Chapter 68: You Know What Fishing Is?.JPG
[Night-Wandering Woman Activated]
[One hooks the stars, one flies unseen, flying by night, hidden by day, like a ghost or a god]
The sky was overcast, the moon red.
Although the weather had been forcibly changed by Natsuba Hanae, the moment the template system’s voice sounded, she knew the manipulation had been successful.
The golden cherry blossom pattern appeared on her brow, and she entered the Night-Wandering Woman state.
Her physical stats were enhanced.
Seeing the C-rank stewards spread out in groups of three and rush towards her, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Then, she lightly tapped her foot against the ground, as light as a feather.
She shot forward like an arrow released from its bow!
The first two burly, power-type supernatural user stewards were out of luck. In a single instant, without even seeing her move…
They were sent flying.
“Boom———!”
They crashed into the surrounding walls, which instantly cracked. And the power-type supernatural users, their bones shattered, their internal organs ruptured, collapsed to the ground, dead.
Seeing this, Natsuba Hanae clenched her fists.
A look of satisfaction appeared in her deep red eyes, and she accelerated again. Looking down from above, she was like a black line, zigzagging back and forth, hunting down the supernatural users.
And these C-rank supernatural users couldn’t even withstand a single blow from her.
Natsuba Hanae wasn’t using large-scale destructive abilities like Sanctuary Flame. She was testing her own physical strength and power.
Before her battle with the Old God, her physical stats had been her weak point as an A-rank.
So, she had never fought anyone with her bare hands.
But after devouring the Old God, even though it hadn’t been fully digested yet, everything had changed.
Natsuba Hanae’s final weakness had been largely compensated for.
Her current body was a concentrated, miniature version of the Old God’s body, a body that could hold its own, and even have a slight advantage, against the combined forces of Inpi and Kōsei.
The more she used her power, the faster she fused with the Old God’s body.
A faint light appeared in Natsuba Hanae’s deep red eyes, and the smile on her lips deepened.
Looking at Natsuba Genryū, who was watching from the west gate in the distance, she suddenly exerted her strength and threw the supernatural user steward in her hand like a chick.
“Boom———!!”
The steward exploded against the newly constructed barrier.
Crimson blood bloomed like a beautiful flower.
“Crack—”
The partially repaired barrier cracked slightly.
And Natsuba Genryū, who was very close to this barrier, his pure golden eyes narrowed slightly, filled with apprehension.
He murmured,
“The Master of Summer Harvest Mountain is even stronger than I thought.”
“But I didn’t expect her to be a woman.”
A woman, in the Natsuba conglomerate, was undoubtedly a term for a lower-class person.
The black skirt danced among the numerous supernatural users like a butterfly, her movements sharp and graceful like a symphony, yet every move was deadly.
There was no wasted motion.
Initially, the lotus flower that descended from the sky had made Natsuba Genryū think that her ability was a spell-casting type.
So he had wanted to use his blood-red sword qi to force her down.
But she had dodged his attack and flown down on her own.
Seeing this, he immediately formulated a battle plan, sending the peak C-rank stewards in groups of three to exhaust the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain’s supernatural power.
After all, if she was a spell-casting type, the more she was exhausted, the greater his chances of winning in a direct confrontation.
But now, what was happening before his eyes had caught him completely off guard.
He gritted his teeth slightly and said,
“Interesting.”
“Was it to mislead me?”
“Clearly a close-combat supernatural user, she must have used all her strength to launch that powerful blood-red lotus.”
“I sent the peak C-rank close-combat supernatural users up, and they walked right into her trap, to be slaughtered one by one.”
A-rank close-combat supernatural users were mostly sustainable.
For example, Natsuba Genryū, as he fought, would gather killing intent from each person he killed or injured, to replenish his own power.
He guessed that she was the same.
“But if you think you can easily take down the Natsuba family, you’re gravely mistaken.”
“And we will never compromise with a woman.”
Natsuba Genryū had prepared two plans.
One for an A-rank close-combat supernatural user, and the other for an A-rank ranged supernatural user.
He made a small gesture.
The hidden B-rank stewards immediately began to act.
The Mizuō branch gathered in one place, and using their ability, they instantly unleashed a massive torrent of water, which surged towards Natsuba Hanae like a flash flood.
This was an indiscriminate attack.
The peak C-rank supernatural users had been mostly wiped out by Natsuba Hanae; they had no choice but to disregard the rest.
And after the torrent of water submerged Natsuba Hanae, the ice-type supernatural users from another area reached into the water, instantly freezing it solid.
Natsuba Hanae leaped from one freezing torrent to another, dodging.
Other offensive supernatural users continuously fired energy attacks, restricting her movement.
However, several peak B-rank supernatural users applied a series of debuffs on her, and she slowed down slightly.
The torrent of water immediately surged up and froze Natsuba Hanae into a beautiful ice sculpture.
The ice-type supernatural users immediately increased their power, pouring all their energy into solidifying the ice sculpture.
“Did it work?!”
Natsuba Genryū frowned. Although the peak C-rank supernatural users in the main residence had been almost completely wiped out…
And the B-rank supernatural users had used almost all their strength…
Even so, it seemed a bit too easy.
This didn’t match the oppressive feeling the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain had initially given them.
Although, if the weakling A-rank Kujō head had come alone, he would have most likely died here.
But this was the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain, who had been making big moves recently.
Of course, the Kujō head would never come alone.
If the Kujō and Natsuba conglomerates really went to war, the Kujō head could use all his strength to fight him for a while, and then use his greater number of B-rank supernatural users to overwhelm the Natsuba stewards in a two-on-one battle.
And win.
At that point, even if Natsuba Genryū defeated the Kujō head, he would be powerless to stop the rest of the Kujō family from retreating to their main residence.
In the end, even if the Natsuba family was wiped out, leaving him an old, lonely man, the Kujō family would only have to wait a few decades for a new A-rank to appear.
As Natsuba Genryū was thinking…
Natsuba Kouryu slowly walked out from behind him, his hands in his pockets, a fake, gentle smile on his face.
“Father, you see.”
“Just as I said, the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain is nothing to be afraid of.”
“Even if a woman becomes an A-rank, she’s the weakest A-rank.”
“However, she is an A-rank. If a child is born to an A-rank woman, their supernatural talent will likely be astonishing.”
“Why don’t we…”
“Imprison her in the Natsuba house?”
Natsuba Kouryu instantly took all the credit.
In his view, besides obtaining a Rule from the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain, there was another benefit.
If he could make the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain…
Continuously give birth to children, then the children born would be at least B-rank. The Natsuba conglomerate’s core strength would rapidly expand in a few decades.
They would be comparable to the Kujō family.
Not only that, but a greedy glint appeared in Natsuba Kouryu’s pale golden eyes.
Although he couldn’t see her face, conquering an A-rank woman was an incredibly intoxicating feeling. It meant he was even greater than an A-rank.
And if he captured her, in the Natsuba conglomerate, he would surely have the right to enjoy her.
He licked his dry lips, his expression turning sinister for a moment.
On the other side, Natsuba Taiga, hearing this, was stunned for a moment.
Then he quickly reacted and said,
“Indeed. And if we can somewhat tame this A-rank, even if she can’t fight for us…”
“I can fight with her, to accelerate my own progress to A-rank.”
Natsuba Taiga, a battle maniac, thought of this.
Fighting an A-rank would undoubtedly improve his skills and speed up his progress to A-rank. Natsuba Genryū, as the head of the family, naturally couldn’t spar with him.
But now, it seemed there was another possibility.
And Natsuba Yosuke, behind them, was a bit dumbfounded.
He hadn’t expected the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain, with whom he had just made a deal, to be captured by the Natsuba conglomerate.
If she revealed their deal, he would be in deep trouble.
But for now, he had no choice but to agree with his older brothers and figure things out later.
So he said,
“I agree.”
The three Natsuba sons were truly talented, constantly influencing and interfering with Natsuba Genryū’s thoughts.
And according to their ancestral ideology…
Women were inferior, lowly beings. Perhaps even after becoming an A-rank, she was indeed the weakest A-rank, no different from the weakened Kujō head.
“In that case, we’ll imprison the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain in the main residence.”
“We’ll have the senior sorcerers apply more ‘Seal’ talismans.”
When Natsuba Genryū finished speaking…
Natsuba Kouryu took the lead, stepping out of the main residence’s range.
He walked towards the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain.
In Natsuba Kouryu’s view, since his father had already confirmed her imprisonment, he would naturally be the first to approach, to take the ice sculpture.
He would seize the initiative and be the first to enjoy the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain.
The greed in his eyes grew more intense.
He quickly arrived in front of the frozen Master of Summer Harvest Mountain.
And the ice-type supernatural user had already come from behind, placing his hand on the ice sculpture, ready to maintain the powerful freezing effect at a moment’s notice.
Natsuba Kouryu’s right hand instantly transformed into a deep black dragon claw.
He prepared to lift the large block of ice.
However, just then…
He saw the frozen Master of Summer Harvest Mountain’s brilliant, deep red eyes slowly turn and fixate on him.
In an instant, his hair stood on end, and a chill ran down his spine.
An indescribable sense of threat surged from within him!
…
