-502- The final dragon breath

Next is a fierce battle.

Rozen manipulated Hokuto, transforming it into a soaring cloud dragon. It dodged Tsuchigumo's silk threads in mid-air and simultaneously launched attacks.

It either charged head-on, swept horizontally with its dragon tail, extended its claws while passing by Tsuchigumo, or bit down, leaving numerous sparks on Tsuchigumo's body.

The battle unfolded like two prehistoric behemoths clashing, spanning half a century of time. If it weren't for Dairenji Suzuka promptly deploying a barrier, the commotion here would have been discovered long ago.

This intense battle soon reached a stalemate.

"So stubborn!"

Dairenji Suzuka began to lose her composure, growing increasingly impatient.

"That's the power of 'Armored Juggernaut,'" Natsume observed, holding her breath.

Natsume, who knew Rozen quite well, naturally understood that Hokuto's strength, controlled by Rozen, far surpassed any previous wielder from the Tsuchimikado lineage. The displayed power was immense.

Facing this version of Hokuto, Tsuchigumo could still hold its ground in battle, enduring repeated assaults. Apart from leaving some white marks on its body, it hadn't suffered any notable damage. It was like an unyielding rock, continuously charging across the battlefield, raising clouds of dust and spewing countless silk threads towards Hokuto.

It even elevated the mounted cannon and bombarded the surroundings with a deafening roar, leveling the nearby area and igniting trees.

Judging from the ongoing battle, it was clear that, under Rozen's manipulation, Hokuto had a significant advantage in terms of strength and combat. Whether it was power, defense, or attack patterns, Hokuto clearly surpassed its previous capabilities. Tsuchigumo's attacks, be it the spirit-draining silk threads or the bombardment from the mounted cannon, failed to hit Hokuto.

On the other hand, Hokuto's attacks consistently landed on Tsuchigumo, sparking numerous times on its body. If it were another shikigami, they would have been reduced to pieces long ago. How could they endure until now?

In other words, although Hokuto clearly had the upper hand, Tsuchigumo managed to endure due to its innate durability.

It had to be said; Tsuchigumo was indeed an incredibly powerful shikigami.

Due to its steel body, which represented physical resilience, coupled with the tremendous destructive power exhibited due to its heavyweight physique, augmented by the mounted cannon mounted on its body, its strength was unimaginable.

Moreover, its steel body provided Tsuchigumo with a significant resistance to physical attacks. The inner anti-curse barrier weakened the damage from curses. Its defense was incredibly astonishing.

On top of this, Tsuchigumo possessed the ability to absorb spiritual energy through its silk threads and had a tank-like maneuverability, excelling in strength, defense, and speed.

Additionally, it had unique attack methods. If it was truly engaged on the battlefield, it would be more than enough to sweep through the enemy ranks, not to mention its utilization in personal jujutsu battles.

So, using Tsuchigumo in a regular jujutsu battle is indeed a very audacious move.

If Tsuchigumo falls into the hands of a highly skilled onmyoji, it would surely unleash a staggering combat power, making even jujutsu practitioners of the Twelve Divine Generals' caliber helpless.

In that case, even with Rozen's command, defeating Tsuchigumo would likely not be an easy feat.

However, it's Dairenji Suzuka...

"Your technique of manipulating shikigami is still too immature."

Rozen threw out such an assessment and changed his hand seals.

A vast amount of jutsuryoku was infused into Hokuto's body, but it didn't transform into Hokuto's power. Instead, it converged in Hokuto's mouth.

Sensing the enormous jutsuryoku gathering in its mouth, Hokuto joyfully let out a dragon roar and merged its dragon aura with the immense jutsuryoku.

In the next moment, Hokuto spewed dragon breath toward the Tsuchigumo below.

Dragon breath.

Since forming a shikigami contract with Hokuto, Rozen discovered that Hokuto didn't use the unique dragon breath abilities typical of dragonkind. It only utilized its naturally strong body for brute force, lacking in technicality.

In light of this, Rozen specifically developed the dragon breath ability for Hokuto by compressing immense jutsuryoku in Hokuto's mouth and fusing it with its dragon aura, forming dragon breath to unleash powerful attacks.

Of course, depending on the dragon's attributes, the abilities of dragon breath would vary.

A fire dragon would exhale fiery breath.

A water dragon would exhale a stream of water.

A lightning dragon would exhale thunderous breath.

A wind dragon would exhale a gusty breath.

As for Hokuto, although there might be exceptions due to differences in species, dragons in this world were primarily of Yin attribute, watery in nature, and possessed extraordinarily rare noble Reiki.

In this way, Hokuto's breath, after Rozen compressed the jutsuryoku in it significantly, turned into freezing breath.

Thus, the breath erupted from Hokuto's mouth like subzero ice mist, falling on Tsuchigumo.

"Crackle...! Crackle crackle...!"

Wherever the dragon breath touched, the ground froze with a resounding freeze. The moisture in the air also crystallized and fell as ice crystals, instantly cooling the raised temperatures due to the bombardment of cannonballs, making the surroundings icy cold.

Within the dragon breath, Tsuchigumo's enormous body seemed to be pressed against the ground, immobilized. Despite relying on the excellent anti-curse barrier to weaken the power of the dragon breath, facing the dragon's breath, Tsuchigumo's body slowly started to freeze bit by bit.

"Tsuchigumo!"

Seeing this scene, Dairenji Suzuka finally grew frantic.

"Order!"

Dairenji Suzuka cast a Fire Seal, summoning fire to dispel the cold for Tsuchigumo.

However...

"Order!"

Amidst a firm shout, another jutsu talisman was ejected, intercepting the Fire Seal.

The ejected talisman was a Water Seal.

The Water Seal transformed into a whirlpool, engulfing the fire summoned by the Fire Seal.

The one who cast the Water Seal was Natsume.

"I won't let you interfere with Akikan."

Natsume wore a determined expression, surrounded by the glow of thunder.

"You...!?"

Dairenji Suzuka was infuriated, her face turning red.

At this moment, Tsuchigumo's entire body was finally frozen under Hokuto's dragon breath, becoming a giant ice sculpture.

Seeing this, Dairenji Suzuka understood.

She had lost.

Completely lost.

"————————"

Accompanied by the incantation of "Unmoving Golden Chains," Dairenji Suzuka's entire body was bound by invisible jutsuryoku.

"It's over."

Rozen calmly declared, allowing Hokuto in the sky to let out a dragon roar, resonating through the heavens.