Stealing the Ritual, I Pray for Power

Kai erupted in an instant, vanishing like a phantom. White Face was completely unable to move and could only watch as Kai’s Rising Dragon Fist landed squarely on her chin.

She had no way to withstand that tremendous force. Her Shamanic Power shield shattered instantly, and her body was sent soaring into the sky, once again rendered unable to move.

Below her, Kai rubbed his hands together as an immense wave rapidly gathered between them.

With an angry roar, Kai stepped forward and unleashed a Hadouken condensed from nearly all his energy and focus.

Boom!

The Hadouken shot across the sky, cracking the ground inch by inch as terrifying waves swept outward in rings. Even getting close carried the risk of being obliterated.

Watching from afar, Suguru Geto sighed. Even my last remaining arrogance as a Jujutsu Sorcerer toward ordinary people has been shattered. Ordinary people can wield this kind of power too…

The next moment, Suguru Geto’s pupils suddenly contracted.

Satoru Gojo, with four crimson wings of cursed energy spread behind him, had vanished from his sight.

Pfft!

Kai spat out blood, his chest caving in. Only now did the backlash from that Battle Aura-infused attack strike him.

His pupils dilated as he looked at Satoru Gojo, who had appeared silently before him. His expression gradually twisted into pain and despair.

Satoru Gojo’s white hair hung down beside his cheeks. His open eyes were filled with scarlet bloodlust, and an ominous aura radiated from his entire body.

Most crucially, eyes had grown all over his hands and feet.

Bang, bang, bang.

A string of explosions erupted from Kai’s body as the talismans protecting him against curses and negative energy burst apart one after another. Merely approaching Satoru Gojo in his current state was enough for those talismans to fail against the impact of negative energy.

There was no emotion in Satoru Gojo’s scarlet eyes. He merely stood before White Face, and that terrifying Hadouken froze in midair.

Less than five centimeters separated the waves it emitted from Satoru Gojo’s body, yet that tiny distance seemed eternally impossible to cross.

White Face landed on the ground and immediately beckoned Fox Fire back. Its body had been charred black after enduring a barrage of cursed-energy cannons.

Without Fox Fire’s ability to shift between substance and intangibility, she would have nearly been instantly killed by that brute Kai.

Fortunately…

"Ha, hahaha…"

"Well done, King of Curses, Satoru Gojo!"

"You ruined my plans, yet now you’ve saved me. How exactly should I treat you?"

White Face narrowed her eyes into crescent moons, but beneath that sweet smile lay an unmistakable, insoluble malice.

Kai roared and shoved the Hadouken forward again with all his strength.

Crack!

Amid the sound of shattering bones, blood gushed from Kai’s right arm.

White Face was even more delighted.

"Kai, it’s time you recognized this so-called Destiny. I am one who possesses Destiny. I am fated to…"

White Face suddenly felt a fierce gust strike her face. Her pupils contracted, and she turned her head, only to see Satoru Gojo’s fist hurtling toward her in an instant.

Bzzzt!

A black flash detonated instantly.

Black Flash!

Fox Fire shifted from solid to intangible, but the Black Flash still pierced straight through both Fox Fire and White Face.

Pfft!

White Face reappeared several hundred meters away, still shaken as she touched her lower abdomen. It had been completely pierced through, leaving behind a bloody hole.

"You…"

She finally sensed that something was wrong. Logically speaking, after completing the Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual and gaining Lord of Mount Tai’s recognition, she should have been able to travel freely between both shores of the Yellow Springs.

Satoru Gojo, having transformed from a dead soul, should not have prioritized attacking her.

The King of Curses should have killed every living person present before returning to the Yellow Springs.

But…

Imperial Style Taizan Fukun Ritual—Incomplete

Destiny (Yakō)—Lost

White Face abruptly turned around. She followed the Shaman King world’s path, wielding Shamanic Power and able to sense the thoughts of others to a certain extent, though this ability was not quite full-fledged mind reading.

This ability had been granted by Asakura Hao. After his birth, Asakura Hao’s naturally immense Shamanic Power had made his Spirit Vision so powerful that the emotions of all people flowed into his heart.

More precisely, it was an ability akin to "empathy." After Asakura Hao reincarnated, it weakened into a limited form of mind reading.

White Face had essentially used this special Spirit Vision as mind reading, but now she realized something was amiss.

Two presences on the field could not be read by her.

One was the King of Curses, Satoru Gojo. His emotions had become Silence, completely beyond sight.

The other…

White Face turned and finally saw the man in the pink robe standing far from the center of the battlefield.

He formed a hand seal and raised it high.

"Mount Tai Imperial Lord, descend!"

Yakō’s phantom, which had been lost from her body, descended from the sky with a delighted expression.

This Great Onmyōji, who had died decades ago, had long yearned to complete the ritual he had failed to finish.

It was his lifelong wish, but also his karma—the shackle that had drawn him into this entire chain of events.

"Damn it!"

White Face realized where the problem lay. She too formed a hand seal, using an ability from Asakura Hao, the Great Onmyōji of the Heian Period from another timeline, a man said to have mastered every form of shamanic art and Onmyōdō.

"Mount Tai Imperial Lord, descend!"

Both called for the Mount Tai Imperial Lord’s descent at the same time.

Only then did Suguru Geto realize he had been deceived. That person calling himself Mercenary Tao apparently had never intended to leave him the chance to trade one life for another.

Yet Suguru Geto still formed a hand seal and shouted at the same time,

"Mount Tai Imperial Lord, descend!"

The three of them, positioned at three corners, simultaneously performed the Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual, seeking to draw control of the ritual to themselves.

Pfft!

Suguru Geto was the first to spit blood. A powerful will swept over him, and his face instantly turned ashen. He occupied only seven nodes, nowhere near enough to summon the Imperial Lord’s descent.

Calling upon the Imperial Lord without authorization had brought punishment upon him.

A vast will simultaneously fixed its gaze upon White Face and Bai Cangshu.

You are being observed by a higher existence. Based on your mental strength, you are unable to receive Its information.

You have initiated the ritual: Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual. Judging...

Both their movements froze at once.

At the same time, Kai let out a roar as the Hadouken suddenly shook violently and became unstable.

Rumble!

A violent explosion erupted.

The four crimson cursed-energy wings behind Cursed Spirit Satoru Gojo layered together before him, and space began to cave in.

But Kai did not engage the King of Curses in a fight to the death. As he turned, his right hand had already vanished.

With a roar, blood red Battle Aura burned around him. His entire body became like a phantom, leaving behind hundreds of afterimages as he crossed several hundred meters in an instant and appeared before White Face.

Every punch he threw seemed like an afterimage, but in the end, all those afterimages converged into one movement. His left fist struck White Face squarely in the face.

Bang!

White Face’s pupils contracted, her heart seeming to skip several beats.

I’m in the middle of the ritual. I can’t shift between solid and intangible…

I’m going to die?!

Overwhelming terror washed over her, yet the power that should have completely smashed her head did not erupt. The crimson Battle Aura mixed with the wave abruptly vanished in an instant.

The King of Curses, Satoru Gojo, extended a hand. Kai’s punch had not yet run its course, but his body had already disappeared.

Pfft!

A fist pierced through Kai’s chest from behind.

With an indifferent flick of his hand, Satoru Gojo sent the powerful fighter crashing to the ground.

At that moment, White Face felt more strongly than ever that Destiny truly favored her. Cursed Spirit Satoru Gojo’s attacks had always been unpredictable, and yet he had saved her at such a critical moment.

For the first time, she profoundly understood what Destiny meant.

Buzz!

A powerful will descended. White Face turned back and saw that red, ugly face wearing a radiant smile.

This is bad!

Blood streamed from Kai’s mouth and nose, yet the corners of his lips still curled upward.

"White Face, you lost…"

Judgment failed.

Mount Tai Imperial Lord will inflict punishment upon you.

Crack!

A bolt of golden lightning descended from the sky, far closer to pure yang energy than any energy derived from Reverse Cursed Technique.

The golden lightning struck White Face directly. Fox Fire tried to block it, only to shatter instantly.

White Face’s cloak was destroyed in an instant, along with every talisman and barrier on her body.

Her hair disheveled, she was brought to the brink of death almost immediately.

White Face immediately pulled out an item resembling a straw doll.

"Abandon the main quest, return!"

Her voice was shrill, stripped of all her previous composure and certainty.

Crack!

Another bolt of golden lightning descended. White Face’s body stiffened and slowly broke apart, but at the same time, part of her body began to turn intangible, transforming into a stream of information and vanishing.

Watching this, Kai could not tell whether White Face was truly dead, but he had already done everything he could.

He could do no more.

Kai coughed up a mouthful of blood. His aura rapidly weakened, and his Battle Aura was exhausted.

The light in his eyes began to fade. Looking at that reincarnator who had entered last and outmaneuvered White Face, Kai finally recognized him from his pink robe.

"Heh, so it was that guy…"

Not long ago, to expand his team, he had sold off resources and sold Hamon to that man.

And now Kai also realized that the one who had killed Youjiu and Basha was probably that same person.

He had traded with him, then begun pursuing White Face, only to end up like this.

That man had traded with him, grown stronger step by step, and destroyed White Face’s scheme today.

Every drink and every peck seemed fated.

"So this is… Destiny."

The light in Kai’s eyes faded completely.

At that moment, Bai Cangshu felt his vision change. Everything around him vanished in an instant, and he seemed to appear above the sky. No matter where he looked, there was only a hazy expanse of mist.

A grand will descended, pressing Bai Cangshu down until he could barely breathe.

But Bai Cangshu was not someone who would feel fear.

"Mount Tai Imperial Lord, I offer every living being in Tokyo sacrificed in this ritual in exchange for… power!"

Bai Cangshu’s gaze was firm. He did not feel there was anything wrong with his request.

In the empty sky, that will seemed to fall silent for a moment.

Then muffled thunder began to boom through the sky, and the white heavens instantly darkened.

Watching this, Bai Cangshu wondered whether the Mount Tai Imperial Lord would refuse such a request.

Higher existence: Mount Tai Imperial Lord has responded to your sacrifice.

Crack!

Golden lightning boomed from the nine heavens like thunder serpents, instantly striking Bai Cangshu.

Within Tokyo, blazing lightning descended from the sky.

Suguru Geto watched as the frenzied Mercenary Tao was instantly struck by lightning.

Had he failed?

But the next moment, the Yellow Springs that had already spread across all of Tokyo began to flow backward, rushing toward Bai Cangshu as he stood on the ground beneath the golden tribulation lightning.

Wooo…

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons seemed to reverse at the same time. Countless yin spirits, Grudge Spirits, and cursed spirits born from the opening of the Yellow Springs began pouring into Bai Cangshu’s body.

Warning, Ex051, you are suffering unknown erosion.

Warning, Ex051, reincarnator physique is suffering Yellow Springs Erosion.

Warning, Ex051, reincarnator mind is suffering yin spirit erosion.

Warning, Ex051, energy: cursed energy has been lost.

A flood of notifications surged forth. Bai Cangshu’s body had already turned bluish white, completely submerged by the Yellow Springs.

At last, before Suguru Geto’s disbelieving eyes, the King of Curses, Satoru Gojo, was also swept away by the backward-flowing Yellow Springs and vanished into Mercenary Tao’s body.