did that guy just die

Yes.. he did... o.o so uhh in response combat has begun

I want to say “yes”, but since when does a quetz crumble into nothingness? Was that Suzocon’s “magic”, or…?

I think what happened to him is closer to being "deleted"

He sort of went to pieces, didn't he?

He is so badass and cool looking (like usual)

Welp... o.o looks like the battle has begun

I was actually thinking of the battle music from Naruto.

Well.. o.o naruto's formation is actually a kitsune so I have to agree

foxo just Philadelphia Experimented a guy, methinks he's dangerous

It looks like the form he is in now is not his full strength, since I only counted four tails.

Three. He's faking being Roko - right down to his pose. Looking way more underpowered than he is is an easy way to keep others off balance. But after disintegrating that guard, I find it a little hard to believe the other guards wouldn't realize they aren't just dealing with a minor yōkai here.

Nah it's four. Check the panels where he's flipping and changing

That's even weirder. Why appear with *four* tails? I figured he lost a tail when he struck his pose, but it could be hidden behind his head. I may know a fair amount of kitsune lore, but this kaibutsu beats the heck out of me. Which makes him a well written trickster demon.

Maybe Virmir got inspiration for Suzucon-sama from Ōkami's final boss.

Could be lower guard defense since they might not know how strong Suzocon is since they most definitely encounter each other before.

It could also be the number of tails he had since his last “exchange” with the quetz, or the number they think he has.

Keep in mind that Suzocon has been “acquiring” more tails in a rather unorthodox manner. He also hid his tails from the trio, until he noticed that Roko could tell he had more tails than he was showing.

Speaking of Ōkami, I heard word of a sequel, not counting the more obscure DS game.

When we first seen Suzocon. He had two tails, so... I don't know if it is a consistency issue, or it's a ruse that Suzocon exploits.

It's a ruse. He deliberately appears underpowered to throw off his opponents. It didn't work in the beginning because Roko was with them: Kitsune can see through all illusions, so it iS RUDE not to drop one's guise in the presence of another kitsune.

But with Roko no longer in the picture, he can shapeshift to his heart's content.

now I wonder if they realize that he's not a good guy

So that wasn't Roko in disguise…

Well, once again I was dead wrong about Suzocon-sama's play.

He didn't just Thanos snap the guard out of existence. He made sure that guard died slowly. With a bloody death-curse. And that the other guards witnessed it. Then he puts ALL his chips on the table by appearing identical to Roko-san -- for the kami's sake he used the same damn pose as Roko's introduction! https://www.furaffinity.net/view/43562330

The quetz guards wouldn't know beans about Roko's actual hoshi no tama, his coloration, nothing. All they know is that one of their buddies just got erased and they ain't happy about it.

What I don't understand is... what does Suzocon-sama get out of appearing like Roko-san? He's busy having his mind melted, presumably to occupy a Miyo-chen clone for as long as it lasts. He sure as hell isn't fooling Saida or Brand.

So. You just slow-disintegrated a guard, pissed off the entire Quetz Nation and disguised yourself as a Roko-adjacent three-tailed kitsune. Now what?

I think you're leaning to much into thinking he's trying to mimic Roko. He honestly just looks more like similar fox in dramatic fox pose #3.

I don't know what he'd even gain out of it. I don't think any of the Quetz even know Roko exists.

I think you're right. Can't tell if he has three or four tails in the last pose, and I assume the quetz are well aware of what island they're over. But it raises a bunch more questions as to just what Suzucon-sama's end game is here. By killing that guard in full view of his buddies, he just declared war on the entire quetz nation. Then, just to make sure the hornet's nest is well and truly kicked, he shows up as a yottsu o no kitsune. Now what?

Ooh, he's playing the looong game. He plans to go poof at some point, and leaves poor Roko holding the bag (Or the ball), while he absconds with a real fake eye, he leaves a bogus one in the generator, and Roko likely gets freed, only to be hunted down like the dog he isn't!

Also, there's always the chance that he didn't notice Roko enough to notice he only had 3 tails. He wouldn't think too much of a Kitsune of a lower level like that, right?

i think we're finally getting to roko's rescue plus the Kitsune being stopped

That confident grin is fantastic.

I don’t think that Ookami music doesn’t fit here…. In case of suspension….

Mages are no joke.

What he hit that guard with is absolutely horrifying when you think of it. From the looks it of, that was not a fast, nor a painless death.

I just had a thought: Did that grey tail originally belong to Suzocon? Is he really a 9 tail?

Okami battle music, huh? Don't want to say that's a hint that Suzocon might be vulnerable to lightning, buuuuut, something's gotta hurt him.

NOt likely. The only reason Ninetales was beaten was because he was fighting AMaterasu, one of the BIG goddesses of Japanese mythos.

What did he do did he just delete them from existence?

Slowly and painfully.

Saida and Brand now knows hint of his actual power. With brand realize he definitely underestimated him and Saida just being absolute shock by what just happen.

Well he's not having that great a day to be honest

Lady Saida...I don't feel so good
*thanos snap

shocker!

Nice, Ōkami referenced

But someone please slay him

Impossible. He's dang near immortal, only another, higher level Okami could even SCRATCH him. Whether or not even VETRA is capable of such a thing is in question right now. YES, there are ways to kill a Kitsune. Like stealing and somehow emptying their tama. but! Those are almost ASSUREDLY impossible when up against a creature to whom reality beds at his will. The number one rule of dealing with high level kitsune for those not of the inu clan? DON'T!!!

Stab him with the sphere?

or use his mirror trick against him.

not that complicated.

The mirror trick only worked because Roko is a spirit now. and, what sphere? An 8 tailed Kitsune is damn near immortal, and assuming that ninth tail ever comes along, only the god of gods can stop a Kyuubi no Okami...

hes not an okami. Okami is the game

Okami is the term for a god level deity in Japanese mythos. Like in Persona 4, you battled Izanami-no-Okami as the true final boss.

no, Okami means "great god"
you're thinking "kami"

Ok. But, Okami is the proper term for anything that could stand up to a kitsune of Suzo's power.

Ehhh

Agree to disagree

You'd have to know something about Shinto mythology to understand the difference between "yōkai" "kami" and "Ōkami". Even speaking of that, though, we're talking about the Virmirse, which has different rules (and Shinto mythology is often self-contradicting anyway, especially when it comes to kitsune).

Omin would be an example of what might get the honorific "Ōkami" as much as Amaterasu-Ōmikami, the sun goddess and the most powerful deity in Shinto. The actual game Ōkami features Amaterasu as an... ōkami! (which also translates as 'wolf,' thus the punny name).

Kitsune sort of occupy their own niche, not really kami or yokai, but their own. In sum:

"In Japanese folklore, kitsune (狐, きつね) are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to folklore, the kitsune-foxes (or perhaps the "fox spirits") can bewitch people, just like the tanuki.[a] They have the ability to shapeshift into human or other forms, and to trick or fool human beings. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others, as foxes in folklore often do, other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, and lovers."

If Suzucon-sama were a Shinto kitsune he would be considered honorless and corrupt, having forsaken Ō-Inari, the kami of foxes and many other things central to Japanese life (especially rice; her name means 'Rice-Bearer'). It is though her that they gain both tails and power, but they must pledge allegence to her to do so. These are the guardian kitsune, which Suzocon-sama might have once been. But in his present form, he is corrupt and evil, wanting to be the head of his own pantheon. That is why he studied Omin-ōkami so closely, IMHO. Like Yami, the head of all demons from the game Ōkami, Suzucon-sama wants nothing less than to be the next Omin-Ōkami.

And that's the SHORT version of it. Japanese Shinto mythology is a rabbit hole not a lot of Japanese outside of scholars, Shinto priests and shrine maidens really know any more. Even I'm just a gaijin amateur. But you are right in one sense, Flitchard: It would take a kami of immense strength to oppose Suzocon-sama even as he is now. The ease in which he erased that guard should tell anyone that.

But every villain, even one as powerful as a corrupt, cursed yao no kitsune, has a weakness, and many a Japanese hero in mythology turned the tables on the trickster gods and tricked them. We'll see what Suzocon-sama's weakness truly is soon enough.

I'm not is flowery as Flitchard, but that is gonna be easier said than done. If I'm right about who he really is, he once stood against the entire pantheon of this world and damn near won.

murderhobo+butterknife

Yeah, I had the feeling that guard was done.

Clearly kitsune has a rep among them. And deservedly so. Look at that acrobatic shapeshifting! ^^

I think he's pretending to be Roko to them. Three tails, smug face.

I count four. I don't think he's pretending to be Roko, but I do think he generically hides his power level.

He's doing a lousy job of it considering he just hit that guard with the equivalent of this:

https://youtu.be/_skkBMvlWBw?si=W8PjnSy6s6Ao_oOM

As slow and painful as he could, just to make sure they're well and truly pissed off.

This battle music?

I do wonder if Virmir got some of his inspiration for Suzucon from Okami's kyuubi no kitsune akuma.

I can't help but hear long John baldry when he said "it's the blasted kitsune!"

"I hate that Kitsune! Almost as much as I hate that Hedgehog!!!"

Heh~

Oh snap!

And that smug look at the end too

"Hey Boys, its a spy!"

NOOOOOO HE WAS SO CUTE,

YEETUS DELETEUS!!!

Literally got erased

Roll for initiative!

these quetz have as much chance as the average minion in fist of the north star against kenshiro.

Meanwhile Roko is still thinking with portals

It would appear they've met before

Queue appropriate battle music

Now that’s a real mortal kombat fatality

He's dead Jim.

collect the bits for experiments.

I just realized, Saida seeing this happen to her own people...