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[Lee Jeong-Hun's POV]
If my previous memory served me well, it was around this time that Japan fell due to the Nine-Tailed Fox's influence. With her magic, she managed to spread madness and chaos at a rapid speed, pulling the strings behind the scene. The Fox managed to enchant the politician to frame the various clan that maybe pose a danger to her. By locking them up, there wouldn't be anyone left that could stall time until the reinforcement came. With normal humans not exposed to magic, it's easier for her to control her victims by casting hallucinations causing them to go crazy. It only took 2 Weeks for the downfall of Japan.
With memories of the previous timeliness checked, I head my way over to the airport heading for Japan. The person I contacted previously was the current head of the Abe Clan, Abe Asahi, whom I warned that the Nine-Tailed-Fox's arrival and to be prepared—making sure that people often importance will be guarded at all times.
The head clan owed me a favor due to receiving my help in saving one of their clan's elders. Though the Abe Clan is a clan filled with Onmyouji or Onmyodo practitioners, on the surface they were a really powerful family that had a huge influence in the country.
The clan head agreed and all plans were to proceed as planned. The clan head would have awakeners seeking out the beast while other clan members will be in charge of the safety of the country.
The Fox had been hiding everywhere in Japan at a quick speed. In order to hide from her pursuers, she can disguise herself as human and no one would be able to tell the difference unless they used a shikigami or used Onmyodo magic. The Fox has been luring the hunters into a trap and ambushed them, devouring their spirit. These actions had been repeated, causing more and more Omnyouji to fall. There was a couple of time she outsmarted them as well as she adapted quickly to the current era.
Because of this, no one could find where she went.
No one, except for me.
In my past lives, the champions and I tracked the fox down in her lair where a massive pile of carcasses was stacked on top of one another with all their flesh and muscle mutilated and eaten. The fox had hidden so that she could gain strength while killing off the humans.
When she was killed by the 2 warriors sent by the 76th Emperor of Japan, her spirit turned into the killing stone. But after she killed enough people as the killing stone, she had enough power to break free from the stone just before being sealed by Buddhist monk Gennō Shinshō.
From the encounter we had previously, she was still in the midst of recovering her strength when devouring all the captured and enchanted humans. With God's help, she was stuck in Japan unable to leave. That was where she was slain for good. Countless lives were lost that day, some of which were very important chess pieces that could have even the tides in the upcoming war. And all it left behind was a Kitsune Mask.
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The Kitsune Mask left behind was one of the strongest artifacts to be found in the mortal world.
Usage of the Mask granted you the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox along with other additional power she may have. Once equipped with the mask, it will be bound with you forever until you are dead. The downside is that relying on the mask too much will end up driving the user mad and cannibalistic. I had to end up killing the man who was corrupted by the mask.
Ironically, the mask reminded me of the man I fought in the Imoogi Dungeon.
However, this time it will be different. She recently emerged from the Killing Stone and has not made her move yet. So this time, I will end the Nine-Tailed's reign and claim the Kitsune Mask.
As I emerged from the airport, I could already sense there were people already tailing and waiting for me at the entrance of Osaka International Airport. With a snap of my finger, I summoned the Wind Spirit, Sylph, to camouflage me as I slip through the crowd, disappearing from their sight.
In the next couple of hours, I have done all the preparation I need to face the Nine-Tailed Fox. Leaving the hotel room I rented, I once again summoned Sylph and with her help, flew across the city and headed straight for one place, the Osaka Castle. With a beautiful view on top and plenty of people to kidnap as meals, this was the perfect location for the beast to feast and recover her strength. Previously it took at least 3 weeks for Onmyouji to find the lair due to her faking her location in multiple parts of Japan. However, she was right here in the castle all along.
Entering the castle from the top, I traverse down the roof and entered the rooftop.
There it was. A very disgusting stench was all over the room. A smell that was all too familiar to me. The smell of dead bodies. The rooftop has been barricaded for years due to some safety concerns previously so the guards wouldn't have thought of people located in the Osaka Castle itself.
But the bodies were all piled up similar to how it was previously in the last regression. As I walked further ahead, my leg accidentally knocked over something. I looked down, finding that it was a missing arm of a small child. Fueled with rage and disgust, I bit my lips suppressing my anger as the blood starts flowing down my mouth. I recalled the main reason why I came here and calm down.
Just to hear someone speaking.
"Don't let all that blood go to waste. How about giving it to me?" Someone spoke in a flirtatious tone in the room. The voice was spoken in a special method where it felt like it came from all directions, so it was hard to pinpoint where it came from.
Suddenly, a hand appeared on my right cheek, stroking it before disappearing. I pulled out my sword from the inventory and looked around anticipating the fox.
"Oh hoh hoh. You're different from the rest of the people that were sent to hunt me."
Emerging from the shadow was a young lady in her 20s, wearing many layers of clothes that looked like something from ancient japan. The woman was beautiful with a distinguishable eyebrow that one couldn't ignore. She walked past a mirror, seeing her own figure against it while lifting her dress around.
"Hmm, it's been a while since I had seen the current trends in fashion.", the Fox, snaps her figure, changing her appearance to one that looked suitable for the current era.
"Much better. Now where we___"
Before the fox could finish her speech, I already evoked [Phantom Cleave], flinging two invisible slashes flying toward her.
However, she dodged the attacks and grabbed my face with her hands.
"You need to be more prepared if you wanted to face me, Uhehe."
She slams my entire face to the ground, crushing the floor below us. The entire top floor of the Osaka Castle collapsed as the display below smashes to smithereens. Thankfully there was no visitor at this moment due to the castle currently being closed for renovation.
I got up from the ground, spitting the blood out of my mouth, raised my sword, and prepared my battle with the Tamamo-no-Mae.