I, Wang Ha, the Three Red Unparalleled Assassin

Besides, just think back to that disgusting giant sea monster covered in eyeballs; it was nothing more than a matter of a single sword strike.

Yukari Yakumo, whose morals were still intact, did not react with the same composure she would later display when she was caught spying. Instead, she immediately chose to retreat.

She simply couldn't see through or understand the true nature of the old man in the mountain.

With survival as her top priority, when faced with an enemy who looks formidable but is actually quite powerful, Yukari Yakumo's actions are always to make a quick escape from any opening.

Without such a cautious approach, she wouldn't have had the chance to escape countless life-or-death crises in her early years and grow up healthy to this day.

"A spatial ability? That's a bit troublesome."

The old man of the mountain looked at the gap that had vanished without a trace and muttered something. The sound startled Himari, and before she could react to what had happened, the old man of the mountain left behind a sentence and disappeared.

"Himari, you stay here and protect A-Zhu. I'm going to meet this uninvited guest who left without saying goodbye."

The old man of the mountain, whose aura was vaguely locked onto by Yakumo Yukari, appeared in mid-air. His entire body was enveloped in blue-black magic, temporarily transforming into the shape of armor. He raised his right hand and clenched it slightly.

"Sword, come!"

The Death Announcement Sword, which was stuck in the center of the courtyard, trembled slightly under the influence of magic and broke through the ground, transforming into a black stream of light that instantly appeared in the palm of the Mountain Elder.

The next moment, the greatsword, wrapped in dense death energy, struck the empty sky, instantly shattering a small patch of space.

Fujiwara no Hiroshi and his entourage had only just entered the bamboo forest when a crisp sound came from the sky. Looking up, they could vaguely see the indistinct outline of the old man of the mountain.

Then, they stood frozen in place, staring wide-eyed at the spiderweb-like cracks that spread across the air, which shattered into powder, revealing a large hole filled with eerie, rolling eyeballs.

"A demon, a monster—!!!"

A piercing scream tore through the night sky, startling Himari, who was on high alert in the bamboo house. She instinctively hugged Houraisan Kaguya tighter in her arms.

She darted out of the window and onto the roof, her eyes, glowing eerily in the darkness, peering into the bamboo grove.

With the racial advantage of being born with night vision, Himari spotted Fujiwara no Fuhito's signature white hair with perfect clarity at a glance, and muttered to herself in annoyance:

"Ha, you still didn't listen to my advice. Now, you people might as well worship the gods and leave the rest to fate."

Hidden in the gap, Yukari Yakumo was astonished. Without thinking about how the old man of the mountain had found her location, she raised her folding fan and attacked first.

"The realm of fast and slow! The realm of wave and particle!"

As a gap-gap youkai, Yukari Yakumo possesses the ability to manipulate boundaries, a terrifying power capable of overturning everything from its very origin. This ability even allows her to contend with gods while maintaining the body of a great youkai.

As we all know, the existence of things is based on the existence of realms.

Without water, there would be no lake; without mountain ridges, there would be no mountains or sky.

In other words, the ability to manipulate realms is the ability to create and destroy logic, essentially creating new existences and essentially negating existing existences.

If this ability were to be applied to the Little Garden world, and after obtaining the corresponding Spirit Rank under the judgment of the Little Garden Central Hub, reaching a strength of four digits would definitely not be a problem, and there might even be a chance to try to break through the threshold of the three-digit 'all-around' realm.

Perhaps by then, Yakumo Yukari's power might cause the Old Man of the Mountain considerable trouble, but for now, it cannot shake an existence with such a vast difference in status.

The old man of the mountain noticed that his speed, which should have allowed him to instantly appear in front of his opponent, had undergone an extremely strange change, as if things had suddenly been turned upside down.

Meanwhile, under the manipulation of the wave-particle duality.

Countless magical bullets appeared out of thin air and rained down on the Mountain Elder like a torrential downpour, giving no one any chance to dodge or graze.

Facing the oncoming hail of bullets, the Mountain Elder raised his hand and swung his jet-black greatsword. The eerie blue flames illuminated his hideous and terrifying skull mask, and his eyes blazed with crimson light.

"Hmph! No matter how mysterious the laws of the world may be, I will shatter them all with a single strike!"

Chapter 102 This Yakumo Yukari is injured in a fight, so why don't we...

A hazy, deathly aura spread out with the Mountain Elder's sword-wielding movements, instantly erasing the power of his realm. The overwhelming demonic bullets also disintegrated and dissolved under the deathly aura and ghostly fire.

The eyes within the gaps scrambled back desperately, fearing the deathly aura spreading in the air as if it were a tiger, instinctively feeling the terror of staring directly into an abyss of darkness.

This was the first time Yakumo Yukari had ever seen someone break through the influence of her realm in such a rude and unreasonable way. Upon closer inspection, the old man of the mountain's attire was exactly the same as the words that Kazami Yuuka had once revealed.

"Suffer to death!"

The sword of death unleashed dozens of crisscrossing sword energies as it slashed down. Yakumo Yukari had no time to think about anything else and could only devote all her energy to the battle at hand.

She had a premonition that if she didn't fight with all her might, she might die.

"Fourfold Barrier!!"

As Yukari Yakumo finished speaking, four barriers made of demonic energy instantly appeared and blocked the sword energy. Although they were destined to be shattered, they bought a little time.

"The realm of fast and slow! The realm of movement and stillness! The realm of existence and non-existence!!"

Because the strength that the old man of the mountain had just displayed was too extraordinary, Yukari Yakumo did not dare to engage in a direct confrontation with him and wisely adopted a defensive fighting style.

Three different levels of power were applied to the sword energy, which was originally as powerful as a bamboo splitter, but was frozen in the air and slowly turned into nothingness.

Although the sword energy unleashed by the old man of the mountain had been obliterated by the strange power of the realm, Yakumo Yukari was surprised to find that the thick and condensed demonic power within her body had suddenly decreased significantly.

"How could this be? It was just a few sword energies, why did it consume so much energy? It's almost as powerful as a full-force attack from an ordinary great demon."

"Such a dense aura of death, so this is what it is? This death power, which can rival even divine power, is the root cause of my exhaustion."

As the old man of the mountain stepped into the rift, the entire rift began to tremble inexplicably, as if in fear of this death god whose body was engulfed in boiling ghostly fire.

"No wonder this guy was able to defeat Youxiang and the Dangping Mountain Spider's forces. Even the gods who ruled the world in ancient times couldn't match his strength."

"Today, we really went too far."

Although she didn't want to believe it, once the facts were presented to her, Yukari Yakumo had no choice but to accept it.

This was the first time she had faced such a disparate battle since becoming a great demon, and she felt as powerless as an ordinary demon facing a top-tier great demon.

Realizing the vast difference in strength between the two sides, even a battle maniac like Kazami Yuuka would never dare to go looking for a fight to the death, let alone the more tactful Yakumo Yukari.

Just as she was about to open the gap again and escape to another place, she found that she had lost control of the space. The gap that she once had such easy control of was now firmly sealed off by another, more powerful force.

As the figure of the old man of the mountain drew closer, Yukari Yakumo, unable to move long distances, had no choice but to leave the gap, which was turning into a prison, and appear in the bamboo forest outside.

Having completely sealed off the surrounding space, the Old Man of the Mountain was not afraid that Yukari Yakumo would open the gap again to escape, and relying solely on the speed of flight, he was definitely no match for teleportation.

"The Sage of Yokai? How did she suddenly find her way here?"

Himari, who had been holding Kaguya Houraisan and standing on the roof of the bamboo house, saw Yukari Yakumo and immediately recognized her as the despicable one who had disturbed the yokai's dreams in the middle of the night.

If we had to choose the yokai that most resembles a yokai, then given Yakumo Yukari's usual behavior, she would undoubtedly be the one.

The catgirl was surrounded by a faint crimson demonic aura, her right claw extended as she stared intently at the legendary cunning and wise great demon.

Such a dangerous fellow cannot be ignored by Hishimi.

Fujiwara no Fuhito and his subordinates, who were already trembling with fear from the oppressive aura, huddled even tighter, muttering the name of Amaterasu Omikami, hiding in the darkness for fear of being discovered by the terrifying great demon.

Although there have always been families of exorcists, demon hunters, or onmyoji who have protected the peace of humanity for generations within the Kyoto Imperial City, the number of them capable of defeating great yokai can be counted on one hand.

The Amakawa family, where Himari originally belonged, was one of them, and they were famous for a power called 'Light Crossing'.

However, with the death of Amakawa Hikaru and the departure of Himari, this family, which has prospered for hundreds of years, may have to temporarily withdraw from the ranks of the top.

Before Yukari Yakumo could catch her breath after escaping outside, she had only run a few steps when she ran into the old man of the mountain who had been waiting for her halfway.

Before Yukari Yakumo could even shift her position and change direction, the Old Man of the Mountain appeared in front of her amidst flashes of Netherfire, blocking her path.

The demon girl gritted her teeth, her demonic power surging and rolling around her, her eyes shining with a bright crimson light, determined to fight to the death.

"The boundary between heaven and earth..."

Just as Yukari Yakumo was about to unleash her most powerful move, the Old Man of the Mountain raised his hand and swiftly sliced ​​across her fair and slender neck with lightning speed.

Yakumo Yukari's body stiffened, and she lost the ability to move. She thought to herself that she was doomed, but there was nothing she could do. Filled with regret and resentment, she lost consciousness.

Seeing Yakumo Yukari, who had been knocked unconscious, lying on the ground, Yama no Okina's cold, dark blue eyes remained completely unmoved. He bent down, grabbed the back of her robe by the collar, and lifted her up.

His armor vanished as magic, and he raised his hand to remove the skull mask from his face. He then walked along the path through the bamboo forest toward the bamboo house.

The battle passed in the blink of an eye, and the outcome was already predetermined due to the absolute difference in strength.

Fujiwara no Fuhito did not witness the battle between Yama no Okina and Yakumo Yukari, but cautiously peeked out after the sound disappeared.

Fujiwara no Fuhito, who had initially doubted the old man's strength, immediately abandoned his last shred of hesitation after tonight's battle, and even began to think at high speed about how to gain the greatest favor from the other party.

By the moonlight, he vaguely saw a tall man in black with white hair, carrying a beautiful blonde woman in his hand. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly compared the villagers' descriptions one by one. After confirming that they matched, he hurriedly chased after him, running and jumping.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the old man of the mountain; if you miss this chance, you really don't know when you'll get another one.

It seems that praying to the gods is still effective; Amaterasu Omikami continues to cherish and protect her people who worship her, just as always.

Fujiwara no Fuhito decided that after completing his mission and returning to Heian-kyo, he would definitely go and properly worship Amaterasu Omikami to express his heartfelt gratitude.

Oh, and I'll also pray to Susanoo and Tsukiyomi along with them, hoping they will always protect me.

Forgetting all aristocratic decorum, Fujiwara no Fuhito took off running, but he couldn't catch up with the seemingly leisurely old man of the mountain. He could only shout as he ran:

"Old Man of the Mountain! Old Man of the Mountain, wait a minute!!"

Hearing Fujiwara no Hitoe's call, the old man of the mountain did not stop, letting the other run and chase after him until his figure gradually disappeared into the distance.

As a civil official, Fujiwara was not as pampered as others, so his physical strength was naturally not very good. He was panting and staggering after only a few steps.

Perhaps the old man of the mountain felt that having a group of worldly people come to the bamboo forest every day would disturb the peace, so he decided to put an end to their inappropriate thoughts once and for all. A deep and resonant voice came from the quiet bamboo forest.

"Alright. You may return home for now, and come back to visit again tomorrow after noon."

Fujiwara no Sukiyaki, who was initially extremely disappointed, suddenly beamed with joy. He hurriedly straightened his clothes and respectfully bowed in the direction where the old man of the mountain had left.

"This junior, Fujiwara no Hitoshi, thanks the old man for his kindness."

At this moment, the old man of the mountain, who had already stepped over the threshold of the bamboo house, threw Yakumo Yukari, whom he had been carrying all the way, on the ground, raised his hand and took out an item that was specially used to imprison power from the bag containing the gacha items of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and handed it to Himari.

Chapter 103 Yakumo Yukari: The Goal, Survive

The next day, early in the morning.

As the first rays of golden sunlight touched the earth, the quiet bamboo forest echoed with the chirping of birds, and a thin white mist lingered in the air.

The old man of the mountain, whose biological clock was exceptionally precise, broke out of his meditative state, opened his eyes, stood up, and looked around the bamboo house.

Wearing a purple kimono, Himari was breathing heavily and still fast asleep on the bamboo bed, while Kaguya Houraisan in the cradle beside her was also still asleep.

Despite being handcuffed, Yukari Yakumo remained unconscious and limp on the ground, unattended. It was astonishing that a top-tier powerful youkai could remain unconscious for so long without showing any signs of waking up.

One can only imagine the force behind the old man's knife strike last night.

Seeing that there was nothing unusual inside the house, the old man left the bamboo house with peace of mind and began his ordinary life, which had remained unchanged for decades.