Chapter 174: I Wasn’t Lying to You

Seated atop the ritual altar, Yomi watched Shion slowly approach.

He let out a sinister laugh.

"Hahaha! So you’re the Priestess of this generation?"

"You’re far inferior to your mother."

"Back then, your mother carried herself with true dignity. Even after being sealed by her for so many years, I still remember her heroic bearing."

"Unlike you... she never showed fear."

Shion clenched her teeth but offered no rebuttal.

In her memories, whenever danger appeared, her mother had always stood in front of her.

Especially when Mōryō had attacked them.

It was her mother who had driven him back.

To Shion, her mother had always been an unshakable giant—

Someone who had protected her from everything.

And because of that...

She hated Mōryō even more.

If it hadn’t been for him bringing calamity upon the world, her mother would never have had to sacrifice her life to seal him away.

Silently enduring his mockery, Shion stepped onto the altar.

Seeing that she ignored him, Mōryō continued,

"Do you know that you and I were once one?"

"If we joined forces, we could rule the entire world."

"The power we possess together is far beyond anything you can imagine."

He was trying to persuade Shion to join him.

But she paid him no attention.

She stopped at her designated position on the altar.

Then she began forming hand seals while reciting the sealing incantation.

Unbothered by her silence, Mōryō laughed again.

"Heh... Are you really planning to seal me?"

"That will cost you your life."

"Your mother is still inside me."

"The Priestess’s power and mine were originally one and the same. We merely split apart because our ideals differed."

"Your mother never understood me..."

"But surely you can."

"Join me, and the entire world will belong to us."

Shion answered coldly,

"Don’t think your lies can deceive me."

"I will never be swayed by you."

Her hand seals were complete.

So was the incantation.

Instantly—

The ritual altar activated.

A smaller altar rose from its center as a crimson sealing barrier spread throughout the chamber.

This...

Was exactly what Mōryō had been waiting for.

He burst into wild laughter.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Fool!"

"I couldn’t break the seal myself!"

"Only your power could release it!"

"I have to thank you for that!"

As he laughed, Mōryō’s soul poured out of Yomi’s body.

It rushed frantically toward the center of the altar—

Toward the place where his physical body had been sealed.

RUMBLE!

An overwhelming surge of power shook the entire volcano.

Only then did Shion realize...

She had fallen into his trap.

She looked around as enormous tendrils erupted from the lava lake.

Each ended in the head of a gigantic dragon.

Within seconds, countless black tentacles covered the entire lake.

This...

Was Mōryō’s true form.

Dozens of serpentine bodies, each over a hundred meters long, rose from the molten lava.

Every one of them bore a massive dragon’s head.

The countless heads writhed violently.

Their eyes glowed with eerie purple light.

As they roared together, the entire volcano trembled violently.

The lava boiled furiously.

Molten rock splashed everywhere.

Even the surrounding stone platforms slowly crumbled and sank into the lava below.

Mōryō roared with laughter.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Did you really think you could seal me?"

"Just accept being devoured."

"From within my body, you can watch the world you cherish slowly fall into ruin."

"You’re the Priestess."

"I can’t truly kill you."

"But you’ll remain trapped inside me forever..."

"Forced to watch everyone you care about—and the entire world—be destroyed while you can do absolutely nothing!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

His endless taunts battered Shion’s spirit.

She froze in despair.

Her body was steadily being consumed by Mōryō’s darkness.

Everything around her faded into endless blackness.

At last...

She remembered Kai.

Tears streamed down her face as she cried,

"Mr. Kai..."

"Didn’t you promise you’d protect me?"

"...You lied to me."

She sobbed.

Even so...

She still couldn’t bear to watch the world perish.

Nor did she want more innocent villagers to continue sacrificing themselves because of her.

The truth was that the Priestess’s power within Shion was simply too immense.

A sealing technique alone could never suppress it.

To keep that power dormant, the people around her had continuously offered up their own lives as sacrifices, using their lives to reinforce the seal.

That was why, over the years, those close to Shion had died one after another.

Worse still...

She could see the future.

She knew exactly when they would die.

How they would die.

Even what they looked like in their final moments.

She no longer wanted to endure that pain.

At that moment...

The bell hanging from her neck suddenly shone with dazzling light in response to her emotions.

Looking down at it, Shion smiled bitterly.

"Mother..."

"It seems I have no choice but to use this power."

"Perhaps that’s for the best."

"I’ll finally be able to see you again."

"No one in the village will have to die because of me anymore..."

"And peace can return to this world."

With that...

She activated the bell.

Its brilliant radiance stimulated the dormant power sleeping within her.

Hummm—

Almost instantly—

The sealed power awakened.

The seal suppressing it shattered completely.

It couldn’t withstand Shion’s own overwhelming strength.

In an instant...

Her appearance transformed.

Her long golden hair flowed behind her.

A sacred Priestess’s crown appeared upon her forehead.

Mystical markings, resembling those of Sage Mode, spread across her body.

A divine staff materialized in her hand.

At that moment...

Shion looked like a celestial being descending upon the mortal world.

Boundless power surged through her.

Power so immense...

That even Mōryō was terrified.

"Impossible!"

"What is this power?!"

"Since when has a Priestess possessed strength like this?!"

"It’s several times greater than Miroku’s!"

"How is that possible?!"

He simply couldn’t understand.

The timid girl he had looked down upon had been hiding power even greater than Miroku’s.

Miroku had already possessed the greatest power of any Priestess in history.

That was why Mōryō had once invited her to rule the world together.

He had acknowledged her strength.

Yet now...

Shion’s power exceeded even Miroku’s severalfold.

To Mōryō, that should have been impossible.

For the first time...

He felt fear.

Because he knew this power truly could seal him forever.

Mōryō shouted desperately,

"Are you really going to sacrifice your own life just to seal me?"

"Is it worth it?!"

"Join me instead!"

"I’ll hand the entire world over to you!"

"Little girl... you’ll die!"

But Shion had already resolved herself.

She had accepted death.

No amount of persuasion could change her mind.

Mōryō roared in fury.

"Fool!"

"You’ll regret this!"

He raged helplessly.

Shion, however, remained expressionless.

Just as she was about to unleash the full power within her—

A familiar voice echoed beside her.

"I wasn’t lying to you."

Shion froze.

The power gathering within her halted instantly.

She turned in astonishment.

Kai was already beside her.

One arm was wrapped securely around her waist.

The two of them were soaring upward through the air.

Only then did Shion realize—

She had already fallen off the altar.

And directly beneath her...

Lay Mōryō’s enormous body.

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