"…Shrink down. Don't take human form," Cyr said coldly.
The giant demon dog was just about to transform midair, but at Cyr's words, it grumpily reduced its size and landed in front of Cyr and Gojo Haru.
"I brought the fang," the now smaller dog muttered, tossing the demon fang onto the ground.
It sat down, its fluffy tail sweeping across the ground behind it.
Anyone who saw it would instantly think: What a beautiful dog.
It looked far better than the other two cubs.
"A demon dog fang… you're forging a weapon?" Gojo Haru looked at the boy.
With his experience, it wasn't hard to guess what the fang was for.
In the past, many warriors had killed small demons and used their bones to forge weapons, their pelts to make clothes.
But a fang from a great demon… that was much harder to come by.
Normally, people who encountered great demons like this ended up as appetizers.
"I was thinking about it," Cyr shrugged, "but not for myself."
Maro didn't have a weapon yet, and that brat who chose the tachi could use one too.
As for the rest—he'd keep them as souvenirs.
Only the four longest fangs were suitable for crafting weapons.
And it wasn't guaranteed they'd be forged successfully on the first try. If they could get two decent weapons out of the four fangs, that'd already be pretty lucky.
"…There probably isn't a blacksmith today who can work with the fang of a great demon," Gojo Haru reminded him.
Forging weapons required actual hammering.
But if the material was the tooth of a great demon, an ordinary hammer would be like striking stone with an egg.
And as for normal people… they might just die on the spot from the shock to their internal organs.
"…There isn't?" Cyr went quiet too.
He finally got the hardest material, and now no one could work with it?
Was he going to have to do it himself?
If he handled it personally, these four fangs probably wouldn't even leave one intact…
"Of course ordinary human craftsmen can't handle our stuff," Koen said proudly, seeing Cyr hesitate.
If it were that easy, weapons made from demon parts would be everywhere.
But in truth, weapons forged from demon materials were rare masterpieces.
"What a pain…" Cyr sighed.
In that case, he might as well go get the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword first.
Whether he used it or not was another matter—mainly, he just liked the name. One of the three sacred treasures? That sounded cool.
The other two were the Yasakani no Magatama and the Yata no Kagami, right?
Still, Ame-no-Murakumo sounded the coolest.
A gentleman carrying a sword—that made sense.
"I'll head to Atsuta Shrine. You—" Cyr looked at the shrunken demon dog.
"While you're in the shrine, don't take human form. Stay away from humans," Cyr warned.
Mostly, he was worried that the amoral mutt might fall in love with a human… or that those two little brats might fall in love with the mutt.
He had no interest in watching people flirt in the shrine right under his nose.
"…I'm not interested in humans," Koen replied haughtily.
A great demon like him? He could have whatever kind of partner he wanted. Foxes, tanuki, even beauties from other races—he'd seen them all.
Compared to those graceful and unique female yokai, human women were… well, soft and delicate in a way that inspired pity.
Koen recalled a human woman he'd once met, and his eyes flickered with thought.
But human lives were far too short. That woman he'd met a hundred years ago was now long since turned to dust.
In fact, he'd seen that human woman five times in total.
The first time, she was a child. She mistook him for a mountain god, caught a glimpse, and fled in panic.
The second time, she'd become a young girl. She brought offerings and came to apologize, saying she hadn't known better as a child.
The third time, she was a married woman, and she came with her husband to make an offering. He'd watched them from a tree as they arrived together and left the same way.
The fourth time, she was a mother, bringing two children to his mountain. She told them that a dog god lived there.
The fifth and final time, she was old and frail. Her children had grown up and had families of their own, and she came alone.
There was no sixth time—because she had died of old age.
To a demon, a human life passed in the blink of an eye.
Koen felt like every time he woke from a nap, she would be there again.
Demons could sleep a hundred years, but humans couldn't.
He didn't exactly love that woman—not in the way humans meant it. He was just… intrigued.
Because, as a child, she had once called him "Lord God."
And as a demon, hearing a human child call him "god" was kind of amusing.
Back then, he had thought to himself: I'll never fall in love with a human.
Because humans… live far too short a life.
A great demon with a thousand-year lifespan could be killed by a human's love.
Loved by a human, and having loved a human in return—once the human died, it was loneliness that would kill the demon.
"Not necessarily," Cyr shot him a look and scoffed.
Following the usual pattern, guys who say they look down on humans always get slapped hard by fate, then end up changing their view about humans…
Tch.
"You're coming with me," Cyr said, grabbing Koen and hopping onto the white tiger before soaring into the sky.
"Put me down, put me down…!"
"I'm a great demon!!!"
Koen yelled in shame and anger, his fur flushing crimson, like he'd been set ablaze.
"You can change colors? That's pretty interesting." Cyr merely raised a brow, sounding mildly impressed.
"If you don't say anything, no one will know who you are. But since you insist on shouting, should I help you announce your name too?"
"Like yelling 'I'm the great demon XX' while being carried like a sack?" Cyr offered with mock sincerity.
"…" Koen quietly lifted a paw and covered his face.
What great demon? Where? That thing being carried around—wasn't it just a normal little mutt?
"I'm Koen. What's your name?" Koen asked after a long silence.
It was his first time asking a human's name.
"Isn't it said that demons shouldn't give out their names lightly?" Cyr asked curiously.
"Only when you give it willingly does it give someone power over you," Koen replied carelessly.
He'd already lost anyway.
"I want to be your friend," he said.
The person before him wasn't human. His lifespan surely wouldn't be short. Koen wouldn't have to worry about waking up one day and finding them dead.
And he was powerful—worthy of being a great demon's friend.
"I don't need friends," Cyr said bluntly.
"You're just someone I defeated. My mountain-guarding dog demon."
"You can call me Tsukuyomi, or Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto," said the white-haired, blue-eyed boy.
Those were both alternate names for the moon god in Japanese mythology.
"…Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto?!" Koen froze.
Wait—one of the Three Noble Children? A major deity?
No way… He'd actually fought someone with that level of divine rank?
"Doesn't look like it?" Cyr asked calmly.
"…," Koen looked him up and down with a complex expression.
Did he look the part? Kind of, yeah.
White hair, blue eyes, black markings on his face, and immense power.
But then again… maybe not exactly.
The Moon God was mysterious—very little was known about him. Not even his appearance.
So maybe anything was possible.
As they talked, Atsuta Shrine came into view.
The white tiger strode boldly through the torii gate without hesitation.
"Wait! I'm a demon…" Koen blurted out, alarmed.
Entering the bounds of a shrine would usually trigger its barrier.
Sure enough, a golden barrier shimmered in the air, glowing briefly—then quickly vanished again.
"…I wasn't rejected?" Koen was stunned.
Atsuta Shrine was one of the major shrines. Its barrier strength was no joke.
And yet… it hadn't kicked him out?
Was it because he was brought in by the Moon God?
"Who dares intrude—!" a shrine official came running, alarmed by the fluctuation in the barrier, about to shout—
But when he saw who had arrived, he instantly fell silent.
°°°
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