Chapter 169: Between the Sea and the Sky Of course.

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The coral horns, as magnificent as a crown, with blood-red light flowing, suddenly burst into a dazzling light.

The dazzling light surged like a river, wrapped around the giant whale, and lifted it out of the sea.

Seawater slid off the giant whale’s body, forming countless waterfalls.

The surrounding water vapor roared, and the giant whale wailed. Its huge body struggled continuously in the dazzling light of the coral horns.

In the distance, the demon-hunting ship tossed in the huge waves. The people on the ship all stared blankly at the scene before them. The battle of the giant beasts was like a page from an ancient myth.

“What is the Coral Demon Moth doing?” Itomi Sayaka asked with confusion.

The wailing of the giant whale became weaker and weaker, and it gradually collapsed into a ball of dark blue, almost black, divine energy.

This ball of divine energy, like a real liquid, was sucked away by the “Coral Demon Moth” one after another.

“Eating?” the Izumo Miko said in surprise.

“Do yokai also need to eat?” Itomi Yuki asked with confusion.

“I’ve never heard of it,” the Izumo Miko’s gaze was firmly locked on the “Coral Demon Moth.”

“No!” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s face changed. “It’s absorbing other yokai to recover from its injuries! Amatsumara!”

Amatsumara summoned his divine power and roared, “Everyone, listen to my order, attack!”

The crowd came back to their senses.

The practitioners below thirty subjugations all entered the cabin and merged with this demon-hunting ship.

Itomi Yuki followed Hanyu Chika and also prepared to go to their positions.

“You guys be careful,” Itomi Yuki looked at her sister and Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Don’t worry,” in the storm, Itomi Sayaka turned her back to the giant beast and smiled brightly at her sister.

Minamoto Kiyomoto had already shot up into the sky. The black light exploded, and he transformed into a red-black giant dragon.

The giant dragon bared its fangs and brandished its claws, raised its head, and let out a long and wild roar. The roar was like a rolling thunder. Dark clouds gathered, and the heavens and the earth suddenly lost their color.

Kamibayashi Miko, Himegami Izayoi, and the Hokkaido Miko soared into the air. Golden light, flames, and snowflakes surrounded the giant dragon.

The Kyushu Shinto Lord, Amatsumara, Haguro Kasen, Minamoto Nagatoku, the Fujiwara clan leader, the Ichijo clan leader, and others also summoned their divine power and hovered in mid-air.

“Namu Daishi Henjo Kongo!” Manjaku-shonin chanted the dharma name of the great master Kukai.

“The dharma body is omnipresent, and the vessel is without distinction!” the monks of Koyasan shouted in unison.

The capacity of everyone was connected, forming a huge golden “卍” character.

“Mu!”

The sound of chanting filled the air. The huge “卍” light wheel was like a new sun, and also like a torch in the darkness.

The practitioners with more than thirty subjugations surrounded these people.

The Izumo Miko, the Suitengu Miko, and some practitioners from the former rescue department with more than thirty subjugations sat cross-legged on the deck and joined hands. The healing spells were like streams of water, connecting with everyone.

Rolling dark clouds, gusts of strong wind, the sea breeze hissed, and the huge waves were monstrous.

The crowd was like a group of neon flames, burning between the sea and the sky.

The “Coral Demon Moth” noticed them.

Its four wings spread out, like a giant cloud covering the sky.

It suddenly flapped down, and a strong wind blew, and the waves surged into the sky.

“Mmm—” a shriek like a sacred chant.

To the ears of the crowd, it was a deafening loud noise.

Everyone’s vision went black. It was as if a bomb had exploded in their bodies, and their flesh and blood were about to leave their bones.

Many of the practitioners below the Kasen level tumbled a dozen times in the air, dizzy from the impact of the sound wave.

The huge waves were like a hundred thousand mountains, and also like a herd of wild horses running wild. The giant island-like demon-hunting ship was hit by the huge waves and turned around, almost being thrown into the sky.

This was the power of a single strike from a county-level yokai.

The Hakone fire dragon roared to the sky. Its huge mouth opened like a strong bow. Lightning danced in the night sky and gathered in its ferocious dragon mouth.

The Divine Medium spread her arms, her black hair flying, and her shrine maiden’s uniform fluttering. A golden light shot up into the sky, and a hundred-meter-long golden thunder snake condensed, hissing at the “Coral Demon Moth.”

The Ise Miko stood on a flaming phoenix, holding a divine bow. With the blessing of various great spells, the arrow, which was enough to pierce through the heavens and the earth, was ready to be shot.

The Hokkaido Miko and Itomi Sayaka formed a seal, and the Pacific Ocean opened its huge mouth, biting at the “Coral Demon Moth.”

The others also used all their skills.

“Mmm—” the “Coral Demon Moth” shrieked again.

The light extending from the coral horns bound the divine energy refined from the giant whale and threw it at the crowd.

First, there was a strong wind, then the air was forcefully pushed away, and the divine energy returned to the form of a giant whale in mid-air.

The shrunken giant whale was like a mountain, and also like a god’s fist, about to crush everything.

It came too fast, and there was no way to retreat.

The Hakone fire dragon roared, and the black lightning in its mouth turned into a beam of electric light and shot out.

A golden python, a sharp arrow, a Buddha’s light, a sword light, and a sword shadow crashed into it.

The single strike from nineteen Kasen and four Shinto Lord-level experts directly pierced through this giant whale, which had lost a small half of its divine energy.

In the huge light, the giant whale silently disintegrated and turned into dust. A few remnants persisted for a moment, then also turned into powder.

The giant whale disappeared. The “Coral Demon Moth,” which had intended to soar into the air to dodge this strike, was bitten by the spells of the Hokkaido Miko and Itomi Sayaka.

The “Coral Demon Moth” flapped its wings and forcefully rose a section. The sea churned, as if it had been completely uprooted.

The Hokkaido Miko’s originally snow-white face flushed red; Itomi Sayaka stumbled, and her seal almost loosened.

The spells of Minamoto Kiyomoto and the others passed through the giant whale and shot over.

In the dazzling light, the “Coral Demon Moth” let out a painful hiss.

Just as the crowd was brewing a second wave of attacks according to the plan, the “Coral Demon Moth” suddenly roared, and the blood-red light in its coral horns flowed, and all the neon lights in the sky were sucked in.

“What is this?”

Amatsumara looked at the magnificent coral horns that were swallowing everything with disbelief.

“This yokai can absorb the divine energy and divine power of yokai and practitioners!” the Kyushu Shinto Lord said in a deep voice, his expression indescribably shocked.

The crowd was horrified, watching as the wounds that had just been inflicted on the “Coral Demon Moth” gradually healed as it absorbed the divine power.

“No, can’t yokai freely control divine energy?” Itomi Sayaka asked with confusion.

She was subjugating a yokai for the first time, and she remembered some things particularly clearly.

“I also find it strange,” in the “卍” light wheel, Manjaku-shonin’s voice came. “I just tried to block its connection with nature, but I found that it is independent of heaven and earth.”

“A spell is both a power and a restraint. This yokai can absorb the divine power of yokai and practitioners. The price is perhaps losing its connection with heaven and earth,” the head of the Abe clan guessed.

“Give up the spells and use divine artifacts and body spells instead!” Minamoto Kiyomoto made a decisive decision.

“Yes!” everyone shouted in unison.

Kamibayashi Miko summoned the “Divine Medium’s Aya,” Himegami Izayoi still held her bow and arrow, and the Hokkaido Miko took out an ice crystal from her belt;
Itomi Sayaka’s finger made a hooking motion in the air, and a small golden wheel was hooked out. It spun on her fingertip, and sparks of blue divine power flew out.

The Kyushu Shinto Lord flicked his large sleeve, and a green sword light shot out.

The other Kasen clan leaders also took out their respective divine artifacts.

Unlike the divine artifacts used by ordinary practitioners, these divine artifacts were made from at least one complete town-level yokai’s remains.

The “Divine Medium’s Aya,” Himegami Izayoi’s bow, the Hokkaido Miko’s ice crystal, the Kyushu Shinto Lord’s sword, and a Kasen’s long spear all possessed a divine power far stronger than other divine artifacts.

Amatsumara had many divine artifacts. He hesitated for a moment, then took out a net.

A sacred chant. The “Coral Demon Moth’s” wings flashed, and a hurricane suddenly rose. The wind and thunder roared, and it pounced on the crowd.

“Scatter!” Minamoto Kiyomoto roared and rushed into the clouds.

The others turned into divine power meteors and shot out.

Golden light, firelight, ice and snow, blue waves, and various colors of divine power, like intertwined lines, shuttled through the hurricane, terrifying waves, and lightning.

The two sides engaged in a fierce decisive battle.

The divine artifacts shot towards the “Coral Demon Moth” from all angles. Every time the “Coral Demon Moth” shrieked and flapped its wings, it would bring an unparalleled divine might.

Between the sea and the sky, it was a chaotic mess. The sea had been overturned who knows how many times.

The stinking red mud at the bottom of the sea, which had not seen the sun all year round, and the deposits of rotten sea creatures, shot up into the sky in the qi wave, and were then melted by the dazzling light.

The demon-hunting ship had almost fled to the horizon, but it was still tossed by the waves.

“Rumble,” lightning crisscrossed, like a fire tree and silver flowers, covering the sea and the sky.

“Majestic light and flashing lightning, thunder follows me!” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his head and roared.

“Boom!” The lightning in the sky all struck Minamoto Kiyomoto.

The Hakone giant dragon bowed and roared. Its whole body was shot with a dazzling electric light, and it turned into a golden dragon.

It let out a tyrannical roar that was both painful and angry, turned around and swooped down, crashing into the “Coral Demon Moth” like lightning.

The “Coral Demon Moth” happened to be staggered by the crowd at this time. It also grabbed an careless Kasen and desperately swallowed his divine power.

Its huge eyes, like those of Amatsumara, spewed flames of anger.

If it weren’t for its injuries and the two forces wreaking havoc in its body, it would have already killed these insects.

By the time it discovered the Hakone giant dragon that was shooting towards it like a golden arrow, it was already too late.

The light of the sky paused, and even the sea lost its sound for a moment.

The dazzling light layered on top of each other, so bright that the crowd couldn’t open their eyes.

The Hakone fire dragon passed through the “Coral Demon Moth’s” body, melting as it fell into the sea.

“Mmm—” the “Coral Demon Moth” let out a world-shaking painful roar. The coral horns shot out neon lights, and countless practitioners were either seriously injured or died tragically. The Kasen fled in a sorry state.

Itomi Sayaka’s thigh was grazed, and a large piece of flesh disappeared directly. If it weren’t for the treatment of the Suitengu Miko, her right leg would have probably fallen directly into the sea.

The “Coral Demon Moth’s” dying struggle, everyone had to avoid its sharp edge. Only the Divine Medium, the Ise Miko, the Hokkaido Miko, and the Kyushu Shinto Lord seized the opportunity, threw out the divine artifacts in their hands, and made a final strike.

“Mmm!” the “Coral Demon Moth” let out an even more tragic shriek.

A strong wind gathered the dark clouds, and the thunder roared. A red-gold giant dragon broke through the sea.

It let out a series of dragon cries, shuttled through the white foam of the surging waves, and once again turned into a sharp arrow, piercing through the “Coral Demon Moth’s” body and into the clouds.

A beam of heavenly light, from the cloud hole that the red-gold dragon had broken through, shone straight down on the riddled “Coral Demon Moth.”

A strong wind rolled up layers of huge waves, roaring as it rushed towards the sky. The thunder was furious, and the sky was filled with firelight, fiercely striking the surging waves.

For the practitioners, at this moment, the world was strangely quiet.

The Divine Medium, the Ise Miko, and the Hokkaido Miko’s faces were pale;
The Kyushu Shinto Lord’s clothes were tattered, and he was panting uncontrollably;
The Kasen clan leaders wiped the blood from the corners of their mouths, holding their broken divine artifacts;
Koyasan’s “卍” light wheel was on the verge of collapse. In the dim Buddha’s light, the monks’ faces were full of pain, and blood flowed from their seven orifices. Some had even fainted;
Some of the Kasen with more than thirty subjugations had lost their arms, some had lost their thighs, some had their right half of their bodies disappear, and some were covered in blood.

Besides the Izumo Miko, the Suitengu Miko, and the rescue department, who were desperately treating their injuries, everyone’s gaze was on the “Coral Demon Moth” in the heavenly light.

This demon let out a series of dull and mournful low roars.

Its thousand-meter-high body was riddled with holes, and the magnificent coral horns on its head, like a crown, gradually dimmed.

“Did… did we win?” a practitioner asked blankly.

The huge body began to slowly dissipate.

“We won…”

“We won.”

“We won! We won!”

Between the sea and the sky, the crowd let out a roar-like cheer. Some people hugged each other as if they were fighting.

The demon-hunting ship rode the wind and broke the waves, slowly sailing over. On the huge deck, a dense crowd of people were all waving and cheering.

Kamibayashi Miko looked at this yokai that had killed her mother and changed her destiny, and a strange feeling arose in her heart.

For some reason, she couldn’t hate this yokai at all. Now, watching it wail and die, she actually felt a trace of sadness and sorrow.

The red-gold dragon circled in the air, searching for the traces of the Shinto sect.

At this moment.

“Mmm—” the chant sounded again.

The hearts of the crowd skipped a beat. The Shinto sect, which was hiding in the dark, was about to launch a thunderous sneak attack, but then suddenly stopped.

“What is that?” someone pointed at the “Coral Demon Moth’s” coral horns and asked with disbelief.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked intently. A ball of golden light was flowing in the blood-red coral horns.

Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi’s faces changed at the same time.

Kamibayashi Miko sensed the Divine Medium’s spell; Himegami Izayoi discovered the qi of the living.

The two of them suddenly understood why the “Coral Demon Moth” had healed its injuries that should not have been healed, and why it had suddenly appeared on Yomijima Island in Kansai.

Sixteen years ago, it had absorbed the previous generation’s Divine Medium, and a part of the Divine Medium’s spell had been transferred to it.

Kamibayashi Miko’s heart pounded, and her whole body bloomed with a golden light. At the same time, the “Coral Demon Moth” also lit up.

A large and a small ball of golden light shone between heaven and earth.

Minamoto Kiyomoto rushed to Kamibayashi Miko’s side, transformed back into human form, and looked at her with angry, terrified, and grieving eyes.

He remembered the meaningful look the “Ogosho” had given him when he left Tokyo Bay.

So he had known all along.

No wonder… he wanted Kamibayashi Miko to do it herself.

With the qi of the living, to eliminate the “Coral Demon Moth,” one must first eliminate the Divine Medium’s spell, and to eliminate the Divine Medium’s spell…
“What’s going on?”

“Why hasn’t its body disappeared yet?!”

“What is this golden light? Is it communicating with the Divine Medium?”

Kamibayashi Miko turned around, looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto, and her pure and fairy-like face had a faint smile.

“Miko…”

Kamibayashi Miko shook her head gently, her eyes gentle and full of longing.

The wind howled, and the huge waves hit the sea. She looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto foolishly.

“You’re belligerent and like to take risks, but you can’t control your desires. How can you become the number one in the world,” she instructed softly.

“Miko!” Minamoto Kiyomoto grabbed her arms and stared at her.

“You have to be obedient in the future and cherish yourself,” she said.

“Let’s go back. We won’t kill it anymore. Shirako is still waiting for us. You promised to go on a date with me…”

Kamibayashi Miko just shook her head gently.

“Kiyomoto, do you still remember? When you wanted me to like you, you would praise me every time you saw me. ‘You look good in this outfit,’ ‘You have a good figure, anything looks good on you,’ ‘Your hairstyle today is very beautiful, simple and elegant,’ ‘The thought of others being able to see such a beautiful Miss Kamibayashi makes me very uncomfortable’…”

“I will praise you. I will praise you every day.”

“I’m very happy, and also very lucky, to have met you in April.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto trembled all over, his fingers clutching her tightly.

The “Coral Demon Moth’s” body was slowly recovering in the golden light. The crowd, under the command of the Kyushu Shinto Lord, was constantly attacking.

Some were scattered, and some were restored. The coral horns were indestructible.

Kamibayashi Miko brushed away Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand and turned to Himegami Izayoi, “Kiyomoto, I’ll leave him to you.”

“You really want to do this?” Himegami Izayoi looked at her with pity.

“Is there any other way?” Kamibayashi Miko asked with a smile.

Himegami Izayoi was silent. The three divine artifacts used the qi of the living and could not destroy the Divine Medium’s spell, which was of the same origin.

“Why do we have to kill it? Even Konohanasakuya-hime can live. It’s just a county-level yokai. What’s the big deal if we let it live!” Minamoto Kiyomoto roared.

His heart was trembling.

He didn’t believe it, he didn’t believe this result.

Without Kamibayashi Miko, what was the point of killing more yokai and becoming the number one in the world?

“Kiyomoto,” Kamibayashi Miko held his hand. “Look clearly.”

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the sky was filled with firelight. The practitioners dragged their broken bodies and roared as they besieged the “Coral Demon Moth.” The crowd on the demon-hunting ship was terrified.

Many more people had been forever buried in this sea.

“It’s very vengeful. Sixteen years ago, it was the Divine Medium; now, it’s everyone here. As long as it’s alive, it will definitely come back.”

“Then let it come!”

“What if it goes to Tokyo, to Kyoto? For one me, do you want children to lose their mothers, and old people to cry in the ruins?”

“There’s a way. There must be another way,” Minamoto Kiyomoto repeated.

Kamibayashi Miko just shook her head, and tears flowed out.

Shirako was still waiting for her to go back. Had Little Butterfly finished her grapes? She really wanted to see the hydrangeas at Hakusan Shrine again.

There were many wild cats at Hakusan Shrine, always hiding in the flower bushes. As a Divine Medium, she couldn’t have feelings, but she really wanted to tease them. Many times, when no one was around, she would stroke their little heads.

As for the date, she had thought about it a lot.

“In the future, without me by your side, you have to be more careful and live well,” she said to Minamoto Kiyomoto, controlling her trembling voice.

“Let’s go to Yomijima Island, to find me. I must have…” Suddenly, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s heart trembled.

‘It’s up to you.’

This was what the future Minamoto Kiyomoto had said to him when he let go of the “Coral Demon Moth.”

“I have a way!” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s dazed expression turned to ecstasy.