The Battlefield Breaks - Chapter 115

Chapter 115 – The Battlefield Breaks

Ren blinked.

Geto blinked.

They both stared at the towering, monstrous figure now standing in the broken remains of the battlefield—a muscular humanoid with four thick, wing-like appendages sprouting from its eye sockets and a long, whip-like tail extending from the back of its skull. Floating above it was the ominous eight-handled wheel, slowly spinning, ticking with some cosmic rhythm.

Mahoraga.

The Divine General.

The worst possible thing that could appear.

Ren didn't hesitate.

He threw his hand out toward Megumi, and with a snap, Red Stitch erupted forward—the thread lashed onto Megumi, and Ren yanked hard, flinging the boy out of the ruined structure with a burst of cursed energy. Megumi flew across the ground like a sack of cloth, rolling to safety.

But before Ren could even fully turn his gaze back—

Whoosh—!

A red staff was already coming for his skull.

Ren barely dropped low, diving under the blow using Red Stitch like a slingshot to escape just in time. The staff carved through the air above his head, sharp and heavy.

And then—he saw it.

There he was.

Mahoraga loomed over him, casting a massive shadow, both arms raised above his head—and then they came crashing down like twin meteors.

BOOOMMMM!!!

The entire ground shattered from the impact.

Cracks spiderwebbed through the foundation. The earth itself groaned. Dust and splinters of debris exploded into the air. Ren rolled out of the way, heart pounding, breath tight in his throat.

And across the shaking battlefield, Geto halted mid-movement, his eyes fixed on Mahoraga's impossible form.

He muttered, mildly intrigued, "Oh… what an interesting shikigami…"

But the interest quickly turned to alarm.

A black blur dropped from above—a massive blade came swinging down at Geto.

It was the Sword of Extermination.

Mahoraga's divine weapon.

Geto barely dodged, stepping aside at the last second as the blade crashed down into the earth, gouging a deep trench in the ground. The impact rumbled like thunder.

Geto clicked his tongue and leapt back, and Ren, seeing the chaos unfold, quickly repositioned himself further away.

There was no time to think.

No time to breathe.

Ren's mind was ablaze. 'No breaks, no pause—fuck, I can't even process what's happening!'

And then it got worse.

Geto waved his arm with a smooth motion, cursed energy flaring—and a swarm of red, centipede-like cursed spirits burst out.

Hundreds of them.

They poured across the battlefield, some crawling, others flying—grotesque things with segmented armor and twitching legs, all screaming and gnashing their misshapen teeth.

Ren's jaw clenched. He wasn't the only target.

Mahoraga noticed them too.

WHIP—!!

Mahoraga swung the Sword of Extermination effortlessly, tearing through the curses like they were paper dolls. Limbs flew. Bodies split. Purple-black blood rained.

The Divine General was an unstoppable wall of motion. Swinging. Stepping. Shifting.

And still, it moved forward.

Unstoppable.

Relentless.

Ren, on the other hand, was swinging with Red Stitch, moving fast and hard between falling rubble and incoming curses. Each arc through the air was a desperate dodge, cursed energy burning hot through his limbs.

He gritted his teeth, thoughts spiraling.

'What the fuck is GOING ON?! Why is Mahoraga here?! This is not how it was supposed to go—the plot is fucked!'

He flipped in the air, launching a red thread to pull himself off a ruined tree.

'Did this all happen just because Geto started the war one month early?!'

His feet touched down, only to leap again to avoid a blast from one of Geto's cursed spirits.

'Fuck. Fuck. Both of them are stronger than me! Geto at least is fine right now, but Mahoraga?! He's like my perfect counter!'

Ren ducked behind what remained of a stone pillar, panting.

'No… wait. Think. Geto and Mahoraga? Yeah—just make them fight. No need to butt in.'

But he couldn't ignore the very real problem.

'Then why the fuck is Geto coming after me?!'

And then he saw him—Geto, laughing, rushing forward again with that terrifying calm on his face.

Behind him, something darker stirred.

A massive cursed spirit slithered behind him—a humanoid blur with a tangle of long arms and a body made of dripping ink. It had multiple black eyes that glowed faintly like distant stars in a void.

Its name echoed in Ren's mind like a memory—

Darkness.

And then—

WOOSH—!!!

Every single one of its eyes opened.

A black mist exploded outward in all directions.

A dense fog of pure cursed energy swallowed the battlefield whole.

Everything went pitch black.

Ren, who had just launched himself into another swing midair, suddenly found himself flying blind. No light. No vision.

He barely caught himself with a desperate lash of Red Stitch to a tree trunk, feet scraping bark, hands gripping thread tight.

His eyes darted uselessly into the void. He saw nothing.

Then—

TICK.

A metallic click. A subtle spin.

The sound of a wheel.

Ren's pupils shrank.

'Ah… that sound. It came from the left.'

'Mahoraga's adapting!'

A jolt of dread ran through his spine.

'Fuck, fuck, this is super bad! And what the hell is this cursed spirit?! Since when did Geto have one that can blind everyone?!'

He felt sweat prick down his spine, cursed energy whirling tight inside his body.

'I can't hold on anymore. The only way to win—'

Ren's hand clenched into a fist.

'—is to summon Rika!'