Day by day passed, and Tamazuki, leading the Gyōbu Danuki's Seven Companions, still moved to strike the Nura Clan again.
Meruem's spur-of-the-moment rescue of the great yokai Hihi that day hadn't changed the ensuing plot. After all, Meruem had only taught that little fox Tamazuki a lesson, without injuring or killing them.
Wind Whip, heading his wind unit, still had the gall to attack the Keikain clan's most gifted onmyoji, Yura, as well as the Nura Clan's General, Nurarihyon.
The outcome was predictable. It took the Seven Companions together to bring down Hihi, a single great yokai. Up against Nurarihyon, whose true strength surpassed Hihi's, Wind Whip alone was just free experience.
Naturally, after Nurarihyon wrung out every useful scrap of information, he felled him with one stroke.
"Whew, that was really close—really close. But at least the guy got taken down by you in the end, General." After leaving Yura's side, Natto Kozō popped up from who knows where, patting his chest as he spoke.
Come to think of it, Natto Kozō was probably the first yokai to follow Nurarihyon. As for what he could actually do… still a mystery.
In the original, Natto Kozō really was just a simple small fry, even if he was indeed one of the Nura Clan's earliest elders.
"General, let's head back!"
"No. Not yet." From Whip's intel, Nurarihyon had a good idea where the yokai attacking the Nura Clan had come from.
An old friend he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Pass the word that I won't be returning for now. Or, Natto, are you coming with me?"
"Eh?! W-wait up, General!" The air suddenly filled with a whiff of natto. When Natto Kozō got nervous and sweaty, it all smelled like natto.
After-school club activities with the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol were mind-numbingly routine. The only highlight was the love triangle between the Yuki-onna Tsurara, homeroom beauty Kana Ienaga, and Rikuo Nura.
Not that any of the three would admit it.
Whip's death didn't warn Tamazuki's group—if anything, they didn't even consider the quite capable Whip a comrade.
Playing with fire, Tamazuki still appeared before Rikuo and declared war. Who knew where his confidence came from. Because of a sneak attack that nearly killed Hihi?
The Nura Clan had plenty whose strength equaled or surpassed Hihi's. Not to mention One-Eye, who was hunting the assailants down.
If One-Eye had stayed close to Rikuo, he would certainly have spotted that Tamazuki's gang were the ones who ambushed Hihi, and then it really would've gotten interesting.
But One-Eye and Rikuo were like oil and water, and he flatly refused to accept a half-human teen as Third Heir. As long as Rikuo was present, One-Eye would not be. So he missed the true culprits—Tamazuki and his Seven of the Eighty-Eight Demons.
Why did One-Eye reject Rikuo? Human blood was part of it, perhaps. Rihan Nura, the Second, also had human blood, and One-Eye hadn't resisted him.
Ultimately it was Rikuo's youthful, "I hate yokai" declaration. That was the key.
Nurarihyon's sudden departure threw the Nura Clan headquarters into chaos. The strong rushed off to protect their own divisions, and those left behind were a bunch of flighty small fry.
Karasu Tengu, the lovable clown, had a bout of his intermittent fits due to the General's absence—rather than organizing, he fanned the flames.
If One-Eye and Gyuuki had been present, the Nura Clan wouldn't have fallen into disorder. Four hundred years ago, when Rihan was born, One-Eye had led the Night Parade.
Instead, One-Eye wandered aimlessly, looking for Hihi's attackers. Rumor had it he'd gone to Kyushu to brawl with the yokai there. If he'd stayed closer, he might already have found a trail to the culprits.
Shikoku is closer to Kanto than Kyushu.
Karasu Tengu would've managed too—if he weren't in this state. As it was, he was no different from a clown. Who knew what Lady Karasu saw in him? She was a famed beauty among the tengu.
Sodehiki-no-Kami—a backstabber by nature—insisted on a frontal assault. To be fair, he did wreak havoc on the Nura Clan's land gods, and finally went to pick a fight with One-Eye's old flame, Princess Taiki, now herself a land god.
He even tore at her robes, apparently trying for some kind of shrine-play. Truly bullying One-Eye's absence. Otherwise he'd be challenging that old tanuki of Shikoku to a duel…
Naturally, Sodehiki-no-Kami—never a fighter—got beaten to death by Kurotabō's flurry of staves. Wait—something's off.
Given his bizarre habit of tearing off sleeves to curse people, shouldn't he be called the "Broken Sleeve God" instead…
Next came the Inugami incident—String Killer versus Inugami.
"What an ugly big dog… Still, loyal enough. Shame he's male, and has that nasty habit of licking faces and hugging people. Him with Tamazuki… add in that 'Broken Sleeve God'—are all Shikoku's yokai into boys' love?" A pointless club event Kiyotsugu had organized turned into a yokai battle royale thanks to Inugami's intrusion.
Because of the lighting, most students couldn't see anything—just heard booms and monstrous howls. They figured Kiyotsugu had staged it. He was a famous rich kid, after all—and not right in the head…
And somehow not a single student had a phone with a flashlight. Which is why "shanzhai" phones back in China were so handy—so many features.
In the end, Inugami died by Tamazuki's hand.
Then the Nura Clan's long peace came back to bite them. Many yokai had grown so comfortable they'd lost their will to fight. Even now they bickered internally. If Rihan sat the throne, he'd have slapped the troublemakers into next week.
A gaggle of fools blind to the situation. The enemy had only a handful, yet they frightened many out of their wits. Many of the great yokai who had followed the General were posted to guard their territories and only came for urgent summons. The ones at this meeting mostly lived near Ukiyoe.
The truly great yokai were mainly Gyuuki of Lake Biwa, One-Eye, and Mokugyō Daruma—and One-Eye couldn't stand Rikuo by nature.
"So this is what passes for the 'war of a hundred demons'? Pathetically weak." Meruem stood atop a tower, looking down as Tamazuki's Eighty-Eight Demons and Rikuo's Night Parade clashed.
"Meow—can't even get interested. Too weak." Neferpitou yawned.
"Eh? How can you say that? I think it looks really fun!" Of those present, only Reiko watched below with excitement. She had little combat experience; of course a scene like this would thrill her.
But to Meruem, a fight where no one even unleashed their signature Awe was pure boredom.
"Oh? The fight's already decided. Tamazuki's a promising kid, but compared to this world's protagonist, he falls short. And his lieutenants are far behind the Nura Clan's captains under the Second. A one-sided slaughter…"
"The Demon King's little hammer belongs to Yamamoto Gorō of the Hundred Tales, originally. A demon blade that grows by consuming flesh—tsk, tsk. In pure evil, even Musashi's Muramasa can't compare. Shame… it's apparently Yamamoto's heart. Disgusting."
After shepherding the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol through a dull interlude, Rikuo gained a powerful teammate—Kejorō.
"The Keikain onmyoji are absolute justice." With an absurdly pompous line, Keikain Ryuuji arrived in Ukiyoe with the Mami-ryu duo.
They had only one goal: to take home their younger sister, Keikain Yura.
Because the Keikain clan's greatest nemesis—Hagoromo Gitsune—was said to have returned to the world.
Though wasn't the Tsuchimikado line the Keikain Dōman lineage's greatest rival?
That guy was the only onmyoji who could stand beside Abe no Seimei.
"Hungry Wolf! Annihilate!"
"Don't tell me you didn't notice—that guy's a yokai." When Ryuuji found Yura, Rikuo happened to be at her side. Without a word, Ryuuji attacked Rikuo.
"You disappoint me. How did I end up with such a dull little sister? Come—tell me, what do you do when you see a yokai?"
"Yokai are absolute evil and must be repelled."
But what Ryuuji expected didn't happen—because Yura stepped in front of Rikuo.
The super sis-con's face went straight to 'I can't even.' His already stiff features grew even uglier.
Yura's innate talent far surpassed Ryuuji's, but against the born con-man, she was one-sidedly crushed.
"A water shikigami can freely manipulate the fluids in the human body—even drive them berserk." Yura was soaked head to toe in a strange liquid and collapsed to the ground.
Freely controlling a person's internal fluids—what a base technique.
"Ryuuji!" Standing to the side, one of the Mami-ryu whipped out a talisman and stepped in front of him. "Ninja Art: Wind Release—Updraft!" A massive current of air bloomed beneath their feet and blasted the pair into the sky.
Fortunately, neither were ordinary—they landed unhurt.
"Hey, you two randos who popped out of nowhere. The one you just bullied is my friend!" A clear, energetic voice rang out behind them.
"Who's there?"
"Onmyoji Uchiha Reiko! Wind Release: Updraft Lv. 2!"
(End of Chapter)
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