Chapter 393: Fifth Tail

How fast was the cannonball flying? Probably too fast for an ordinary person to react.

By the time Li Mo noticed it, the cannonball was only a second away from hitting them.

What could be done in one second?

Prepare a spell? It would be troublesome to search his mind for a suitable spell. If he were alone, it wouldn't matter—his "pseudo-immortality" meant he wouldn't die, even if the cannonball was infused with elemental energy.

But Aki and Xavier beside him were a different story.

Li Mo chose the simplest solution.

Four tails appeared behind him as he shed his human appearance, revealing his true form.

In other worlds, he was the "Beast" that devoured the evils of the world, labeled by quasi-Magic Gods as the "Beast of Original Sin." His existence was often associated with negativity.

However, the youkai blood flowing within him was seen as a positive force in this world. In the past, the Heavenly Fox, Lady Saiguu, had died protecting Inazuma. Even now, the current Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine carried the blood of the Heavenly Fox.

Every shrine maiden of the Grand Narukami Shrine knew of the Heavenly Fox. How could they not, when their Guuji's distinct fox ears were so obvious?

But Aki never expected that the shrine's priest, Li Mo, was also a Heavenly Fox.

Pure white, fluffy tails wrapped around her, and Aki froze momentarily.

Since the calamity five hundred years ago, the bloodline of the Heavenly Fox had only flowed within the Guuji. The once lively foxes had gradually lost their former spiritual nature. The youkai, who had once been the backbone of Inazuma, were nearly extinct, and in recent years, sightings of youkai had become rare.

The impurities formed at the roots of the Sacred Sakura were no longer youkai but human samurai, a clear sign that the youkai… were fading.

The Kuki family had been shrine maidens for generations, with men marrying into the family. This was why Aki was so shocked by the appearance of another Heavenly Fox.

"Boom—"

The explosion roared, and even though she was enveloped by the tails, Aki could feel the shockwave.

It was a long-range artillery strike.

Aki remembered that not long ago, with the help of the blonde traveler, Xavier had successfully repaired the Mikage Furnace. Breaking through the barrier had required the use of long-range artillery.

For various reasons, the Shogunate had deployed several powerful cannons on Kannazuka, originally intended to deal with the resistance forces. But now… they were being used here in Tatarasuna.

It happened so quickly.

The world before Aki's eyes was no longer just fox tails. She could see the sky above, dotted with shimmering stars.

The purple filter was gone.

No, to be precise, the purple hue of the Tatarigami's energy had all gathered around the boy floating in mid-air. He was dressed in sacred priestly robes, and the Tatarigami energy around him formed a swirling vortex.

Aki could see that part of the priest's robes had been destroyed. To protect them, he had taken the full brunt of the artillery strike.

"How did I end up in such a sorry state again? Well, at least this isn't Academy City," Li Mo muttered.

The "Thororm Spell" was ineffective in this world. Teyvat's history and culture were vastly different from Earth's. Even angelic spells derived from Christianity didn't work here, let alone spells based on Norse mythology.

"Lord Li Mo, are you sure it's okay to absorb the Tatarigami's energy like this? And why is the Mikage Furnace completely empty now?" Aki asked, her voice filled with concern.

Turning around, Li Mo saw the anxious look in the shrine maiden's eyes.

The Tatarigami's power came from the remnants of fallen gods, the residue of deities. The gap between gods and youkai was as vast as heaven and earth, and Aki, having received formal education, understood this deeply.

Li Mo replied, "It's fine. The Tatarigami inside the Mikage Furnace has been devoured and digested by me. Look, my fifth tail has already grown."

When he obtained "Dragon's Remnant Shadows," Li Mo had considered going to the Kobayashi household to ask Tohru for a piece of her tail, just as he had absorbed the blood of a minor evil god. This would have allowed him to grow his fifth tail.

But in the end, he hadn't gone through with it.

Now, thanks to the Tatarigami, Li Mo had grown his fifth tail.

The ability born from this tail was clear to him.

Like the Tatarigami, Li Mo could now corrupt others, driving them to madness or death.

It was similar to the power he gained from absorbing Angra Mainyu's essence—an ability he would never use.

"Are you really okay?" Aki asked again.

"Of course," Li Mo assured her.

Using his inventory, he took out a new set of clothes and changed into them. In a short time, Li Mo had absorbed all the Tatarigami energy in the area. With the Tatarigami inside the Mikage Furnace gone, the energy in the air had no source to replenish itself. Like rootless trees, the lingering Tatarigami energy was continuously drawn into Li Mo's body.

"Dragon's Remnant Shadows" had been active throughout the process. Earlier, Li Mo had sensed that something was fighting his shadow clones. Not just one or two, but multiple shadow clones were engaged in battles with multiple enemies.

But the moment the cannonball struck him, Li Mo felt all the enemies across the various battlefields retreat in perfect order, a level of discipline that was almost terrifying.

They had even taken their dead with them.

The Fatui's organizational skills were too strong…

Snapping out of his thoughts, Li Mo turned to Xavier. "Mr. Xavier, is there anything else you need to add? If I've missed anything, please let me know so I can handle it."

"Lord Li Mo, you've handled everything perfectly. Aside from the economic losses, there's nothing else," Xavier replied.

"Good, then it's no longer the Grand Narukami Shrine's concern," Li Mo said.

The shrine's duty was to deal with "impurities" and the "Tatarigami." As for mining and smelting, that was the Tenryou Commission's responsibility.

After all, the Tenryou Commission had completely excluded the Grand Narukami Shrine from the project.

When Li Mo had first become a priest at the Grand Narukami Shrine, the Mikage Furnace had already begun operations. But the Tenryou Commission had never informed the shrine, and Li Mo had only learned about it through the Yashiro Commission's intelligence network.

"Mr. Xavier, you mentioned that you worked with the blonde traveler to repair the Mikage Furnace before," Li Mo said.

"Y-yes," Xavier stammered, feeling uneasy.

One of the reasons he had been detained at the Kujou Encampment was that the blonde traveler he had collaborated with was actually a wanted criminal by the Shogunate. He couldn't help but admire how bold the girl was, willing to help despite being wanted by the authorities.

—At the time, the wanted posters hadn't reached Kannazuka, so no one knew.

Li Mo said, "If you encounter any trouble in the future, feel free to seek help from the Grand Narukami Shrine. If it weren't for the Fatui… I probably wouldn't have come to Tatarasuna."

And he wouldn't have had to take a direct hit from the artillery, suffering such a setback.

The last time he had been humiliated like this was when Olerus had cornered him. But Olerus was a quasi-Magic God, so it wasn't shameful.

But the Fatui…

I'll remember this.

Li Mo was certain that the artillery strike had been launched by the Fatui. In fact, he suspected that the explosion of the Mikage Furnace was also connected to them.