The purple electric arcs collided head-on with that stone hammer.
Boom—!
A shockwave exploded outward with the two at the center, the grass beneath their feet was ripped up by the roots, dirt and debris flew in all directions, and the air within a five-yard radius was distorted into visible ripples.
Kanbe Hikaru's heels plowed two deep furrows into the earth, his entire body pushed back three steps by the impact.
The blade of Muramasa was trembling.
Not because of a disparity in strength.
But because of something transmitted from that stone hammer that he had felt before.
Weight.
A weight that transcended physical meaning.
It was as if it wasn't a hammer coming down, but an entire mountain being pressed onto the spine of his blade.
But that wasn't even the most troublesome part.
At the moment of impact, the cracks carved with Sanskrit characters on the surface of the stone hammer suddenly lit up. Golden light poured from the patterns, transforming into dense characters that crawled like living things along the blade toward his wrist.
The instant the golden characters touched the bone armor.
Kanbe Hikaru felt his arm sink.
It was pinned.
It was as if invisible chains had burrowed out from the ground, binding his wrist, elbow, and shoulder one by one, intending to fix his entire person to this piece of land, never allowing him to move an inch.
Immovable.
These words jumped into Kanbe Hikaru's mind.
Immovable—Fudo Myo-o. In history, the god worshipped by the Takeda Clan head, the Tiger of Kai, Takeda Shingen, who was herself regarded as the incarnation of Fudo Myo-o.
That was the head of the Five Great Wisdom Kings of Buddhism, the principal protector of Esoteric Shingon.
The right hand wields the sword to sever vexations, the left hand holds the rope to bind evil spirits, seated upon a boulder, carrying the Garuda flames on the back.
The so-called Fudo Myo-o never meant that one does not move.
It is about making all enemies unable to move.
This is the power of this stone hammer.
Binding, immobilization.
A hammer that nails the target to the spot.
Meanwhile, wherever those golden characters passed, a burning sensation seeped from the surface of the bone armor to the inside.
It was not ordinary fire.
It was a type of burning specifically targeting the supernatural, originating from the same source as the power on Kakizaki Kageie's blade that weakened Demonic Qi and suppressed the supernatural, yet it was more intense and aggressive.
It felt as if it wanted to burn the Demonic Qi within him out of his flesh and bones, strand by strand.
—However.
Thunder Muscle is not just for show.
Kanbe Hikaru's pupils flashed crimson, and the lightning within his body, without needing deliberate guidance, instinctively went berserk the very moment the binding descended.
Zzzzt—!
Purple electric arcs exploded from beneath his skin, like countless enraged snakes, spreading outward along his arms.
The lightning struck the golden characters.
The characters shattered, and that layer of immovable binding was forcibly torn open by the electric arcs.
In an instant, Kanbe Hikaru's body regained its freedom.
He kicked off the ground with his heels, his entire body charging forward like a cannonball.
The Muramasa slashed diagonally upward from below, cutting a reverse kesa-giri, its blade wreathed in purple lightning, aiming straight for the waist and abdomen of that red-haired Hime-musha on horseback.
At the same time, Bone Spikes drilled out from his elbows, and three white bone spears simultaneously pierced toward the opponent's left side—the opening exposed by the hammer's backswing.
Yamagata Masakage's reaction was not slow in the slightest.
She did not swing the hammer to parry; the stone hammer was too heavy, and once swung out, it was difficult to retract immediately to change its trajectory.
She simply chose a more direct method.
She released her right hand.
The freed right palm, encased in a gauntlet, slapped directly onto the spine of the Muramasa.
The moment the palm made contact with the blade, golden light bloomed once again, and that immovable binding force conducted along the blade, attempting to freeze Kanbe Hikaru's offensive.
But the lightning on the Muramasa also struck back simultaneously.
Gold and purple clashed on the blade's surface, the two forces vibrating the air into a hum, and the result was obvious—Yamagata Masakage was directly shaken by the lightning to the point where she could barely maintain her grip, unable to keep from swaying on horseback.
In this split second, the three bone spears had already arrived.
At the critical moment, Yamagata Masakage only had time to arch her waist backward, barely dodging two of them.
But the tip of the third bone spear pierced through the edge of her shoulder armor.
The armor plate shattered.
A bloody gash, deep enough to see bone, appeared on the patch of exposed skin beneath the dark silver armor.
"Oh?"
Having struggled free, Yamagata Masakage gasped and looked down.
Her expression changed.
It was not anger, nor was it fear, but clarity—a clarity pulled from instinct.
Her mount stumbled back three steps under the residual force of the bone spears, its hooves crushing the scorched earth, retreating again and again, almost instantly exiting the range of Kanbe Hikaru's blade.
This caused Kanbe Hikaru to pause slightly, and the slowly rising killing intent halted along with it.
The red-haired Hime-musha gripped the stone hammer again but did not charge once more—because she could not, and dared not, for the momentary exchange made her realize the enemy's strength and tenacity... If she continued to fight, she would lose, or even, die.
Thus, she decisively ceased, not daring to continue.
She had lost her nerve.
She was also looking.
Looking at the forest of bones behind Kanbe Hikaru, the blood mist still permeating the air, and the two armies forcibly separated.
Looking at the Hojo Clan's military formation—the formation was still there, but the commander...
Her gaze locked onto a figure with long, dark hair.
Hojo Ujiyasu.
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