Chapter 33: The Giant Dragon

Minamoto Kiyomoto walked along the shore of Lake Ashi, gazing at the scenery of Hakone, which was about to enter summer.

Green mountains surrounded the area, and the clear water was sparkling. Whenever the wind blew, it would lift his haori and make it flutter.

On the lake, cultivators were practicing curses. Water waves shot up into the sky, and the divine power was as splendid as fireworks.

Two figures flew over from the lake and landed on the shore. They were youthful and beautiful. They were Amamiya Mari and Asamiya Sakura.

“Brother Minamoto, I heard you obtained the ‘Mahavairocana Sutra’?” Amamiya Mari asked with both surprise and eagerness.

“Yes,” Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded with a smile.

“Good morning, Brother Minamoto,” in comparison, Asamiya Sakura seemed much more reserved.

There was also the reason that the sunlight shining on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s face made it hard to look at him directly, and made one’s heart beat faster.

“Good morning,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “When this is over, I will recite it again. You can come and listen then.”

“Really?!” The two of them looked at him with surprise.

Last night, after the cultivators who were qualified to attend the meeting returned, the world seemed to have exploded.

First among the cultivators in Hakone, then through mobile phones, “Mahavairocana Sutra,” “public,” “Minamoto Kiyomoto,” spread throughout Japan in an instant.

It was as if aliens had attacked the earth and had their fleet suspended overhead. Whether one usually went online or not, whether one cared about the news or not, they had to accept this news.

Everyone was talking about it.

“What’s there to be true or false about?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile. “So in order to witness the ‘Mahavairocana Sutra,’ you must all survive.”

“Yes!”

“By the way, have you seen anyone who uses brown divine power? Not in school,” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

“Brown divine power?” Asamiya Sakura and Amamiya Mari both fell into deep thought.

“I’ve seen it in school. As for outside, we just debuted this year and have only participated in the subjugation of Konohanasakuya-hime. We haven’t seen it yet,” Asamiya Sakura replied.

“I didn’t pay attention. It seems like I’ve seen it, but it also seems like I haven’t,” Amamiya Mari said.

Unless the color of the divine power was special or famous, ordinary people would not pay attention to this kind of thing—having a good impression of someone was an exception.

“It’s alright. I was just asking casually. It’s nothing important.”

The three of them chatted for a few more sentences, and the two young women returned to the lake to continue practicing their curses.

Minamoto Kiyomoto sat cross-legged under a twenty-meter-tall hackberry tree.

Here, when he opened his eyes, he could see the green mountains. When he closed his eyes, he could smell the water vapor. The divine breath was mainly of these two types.

In addition, he could also sense the divine breath at Owakudani, which was as hot as lava and as vast as the ocean.

Cultivators could not absorb even a single bit of this divine breath.

They were as terrifying as a dam releasing a flood. If a weak human tried to draw water, they would only be swept away and washed to an unknown fate.

Even someone as arrogant as Minamoto Kiyomoto did not dare to try.

After cultivating for an hour, he opened his eyes and saw Himemiya Izayoi in a kimono.

She was leaning against the hackberry tree, fanning herself with a folding fan and looking at him with a smile.

White clouds floated, the sky was azure, and beyond the Hakone mountains, the snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji could be vaguely seen.

“When did you get here?” Minamoto Kiyomoto stood up.

“Two minutes ago.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s left hand rested casually on the hilt of Polaris, his gaze directed towards Lake Ashi.

It seemed to be someone from the barrier department, who had erected a divine power shield on the lake.

“I’ll tell you when we encounter it,” Himemiya Izayoi’s gaze also turned towards Lake Ashi.

She looked for a while, then turned her head and asked Minamoto Kiyomoto, “Did that group of monks teach you the ‘swastika’ wheel of light?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded, extended his right hand, and flicked his finger. A black water arrow shot out.

A small pit exploded on the surface of the water, splashing up a one-meter-high wave. A few drops sprinkled on the shore, moistening a small patch of soil.

This was something he had learned from a certain cultivator on the lake just now. It was very simple, probably a minor curse.

“They also plan to give me an initiation and transmit the Buddhist teachings they have learned to me.”

“They approve of you?”

“Perhaps,” Minamoto Kiyomoto flicked his finger again. This time, the water arrow that flew out pierced straight into the surface of the water.

This minor curse was only considered to be at the entry level at this point.

“They also want me to preside over the ‘swastika’ wheel of light,” Minamoto Kiyomoto spread his hand, and a water arrow took shape, then black lightning wrapped around it.

“Zzt!” The sound of electric light.

“Boom!”

The waves rolled and crashed against the shore, shattering into pieces.

Minamoto Kiyomoto moved a few steps closer to Himemiya Izayoi. Himemiya Izayoi waved her fan, and the water droplets that fell from the sky were evaporated clean.

“It’s a bit difficult,” he said.

“Stupid,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a laugh and a curse. “Instead of thinking about adding a supreme curse to a minor curse, you should think about using a minor curse to directly use a supreme curse.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto faced the lake, spread the five fingers of his right hand, and black lightning crackled. An arrow slowly “drilled out” from the palm of his hand.

The five fingers bent, and the electric arrow shot out, like a laser beam.

The lake water suddenly bulged, and then a dull rumble was heard.

The bulging “water bubble” fell back heavily onto the surface of the lake, and a two-meter-high wave rushed over.

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could move, Himemiya Izayoi fanned out with her fan. The waves rolled, carrying the wave towards Mount Sangoku on the other side of Lake Ashi.

The entire surface of the lake was rippled by that fan. The cultivators standing on it rose and fell with the waves.

“Amazing,” Minamoto Kiyomoto clapped.

“You’re also very talented,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a smile.

“No, no, not as good as Miss Izayoi.”

“Not at all, not at all. Young Master Kiyoshi’s capacity is the most amazing. I can’t even remember the ‘Mahavairocana Sutra’ completely.”

“It’s just a curse. It can prove—”

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could finish, the entire Hakone mountain range suddenly rumbled, and the earth shook violently.

The divine breath from all over the sky, like a tornado, rushed towards Owakudani.

Dark clouds rolled overhead, as if the sky were collapsing.

The two of them quickly looked over and saw that at Owakudani, which was a volcanic crater, white steam was缭绕, and a huge red and black giant dragon was circling above the valley.

The next time they blinked, the giant dragon was gone again.

The scene was as illusory as a scene from a TV series, yet it was a living reality.

Just as Minamoto Kiyomoto was marveling, he heard Himemiya Izayoi’s bell-like laughter in his ear, “The yokai is here~”

“Yokai!”

“Barrier department! Assemble!”

“Repair department! To your positions!”

Shouts rose and fell. The entire Lake Ashi seemed to have exploded. From time to time, beams of divine power shot up into the sky, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing.

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could react, the barrier department had already deployed a blue barrier above Owakudani.

A figure in armor, wrapped in metallic silver divine power, stood in mid-air like a god of war, ready to face Owakudani.

In a blink of an eye, two more beams of light landed beside that person. The aquamarine one was the Suitengu Miko, and the orange one was the Lake Ashi Miko.

“Young Master Kiyoshi, you should go find the monks of Mount Koya,” Himemiya Izayoi had no worries or fears. Under the gradually darkening sky, she still had an innocent and charming smile.

Minamoto Kiyomoto took one last look at Owakudani. Although he was already prepared, at this moment, he was still caught off guard.

He turned around and was about to walk towards Honkan-ji Temple when, at some point, Kamibayashi Miko was standing behind him.

Dark clouds rolled overhead, and a strong wind blew between heaven and earth. The lake water beside them was surging.

Her miko outfit rustled in the wind, and her messy hair covered her beautiful profile, giving her a kind of broken beauty.

The two of them looked at each other, and Minamoto Kiyomoto continued to walk towards Honkan-ji Temple.

As they passed each other, he heard her say in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “If you can’t beat it, run. Don’t be stubborn.”

“Yes.”

A black divine power swelled, and Minamoto Kiyomoto shot up into the sky, disappearing into the forest in a blink of an eye.

“You really treat him like a child,” Himemiya Izayoi teased.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at her, transformed into a golden meteor, and streaked across the increasingly dark sky, landing inside the barrier.

Himemiya Izayoi, who was left behind, stretched her body as if she had just woken up, then turned into a flame and flew across the lake and mountains, landing beside her.

The surface of Owakudani was as barren as the surface of the moon, with not a single blade of grass.

The red and black giant dragon appeared and disappeared. As the tidal wave of divine breath gradually stabilized, the giant dragon’s body became more and more flexible, and its expression became more and more vivid.

The mist was缭绕, and the surrounding temperature rose sharply.

Around the crater, the hearts of the cultivators in the barrier department were pounding.

In the dense forest, the repair department and the volunteer department stayed together, desperately swallowing their saliva.

The guard department and the rescue department were scattered, constantly wiping the sweat from their foreheads.

The cultivators of the combat department were divided into three groups, following behind the three Kosen-level cultivators: the Suitengu Miko, the Ashi Miko, and Date Masamune.

Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi were close together, the rolling golden light and the raging flames complementing each other.

At a certain moment, it was as if the world had suddenly fallen silent.

The divine breath subsided, and the red and black giant dragon, as huge as a mountain and about a thousand meters long, slowly opened its eyes.

“Attack!” Date Masamune shouted.

“Swish!” Countless chains extended from the barrier, binding the red and black giant dragon.

“Boom!” It was impossible to tell what curses they were. Flames, lightning, strong winds, scattered rocks, huge waves, sword lights, and sword shadows, as if they were going to fill Owakudani in one go, rained down on the red and black giant dragon.

The colorful divine power exploded, and the dark sky was instantly filled with brilliant colors, like an aurora.

“Roar!” The giant dragon let out a roar full of pain.

The air waves rolled, and the lava-like divine breath, like a tidal wave, rushed towards the surroundings.

The earth rumbled, and rocks flew everywhere.

The cultivators of the combat department were uncontrollably sent tumbling in the air.

Even the Suitengu Miko, the Ashi Miko, and Date Masamune, the three Kosen-level cultivators, were slightly shaken by the air waves.

Only Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi, in the rolling air waves, were as motionless as reefs.

“Kill!” Date Masamune drew the longsword from his waist, and a silver light stretched for a hundred meters, chopping towards the giant dragon with an astonishing momentum.

“Kill!” The Suitengu Miko and the Ashi Miko joined forces to create a huge wave.

“Kill!” The cultivators regrouped, and their curses were as dense as a downpour.

“Boom!” A golden thunder and a fire thunder, intertwined, descended from the sky and smashed hard into Owakudani.

“Roar—” The giant dragon roared in rage, swung its tail, and broke the chains on its tail, whipping towards the sky full of curses.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The curses exploded on the dragon’s tail one by one, like fireworks in the night sky.

The barrier department, which was responsible for locking the dragon’s tail, all saw stars and felt a tightness in their chests, but they quickly formed hand seals again, injecting divine power into the barrier, and the chains pulled the giant dragon’s tail.

The aftershocks rolled, creating a shocking wave that was like a mountain collapsing and the sea overturning.

“Hah!” The repair department formed hand seals, and their divine power gushed out like a spring, nourishing the earth.

The soil layer, which had been rising and falling like waves, instantly calmed down.

Once the Hakone Earth Spirit was killed, this land would become a complete desert, and they could only rely on them to continuously repair it.

“Mu!”

A series of Buddhist chants came from the distant south. In the dark sky, a huge ‘swastika’ wheel of light slowly rose and flew towards Owakudani with an astonishing momentum.

The red and black giant dragon did not wait for the third wave of attacks from the crowd. It suddenly thrashed, and the chains on its body were instantly pulled taut.

The barrier department all spat out a mouthful of blood, their faces as pale as snow.

“Rescue department!”

They couldn’t even tell whose command it was. A part of the rescue department members jumped behind the barrier department, and healing curses rained down on them like a spring rain.

The combat department’s offensive did not stop for a moment, and their curses were as continuous as rain.

Ripples of divine power light waves constantly bloomed on the scales of the red and black giant dragon.

In these few short seconds, the ‘swastika’ wheel of light had already flown into Owakudani. A vast golden light enveloped it, and the giant dragon’s struggle immediately weakened.

Everyone couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

“Be careful!” At this moment, the Ashi Miko’s hasty childish voice came.

The giant dragon raised its head, opened its mouth, and suddenly spewed out a pillar of red and black divine power light.

Everything between heaven and earth, under that red and black light pillar, was so fragile that it was vulnerable, as if a hot knife were cutting through butter, melting at a touch.

The cultivators of the combat department quickly threw out their weapons to block. After a few weapons melted into lava, they barely managed to block it together.

The giant dragon’s head slowly moved, and the red and black divine power light pillar cut towards Date Masamune at the waist.

Date Masamune put away his longsword, clenched his fists, placed them on both sides of his body, and roared at the sky.

The armor, as if a demon god had been resurrected, transformed into a huge giant, roaring and blocking the light pillar with its body.

Like a river rushing towards a reef, the divine power light pillar split into two and crashed into the barrier.

The barrier rippled greatly, and the barrier department struggled to maintain it.

“Bang, bang,” the red and black giant dragon’s breath collided with the barrier, making a loud noise.

The dozen or so cultivators who were directly facing the breath let out a “wah” sound, spat out a long stream of blood, and were thrown into the air like broken kites.

The barrier shook violently and slowly dissipated. The people from the volunteer department immediately came to supplement it.

The barrier, which had a hole in it, slowly healed again.

“Everyone, retreat,” a faint voice, like a cool breeze in this scorching Owakudani, was Kamibayashi Miko’s.

“Everyone except the combat department, retreat!” the Suitengu Miko and the Ashi Miko also ordered one after another.

“Hah!” The cultivators retreated in a well-trained manner.

The barrier, which had not yet fully healed, completely dispersed, and the chains also slowly melted.

The role of the barrier department in battles of ‘town level’ and above ended here.

Some joined the repair department, some joined the guard department, and a few joined the volunteer department.

Their only remaining task was to protect the Earth Spirit and prevent the disaster from expanding.

The sky was dark, and the wind was howling. The red and black giant dragon, enveloped in the golden light of the ‘swastika’ wheel of light, circled in the air like a god.

The golden Kamibayashi Miko, the fiery red Himemiya Izayoi, the aquamarine Suitengu Miko, the orange Ashi Miko, and the silver Date Masamune, the five of them were lined up, like planets of different colors.

The other members of the combat department followed behind them like satellites.

The ‘swastika’ wheel of light shone in the sky, and the faint sound of chanting was mixed in with the strong wind.

In the Hakone mountains, Asamiya Sakura and Amamiya Mari, while treating the wounded of the barrier department, looked up at the sky.

Dark clouds rolled, and the huge head of the red and black dragon was ferocious and violent, yet it had an incredible sense of divinity.

The ocean of divine breath within its huge body made one tremble all over, and they didn’t even have the courage to speak.

“Is this a yokai?” Amamiya Mari murmured.

“Mari!” Amamiya Noa shouted. “Do your job!”

“Yes!” Amamiya Mari came back to her senses.

“Roar!” Before she could concentrate, the red and black giant dragon’s roar suddenly exploded in the sky.

Without the barrier to block it, the invisible sound wave was like a hurricane. The trees all over the mountains rustled, and her body couldn’t help but sway.

The healing curse, which had been tempered a thousand times, was actually interrupted, and the wounded let out a painful groan.

Amamiya Mari quickly stood firm, muttering, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid,” and continued to heal.

“This beast’s connection with heaven and earth has been cut off by the ‘swastika’ wheel of light. It can only exert half of its fierce power. Everyone, follow me!” Before his voice had faded, Date Masamune’s hundred-meter-long silver sword light had already chopped towards the giant dragon.

“Kill!” The combat department were all experts. Curses that could shatter mountains shot towards the giant dragon like meteors.

“Roar!” The giant dragon roared angrily, and its red and black breath collided with the sword light and the curses.

“Bang!” The entire sky changed color.

Date Masamune and the combat department were thrown away by the air waves.

The Ashi Miko let out a long cry. Her small body, as if it were a torch, burned, and finally turned into a meteor, smashing hard into the giant dragon.

The red and black giant dragon roared at the sky and whipped its tail. Even in the golden light of the ‘swastika’ wheel of light, its power was still enough to split mountains and crack the earth.

“Hah!” The Suitengu Miko suddenly turned into a thin stream of water and climbed up along the dragon’s tail.

The unstoppable dragon’s tail was actually entangled by the thin water wave and suddenly paused. At this moment, the meteor that the Ashi Miko had turned into had already smashed into it.

The tail of the red and black giant dragon was pierced by the orange meteor, leaving a bloody wound.

The cultivators watching the battle in the Hakone mountains let out a joyful cheer.

“It’s a bit of a hindrance,” amidst the roars, cheers, and the sound of the strong wind, Himemiya Izayoi said to herself.

Kamibayashi Miko continuously cast thunder curses, making the giant dragon roar in anger. Seeing her calm and composed look, it was clear that she was not using her full strength.

“Roar!” The red and black giant dragon suddenly thrashed and roared, swung its tail, and rushed into the rolling dark clouds.

The ‘swastika’ wheel of light tilted upwards, and the golden light followed closely. In the dark purple and brilliant red clouds, the giant dragon thrashed and moved, stirring up the sea of clouds.

“Be careful!” the Suitengu Miko’s face suddenly changed.

Everyone looked up, and the hair on their bodies stood on end.

Countless meteorites, wrapped in red and black light, rained down on the Hakone mountains.

“Hah!” Everyone attacked together, and curses with the light of divine power shot up into the sky.

Meteorites and curses collided in mid-air.

“Bang, bang, bang!” The Hakone mountains were completely boiling.

One could vaguely hear a “woo, woo” sound. It was the wail of the Hakone Earth Spirit.

The repair department, which was standing in place and repairing the Earth Spirit, also screamed repeatedly. Someone was unfortunately hit by the aftershocks and instantly turned into a meat paste.

The guard department desperately blocked the splashing meteorites or curses for them, releasing small barriers one after another.

The rescue department rushed around, constantly rescuing the wounded.

“Roar—” The giant dragon roared like thunder.

“Be careful!”

“Brother Minamoto!”

“Kiyomoto!”

The red and black giant dragon followed the Buddha’s light of the ‘swastika’ wheel of light, opened its blood-red mouth, and suddenly bit down.

The ‘swastika’ wheel of light did not evade. It suddenly lit up, and its power increased dramatically.

“Roar!” The red and black giant dragon’s whole body was burned, and thick green smoke billowed out.

But this beast was fierce and cruel. It did not retreat, but became even more furious. It swung its tail, and the hurricane it carried rushed over, as if it were going to eat the wheel of light in one bite.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

Countless curses gushed out, sword lights crisscrossed, and golden thunder and fire thunder pierced through the dragon’s body.

The red and black giant dragon’s tail swept angrily, and its sharp claws struck fiercely, constantly blocking the curses. Its whole body was covered in blood, but it still crashed into the ‘swastika’ wheel of light without any regard.

“Mu!”

“Boom!”

Heaven and earth suddenly lit up. The ‘swastika’ wheel of light’s brilliant light scattered, and it was sent flying, crashing heavily into Lake Ashi, splashing up a monstrous wave.

The world was as quiet as death, with only the sound of the lake water falling back into the lake like rain.

The red and black giant dragon, which had also been thrown away and had blood flowing from its head, let out a long, wild roar. The divine breath from all over the sky surged, and its injuries were all repaired in a blink of an eye.

Dark clouds rolled, and the huge dragon’s body circled in the air, looking down at the crowd with a ferocious and fierce gaze.

Everyone couldn’t help but feel a chill in their hearts, realizing that the situation was not good.

Without the suppression of the ‘swastika’ wheel of light, the giant dragon had reconnected with heaven and earth and could finally exert its full power.

(End of Chapter)