[Arms of the Great!]
Golden light erupted from Takeyo's body, flooding the clearing with divine radiance!
Chakra discs, throwing spears, staffs of varying lengths, an arsenal of legendary weapons materialized in the air and shot toward Kuroka at devastating speed!
"Nya?! This feeling is..." Kuroka's eyes widened as genuine threat registered in her instincts for the first time.
"Those are weapons from the ancient gods, Kuroka! Be careful not to get hit!" Bikou's frivolous voice called out from somewhere nearby, suddenly much more serious.
The weapons Takeyo manifested were the very arms granted by the sage Vishvamitra in ancient legend, divine tools meant to battle gods and demons alike. The arsenal included the disc-shaped Chakra, throwing weapons like Suravana, the mace Kaumodaki, the lance Shikharee, the bow Pinaka, along with great swords, chain whips, massive hammers, bows and arrows, an overwhelming variety that seemed endless!
It could easily rival the legendary Gate of Babylon itself.
"As if I'd let myself be hit, nya!" Kuroka hissed.
Apart from her combat skills, Kuroka's mastery of spatial techniques was second to none. Otherwise, she wouldn't have remained one of the Underworld's most wanted SS-Class Stray Devils for so long without being captured by the enforcement teams.
However, what truly worried her wasn't the weapons themselves, it was the fact that she hadn't sensed how Takeyo had gotten so close to her in the first place. That level of spatial manipulation exceeded even her considerable abilities.
"Unfortunately, getting hit is still quite possible," Takeyo said calmly, extending his hand in Kuroka's direction.
Sensing the incoming barrage of divine weapons converging on her position, Kuroka immediately constructed multiple defensive arrays. However, she'd noticed something peculiar, these golden weapons that automatically returned to their wielder didn't seem to possess overwhelming destructive power on their own.
The magic circles she wove together combined Eastern mysticism, Fusang alchemy, Western magic, Nordic runes, and various forms of witchcraft, forming a perfect multilayered barrier around her!
In Kuroka's slightly puzzled gaze, Takeyo waved his hand gently.
"Crack..."
The next instant, a hairline fracture appeared in her defensive array. Before she could even process what had happened, all of her carefully constructed magic circles shattered like glass!
"Nya?!"
The golden weapons struck her defenseless body directly, unimpeded.
"Boom!"
A short staff connected with her torso, sending her flying backward dozens of meters. After recovering from the impact, Kuroka finally let go of the complacency in her heart.
'Interesting! This human male is fascinating, nya! As expected of the man chosen by Shirone!' she thought, completely misunderstanding the situation. Her hazel-gold eyes studied Takeyo with renewed interest, noticing the pentagram pattern glowing with an alluring crimson light in his eyes.
Still, even if his abilities were strange, if the actual attack power of a direct hit was only this much, there wasn't much to fear!
Takeyo recognized this problem immediately.
"Troublesome," he muttered. "At my current level, probably only Terminus Est could cause real damage to her. But would she actually let herself be hit by a holy sword that's completely different in style from all these other weapons?"
Obviously not.
His current mastery of the Ten Incarnations was still in the growth and explosive development stage. He was genuinely worried that using an incarnation for the first time in combat might accidentally kill Kuroka outright, or worse, drain himself completely in the process.
"Dealing with Kuroka isn't really the problem with my current abilities," Takeyo assessed. "The more dangerous one is that monkey playing around in the shadows."
The combination of the Alpha Stigma and his exceptional calculation abilities created an overwhelming advantage against anyone who relied on magic circles. He could easily penetrate the essence of any spell using his eyes. Beyond being convenient for learning and using magic himself, he could also exploit weaknesses in magical constructions with pinpoint accuracy.
As long as it was a magic circle, there would inevitably be weaknesses, large or small. He only needed to bombard those weak points with concentrated spiritual energy waves to shatter even the most complex arrays.
"Still, there are limitations," he acknowledged to himself. "The spiritual power available to a human body is too limited. When facing magic circles constructed by Ultimate-Class Devils, even destroying them using the most efficient method possible would completely drain my reserves."
"Nya? Human brother, are you sure you won't hand over Shirone?" Kuroka licked her paw where the weapon had grazed it, casting a coquettish glance toward Takeyo.
"It's not a question of whether I'll hand her over or not," Takeyo replied, shaking his head as he casually dispelled another attacking circle Kuroka had formed. "What matters is Koneko's will. I don't think she wants to go with you."
If there truly was no other option, he could simply teleport directly to the Underworld. The only reason he remained here, engaging in conversation with Kuroka, was to resolve the contradiction between the sisters.
Kuroka had killed her former master to protect Koneko from being used in dangerous experiments, then became a wanted criminal. Meanwhile, Koneko believed her sister had been consumed by power and killed their master out of madness. The truth had never been communicated between them.
Kuroka had neither the time nor the will to explain herself properly, and Koneko had never been given the chance to learn the truth. This misunderstanding had created a painful rift between them.
Kuroka knew that if Koneko learned the real reason behind her actions, her sister would burden herself with unnecessary guilt.
"Kuroka, we don't have much time left, let me handle this!" While Takeyo confronted Kuroka, a small monkey-like figure suddenly descended from the sky.
Riding on a golden cloud beneath his feet and carrying a thin staff of red and gold across his shoulders, Bikou performed a serpentine pattern through the air with practiced ease.
"I am Bikou! Descendant of the legendary hero Sun Wukong!" he announced with theatrical flair.
"Oh? What makes you think you know something I don't?" Takeyo asked, genuinely curious.
Just as he'd expected, these people had indeed concluded he was the descendant of some ancient hero.
"The weapons you're using carry the aura of those old gods and Buddhas!" Bikou grinned. "If you're not one of the deities themselves, you can only be a blessed hero carrying their legacy."
"So? Are you interested in telling me which hero you're descended from?"
The monkey youkai's eyes sparkled with genuine curiosity. From ancient times to the present, his clan had always sought joy and freedom amid the chaos of the world, and discovering the identities of powerful warriors certainly qualified as entertainment.
"I think it's better to keep some mystery," Takeyo replied with a slight smile. "But if you're willing to help me catch this black cat, maybe I'll tell you."
Better to let them speculate on their own. Human nature dictated that people were far more likely to believe conclusions they'd reached themselves than information others simply told them.
"Ahh, negotiation failed!" Bikou showed an exaggerated expression of regret.
He actually had a very favorable impression of Takeyo, the young man lacked that nauseating smell that clung to Cao Cao and the Hero Faction members.
"Forget it, Kuroka. Let's grab your sister and get out of this country as quickly as possible. Since that incident, this place has become more and more dangerous."
"Okay, let's finish this quickly!" Kuroka agreed.
"Extend! Ruyi Jingu Bang!"
Bikou was well-versed in the principle of hit-and-run tactics, strike hard, accomplish the objective, and leave before complications arose. To avoid any unexpected developments, direct action was the best policy.
As a descendant of the Monkey King Sun Wukong, Bikou possessed physical abilities that could rival even Dragon Kings. His body had been tempered to extremes through countless battles.
"Hahahahaha!" he laughed as his staff began extending at impossible speeds.
At the same time, Kuroka's attack arrays manifested instantaneously around Takeyo!
Takeyo shook his head. It seemed Kuroka wouldn't be able to communicate properly with Koneko as long as Bikou remained present.
"I may have been unclear before, but I hope you understand now," Takeyo said calmly. "While I may not be able to defeat you, it's equally impossible for you to take Koneko from me."
He took a light step forward, and vanished from both Bikou and Kuroka's vision entirely.
After speaking those words, Takeyo could clearly feel Koneko's grip tighten slightly against his back, the small gesture of someone who felt protected.
Bikou's golden eyes flickered in surprise. When his vision refocused, he discovered that Takeyo had somehow repositioned himself at the very tip of his extended Ruyi Jingu Bang!
The young man placed one hand gently against the legendary staff.
Though Bikou could continue extending the golden cudgel indefinitely, he understood one critical thing, such an action would be meaningless. As long as Takeyo wanted to escape, there was no way for Bikou to actually land an attack on him.
With one hand pressed against the Ruyi Jingu Bang, Takeyo's other hand casually dispelled Kuroka's incoming magic circles.
His reason for not teleporting directly to the Underworld was simple. Beyond completing his sign-in requirement, there was something far more important at stake.
Someone had arrived! Someone who would change everything.
At the exact moment his hand made contact with the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the sign-in process completed successfully.
[Ding!]
[Gold-rank sign-in successful!]
[Sign-in location: Ruyi Jingu Bang.]
[Congratulations to the host for receiving reward, Chains of Heaven, Enkidu (Enhanced)!]
Takeyo's eyes widened slightly as information flooded his mind. The Chains of Heaven, Enkidu. The legendary divine chains that had once bounded the Bull of Heaven itself, the weapon trusted even above Gilgamesh's ultimate sword Ea.
An Anti-Divine Noble Phantasm whose binding strength increased proportionally with the target's divinity. Against gods and divine beings, it was an absolute restraint. Against those without divinity, it remained merely a very sturdy chain, but this system-enhanced version carried improvements beyond the original's capabilities.
The knowledge of how to summon and wield the chains integrated seamlessly into his consciousness.
"Well then," Takeyo said softly, his voice carrying clearly despite the distance. "Shall we see what these chains can truly do?"
Golden light began to shimmer around his free hand as ethereal chain links materialized from thin air, each one inscribed with ancient symbols of binding and dominion.
[Seventh Incarnation: Rama!]
At the same moment, the presence of a legendary warrior, a hero who embodied righteousness itself, manifested behind Takeyo. The incarnation of Rama, seventh avatar of Vishnu, the ideal king and greatest archer of the ancient world, melted into his body. Divine authority and martial prowess flooded through his limbs, transforming his stance and bearing.
The air around Takeyo shimmered with barely contained power as two of his greatest assets activated simultaneously, the divine weapons of an ancient hero-god, and chains forged to bind the heavens themselves.
Bikou's playful expression vanished, replaced by genuine wariness. Kuroka's cat ears flattened against her head as she recognized the overwhelming presence now emanating from the seemingly ordinary student.
"Nya... this might be more complicated than we thought," Kuroka murmured, her tail swishing nervously behind her.
"Yeah," Bikou agreed, his grip tightening on his staff. "Definitely more complicated."