Yakus.h.i.+ was about to make his next move. However… he couldn't sense anything.

Even though he had clearly succeeded in sealing her away, he couldn't feel that she was within his control. This was completely unexpected.

Yakus.h.i.+ tried to cast a spell, but suddenly found that he had lost control of his own summoned "Amane" snake!

Right after that, he saw his snake freezing over in midair as its pitch-black body suddenly shattered, only to reveal a cold and icy blue.

A faint mystical and distant sound of song could suddenly be heard. This song had a chill that felt like it could pierce through the soul.

Yakus.h.i.+ felt actually threatened by this.

He decisively summoned a second Amane spirit sword and unhesitatingly shot a powerful black beam at the collapsing giant snake!

The spirit sword's beam pierced through the giant snake. Its collapsing body exploded with a giant boom, releasing a tremendous amount of black mist!

Something blue glowed in the mist.

The mystical song stopped.

Yakus.h.i.+ instantly felt as if he was enveloped in an abnormal chill. He tried to dodge this, when he saw a brilliant flash...

Destruction curse, "Thousand Years of Ice"!

A large number of blue pillars suddenly materialized and reached all the way up to the heavens. These blue pillars seemed like humongous ocean waves that completely washed Yakus.h.i.+'s figure away!

"Cough, cough…"

Yakus.h.i.+ had just lost a second telekinesis clone due to this attack. His real body suffered another backlash yet again.

And, this backlash was more serious than the first backlash. He figured that it was due to the special power contained within the spell which destroyed his second clone.

However, he was still alright. The damage taken was within acceptable limits.

Yakus.h.i.+ adjusted his eyegla.s.ses. He became even more interested in the blue skirt girl.

It seemed that he would have to resort to something more violent in order to capture her.

Just as he was planning his next move, he suddenly sensed something behind him. Yakus.h.i.+ turned around and saw someone in Yin Yang Master hunting attire…

"I found you," Seiji told Yakus.h.i.+ in an icy tone.

The next instant, a giant golden bell materialized...

Sealing spell, "Demon Suppression Bell"!

*Clang!* Together with a mighty rumble, the bell fell right on top of Yakus.h.i.+, releasing a powerful light that extended into a pentagram spell formation! A golden pillar of light arose from each corner of the pentagram; these golden pillars connected with each other above the formation, creating countless mystical runes that filled the entire area!

"Suppress the demons of the world…

"Halt the evils of the world…

"Destroy the evil spirits of the world…

"In the name of the divine, my will shall break your spell…"

Seiji made hand seals with both his hands while incanting. He coldly powered up his spell to its absolute maximum power...

"Anti-spell Destruction! Light Ends Everything!! Those who control demons for evil, peris.h.!.+"

*Rumble, rumble, rumble…* A giant pillar of golden light arose into the skies, releasing a divine and blinding aura!

Everything was now over… just kidding.

The next second, a dark figure forced its way out of the pillar of light. Yakus.h.i.+ shot out numerous black beams in Seiji's direction!

Seiji dodged these beams. However, the black beams exploded into dense black mist behind him!

Right after that, a black wave resembling a giant sword descended upon him in a slas.h.!.+ It was too large to dodge, so Seiji summoned his White Lotus spirit sword to fight against it.

*Bam!!!* The black mist and golden light violently clashed against each other, sending out a powerful shock wave.

Right after that, more violent clas.h.i.+ng sounds could be heard ringing out continuously inside the mixture of light and black mist. Seiji and Yakus.h.i.+'s figures could be seen exchanging sword blows, which produced even more black mist and powerful golden light.

Finally, their figures exchanged places with each other. They both landed a blow that knocked each other far back, which put some distance between them.

Seiji's hunting clothes now had a large tear on the upper half, from which faint amounts of black mist were slowly rising.

Across from him was a Yakus.h.i.+ who now looked completely different.

Yakus.h.i.+'s white doctor coat had completely disappeared, as had his gla.s.ses. His head was also bald now. His entire body had become gray, and black snake scales covered his entire body. He looked like a snake who had taken human form… basically, a snake person.

The snake person Yakus.h.i.+'s body kept releasing black mist from everywhere. A white diagonal gash made by a sword extended all the way from his left shoulder to the right half of his waist. Seiji had caused this injury just now, but it was swiftly healing at a visible pace.

"Not bad," Yakus.h.i.+ spoke up. "Still, you should have used more power just now."

"I will from now on," Seiji responded. "In fact, if you have any more transformations or whatever up your sleeve, you'd better use them now. Otherwise, you might not have a chance to use them anymore."

"Transforming like this isn't easy. I have to reach a special condition first… Simply speaking, I hadn't warmed up enough earlier," Yakus.h.i.+ explained while stretching his arms and neck, which made creaking sounds.

"Since you clearly lack exercise, you might as well stop moving... for eternity." Seiji raised his spirit sword.

Yakus.h.i.+ also raised his spirit sword.

The two of them exchanged icy glances. The tension in the air reached a boiling point.

Just as both of them were about to continue their next round of powerful attacks, a voice with no sense of tension whatsoever suddenly interjected, "Let's stop here, Yakus.h.i.+-san."

This voice caused Yakus.h.i.+'s and Seiji's expression to change.

They both looked to the right, where a hazy black shadow was now floating.

"Now's not the time to be doing such things. Let's hurry and go back since your cute subordinate is looking for you~" The black shadow acted as if he was coaxing a puppy to return home.

Yakus.h.i.+ furrowed his eyebrows.

Furrowing his eyebrows while being in this snake person form made him look rather strange. It was impossible for Seiji to determine what emotion Yakus.h.i.+ was feeling right now.

While it might be possible to try a sudden attack at this time, Seiji decided against such a course of action. He chose to quietly wait and see what happened.

After a period of silence, Yakus.h.i.+ glanced over at Seiji again before putting down his spirit sword.

Then, Yakus.h.i.+'s body swiftly began to dissipate into mist. A short few seconds later, he completely vanished.

Yakus.h.i.+ actually left just like that… Seiji remained on guard while looking over at the black shadow.

"Although I can't see your face due to the mask, you're my bro Haruta, aren't you." The black shadow—Itsuki Kamitani—asked a question in the form of a statement.

Seiji didn't admit nor deny this.

"Although I really want to ask you why you're here, I can probably guess at the situation since I was the one who gave you that information." Kamitani chuckled. "You did much better than I thought. I should say, as expected of my bro Haruta."

Seiji still remained silent.

"I apologize that Yakus.h.i.+-san caused so much trouble for you," Kamitani continued. "Despite what he seems like, he's actually a good person."

Actually a good person…? Seiji felt that this was truly an unfunny joke.

He responded by silently pointing his sword at Kamitani.

"Don't be so angry. To make up for things, how about I tell you information on Qilin… oh, whoops, your older Haruta sister, how about it?"

Information about Yui!?

Something flashed in Seiji's eyes as he slowly put down his sword.

"I knew you would want this information." Kamitani chuckled. "I doubt she had the time to tell you anything.

"She's currently inside the Realm of Cherry Blossoms. Her exact location and condition are unknown. But, it's a definite that she's still alive. However, that might no longer be the case if too much time pa.s.ses, since she's in such a terrible environment. Who knows how long she can last?

"You can't help her right now, but I know someone who can. I was about to go find that person right now, but I'm really busy. I have other things to do, so I won't be contacting that person until later."

Seiji already could guess what this Kamitani b.a.s.t.a.r.d was about to say next.

"The more time pa.s.ses, the worse her situation will become. If you want that person to hurry and help your older sister, then why don't you go talk to him in my place, my bro Haruta?" Kamitani spoke in a joyous tone. "His code name is 'Voidfire'. Just like Yakus.h.i.+-san, he's a really good person~"