Demonic Kitsune

“KGRHHH!” 

The Demonic Bull shrieked deafeningly, its cries filled with demonic energy reverberating through the passage. Clare stood before it, its lofty body bleeding slightly behind her.

Closing the gap between herself and the Demonic Bull at breakneck speed, she parted ways with it, leaving a long, narrow diagonal slash from its left shoulder through its rib cage down to its right waist.

Roaring in pain, the Demonic Bull attacked again, swinging its left arm to counter Clare from behind. Her instincts tingled; her ears twitched in alert, and even her bushy tails stiffened at the ends, sensing the danger. Catching up to the threat in a frenzy, she temporarily halted the beast using the "Shield of Petrification." This move unleashed a burst of two energies, unsettling in their power, and turned one of its hefty feet to stone, slowing its movement.

The Demonic Bull was incredibly sturdy. Clare felt a shock rip through her internally as she endured the aftershock of halting the beast's movement. Blood trickled from her nose and ears due to the agonizing pressure, which she wiped away with her robe's sleeve.

Despite the pain, she couldn't waste any more time. Stopping the Bull was only temporary. Clare gripped her scythe tightly and unleashed the "First Form of Windfery."

Her curved black blade dashed through the air, creating a wide, curved slash that struck two different sections of the Bull's body simultaneously. Blood splattered as the wounds opened, and the beast's cries once again shook the passage.

Clare sensed something was wrong. The wounds weren't deep. In the dimly lit passage, she could tell from the beast's roar that it was far from defeated. She jumped back six meters.

The two stood staring at each other from a safe distance, neither daring to look away. 

The Mana of Fossilization that Clare had used for the first strike was nowhere to be seen. Initially, she planned to slay the Demonic Bull in one attack using this mana, but she reconsidered. It was a rare opportunity to practice her techniques away from prying eyes. Clare felt restrained by constantly having to hide her true abilities, even while standing out. Now, she wanted to test her current strength without any special techniques. She didn’t even release her bloodlust. If she had, she would have slaughtered the Demonic Bull long ago.

With holy mana and demonic energy, senses, instincts, and traits acquired from both her foxy and demonic sides, Clare wanted to see how strong she had become in this body using her dark scythe, unlike her previous life’s weapon. She also wanted to know if she had reached the level of prowess to utilize her knowledge of the Ancient Holy Text she had sold before she died.

Finishing her thoughts, Clare imbued holy mana into her calves and left the ground in a way that made her existence seem to glitch. Feeling the rapid movement of airbrush across her face, her eyes darted within the dimly lit passage toward the Demonic Bull. With her scythe gripped tightly, she unfolded her advanced sword techniques, mastered to the maximum in her past life, along with the hints from the Chaotic Windfiery of Hellscythe handout, the Power of Shockwaves, and the Power of Three Absolute Explosion Techniques.

As she approached the Demonic Bull, it dashed toward her. With crimson traces of blood littering the ground, it imbued its hefty fists with demonic energy, unleashing multiple jabs and swings in all directions. Clare swiftly ducked and rolled to evade the waves of attacks, which smashed into the ground.

To fully evade the next series of attacks, Clare’s ears twitched in alarm. She performed multiple backward somersaults to regain footing as the monster rushed with simultaneous vertical and horizontal jabs, smashing into the bricked wall.

Amid this chaotic exchange, the Demonic Bull carefully imbued demonic energy into its feet, attempting to execute a grass-cut maneuver against the nimble fox. As the cold air at the bottom shook, Clare hopped up, evading it. She countered with a holy mana-coated kick to the Bull’s black cheek, pushing it back two meters, and leaving it in an unstable stance. Clare wasn’t going to allow it to regain its balance. Now was the time.

More onslaughts from her scythe clashed with the Bull’s demonic energy-coated fists, sending shockwaves and explosive power throughout the dimly lit passage, leaving it partially devastated.

Before the Demonic Bull could ponder further, a mysterious clap emanated from Clare. Her hands, now coated with both demonic energy and holy mana, brushed past the monster. It instinctively threw a jab, but it met an empty void. Before it realized what was happening, death loomed over it.

From behind, Clare’s nine tails tensed up as her nimble body swirled in the air. Creating momentum with her scythe, she twisted in mid-air, swinging it like a Beyblade. The curved crescent arc created a blast of shockwave and ignited an explosion that lacerated the already bleeding Demonic Bull. Blood splattered as its eyes rolled back. The agonizing pain that shot through its body was enormous. If not for the special training from the Strong Arrancars, its life would have ended in a flash.

“KKKGRRRR!”

Forcibly awakening its fading mind by biting its tongue, the Demonic Bull Lord instantly retreated from Clare, guiding itself with thick, bleeding arms. It couldn’t give up even if it was about to die. It seemed to hate this demonic fox as if it had fought against her before in the Demonic Plagued Rainforest and survived by luck. If it recalled correctly, whether or not she was the real culprit, Foxy was cunningly dangerous, and it must take revenge for its slain comrades.

Coating its reddish demonic energy in its feet, it rushed at great speed towards Clare, not caring for its bleeding wounds. It zig-zagged, attempting to confuse her senses, and countered with a hefty, stiffened fist powerful enough to destroy tree trunks in one fell swoop.

Not bad. In fact, not bad at all. Clare seemed to know what this Pseudo-Second Chain Demonic Beast intended to do. Its intelligence might be tingling to go all out after all; its life was already on countdown.

The Demonic Bull had adapted to the techniques of the Arrancars it fought in near-death experiences. Defeating it wouldn’t be easy for a normal elite Arrancar. But Clare was no ordinary fighter.

Clare’s eyes brimmed with bloodlust as she witnessed the Demonic Bull unleash its demonic fist. She wondered what torturous experiences or battles had caused it to evolve so quickly. Its intelligence had spiked, but to Clare, this made no difference.

Right. Clare rotated her waist and body backward as soon as she felt the air change direction from the approaching fist. Though her body was still too little for such a task, she endured the agonizing pain and followed the air direction. The air was forced out, and a dreadful tension loomed.

Enraged that it managed to injure her, Clare narrowly escaped the Demonic Bull Lord’s demonic fist. The shockwave was enough to tremble the passage, causing deep cracks in the walls. Her busty tails instinctively sensed an opening shown by the Demonic Bull Lord.

With a firm grip on her scythe, Clare hacked off its right horn as she retreated. It was a bull, and yanking out one horn was feasible. She couldn’t stop there. When a demonic beast exuded such power, it was bound to be exhausted. Clare returned for another strike, raising the tip of her blade and stabbing downward.

Blood splattered as a deafening groan resounded. She had slashed off the bull’s eyes for daring to injure her. Using her holy mana, she chased the bull as it tried to flee. Though critically injured, it was still fast.

In the pitch-black passage, she could see the bull’s movements. Intuitively, she felt where it was. The Demonic Bull Lord halted, realizing its exit was cut off.

Letting out a deep breath, she flexed her arm wielding the scythe. Her body tensed, trembling abruptly as her tail froze in anticipation. The quivering increased, and her figure vanished from its spot.

ריקוד הרוחות המשתוללות: Dance of the Raging Winds: Explosive Blade Dance.

Combining techniques from her last handouts, Clare resurfaced in front of the Bull’s snout. A flurry of dark and spooky crescent slashes formed a dual moon and exploded from her scythe’s blade.

“Do you know why I chose a scythe? Because I want to cut off their heads like a Grim Reaper!”

Explosions blended with blood resonated in the passageway, trembling it to the core. The devastated walls and cracked ground were stained with blood.

— — — — —

The sound of metal slashing through the air and smashing against brick walls caused a shockwave and explosion, inflicting wounds on a sturdy, metal-like body. It was like an army of assassins and knights unleashing a hail of daggers and swords. Clare had slashed with her scythe multiple times in that one moment.

Clare, emitting both bloodlust and the Mana of Fossilization, quickly stepped back. She swung away the clotted blood from her scythe and strolled around, observing the Demonic Bull, which still stood like a wall, despite being covered in cracks and craters.

The Demonic Bull couldn't move properly, even if it wanted to. It could only grit its teeth and groan, thoroughly humiliated by Clare’s relentless assault.

‘Why won't it die already?’ she thought.

Examining the creature, she noted minor bruises, severe burns from explosions, and large wounds bleeding vigorously. One of its arms was cut off, and rapid blood loss caused it to tremble with dizziness.

It was mind-boggling that it was still standing. Any other monster without near-death experiences or battles against Arrancers would have died by now. Even more so, Clare's last attack was powerful enough to inflict serious damage. However, the Demonic Bull was sturdy enough to withstand her attacks better than she had hoped.

It seemed as if the critical injuries weren't fatal enough to bring it down. Could its super tough skin have evolved? Every attack Clare inflicted bruised her palm as though she were striking titanium. Despite gasping for breath, the Bull’s fierce gaze remained.

In other words, it was going to take a while to win in a battle of endurance with her current level as a half-breed Nin. That was impossible for now. Her second alternative was to put her life on the line.

However, Clare had no intention of jeopardizing her life over a measly, unholy beast. Besides, if Clare wasn’t testing herself to evaluate her real strength since awakening as a Half-breed Nin, this wouldn't even take that long. The Demonic Bull or whatever it was would already be minced chunks of burnt meat.

Subconsciously, it seemed her demonic and foxy sides resonated, sizing up the predator as though it had turned into prey.

“KGRRRRH!”

A chill crept up the Demonic Bull’s spine. It groaned vigorously, as though its pride was hurt. Did it notice Clare's intimidating gaze, or did it believe she was looking down on it? If it could talk, it would have screamed or rained curses on the cunning little demonic fox. 

Alas, it couldn’t. 

As Clare shifted her posture, it yelled as though it could no longer keep in the pent-up emotion and bared its sharp fangs, aiming to smash them into its fists, displaying its monstrosity. Clare didn’t understand what had riled it up but went with the flow, answering with a snort, as though the Bull was being charming.

“Pfft… Haha, what a cute bull! Aiming to catch me off-guard! What a joke! In any case, let’s just get this over with. I need a shower, you know.”

The air became heavy with a strong bloodlust that began to permeate Clare’s body. The bloodlust had a hint of both Holy Mana and Demonic energy. Soon, a yellowish-red-purplish-dark pall began to rise, and Clare’s eyes gradually turned a deep emerald, like green Dahlia. Within her body, the three energies began to swirl and churn.

“BUUU! BUUU!”

The Demonic Bull let out a fearful howl, intuitively recognizing its impending demise. Perhaps it was terrified because of the strange and unfamiliar vibe swirling around Clare.

“BUUU! BUUU!”

Revenge clouded its recently gained intelligence. It wouldn't give up, even if Death drew near. That was what its raging appearance suggested. However, its attitude and cry shifted to a low growl, sounding more desperate as it hurled forward.

Since that kind of insignificant threat wouldn't work on Clare, she noticed the Bull’s mental shift as she clutched her scythe tightly and walked toward it.

‘That works. At the very least, this seems worthy of a fight.’

She thought as the Demonic Bull approached. Its speed had decreased considerably. It was more like a predator's desperation to avoid becoming prey and dying pathetically, even in its final moments.

Crimson trails followed as blood dripped from every pore of its battered body. Clare majestically approached, disseminating more of the three energies. She instinctively analyzed the Bull’s features as they neared each other. It surprised Clare that the Bull resembled her in the final moments of her prior life. Even though she didn't want to succumb to death again, she recognized the terror and despair of desperation to survive, even if only for a bit longer.

The Demonic Bull had never known any terror aside from being slaughtered by its own kind. But now, it felt terror as they got closer. In fact, it hadn’t been intimidated even when the Arrancars strictly trained and tortured it to evolve and to be able to take on the little Arrancars. 

But right now, in front of Clare, the Half-breed Nin, the Demonic Bull felt like it was struggling through a thick, dark sea of despair toward the Grim Reaper who slowly approached. The Bull’s left hand was no longer there, turned to stone by the Mana of Fossilization and slashed off in the last attack. 

This scene clearly demonstrated the efficacy of Clare’s derivative technique, Mana of Fossilization, which was derived from the full exploration of the Superiorization of True Deviation.

If subjected to this procedure, an ordinary individual would most certainly die from blood loss if the exposed subject-turned-stone was cut off on the spot. If there were a major issue, it would most likely be that it consumes far too much energy and mental fortitude to maintain. Due to the Bull's strong skin, the Mana of Fossilization couldn’t even puncture it properly without extreme concentration and long exposure.

Immediately, the Mana of Fossilization activated and wrapped around Clare like a blanket.

Her nine fluffy tails flinched in stress, then relaxed. Every nook and cranny of her tensed-up body was soothed like an autumn river as her concentration peaked. With her free hand gesturing in a tiger sign, it spread out like fog in all directions. Clare’s peaked mental fortitude amplified the thickest parts, attempting to turn the Bull to stone.

As a result, both her Holy Mana and Demonic energy consumption, alongside her mental fortitude, were enormous. She could easily defeat this unholy Bull if she could amass her energies and channel them into her weapon to solidify it into an aura. But Clare hadn’t yet reached that level with her current form of GIMEL. Contrary to the benefits she was grateful for, her body was holding her back. She knew, however, that she could get there within a year.

Focusing her concentration fully on the approaching Demonic Bull, whose movements had become more sluggish, Clare ignored her insufficiency. Her bloodlust soon vanished, leaving only the two energies dwindling rapidly.

With each grateful step, she took, her senses and instincts expanded even more. If she lost track of the Demonic Bull for just a second, it was clear that it would try any trick in the book as soon as it got close, the moment she showed some space. 

Simply put, Clare had to end this now.

The fog began to petrify everything in its path, turning both stone and dust into solid rock. It surged forward as soon as the Bull entered its range. The moment the fog touched the Bull's sturdy skin, its fate was sealed.

Simultaneously, Clare’s ears twitched, and her feet moved according to her intention as her scythe hung in the air. Though the Bull sensed her approach and mid-air horizontal attack, its body failed to respond to its desire and desperation to survive. Its body had been petrified.

Who would have known that its predator life would end like this? As prey. It wanted to at least deal with one last attack to mark its existence in its foe’s heart.

Alas, the powerful blow that required all of Clare’s might never give it a chance. 

The scythe’s curved blade slashed the Bull’s stiffened neck like a knife through butter, utilizing the Mana of Fossilization to penetrate. The head fell off, hard as stone, and broke into pieces. Blood splashed like a fountain from its neck.

It was a beautiful crimson scene that would eerily mark itself deeply in anyone’s mind who witnessed it.