Shuten took one step forward, eyes sharp and gleaming.
"Then come, Yokai King."
She smiled—wide, wicked, thrilled.
"Show me why the world is moving under your banner."
The mountain held its breath.
And then—
They moved.
Nate pulled out his sword, as he covered in Spirit Bond.
Frost and Fire erupted from it.
Shuten summed her large Ornate sword.
They clash with each other, as the ground cracked, pushing both worries back
But Shuten was using both hands, while Nate was using one hand.
Shuten grinned as she started to clash her blade with Nate.
The sound of steel echoed across Mount Ōe like thunder.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Each collision sent shockwaves tearing through the stone, cracks racing outward like spiderwebs. The barrier around the arena trembled, red glyphs flaring as they struggled to keep the mountain from collapsing outright.
Shuten laughed.
Not mockery.
Delight.
"Oho~?" she purred, horns gleaming as she twisted her blade and forced Nate back half a step. "One hand, little king? That's confidence… or arrogance."
Nate slid back, boots carving trenches into the rock. Frost steamed where his feet dragged, fire flaring at his heels.
"Neither," he replied calmly. "Habit."
Shuten's eyes sharpened.
She surged forward.
Her sword came down like a guillotine.
Nate caught it—barely—the impact driving him to one knee. The ground exploded beneath him, chunks of stone launching into the air.
Shuten leaned in close, sake-sweet breath brushing his ear.
"Oni rule by strength," she whispered. "By dominance. By breaking those who stand before us."
Her aura flared.
Crimson. Violent. Ancient.
The watching oni roared in approval.
Nate's sword screamed as Spirit Bond flared brighter—ice and flame spiraling tighter around the blade instead of exploding outward.
"And Yokai rule by balance," Nate answered, voice steady despite the pressure crushing down on him. "Strength without control destroys its own people."
He pushed.
Hard.
The mountain groaned.
Shuten's eyes widened—just a fraction—as she was forced back, sandals skidding across stone.
Then she laughed again, louder this time.
"Good! Good!" She spun her blade, rolling her shoulders as demonic markings crawled across her skin. "You're not just a throne-sitter."
Her aura shifted.
The playful seduction vanished.
What stood there now was a calamity given form.
"Oni Art—Blood Drunk Sovereignty."
The air thickened. Gravity spiked. Several lesser oni watching from the cliffs dropped to one knee instinctively.
Shuten raised her sword with both hands.
"Now survive this, King."
She vanished.
Not speed—eruption.
She reappeared in front of Nate, blade already mid-swing, space itself tearing from the force behind it.
Nate's eyes narrowed.
Spirit Bond roared.
'Yokai King Authority—Dual Element Concord.'
Fire didn't burn.
Ice didn't freeze.
They aligned.
Nate met her strike head-on—
BOOOOM!
The explosion swallowed the arena in blinding light.
When the dust cleared, both stood locked together, blades grinding, sparks raining like stars.
Shuten was smiling.
Not teasing.
Respecting.
"…So this is it," she murmured. "The weight Lily spoke of."
Nate met her gaze, eyes glowing faintly.
"And this," he said evenly, "is why the Oni don't bow easily."
Around them, the mountain cracked wider.
The real fight had finally begun.
Lily's POV
Lily hadn't moved since the first clash.
That alone terrified her.
She had stood against gods. Fought dragons. Negotiated with beings who could erase nations on a whim. She knew the difference between a dangerous battle and an existential one.
This was the latter.
The air itself felt wrong—too heavy, too sharp. Every impact between Nate and Shuten Dōji sent pressure through her bones, not magical pressure, but the kind that told her if this barrier fails, everyone here dies.
"…This isn't a duel," Lily muttered, fingers curling slowly into a fist.
"This is two rulers testing whether the world can survive them."
She watched Nate closely.
Not his sword.
His restraint.
He wasn't unleashing power the way devils or oni did. No overwhelming aura. No domination wave. Every movement was precise—measured—like he was fighting with a ceiling placed deliberately on himself.
That scared her more than raw strength ever could.
Shuten, on the other hand—
Lily's eyes narrowed.
She recognized that look.
Not bloodlust.
Evaluation.
Shuten wasn't trying to win yet.
She was probing. Pressing. Forcing Nate to reveal what kind of king he was when pushed.
"If Nate slips even once…" Lily whispered.
The mountain cracked again, deeper this time.
Yasaka spoke quietly beside her. "…Mount Ōe won't survive a prolonged battle at this level."
Lily exhaled slowly.
"…Neither will the balance of Yokai society if he loses."
Then—
Nate moved.
Nate twisted his stance, Spirit Bond surging.
'Spirit Bond—Crescent Strike.'
He swung.
The air screamed.
A razor-sharp crescent of intertwined frost and flame tore forward, carving a glowing arc through space itself. Stone vanished where it passed—not shattered, not melted—erased.
Shuten's eyes widened in delight.
She leapt aside, the wave slicing past her and cleaving a distant cliff clean in half. The mountain groaned as the severed peak slid away into the clouds below.
Shuten landed lightly, turning to face him, eyes practically sparkling.
"Ohhh?" she said, clapping once. "You didn't announce your ability~ What is it? How does it work?"
She leaned forward slightly, clearly excited.
Nate lowered his blade.
"I don't announce my abilities," he said flatly.
"I'm not here to explain them to someone I'm fighting."
—
Record scratch.
Time froze.
Oni blinked.
Yokai stared.
Cao Cao coughed in disbelief.
Someone—somewhere—mentally screamed 'THAT'S ILLEGAL.'
Shuten stared at Nate for a heartbeat.
Then—
She burst out laughing.
Full, unrestrained, delighted laughter that echoed across Mount Ōe.
"HAH!" She wiped a tear from her eye. "That's—no, that's actually smart."
She rolled her shoulders, lifting her sword again, aura flaring brighter.
"Fine then, King. Keep your secrets."
Her grin sharpened.
"I'll just tear them out of you the old-fashioned way."
The mountain trembled.
Round two was about to get much worse.
The laughter faded.
Not slowly.
Instantly.
Shuten Dōji straightened, sake cup vanishing into red motes of light. Her smile didn't soften—
it hardened.
The playful tilt of her head disappeared. Her breathing deepened. The air around her began to scream.
Lily felt it first.
"…No," she whispered.
The mountain reacted before anyone else did.
Stone groaned. The crimson glyphs carved into Mount Ōe flared violently, barely holding together as an ancient, feral pressure rolled outward. Oni staggered back instinctively, some grinning in reverence, others bowing their heads.
This wasn't seduction.
This wasn't testing.
This was calamity.
Shuten lifted her blade with one hand.
Then—
She let go.
The sword didn't fall.
It hovered, vibrating as Shuten's aura wrapped around it, crimson and violet energy coiling like a storm given form.
"Enough games," she said softly.
Her voice carried weight. Authority. Blood-soaked history.
"You wanted the Oni?"
"Then face the Oni."
She stepped forward.
The ground collapsed under her foot.
Nate felt it immediately.
Not fear.
Pressure.
Not from her power alone—but from the way her presence overrode the space around them. Like the mountain itself had decided she was the apex existence here.
'So this is her real self.'
His grip tightened on his sword.
She moved.
Too fast.
Not speed—momentum. Like a landslide deciding where it would go and daring the world to stop it.
Shuten's fist came first.
Not her blade.
Just her hand.
Nate barely raised his sword in time.
The impact—
—sent him skidding back, boots carving trenches into stone, barrier shrieking as it absorbed the shock.
His arm rang.
That wasn't a strike.
That was a declaration.
She followed.
A kick, wide and brutal.
Nate pivoted—
'Flow with intent.'
His body moved before thought, spirit energy threading through muscle and bone, redirecting force instead of meeting it.
Strike with spirit.
He slipped inside the arc, palm driving forward—
—then stopped.
Her aura caught him.
Shuten's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh?" she murmured.
Then she smiled.
And released everything.
Shuten Dōji is no longer playing
Her aura exploded outward.
Not fire.
Not lightning.
Oni.
Raw, murderous, celebratory violence given shape. The barrier cracked visibly. Several oni howled in approval as the pressure crushed downward.
Nate's knees bent.
'Shit.'
She swung her sword with both hands now.
Nate raised his blade—
—and for the first time since the fight began—
He brought up his second hand.
The clash was catastrophic.
The shockwave obliterated the stone platform beneath them, leaving both suspended for a heartbeat in raw power before gravity reclaimed them.
Nate landed hard, sliding back.
Shuten didn't.
She stood there, sword resting on her shoulder, eyes burning.
"There it is," she said, pleased.
"Now you're taking me seriously."
Outside the Ring
Lily took a step forward.
"That's enough—"
A hand caught her wrist.
Firm. Human.
"Don't."
Aaron stood beside her, eyes locked on the battlefield.
"She wants him to stand on his own," he said quietly. "And he needs to."
Lily shook her head. "Aaron, that's not a spar anymore—"
"I know," he said.
Then, softer:
"But that's our son."
He didn't look at her.
"He didn't build everything he has by being reckless. Have faith."
Lily hesitated.
Then stopped.
Her fists clenched—but she stayed where she was.
Back with Nate vs Shuten
Shuten rolled her neck slowly.
"Good," she said. "Very good."
She lowered her stance.
The oni watching fell silent.
"Now let's see," Shuten continued, eyes gleaming,
"how well a king flows when the river turns into a flood."
She vanished.
Nate exhaled slowly.
'Adapt. Persist.'
His spirit surged—not outward, not loud—inward, tightening his flow, syncing breath, muscle, and intent.
'She's stronger.
I'll have to be smarter.'
The mountain trembled again.
And the true fight finally began.
Nate eyes moved as then saw it
Shuten appeared directly in front of him.
Too close.
Too fast.
Her grin was feral, thrilled, her fist wrapped in condensed crimson energy—enough to pulverize a fortress.
Lily sucked in a breath.
'This was it.'
Nate's eyes tracked the movement—
Then closed.
'Now.'
The world slowed.
Not because time obeyed him—
because flow did.
Shuten's strike came down like judgment itself.
Nate didn't block.
He slid.
Her power brushed past his cheek as he twisted, spirit energy threading into her momentum, catching it—listening to it.
Redirect.
His hand snapped out, not to strike—
—but to guide.
Her own energy was turned, dragged off its lethal path, destabilized just enough.
Then—
Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
Five rapid palm strikes detonated into her solar plexus in perfect rhythm, each one carrying a pulse of spirit resonance that rippled through her aura instead of bouncing off it.
The watching oni went dead silent.
Shuten's eyes widened.
Air tore from her lungs as her body convulsed, power stuttering for a split second—
—and Nate didn't stop.
Flow never stops.
He pivoted, hips turning, spirit surging through his arm—
Smack!
His fist slammed into her face.
The impact cracked like thunder.
Shuten Dōji was launched backward, her body carving through the air before slamming into the barrier with a concussive boom, crimson light flaring as the construct barely held.
For a heartbeat—
Nothing moved.
Then Shuten slid down the barrier, boots scraping stone.
The mountain itself seemed stunned.
Lily stared, eyes wide.
"…He… hit her."
Aaron exhaled slowly, awe creeping into his voice.
"Yeah."
Nate lowered his stance, breathing steady, fists still raised.
'Flow with intent.
Strike with spirit.'
Shuten laughed.
Hoarse.
Delighted.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she wiped it away with her thumb—then licked it.
"…Oh," she said, eyes burning brighter than ever.
"Now that was worth dropping the seduction."
She pushed herself back up.
And the oni began to roar.
Nate tightened his grip on the sword.
'If this doesn't end it…
I'll have to use Kunou's gift.'
Spirit Bond surged.
Not steadily—violently.
The blade screamed as it reached its limit, runes flaring along its length. Fire coiled around the edge like a living serpent, while ice crystallized beneath it, absolute zero pressing against inferno heat. The air warped, unable to decide whether to burn or freeze.
The oni felt it.
Every single one of them.
Nate exhaled.
'Spirit Bond…
Judgment Cut.'
He didn't shout it.
He didn't need to.
The mountain answered.
The moment Nate stepped forward, the world fractured.
His ZZ-Class authority exploded outward—not oppressive, not domineering—absolute. Reality bent to acknowledge him, space itself peeling open as if cut by an unseen blade.
To the spectators—
Nate vanished.
To Shuten—
He was everywhere.
White lines carved themselves through the air.
Not slashes.
Decisions.
The sword never visibly moved, yet cuts bloomed across Shuten's body all at once—shoulder, ribs, thigh, horn, kimono—each strike landing a fraction of a second apart, perfectly placed, impossibly precise.
Her eyes widened.
Not in fear.
In disbelief.
Blood sprayed into the air as crimson arcs traced the invisible paths of the cuts. She staggered, knees buckling as the force finally caught up to her body.
The barrier behind her shattered into light.
Shuten dropped to one knee, breathing ragged, sake cup finally slipping from her hand and shattering against the stone.
Silence.
The mountain didn't dare move.
Nate reappeared several meters away, sword lowered, the fire and ice slowly dissipating as the Spirit Bond receded. He stood steady—but barely. The technique had pushed him right to the edge.
Outside the barrier, Lily just… stared.
"…Was that a Judgment Cut?" she asked slowly. "Like—from a movie? Or a video game?"
Aaron didn't look away from Nate.
"…Whatever it was," he said quietly, "it wasn't fiction."
Shuten laughed.
Soft.
Breathless.
Blood dripped from her chin as she lifted her head, eyes shining—not with rage, not with lust—
—but respect.
"…So this," she murmured, "is the Yokai King who refuses to explain his techniques."
To be continue
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