"What kind of yokai are those two?" Zenki asked the Grand Magus En no Ozunu beside him.
"They belong to the Thunder Beast Clan, yokai capable of controlling the natural power of lightning," En no Ozunu explained solemnly. "Their destructive power is immense, and even among yokai, they hold a fierce reputation. They are upper-class yokai." As he spoke, he added, "At the moment, I can barely maintain this barrier. Zenki and Goki's powers are still sealed, so defeating them won't be easy."
"Hmph, just a couple of trash yokai. I'll deal with them myself."
Ruri stepped calmly out of the barrier, raising her gaze toward the two Thunder Beasts above.
"Hey, you two—are you after the Shikon Jewel? That's easy. If you can defeat me, I'll hand it over. How about it?"
The two Thunder Beasts immediately focused their attention on Ruri. Yet after sensing her presence for a moment, they found no trace of yokai aura or spiritual power within her.
They burst out laughing.
"You're joking, right? A little brat like you dares to challenge us? Is this the kind of weakling that guards the Shikon Jewel now?"
At those words, Miko immediately prepared to draw her weapon, but Satsuki reached out and stopped her.
Satsuki said calmly, "Ruri alone is enough. Besides, since I intend to join the Katori Shrine, as my recommender, you should at least have some idea of my strength."
"These are upper-class yokai, Satsuki! Are you sure Ruri can handle them?" Miko's concern wasn't unfounded. To defeat even one upper-class yokai single-handedly was an incredible feat—something that only a few shrine maidens of the highest rank or exorcists equal to master swordsmen could achieve.
Yokai naturally surpassed humans in physical ability, and high-ranking yokai possessed not only immense strength but also sophisticated control over their demonic energy and deadly techniques. A single one could wield the power of an entire nation.
Yet to Satsuki, these two weren't even worth mentioning.
"They're nothing but trash yokai," she said flatly.
To her, the so-called upper-class yokai were no more threatening than stones by the roadside.
En no Ozunu nodded slightly. "Don't worry, Miko. This one's abilities are far beyond what you imagine. Just watch Lady Ruri's performance."
"Tch~"
For some reason, Zenki clicked his tongue in annoyance but still focused intently on Ruri ahead.
"Hey, you two! What's wrong? Are you just going to float up there talking big all day?" Ruri taunted. "Or is shouting from the sky the only thing you're good at besides throwing lightning around?"
When it came to verbal jabs, Ruri feared no one—except Satsuki.
"You insolent brat! I'll kill you first, then take the Shikon Jewel for myself!"
The humanoid Thunder Beast roared and dove down from the clouds. Twin horns on his head spun like flaming wheels, and in his hand he held a lightning-shaped spear that blazed with electric fury as he charged at Ruri.
The yokai's speed, boosted by his lightning, left a glowing trail through the air. In a single heartbeat, he struck.
A deafening explosion of thunder followed. The impact vaporized the ground within hundreds of meters, scattering debris in all directions. The remains of fallen soldiers were instantly reduced to ash in the blinding storm of lightning.
That one strike alone was enough to prove the terrifying might of an upper-class yokai.
The spot where Ruri had been standing turned into a crater tens of meters deep. Lightning crawled across the pit's surface, converging into a massive sphere of blue energy before erupting again in a second, even greater explosion.
The humanoid Thunder Beast leapt from the pit, his expression smug as he gazed down at the crackling crater.
"So that was it? I thought you'd be a real threat. Turns out you were just another mouthy brat. Under Lord Ameten's thunder, you've been reduced to ash."
However, just as the self-proclaimed "Lord Ameten" finished speaking, a calm voice rose from within the smoke and lightning.
"So this is what passes for an upper-class yokai's strength? I suppose it's a little more annoying than a mosquito bite."
As the dust cleared, Ruri stood in the crater, one finger raised casually in front of her face—her body spotless, completely unscathed.
"You can't even scratch one of my fingers, yet you have the confidence to roar in front of me?"
As Ruri spoke, a violent golden aura erupted from her body like a whirlwind. The turbulent demonic energy, filled with savagery and dread, blasted away the surrounding lightning before surging upward into the heavens. The storm clouds that had blanketed the sky were instantly torn apart, and even the thundercloud beneath the other Thunder Beast yokai vanished, sending it crashing to the ground.
"This... this power? How could this be? Is this truly the power of Miss Satsuki's shikigami?"
It wasn't just the two Thunder Beasts who were stunned. Even En no Ozunu and Miko beside Satsuki stared in disbelief at Ruri as she ascended, her form glowing with divine light.
A golden radiance enveloped her, and then her silhouette expanded outward under its brilliance. The world itself seemed to tremble with a rhythmic thump... thump...—the sound of an immense, otherworldly heartbeat.
With each pulse of demonic power, Ruri's appearance transformed. Her childlike frame grew into that of a striking young women. Her short black hair lengthened rapidly, flowing down to her waist. Golden markings appeared upon her face, and behind her, three massive tails of golden demonic energy unfurled.
"To deal with the likes of you two," she said coldly, "my Three-Tails form is more than enough."
The transformed Ruri stomped once, launching himself forward as a beam of golden light streaking toward Ameten, the Thunder Beast.
"Damn it—don't get cocky!"
Ameten, startled by the overwhelming surge of power, relied on his lightning-enhanced reflexes to parry at the last moment. His Thunder Fang Spear clashed against Ruri's blow, the air cracking with energy.
"I am Ameten, leader of the Thunder Beast Clan! Don't underestimate me!"
From within the golden brilliance, Ruri appeared, one finger pressed lightly against the spear's tip. With a calm gesture, he grasped the weapon's head, unleashing a wave of crushing demonic force.
The explosion of power sent Ameten screaming through the air, his body hurled violently across the battlefield.
But before Ruri could move again, the other Thunder Beast—his mate—screamed in rage. Opening her gaping mouth, she fired a colossal bolt of golden lightning straight toward him.
"Hmph."
As if expecting it, Ruri's three tails swung upward, effortlessly deflecting the lightning blast. Then, countless eyes opened along the surface of those immense, glowing tails.
The eyes shifted, focusing as one upon the Thunder Beast who had attacked.
"So you wish for death? Then I'll grant it to you first."
At Ruri's declaration, a massive vortex of demonic energy appeared beneath the second Thunder Beast. Within the swirling maelstrom, countless eyes emerged, staring directly at their prey. The yokai froze in terror—her body and demonic power both locked in place, unable to move.
"Disappear—Power of the Fallen Heavens!"
At Ruri's command, the energies within the vortex collided violently, spiraling into chaos before detonating in a blinding explosion.
BOOM!!!
In that thunderous blast, the Thunder Beast's body and demonic essence were torn apart—obliterated in an instant.
"Meiten!!"
The surviving Thunder Beast let out a heart-wrenching cry as he watched his mate's body torn apart by the explosion of demonic energy. His entire body surged with power, demonic energy gathering furiously around him. The air began to twist and warp from the heat radiating from his form as blue lightning flared wildly across his skin.
"He's... overheating?" Miko exclaimed, staring in shock at the Thunder Beast Ameten in the distance.
"That's the Thunder Beast's berserk state," En no Ozunu explained gravely. "In this state, their power increases tremendously, but it also causes severe damage to their internal organs. It's a desperate move—one used only when they have no other choice."
As he spoke, En no Ozunu glanced thoughtfully at Satsuki, who remained perfectly calm. Her shikigami had just displayed strength rivaling that of a great yokai, yet facing a berserk Thunder Beast would not be easy even for one of that level.
And yet, the girl's composure never wavered. That alone made En no Ozunu suspect that what Ruri had shown so far was still far from her true power.
On the battlefield, Ameten's eyes had lost all focus. He stared blankly in Ruri's direction, rage and grief twisting into madness.
Then, from the corners of his mouth, golden lightning began to spark—and in the next moment, a massive bolt of thunder shot straight toward Ruri.
"With attacks like that, who do you think you're going to hit?"
What was nearly invisible to human eyes was utterly predictable to Ruri. The Thunder Beast's pre-attack movements were so exaggerated that even an ordinary fighter could read the timing and direction of his strike.
Lightning might be the fastest force in nature, but when the precursor movements were this obvious—and the attack could only travel in a straight line—dodging was almost effortless.
Ruri's form turned into a golden streak across the air, shifting several times in rapid succession to evade the incoming strike.
As she moved to counterattack, Ameten suddenly reappeared right in front of her.
"Die!!!"
"Oh? Forcing your body beyond its limit to channel lightning directly into your strikes?"
Ruri's left hand glowed with golden energy as it clashed head-on with the Thunder Fang Spear.
The instant their powers collided, the sky exploded in a storm of energy—two surging tides of demonic force clashing like raging oceans. The blast wave reached En no Ozunu's distant barrier, making it tremble violently, nearly shattering on the spot.
At the center of the explosion, Ruri—her three golden tails swirling behind her —looked mildly surprised. She noticed that the once-blue lightning of Ameten's weapon had shifted to crimson red, coiling violently around the Thunder Fang Spear.
"So, you still had some power left in you, huh?"
Ruri smirked and swung one of her massive tails toward him.
"Kill!!"
Though in a berserk frenzy, Ameten still retained instinctive battle awareness. His free hand gathered a ball of blood-red lightning, which he fired straight at the oncoming tail.
The two forces clashed midair—Ruri's demonic tails locked in a stalemate against the Thunder Beast's lightning.
"Oh? You've still got fight in you? I really did underestimate you."
A glint flashed in Ruri's eyes. She withdrew the arm locked with Ameten's spear and summoned a violet barrier across his body to absorb the next surge of lightning.
"Power of the Fallen Heavens!"
Once more, countless eyes opened across her tails, scanning rapidly in all directions, searching for their target.
But as if sensing the mortal danger, the berserk Thunder Beast instantly dissolved into pure lightning, darting erratically through the air to evade Ruri's gaze.
"Oh? So you've learned, have you?"
Ruri tracked him with her many eyes, but Ameten's chaotic, patternless movements made her impossible to pin down. For several tense seconds, the eyes on Ruri's tails failed to find a lock. Then, one by one, they closed as the Power of the Fallen Heavens faded.
Only then did Ameten reappear in physical form, gasping heavily, barely supporting himself with his Thunder Fang Spear. Even for a Thunder Beast, fully transforming into lightning was no simple feat. Though he had narrowly escaped Ruri's mysterious technique, his body had taken heavy damage in return.
However, just because the Power of the Fallen Heavens failed to strike didn't mean Ruri's assault was over. That was merely one of her many methods of attack.
The three tails behind her spread wide, unleashing an overwhelming torrent of demonic energy that surged outward without restraint. The earth beneath her feet trembled violently under the pressure of that power.
Moments later, the raging demonic energy gathered before her, condensing into a deep violet sphere.
If a shinobi from the world of Naruto were here, they would have cried out in shock—"A Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Though none of the onlookers, aside from Satsuki, knew the name of the technique, the apocalyptic vision unfolding before their eyes made its destructive potential clear.
"Such power! That demonic energy is on par with the great yokai of legend!"
"To be able to control such force... this shikigami's strength surpasses even Zenki in his Super Oni God state!"
Even En no Ozunu, who commanded the mightiest of oni gods, couldn't hide his astonishment at the magnitude of Ruri's power.
In the next instant, the sphere was released—hurtling straight toward Ameten.
The sphere, wrapped in torrents of demonic energy, tore through the air, radiating blistering heat and raw destruction. Wherever it passed, the ground split open, and the very sky seemed to boil.
"Damn it!"
Faced with such a catastrophic attack, Ameten had no options left. Having pushed his body to the limit dodging the earlier blow, he could only brace himself to face it head-on.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The explosion thundered across the heavens, a blast so immense it sent shockwaves and cyclones tearing in every direction. A mushroom cloud of smoke and flame rose high into the air as the shockwave spread across the battlefield.
Under the devastating impact, En no Ozunu's barrier groaned under the strain, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.
"Damn! My barrier won't hold!"
"Leave it to me."
Miko stepped forward, plunging her weapon—[Sakura and the Waning Moon]—into the ground. Spiritual energy surged through it, expanding outward in a wave of blue light that formed a second layer of protection over En no Ozunu's barrier. The combined force of their defenses barely held against the explosion's fury.
When the thunder and fire finally faded, the landscape before them had been transformed into a scorched wasteland. Rivers of magma flowed across the ground, and the air shimmered with heat waves.
The demonic aura belonging to Ameten—the Thunder Beast—was gone, utterly obliterated.
"It's over."
Ruri, who had just unleashed a display of power that left Zenki, Goki, and Miko speechless, stood amidst the wreckage. A gust of golden wind spiraled around her as her form began to shift.
In moments, her body reverted to that of a small, childlike figure. The towering aura of demonic energy and the chilling killing intent vanished as if they had never existed.
Yet, the warped terrain and rivers of molten earth surrounding them served as undeniable proof—everything they had just witnessed was real.