“My name is

Lady of Tempests, Arame Koushi

.”

Soichiro felt one of his eyebrows twitch involuntarily.

The name was familiar.

After all, named demons were rare. It was precisely because of their rarity that their names were recorded and cataloged for tracking.

Naturally,

Lady of Tempests, Arame Koushi

was one such name, preserved in the combat records of the Kamiarizuki family. Her last sighting was in 1959. That encounter ended without exorcism, leaving behind a grim tally of fallen exorcists.

The only inconsistency was her appearance. The records described her in more traditional attire, unlike her current modern, edgy clothing. However, her appearance—especially her outfit—could easily be altered through

Attribute Shift

.

“I finally found the Immortal Realm…” Arame Koushi sighed wistfully, her eyes drifting to the now-closed portal. “But it’s gone and shut itself. Such a delightful, sweet fragrance… I’d love to smell it over and over again. Couldn’t someone bottle it into perfume?”

“Why are you here?” Soichiro asked, his tone flat but sharp.

“What an uncouth question. This is why I don’t like humans,” she said with an exaggerated sigh, tapping her umbrella lightly against her shoulder.

“There’s a treasure here, isn’t there? One that grants immortality,” she said, her eyes gleaming with amusement.

“…I see,” Soichiro muttered.

Itsuki hadn’t told him about the

Peach of the Immortal Realm

. Soichiro wasn’t aware of its existence, but he did suspect that the Immortal Realm was a world created by a Seventh-Rank exorcist. If so, such a treasure didn’t seem improbable.

“So,” Arame Koushi continued, her gaze sweeping over everyone present, “which one of you is the Gatekeeper? You must be able to open the portal again.”

Her eyes scanned them like a predator sizing up its prey.

Soichiro’s mind raced. Behind him, in the dug-out pit, were the children and the blacksmith. Neither could be counted as combatants.

With his decision made, Soichiro dropped into a sword-draw stance, letting

Silveit

extend outward like a snake.

“Even if such a treasure exists here,” he said, voice firm, “it is not something I could ever hand over.”

Without waiting for a reply, he lunged forward, the distance between them vanishing in an instant.

Arame Koushi smiled, twisting her body in a fluid motion. Her movements were precise and deliberate, showing a familiarity with the sword techniques of exorcists. She ducked under the arc of Soichiro’s blade, her upper body leaning just enough to avoid the strike.

But Soichiro anticipated this.

He manipulated

Silveit

, wrapping it around her midsection.

At the critical moment, he planted his feet firmly into the ground, rotated his hips, and let his blade fly from its sheath—a blindingly fast strike.

The movement was too quick for Arame Koushi to counter, and for the briefest of moments, her smug smile faltered.

Night Blade Style’s signature move:

Star Runner

.

The accelerated blade closed the gap, reaching her neck with incredible speed. The collision rang out—a metallic clang that reverberated through the air, jolting Soichiro’s arm with the impact.

“…Tch!” Soichiro grunted.

He quickly reinforced his right arm and leg with

Silveit

. With enhanced strength, he pulled his blade back and attempted another strike, aiming to sever her neck.

However, Arame Koushi sprang off the ground, using her neck as an axis to twist her body. She spun gracefully, avoiding the follow-up slash.

“What’s this?” she teased with a smirk. “You trying to make me dance?”

She twirled twice in midair, using the momentum to launch a devastating kick at Soichiro.

“Ugh!”

Soichiro barely managed to raise his sword in time to block the blow, but the force sent him skidding across the forest floor, scattering leaves in his wake.

Arame Koushi didn’t relent. She leapt into the air, her feet wreathed in swirling wind. She kicked off invisible footholds, gaining speed and altitude, before hurling herself toward Soichiro like a missile.

Realizing he couldn’t take the attack head-on, Soichiro ducked low. Her wind-propelled kick roared past him, grazing the top of his head before crashing into the mountainside with explosive force.

BOOM!

The shockwave pulverized the slope, sending a cloud of dirt and rock flying in all directions.

Anticipating the debris, Soichiro grabbed the children with

Silveit

and pulled them back, retreating further to protect them from the falling rubble. He judged that the blacksmith could fend for himself.

As the dust began to settle, a chilling voice rang out.

“Do I look weak to you?” Arame Koushi’s tone was light, almost playful. “People keep underestimating me.”

Soichiro didn’t respond.

“Do I look like someone who can’t handle a little close combat?”

Suspended rocks and debris suddenly froze in midair, caught by an invisible force. On closer inspection, Soichiro realized it was the wind itself holding them in place.

“This is so disappointing. Such a letdown. Truly,” she sighed, her eyes narrowing as they locked onto Soichiro.

“To think a mere human would dare to think they can fight me.”

With a single motion, she raised her finger and pointed it directly at Soichiro.

BOOM!

The rocks hovering around her were hurled forward like cannonballs.

“Damn it—!” Soichiro cursed, quickly manipulating

Silveit

into a shield. He altered its attributes to form a translucent barrier in front of him.

The first boulder slammed into the shield, followed by a second. By the third, cracks spread across its surface with an ominous creak.

Realizing the shield wouldn’t hold, Soichiro called out.

“Run! Both of you! Get out of here!”

“Oh, the children aren’t the Gatekeeper?” Arame Koushi mused. “Fine. Let them go.”

With a wicked smile, she spun her finger in a circle. Following her gesture, a powerful whirlwind began to form, pulling debris and broken trees into its violent current.

The wind carved into the ground, peeling away bark and shredding wood as it intensified, creating an inescapable storm around Soichiro and the blacksmith.

“Which one of you is the Gatekeeper?” she said, her gaze shifting between them. “Killing the Gatekeeper would close the portal, wouldn’t it? If only you’d mark yourselves with something obvious.”

Her lips curled into a smirk.

“Well, no matter. You’re both exorcists. Even without hands, you should be able to manage some magic, right? I’ll just hack off your limbs and figure it out later.”

She paused, then let out a dramatic sigh. Find more to read on empire

“Oh, how silly of me! I could’ve just taken the children hostage. That would’ve been so much easier. Still, my little oversights are part of my charm, don’t you think?”

With that, she exhaled deeply, her expression lighting up as though she’d just had a brilliant idea.

“For now, I’ll go retrieve the children!”

The declaration was all Soichiro needed. Before she could act, he wrapped

Silveit

around her, anchoring himself against the storm.

“Ugh!”

Ignoring the wind that sliced at his skin, he charged forward, breaking through the gale.

“Anyone who dares to harm children—”

With all his strength, he swung his fist.

“—cannot be allowed to walk free!”

The punch landed squarely, sending Arame Koushi flying.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep