“You Orientia people really are so full of yourselves, overestimating your capabilities! After learning just a bit, you dare to commit misdeeds in our great Atraria, it’s truly laughable!” Leo said with a cold laugh.
“Watch my ‘Fight’ word, kill!” Kazuhiko cursed loudly, releasing the Fight word attack.
Leo also released a golden “Fight” word.
The golden “Fight” word collided with the silver “Fight” word.
This explosion was even more magnificent, the swirling gold and silver light even illuminating the entire construction site.
If it weren’t for the barrier, the loud explosion and the anomalies it caused would surely have attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
After the explosion, Kazuhiko staggered back three steps before stabilizing himself, his face turning pale then flushing.
Leo only took one step back, his expression still calm.
“Approach”, “Soldiers”, “Fight” have been deployed, and by now, Kazuhiko knew that it was impossible to kill Leo with the Nine-Character Mantra.
But with the situation at a critical point, he had no choice but to continue the fight, even if it meant mutual destruction.
Kazuhiko separated his clasped hands, took out a jade slip from his body with his left hand, and tapped his chest several times with his right hand before spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood onto the jade slip.
The jade slip quickly absorbed the blood, and Kazuhiko’s eyes turned as bloodthirsty as a lone wolf’s.
Having just arrived in Atraria and being frustrated by a young man, the psychological impact on Kazuhiko was huge.
Crushing the jade slip, “Warriors”, “All”, “Array” three silver words doubled in size, amid a brilliant silver light faintly tinged with a blood-colored glow.
Without moving, a strong wave of energy pressed towards Leo first.
Leo decided to play along to the end, his wolf hair brush swiftly moving, and three golden “Warriors”, “All”, “Array” also appeared in the night sky.
Leo took out a Rune of Berserking from his body and after sacrificing it, the power generated was integrated into the golden words.
For a moment, the three golden words shone like three dazzling suns, far more imposing than the silver “Warriors”, “All”, “Formation”.
Kazuhiko formed hand seals and pointed at Leo, Leo’s wolf hair brush made a sharp sweep.
Golden “Warriors” against silver “Warriors”, golden “All” against silver “All”, golden “Formation” against silver “Formation”!
At the moment of collision, instead of a loud explosion, ripples of colorful ripples were merely stirred between the gold and silver words.
Within the barrier, the faces of the three Kakumei and Thomas changed drastically, and they hurriedly deployed their defensive skills.
As for Jōji and Yonamine, they were swallowed by the Eight-Forked Serpent and then burrowed into the ground.
Three sounds like nuclear explosions, Leo felt as if his eardrums were about to burst.
The powerful shockwaves were like a machine gun continuously firing on his body, and Leo only lasted three seconds before being engulfed in a dust storm.
The three Kakumei and Thomas were blown out of the barrier by the powerful explosive energy.
When all the dust settled, a huge crater appeared in the construction site, looking as if it had been struck by a meteorite.
A small mound of earth moved slightly, then slowly a person rose.
Shaking off the mud on his body, patting the dust off his head, it was indeed Leo.
Across from Leo, ten meters away, another small mound of earth also moved.
Then slowly a person stood up, trembling, his face covered in dirt and blood still dripping from his mouth, but his eyes were filled with madness.
Upon seeing Leo across from him, Kazuhiko coughed up blood while laughing madly.
In Kazuhiko’s mad laughter, the night began to darken.
Looking up at the sky, an eclipse had begun.
The laughter abruptly stopped.
“Array”, “in”, “front” three silver words appeared again.
The Eight-Forked Serpent also burrowed out of the ground, rapidly enlarging, and spat out Jōji and Yonamine from its mouth.
Leo stretched out his right hand, and the wolf hair brush appeared again in his hand.
Nine-Character Mantra, three more words!
“Array!”
“Advance!”
“March!”
Kazuhiko’s frantic expression clearly showed urgency as he formed hand seals and chanted, driving the remaining three silver words into the body of the Eight-Forked Serpent.
The blood-red glow in the eyes of the Eight-Forked Serpent suddenly dimmed, and then all eight snake heads emitted eight different eerie cries.
The shrieking was harsh and piercing, more terrifying than the collective wailing of malevolent spirits. Amid these screams, a slit began to form on the belly of the Eight-Forked Serpent. As the slit widened, aided by the distant light, it was faintly visible that the serpent’s stomach held no viscera nor did blood flow from it; instead, a fleeting cold gleam shone through.
Kazuhiko, speaking Japanese, loudly chanted a few spells and then thrust his right hand towards the Eight-Forked Serpent. From the rupture in the serpent’s belly, a flash of cold light burst forth, and in Kazuhiko’s right hand appeared an ancient and sharply gleaming sword. “Is this… the Stormcloud Sword?” Leo squinted slightly.
The Stormcloud Sword, emerging from the body of the Eight-Forked Serpent, was a divine blade that even the famous Orientia sword, the Sword of Length of Ten Fists, could not match; it was one of the three great artifacts of Orientia. Since ancient times within the royal family of Orientia, there had been legends of the “Three Sacred Treasures”. They were the Octamirror, gifted by Amaterasu to Toyouke during the descent of the heavenly grandson, the Celestial Jade Lute, and the Stormcloud Sword.
These artifacts symbolized the royal authority of the nation of Orientia, meaning that without these artifacts, the emperor’s accession would not be authorized.
This suggested that Kazuhiko was no ordinary figure. Whether this project had the blessing of the Orientia royal family was indeed intriguing.
Among the three great artifacts, the Eight-foot Mirror and the Celestial Jade Lute were legitimately crafted in the High Plain of Heaven, rightfully earning their titles as miraculous treasures. Particularly, the Eight-foot Mirror was considered a revered relic, akin to a part of Amaterasu herself.
However, the Stormcloud Sword was special as it was “acquired” from the despised monster, the Great Serpent, making it feel somewhat inappropriate to be deemed a sacred artifact. Why then was the Stormcloud Sword counted among the three sacred treasures?
The Stormcloud Sword first appeared in the ancient texts of Orientia, “The Chronicles of Ancient Matters,” said to have been obtained by Susanoo after defeating the Eight-Forked Serpent. According to “The Chronicles of Ancient Matters,” Susanoo encountered an elderly couple in the Cloudguard Realm.
They had eight children, but seven were sacrificed to the Eight-Forked Serpent. They told Susanoo that the serpent was about to devour their last daughter, Akiko Meadows. Susanoo agreed to rid them of the Eight-Forked Serpent on the condition that Akiko be betrothed to him.
Finally, Susanoo disguised himself as Akiko, prepared eight barrels of wine placed in different locations, luring the serpent to drink from each barrel with its eight heads.