Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Yokais vs. Guardians

"And let me show you." Ryuja grinned widely. "Why they called me the Poison Dragon!"

Ryuja took out a porcelain pot. As he opened the jar, Yokais jumped out. In the beginning, they were as small as insects but when they came into contact with outside air, those Yokais enlarged to their usual size.

Ryuja had a preference on which Yokais he collected.

Spider. Centipede. Wasp. Toad. Snake. Frog. The usual animals that would have poison or venom on them.

Ryuja had seven of them with two being different kinds of toad. Each of the Yokai had a large purple stain covered their forehead. Their eyes were wide and they constantly drooled.

"Anima Destruction... The old technique that I developed." Minato squinted his eyes. "You really haven’t invented anything news huh, Hachi?"

"This is no Anima Destruction. This is Beast Control! A technique that I developed myself." Ryuja shouted back.

Minato shook his head and smiled. Little Hachi was as the same as before, trying to take the work of somebody else.

"What is Anima Destruction, Second Guardian?" The Doll said.

"Anima Destruction is a unique type of poison. It is harmless when you digest it for the first time but if you were exposed to it long enough, it would fry your mind and turn you into a mindless slave.

I used to use it to enslave the servants in the Demonic Poison Sect."

Kitsune glanced over in surprise, "You really are a ruthless Grandmaster."

Minato nodded and sighed, "Unfortunately, yes."

The Seven Yokais rushed at them. Each of them was at Peak Elite.

Ryuja wanted to attack them and led the army all the way here. But still, he acted cowardly. He sent these weak Yokais to the front to test the water first.

"I will handle these mindless beasts." Minato stepped forward.

The Doll raised its hand. "No need. Let the Zodiac Guardian took care of this."

The white-haired maiden snapped her finger. In the Shrine, the ten statues lit up in various colors. Only the fox and the dragon statues stayed silent.

Ten projections stepped out from within the statues. Each had their own unique characteristics and power.

A bear. A boar. An ox. A deer. A hare. A hornet. A tiger. A turtle. A spider. A vulture.

They shot up to the sky in colorful beams and landed in front of the Doll. Each had an element attached to them because of the power of Zodiac Formation.

Ryuja’s eyelids fluttered gently. He tried to maintain a calm composure on the outside but inside, he was in disbelief.

’What is even this power?’

The mind-controlled Yokais came into contact with the ten Zodiac Guardians. The Guardians were as animated and dynamic just like real Yokais. These contained the spirits of the Yokais that Carter had sacrificed toward Ginro Musashi.

The mind-controlled Yokais were strong. Each of their attack was imbued with Ryuja’s special poison. Unfortunately, the projections of the Guardian weren’t real. They didn’t have real bodies and therefore weren’t afraid of poison.

Ryuja’s main trump card proved useless.

The Spider Yokai collided with the Spider Guardian. The Spider Yokai was a black widow with a pure black body. The Spider Guardian was a jumping spider that looked much less intimidating than normal spider.

However, the Spider Guardian was much more agile. It jumped away from the toxin the black widow spat. It then countered with its own web and rooted the black widow in place. The jumping spider used Ginro Musashi’s signature Spider Style, its two fangs lit up in the elemental power of metal and dug into the body of the black widow.

The Centipede Yokai wrapped around the large tiger. Its feet were imbued with poison and as sharp as knives. They punctured into the orange tiger but couldn’t hurt it.

The Tiger Guardian grinned widely. It held the centipede tightly then bit down. The Tiger tore the centipede in half. Then, the Guardian used Musashi’s Tiger Style, three large orange claws appeared in each of its hand and it slashed the centipede into million pieces.

The Bear and Boar Guardians both charged at the two Toad Yokais and sent them flying. Their poisons couldn’t even slow the Guardians down.

The Wasp Yokai flew in the air. It could sent flying needle at the Guardians on the ground. The Hornet and Vulture Guardians cornered it tightly, preventing it from helping the Yokais on the ground.

The Hornet shrunk and transformed into an elongated missile-shaped projectile. It went through one wing of the wasp and caused it to lose height. The Vulture passed by it and grabbed the Wasp with its claw. The Vulture Guardian tore it in half.

The remaining Yokais were the Snake and the Frog. Both couldn’t do much in front of the Deer and Hare Guardians. These two had the least amount of offense powers among the Zodiac Guardians, but they were extremely quick. They ran around the Snake and the Frog, distracting it. Whenever there was an opening, the Deer would ram one of the two Yokais.

The Ox breathed out in white smoke. It entered the battle and charged at the Poisoned Frog.

Ryuja’s fingers moved constantly. These were the best Elite warriors he had. He had Elite disciples and other court officials but Ryuja didn’t trust them even a tiny bit.

"I admit. I underestimate you." Ryuja said.

The blind white-haired girl didn’t answer.

"But don’t think that killing a few Elite Yokais is winning."

Ryuja clenched his feet. The surviving Snake and Frog exploded into a cloud of poison. Normally, the enemies would be in extreme pain. But the Guardians were unharmed. They stood in line and looked at Ryuja.

The army behind Ryuja saw everything.

"Those spirits... They must be the famous Zodiac Guardians of the Shrine." A general said.

Another nodded, "They don’t have the bloodlust that the usual Yokais have. It must be noble spirits of the land."

There was a rumor that whoever supporting the second prince was an invader from another world. The Primers.

The people of Arashi hated Primers and would do anything to destroy them. But as far as they saw, the Shrine represented the spirits of Arashi, not another world.

Ryuja could feel the morality of his men wavered.