Chapter 426: The Cicada Sheds its Shell

Captain Tanaka’s heart tightened, not daring to show the slightest delay, and immediately turned to prepare to issue orders to his subordinates.

However, as soon as he turned around.

“Rip—!”

Above the sky, a piercing roar suddenly came without any warning.

The sound was like a huge and tough brocade, forcibly torn in half by an irresistible brute force!

Everyone subconsciously looked up.

They saw that the huge ink painting scroll, suspended in the night sky of Takamagahara, which had swallowed two SS-Class Experts, was violently bulging from within!

One.

Two.

Seven hideous bulges struggled frantically on the surface of the scroll, as if some peerless Vicious Beast was eager to break out of the painting!

“Crack!”

Accompanied by a crisp cracking sound, a hideous crack appeared in the center of the scroll.

Immediately after.

Boom—!!!

The scroll exploded with a roar!

Countless fragments burning with ink-colored flames scattered from high in the sky like doomsday meteors.

Seven hideously terrifying giant snake heads suddenly emerged from the shattered scroll, reappearing in the world with unparalleled ferocity!

They twisted their slender necks, and fourteen cold golden vertical pupils indifferently scanned the city below, which had turned into ruins.

One of the main heads slowly lowered and opened its bloody maw.

A laugh full of endless arrogance and mockery, like rolling thunder, resounded through the clouds.

“Hahahahaha!”

“Soma Kosuke, you are old!”

Qin Ze’s overlapping voice echoed in the night sky, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° full of absolute confidence.

“And I, not only revived, but also returned to youth!”

“How can your exhausted Domain trap me?”

The laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by cold judgment.

“It's very difficult for you to be my opponent anymore.”

“Give up, Kosuke.”

The seven snake heads spoke at the same time, their voices overlapping, with a hint of regret.

“You are my student after all, and I don’t want you to fall like this.”

“As long as you are willing to pledge allegiance to Lord Hiroharu, I can let you go.”

Below, Wada Hirayama saw this scene, and his always tense old face relaxed slightly.

It seemed that the outcome was already clear.

Soma Kosuke’s Domain was broken, and he must have suffered heavy injuries.

This Peak duel between SS-Class Experts, in the end, Lord Qin Ze was superior.

However, the moment Qin Ze’s voice fell.

An old and weak figure, like a kite with a broken string, fell clumsily from the shattered remnants of the scroll.

It was Soma Kosuke.

There was some fatigue on his wrinkled face.

He looked at Qin Ze and sighed deeply.

“A teacher is a teacher after all...”

Soma Kosuke looked at the seven-headed giant snake in the sky, like a god or devil, and a trace of bone-chilling sorrow and determination appeared in his cloudy eyes.

“It seems that this student will never be able to surpass your mountain.”

After speaking, Soma Kosuke’s figure retreated explosively.

Turning into a stream of light and disappearing into the sky.

“Trying to run?”

Qin Ze’s seven snake heads simultaneously let out a cold snort, their overlapping voices full of disdain.

“Do you really think you can still escape?”

The main head in the center suddenly opened its mouth wide.

An energy ball shimmering with destructive light rapidly formed in its mouth again.

“In front of me, your life and death are decided by me!”

Boom!

A thick beam of energy, carrying the aura of death that purified everything, instantly pierced the night sky, accurately blasting towards Soma Kosuke, who was falling!

“No!”

Among the crowd below, Professionals who knew Soma Kosuke let out desperate cries.

But it was all too late.

The speed of the light beam was extreme, instantly swallowing that old figure completely.

No explosion, no sound.

Soma Kosuke’s body, in that dazzling white light, was instantly evaporated and vaporized like ice and snow under the scorching sun, not even leaving a trace of ash.

A generation of SS-Class Spirit Painting Grandmaster thus fell.

On the rooftop, Wada Hirayama silently sheathed his sword, his old face showing no emotion.

Although he disagreed with Soma Kosuke’s choice, he still felt some pity for his former colleague.

In the shadows of the corner, Zhou Huai’s brows furrowed tightly.

Dead?

Just like that?

He had put in so much effort, even sacrificing a Hell-level BOSS, but still couldn’t save him?

Zhou Huai’s heart sank.

This was not the result he wanted.

Above the sky, Qin Ze’s massive seven-headed snake body slowly descended.

He seemed very satisfied with his battle results, and his fourteen golden vertical pupils showed undisguised triumph and pleasure.

His massive body coiled on the ruins of the rooftop, and one of his snake heads lowered, looking at Wada Hirayama nearby.

“Hirayama-kun.”

“You worked hard tonight.”

Wada Hirayama bowed slightly, his posture very humble.

“Lord Qin Ze overstates it.”

“It is my honor to be your Protector.”

Qin Ze’s seven heads nodded simultaneously, and then his gaze swept over the messy streets below and the terrified crowd who had survived the disaster.

His voice sounded again, with an undeniable command tone.

“Although Soma Kosuke is dead, the remnants of the Omiya Family are still there.”

“Pass on my order: starting tonight, launch a comprehensive purge of all forces related to the Omiya Family!”

“Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!”

Wada Hirayama’s heart trembled, and he immediately bowed to receive the order.

“Yes!”

However, at this moment.

Qin Ze’s massive body suddenly stiffened without any warning.

His seven arrogant snake heads turned in unison, and his fourteen golden vertical pupils stared intently in a certain direction below.

On the ruins there, at some unknown time, there was an extra painting.

An ordinary ink painting casually discarded among the rubble.

Only one thing was painted on it.

A back.

An old back in a worn kimono.

That back was desolate, lonely, yet carried a resolute determination to never bend.

Wada Hirayama also noticed the painting, his brows slightly furrowed, and a sense of ominous foreboding rose in his heart.

“Lord Qin Ze, that is...”

Qin Ze did not answer him.

He just stared intently at the painting, and his coiled snake body actually began to tremble slightly.

He had a bad feeling.

The next second.

The back in the painting seemed to come alive.

He slowly turned his head.

A smile as if mocking something.

The person in the painting opened his mouth towards the massive seven-headed giant snake in the sky.

“Teacher, we’ll meet again.”

The moment the words fell, the scroll spontaneously combusted without fire.

Along with the mocking smile in the painting, it all turned into ashes.

Boom!

Qin Ze’s sanity was completely ignited by this silent humiliation.

An aura far more terrifying than any previous one erupted from his body with a roar!

“Roar—!!!”

The seven snake heads simultaneously looked up at the sky, letting out a roar that shook the heavens!

Substantial sound waves turned into destructive impacts, spreading wildly in all directions.

The few remaining buildings that were still stubbornly standing around could no longer withstand this force, their glass curtain walls shattering inch by inch like fragile eggshells, collapsing with a roar!

Wada Hirayama’s face instantly turned pale, and he fully extended his defense, barely resisting the furious impact, his body forced to retreat repeatedly.

He looked in disbelief at the completely enraged giant beast in the sky.

Fake?

Was that Soma Kosuke who was blasted to death just now also fake?

Then where was the real Soma Kosuke?

When did he escape? And how did he escape?

Everything happened in that independent world enveloped by the scroll.

No one knew.

People only knew that the SS-Class Spirit Painting Grandmaster had fooled the arrogant Yamata no Orochi in a way no one expected.

And successfully escaped from the clutches of this enraged Vicious Beast.

In the corner, Zhou Huai silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this Soma Kosuke was not as weak as expected.