"I remember now—that's Lady Nine-Tailed Fox!!!" Kidōmaru blurted, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
At Kidōmaru's uncharacteristic shout, yokai who knew the name edged toward their companions, trying to hide themselves within the crowd.
Those who didn't know the name were baffled. Since when had the guardian of Rashōmon, Lord Kidōmaru, ever lost his composure like this?
In Abe no Seimei's time, she was one of the three great yokai who dominated the entire yokai world. How could he not recognize her?
The savage tyrant Shuten Dōji, the sly old Great Tengu, and the Nine-Tailed Fox, Tamamo-no-Mae.
Those three names rang out in that era's yokai world.
In the end, Shuten Dōji fought Seimei and was slain; the Great Tengu's chief died of age, and his clan was brought to heel by Seimei.
But the Nine-Tailed Fox was the hardest to deal with. Her Awe was immense, and she excelled at enchantment. She led the human rulers of the time by the nose.
In the end, exploiting the fact that she and Seimei's mother, Hagoromo Gitsune, had been close as sisters, Seimei secretly sealed her on Kyushu.
And now the seal had been broken?! A terrifying foe. If she flew into a rage, there were likely few in Hagoromo Gitsune's entire Night Parade who could stop her.
Though the vast host that once outnumbered even Seimei's has been all but annihilated, as long as she wills it, she can gather an even greater parade at any time.
Top-tier enchantment is no joke. This world has no shortage of lunatics who would risk life and limb for a single smile from Tamamo-no-Mae.
A thousand years… In just four hundred, Hagoromo Gitsune had come to loathe the Keikain almost to madness.
So what would Tamamo-no-Mae, sealed for over a millennium, feel for Abe no Seimei?
If possible, she must be slain. To Lord Seimei, she is too dangerous!
"You are… the one who used to trail after Abe no Seimei? Kidōmaru, wasn't it?" Tamamo-no-Mae flashed Kidōmaru a bewitching smile. The hearts of nearby yokai melted at the sight, but Kidōmaru's sweat only flowed faster. He felt endless killing intent.
Several times stronger than a thousand years ago!
"Yes, Lady Tamamo-no-Mae." Faced with a former Lord of a Hundred Demons, Kidōmaru bowed his noble head.
"She's just a yokai—and alone at that. What are you all so afraid of?" The speaker was… Ibaraki Dōji, once foster son to Shuten Dōji, himself a Lord of a Hundred Demons, who later followed Abe no Seimei.
What would Shuten Dōji, as Lord of a Hundred Demons, ever say that praised his two rivals? Of course not. In his telling, the Great Tengu was a cunning old dog, and Tamamo-no-Mae merely a woman who relied on charm. Ibaraki Dōji had never fought Tamamo-no-Mae, so in his mind she was nothing more.
"Tamamo-no-Mae, allow me to teach this brat a lesson." As Ibaraki Dōji blustered, Tamamo-no-Mae's face had already darkened. She was about to move herself when Musashi stopped her.
"I knew Lord Musashi cared about me~~" To the yokai's shock, Tamamo-no-Mae clung to the suspicious man who looked human, pouting like a coy girl.
"Fool. You?" Unlike the others, Ibaraki Dōji took exception to Musashi's boast.
Which is why anyone who wears his old man's bones on his face as a gravestone is either a pervert or a boy-lover.
"Fall." As Ibaraki Dōji charged, Musashi did nothing but point a finger.
Before the crowd's disbelieving eyes, Ibaraki Dōji lost consciousness and toppled over.
"He's dead!" There was no breath left in Ibaraki Dōji. He was utterly, completely dead.
He'd done nothing—just pointed—and in a single exchange had one-shot Ibaraki Dōji, one of the strongest under Hagoromo Gitsune! What terrifying power!
"What kind of monster is this…" The sweat on Kidōmaru's brow only poured faster. Tamamo-no-Mae alone was already a nightmare to face.
Now another had appeared, overwhelming in strength. He still didn't understand how a mere point, with no sense of Awe, could instantly kill someone of Ibaraki Dōji's caliber.
"Who are you?" Even Hagoromo Gitsune lost her cool. Her personal strength was no less than Tamamo-no-Mae's, but a powerhouse who could inexplicably kill Ibaraki Dōji demanded caution. Even Seimei hadn't done that.
"Uchiha Musashi."
"What! You're an onmyoji!"
"So what if I am? So what if I'm not? What can you do to me?" Musashi swept a contemptuous gaze over the yokai who surged forward yet dared not advance.
Did Musashi possess the power to kill at will? Even a millennium-old great yokai like Ibaraki Dōji? In a sense, yes.
Because of his Sharingan—the mutated eyes nearing the Rinnegan's level.
He had erased Ibaraki Dōji's mind using Tsukuyomi illusion.
True, if he went all out, Musashi could have killed Ibaraki Dōji anyway—but not with such a shocking, uncanny display.
"Impressive. I don't know how thou didst that, but it relates to those strange yet lovely eyes, does it not? Still, however mighty thou art, thou art one. That move just now—I'd wager even thou canst not use it without limit," Hagoromo Gitsune said, hitting the heart of it at once.
"We have several thousand yokai here."
"Do you really think I'm the only one on this side?" Musashi, unconcerned, murmured into Tamamo-no-Mae's ear, showing no worry at having his secret guessed.
"Come out, my lovely subordinates." Pairs of eerie red eyes, each with tomoe, opened in the woods behind Musashi.
"So there are more of you. But do you think those subordinates can stop my army?" Hagoromo Gitsune asked.
"You're welcome to try." Musashi shot her a provoking look, freed a hand from Tamamo-no-Mae's embrace, and a pale-violet katana appeared in his grip.
Muramasa, the demon blade.
"I came only to ask you a question. Answer—or die."
The Keikain clan could no longer hold back Hagoromo Gitsune and her forces. Kyoto's human leadership was in utter chaos.
They knew all too well how terrifying yokai are, and their last shield, the Keikain, was being pushed back step by step. Few seals remained unbroken.
Before long, Hagoromo Gitsune's side would completely break the seal the Thirteenth Shugen had laid.
That night, Nijō Castle—the final sealed site—fell as well.
"Yo, so this is Kyoto? Boys! With me! This time I'll cut off that cursed bond with the stinking fox! My Night Parade!" With a swing of Nenekirimaru, Night Rikuo felled a Kyoto yokai about to strike a human, then slung the blade over his shoulder.
"The heavy hitters are all here! I'm so excited!" A colossal monster dropped from the sky, swatting away a host of Nura Clan small fry with one palm.
One of the top great yokai—Tsuchigumo—at your service.
"I'm here to fight strong guys. Which of you is strongest? You? You? Or you? Anyone's fine, as long as you make me happy. Come on, come on, come on—fight me!"
"I'll handle this one!" As head of the Nura Clan, he couldn't watch the enemy butcher his men.
"Hey—you're the Thirteenth Shugen, aren't you? Your power's not bad, not just pretty talk like you claimed." Ignoring the Nura Clan's fight with Tsuchigumo, Meruem walked up to the Shugen Yura had summoned.
"Ah—you noticed." The Thirteenth Shugen showed no embarrassment at being exposed. He lifted a folding fan to his mouth and smiled.
"You're not going to help them? Your power's nothing simple. At least… I still can't gauge how strong you really are."
"I'm going to eat your Night Parade one by one! Right in front of you! Hahaha!" By then, the battle with Tsuchigumo was near its end. Rikuo was strong, but against Tsuchigumo's absolute power, he was still too weak.
Once the Clear Mirror, Still Water was broken, only one outcome awaited Rikuo: defeat.
Tsuchigumo proved it, slamming a fist into him and sending him crashing into the ruins.
"Who should I eat first? You? You? Or you?" The gap was too great. Even Aotabō and Kurotabō in their prime under the Second couldn't stop a hungry Tsuchigumo.
Especially when Kurotabō's weapons couldn't so much as scratch him.
"I've decided! You're next—woman!" He pointed—at the Yuki-onna, Tsurara.
"Master? Dead?" When Tsuchigumo's fist lifted and she saw Rikuo lying amid the rubble, tears slid down Tsurara's cheeks.
"I'll avenge my lord! Wind-Cry Crane Beauty!" The cursed snow met Tsuchigumo's fist head-on.
"Please! Save them, Meru-kun! I know you can." To everyone's surprise, Yura begged for help—and she begged Meruem.
(End of Chapter)
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