Reincarnated in a Shounen Manga

How long had they been there? Were they there the whole time?

The extra person at the back of the group had dark blue hair, haunting purple eyes, and wore a loose purple kimono that appeared ready to slip off her curvaceous body. She possessed an unusual grace and an unnatural level of beauty.

I recognized her; she was Sei’s mother, also known as the Demon in the Mirror.

As a former member of the Seimei Clan, she possessed considerable strength. Though she was certainly formidable enough to give me trouble if I were alone, I wasn't as concerned with the others present—especially since Sei's special ability countered her's, raising our chances of winning to near certainty.

Noxy, or Sume as she was called in her human identity, could use this encounter to help Sei overcome his trauma and grow...

But my thoughts came to a sudden halt. Sei's mother had two white fox tails, but this woman had nine. This couldn't be Noxy... this was the Nine-Tailed Fox!

She locked eyes with me, freezing my body in place. I couldn't even open my mouth to yell. Even my Ord refused to respond!

{Perfect Me}

In an instant, the restraining pressure around me vanished as I overcame the interference. I deactivated Perfect Me and shouted a warning. "Behind you!"

They whirled around towards the figure behind them. Sei's hair turned silver, and his eyes filled with rage. "You!"

Discarding his usual calm demeanor, Sei threw a reckless punch at the woman, but his fist was stopped by a thin translucent barrier. Tamae No Mae exhaled as though unimpressed, sending Sei flying back until he crashed into the wall behind me, creating a massive crater.

Tamae, however, didn't emerge entirely unscathed. Chain tattoos slithered around her arms, and she frowned. "That's the brat I wasn't supposed to harm? Your son? Well, next time, make it clearer. Now release the restriction; I won't kill him. You know our deal."

She was conversing with someone—likely Sei's mother, whom she had possessed. So that was it. Tamae had made some agreement with Noxy. The Demonic Exorcist probably played a significant role in this situation since he had apparently destroyed the Red Tails, which Noxy was a part of.

As the dark chain tattoos on Tamae's arms faded, Agon decided that it was his turn now to attack. He collided against the barrier, his eyes fierce and serpentine. It seemed that Orochi was now in control.

The translucent barrier barely held against Agon's now clawed hand, gaining an increasingly purple tint with each hit. Upon the third strike, the barrier finally shattered.

Tamae appeared unfazed and sighed in disappointment. "You're just a one-trick pony, always relying on your poison in every situation. No wonder you're so weak when you’re sealed."

A small sphere of frighteningly dense red energy formed at her fingertips, which she flicked at Agon in a lightning-fast attack. In an instant, Agon went from destroying her barrier to having a massive, gaping hole in his chest.

Agon's body slumped to the ground, and my heart nearly stopped. Was this the end? Had Agon bitten off more than he could chew?

Tamae approached Agon, narrowing her eyes at the closing wound on his chest. "So you possess regeneration as well. However, it's clear that you lack your tough scales. Yamata No Orochi, you were born strong but never sought to grow more powerful. Someone as inflexible as you could never match someone like me."

She traced delicate symbols in the air with her finger, and they floated ethereally towards Agon. His serpentine eyes and dark nails receded as Agon reverted back to his normal form.

This was disastrous!

I had hoped Agon could handle this problem; it was the entire reason why I had brought him along. But he couldn't even scratch her! Yamata No Orochi's powers were ill-suited for being sealed.

"Without your raw power, you're nothing compared to me," Tamae snorted, using a powerful telekinetic push to slam Agon next to Sei. They were both unconscious now, and the closest person to the ultimate class demon was Anika, who was visibly trembling. As a Blaster, she could sense the difference between us and someone like the Nine-Tailed Fox. Her will to fight was already shattered.

I leaped off the ground to stand beside Anika, pulling her back urgently. The Nine-Tailed Fox observed without uttering a word.

"Anika, we need to be in our best condition for a fight like this!" I shook her shoulder, trying to snap her out of her daze.

"You don't understand. She possesses more Ord than I've ever sensed before, surpassing all of the ultimate demons we have faced in the war, combined. Yet her control over her Ord is flawless, precise as a scalpel… How many centuries—no, millennia, had she focused on honing that single aspect?" Anika wondered aloud in awestruck terror.

Tamae watched with a smile on her face and added, "Intelligent girl, you. I'm almost saddened that you all have to die."

As soon as she mentioned that, though, a frown creased her face as she looked up above Anika’s head. "What is that thing doing there?"

I turned my head to follow her gaze but saw nothing. Nonetheless, a shiver ran down my spine. There was something there that only Tamae could see, and I had a vague idea of what it might be.

The 'thing' that the Raion Clan was hiding, the guardian of the clan... Well, calling it a ‘guardian’ was overselling it a bit; ‘cosmic horror’ would be more accurate.

Tamae's eyes narrowed, and her purple eyes briefly flashed every color of the rainbow as she frowned. "Huh, and here I thought that beings like you couldn't get through the barrier. How did you even get here?"

She knew what it was?! It seemed that Tamae No Mae was more powerful than I had assumed. Being confined in Noxy's body, her power should have been somewhat weakened. However, due to her wide range of expertise, she could display more of her power than Orochi could.

"The Raion Clan... Heh, they must have made some deals before the barriers were erected," she mused.

She was spot on. Though Tamae No Mae wasn't known for her divination skills, she had a knack for it. Though if asked, she would claim that her ability to look into the past or future was mediocre at best.

No—I mustn't waste time thinking such useless things. I needed to get in contact with Carpy; we were close to the sea, and he could blast this pyramid to smithereens.

But before I could finish thinking things through, Tamae had different ideas and sent an invisible shockwave at us. The blast had enough power that even before it reached us, it began causing cracks against the walls and support beams of the tomb, the same tomb that had been made by the magician to be unbreakable.

However, before the blast reached us, darkness engulfed the area. As if someone had turned off the lights, which was impossible since this place was lit up by torches.

Then the lights came on again, and Anika was no longer by my side. Tamae was still there, and she narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Teleportation? Not in range, just out of the tomb," she mused. "Even past the bastard's anti-teleportation seals..."

But she didn't have time to dwell for too long, as she looked down at her own rotting arm. She sighed annoyedly and severed it. "Those outside creeps, always too troublesome."

Within seconds, her stump bubbled as a fresh arm sprouted from it. She clenched her fist and hummed, turning to me and my unconscious companions behind me. Her silver tails swished behind her. "Sorry kid, but I need a blood sacrifice to free myself from this curse. I can't kill either of your companions; the Seimei one because of the deal, and that bastard magician was definitely vindictive enough to imbue the seal with something that would kill his son's murderer."

My heart sank at her words. Was I about to die like this? It was a lame death, but it’s not like death was glamorous. My brain went into desperate overdrive as I tried to find a way out, until I remembered that despite her cruelty, Tamae No Mae didn't want humanity destroyed. "Wait, why don’t you check my fate first? Without me, there will be many troublesome things in the future."

I hoped that whatever future me did, it would be something that would interest her more than being killed here.

She appeared unconvinced, a flicker of something passing through her eyes. Then, she visibly cringed, a glint of amusement underlying her tone. "Kid, you've got one messed up destiny awaiting you. Your demise will be agonizing and brutal; I genuinely feel sorry for you. Tell you what, if you willingly offer your blood, I'll spare your life."

Giving my blood willingly? I activated Perfect Me for a moment, recalling countless rituals I had read about. Giving my blood willingly would likely weaken the seal enough for her to seek another blood sacrifice.

However, something else troubled me. My impending death... gruesome and painful? My mind went blank as I absorbed her words. "What… How will I die?"

"Don't fret. Your demise, at least, will yield something formidable," she shrugged casually, almost as an afterthought. "Dispatching you here would be bothersome—it would merely speed up a predetermined fate."

She had no reason to deceive me. She could have ended my life in an instant or violated the contract and sacrificed Sei.

Wait—no—this could still be a part of her scheme! I mustn't let my thoughts wander. Perhaps she was mistaken and saw the original Kon's death. Yeah, that had to be it.

Yet, deep down, I knew someone of her caliber wouldn't make such an error.