What a terrifying aura!
Arlecchino never expected that after merely being away from Fontaine for a while, Fontaine would now have so many more powerful beings.
Neuvillette's strength was already formidable enough, yet the green-haired woman who had now appeared before her possessed an aura that wasn't much weaker than his.
What was even more absurd was the little girl. She could actually feel a dense threat emanating from her as well, which meant her strength was at least close to the level of a god.
"Big Sister Furina, Big Sister Focalors!"
Hearing Otillia's sweet and soft voice, Furina and Focalors' eyebrows curved into smiles.
"Little Lia, why did you come here?"
Furina asked curiously.
"Because I can sense Dad's location!"
"Uh..."
Furina really wanted to ask Otillia how she did it. If she could also sense Neuvillette's location, she could avoid him at any time and not be assigned work by Neuvillette.
However, Furina thought this was probably a special bond between father and daughter, so she didn't ask it.
"Big Sister Furina, who is she?"
Otillia looked at Arlecchino and asked curiously.
However, there was no need for Furina to answer. Neuvillette stepped forward and said seriously.
"Apep, Ms. Arlecchino is my important guest."
Apep knew this was Neuvillette warning her. Although she felt very unhappy, her strength was weaker than Neuvillette's after all. In order to avoid being expelled from Fontaine, Apep knew she had to yield in some matters.
"Hmph!"
Apep snorted coldly and then stepped aside with a displeased look. She glanced at Otillia and found that her daughter was looking at Arlecchino with a face full of curiosity, not looking at her at all, which made her even angrier.
Seeing Apep yield, Neuvillette slightly retracted the aura he had been exuding, then looked at Arlecchino with some apology as he spoke.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Arlecchino, for making you see this ridiculous scene."
"Actually, just as Apep said, there is no relationship between me and her."
Although this was a normal explanation by Neuvillette, in Arlecchino's ears, it sounded completely like the words of a scumbag.
After all, you already have a child and you're holding her, yet you say there's no relationship between you two, who would believe that?!
But after all, the other party was Neuvillette, so Arlecchino did not say much.
"I understand."
Although Arlecchino disguised herself very well, Neuvillette could still vaguely feel that she had misunderstood something. He sighed inwardly and did not continue explaining, anyway the person who misunderstood was not only her.
Neuvillette just gave up!
But just at this time, Otillia suddenly let out a childish voice.
"Dad, is this the stepmother you found for Lia?"
As soon as this was said, the scene instantly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The four people on Neuvillette's side began to twitch at the corners of their mouths and eyes at the same time, and Arlecchino almost failed in her facial expression management.
Good grief, I just come out for one trip and suddenly I'm the mother?!
As expected, "Father" sounds much better.
Arlecchino had an extraordinary aversion to the word "Mother."
"Lia, Ms. Arlecchino is just my guest."
At this moment, Neuvillette finally snapped back to his senses and immediately spoke up to explain to Otillia.
"That's right, little sister, don't you misunderstand. My meeting with Monsieur Neuvillette today is just to discuss some other matters."
Arlecchino took a deep breath, feeling she needed to be more patient after all.
After all, the child was Neuvillette's daughter, and of course, part of the reason was that she might not be able to win in a fight against her...
"Hmph, don't think you can hide it from Lia!"
"This is definitely an excuse to cover up your relationship!"
"Lia has read many books, and that's how it's written in the books!"
Hearing this, Arlecchino's expression collapsed again, suddenly feeling that the group of children at the House of the Hearth were much cuter.
Meanwhile, Neuvillette scanned the surroundings with a questioning gaze, wanting to know who had let Otillia read those useless books and corrupted her.
Feeling Neuvillette's gaze, Furina and Focalors awkwardly shifted their eyes to the sides, pretending to whistle as if nothing were wrong.
Neuvillette found the culprits so quickly, but after seeing it was Furina and Focalors, he wasn't actually surprised.
Then Neuvillette looked at Apep, wanting to question her how she let the child be corrupted by those two.
However, as soon as Neuvillette looked over, Apep's gaze immediately wavered and then gradually shifted away.
Neuvillette: "?"
Alright, fine. Even you are in on this, playing it this way, huh?!
It seemed he had to keep a closer eye on Otillia, otherwise he wouldn't know when she'd go astray, especially since even her biological mother was so unreliable.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, I'll be going now."
Arlecchino was truly bad at dealing with bratty kids, so she hurriedly made her escape.
"Alright. You can just use the phone to contact me if anything happens. It already has my number saved on it."
Hearing Neuvillette say this, Otillia's eyes instantly lit up, and she immediately shouted.
"Detective Lia has spotted the flaw, hasn't she!"
"There is only one truth: the phone must be a token of love that you, Dad, gave to this big sister!"
"Hehe, isn't Lia smart!"
Otillia puffed out her chest in immense pride, waiting to be praised.
Arlecchino, who had walked some distance away, heard the commotion, stumbled slightly, then quickened her pace to leave the scene.
"Little Lia is so amazing!"
Furina and Focalors couldn't help but say the words of praise, which drew a glare from Neuvillette, making the two of them instantly fall silent.
Then Neuvillette glared again at Apep, who was also about to speak in praise. Though Apep gave up on speaking, she still glared back defiantly. Neuvillette felt utterly exhausted.
These few... they were all spoiling the child rotten! Otillia was bound to go astray eventually!
"Dad, am I not smart?"
Otillia pouted, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Neuvillette as if about to cry.
"...Lia is very smart."
In the end, the esteemed Chief Justice could not hold his bottom line after all...
-
At this moment, Tatarasuna had already become a meat grinder of war.
The Shogunate Army led by Kujou Sara met with even fiercer resistance when they reached roughly the halfway mark on their way forward through Tatarasuna. The enemy had even deployed carefully set traps, causing enormous trouble for the Shogunate Army.
The enemy seemed determined to fight a major battle with the Shogunate Army at this exact location, deploying nearly double the forces they had before. Although Kujou Sara called in some reinforcements, the war still ended up in a stalemate.
During this period, the Shogunate Army also experienced a phenomenon where soldiers who had just fallen in battle returned to their ranks in another form. This batch of warriors was much more powerful, which was the only reason the Shogunate Army did not completely collapse and even gradually gained a slight advantage.
Otherwise, faced with a group of powerful monsters who showed no fear of death, the Shogunate Army, despite having undergone more rigorous training, should have been terrified into submission.
However, Kujou Sara felt extremely conflicted and helpless regarding these fallen soldiers who were forced to return to the battlefield.
But Kujou Sara had no choice. If she allowed them to leave the battlefield, the Shogunate Army might have directly collapsed, resulting in countless casualties.
The only thing Kujou Sara could do was to exert all her strength to eliminate the enemies before her. Every additional enemy eliminated would slightly reduce the pressure on the soldiers.
"Not bad, not bad. I acknowledge your strength. Now, let me experience it for myself!"
"A woman with the bloodline of a Karasu-Tengu!"
"Tsukiomigumo!"
A blinding blade flash struck from the side. That blade flash was so graceful, it made one seem to see a gentle woman dancing lightly under the moon, yet the killing intent contained within it made one's entire body feel chilled!
A massive sense of crisis struck, Kujou Sara's body suddenly tensed up, then she immediately raised her bow to parry. A powerful force was transmitted from the bow, and Kujou Sara was instantly pushed back dozens of meters.
With this single strike, Kujou Sara felt that her right hand had completely lost all sensation.
So strong!
Kujou Sara looked at the handsome young man who had appeared before her at some unknown time, his whole body exuding a cold killing aura, her expression becoming incredibly grave.
Kujou Sara now felt an unparalleled pressure. Although the opponent did not have a Vision on his body, he gave her an extremely dangerous feeling.
"Who are you?"
Kujou Sara was very certain that the opponent was not one of Inazuma's existing powerhouses. This meant that he might also be a fallen soldier from a thousand years ago.
"Hahahaha, you can call me Higashiyama-no-Ou!"
Hearing this name, Kujou Sara's heart trembled, because the opponent was precisely the arch-enemy of the Tengu bloodline from a thousand years ago!
Kujou Sara's ancestor, Tengu Sasayuri, had died at the opponent's hands at that time, and then the opponent and the God Orobashi were slain together by the enraged Raiden Ei, who left Musoujin Gorge on Yashiori Island.
To think that even he had returned to this world once again.
"That Great Youkai Tengu Mask on your head, I'll take it!"
After hearing his words, Kujou Sara's expression turned cold.
"Then it depends on your skill!"
After throwing down these words, Kujou Sara's body was completely enveloped in a dazzling purple light, and it was at this very moment that Kujou Sara felt an abnormality.
For some reason, the Electro Element had actually become exceptionally active, and even increased her strength by several points.
Kujou Sara had no time to think deeply and directly injected all the wild Electro Elemental Power into her arrow, then pulled her bow and shot.
The arrow seemed to traverse space, appearing less than half a meter in front of Higashiyama-no-Ou the moment it left the bow, and the dazzling Electro light almost completely dyed his field of vision purple.
Although Higashiyama-no-Ou's eyes were not looking over, his body reacted instantly, and the next moment he held the sword in his hand horizontally in front of his body, blocking this arrow.
Kujou Sara's arrow had clearly struck with a force that surpassed the enemy's expectations. Higashiyama-no-Ou was shoved backward at high speed by the arrow. The muscles on the arm that blocked the projectile bulged one by one, his waist bent almost sixty degrees backward, and his feet carved two deep furrows into the ground.
Kujou Sara had never expected to take the enemy down in a single blow, so she immediately fired several more arrows. At the same time, black crow feathers appeared behind her, and her eyes flashed with brilliant purple light.
"The grand path is wide, and the Narukami is eternal!"
Countless thunderbolts struck toward Higashiyama-no-Ou. Simultaneously, the several arrows Kujou Sara had shot earlier suddenly exploded. The terrifying Electro Elemental Power engulfed a hundred-meter radius around Higashiyama-no-Ou. That entire area flashed with fearsome lightning every second, and the dull roars of thunder even drowned out the battle cries on the battlefield for a time.
Even Kujou Sara herself was stunned by this scene; she had never imagined she could unleash such power.
However, Kujou Sara soon noticed an abnormality in the sky. Dark clouds had almost completely covered the heavens. Extremely terrifying thunder was brewing within the clouds, ready to strike down at any moment.
Is this... the Shogun's fury?!
This situation was clearly abnormal. Kujou Sara recalled the thunderclouds that had once sealed off all of Inazuma, then looked at the scene before her, and already had the answer in her heart.
What Kujou Sara couldn't understand, however, was why Raiden Shogun was so furious yet still refused to appear on the battlefield.
Although Kujou Sara was not the type of person to completely entrust all her hopes to a god whenever trouble arose, too many people had already died in this war. Even if she ultimately achieved victory in the end, so what? Could such a tragic victory truly be called a victory?
Even many of the soldiers present could still hold their weapons firmly in their hands because they knew a god stood behind them.
"Hahaha, how exhilarating!"
Higashiyama-no-Ou's laughter brought Kujou Sara's consciousness back. When her gaze refocused on him, she found that his current appearance had become utterly wretched.
There were countless slashing wounds all over his body, but the wounds were all charred black. His entire right arm had vanished, and even only one of his eyes remained open. As for the katana in his hand, it had been completely annihilated by the lightning.
But none of this mattered to him. In the blink of an eye, all of Higashiyama-no-Ou's wounds had fully healed, and even the destroyed katana had reappeared in his hand.
The previous attack had not caused Higashiyama-no-Ou much injury, it had only consumed a great deal of his strength. This was the advantage of being a Heroic Spirit; ordinary damage could be completely healed by consuming a small amount of spiritual power. Of course, attacks that could directly damage the soul were another matter.
"I had thought that with your bloodline being so diluted, your strength would be inferior to Tengu Sasayuri. It seems I was mistaken."
"Excellent! Only such a powerful enemy can announce my return to everyone!"
"Try this move!"
"Evening Tide!"
In an extremely short time, Higashiyama-no-Ou crossed the vast distance and unleashed a sky full of sword light toward Kujou Sara.
Unlike the previous Moon Shrouded in Clouds, this attack gave Kujou Sara an incomparably furious feeling from the very beginning. The sword's momentum came in wave after wave, continuously crashing down upon Kujou Sara.
Although Higashiyama-no-Ou's strength had already been considerably weakened, Kujou Sara still felt an intense sense of crisis.