-95- Nowhere to run

"Woo!"

Midway through the intense battle with the mountain god, Enenra suddenly let out an angry cry. It was because Rozen charged out from the bushes and headed straight for the shrine.

This immediately triggered Enenra's protective instincts, as her duty was to guard the shrine and prevent anyone from entering. Without hesitation, she abandoned her fight with the mountain god and transformed into smoke, swirling towards Rozen's direction.

"Roar!"

Seeing that it's opponent disregarded him to pursue someone else, the mountain god let out a furious roar. The force of it's roar created a gust of wind that affected Enenra, blowing her away and further distancing her from Rozen.

"Whooo!"

Enenra cried out in frustration once again.

Thanks to the little delay caused by the mountain god, Rozen managed to enter the shrine smoothly.

"Whoo!"

Enenra grew even more anxious and, once again, abandoned the mountain god to chase after Rozen towards the shrine.

This infuriated the mountain god, who pursued Enenra relentlessly, disregarding everything else.

Unfortunately, the mountain god lacked the means to deal with Enenra and could only stall for a short while, unable to stop her footsteps.

In the end, despite the mountain god's furious roars, Enenra rushed into the shrine.

However, it was too late.

Before Enenra entered the shrine, Akabane Raishin, who was being chased by a large group of Gokuraku butterflies, also ran into the shrine, leading all the Gokuraku butterflies inside with him.

"Woah!"

Not long after, just like he had been thrown out, Akabane Raishin flew out of a window in the shrine and landed on the ground.

"Buzz!"

At the same time, a burst of psychic power erupted within the shrine, sealing all its doors and windows when Enenra rushed inside.

"Now is the time!"

Seeing this scene, Kamo Subaru and Yuge Mutsura immediately infused magic into the magic circles under their feet.

"Clang!"

The two magic circles began to shimmer.

Rozen had already anticipated that the battle between the mountain god and Enenra would reach a stalemate. Observing the mountain god's massive physique, he knew it's attacks were primarily physical and would have little effect on intangible Enenra. Additionally, he was confident that Enenra's attacks wouldn't be able to break through the mountain god's defenses.

As a result, the two sides would be stuck in a stalemate without any change in the situation.

"While considering the problem of how to deal with Enenra, Rozen first thought of simply ignoring her.

After all, Rozen and his companions only wanted to obtain the token inside the shrine and not to defeat Enenra. Thus, finding a way to bypass her and stealthily acquire the token seemed like the best approach.

Unfortunately, that plan wouldn't work. Rozen had no doubt that Enenra's abilities could potentially fill the shrine with her smoke, and any contact with it might trigger a feedback loop, revealing everything to the source of the disturbance, which in this case would be Enenra herself.

Moreover, even if Rozen managed to enter the shrine and acquire the token, it didn't guarantee that Enenra would back off. She would likely continue to relentlessly pursue them until the end.

This meant that although their goal wasn't to defeat Enenra, failing to do so would make it impossible to obtain the token and return safely.

Therefore, Rozen decided to manipulate the situation to provoke a confrontation between the mountain god and Enenra while looking for an opportunity to strike.

What would be that opportunity?

This was Rozen's second consideration.

"If physical attacks don't work, then we'll use other means to attack her."

This is where the Gokuraku butterflies' abilities came into play perfectly.

As fire attribute spirits, when attached to a human body, they explode like bombs. Rozen was intrigued by this aspect of the Gokuraku butterflies and decided to use them as a weapon.

However, there was a problem...

"The Gokuraku butterflies, like the mountain god, will only target intruders in the forbidden area and won't attack Enenra without a reason," Kamo Subaru pointed out.

"Besides, the Gokuraku butterflies aren't divine spirits. Ojou's prayers won't affect them," Yuge Mutsura added.

But this problem wasn't a big one for Rozen.

He playfully replied, "Well, to explode a bomb, someone has to detonate it, right?"

"How do we detonate it?" Kamo Subaru inquired.

"It's simple. Just like when gas leaks and ignites with a single spark, the Gokuraku butterflies, with their characteristics, can't control their powers if there's a disturbance in the miasma that constitutes their existence."

Rozen had a plan in mind.

They would have Akabane Raishin lead enough Gokuraku butterflies to the shrine and then disturb the miasma inside them. Rozen would use his magic bullet, 'Gandr,' to take a shot.

"Although the 'Gandr'' a curse essence formed by death energy, might not have any effect if it hits a spirit created from death energy, the Gokuraku butterflies' miasma would be disrupted. In that case, anything is possible."

It was like fire; if you throw a matchstick, it'll burn out. But if the fire distribution isn't uniform, the unburned area can be ignited by the already burning parts, intensifying the flames.

Therefore, Rozen would target the disrupted miasma of the Gokuraku butterflies with his 'Gandr,' causing it to expand and explode instantly."

As for how to disrupt the Gokuraku butterflies' miasma...

"As prestigious members of the Izanagi clan, who manipulate miasma to summon Shikigami, don't tell me you don't even know how to disrupt miasma?" Rozen provocatively said to Kamo Subaru and Yuge Mutsura, instantly pushing their emotions to the boiling point.

Now, under the influence of the carefully crafted magic circles by Kamo Subaru and Yuge Mutsura, the miasma inside the Gokuraku butterflies started to fluctuate.

Rozen, who was inside the shrine, could clearly see it using "Spirit Sight."

The Gokuraku butterflies brought in by Akabane Raishin had their miasma completely disrupted.

"Whoo!"

Enenra, who rushed into the shrine, seemed to sense the danger and let out an urgent cry, trying to escape.

However, facing a closed-off shrine like this, where could Enenra run?

"No physical form or not, you are still smoke after all. As long as we block the outlets, you won't be able to escape, right?"

Inside the shrine, Rozen smiled.

The red-black magic power on his outstretched fingertips suddenly fluctuated.

...

"Boom!"

The dilapidated shrine suddenly exploded, causing a deafening roar.

The explosion, like a raging wave of fire, started from the center of the bursting shrine and swept mercilessly around.

"Roar!"

The mountain god, who charged towards the shrine to pursue Enenra, didn't have time to evade and was engulfed by the blast.

"Narugami!!"

Akabane Raishin could only shout out this name before he, too, was blown away by the blast.

"Ojou...!?"

"Get down...!"

Kamo Subaru and Yuge Mutsura rushed to the side of Domon Hinowa and pushed her down.

"Nuragami-sama!!"

Domon Hinowa's cries echoed all around.

In an instant, the sea of flames covered the nearby area, causing trees to catch fire.