16
On the streets hundreds of meters below, it had already descended into complete Chaos.
Countless pedestrians stopped and looked up, their faces filled with terror and shock, their phone cameras pointing in unison at the top of the skyscraper.
"Th… What is that thing?"
"Such a huge monster! It's coiled around the building!"
Unstoppable gasps erupted from the crowd, and panic spread like a plague.
An elderly man leaning on a cane suddenly widened his cloudy eyes, his cane slipping from his exhausted hands without him noticing at all.
His lips trembled, and his voice was hoarse from extreme shock.
"It… It's Yamata no Orochi!"
"There is no mistake, it's the legendary Yamata no Orochi!"
This name was like a thunderclap, igniting an even larger commotion among the crowd.
"Yamata no Orochi? How is this possible!"
"Wasn't Lord Qin Ze killed in action during the national war forty years ago?"
"Why can his Professional Incarnation reappear in the world? What on earth has happened?"
Some people reacted belatedly, all color draining from their faces.
"Wait! Does that mean the person fighting that monster… is also an SS-Rank Expert?"
"Oh my god! It's Lord Soma Kosuke! He is fighting Yamata no Orochi!"
The news seemed to have grown wings, sweeping through the entire Takamagahara at a terrifying speed via the internet and word of mouth.
Soon, the well-equipped City Guard roared in, pulling up long cordon lines and forcibly driving away the gathering crowd.
But the ferocious giant beast's silhouette coiled atop the city had already been deeply branded into everyone's mind.
…
The top of the skyscraper.
Qin Ze had completely abandoned human form.
That snake body, so massive it nearly obscured the rooftop, was covered in ghastly white scales, each one gleaming with a metallic cold light.
The huge snake tail even hung outside the building; just a gentle sway stirred up a fierce howl that tore through the air.
Seven ferocious snake heads were raised high, and fourteen cold, golden vertical pupils indifferently stared at everything before them.
Just standing there, the aura emanating from his body far exceeded any Hell-level BOSS Zhou Huai had ever witnessed.
That was pure destruction and tyranny originating from myth.
Soma Kosuke opposite him remained silent.
Yet the several ink-painting Avatars in front of him, identical to Qin Ze, moved at the very same moment.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Several figures turned into white lightning, simultaneously pouncing on the behemoth from all directions.
One of the Avatars was the fastest, fingers held together like a sword, his fingertips wreathed in cyan wind radiance condensed to the extreme, directly stabbing at the giant snake's abdomen!
Another Avatar leaped high, its right arm transforming into a ferocious snake head in mid-air, roaring as it bit toward the neck of one of the heads!
There were also several Avatars forming hand seals, dozens of sharp wind blades appearing out of thin air, like a cyan storm of death, slashing overwhelmingly toward the giant snake's body!
Any single one of these attacks was enough to easily instantly kill an A-Rank Professional.
However.
"Clang clang clang——!"
A dense series of crisp sounds, like metal colliding, suddenly erupted on the rooftop.
Yet it only splashed a string of dazzling sparks, failing to leave even a single white mark.
Furthermore, that roaring, biting snake head was impatiently knocked away by the giant snake itself with a headbutt!
"Bang!"
The snake head transformed from the Avatar instantly burst into a ball of ink, and that white figure flew backward like a broken kite, heavily slamming into the distant wall and turning into a blurry ink stain.
All attacks were completely ineffective!
The defense of the scales was indestructible!
"Roar——!"
The seven snake heads seemed to have been completely angered by this group of reckless ants.
They raised their heads simultaneously, letting out a roar that shook the soul.
The main head located in the center abruptly opened its bloody mouth wide.
There was no fire, no venom.
Only a highly compressed energy ball gleaming with destructive light was rapidly taking shape in its mouth.
"Boom!"
A thick pillar of energy light, carrying an aura that purified everything, fiercely shot out!
A "Qin Ze" Avatar had no time to dodge at all and was instantly swallowed by that beam of light.
Without even a scream, he, along with the marble ground beneath his feet, was completely evaporated and gasified.
At the same time.
The snake head on the left moved.
Its speed reached the absolute limit, transforming into a white afterimage as it abruptly thrust forward.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound of bone cracking rang out.
Another Avatar attempting to launch a sneak attack from the flank had half its body bitten in one gulp.
The sharp venom fangs easily pierced through the Avatar's defense, embedding deeply into its body.
That Avatar let out a painful roar, its body struggling violently, yet unable to break free by even a fraction.
The snake head gave a fierce whip.
"Puchi!"
The Avatar's body was forcibly torn into two halves!
Ink-colored "blood" and "viscera" spilled all over the ground, quickly turning into nothingness.
The third snake head, the fourth snake head…
The slaughter had begun.
One snake head spat out highly corrosive venom mist, melting a Avatar into a puddle of foul-smelling pus.
Another snake head's eyes lit up with demonic golden light, and the petrification ray it shot froze a Avatar into a lifelike statue, which was then swept by the giant snake tail and turned into flying fragments all over the sky.
Those ink-painting Avatars possessing a portion of the strength of an SS-Rank Expert were as fragile as paper-mâché dolls in front of this true monster.
They were defeated one by one and completely wiped out.
In less than a minute.
On the rooftop, only that seven-headed giant snake coiled atop the ruins remained, along with the solitary, elderly figure holding a paintbrush in the distance.
On the roof of another building in the distance.
Wada Hirayama, who had been silently watching the battle, slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his aged face full of solemnity.
"This… Is this the power of Yamata no Orochi?"
Wada Hirayama did not answer, only letting out an internal sigh.
As expected of the legendary Yamata no Orochi.
Even for himself, without using his trump cards, it would be very difficult to cause him true damage.
This monster seemed even stronger than forty years ago.
Soma Kosuke's moves had failed repeatedly.
Yet no trace of joy or anger could still be seen on his wrinkle-filled face.
He quietly looked at Yamata no Orochi on the building, no emotion audible in his aged voice.
"Teacher Qin Ze."
"Fighting within Takamagahara, both you and I have misgivings and cannot unleash our full strength."
Having said that, he spread out his right hand, slowly unfurling an ancient scroll.
The scroll expanded against the wind, the wooden handles at both ends turning into streams of light and dissipating.
The paper was like a huge canopy of heaven, quickly covering the sky above the entire building and obscuring the stars and moon.
Inside the painting was Chaos ink, resembling an unpioneered world.
Soma Kosuke's tone was as calm as water.
"Teacher Qin Ze, do you dare enter the painting for a battle!"
The coiled seven-headed giant snake moved.
The largest snake head in the center lowered slightly, its golden vertical pupils unexpectedly revealing humanized confidence.
All seven heads spoke simultaneously, their overlapping voices like a great bell, vibrating the entire building with a hum.
"Why wouldn't I dare!"
On the roof of another building in the distance, Wada Hirayama's expression changed.
He hurriedly stepped forward, loudly dissuading that massive figure.
"Lord Qin Ze, no!"
"This painting is Soma Kosuke's Domain world; once you enter, you will be very passive!"
However, Qin Ze's seven heads shook in unison, their overlapping voices carrying a hint of amusement.
"It doesn't matter."
"I just want to see, this proud disciple of mine—"
"—has grown to what extent after all."
The moment his voice fell, he no longer paid attention to Wada Hirayama's dissuasion.
His massive seven-headed snake body soared into the air, like a white mountain range surging upstream, actively crashing toward the ink painting scroll in the sky.
There was no earth-shattering loud noise.
The moment that behemoth touched the scroll, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, silently swallowed inside.
Soma Kosuke's figure also faded, transforming into a wispy ink mark as he merged into the painting.
The huge scroll suspended in the sky regained its calm.
Like a silent canvas, it hung quietly beneath the night sky, inside which a life-and-death battle that no one could spy on was taking place.
Kujo Koji walked to Wada Hirayama's side at some unknown time.
He looked at the huge scroll, pushing up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Mr. Hirayama, why don't you also go in and lend Qin Ze a helping hand."
Wada Hirayama turned his head with some surprise.
"Lord Koji, do you think Lord Qin Ze is no match for Soma Kosuke?"
Kujo Koji shook his head, his face still wearing that gentle and refined smile.
"I am not worried about Qin Ze's strength."
"But don't forget, standing behind Soma Kosuke is the Omiya Family."
His lenses reflected a cold light.
"What I am worried about is that Soma Kosuke likely still possesses the Divine Artifact mastered by the Omiya Family, Yasakani no Magatama."
"In short, Qin Ze cannot die here."
A trace of realization flashed across Wada Hirayama's aged face.
He nodded heavily.
"I understand."
Having said that, he no longer hesitated.
Within his aged body, a heavy, mountain-like aura erupted with a boom.
The ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch.
His legs slightly bent, his entire person like a fully drawn strong bow, preparing to soar up into the sky.
However, the very moment he was about to set off—
"Hum——"
A scalp-numbingly dense sound of flapping wings came from all directions without warning.
Wada Hirayama's movement suddenly stiffened.
He saw countless dense black beetles pouring out from nowhere.
They converged into a black torrent, instantly rushing before him at an incredible speed.
The next second.
Boom!
An explosion of ultimate violence occurred.
Dazzling firelight rose abruptly before him like a black sun, swallowing everything.
The terrifying shockwave turned into a substantive wave of air, sweeping frantically.
Wada Hirayama groaned softly, his body actually being forced back step by step by this overbearing strength.
His feet plowed two deep ravines on the rooftop ground, retreating more than ten meters in a row before barely steadying his figure.
The smoke and dust of the explosion slowly dissipated.
He raised his head, looking at the ink painting scroll still suspended in the air, his aged face filled with shock and anger.