The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 587
Kurama Heihachi mustered his last breath and finished speaking.

"When I first came to this conclusion, I only felt it was ridiculous and pathetic."

"What bullshit Emperor, what unbroken lineage, what divine bloodline? He's nothing but a breeding boar raised by Shintoism to produce guards for their shrines."

"As for Tachibana, and you, and countless other women who have been sent to shrines over the past thousand years, you are even more pathetic. What you are contemplating is not a god at all, but a devil that wantonly alters your will."

"The plan to ambush and kill my Kurama-ryu disciples was at your behest, wasn't it? Before I came to those conclusions, I wanted to kill you every single moment."

"But when I learned the truth, I was confused because 'you' didn't exist at all. You were just a mask created by the devil, manipulating the body of a poor girl to do evil."

"From the very beginning, it was all a joke."

Kurama Heihachi coughed up blood and laughed.

"You are nothing but a puppet without any will of your own! To kill you, we must also kill an innocent girl like Tachibana!"

"After I figured all this out, I almost broke down. I was willing to risk my life, but I didn't even know who to kill."

"Just when I was on the verge of collapse, that woman from the Central Plains asked me a question—what do you think revenge is?"

Kurama Heihachi slowly shook his head.

"Is this justice? Then why not report it to the authorities?"

"Is it liberation? Then why keep thinking about it?"

"Is this an explanation to the dead? But there has never been a hell in this world. Once you're dead, you're dead. How can you explain anything to them?"

"Finally, I realized that revenge is revenge, and there's no logic to it. I want to inflict pain on my enemies to give myself pleasure, and I'm willing to pay for it with my life."

He slowly straightened up, and with his remaining left hand, he formed a sword stance with his palm like a knife.

"As for the method to kill you without killing the girl imprisoned in your body, Tachibana told me."

Swish!
The woman in priestess robes suddenly drew her sword!

"so what?"

“I knew what you were trying to do from the beginning. You wanted to awaken me with the sword techniques that traitor taught you. You know that's the way to make me suffer the most... but so what?”

“From beginning to end, I could kill you at any time.”

Even if you rush to my side with your life, you can't do anything.

"and--"

The blade swept towards Kurama Heihachi's face.

"Let me tell you something else funny."

Your guess is wildly wrong.

"And you'll never know what you've guessed wrong."

The cold blade pressed against Kurama Heihachi's neck. The woman in the priestess's robes curled her lips into a smile. No matter how hard Kurama Heihachi fought, he couldn't widen the gap in strength between them.

If she didn't want to confirm how much of the truth the other party had figured out, she would have already beheaded Kurama Heihachi with a single blow. Why would she wait until now?
Now, she can finally relax.

Although the other party had deduced a lot, the one and most important secret was still well hidden... She could finally rest assured and cut off the head of this annoying maggot!

The blade cuts into the skin.

She didn't even want to cut too quickly, because she wanted to see how Kurama Heihachi would react after realizing that he hadn't gotten close to the truth, that everything he had done was meaningless, and that he had needlessly destroyed the Kurama school's legacy.

She focused her attention on his gaze, anticipating Kurama Heihachi's resentment and fear... but just then, out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of the middle of the passageway.

Ok?
What about people?

The moment the Hachiman Shrine swordsmen besieged Kurama Heihachi, she signaled three of them to kill the onlookers to silence them. They accomplished their task perfectly; the middle of the passageway was littered with corpses, but... where did they go?
After killing the swordsmen present, where did the three sword saints go?
A small area at the edge of the field of view blurred slightly.

Like the distorted air above a flame, or the moon's reflection in water, that small patch of empty air suddenly twisted. "!!!"

The woman in the priest's robes was startled!
"Illusion... Silent Illumination!"

"The Central Plains woman that Kurama Heihachi mentioned is Ji Tianrui, and the person who breached the Izumo Grand Shrine is Li Miao! Kurama Heihachi knows information from both sides, and they have likely met recently!"

"Although this sword technique can briefly awaken the priestess, the time it takes to execute it is enough for me to kill him ten times over. He couldn't possibly be unaware of that... So!"

"someone here!"

"It's either Ji Tianrui... or Li Miao! They've been watching the show from the sidelines the whole time!"

"Oh no, I shouldn't have—"

Ding!
A very thin stream of true energy struck her blade, yet it struck like a giant hammer, sending the blade flying high into the air.

Within the illusion of silence, Li Miao smiled and withdrew his finger.

"no!"

The priestess in her robes suddenly pressed the blade down again, attempting to decapitate Kurama Heihachi before being interrupted once more.

Unfortunately, Kurama Heihachi will not give her another chance.

The palm strike suddenly pressed down.

Those were extremely simple sword moves, almost like child's play, completely unsuitable for combat at any level; they were like children playing around.

Kurama Heihachi's palm strike didn't even touch her.

But it felt as if it had struck her heart; as the palm strike reached the end of its trajectory, the priestess's expression changed.

"me--"

The coldness vanished, leaving only panic and fear.

"I kill you!"

His expression changed again.

This method only took effect for a brief moment before the priestess in charge of the Hachiman Shrine returned to the body, unleashing a chilling killing intent.

"I told you, everything you've done is meaningless."

“I don’t know who sent you to your death, nor do I know why he didn’t strike me just now… but you’ve already missed your chance.”

"This method can only work once!"

The blade slashed fiercely towards Kurama Heihachi.

Kurama Heihachi suddenly smiled, and his palm strike, which had been slashing downwards, rose again, unleashing his second move.

"you are wrong."

"It seems you don't know anything either, so let me tell you... The sword technique that Tachibana taught me is indeed only one move."

"But do you know the origin of this method?"

"In your Shinto religion, it seems that five people are called Heavenly Demons, and that strange woman from the Central Plains is one of them."

"And the origin of this means that can awaken you is someone you call a Heavenly Demon. As far as I know, he should be the most powerful among the Heavenly Demons, and the one you fear the most."

"His name seems to be... Zhang Sanfeng."

Press your palm down, then draw a circle.

Originally a single sword move, it was transformed into a series of complete moves by Ji Tianrui, who received the inheritance of the Wutian Heavenly Master, and was then executed by Kurama Heihachi.

(End of this chapter)