Volume 5 Chapter 73

Volume 5 + Chapter 73: Heaven-Severing Thunder

“Fox God, please use the Kusanagi Sword!”

Bai Lian communicated with the Azure Fox God.

Because she was the Fox God’s shrine maiden, her voice could reach the divine being.

“The Kusanagi Sword?”

Xia Yi had no idea what that was.

But if the Azure Fox God’s previous attack had been the Yata Mirror, then the next move was very likely another devastating technique.

“AAAAAH!!!”

The Azure Fox God threw back its head and howled.

Its body began to change as well, the edges of its form twisted and warped, and the magical power overflowing from it grew increasingly unstable. The disaster spreading across Peach Blossom Utopia intensified, and the entire region seemed on the verge of tearing itself apart.

Yet as the White Night Cult followers died around her, Bai Lian remained unmoved.

In her eyes, the lives of these ordinary foxfolk were utterly insignificant.

Heavy black storm clouds gathered in the sky, blotting out all light and plunging the world into darkness.

“Your Highness, the White Night Cult’s shrine maiden is guiding that giant nine-tailed fox. If we eliminate her, perhaps the fox will stop! Let me go and destroy her!”

Elly sensed that an enormous danger was about to descend.

With the situation so urgent that every second mattered, she volunteered immediately and dove toward Bai Lian below.

“Your Highness, let us go too!!”

The members of the dragon delegation who had barely survived the Yata Mirror attack followed behind Elly, charging toward Bai Lian.

“Foolish outsiders. Do you really think you can even touch me?”

Bai Lian’s eyes changed, peach-blossom patterns appearing within them.

This was the Fox God’s Eyes.

“Fall into illusion!”

Countless chaotic scenes flashed before Elly’s eyes.

An overwhelming flood of meaningless information poured into her mind. One moment she felt as though she were standing in a scorching desert, the next she was deep beneath an icy ocean.

Her brain quickly reached its limit trying to process it all.

“……”

Elly’s body froze mid-air and then fell from the sky.

The other dragons attacking Bai Lian suffered the same fate.

Under the power of the Fox God’s Eyes, they were all caught in illusions. One by one, they stopped moving entirely, as if their minds had crashed.

“Sending expendable pawns is meaningless,” Bai Lian mocked as she looked up at Xia Yi in the sky. “I’ve told you before, I am the Fox God’s shrine maiden. I have inherited the Azure Fox God’s power, so naturally I can wield the Fox God’s abilities.”

“If you’re not convinced,” she continued with a smirk, “you’re welcome to fly into the range of the Fox God’s Eyes and experience my illusion magic yourself.”

“……”

Xia Yi’s face remained expressionless.

Inside, she was angry, but she refused to take the bait, calmly analyzing the battlefield instead.

The black storm clouds now completely covered the skies above Peach Blossom Utopia.

Overwhelming magical power churned within them, creating terrifying waves that rolled through the clouds.

The Azure Fox God’s next attack had already reached its final stage of preparation.

It was about to be unleashed.

“Karami, use the fastest speed possible. Bring every dragon back to the train,” Xia Yi ordered.

“W-what…?”

Karami was stunned by the command.

Most of the dragons had already lost their ability to fight. If all the wounded dragons were gathered together on the train, they would essentially become a single massive target.

The Azure Fox God’s next attack was clearly even more terrifying than the Yata Mirror.

Instead of dispersing the dragons to dodge the attack, Xia Yi was doing the exact opposite.

The risk was enormous.

“Your Highness… are you serious?”

“Yes,” Xia Yi replied.

“…Understood!”

Karami clenched his teeth and nodded.

He was deeply shaken by Xia Yi’s resolve, and he believed that the heir of the Dragon Clan might truly create a miracle.

Within the shortest time possible, Karami and the remaining dragons who could still fly carried all the injured and illusion-stricken dragons back onto the train.

Seeing their actions, Bai Lian did not try to stop them.

Instead, she burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Xia Yi, have you gone insane? Gathering all the dragons together like that, I almost think you’re a spy helping us! You’re basically serving them all up for the Fox God in a single pot!”

“Everyone, return to the train. Protect the injured. Do not come outside.”

Xia Yi ignored Bai Lian entirely and calmly gave her orders.

All the dragons retreated into the train.

Only Xia Yi remained standing alone at the locomotive’s front.

The black clouds flickered with lightning.

Thunderbolts descended upon the world, massive streaks of lightning as thick as giant serpents crashing down onto Peach Blossom Utopia, bringing catastrophic destruction.

Countless bolts intertwined, forming a blinding ocean of lightning that continued to compress inward.

The surrounding space had already been sealed by the Azure Fox God.

When the lightning sea finished converging, that would be the moment the Kusanagi Sword descended.

And every dragon aboard the train would be annihilated within the thunderous ocean.

“This is the Kusanagi Sword,” Bai Lian said proudly. “It can cut down all life. Even the strongest Dragon King would be obliterated within the lightning sea created by the Azure Fox God!”

“You seem to have a misunderstanding about dragons.”

Facing the overwhelming thunderstorm like a world-ending tidal wave, Xia Yi awakened the bloodline of the Silver Dragon Royalty.

Her silver vertical pupils glowed brightly.

She gripped the Rose Staff tightly and released every ounce of magical power within her body.

It was like a pump running at maximum capacity, draining every last drop of magic and pouring it into the staff.

If this had not been the staff gifted to her by Xia Lulu, it might have already exploded under the strain of holding so much power.

“How can you possess so much magical power?!” Bai Lian cried in shock.

“Even if you release that much magic, it’s meaningless! No magical shield could possibly block the Fox God’s Kusanagi Sword!”

But after confirming with the little fox that the Azure Fox God was not truly alive, a wild idea had taken root in Xia Yi’s mind.

She was going to gamble everything.

The magic poured into the Rose Staff transformed into lightning-attribute energy.

Using the staff as its core, a pillar of thunder formed, its roar sounding like the cries of thousands upon thousands of birds.

Xia Yi had no intention of defending.

She chose to attack.

“Y-you… what are you planning to do?!” Bai Lian shouted in shock.

Xia Yi closed her eyes, letting her mind enter a state of flawless clarity.

What set a Sword Saint apart from ordinary swordsmen was their understanding of the sword, an insight that reached a transcendent, almost sacred level.

They could even wield weapons in ways that defied common sense.

A mind as calm as still water.

Suddenly, Xia Yi opened her eyes.

The raging lightning in her hand had become a blade wielded by a Sword Saint.

Her unparalleled magical talent fused with her peerless swordsmanship at that very moment.

“Fox God, deliver your punishment immediately!!” Bai Lian shouted in panic.

“Sever!”

Xia Yi swung the lightning blade that split the heavens.

It shattered the Azure Fox God’s spatial seal and sliced the lightning of the Kusanagi Sword into fragments.

The thick storm clouds scattered.

Sunlight once again returned to the world.

At that moment, her figure looked almost exactly like the divine being from the ancient legends of Fox Hill…

The Thunder God.

[https://ko-fi.com/golden_dragon]