, and were sturdy enough to resist the spell fastened to the tip of Kagura’s staff. When she looked at the charm she was using, she noticed it had started to burn and crumble away.
「I guess she’s finally serious. That was a close one.」
The mist surrounding her began to gather in one spot. She followed it with her eyes, and noticed the Demon Princess had moved deep inside it.
Kagura’s vision was restricted, hiding the Demon Princess’ movements and traps she had laid. It was a simple strategy, but a really effective one. Kagura muttered to herself as she switched the charm on her staff for a new one.
「That’s a rather unique staff you got there, but I’ll snap it in two soon enough.」
As she said that, the black mist that gathered began taking shape, while increasing its density rapidly. At the same time, the Dharma ropes and shadows she had made melded together, and after a few seconds materialized into a large jet black sword, darker than any shadow could ever be.
「I think I can believe you could do that.」
Years of experience told Kagura that the sword had the combined powers of black mist and Dharma. Though with both effects amplified by an order of magnitude, sturdy enough to resist a hit from her own staff that combined Arts with Anti-Demon Silver.
But even confronting that massive sword, Kagura still had the confidence to smile.
「Sadly for you, my preparations are complete as well.」
Saying that, Kagura threw her staff away and took out one charm, imbuing it with an enormous amount of mana. The charm began to glow faintly, showing the spell was going to be more powerful than anything she had used thus far. fr(e)ewebnov(e)l.com
「I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish, no Art can get through this sword!」
The Demon Princess shouted while swinging her arm up, which sent the black sword flying like an arrow.
The sword had the black mist’s strong resistance to Arts, and the Demon Princess had strengthened it further. No matter how powerful or high level an Art was, as long as it was made with mana, the black sword would easily destroy it.
Kagura quickly jumped out of the way, the charm still in her hand, and leapt away again while the black sword chased after her.
「That’s even more powerful than I expected.」
A heavy rumbling sound accompanied the black sword’s movements, persistently chasing after Kagura while shattering anything that came in its way. Piisuke tried attacking as a distraction, but there was no effect. The longer Kagura ran around, and the longer the Sword cleared the obstacles, the closer it got.
Keeping in mind the location of the five meters black blade chasing after her, Kagura looked around. She noticed that the longer she evaded the black sword, the distance between her and the Demon Princess kept increasing.
Meanwhile Piisuke scaled down to the size of a sparrow, getting closer to the Demon Princess through the air.
After a few rounds of Kagura running around and the black sword attempting to impale her, Piisuke reached the area above the Demon Princess.
The black sword stabbed into the ground as flames sparked around, the room shaking from the impact. At the same time, Kagura appeared above the Demon Princess, silently holding the charm imbued with mana up.
Then, the Demon Princess watched the flames a distance away as her lips twisted into a wicked laugh, cackling as she looked overhead.
「You truly thought I wouldn’t notice?」
The Demon Princess’ red eyes were open wide, and as she lifted her arms, countless black mist clumps and black hands sprung up towards Kagura, who was currently falling freely pushed by gravity, leaving her no possible option to evade.
At least in theory.
「I didn’t!」
Kagura answered and activated her charm. A powerful gust of wind began blowing from it, which she used to impulse herself up and away from the incoming mist and black hands.
「What?!」
The whole scene looked slightly comical from afar. The Demon Princess looked utterly confused, trying to comprehend Kagura’s nonsensical reply and reaction. Then something else happened.
Piercing through the veil of black mist, it hit the Demon Princess straight in the head, sending her rolling on the ground.
「If you only had worn one of those Spirit Arms’ you’re so proud of, you might have been able to avoid that hit.」 contemporary romance
All the Demon Princess could do was scream senselessly as she rolled on the ground. Kagura slowly landed as she watched that, and picked it up, the staff that had hit the Demon Princess in the head.
That was a skill of an adept shikigami user. Ghost Riding, the ability to control and move charms and items attached to charms at will. That was enough to control the white staff from afar, and land a clean hit on the Demon Princess when she least expected it.
Kagura’s attack was not over yet though.
「This is for Multicolor!」
Kagura took out a different charm, with which she ran at an incredible speed to close in on the Demon Princess, who was still struggling to get on her feet, and dig her fist into her stomach.
The Demon Princess had no breath to scream, a gasping cry escaping her lips.
「And this is for Reesha!」
Kagura was not done yet. Her voice filled with anger, she raised her hand and violently struck the Demon Princess’ cheek. There was a painfully loud clap and the Demon Princess’ body was sent into the air, before landing flat on the ground with a groan in a weak young girl’s voice.
The cheek she had been struck on was swollen red, and a charm was stuck on it.
「And this is for all the spirits!」
The Demon Princess was on all four, her limbs trembling as she tried to pull herself up, when Kagura’s cold voice rang a last time as she readied her white staff with a charm on it.
The air seemed to tremble as multiple charms, scattered around by shikigamis, began to float and surround the Demon Princess thanks to Ghost Riding. There were six in total, which all reacted to Kagura’s mana to evoke a shikigami.
Shikigami Summon: Ursa Astigma
When Kagura activated her Art, the glowing charms transformed into six glowing spheres of different colors. Each of them formed a pentagram barrier, trapping the Demon Princess in the blink of an eye.
Inside, the Demon Princess was attempting to heal herself with Dharma, and then writhed to get black mist out trying to destroy the barriers. At first sight, it looked like she was inside a cage of barriers. But it was slightly different.
‘Alkaid, deliver your judgment. Grant me the blade to crush evil.’
It was not an actual cage, but the stage for the main act to play out. There was one last member needed for Ursa Astigma, the constellation of seven stars.
The staff in Kagura’s hand seemed to pulsate with light. The charm affixed to it glowed with the colors of a rainbow, and slowly grew until the staff was covered. Eventually the staff transformed into the Seven Stars Blade, granting its power to Kagura’s hand.
「Brace yourself.」
Kagura held the sword high in the air, saying that as all her emotions welled up, and then swung it down into the barrier.
What followed was like watching a blizzard of cherry blossoms against clear skies. As the Seven Stars Blade cut through the barriers, bright streaks went up, which shattered into large quantities of light specks that scattered everywhere.
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