Kaoru vanished from Kyuubi's sight, moving with unimaginable speed. In an instant, Kaoru's sword had already sliced through Kyuubi, leaving a cold, stinging sensation across his body, followed by a burning pain. Dark, almost pitch-black blood began to seep from the wound, dripping from the fox spirit's nine-tailed body, the so-called god of calamity.
'What… what just happened? I couldn't follow his movement!' Kyuubi thought, panicked, realizing that Kaoru's speed far exceeded anything he had ever anticipated. Compressing his power fully into his legs, Kaoru had propelled himself to a near light-speed velocity. In close quarters, this rendered him nearly invisible, flashing in and out of view with almost incomprehensible swiftness.
Even as Kyuubi attempted to overwhelm him with scorching lasers from the Amaterasu mirror, Kaoru's speed was simply too great. Every strike missed its mark, slicing through the air as though striking shadows. In mere seconds, Kaoru was already behind him, his sword raised, ready for the next strike.
Grinding his teeth, Kyuubi clutched at the wound on his body, dark blood pooling between his fingers. His gaze burned with hatred as he stared at Kaoru. "YOU!" he roared, but in that moment, the world went dark.
"What...?" Kyuubi found himself surrounded by an impenetrable darkness. The battlefield on the hill, the light, all forms—everything vanished completely, swallowed by a shroud of shadow. All he could feel in that darkness was the chill of the wind and the ominous tension emanating from Kaoru's presence.
Kyuubi attempted to channel his energy to illuminate his surroundings, but before he could adjust, a sudden flash of red light appeared in the darkness—a glint of a blade, cutting through the air and disappearing just as quickly. And in that same instant, Kyuubi felt another searing slash across his body. His body shuddered, another wound etching deeper than the last.
Fear and confusion began to seep into Kyuubi's mind. For the first time, the god of calamity found himself unable to fully grasp the situation. Kaoru had manipulated the very space around him, creating a realm where Kyuubi's control was stripped away.
The faintest trace of dread surfaced in Kyuubi's thoughts, but his pride as a calamity god dismissed the idea that he could be cornered. His desire for revenge drove him far past reason, and in desperation, he reached deep into a power he was never meant to wield. His third eye began to glow, radiating with a terrifying intensity. In an instant, the energy surged forth, fracturing Kaoru's domain and ultimately shattering it completely.
Kaoru, standing a short distance away, watched in surprise as his domain dissolved so quickly. He frowned, but before he could react, an invisible force from Kyuubi's telekinesis struck him hard, hurling him far back. His body flew uncontrollably through the air, crashing into the jagged rocks scattered across the battlefield.
"Damn…" Kaoru winced, pain flaring from the impact, but he quickly regained his composure, forcing himself back onto his feet, his breathing labored as he lifted his sword again.
Kyuubi erupted into laughter, his voice echoing with triumph and madness. "FUHAHAHAHA! YES, THIS POWER IS TRULY EXQUISITE! A FORCE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINE FROM THE START! AND NOW, IT'S FINALLY ALL MINE!"
Despite his pain, Kaoru sensed something amiss. The aura surrounding Kyuubi wasn't entirely his own—there was another presence intertwined within it, like a dark shadow enveloping Kyuubi's power, amplifying it into an unrestrained, chaotic force.
"There's… something else," Kaoru muttered under his breath, though he pushed the thought aside, realizing his immediate priority was survival.
Overwhelmed with this new energy, Kyuubi launched a relentless telekinetic barrage at Kaoru, hurling him in every direction with immense force. The ground around Kaoru shattered and lifted, the fragments transforming into deadly projectiles aimed directly at him. Kaoru dodged with swift, precise leaps, trying to keep his distance, but Kyuubi's attacks only grew in speed and intensity.
"There's no escape, Kaoru! Now, I wield a power that transcends even the gods!" Kyuubi moved with unprecedented speed, each step creating waves of energy that split the ground beneath him. He channeled his energy with deadly precision, unleashing attacks more focused and lethal than before.
Kaoru deflected each strike with Gram and Divide Haglaz, but the sheer force of Kyuubi's attacks was becoming difficult to manage. Every block and parry strained his body, and he began to realize that Kyuubi's power had transformed into something that conventional strategy alone couldn't counter.
Yet, even under such intense pressure, Kaoru remained composed, observing every subtle detail of Kyuubi's movements. Despite the influx of new power, Kyuubi's strikes were becoming increasingly erratic, uncontrolled. Kaoru began formulating a plan.
Then, Kaoru noticed something odd—Kyuubi's movements suddenly froze, as if something inside him was rebelling. The smug, victorious expression on Kyuubi's face twisted into one of fear—an expression rarely seen on the face of a calamity god. Clenching his teeth, Kyuubi seemed to be fighting something within, desperately attempting to suppress whatever was clawing its way to the surface.
"No! You can't… YOU'RE JUST A FRAGMENT OF POWER!" he screamed in desperation. But at that moment, a grotesque hand began to claw its way out from his third eye, followed by a massive surge of energy that sent shockwaves across the hill. Kyuubi's body convulsed, trembling as an intense black energy erupted from him, flooding the surroundings with an oppressive, horrifying darkness.
Kaoru stumbled back, feeling the malevolent energy radiating from Kyuubi's form. "What…?" he muttered, shock lacing his voice as he sensed the sheer, unnatural evil now filling the air. It wasn't just Kyuubi's power anymore—it was something far darker, far more ancient.
Outside the barrier, the onmyoji and Taimanin fighting to maintain the shield felt the sudden surge of energy. The pressure radiating from within the barrier was overwhelming, pushing some onmyoji to the brink of collapse. Towako, already exhausted, struggled to hold herself together, her vision starting to blur. The Taimanin nearby quickly transferred some of their energy to keep her and the barrier steady.
"Hold on… just a little longer…" Towako whispered to her team, her voice barely audible as she tried to calm them. But deep down, she felt a growing terror, sensing an overwhelming, uncontrollable force pressing against their defenses.
Inside the barrier, Kaoru watched in horror as Kyuubi's body began to tear open, cracking like a chrysalis. Thick, viscous black fluid oozed from his body, dripping onto the ground and poisoning everything it touched. Within seconds, Kyuubi's form began to disintegrate, and from the remnants emerged a new entity—a figure unlike anything Kaoru had ever seen.
The black fluid clung to the figure, dripping with a chilling consistency, and wherever the entity's feet touched, the ground beneath turned black, as though drained of all life. The atmosphere around them felt poisoned, a deadly chill suffusing the air, and Kaoru was overcome with an all-too-familiar sense of dread.
The creature stood tall and imposing, an aura of pure annihilation radiating from it. Kaoru stared at the being in stunned disbelief as it spoke, its voice deep and sinister, filled with seething malice. "Ah… how long it's been since I last tasted fresh air," it said, each word dripping with an evil more profound than a simple desire to destroy.
The creature grinned, its gaze sharp and cruel, a sadistic delight glinting in its eyes. "Fufufufu… Finally! FINALLY! The great Hajun is reborn!"
Kaoru's eyes widened in shock, realization dawning upon him as he took in the creature's name. "Hajun…?" he murmured, his voice barely a whisper. Just what kind of nightmare had he stumbled into?