RWWOKS Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Zohakuten

The thunder unleashed by the staff created a large crater in the ground.

Fang Bo lay in the pit, his body still occasionally crackling with electricity, his entire appearance charred black, looking incredibly battered.

[You received a lightning strike from Zohakuten, taking 52 points of lightning damage.]

[You are paralyzed for 12 seconds.]

The damage was terrifying, and to make matters worse, the attack also inflicted a long-lasting negative status effect.

Even if he could endure the lightning strike, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the enemy in the next confrontation.

“You’re a most unpleasant creature,” Zohakuten muttered, raising his staff, clearly ready to unleash the same terrifying attack again.

For a reincarnator, this was considered a formidable elemental attack, but for Zohakuten, it was just a basic move, something he could use as often as he liked.

Without some form of preparation, Fang Bo might really have been done for.

Just as the demon was about to strike, Yoriichi Type Zero, which had lost its controller, suddenly moved on its own.

A fierce flash of blades whistled through the air, slicing through the demon’s body like a meteor streaking across the sky.

Zohakuten reacted quickly, raising his staff the moment the puppet attacked, but he only managed to block two of the blades.

The rest, including the Crimson Nichirin Blade, slashed into Zohakuten’s body.

[Yoriichi Type Zero’s slashes hit the target, dealing 28+9+8+9 points of slashing damage.]

Although his neck remained intact, Zohakuten’s rage was reaching its boiling point.

However, Yoriichi Type Zero, in training mode, didn’t allow its opponent any chance to fight back. The six blades rained down on him like a violent storm.

Thunder? That meant little to the puppet. In fact, fire or a blade would have caused more damage.

The puppet had no flesh and blood, and most of its mechanical body was made of insulating materials. The paralysis effect was laughable at best.

In just a few rounds, Zohakuten, the leader of Hantengu’s split forms, found himself unable to resist the out-of-control puppet.

Witnessing the whole process, Fang Bo finally relaxed a little, the mental blast he had been preparing slowly dissipating.

As soon as he saw the lightning, he knew things had gone south, but he had managed to activate the puppet’s special ability before being struck.

**Training Puppet (Active Skill):** It can fight autonomously without control for five minutes, with a cooldown of 30 minutes.

Twelve seconds wasn’t particularly long, but it wasn’t short either. At the very least, he couldn’t let the enemy keep attacking him during that time.

Slowly getting up from the ground, Fang Bo casually fired a shot, shattering one of Zohakuten’s arms.

Hantengu might be an Upper Moon, but the pressure he exerted was far less than that of Akaza.

One reason was that he had too many split forms. Every time he divided, the individual strength of each form diminished.

Over time, even Fang Bo could handle the bird demon, and now he was even holding his own against the strongest of the forms, Zohakuten.

Regaining control of Yoriichi Type Zero, Fang Bo retreated to the rear, not intending to give the enemy another chance to strike with lightning.

“We can’t keep dragging this out,” Fang Bo muttered, sensing that the main body was slowly slipping away. He wanted to finish this quickly and chase after it.

But the bird demon was too fast, and it hadn’t even used its sonic attack yet.

If he hadn’t caught it by surprise earlier, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

If both split forms fully recovered, the next battle would be much tougher.

“What is the Mist Pillar doing? Are the other two split forms that hard to handle?” Fang Bo grumbled quietly.

But there was no helping it—things in this world rarely went according to plan. No one could predict how events would unfold.

Fang Bo aimed his Dragoon pistol at the enemy, planning to use his battle sense to outmaneuver them.

He needed to evade the bird demon’s attacks while also keeping an eye on Zohakuten’s devastating lightning strikes.

However, Zohakuten’s next move caught Fang Bo completely off guard.

Without any regard for the bird demon’s objections, Zohakuten forcefully absorbed it into his own body.

In the blink of an eye, a new demon appeared before Fang Bo—a demon with the face of a child.

Though small in stature, this child exuded an overwhelming aura of terror.

His golden eyes locked onto Fang Bo, and on his tongue was clearly engraved the character for “Hatred,” while five drums floated behind him, reminiscent of the character Enel from *One Piece*.

This was Zohakuten’s fused form—*Zohakuten*.

Fang Bo had heard of its existence but hadn’t expected that just two split forms merging would be enough to summon it.

The battle was difficult enough already, but now the enemy had combined their strength and could use the skills of both forms, multiplying the difficulty several times over.

*Boom!*  

Zohakuten gently struck one of the drums behind him and then glared at Fang Bo with pure hatred. “You’re just like all those who bully the weak, aren’t you?”

Each of Hantengu’s split forms embodied a different emotion, be it joy or sorrow. Zohakuten despised those who preyed on the weak.

The irony, of course, was that while he hated those who bullied the weak, he had no problem doing the same to others.

Fang Bo, sensing that the demon was trying to stall for time, shot back, “Do you even realize how many people you’ve killed? It’s you who deserves to be punished for your crimes.”

Always seeing himself as weak, pitiful, and helpless, Hantengu had killed more people than most of the Twelve Kizuki.

Even when he was still human, Hantengu had been a deceitful thief, constantly doing wrong while blaming the world for his misfortunes.

He wasn’t just despicable—he was a monster utterly blind to his own evil.

Zohakuten stared at him for a long moment before saying something so absurd it nearly made Fang Bo laugh: “Have I killed anyone you knew?”

In other words, “I don’t know the people I killed, so why are you trying to judge me morally?”

Fang Bo’s response was simple.

*Bang!*

The Dragoon fired, the bullet tearing a bloody hole in Zohakuten’s arm. Fang Bo hadn’t aimed for the arm, but the demon had blocked the shot with his limb to protect his neck.

The fusion of the split forms had its benefits—at least now Fang Bo didn’t have to worry about being attacked from all sides. Zohakuten, in his final form, wasn’t particularly agile.

[Hantengu (Zohakuten)]  

[Attack Bias: High]  

[Attribute Bias: Spirit, Perception]  

[Traits: Split Form, Hatred]  

[Threat Assessment: Extremely Dangerous]

**Split Form:** Cannot be killed completely. No matter the damage, it can regenerate.  

**Hatred:** Under emotional influence, primary attributes can fluctuate by 10%.

Zohakuten wasn’t in his complete form yet, but he was already exerting significant pressure on Fang Bo. If the other two split forms merged with him, his power would be overwhelming.

“Haven’t you finished yet?” Fang Bo muttered through clenched teeth as he directed Yoriichi Type Zero to charge at the enemy.

Fang Bo wanted to replicate his earlier strategy by slicing the enemy into several pieces to buy some time.

However, before Yoriichi Type Zero could approach, Zohakuten suddenly opened his mouth wide in Fang Bo’s direction.

**Sonic Howl!**

A terrifying ultrasonic wave not only repelled the puppet but also had a significant impact on Fang Bo himself.

Luckily, he was far enough, otherwise, it wouldn’t have just been a matter of losing twenty health points.

Struggling to endure the intense ringing in his ears, Fang Bo quickly stepped back, wary of another potential lightning attack from the enemy.

Faced with such a powerful cannon-like opponent, Fang Bo felt helpless—anyone in his shoes would likely feel the same.

Suddenly, Fang Bo put away his Dragoon pistol and switched his main weapon to his Omni-directional Mobility Gear.

In the confused gaze of his enemy, he dashed between the trees, swiftly retreating into the distance.

“He’s finally here!”

From afar, the silhouette of the Mist Pillar, Muichiro Tokito, appeared. Whatever he had gone through, it had resulted in the demon slayer mark surfacing on his forehead.

With that, there was no need to worry about Zohakuten anymore. Before Muichiro ran out of stamina, the enemy wouldn’t be able to deal with him.

Following the energy trail locked by his battle sense, Fang Bo continued to zip through the trees using his mobility gear, quickly closing in on his target’s location.

In Fang Bo’s sensory world, he could clearly see a thin thread leading to the source—a creature as small as a mouse. It was the main body of Hantengu.

“Got you!” Fang Bo swiftly switched back to his original equipment, loaded a special bullet, and fired a piercing round at the enemy.

However, what happened next caught him completely off guard.

[Your piercing round hit Hantengu, dealing 30 points of damage. The “Cowardly” trait was triggered, reducing the damage by 75%.]

[You ultimately dealt 8 points of damage.]

Seeing the combat report, Fang Bo nearly choked in frustration.

After finally catching the main body of the enemy, its defense was far higher than expected. Even with a piercing round, he could only chip away at its health.

If brute force wasn’t working, then he’d have to take a more subtle approach.

Quickly catching up to the enemy, Fang Bo grabbed the tiny mouse-like demon from the ground with his hand.

“Please! Let me go! I beg you, don’t hurt me anymore! Waaaah!” Hantengu cried, but Fang Bo felt no pity for him.

**”Corrode!”**

[The target is inflicted with the burn status, dealing 5 points of fire damage per second for 10 seconds.]

Before the demon’s cries of pain could even begin, Fang Bo followed up with his “Drain” skill, immediately feeling a steady flow of pure life force being absorbed into his body.

[Drain successful, +4 health points.]

[Drain successful, +4 health points.]

[Drain successful, +4 health points.]

Since the demon’s physical defense was absurdly high, Fang Bo would have to slowly wear it down bit by bit.

As for Hantengu’s regeneration ability, he left that to his shikigami to handle.

With a thud, Jorogumo finally arrived, and her spider silk wrapped tightly around the tiny demon, cocooning it completely. Then, she began injecting her venom into Hantengu’s body.

Thanks to her special talent, the venom quickly broke down the demon’s regenerative cells. Unable to heal, the enemy was now trapped on a path toward death.

“Help me! Someone save me!” Hantengu wailed.

Holding one end of the spider silk, Fang Bo began playing with it like a yo-yo.

Ignoring the demon’s desperate pleas, Fang Bo continued to drain his life force relentlessly.

But just then, a massive shadow suddenly loomed over him, blocking out the sun.

(End of Chapter)

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