Rozen and Ashiya Douman had already anticipated this situation.
Both had used Spirit Vision to observe the Shikigami at each other's command and determined that their demonic aura was not vastly different in intensity. Their power was roughly equal.
In Rozen's classification system, both sides' Gozu and Mezu Shikigami were at the Tactical-Level, meaning that a direct confrontation would result in nothing but a stalemate.
Not only were their Gozu and Mezu locked in an impasse, but even the demons they had summoned were evenly matched, unable to overpower one another.
Ashiya Douman did not seem pleased with this outcome.
"Is this the extent of your Hyakki Yagyō?" Douman tilted his head mockingly. "Aren't you going to call forth stronger yokai?"
Hearing this, Rozen smirked.
"No need," he replied nonchalantly. "My opponents aren't just you—I still need them to deal with the Onmyo Agency's Onmyoji as well."
Rozen showed no sign of intending to summon stronger yokai.
"What a pity," Douman lamented. "If possible, I would have liked to meet one of the Three Great Yokai. I've heard that even the great Abe no Seimei had trouble dealing with them. In life, I never had the chance to meet them, and it remains a regret."
Douman was, of course, referring to Tamamo-no-Mae, and Shuten-Douji as well.
Tamamo-no-Mae had been slain because of Abe no Seimei, while Shuten-Douji had been exposed by Seimei's divination during his reign of terror, leading to his downfall at the hands of Minamoto no Yorimitsu and his Four Heavenly Kings, who ultimately beheaded him.
It was no surprise that Ashiya Douman wished to meet these legendary beings.
Among the Hyakki, there were surely many who intrigued him.
This curiosity was part of what drove Douman to appear before Rozen—not just to oppose him, but out of a desire to test himself against the Hyakki Yagyō.
But…
"For a legendary Onmyoji, your words sound rather overconfident, don't you think?"
Rozen's calm smile accompanied his remark, causing a flicker of murderous intent to flash behind Douman's sunglasses.
"Indeed, even for me, trying to fight against the Hyakki Yagyō—especially their Great Yokai—while maintaining this body would be reckless."
Douman lowered his head slightly and spoke softly.
"In that case, you had best entertain me properly."
With those words, Douman finally moved.
"Clack!"
A crisp sound echoed as Douman struck his staff heavily against the ground.
In that instant, a spell formation-like sigil spread outward from the point of impact, radiating jutsuryoku in waves.
Immediately after, a torrent of inky black liquid burst forth like a geyser.
However, unlike before, this black water was not a swarm of Shikigami but a viscous, swamp-like fluid.
The ebon tide surged forward, crashing toward Rozen like a tidal wave.
Rozen only needed one glance with Spirit Vision to discern the nature of the black water—it was no ordinary water-based jujutsu.
Every droplet carried layers upon layers of curses, intertwining and fusing into an insidious binding hex.
If touched, it would be no different from being doused in acid—it would consume both flesh and bone entirely.
"To instantly cast so many curses while fusing them with water-based jujutsu… This level of technique truly befits a legendary Onmyoji."
Rozen narrowed his eyes but smiled, unafraid.
He extended his fingers and, gathering jutsuryoku, traced several sigils in midair, forming a jujutsu crest.
The next moment, the sigil shot forward like a bullet, piercing into the incoming torrent.
In an instant, the surging black water halted, then swirled violently, transforming into a whirlpool before rising into a waterspout, spiraling into the sky.
Upon witnessing this, Douman let out a genuine exclamation of admiration.
"Splendid!"
For he knew exactly what Rozen had done.
Rozen had not dispelled the black water through counter jujutsu.
Instead, in the briefest moment, he had compressed and condensed hundreds of dispelling techniques into a single sigil, rapidly unraveling every curse Douman had woven into the spell.
Then, by disrupting the water jujutsu's structure, he forced it to collapse under its own instability, neutralizing the attack entirely.
This level of skill and control…
It might even surpass that of Abe no Seimei himself.
Ashiya Douman was finally delighted.
It was the thrill of finding a worthy opponent.
Rozen had not only met his expectations but had exceeded them—enough to excite him.
He could no longer hold back.
"In that case, let's see how you handle this move."
Douman threw his staff into the air and, mimicking Rozen, extended a finger, tracing a sigil in midair.
He continued his inscriptions, weaving a spell formation, causing dark sigils to bloom like flowers of light—scattering into the air like fireflies, vanishing from sight.
At the same time, the staff, still spinning in midair, began stirring the atmosphere like a whirlpool, drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy.
In the blink of an eye, it manifested into a colossal serpent.
The giant serpent roared, then plunged downward, its foul-smelling maw wide open, exuding a murderous aura, lunging at Rozen.
Rozen's only response was a single remark:
"Cunning old fox."
Because the serpent was not a mere jujutsu construct—it was a Spiritual Disaster.
In that single moment, Douman had warped the surrounding spiritual energy and converged it onto his staff, transforming it into a Phase 3-tier dynamic Spiritual Disaster.
This meant that the serpent was no weaker than the Nue Rozen had once fought—possibly even stronger.
And not only that—Douman had also scattered new curses into the air.
These curses could corrode flesh and consume internal organs, making them exceedingly lethal.
But unfortunately for him…
"That won't be enough to defeat me."
Rozen's fingers moved at lightning speed, flicking multiple times in a precise rhythm.
At the same time, he lightly tapped his toe against the ground, tracing a circle.
"Zing!"
A luminous barrier rose up, enveloping Rozen entirely.
Within this barrier, the scattered curses in the air were immediately repelled.
Even the colossal serpent seemed dazed, unable to break through, its charge deflected.
"Oh?"
Douman's eyes gleamed with interest.
"This barrier… Could it be a Taiitsu technique?"
His voice carried the fascination of a scholar witnessing something extraordinary.