Violent flas instantly engulfed Ryuji's greatsword, but this ti, the fire was far from gentle.
His dragonfire surged into the sword's crevices, lting the inner spine and forcing jets of fla through its cracks. The blade quickly turned a glowing red, threatening to shatter.
Technically, if he chose to reforge the blade now, he could still get a few more uses out of it. But he refused.
He didn't have many powerful AoE skills for clearing out mobs—and frankly, even if reforged, the sword might only survive one or two more swings. With his dragonfire, he didn't need to be overly concerned with saving materials.
He kept compressing dragonfire into the blade, pushing the inferno deeper into the tal. The violent power continued heating the sword, while he remained hyper-aware, using his Observation Haki to monitor the weapon's condition, ensuring it wouldn't explode in his hands.
At last, when the cracks widened and the sword began to visibly lt, he stopped.
His Observation told him—the weapon was on the brink of detonation.
"Don't know if any of you creatures are self-aware…" he growled, "but take this!"
Magical runes lit up on his limbs. A surge of mana burst from his core, flooding into the sword—and one second later, it detonated.
His mana control wasn't top-tier, but for this, it was enough.
With his limbs strengthened by blood energy and reinforced by magic, Ryuji assud a wide stance and hurled the overheating greatsword like a flaming javelin.
The molten blade, glowing red-hot, shot through the air toward the mob of monsters still refusing to retreat beyond the city's edge. Behind it, a vortex of dragonfire trailed like a burning tornado.
The monsters did not flinch. Instead, they roared in defiance, their mouths spewing incoherent, chaotic phrases:
"You see ! You see !"
"Flesh! Flesh!!"
"Kill! Kill! KILL!!!"
They surged forward to et Ryuji's blade.
The flying yokai were fastest. One, resembling a white cloth spirit, was the first to be impaled. The instant the greatsword pierced its body, it ignited, its form torn and burned through. Behind it, a second monster—this one wielding a blade—was also struck.
Though the white mist surrounding this second yokai greatly resisted the attack, the sheer heat at the sword's tip lted through its chest. The monster combusted.
And it wasn't alone.
Two more monsters were skewered behind it, caught in the flaming blade's unstoppable arc.
The molten sword crashed into the ground, smoldering with searing heat and charring the earth beneath it.
The monsters barely had ti to process what happened—because Ryuji snapped his fingers.
A sharp click echoed.
That was the trigger.
The magic stored in the sword detonated, triggering a violent explosion. The already molten greatsword shattered into countless semi-lted tal fragnts that ripped through the air like shrapnel, each burning with attached dragonfire.
The deadly storm of superheated tal tore through the horde, shredding yokai like paper. Dragonfire clung to every chunk of steel, refusing to extinguish until its energy ran dry.
Flas swept across the battlefield like a tidal wave.
Nearby wooden barriers and gates exploded in a rain of embers. A vortex of fire spiraled into the sky—a towering firestorm fueled by raw magic.
The blaze roared like a tsunami.
Unfortunately, because this fire was born of converted magic rather than pure dragonfire, it lacked the absurd temperatures of Ryuji's true fla. Thus, while later monsters were ignited, they weren't instantly incinerated. Instead, they howled and writhed, consud slowly.
In re monts, half the monsters that had followed them outside the city were reduced to corpses and ash.
And Ryuji? He had burned through nearly a fifth of his stamina.
The simultaneous creation of so much dragonfire and magical energy had taken its toll.
But there was a silver lining.
As the monsters perished, their residual world power flowed toward him, weaving into his body. His stamina replenished, the pain subsided, and he stood firm without even needing to catch his breath.
Yet despite the carnage, there was no joy in the air.
Ryuji remained composed. But beside him, Shinobu frowned deeply.
"…They won't leave the city," she muttered. "So if we want to eliminate or study them, we have to do it inside the city? That's… troubleso. And worse—so of them can leave."
She clutched her temple.
This ant civilians would inevitably witness the monsters. And if Ryuji was correct—if these monsters fed on human fear—then their power would rise in direct proportion to how afraid people beca.
Doing nothing wasn't an option. But acting might make things worse.
If the yokai's goal was to reap fear through their appearances and chaos, then the phenonon known as Hyakki Yagyō—the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons—could be their harvesting ritual.
And if so yokai could escape the city, that ant once they harvested enough fear, they could free themselves from the limits of human perception altogether.
They couldn't afford to waste ti.
Shinobu bit her lip, mind racing.
She watched as another wave of monsters surged forward—only to stop abruptly at the edge of the city again. The cycle repeated.
She couldn't think of a reliable strategy.
Send too few fighters? The yokai might overwhelm them.
Send too many? The monsters might expand their territory or grow stronger.
And unlike Ryuji, not everyone had such overwhelming, brute-force capabilities.
They needed more elite fighters—and fast.
Shinobu couldn't help but glance at Ryuji and asked curiously:
"Ryuji-sama… the breathing technique you use… could it be the legendary Sun Breathing?"
With demons and yokai now running rampant, many secrets were no longer hidden. Shinobu had heard whispers and rumors. If Ryuji's overwhelming power ca from Sun Breathing, she was already thinking of ways to convince her lord to strike a deal—money, won, anything. She wouldn't hesitate. She knew full well: if it was truly necessary, her lord would go to any length to fulfill Ryuji's desires and demands.
Ryuji would never co out of the deal at a loss.
"…No. Breathing techniques are a pain for ," Ryuji replied, shaking his head as dragonfire flared in his hand to treat the burns on his palm, caused by the overheated iron sword he had just thrown. "And frankly, I already have one body-training thod. I don't need another."
That was the part that annoyed him the most. Dragonfire didn't hurt him—his own flas never did, so long as he was careful.
But heated iron? Yeah, that burned like hell.
When he hurled that sword, the skin of his hand had been stripped raw. If he weren't already used to pain, he might've scread from it.
It's not like he couldn't learn a breathing technique. After all, breathing styles were, at their core, just highly focused thods of enhancing physical performance through breath control.
But his body already contained a blood-energy technique that constantly drained his life force. And that one worked by ssing directly with his heart. Add a breathing technique that also taxed his lungs and heart?
Ryuji's heart also had its limits.
And honestly? In terms of both amplifying the body and wrecking it, breathing styles didn't even co close to his blood energy technique.
"They're not even worthy of holding its shoes," he muttered.
"…So it's more like… onmyōdō or sothing?" Shinobu blinked, visibly surprised.
She'd always assud Ryuji was using so kind of secret breathing style. But to hear it wasn't?
If it was really onmyōdō…1
Her thoughts turned to her lord, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, whose family was once a line of shrine priests. If Ryuji's techniques were based on onmyōdō, then maybe the mystical arts once considered useless by her master's clan… could actually beco relevant again?
After all, there were no yokai before—so of course they didn't work then.
"…That's not an entirely wrong way to look at it," Ryuji said vaguely, not bothering to correct her. Let her think what she wanted.
Satisfied with the healing of his hand, he flicked off the excess dragonfire onto the ground. Curious to test his grip recovery, he casually reached toward Mai's chest—but before he could touch anything, she glared and raised her fan as a warning.
So, Ryuji turned to Shinobu.
Only to find Kanae —her sister—smiling sweetly as she stepped protectively in front of her.
Tsk.
Ryuji's eye twitched.
This woman.
He narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
Now really wasn't the ti for that kind of thing.
Lowering his hand, he looked back toward the yokai still shouting nonsense like "You saw !" and scratched his ear in irritation.
"Anyway, none of that really matters. These yokai… they're a bigger problem."
From his earlier attack, he could now confirm sothing important: these creatures weren't from the 7 Days to Die world. They weren't interdinsional invaders like the others—they were cultivated monsters created specifically to invade this world.
Because… they were too weak.
They looked terrifying, yes. But their defenses couldn't even withstand shrapnel. One blast of dragonfire and they turned to ash. It was honestly disappointing.
Those Cthulhu-like creatures from before? Just thinking about them, he knew—they were on a completely different level. They definitely had tricks up their sleeves.
But why weren't they the ones invading?
Were they being restricted sohow, so they had to cultivate these weaker creatures as proxies?
Or… was it simply that their re presence could spawn endless monsters?
If it was the first case, Ryuji could breathe easier.
If it was the second… then he might seriously need to consider abandoning this continent and taking Shinobu and the others elsewhere.
If hope was gone, escape was the only option.
Even with the World Power helping him recover stamina, there were so enemies he simply wouldn't be able to defeat.
As he thought this, a few more yokai—those not bound to human-populated zones—drifted down from the sky. He casually incinerated them with dragonfire, then turned his gaze to Kanae, the woman whose conceptual lifespan was nearing its end.
"By the way," Ryuji asked suddenly, "I forgot to ask earlier… have you ever seen a god?"
"Gods?" Kanae was taken aback, then slowly shook her head.
"No… I haven't seen one. But… I can vaguely feel it. There's sothing—soone—watching us."
"It's always been like that?" Ryuji asked, brows furrowing.
"Mm, even before all this began."
"…Then what the hell are those gods even doing?" Ryuji muttered as he stared up at the sky, exasperated. He had no idea what the deal was with the so-called deities of this land, but if anyone was hoping for divine intervention…
They were dreaming.
"Alright, you sisters have your chat—I'm gonna go slaughter so more yokai," he said, scanning the area. There weren't many enemies left nearby, but gathering more World Force was never a bad idea.
Besides, these monsters were easy to kill—and made for excellent live targets to test out new techniques.
"I'll help!" Mai offered, handing Ryuji back the katana and, with a fluid motion, pulled out two folding fans from sowhere in her cleavage.
Ryuji stared. He had no idea how she'd even fit those in there.
"…Are you sure fans are a good idea?" he asked, eyeing the short weapons skeptically. Sure, the fan ribs were reinforced with steel, but they were still… fans.
"You're underestimating !" Mai huffed, shooting him a glare. "Don't forget, I'm a qualified King of Fighters competitor!"
She was getting annoyed at how Ryuji always seed to act as if she needed protecting. She was a fighter, damn it.
"Yeah, but still—take the sword. I don't need weapons to deal with these guys," Ryuji replied, casually throwing a punch. Flas imdiately flared around him in response to the motion—but the intense heat still managed to burn him a little, even with his resistance.
"…Your form's off," Mai said bluntly, rolling her eyes. "You're not really much of a brawler, are you?"
"I dabble," Ryuji admitted with a grin. "Want to teach ?"
He didn't deny it—when compared to soone like Mai, a proper martial artist, he was clearly unrefined. Still, unlike breathing techniques, he had no bias against hand-to-hand styles. Martial arts were foundational, after all.
"Hmm… I guess I could. Do you have a style preference? I specialize in the Shiranui-ryu."
Ryuji was about to casually decline when a thought hit him—
Wait a minute. The King of Fighters world isn't just Mai…
There were tons of gorgeous won there:
Stoic beauties like Chizuru Kagura, the petite but deadly Kula, the seductive duo Mature and Vice…Even ones like Athena Asamiya, Yuri Sakazaki, Kasumi Todoh, and Angel—while troubleso—weren't out of reach with the right approach.
Especially Mature and Vice.
Villains like them? No one would complain if he… took them for himself.
Perfect.
His eyes glead with excitent, and the flas on his body surged ever so slightly.
Ryuji sidled up to Mai with a smile and casually slung an arm around her shoulder.
"Shiranui-ryu sounds great! Hey—how about I help spread the na of your style? Once I save this world, I'll head over to yours to learn boxing. How about that?"
Of course, Arad would be better for advanced training, but fundantals were universal—he needed a base.
"You bastard…" Mai's eye twitched.
She could instantly tell Ryuji had ulterior motives. She didn't know what exactly he was planning, but her gut told her it was nothing good.
Still, him saying he'd make Shiranui-ryu famous…
"…As if it were that easy," she muttered, smacking his hand off her shoulder and pushing him away.
This guy was always like this—shaless, openly ogling won's bodies. It was seriously irritating.
"First of all, your talent is questionable. Second—Shiranui-ryu isn't that easy to master. If you want to make it famous, you need either fa or money. Do you really think you can win the King of Fighters tournant?"
Her tone turned mocking.
"If the world finds out that the heir of Shiranui-ryu is so lecherous pervert like you, I'll have no choice but to commit seppuku and apologize to my ancestors."
Ryuji raised an eyebrow.
King of Fighters?
Why the hell would he want to win that cursed tournant?
He imdiately recalled that no KOF tournant ever ended properly. There was never a clear winner. Sohow, the whole thing always spiraled into chaos.
The only reason the event still existed was probably because every boss-level maniac out there liked showing up.
"…Okay, maybe I'm not beating your world's top fighters," Ryuji admitted, then grinned and pointed at himself.
"But what if we're rich?"
"Huh?" Mai blinked.
"This world's full of gold, isn't it? We save the world, grab a bit of treasure along the way—it's a win-win."
Surely, there were tons of abandoned mansions and vaults left behind by rich families who'd already been wiped out by the yokai.
Wasn't it only natural to… help himself to a bit?
Wealth didn't an much to him before, but that didn't an he couldn't use it.
"…Wait, you an taking it?" Mai asked, looking confused.
"I an… from families that are already dead," Ryuji said helpfully.
"..."
Mai froze.
She stood there, visibly conflicted. Her expression twisted as she tried to rationalize it.
"…Still isn't that bad?"
~~~~~~~~~~
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{Onmyōdō (陰陽道), literally "the way of yin and yang," is a traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology and occult practice. It is based on the Chinese philosophies of Yin and Yang and the Five Elents (Wuxing), and incorporates elents of astrology, astronomy, and calendar-keeping. Onmyōdō was used for divination, predicting auspicious and inauspicious tis, and influencing events through ritual practices. }
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