Yep, he deserves to lose all those tails.

He's a shape shifter, right? Just grow some more. Though It wouldn't look very pretty.

I don't remember what happened to the last quetz that pissed Suzokon-kyo off. Do you? Oh, but I'm sure Brand does.

And so does Suzokon-kyo.

For the moment, Saida-hime is on her own. And Brand is stuck setting the table until company arrives.

will they see now that this fellow ain't a good guy?

I think they got that distinct idea when they watched the horror show that pretended to be a battle between Vetra's bodyguards and Suzokon-kyo. But it's only when they find Roko that they will understand just what a dishonorable dog Suzocon really is.

"And then you will die."

Horribly. Thus the previous battle demonstration.

This guy has some real gall aspiring to be the "god of life" when he has no respect for it...

Not even for a member of his own clan, a kohai. Yeah, this guy is akuratsuna, even for a nogitsune. Him and Vetra deserve each other.

Nice play on words stairs and stares

Yup now brand knows he's evil

Now Brand knows he's next on the sashimi plate if he doesn't follow instructions. At least for now.

Or go find Rocco and f*cking RUN

Until something distracts Suzo accordingly he has them by their hearts. A thought from a kitsune of his level is all it takes to have reality itself turn on them. I'm actually more worried for Saida. He knows everything that happens on his island, so if he is not worried that Saida wants to go find Roko, that does NOT spell good things for the volcano dragon!

Like what's coming in that storm?

Exactly, and they better not try it too soon. It only takes a millisecond for Suzo to decide to unalive you, so unless he's entirely focused on the fight, trying to break of will mean he breaks yOU.

I mean unless someone manages to cut off his tails and leave him powerless but I digress

Either way... I wonder if he's on the path of a Tenko (celestial fox) or youko (Demon fox) . . .

He wants to be a tenko-kitsune -- that's what all 9-tails become when they gain their ninth tail.

But he chose the path of the yako/youko-kitsune instead. "Demon Fox" is exacty what kaibutsu-kitsune is. He's cold-blooded as a crocodile and every bit as vicious. Take a squizz at that look he's giving Brand. Think he's bluffing?

It's really too bad O-Inari doesn't exist in this universe. She had quite direct ways of dealing with yako-kitsune that thought they could defeat her. But I suspect Vetra's methods will be every bit as direct.

oh cool, you knew what i was talking about

I'm a student of Shinto mythology. Knew exactly what you were talking about. ^^

awesome

given what we've seen, it doesn't matter how fast they run, they'll never be fast enough

Unless it's Saida 's mother

He can only concentrate on one thing at a time. If you're in his killbox you're hosed, but get outside it and running is perfectly viable, as Quetz #4 proved. And now Vetra is coming to join the party.

I hope she stabs him in his multiply tailed butt xD

Honestly, if I were her, I'd come back with the entire quetz army, park them and Taran-ouji out of Suzocon's range, and just go all Duke of Wellington on his ass. Pound him and his shrine to dust. And he knows it, thus the gadget probably acting as his own artillery, deflector shield, or both.

“Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let’s see who will pound the longest.” - Arthur Wesley, Battle of Waterloo.

Such a sly usage of words, but we all know what it means: "You won't work, you will die."

Next time im playing a wizard im gonna say this to the barbarian or rogue when they get distracted in a dungeon

"Rogue, ma'm? I'm a professional thief!"
"IF YOU FAIL TO MAINTAIN FOCUS, YOU WILL CEASE TO BE USEFUL TO ME"
"Yes'm"

I mean, we all saw the brutal kills he enacted on every other quetz, Brand has all the reasons to fear a (nearly) unstoppable Kitsune (-1)

"This is a foe beyond any of you."

O_o uhhh... what stairs i don't see em up there

Saida jumpin off the wall in other words.

I noticed the last page we saw the beeg sune, he had 4 tails in a panel. And here, I count over 6. I assume either shenanigans/error, or the sune is growing tails and growing between pages. And I give it a few pages before that fox is too big/floofed to be stopped.

I think we saw him growing tails during the fight scene, so he isn't showing off all of them right now

Effectively, Suzocon is like an 8th dan (8th degree) black belt in a martial art. When he was fighting the quetz he started with what appeared to be a 4th dan spell. For the second be cast Foxfire Sword, and had to use his 5th tail for it; a 5th dan spell. For the final one, he cast something like Iron Stomach, a 6th dan spell, and that's where he stands now. He always appears less powerful than he is to throw people off their guard. It won't take long after Vetra shows up for him to start casting full 8th dan spells, I'd wager. But even there he intends to use his gadgets on her first. There is a real simple reason he wants Brand up there:

Bait.

Right, when he first started fighting he only had a few tails so they wouldn't see how powerful he really was (odds are that while the Quetz are aware of his existence, they don't know how many tails he really has, and subsequently just how powerful he truly is), and this could also lead to them underestimating him, or at the very least keep them on their toes. Indeed, I can assume he has plans to capture her or something rather than simply fighting her.

Oh! O.O Didn't even realize that, but yes, "Saida" would certainly be quite the lure for her, at the very least keep her distracted long enough for him to enact his plan

What happens next depends on if Vetra wants Saida back, or wants her DEAD. (Depending on if she assumes Saida was complicit in the theft of the eye, something she's surely discovered by now!)

Oh geez! Didn't even think about that but now I'm left wondering, especially how the real Saida would react if it was the latter

Considering that the Eyestone is quite directly in Suzocon's possession, he's also busy holding Saida hostage, and he just cold-bloodedly killed three of Vetra's bodyguards? I really don't think it'll be *Saida* she's gonna be pissed off at. Not when there's a kitsune close to or equal in power right there red-pawed. Literally.

The bodyguards that showed up to do recon were NOT expecting to find Saida and were immediately concerned for her well being. Then they saw the Eyestone... and it was on. Can't imagine that anyone but Suzocon, sitting out there and challenging the hornet's nest after whacking it repeatedly with a giant stick, is gonna get the blame here.

But we'll see!

Very true, and oh yes indeed! She might've simply tolerated his existence before but now he's made it clear he's a threat or at least a nuisance

Oh yes

Very true! (Would definitely be smart for "Brand" to hide just to be safe, assuming she remembers him. He'd probably be beneath her but still, if she sees him "conspiring" with the enemy after having already tried stealing from her...)

Yikes O_O

Also Brand being like "Don't leave me here with this psychopath!"

Yeah. THAT is a literal Death Glare.

Yep, made his point quite clear...

Oh no he didn't.

Just don't let him show you a mirror, Brand.

Roko was an independent spirit and he's the one that ratted out Suzocon, so of course this kitsune would take his vengeance out on him at first opportunity. Brand already got a partial demonstration of what he does with quetz that annoy him, and boy, I bet those screams are still echoing through his brain.

I don't think he's doing any vengeance on Roko. Roko is merely a unique sample of mana that he can put to use for his experiments. He's not bothering Saida, and I'm sure he heard her yell that they've got to find Roko. Granted he's probably pretty confident she won't know where to look in time.

I just really don't get the vibe that Suzocon is motivated at all by vengence or retaliation. Everything seems to be motivated to getting his Kitsune PHD, and everyone is a tool to that end.

He absolutely was motivated by retaliation for the quetz guards. They attacked him in his shrine. Therefore, they became his. Compare and contrast how Brand handled quetz guards up in his grill compared to Suzokon-kyo. And the kitsune took full advantage. Suzocon also repeatedly showed he was happy to kill over petty slights, even by the strict standards of Japanese etiquette.

Of course his primary interest in Roko was having an intact spirit, a yōkai displaced from his body but still technically "alive." But the fact Roko was the one that ratted him out of his 2-tail disguise can't have been completely irrelevant. That predatory look he gave Roko was way too personal. He was enjoying the idea of Roko's brain slowly getting melted out of his skull. And the fact he'd do that to one of his own clan was the smoking gun that this guy was nothing but a dishonorable dog of a kitsune, pretending to be one of the zenko.

I'd still pick him over Darya

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/57391460/

Lord Suzocon's cold treatment of his golem subordinate was the tip off that he was morally bankrupt/evil.