Chapter 116: Mōryō’s True Form

Rasa's words once again left everyone in front of the seal stunned. Of course, the most shocked were Miroku and Mōryō.

Miroku, who had been terrified from the start, now saw Mōryō repeatedly losing its composure. Her fear had dissipated significantly, replaced by admiration for Rasa. He had managed to push a demon like Mōryō to this point. And now, hearing Rasa say that Mōryō didn't actually want to kill her, she was even more astonished.

As for Mōryō, it had completely calmed down.

"Why? Why would you think that?"

For Rasa, Mōryō's calmness spoke volumes.

"It's just a guess. You said the only way the Priestess can seal you is by choosing to merge with you. I've studied the history of the Land of Demons. Over the past thousand years, there have been many ambitious individuals like this Yomi. You've been released several times, but each time, you were successfully sealed by the Priestess.

Moreover, I've heard a legend that the power of the Priestess of the Land of Demons is passed down through bloodlines from generation to generation. So, I have a theory: you let yourself be sealed. You have no real interest in rebuilding some thousand-year-old kingdom. Your goal is to devour the Priestess's power generation after generation, using it to strengthen yourself. And since Miroku has no descendants, you absolutely won't kill her and that's because that would end the Priestess's bloodline. Am I right?"

"..."

Silence. The underground palace was eerily quiet. Everyone stared in disbelief at Rasa, Miroku, and Mōryō.

Yomi was the most unwilling to accept this.

"Mōryō-sama, this... this isn't true, is it...?"

If what Rasa said was true, then Yomi's plans for world domination would be ruined. Mōryō, however, couldn't care less about a small fry like Yomi. Its focus was Rasa, voice cold.

"Human, I must admit, you are indeed clever. I'll give you a choice now: become my follower, and I will grant you my power!"

The moment these words were spoken, Yomi, who had been hoping to become a follower, was completely dumbfounded.

Rasa, on the other hand, became intrigued.

"Your power? What kind of power do you have?"

"My power, hehehe... You'll know once you become my follower."

It seemed Mōryō wasn't a fool either. This made Rasa even more curious.

"Then what about the Priestess's ability to foresee the future? Since you and the Priestess share the same body, does that mean you also possess her powers?"

The Priestess's ability to foresee the future seemed to touch upon one of the most powerful forces in this world: space-time manipulation.

Sure enough, Mōryō's tone grew darker, tinged with hatred.

"That was originally my power too... Damn that guy...!"

Seeing Mōryō's resentment, Rasa grew even more excited. It seemed that both Mōryō's power and the Priestess's abilities were things he couldn't afford to miss this time.

With this in mind, he turned his fiery gaze toward the demon before him. Sensing Rasa's predatory look, Mōryō's expression darkened as it asked,

"So, human, what is your choice?"

"Nah."

Rasa's answer was simple as he smirked.

"I do want your power, but becoming your follower, give me a break."

"Is that so? Then there's no other way!"

Mōryō's low voice echoed, as if it had expected this outcome. However, the violent shaking of the underground palace made it clear that Mōryō was furious.

As the tremors grew stronger, a powerful surge of chakra erupted from the sealed stone gate like a flood.

---

Nighttime, in the city of the Land of Demons. The sleeping citizens were abruptly awakened by violent tremors.

"What's happening? An earthquake?"

"Don't just stand there! Run!"

"Ah... right, right..."

As the ground shook more and more violently, the people of the Land of Demons rushed out of their homes and gathered in open spaces. Panicked and confused, they looked at each other, unsure of what was happening.

At that moment, someone shouted,

"Look! It's the mountain behind the city! It's collapsing!"

Everyone turned their gaze toward the mountain. Though there were no lights, the bright moonlight allowed them to see what was happening.

The massive mountain behind the city was shaking violently. Huge boulders tumbled down its sides, and enormous cracks began to split the mountain apart.

The citizens' pupils shrank, and their faces turned pale.

"What... what's going on?"

Just as everyone was trying to make sense of the situation, something even more terrifying happened.

From the cracks in the mountain, accompanied by a deafening roar, a massive, thick purple dragon's head emerged, letting out an eerie screech.

Before the citizens could even scream, another enormous head appeared.

Boom!!

One after another, accompanied by continuous roars,

under the bright moonlight,a monstrous creature over a hundred meters tall, with eight dragon heads and a serpent-like lower body, emerged, blocking out the sky.Now, even the most oblivious person could tell something was terribly wrong.

Someone finally seemed to remember something and shouted,

"Mō... Mōryō... it's the monster Mōryō, sealed by the Priestess!"

"It's terrible! The demon Mōryō has escaped!"

"Everyone, run!"

Chaos erupted throughout the city.

The mountain that had sealed Mōryō completely disintegrated as Mōryō revealed its true form, sending countless boulders tumbling down like a rain of stones.

Amidst this stone downpour, Rasa manipulated a cloud of gold dust to shield Honoka and Miroku as they dodged the falling debris.

"This is astonishing. I had no idea Mōryō's true form was this massive."

At that moment, the six members of the covert operations team arrived beside Rasa.

"Kazekage-sama, what should we do now?"

Even Rasa hadn't expected Mōryō's true form to be so enormous. He remembered it being much smaller in the original story. This meant the barrier they had prepared wouldn't be large enough.

But that wasn't a problem.

"Honoka, take Thunder Blade and the others to prepare the barrier. Protect Miroku and get her out of here. Ōkuro, Ishiomo, and Koishi, deal with those six from the Land of Demons. I'll go play with Mōryō for a bit."

As soon as he finished speaking, Rasa clasped his hands together, and senjutsu energy surged through his body.

"Senjutsu Limit Release: Magnet Release: Shukaku's Avatar!"

Under the bright moonlight, another monstrous creature appeared in everyone's sight.