To become a king and a magician

In the direction where Amakusa Shiro and Ashiya Dōman were swallowed by the light, a sound like the roar of a ferocious monster suddenly resounded through the night!

Then, under the light of the blood moon, a giant, pitch-black hand suddenly burst forth from the ground, as if something sealed underground had broken free. The giant hand braced itself against the ground, slowly pushing its enormous body out from underground!

"Evil spirits."

What appeared before Xia Chuanhu's eyes under the blood moon was a huge, malevolent spirit that was entirely black.

It really is...

"Sizzle—!"

The holy sword slashed down, and before the enormous evil spirit could even react, Xia Chuanhu had already unleashed a strike, a radiant slash bursting forth! With a single strike, the enormous evil spirit was cleaved in two!

Natsukawa Tora lowered his sword.

"boring."

"You made it so big, is it just a stationary target for me?"

21. I don't have time to dance with you.

An unexpected result.

Before this battle with Natsukawa Torato began, Amakusa Shiro never imagined it would end like this.

Indeed, Natsukawa Torama possesses the power to instantly kill Heroic Swordsmen, but there are also differences in power among Heroic Swordsmen. Among Heroic Swordsmen, Minamoto no Yorimitsu's power is second to none, and his strength is worthy of the legend of the strongest mysterious assassin of the Heian period.

However, Minamoto no Yorimitsu was blasted away by Natsukawa Torato in a single encounter.

They were blasted away without even putting up the slightest resistance.

Natsukawa Torama's power far exceeded his expectations. Even after Ashiya Dōman summoned a giant evil spirit using yin-yang techniques, Amakusa Shirō was not at all at ease.

And as he expected, the evil spirit that was powerful enough to curse an entire city couldn't even withstand a single sword strike from Natsukawa Tiger!

That was power that was far beyond his limits.

"Waaah..."

Struggling to his feet from the giant crater created by Natsukawa Torami's sword, Amakusa Shiro, covered in blood, clutched his arm and began searching for Ashiya Doman.

However, as soon as he raised his head, a sword was pointed at his eyes.

"Still alive."

Natsukawa Torato stood in front of Amakusa Shiro, looking down at him.

"Although I didn't fight with all my might, it's not surprising that you survived."

Are you planning to kill me?

"Otherwise what?" Natsukawa Torara raised an eyebrow. "If I kill you here, the Heroic Spirits should disappear, right? By the way, your Noble Phantasm won't work on me either, [Shimabara Hell Scroll]? I think that's what it's called. I'll smash it to pieces even if I release it."

This is not a joke.

Amakusa Shiro knew that Natsukawa Torara truly possessed that ability—no, he believed that Natsukawa Torara had that power.

"What a pity."

Looking up at the blood moon in the sky, Amakusa Shiro sighed.

"I never expected to meet someone with such great power as you in this place... I wish I had met you sooner."

“Well, I think so too. If it were when you first started the Shimabara Rebellion, I think I would have helped you,” Natsukawa Torama said.

The Shimabara Rebellion was an uprising, a large-scale revolt by peasants and Catholics from the Shimabara Peninsula and Amakusa Island in Kyushu against feudal oppression and persecution by the shogunate. The uprising erupted against the backdrop of local lords' rampant corruption, exploitation of peasants, and the inflicting of various forms of torture.

To be fair, Natsukawa Torara did not think the peasants who revolted were wrong; the fault lay with the local authorities. If he had been in that era, he probably would have assisted Amakusa Shiro in fighting against the shogunate.

Because it was indeed a righteous act.

But things are different now. Amakusa Shiro was originally the leader of the "victims," ​​but now he has transformed into the "perpetrator." So no matter how pitiful or tragic his past was, Natsukawa Torara will definitely be his enemy.

"How arrogant, stranger."

Amakusa Shiro looked at Natsukawa Tora.

"Give me the final blow."

"certainly--"

Xia Chuanhu raised the holy sword, but instead of swinging it downwards, he swung it behind him.

"Clang—!"

The holy sword and the blade collided in mid-air, and light and lightning roared together.

Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who was previously blasted away by Natsukawa Tora, has now returned here unharmed!

Upon seeing that Natsukawa Torama was being held back by Minamoto no Yorimitsu, Amakusa Shiro immediately rolled away from Natsukawa Torama and fled to a distance. He then quickly got up and fled towards the direction of Tsuchiki Castle!

"Black Rope Hell! Stop him with all your might!"

"I will obey Your Majesty's command!"

Boom!

Magic erupted from Minamoto no Yorimitsu, and dazzling lightning resounded across the sky.

With a powerful swing of his sword, he knocked Natsukawa Tora away and used the recoil to get to a short distance away. Minamoto no Yorimitsu then raised his Dojigiri Yasutsuna high.

"Show yourselves, messengers of the Four Heavenly Kings—no, the Bull-Headed Heavenly King!"

"Boom boom boom boom!"

Four bolts of lightning struck down from the blood moon sky and landed beside Minamoto no Yorimitsu. After the lightning dissipated, four individuals identical to Minamoto no Yorimitsu were revealed.

Blades burning with flames, giant axes gleaming with lightning, bows wrapped in storms, and spears radiating coldness—four Minamoto no Yorimitsu emerged from the lightning, each wielding a weapon, and stood alongside the real Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

This is Minamoto no Yorimitsu's Noble Phantasm.

Minamoto no Yorimitsu was the son of Ox-Head Heavenly King, who is Susanoo, a famous deity in Japanese mythology. In other words, Minamoto no Yorimitsu was very likely an incarnation of Ox-Head Heavenly King.

In addition, the Bull-Headed King is also an incarnation of Indra, the king of gods in Hindu mythology.

Therefore, in reality, Minamoto no Yorimitsu inherited the bloodline of a deity and possessed the power of the Ox-Headed Heavenly King within him, thus being regarded as the child of a demon, possessing both divinity and demonic nature.

The lightning she controls comes from this bloodline.

But besides lightning, Minamoto no Yorimitsu is also able to briefly summon the bull, the divine messenger of the Bull-Headed Heavenly King, who takes demonic nature and aliens as his source, to sweep the battlefield with him—that is, the four [Minamoto no Yorimitsu clones] currently surrounding him.

The weapons they wield are imitations of the souls of her Four Heavenly Kings.

Watanabe no Tsuna, Sakata Kintoki, Urabe Suetake, and Usui Sadamitsu were four renowned warriors who followed Minamoto no Yorimitsu in defeating numerous strange and evil spirits and jointly protecting Heian-kyo.

They materialized their souls into weapons and handed them over to the four divine messengers they had summoned.

This is Minamoto no Yorimitsu's Noble Phantasm—【Ox King's Thunderous Appeal: The Net of Heaven is Vast】.

A powerful anti-army weapon capable of single-handedly confronting or even annihilating an entire army.

"It's about to happen, pests."

Minamoto no Yorimitsu, wielding the Thunder Blade, stared intently at Natsukawa Tora.

"Unwanted pests, pests that harm the child, should all be eliminated by the mother—that's how it should be, right?"

"My loyal subjects, my brothers, my armor! My proud Four Heavenly Kings! Join me in annihilating these insects, turning them all to dust!"

Thunder, fire, storm, ice.

The terrifying magical power released from Minamoto no Yorimitsu and the four divine messengers caused the four powers on the weapon to visibly expand to an undeniable degree!

The next moment, with Minamoto no Yorimitsu taking the lead as a signal, the four divine messengers transformed into streams of light and rushed towards Natsukawa Tora!

Minamoto no Yorimitsu's power as a Servant is first-rate. After becoming a Heroic Spirit Swordsman and abandoning all emotions and rationality, her power has been greatly enhanced. Ordinary Servants are no match for her. Even a thousand troops can be crushed by Minamoto no Yorimitsu in the present day.

However, she was facing Natsukawa Tora.

No matter how powerful the enemy is, Natsukawa Torato, being a spirit, will always be above them!

Real name: Liberation.

Excalibur.

"BOOM——————————!!"

With a single strike of the holy sword, an even more terrifying and magnificent light erupted! The dazzling light instantly engulfed and pulverized all four divine envoys! Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who was at the forefront, was also immediately engulfed by this light!

Then—

"Pfft! Crack!"

The sword blade sliced ​​through Minamoto no Yorimitsu's body, severing her spiritual core and the karmic burden of "All Purification" within it!

Gazing at Minamoto no Yorimitsu in the light, Natsukawa Torama whispered.

"I'm sorry, I don't have time to dance with you here. Perhaps we can meet again in some Holy Grail War someday."

"I have to go and hunt down that sorcerer now."

22. So, which one is the car?

The clash between Natsukawa Torara and Minamoto no Yorimitsu's Noble Phantasms produced a deafening roar.

The sound reached the ears of everyone fighting in the city of Tuqi, and the light emitted by the Holy Sword shot into the sky in the dark night, attracting everyone's attention with its daylight-like pillar of light.

That direction is...

"Katori Shrine!?"

"Is someone fighting there!?"

"What's that noise?!"

.......

The samurai, who had never seen such a grand spectacle before, exclaimed in surprise. On the rooftop, Miyamoto Musashi, panting heavily and facing his enemy head-on, looked at the light and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

(That's... a tiger, right? It's as powerful as ever; I can see it from here.)

Miyamoto Musashi had never seen Natsukawa Torama use the Holy Sword, nor had he ever seen the True Name Release, but his intuition told him that the light was created by Natsukawa Torama.

If that light is there, it means that she doesn't need to consider Xia Chuanhu's side—although she never intended to consider his affairs in the first place.