The dark emperor of Magic City Tokyo, who never usually shows his face, is actually here alone at this moment?

Just to intercept a Magical Girl who can no longer transform and has lost her power?

Or…

"Please don't let your imagination run wild, Ms. Tsuchimikado. I'm not here for you."

With a heavy dose of irony and an elegant smile, Greed Demon spoke up,

"Move aside, and I might still spare your life."

"Forget it."

Hyougen curled her lips into a habitual light smile, though her eyes were sharp as knives,

"Cut the act. I'm not taking any business tonight."

She formed a seal with her right hand, performing the incantations: contemplation, reverse-stepping, visual focusing, and armor protection—Open your eyes!

Her fox ears twitched slightly, and she opened her eyes.

Her pupils were like ripples under the moonlight, with blue spiritual light blooming inch by inch from within them.

In an instant, spiritual energy surged, and a night wind suddenly arose!

"Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise!"

The energy of the Four Symbols suddenly rose—on the east side, blue light swirled, and the Azure Dragon broke through the clouds, revealing its claws;

to the west, white lightning like blades crackled as the White Tiger crouched and roared;

to the south, flames like waves surged as the Vermilion Bird flapped its wings and took flight;

to the north, cold air congealed into frost as the Black Tortoise, with its coiled snake, crouched.

The spiritual bodies of the four Sacred Beasts appeared, taking their positions around her in a semi-ethereal state, each occupying a cardinal direction, their killing intent fully revealed!

An instantaneous, continuous summoning of multiple Sacred Beasts!

Although they were only in spiritual form, each Sacred Beast possessed power rivaling that of a top-tier mortal Magical Girl!

As expected of one of the leaders of the Magic City Tokyo righteous path, the current head of the Onmyoryo, and the strongest modern Onmyoji with the atavistic bloodline of Seimei, she was actually capable of such a feat!

The temperature of the entire overpass plummeted, the wind howled, and the atmosphere became grave!

Her power had reached its peak; Tsuchimikado Hyougen slowly raised her hand and smiled faintly.

"Don't think that we of the Magic City Tokyo righteous path can't slay demons and eliminate evil just because Master Leipu isn't here!"

Volume 4: Evil Magic City Tokyo: 153: That Is Exactly What I Want to See

The head of the Onmyoryo, the strongest modern Onmyoji, and leader of the Magic City Tokyo righteous path, Tsuchimikado Hyougen, was challenging the dark emperor of the Magic City Tokyo underworld head-on, but she was not acting without a plan.

She didn't think she could defeat Greed Demon, who was on par with Master Leipu, but this place was not the Magic City.

As long as she could drag it out into a war of attrition, Master Leipu would arrive within minutes.

By then, Greed Demon would even have to worry about whether he could escape himself.

As the dignified leader of the Magic City Tokyo righteous path and a great Onmyoji, if she fought carefully to drag out the battle, surely she wouldn't be insta-killed by Greed Demon, right?

Moreover, intelligence on Greed Demon had already been circulating within the Magic City Tokyo righteous path.

Hyougen already knew that Greed Demon possessed the divine power of an ancient thunder god, the ability to defend and regenerate using black mud of personality, and exquisite Esoteric mantras that even Duke Cilianni acknowledged.

That was why she had immediately formed the seals, performed the contemplation and reverse-stepping, and cast the armor protection technique.

Whether it was thunder, curses, or spiritual corruption, she could now withstand it.

There was no need to fear!

Take this, Greed Demon!

"Dragon and Tiger Combined Strike!"

She swiped her two fingers, and an east wind suddenly arose, with blue light swirling—the Azure Dragon soared into the air from Hyougen's right side, its dragon roar shaking the bridge deck, its scales shimmering with electric light, its long body like a falling celestial river, plunging straight toward Greed Demon's head with the force of thunder!

Killing intent suddenly emerged from the left, biting like an autumn wind—the White Tiger walked through the air, its fur bristling like needles, its iron bones clanking.

With a low roar that shattered the night, it swung its tiger claws, cold light overflowing, killing intent like blades, aiming straight for Greed Demon's vital points!

The dragon's claws carried thunder, the tiger's claws brought wind; from left and right, they slashed in a cross-strike!

The overpass shook, the guardrails shattered, electric light and killing intent intertwined, and the spiritual beasts exerted pressure in all directions!

Greed Demon! Let me see how you defend!

Whether it's using secret arts or divine power, at least force out some of your cards here!

—That was what Tsuchimikado Hyougen thought.

Thus, she saw that Greed Demon remained motionless, though the cold sneer on his face deepened.

"I'm sorry, but I don't intend to waste time with you."

At the very moment the Azure Dragon and White Tiger were about to collide with Greed Demon, she saw a small silver coin appear in Greed Demon's hand.

—What happened next was a horror difficult to describe in words.

It wasn't hypnosis, nor was it some kind of super-speed trick; it was absolutely nothing of the sort.

In just an instant—an instant faster than a blink—all four Sacred Beasts, whether it was the White Tiger and Azure Dragon attacking Greed Demon, or the Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise guarding Hyougen, were not exploded or shattered… but were eaten in the blink of an eye.

There was no mouth, yet it seemed as if some invisible giant maw had opened, swallowing all four Sacred Beasts in one gulp.

In that moment, Hyougen almost felt something lick her soul, consuming even the spiritual power she had used to summon the four Sacred Beasts.

It was a terrifying hunger, as if a ravenous, gigantic monster were staring at her.

"What an unoriginal taste."

Greed Demon licked his tongue, revealing a careless, mocking smile,

"Let me tell you something."

"Master Leipu likes to accompany you so-called top-tier experts and masters of prestigious sects, fighting slowly for at least several rounds. Because he doesn't dare to abuse his divine power and tries to rely on himself as much as possible."

"—In other words, this is only limited to when the Demon King is not serious and has not yet used his Authority."

"If one has not reached the level of a Superman, no matter how one trains, one cannot withstand a single strike of the Demon King's Authority."

Cold sweat finally slid down Hyougen's forehead.

The four Sacred Beasts she had summoned all possessed combat power sufficient to destroy a small city.

If wild divine beasts appeared and attacked a city, even if high-level Magical Girls gathered and practiced tactics in advance, surrounding them from all sides, the possibility of being counterattacked and defeated would still be very high.

With such combat power, Hyougen could summon four of them at her limit—and then they were eaten by Greed Demon in one gulp.

She didn't even have a chance to struggle.

Terrible.

Facing a serious Demon King, ordinary experts were not even qualified to "stall for time."

To accompany a Demon King going all-out for a few more rounds, one would at least have to be a powerhouse at the level of a Transcendent, a Superman, or a Demigod.

In the entire supernatural society of Magic City Tokyo, only Duke Cilianni likely possessed such strength.

And she herself was not qualified.

"—What are you still standing there for?! Run! If you don't run, I can't escape either!"

Without looking back, she shouted urgently to her subordinates behind her, and Hyougen quickly formed hand seals with both hands!

—But it was still too late.

Greed Demon moved.

How did he strike?

With curses? With lightning? By using that void-mouth from before to bite Hyougen directly?

None of those.

Without the profound martial arts feeling of Master Leipu, Greed Demon had almost no martial arts cultivation; he simply raised a rock-hard, pot-sized fist.

There was no warning, no whistling sound; the next moment, as if "distance" had been consumed, he was already in front of Hyougen.

"█ █ Punch."

The voice was blurred; she had no chance to hear clearly what Greed Demon had said.

There were no flashy moves, no magical light.

The Exorcist beautiful fox spirit only felt a hard fist, like a heated iron pillar, heavy, irresistible, and without any frills, slam violently into her abdomen!

At that moment, it felt as if her entire internal organs had been crushed.

Excruciating pain surged out from her abdominal cavity like a flood.

She didn't even have time to react before her legs trembled and she collapsed to the ground.

Even when she came to her senses, she could only clutch her stomach, which had received the intense impact, and let out intermittent, undignified cries of "Hoh hoh hoh oh oh oh… oh oh oh… oh oh," collapsing on the ground with her rear end in the air.

"I don't even need to use skills to deal with you."

Greed Demon scoffed.

And the Exorcist beautiful fox spirit, who was the strongest Onmyoji of the Magic City Tokyo righteous path, was now curled up and whining like a wild cat that had been kicked in the stomach.

The other Official Exorcists of the Onmyoryo hurriedly tried to turn the car around to take Hinata Haruna and escape, but how could they be in time?

Within ten seconds, the Official Exorcists were all wiped out, and Greed Demon even tore open their armored vehicle and dragged Hinata out.

Hinata, who had already lost her ability to transform and was no longer a Magical Girl of the Sun, knew she was powerless to resist; she just gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound.

Greed Demon didn't mind, just smilingly asked: "Magical Girl Soleia, do you know why I brought you here?"

Hinata didn't speak, just glared hatefully at Greed Demon.

Having been rebuffed, Greed Demon still didn't care, instead continuing in a relaxed tone:

"Do you know? Master Leipu is playing a game called 'Saving the World.' In this game, what he must defeat is not some Demon King, nor some organization—but the entire 'world' itself."

He spoke with great interest, even wearing an expression as if he were telling a joke.

However, after saying this, Greed Demon sighed softly,

"But, every time he sees you Magical Girls get caught in the crossfire, suffering and dying miserably, the ruthlessness in Master Leipu's heart to violate the entire world gets chipped away a little."

"Every time he sees you children dragged into the war game he started, he feels pain, he feels sadness, he hesitates."

Greed Demon's tone suddenly turned cold as he said this.

"But how can he hesitate?"

"If one has to be timid and fearful about casualty numbers while playing a game of conquering the world, then what's the point of this game? Can it be played well?"

"So you children are the last thread binding him."

These words were too crazy.

So much so that for a moment, Hinata didn't even understand what Greed Demon was talking about.

When she truly reacted, she finally understood just how insane this dark emperor of Magic City Tokyo was.

However, when a person is insane to a certain degree, and possesses the powerful strength and agency to match, then he really isn't something one can laugh at anymore, is he?

"Master Leipu's heart is actually very shaken right now."

"Perhaps it's because in the past, when he traveled alone, he could always protect the people around him.

So this time, the righteous-evil war in Magic City Tokyo that he initiated has made him realize that the reach of his hands is also limited; the restrictive playstyle is too difficult, and you children are particularly easy to get caught in the crossfire and hurt."

"If he really wants to fight the entire world and pull the whole tree up by the roots, he will certainly have to involve a thousand or ten thousand times more of 'you'."

"If he starts to chicken out because of this little thing and wants to back down—that would be too boring."

Greed Demon sighed at this point, slowly summarizing like a teacher:

"I am a big fan of Master Leipu."

"So, I have to remind him."

"I will use you to poke him again and help him achieve enlightenment."

"It would be better if I could use Artemina, but unfortunately, Master Leipu protects the people around him too well.

I don't have time to leave Magic City Tokyo for too long to capture her parents, and grabbing her directly would be immediately discovered by Master Leipu."

"So, I will just try with you first."

What?