Only One Missing from the Three Great Shonen Manga Protagonists

Tu Ming had initially descended as nothing more than an unremarkable Diamond Grade Fox Spirit, though that was only when compared to those monsters at Master Grade and above.

For a world that had possessed no supernatural power whatsoever before the Secret Realm appeared, a Demon Fox was already a crushing dimensional advantage.

Thus, it had barely needed any effort to wipe out an entire country.

Just when it thought this world would rapidly perish like the worlds it had previously attacked, a strange existence known as Card Masters suddenly emerged on this planet.

Having passed through several worlds, the Demon Fox naturally knew that this was the World Consciousness trying to save itself.

But Tu Ming did not consider that important. The worlds it had experienced before had also tried to save themselves, yet they had ultimately still been unable to escape destruction.

The Fox Spirit believed this world would be no different.

But it soon learned just how wrong it was.

With the World Consciousness giving its all, several Master Grade beings emerged among the Card Masters.

And thanks to how absurd the Card Master profession was, one Master Card Master could basically be used as two beings of the same grade.

Furthermore, the World Consciousness’s resistance had been especially fierce at the beginning of the descent, making it impossible to bring down high-grade Secret Realms on a large scale.

Tu Ming chose to play it safe.

It took its children and quietly developed within the small country it had slaughtered. Fortunately, those Master Grade Card Masters were busy clearing out the high-grade Demons within their own nations and had no time to deal with it.

What even the Demon Fox had not expected was that its opportunity for advancement would arrive so quickly. It had practically stumbled its way into Master Grade.

Still, no matter what, this was a good thing. Upon reaching Master Grade, it finally possessed some ability to protect itself.

At least, that was what Tu Ming believed. After all, even among that being’s subordinates, Master Grade could not be considered weak.

And it was precisely for that reason that Tu Ming accepted the olive branch extended by the Flesh King.

However.

"What the hell are these bastards!?"

Tu Ming opened its enormous jaws and spewed out a vast mass of demon fire, while its nine terrifying tails, enough to blot out the sky, danced wildly between heaven and earth.

In comparison, the cards surrounding it appeared tiny, yet they struggled to circle around and engage it.

Boom—!

With a thunderous blast, a figure was instantly sent flying.

It was Kurosaki Ichigo.

He forcibly steadied himself in midair and glanced at his right hand, which trembled slightly from the immense force.

This can’t keep dragging on.

The thought flashed through the blond-haired boy’s mind.

A considerable amount of time had already passed since he entered the Mugetsu state, and he reckoned it would soon end.

Just then, a burst of laughter interrupted his thoughts.

Kurosaki Ichigo watched as two long arms shot over from an enormous distance and tightly wrapped around the Fox Spirit.

The next moment, a white-haired boy with a straw hat on his back kicked at the fox’s head at tremendous speed.

It was Luffy. After handing Bullet’s corpse over to Lu Su, he had rushed here without pause to support the Shinigami-type Cards.

But Tu Ming was, after all, a Master Grade Demon. Even with the support of numerous Diamond Grade Cards, the Straw Hat Boy could not control it so easily.

A bloodthirsty glint flashed through the Demon Fox’s enormous pupils.

"You’re courting death!"

At that moment, endless purple demon fire surged from Tu Ming’s throat and instantly spread onto Luffy’s arms.

"Ah, hot, hot, hot!"

Seeing that things had gone wrong, Luffy hurriedly stopped what he was doing and frantically swung his arms, trying to shake off the flames clinging to them.

But how could a Master Grade attack be so easily escaped? The flames swelled in the wind and engulfed the boy completely in just a few breaths.

Watching Luffy turn into a human torch, Kurosaki Ichigo frowned slightly.

He took a deep breath, then used Flash Step to appear at Tu Ming’s side.

Yet compared to the other party’s mountain-like body, the blond-haired boy was as insignificant as an ant.

But true combat was never determined by size. Though Kurosaki Ichigo was so small, the pressure he brought Tu Ming was anything but slight.

The Demon Fox had been keeping an eye on this boy, who could threaten it.

Facing the several tails crashing toward him as though heavenly pillars had collapsed, the blond-haired boy remained composed, simply dodging while swinging the long blade in his hand.

Unfortunately, even though he could inflict some damage upon Tu Ming, to the massive Demon Fox, it was no more than an itch.

As the battle continued, Lu Su’s cards quickly began suffering casualties.

The first to fall were the two Fracción summoned by Nylro through the Apex of Hueco Mundo Bond.

Without any enhancements, they were merely two ordinary Jade Grade Cards.

The only reason they had survived for so long was that they had remained far away, secretly using Cero to harass the enemy rather than joining the battle at close range. Thus, Tu Ming had not deliberately targeted them.

But after they died, Nylro’s previously waning aura suddenly surged.

The two Fracción had triggered Resolve of Sacrifice, transferring their power to Nylro.

Even so, it was still unable to affect the course of the battle.

By the shore.

Bai Yueming let out a tired breath before asking Lu Su, "Xiao Luo, can you still hold on?"

Hearing this, Lu Su said nothing and merely nodded calmly.

He could certainly hold on, but probably not for much longer.

As for killing the opponent—

That was complete fantasy. He had not even considered it.

However, Lu Su did not ask why Ye Zhou had still not come to provide support.

It was not that he did not want to ask. Rather, the young man had already vaguely sensed something unusual.

The disturbance at the Demon’s Nest this time, as well as the attack by this Master Grade Fox Spirit, both struck him as strange.

At that moment, Bai Yueming continued, "The Army Lords of the northern Demon Army have also marched their forces to the border, so Wenlong and Weirui can’t come support us either."

Lu Su’s heart immediately sank upon hearing those words.

Something was wrong. Ninety percent of this was wrong.

Everything that had happened so far made the young man feel as if an invisible hand was testing Great Ming’s true strength from behind the scenes.

And naturally, Bai Yueming could think of what he could think of.

The old man snorted coldly, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. "Someone is probably stirring up trouble behind the scenes."

"The question is, who?"

Though he said that, he already had his suspicions.

It was either Adley or Jin Ping.

But considering the Demon’s Nest’s actions this time, Bai Yueming was more inclined to believe that this was all the work of that old bastard Jin Ping.

After all, the Flesh King and Jin Ping had always been in cahoots, while Adley had, in Bai Yueming’s impression, still been capable of considering the bigger picture.

While the master and disciple spoke, Lu Su’s cards had dwindled to a pitifully small number.

Only Kurosaki Ichigo and the charred Luffy remained on the battlefield.

Oh, and there was also the unkillable Spider-girl. But it had remained beside Lu Su in case of emergencies. After all, the young man had never expected his cards to annihilate a Master Grade Demon, so he had simply not sent it out.

The reason Luffy had not dissipated was naturally due to the Trait Desperate Survival.

It was also worth mentioning that Altria had unleashed the Holy Sword before dissipating.

And when facing a Nation-Destroying Fox Demon, Holy Sword Excalibur naturally released all its restraints.

Though it had not inflicted much damage on Tu Ming, more than half of its flowing fur had been burned away. Its originally terrifying appearance had become somewhat comical after it turned into a bald fox.

To some extent, if psychological damage was included, Altria’s strike had achieved more than all the cards since the battle began.

Although Tu Ming had not lost its mind at this point, rage rose within it.

It let out a roar, then swung its pair of claws at Kurosaki Ichigo and Luffy.

Feeling the vicious wind against his face, Luffy was so startled that his jaw nearly dropped to his feet.

Then, with a flash, he vanished from where he stood, leaving behind only a pitch-black shadow.

Kurosaki Ichigo, however, did not choose to flee. Instead, he took the initiative to meet Tu Ming’s left claw.

Clang! Clang! Clang—!

Sparks flew as the Tensa Zangetsu in the blond-haired boy’s hand repeatedly clashed with the claws gleaming with icy light.

But without the other cards restraining it, even though Kurosaki Ichigo’s strength had reached an extremely exaggerated level under layer upon layer of Traits, directly confronting a Demon Fox whose physical body was its specialty was still difficult.

Fortunately, his original purpose had merely been to draw attention away from his companion.

"Rubber."

"Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun!"

With a thunderous shout, Black and Red Lightning instantly tore through the heavens.

The sudden gale scattered the winds covering the sea and revealed the sight in the sky to everyone.

It was a fist—a pitch-black right fist as large as the gigantic Demon Fox.

Tu Ming could no longer spare attention for Kurosaki Ichigo. It raised its head toward the heavens, letting out a roar filled with beastly savagery.

"Roar!!"

The Demon Fox could clearly sense the threat brought by that enormous fist in the sky. It had never felt such a threat since arriving in this world.

Hiss—!

Even before Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun struck Tu Ming, the violent fist wind had already pressed the sea into towering waves. Its terrifying power even affected the distant shore.

Although Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun appeared slow visually, that was only because it was so enormous.

Seeing this, Tu Ming roared again. Its nine tails instantly wrapped around it, forming a massive ball above the sea before it actively charged toward Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun.

The next instant, the gigantic black fist collided with the Fox Ball.

Crackle—!

Black and Red Lightning representing a king’s aura continuously shot in every direction from the point of contact.

The surging sea was instantly carved with countless empty trenches.

Seeing this, a wild smile appeared on Luffy’s face as he laughed. "Ichigo, it’s up to you!"

That was right. The Straw Hat Boy had used his ultimate move to create an opening for his companion, and Tu Ming’s response was exactly what he wanted.

Damn it, did they not understand what it meant for two protagonists to protect each other?

And they were protagonists from two hot-blooded shonen manga!

If things like friendship, bonds, and the future could truly provide boosts in power, then Luffy and Kurosaki Ichigo could enjoy double the benefit right now!

Not to mention that both of them were currently receiving a terrifying number of Trait boosts.

First was Luffy. Under Tu Ming’s attacks, his condition had been pushed to the brink, but that had just happened to trigger Desperate Survival, restoring him to his peak state.

Combined with Zoro and Nami’s dissipation triggering the Straw Hat Pirates Bond, which possessed a deathrattle effect, the Straw Hat Boy had now reached his limit.

Kurosaki Ichigo was even more terrifying.

Seed of Hope + King of Perfection + Lord of Hueco Mundo + Thirteen Court Guard Squads + Blondie, You’re a Good Person + Spirit-Rich Land + No Mechanics, Only Stats + Bankai + Mugetsu + Resolve of Sacrifice.

This was the strongest form he could currently achieve.

The blond-haired boy clearly would not waste such a perfect opportunity.

The Tensa Zangetsu in his hand had completely vanished, replaced by an extremely unstable Black Longsword.

The boy gently exhaled, then swung the longsword in his hand. "Mugetsu."

The pitch-black slash that severed the world appeared once more by the Shanghai City coast.

The world turned black and white, and every sound vanished beneath this slash.

Without the slightest surprise, the Mugetsu released by Kurosaki Ichigo at the cost of all his power struck Tu Ming directly, which had been rendered immobile beneath the pressure of Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun.

The Demon Fox’s body stiffened, and then an enormous fox head emerged from within the nine tails.

". . . Awoo!"

As Mugetsu faded, Tu Ming could no longer suppress the pain.

A deafening shriek instantly resounded across the skies.

But it was not over yet.

Because Mugetsu had successfully broken through Tu Ming’s defenses, Luffy’s Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun also struck it as intended.

Boom—!

"Awoo!"

The gigantic beast toppled over. Tu Ming fell helplessly from the sky into the sea, and the sheer volume of blood spilled even dyed a vast stretch of the surrounding waters red.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing was that the Demon Fox’s nine previously neat tails had been reduced to only eight.

One was missing.

It had been severed.

Cut off by Mugetsu.

As Tu Ming fell into the sea, a monstrous wave capable of flooding all of Shanghai City formed before Lu Su’s eyes.

Fortunately, Yan Wenlai was also present.

The middle-aged man hurriedly directed his cards forward to restrain the waves.

But as the waves gradually subsided, Tu Ming had disappeared, leaving behind only one enormous tail.

It had run away.

Lu Su could not help but freeze at the sight. He had never expected this Master Grade Demon to flee so decisively.

After all, under the combined efforts of Luffy and Kurosaki Ichigo, the two protagonists, it had only suffered minor injuries. It was nowhere near incapable of fighting.

But after recalling that the Demon Fox had been able to hide within a small country for hundreds of years, the young man found everything happening now perfectly reasonable.

At that moment, a voice filled with astonishment sounded beside Lu Su’s ear. "It… it ran away?!"

It was Yan Wenlai.

The President of the Shanghai City Card Master Association stared blankly at the sea, where the Demon Fox had vanished. He had never imagined the battle would end this way.

Bai Yueming was also stunned for a moment.

A Diamond Grade defeating a Master Grade.

It was the first time the old man had ever heard of such a thing.