If this was the same barrier talisman that was used back during the attack on the school, then Hana could break it with ease, but she risked unleashing these shades as well. That said, Hana couldn’t imagine leaving so many strong shades to Botan alone. Hana had no choice but to defeat the shades with Arashi and Aoi, but by the time they cleared them out and broke the barrier, Kazura was long gone.
Meanwhile, back at the arena, Saku was tasked with keeping the panicked crowd under control while also dealing with the waves of shades appearing. They were more powerful than he’d anticipated, and some were slipping through the cracks. Yukizasa was taking the lead to slay them, but they just didn’t have enough hands.
“Dammit!”
While Saku failed to hide his irritation at things not going as planned, he was approached by the Nijouin clan lord.
“Lord Ichinomiya, leave this to me.”
“But…”
“Stopping the root of the problem comes first. Whoever caused this ruckus should still be around. Prioritize that before they cause even more damage.”
Saku met the Nijouin clan lord’s gaze. After a pause, Saku thanked him and ran off. He headed outside the arena, giving commands to any practitioners and defeating any shades he met along the way.
Saku made it outside to the festival grounds, but he still didn’t know what was causing the attacks. He had felt somewhat reassured before, thinking that the talismans wouldn’t pose any problems with Kazura on the case, but he now began to feel furious at his own naïveté.
“M-Masteeeeer!”
Tsubaki rushed to Saku, waving her arms. She’d been trailing Hana the whole time; thinking that Hana was sure to have more freedom to act, Saku had sent Tsubaki to protect her.
“It’s bad, reeeal bad!”
“What happened?”
“It’s Kazuraaa! He’s the bad guuuy!”
“Kazura?” Saku couldn’t understand. But after listening to Tsubaki explain everything she saw, he was aghast. “No way, he’s behind everything? The murders of the Skull of Nirvana members? And this attack?”
“Yeah, he is! We gotta stop him. That guy is super messed up!”
Saku realized from Tsubaki’s frantic actions that this was no joke. The cruel reality cut like a knife through his chest.
But this was no time to be stunned stiff. If they were up against an Obsidian-rank practitioner, then Saku had to act even more urgently to prevent any needless casualties.
“Where’s Kazura?”
“I don’t know that much!”
Tsubaki looked apologetic; even knowing that it wasn’t necessarily her fault, Saku still unconsciously clicked his tongue.
“C’mooon, you know I’m bad at searching!”
That Saku did, more than anyone else.
“Dammit. I should’ve made a shikigami who’s better at searching, like Arashi.”
“Rude! That’s saying you’re gonna cheat on me! What, am I not enough to satisfy you?!”
“You’ve already got your darling, right?”
“That’s a whole different thing!”
While attempting to brush off his fuming shikigami, Saku thought about his next steps. Just then he looked up to see Azuha fluttering overhead.
“Azuha…?”
The sight snapped Saku out of his thoughts, and he hurried after Azuha.
“Tsubaki, this way!”
“Ah, Maaasteeer!”
Tsubaki trailed after Saku.
Before long, they found Kazura standing atop a tree, gazing upon the chaos he’d wrought.
“Kazura…”
“Well now, if it isn’t Saku.”
Kazura hopped down from the tree and landed with ease. He seemed no different from usual.
Saku held a lot of respect for Kazura; he was a fellow Obsidian-rank practitioner and a peer Saku had worked with countless times. He didn’t want to believe that the man he knew was capable of anything that risked another person’s life. But Kazura saw the same students and practitioners battling shades that Saku had, and far from lifting a finger to help, he just watched and smiled. Seeing this, Saku had to accept that the man before him was plenty capable of that.
“So it was you?”
“I’m impressed you found me.”
Kazura thought it strange, but then he noticed Azuha coming into view.
“I see, so she had her shikigami watch me from the start. That girl really knows how to exceed my expectations. And here I thought my acting was good enough to keep anyone from becoming suspicious.”
Saku couldn’t hear even a shred of guilt in the way Kazura chuckled.
“Kazura, turn yourself in. I don’t want this getting any messier than it is already.”
“Whatever might you be talking about?” Kazura tilted his head slightly. “You’re too late. I have no intention of stopping.”
“You hate the five clans that much?”
“Yes. Including you, of course. Despite being younger than me, you were hailed by all as the next clan lord, rising to your throne as though it were only natural, and goodness, do I despise you for it.”
Saku was used to being envied, but hearing this from someone he trusted so deeply took its toll.
“Is there no going back?”
“Oh, how naïve you are. Truly astounding how you call yourself a clan leader. Yes, the five clans really are better off destroyed.”
Finding an opening, Tsubaki attacked. However, she was blocked with ease by the barrier Kazura had already set up. She continued to fight, but none of her attacks left so much as a scratch. This barrier was too strong for even Tsubaki to break it, which spoke to just how powerful Kazura was.
But despite Kazura seeming to focus on his fight with Tsubaki, he casually moved to the side all of a sudden. The spot where he’d been standing was then slammed with an attack that didn’t come from Tsubaki.
“Awww, I really thought I had a shot with that one.”
Yukizasa entered the fray.
“Hey, Saku. Don’t go holdin’ back just because he’s a familiar face. This man’s a hardened criminal.”
Yukizasa gave Saku a firm scolding, like he saw exactly what was on his mind. It made Saku finally resolve to do what he must.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”
With a snort, Saku returned to the cocksure hubris he was known for. Saku’s response made Yukizasa relieved enough to let out a laugh.
Their opponent was the strongest Obsidian-rank practitioner. Honestly, they didn’t know if they could win even with the two of them.
“We’re taking him alive, so don’t kill him.”
“You got it.”
Saku and Yukizasa went forth at the same time.
They had no shortage of questions for Kazura about the case—everything from the Skull of Nirvana incident to the missing Nijouin practitioner—so capturing him alive was a necessity. However, Kazura took the two on with every intent to kill.
Kazura extended his hand as though to grab Yukizasa, who smelled imminent danger and immediately dodged. Kazura’s whiffed hand landed on a tree trunk, which instantly rotted on the spot.
Yukizasa furrowed his brow and muttered, “Holy shit,” under his breath.
“Kazura specializes in curses. Don’t slip up.”
“Yeah, I get it already.”
He did get it; a practitioner who’d been an Obsidian rank longer than Saku wasn’t gonna go out that easily. Holding back to capture him alive was starting to feel like a big handicap to Saku and Yukizasa compared to Kazura’s willingness to go for the kill.
The not-quite-decisive attacks continued for some time, and the exhaustion was starting to catch up to the two, until…
“Hiyaaaaaaah!”
With a fired-up shout, Hana joined the fight by way of a flying kick.
“My, oh my, well done in defeating all those shades.”
Kazura kept his self-assured smile as he attempted to dodge, but for some reason, his feet didn’t move. When he looked down, he found that they were rooted to the ground by a barrier that he hadn’t even noticed.
“Gah!”
For the first time, Kazura changed his tune, and Saku flashed a grin.
Hana’s flying kick continued its trajectory and hit its target; Kazura took a clean hit, slamming back into a tree, which left him crumpled on the ground. They all heard Kazura gasp as he collided with the tree, so it must have been a heavy blow.
Not letting Kazura’s momentary inaction go to waste, Yukizasa bound his hands behind his back. By the time Kazura could lift his face out of the dirt, he saw Hana and Saku high-fiving each other, which made him laugh.
“I see, so you were waiting for Hana’s arrival. But I wonder, how did I fail to notice the barriers set up around my feet?”
“I told you before, that’s Azuha’s specialty. Azuha gave you an illusion while you weren’t looking, so you didn’t notice when Saku set it up.”
“So that was the plan. I think we’ve all learned a valuable lesson today about not underestimating insect shikigami.”
Hana looked down at him coldly, as though unimpressed that it took him this long, but Saku just smiled at her.
“We had some perfect timing there, huh?” Hana said proudly.
“Just goes to show the power of our love, Hana.”
Saku placed a hand on Hana’s shoulder, which Hana quickly slapped off.
“Don’t get distracted here!”
“That’s right, Saku. Dealing with this guy comes first.”
Kazura was still pinned down by Yukizasa, but he seemed…concerningly compliant.