Reincarnated in a Shounen Manga - Chapter 269

Chapter 269 - I Have Come to Bargain!

"You're going to bring about a massacre and use it as a sacrifice, ain't ya?" The Demonic Exorcist guessed.

I kept my mouth shut. But the crazy bastard had a smile wide enough to split his face in two.

He continued, "But you aren't the kind of guy who kills people indiscriminately. So let me guess... there will be a massacre that you can do nothing about, and you will use those humans, or maybe even demons, to do something..."

It was kind of scary how close he was to the truth. He had those crazy psycho instincts that allowed him to find out these types of things. "I don't even know what you're talking about. Just summon Tamae no Mae already."

The Demonic Exorcist looked like he wanted to ask more but held himself back, but his smile didn't leave his face, and he kept staring at me with a knowing look.

He bit his thumb, drawing some blood and smearing it in a line across his right arm. "I who am about to awaken, am the heavenly thief, who stole the principle of Wisdom from the God of Foxes."

The air around him shook, and dark tattoos appeared all over his skin. I tried to get a closer look, but the tattoos were too detailed, with strange runes and pentagrams drawn on them, and they quickly turned yellow like burning coal and disappeared. His dark hair turned silver, and three white trails swished behind him.

"She is the kind of woman who even a crazy guy like me wouldn't want to fight, so be careful," he warned me.

"You're quite self-aware about how crazy you are."

"I will have you know that I used to be quite normal," he shrugged. "Though being normal was kind of boring."

I stared at him, and he had the decency to look embarrassed. Whatever, now wasn't the time to think about his insanity.

"It will take a bit of time until she senses us and comes here. She probably won't be in the best mood either," he explained.

"Okay, just don't try to entice her to attack you just because you find it funny. Because I won't save you," I clarified.

He shrugged, "Don't worry, I won't get involved in this."

Okay, he was actually saying reasonable stuff. This meant he definitely was up to some crazy shit!

Before I could call him out on his bullshit, the sky turned red, and the sun turned dark. Two new red moons appeared in the sky, looking like the eyes of an evil god peering down at us.

The air grew heavy, and there was a quiver in reality itself. Suddenly, a giant silver nine-tailed fox soared through the air, its two murderous eyes fixed on us. Tamae no Mae moved through the air as if it were solid ground. The closer she got to us, the bigger she seemed.

"Do you think she is willing to talk?" The Demonic Exorcist asked, his tone laced with sarcasm.

"Who knows, she might be more willing to if I offered her your head as a gift," I replied, preparing for battle. The Demonic Exorcist had gathered some blood on his hands, but I turned to him and said, "None of that, the last thing we want is to actually anger her."

There were many fox demons out there, some with eight or even seven tails, possessing the power of an ultimate-class demon. However, there was only one Tamae No Mae—she was the fox demon equivalent of the Dragon King.

"She appears much stronger than the last time I encountered her. Do you think she has regained her power? I mean, she now looks like the legends describe her," the Demonic Exorcist remarked.

"Your unnecessary commentary is making this harder than it needs to be."

Despite my reluctance to admit it, he was right. Tamae no Mae seemed to have adapted to her new body and even regained some of her lost power.

This was very concerning.

After all, she ranked alongside Yamata no Orochi and the Dragon King in terms of power. How would I negotiate with her when she held all the cards?

However, I didn't have much time to dwell on it as flames rained down from the sky, the nine-tailed fox scorching the land with a single breath.

"Can you block this attack?" I asked my 'friend'.

"Of course," the Demonic Exorcist chuckled, crouched down, and thrust his hand into the earth, pulling out a pig demon's head with its mouth wide open.

From the pig demon's gaping maw emerged a strange shield demon, engulfed in flames. It had human legs and arms, with particularly hairy legs, but the rest of its body consisted of a solid iron shield on fire.

"No fire!" The demon screamed, and the shockwave of its voice formed a circular dome of fire around us. Even as Tamae no Mae's flames reached us, they couldn't penetrate the dome.

But I couldn't linger to admire our guard. Instead, I clapped my hands and focused on my Ord, drawing upon the water-controlling abilities I had inherited from Carpy.

Dark clouds gathered in the sky, blocking the eerie light of the red moons. Tamae no Mae turned her attention to the sky.

"With the authority as the Dragon of Broken Fate, I order the clouds; mix, open, and smash!" I muttered under my breath, using a rough chant to aid in controlling my Ord. My words served as direct commands to the clouds themselves.

In the sky, two clouds collided and sizzled. Tamae no Mae's eyes widened, as her size only made her a larger target.

A crackle of lightning filled the air, followed by a bolt that struck the nine-tailed fox squarely on the head. The ultimate class demon immediately plummeted to the ground, crashing against a distant mountain. The aftershock of the landing was so severe that it pushed me back a bit.

"Holy shit, did you just take down Tamae no Mae in one hit? As expected of my rival!" exclaimed the Demonic Exorcist.

However, I knew better than to celebrate and began chanting again, "With the authority as the Dragon of Broken Fate, I order the clouds; mix, open, and smash!"

Tamae no Mae's body twitched as she attempted to rise, but another lightning bolt greeted her with a thundering roar. The nine-tailed fox roared in pain, but I wasn't going to let her get up. "With the authority as the Dragon of Broken Fate, I order the clouds; mix, open, and smash!"

This time, a crimson barrier stopped the lightning bolt from landing, although the barrier itself suffered some fractures.

"Every time I approach a situation with anger clouding my mind, I lose," Tamae no Mae calmly stated. She stood up, her silver fur showing minor burns that quickly healed. She stared at me with cold ruthlessness in her gaze. "Thank you for waking me up from my stupor."

Her nine tails pointed at the sky, and suddenly, a powerful, invisible blast of wind tore the clouds apart, leaving a gaping hole in the sky. Unlike before, with two red moons and an eclipse, now there was just a clear sky.

It seemed like her rage had caused strange illusory phenomena in the sky.

"Okay, we just want to talk. We're not here to fight," I tried to reason with her.

Considering someone like Tamae no Mae must know about the barrier's decline, there's no reason for us to fight.

In response, she opened her mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and it seemed like she was about to unleash a blast. Instead, a thundering roar erupted, and I felt something deep in my ear suddenly pop, and everything went quiet.

The field around us shifted and was uprooted. The Demonic Exorcist, blood coming from his ears, reacted swiftly. A golem-like demon emerged from the pig's mouth. The creature grabbed the earth below our feet and pulled up, creating a wall.

When he touched the land, even hard rocks turned like hot jello ready to be shaped.

Soon, my burst eardrums healed, but a faint beeping sound lingered in my ears. It should heal shortly, but it was irritating.

"Well, she's quite the screamer," the Demonic Exorcist quipped.

A colossal paw shattered the wall, destroying the earth golden on that same swing. Tamae no Mae's massive crimson eye peered through the breach, locking onto us with her cat-like pupil retracting.

"One of you stuck that thing on me, and I was cursed by that mirror demon, more than I had ever been cursed in my long life," she said, shifting her gaze toward the Demonic Exorcist. "The other one stole my power. But you expect me to forgive you? There is much more to gain by just killing you instead."

A tremendous pressure weighed on our shoulders as Tamae no Mae unleashed her power. The Demonic Exorcist sported a wide grin, the type that foreshadowed impending foolishness.

Before he could make a move, I intervened by raising my hand, momentarily causing him to choke on his own saliva.

"You're aware of what's happening out there," I pointed at the sky. "If you don't regain your full power, even you will be in danger as the next era comes. Survival of the fittest will be the only rule in the world."

"If that's the case, why shouldn't I kill both of you right here?" She asked, her killing intent turning the sky crimson.

“If you fight us now…” I contemplated how to phrase my next words. “Even though our chances of defeating you are slim, you won't emerge unscathed, and we both know the madman would rather end himself than let you regain your powers.”

"He's right," the madman chimed in.

Tamae no Mae glared at us with intense hatred and narrowed her eyes.

Was she still about to attack?