The Interrupted Battle, the Power of Technology (3K)

Bai Cangshu withdrew his leg and naturally remained suspended in midair. He was growing increasingly adept at the Sky Dancing Technique and had begun adapting to this new "instinct."

He looked at the large pool of blood below, where bubbles occasionally surfaced within the thick liquid.

He knew full well that Nurarihyon had not been shattered by his kick. Before his attack could land, Nurarihyon had voluntarily transformed into a pool of blood, using that form to evade his Wind God Leg while also avoiding the fate of being instantly killed by Death Intent Senluo.

Bai Cangshu had not directly activated Shanna or the Lord of the Realm’s power to instantly kill Nurarihyon.

Yes, Bai Cangshu believed that against Nurarihyon, one of the strongest aliens in this world, he was already capable of instantly killing him if he wanted to…

Based on Bai Cangshu’s understanding of the various power levels in the space, Nurarihyon could probably be considered a Strong-tier creature. With outstanding physical attributes coupled with regeneration, immortality, mimic evolution, and other abilities, he was quite formidable even among the Strong-tier.

In a sense, he was somewhat similar to the Bai Cangshu of the past.

However, before Bai Cangshu, who had experienced multiple worlds and grown at breakneck speed, he was lacking far too much.

Reaction speed to attacks, the speed at which he launched attacks, the force of the attacks themselves, the level of his immortality, his resistance to abnormal conditions…

In every respect, Nurarihyon was already comprehensively inferior to Bai Cangshu.

As he thought this, Bai Cangshu clearly saw a core within that pool of blood, as though it were covered in countless tiny eyes.

Yes, once marked by the Gaze of Arrogance, neither invisibility nor a change of form like Nurarihyon’s current one could shake it off.

Nurarihyon’s core continuously changed shape. Bai Cangshu merely stood in the air, allowing him to do as he pleased.

Oka Hachiro, hiding a hundred meters away, had already fallen into despair. Both were hundred-percent bosses, yet Reincarnation Star People Mercenary Tao was overwhelmingly stronger than Yokai Aliens Nurarihyon.

The gap between them might have been even greater than the gap between the Scallion Aliens and Nurarihyon.

He had never seen an alien of such strength. He began to wonder whether something had gone wrong with the black sphere. An enemy of this level was simply beyond their ability to defeat.

Splash!

The sound of water rang out, and his heart stirred. Could there be another change?!

That pool of blood suddenly rose up, like some viscous soft-bodied creature, flowing continuously as it condensed into a humanoid shape.

This Blood Red Nurarihyon was tall and slender, his body constantly shifting. In an instant, he spread his arms, and his body transformed into a sea of blood that surged toward Bai Cangshu in the air.

Buzzz~

The air beneath Bai Cangshu’s feet vibrated with a cicada-like hum. His figure vanished like a bubble, and the blood surged through his afterimage before crashing into the nearby shopping district. The storefronts immediately began to dissolve.

The reinforced concrete did not even last a second in that blood before dissolving away.

Bai Cangshu appeared on the ground. Watching Nurarihyon’s abilities in this state, he understood that because Bai Cangshu was too fast and hit too hard, Nurarihyon had chosen to transform into this semi-corporeal form.

It allowed him to avoid being struck by Bai Cangshu’s hand-to-hand techniques while making his body highly corrosive, using this form to counter Bai Cangshu’s fighting style.

He really was thinking of a way to deal with him, but this plan… was weak, very weak, far too weak!

The slight expectation Bai Cangshu had held for Nurarihyon’s adaptive evolution swiftly vanished.

Without an unyielding heart, even an ability like mimic evolution could become so feeble.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Bai Cangshu turned around. His gaze pierced directly through the red blood surging from the shopping district buildings, locking completely onto that core as he asked calmly.

Nurarihyon froze in the air, and the blood churned violently.

Yes, he was afraid. Nurarihyon now realized that he was afraid. Even while transforming, he had not directly taken on a form similar to his opponent’s and then killed him head-on with superior abilities.

In the past, he would always choose to do that—to kill his opponent in their own form, with abilities more outstanding and more powerful than theirs.

That was the posture of a god.

But this time, he had been intimidated by the being before him instantly killing the Daitengu and Inugami. Then, because his opponent had struck him right before his eyes with an attack he could not even perceive, fear had taken root in him.

That was why he had transformed into this form.

Intense fury, distortion, and unwillingness began rising from within Nurarihyon. The emotions were so powerful that Bai Cangshu could almost see them with his naked eyes.

As the blood boiled, Nurarihyon’s core rose out of it of its own accord. He no longer hid. For thousands of years, he had been feared by humans, worshipped by humans, believed in by humans…

The jewel fragment, which had shown no reaction until now, began to bloom with an eerie purple glow. As Nurarihyon’s core spun, the tiny eyeballs suddenly emitted brilliant light.

Zzt!

A laser shot out, followed by another. Bai Cangshu raised his left arm before him, moving it horizontally and vertically with such speed that it seemed to vanish.

The destructive lasers only made his left arm feel waves of warmth.

The rest of the area was not so fortunate. Countless compound eyes on Nurarihyon’s body fired lasers at once, piercing and destroying the Osaka commercial district for several kilometers in every direction almost instantly. As the core rotated, the lasers continued to sweep around.

Zzt~

Zzt~

Thin store partitions, heavy stone pavement, and more distant office buildings were all sliced apart in an instant.

With a rumble, the nearly hundred-meter-tall building began collapsing from a point more than ten meters above the ground, crashing downward.

Oka Hachiro rolled and scrambled away from the lasers. Seeing this, he no longer cared whether his invisibility would be dispelled. He turned and sprinted toward the river on the other side, then leaped straight into it.

"I can feel it… power…"

A massive head swiftly formed around Nurarihyon’s core. Two long horns extended from the skull of the vaguely human-like head, followed by special bones evolved after enduring countless years of slashes from cold weapons, explosions from modern weapons, and even bombardment from super-technological weapons—bones altered after understanding that damage.

They began covering his body piece by piece, while muscles and internal organs formed in sequence.

The enormous body, over four meters tall, landed on the ground. Bone wings spread from his back, and Nurarihyon had likewise given himself the ability to fly.

Nurarihyon raised his right hand and pressed the jewel fragment into the center of his forehead. In an instant, intense Demonic Power began pouring into his body.

This treasure obtained by a reincarnator from another age of yokai chaos was being used by a yokai of this world in such a special manner.

This scene finally brought a smile to Bai Cangshu’s face. He clapped, offering praise for Nurarihyon’s efforts.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

"Very good. This is how it should be… this is how it should be, Nurarihyon…"

"Entertain me."

There was a hint of madness in Bai Cangshu’s voice. Having gained the power of the Shikon Jewel fragment, Nurarihyon could no longer suppress the arrogance that saw himself as a god. He simply could not tolerate another being speaking down to him like this.

"Roar!"

Nurarihyon, in his bone-winged demon form, opened his mouth and roared. An invisible shockwave erupted with a boom.

At that moment, Bai Cangshu’s eyes opened fully. A powerful Aura burst from his body as Armament Haki hardened his entire form.

Boom!

An explosive shockwave identical to the World-Shaking Thunder Roar Bai Cangshu had used earlier erupted once more. The Osaka commercial district sank with a crash, its reinforced concrete foundation below already destroyed as large sections fractured and subsided.

Nurarihyon spread his arms, unfurling the wings behind him formed of gathered bone spurs. He had never felt such power before. With merely a roar, everything had been utterly destroyed. This was the Power of God…

Step, step, step.

Within the smoke, Bai Cangshu, his skin entirely covered by Armament Haki, casually waved a hand.

Boom! It was as though a level-ten gale had suddenly arrived.

Dust and smoke were instantly swept backward, and there was no longer anything obstructing their view of each other.

Watching the completely uninjured Bai Cangshu walk toward him, the bone-winged demon Nurarihyon walked toward his opponent in the same manner.

Their gazes met.

The next moment.

Telekinesis erupted once more.

Bang!

Bai Cangshu’s body jolted, but he was completely unharmed. He continued forward, growing faster and faster.

Light suddenly lit up in Nurarihyon’s hollow eyes, and two lasers instantly pierced Bai Cangshu’s body.

At the instant the lasers reached him, Bai Cangshu accelerated in a flash and became wind. The next moment, he emerged from the wind again, making it appear to Nurarihyon as though Bai Cangshu had passed directly through the lasers.

He was about to fire again, but Bai Cangshu had already reached him.

Bai Cangshu clenched his right fist and stepped forward. His punch exploded forth. At the same time, Nurarihyon clenched his right fist, purple Demonic Power lighting up around it as he threw a punch as well. The instant his fist swung out, the Demonic Power tore through the air, and faint Grudge Spirits appeared around it.

Bang!

Before their fists could even collide, Nurarihyon felt the thick air before his fist suddenly blown apart. The next instant, unparalleled force pierced through his hardened bones and surged into his arm.

Crack, bang bang bang!

A chain of explosions began within his arm. That force only erupted after entering his body, and his flesh was incapable of resisting it. His right arm shattered outright.

Nurarihyon stared at Bai Cangshu’s fist, trying to understand that attack. His arm began to regenerate, and as it did, the number of bones and arrangement of muscles began to change.

Bai Cangshu knew that this was probably Nurarihyon’s core ability of adaptive evolution. He was attempting to learn Bai Cangshu’s attack…

But he was too slow!

As Bai Cangshu’s long black hair flew in the wind, Nurarihyon’s right hand had already taken on a form nearly identical to Bai Cangshu’s arm.

Purple Demonic Power surged ever more vigorously. The Shikon Jewel fragment responded to Nurarihyon’s malice. His entire body began to be enveloped in skin, Demonic Power spreading throughout him as he began shedding the form of the Gantz world and transforming toward the appearance of those demons from the world of Inuyasha.

Scavenger EX051, Coordinate Manifestation has now been activated again.

It was as if the space itself were urging Bai Cangshu, activating Coordinate Manifestation once more. Bai Cangshu frowned, then lightly moved both hands up and down.

Monstrous killing intent engulfed the surroundings in an instant.

Nurarihyon, immersed in his own evolution, suddenly felt boundless killing intent, followed by a sky full of incoming fists.

Invisible force stirred again as Nurarihyon activated his Nen Ability once more. But before his telekinesis could even take effect, wave after wave of force had already pierced through his body.

Bang bang bang… splat!

Bai Cangshu felt that surging death intent manifest. The next moment, dozens of Death Intent Senluo attacks had already pierced through Nurarihyon’s body.

The bone-winged demon Nurarihyon immediately exploded into pieces, and the Shikon Jewel fragment fell to the ground as well.

You activated the trait: Death Intent Senluo

You killed Nurarihyon and obtained B-rank Anomaly Point ×1

You obtained a Drop Card (Purple)

Bai Cangshu impassively put away the Drop Card, then pointed behind him with his left hand without even looking back.

Whine~

A golden Ki Blast instantly pierced through the collapsed building and bored through the forehead of a man wearing a black Reinforcement Suit.

The man had no chance to struggle. With a shocked expression, he fell to the ground.

That face belonged to the person Bai Cangshu had previously killed by piercing through the back of his head with a single blade. Even though Bai Cangshu had already put the Drop Card into his Backpack.

Yet this person had appeared before him again, and… there was more than one.

Under Bai Cangshu’s indifferent gaze, one Qingyun after another, each dressed in a black Reinforcement Suit, appeared throughout the ruined shopping district.

So the black sphere could even do something like this… It had copied reincarnators in bulk?!