Chapter 77: The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

“I’m almost Level 16, everyone, pay attention!” This time, Zhen called out ahead of time, reminding everyone of her imminent level-up, preventing her teammates from staring blankly at the sudden surge of power as they had before.

“Alright, I understand. Everyone, gather around me!” Kaguya, without further ado, promptly beckoned everyone to her side.

With a whoosh, a brilliant white light erupted from Zhen’s body. Knowing this signified her level-up, everyone immediately heightened their vigilance.

In that very instant, the heavens and earth began to tremble, and the entire battlefield of Heian-kyō seemed to churn with turmoil.

“You! You betrayed me!” Just then, a deep voice, filled with madness and despair, shrieked out, followed by the sound of a heavy object plunging into water.

“Hahahaha! Let them witness your power, Orochi!” Black Seimei’s fierce and deranged voice echoed once more, a cloud of sorrow settling heavily upon everyone’s hearts. “Seimei, your demise is at hand!”

“No, this is it! It’s the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (TL Note: ‘Hyakki Yakō,’ a phenomenon where countless supernatural beings march through the night)!” Enenra was the first to react, shouting, “Guard the base well; we absolutely cannot be wiped out in a single wave!”

The sky grew dim, and everyone’s vision blurred. Not far away, the super reinforcements who had been attempting to ascend the high ground were, at some unknown point, replaced by six imposing demon soldiers.

“Th-this…” Ara, witnessing such a scene for the very first time, couldn’t help but feel a surge of fear. “Are these demon soldiers incredibly powerful?” she stammered. “Why are you all so tense?”

“Whether they’re powerful or not, I can only tell you this: in most situations, the moment these demon soldiers appear, it virtually signals the end of the game,” Enenra explained, clearing minions as she spoke. “If the disadvantaged side manages to consume Orochi and summon these demon soldiers, they can forcefully turn the tide of battle!”

“But their health doesn’t seem very high,” Ara mused. “Does that mean their attack power is immense?” She tried using her skills to clear the demon soldiers, only to find, to her surprise, that they weren’t particularly formidable, seemingly even weaker than the super reinforcements from moments ago.

“The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons has two effects,” Kaguya stated calmly and collectedly. “One is the appearance of these demon soldiers, and the other is an enhancement to our Shikigami’s (TL Note: spiritual beings or deities summoned to serve a practitioner of Onmyodo) recovery and attack capabilities. If it were merely these demon soldiers, they truly wouldn’t be much to fear.” She paused, her gaze sharpening. “However, be careful; I highly doubt this is all there is to it.”

True to her words, before Kaguya’s voice had even faded, a bolt of lightning, no, a colossal pillar of light, slammed down from the clear sky, engulfing the entire high ground.

“Dreamlike Illusion! Dragon Head Gem!” In this dire emergency, Kaguya immediately unleashed her ultimate ability: a bamboo forest illusion swiftly expanded outwards from her as its center, enveloping everyone within its protective embrace.

Despite the protection of Kaguya’s ultimate, everyone was struck down to a mere sliver of health. Intriguingly, both Hyounga, who had pure health builds, and Zhen, who focused solely on damage output, were left with only a thread of life. It seemed the attack dealt full health damage to every individual, and it was Kaguya’s ultimate ability’s damage reduction that allowed them all to survive.

“Phew, thankfully, we made it out alive!” Ara exhaled, patting her chest with lingering trepidation, then wiped away non-existent sweat from her brow.

“What’s the point of building health items?! We were still almost instantly annihilated!” Hyounga exclaimed in frustration, plunging his sword into the ground with an angry thrust.

“Lifesteal! Quick, lifesteal!” Enenra urgently cast her skills towards the demon soldiers before her. Having equipped the Spirit Blade: Chiyo (TL Note: an item that grants spell lifesteal), her abilities now restored her health proportional to the damage dealt.

Having emulated Enenra’s item build, Ara also possessed spell lifesteal, and thus, she too began unleashing her skills.

Zhen, having acquired the Fierce Blade: Oni Maru (TL Note: an item that grants physical lifesteal), knew she couldn’t afford to be careless. She immediately began to lifesteal with even greater ferocity.

“Oh no, the main camp!” Kaguya, far from relaxing her guard, instantly spun her head to look at the Main Camp Barrier behind them.

Upon hearing her, everyone else also turned their heads back, and what they saw nearly scared the living daylights out of them!

“100/11700.”

Twenty seconds remained, poised to determine their very lives and deaths. Before them, a throng of furious demon soldiers, utterly reckless, advanced relentlessly towards the Main Camp Barrier; in their eyes, only the barrier existed.