"The game has already begun. You don't have much time left."
"Will your Nura Clan destroy our Hyaku Monogatari Clan first… or will you be devoured by the malice of those you've sworn to protect? Let's wait and see."
"Nura Rikuo."
With those words, chaos descended upon Tokyo.
It hadn't reached the level of open war against the entire world, but having all ten million residents of Tokyo turn against him was more than enough to push Nura Rikuo to the brink.
What made things worse was… after he struck down one of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan's lieutenants—someone who, to the average onlooker, looked no different from a human—those watching began to brand him as an evil yōkai who attacked people. The situation spiraled fast.
And to make matters even worse, Rikuo had never once retaliated against any of the humans attacking him. His reluctance to fight back, interpreted as fear, emboldened more and more people.
"Someone grab a weapon!"
"A fire extinguisher! That should work!"
"Pick up anything you can! If we all fight, we can kill him!"
"Now's the time for the people of this nation to stand united!"
"Kill him!"
"Do it!"
"Kill Nura Rikuo!"
Whipped into a frenzy, they abandoned all reason—mindlessly swept along with the tide.
"Humans are terrifying creatures," someone muttered. "They blame their misfortunes on their surroundings, envy those more fortunate."
"Rumors spread so much faster than they used to. It's even worse now… All they need is something to believe in. Doesn't matter if it's a lie."
"The humans you trust, the ones you want to coexist with… this is what they're really like, Nura Rikuo."
Murmuring softly to himself, a bizarre man dressed in a black yukata watched Rikuo's desperate escape with eerie amusement.
In his hand was a folding fan, painted with the character 件 (Kudan) in black ink. His eyes were exaggerated, cartoonish, like someone had drawn them with a brush—and his voice held a strange, hypnotic quality.
His name was Enchō, self-proclaimed storyteller of the Hyakumonogatari—the Hyaku Monogatari Clan—and a senior member of the group.
"By tomorrow morning, the Nura Clan will be reduced to ash by the flames of human hatred… and we will rise as the saviors of dawn. We'll steal every ounce of fear the Nura Clan once ruled over."
Everything was going exactly according to Enchō's plan.
While the Hyaku Monogatari Clan yōkai ran rampant across the city, slaughtering humans without restraint, Rikuo had no choice but to roam the streets—slaying yōkai, rescuing civilians—only to be hunted by humans in return.
No matter where he ran, it made no difference. Yōkai birds circled overhead, calling out his location and charming humans into action.
When a grotesque serpent yōkai with a human skull for a head and a body made entirely of bone erupted from the ground, devouring pedestrians whole, a flash of steel sliced through the air—severing its skull in one clean strike.
The panicked bystanders only caught a fleeting glimpse of that blade… and the figure of Nura Rikuo vanishing into the distance.
"Huh?"
"That guy just now…"
"Was that… Nura Rikuo?"
Their murmurs never reached him. Rikuo didn't have time to listen. He had to reach the next yōkai outbreak immediately.
There was no time to tend to his wounds. He'd only managed to tie a rough bandage in transit. His black-and-white hair floated against gravity—the unmistakable sign he had entered his yōkai form.
In this state, his power was leagues beyond what it had been in human guise. He could wield Nurarihyon's illusionary arts without restraint.
Three tengu swooped down beside him, wings beating furiously.
"Rikou-sama!"
"Please, stop appearing in front of humans!"
Rikuo knew full well—every time he showed himself to the public, he only drew more hatred. More violence.
But—
"If someone's being killed in front of me, how can I just stand by and do nothing?"
Even under such relentless danger, Rikuo remained calm, issuing precise commands to his subordinates.
Then, a shrill screech rang out from above.
"There he is! There he is! Nura Rikuo is here! Kill him! Kill him! If you want to be saved, kill Nura Rikuo!"
A strange bird spiraled overhead, its voice dripping with mind-altering charm. One by one, more people flocked to the scene. In no time, Rikuo and his group were completely surrounded.
"Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill Nura Rikuo!"
The crowd had become one seething mass. Dozens—hundreds—of bloodshot eyes fixed on him, filled with nothing but hatred.
Because he couldn't strike back at humans, Rikuo leapt up the walls, bounding over rooftops, once again dragging Tsurara into flight. Another desperate escape.
Chaos reigned. Riots ignited. The city was devoured by madness.
"It's gathering… It's taking shape…"
Shielding a crooked grin behind his fan, Enchō muttered to himself:
"All the killing intent and hatred aimed at Nura Rikuo by these ten million people… If I can gather it all, solidify it… I can craft the ultimate curse—a malediction of pure annihilation."
Yes. He'd never expected ordinary humans to actually kill Rikuo. Even without resistance, a mere mob could never finish him.
But the malice—that was Enchō's true weapon. A curse born from humanity itself.
No matter how strong Rikuo was, he could never withstand the weight of that collective, monstrous hatred. As a yōkai born from rumors and stories passed down through human lips, Enchō knew that better than anyone.
But then, he frowned.
"…What?"
Something felt wrong. He stood still, sensing carefully. After a moment, his face turned grave.
"The speed at which the malice is building… is slowing? It's even starting to decrease? How… how is that possible?"
"Master, is something wrong?" one of his followers asked, seeing his expression shift.
Enchō fell silent for a long moment… then chose not to hide it.
"…Yes. It seems the Nura Clan is more capable than we expected. Unbelievable… Someone has found a way to stop the spread of my rumors."
"W-What?!"
His subordinate's shock was understandable. Even Enchō himself was shaken.
As the mouth of Yamamoto—the propagator of tales—Enchō knew better than anyone how dangerous and insidious word-of-mouth rumors could be.
In any era, he simply needed to create the tale. And humans, always eager for drama, would spread it for him like ink in water. All he had to do was drop the first bead—soon the entire pool would turn black.
But that was also the downside… Once the ink spread, not even he could stop it—unless the stained water was purged before it spread too far.
He didn't yet understand what method his enemies had used, but he wasn't about to sit still and wait.
"Yanagida, notify the other Hyaku Monogatari Clan members. Tell them to find whoever is halting the rumors—and eliminate them."
"…Understood, Master."
After Yanagida departed, Enchō stood alone on the rooftop, looking down at the city below—slowly drowning in malice and confusion. His painted eyes gave no hint of emotion.
"Nura Rikuo… No matter how hard you fight, it will all be in vain. When the dawn comes, you will be remembered not as a hero, but as the evil villain fated to be struck down in our tale… and the Hyaku Monogatari Clan will rise upon your grave."
"Hey! Hey! Judging by your gear, you're out hunting Nura Rikuo too, huh?"
"Of course! If we don't kill him soon, the whole country will be destroyed!"
"It's the Kudan's prophecy! It has to be true! Nura Rikuo must die!"
"My sister's boyfriend's lover's cousin's coworker's classmate said a yōkai attacked humans in his area! Real gruesome stuff! People's limbs flying everywhere!"
"It's the end of the world, man…"
In front of a collapsed café, a group of people were gathered, loudly discussing the situation.
"But hey… I heard something different," someone whispered.
Glancing around, he cupped his hands around his mouth like he was about to reveal a secret.
"They say… the yōkai attacking people are actually Rikuo's enemies. He's the one protecting humans—risking his life to fight them off."
"What? Seriously?"
"So that makes Nura Rikuo… a hero?"
"Then the Kudan's prophecy is a fake?!"
"We have to spread the word! We can't let a hero take the fall for nothing!"
"Yeah! We should do something to help Nura Rikuo!"
Then—something bizarre happened.
Just moments ago, this same group had been seething with malice, shouting for Rikuo's death. And now, after hearing one "rumor" in his defense, their attitude shifted completely.
There was no concrete proof. Nothing compelling. But suddenly, they believed he was a hero. Their protector.
"Hah? What the hell is wrong with you?! You'd believe something that stupid, just like that?! What do you think I'm doing here?!"
A blur passed by.
A towering woman over two meters tall appeared in their midst without warning—glasses glinting coldly.
Then came the carnage.
From the sleeves of her coat, her arms twisted out like blurs—turning several people into fountains of blood and headless corpses.
Only when she stopped moving could they see the truth. Her arms were rubbery, intestinal—lined with mouths that chewed and crunched… on the victims' heads.
"Disgusting. Bland. Unbearably tasteless… I gave up the delicacy that is Nura Rikuo to be assigned here, and all I get is this trash? Like chewing on blank paper…"
"Aaaaah! AAAAAHHH—!!"
Someone behind her, paralyzed with fear, turned to flee.
She didn't even glance back. The massive mouth on her right arm lunged forward and clamped down.
With a sickening crunch, the man's body was bitten clean in two. His lower half fell slowly to the ground, blood and entrails painting the street red.
"Tch… I knew it. I have to eat Nura Rikuo."
No matter how loud the screams, how much blood spilled, the woman's gaze never wavered.
Her thoughts were filled with only one thing—Nura Rikuo.
She licked her lips hungrily, smearing blood along her mouth with one finger.
"These flavorless insects… no matter how many I eat, they won't satisfy me. They just make the hunger worse. So hungry… So empty…"
Her body began to distort—softening, writhing unnaturally, her skin splitting at the seams from the pressure within.
"Ahhh… That's right. Nura Rikuo is probably out there right now, protecting those pathetic little humans. So if I kill enough of them… he'll come to me, right? I'll get to devour that delicious morsel?"
Tongue flicking like a serpent, she licked the blood trailing down her face and smiled—a smile that sent chills down the spine.
And then she ate another.
Bones cracked. Flesh was torn. Screams rang out. Blood and viscera spilled from the corners of her mouth, pooling into rivers of red.
Even as her arm's mouth chewed on a severed limb, her body continued to twitch and squirm, overwhelmed by longing.
"Come to me… Come to me, Nura Rikuo. Your sword-wielding hand… that fiercely beating heart… those sharp, beautiful eyes… I want them. I want to devour all of you! I want to become one with you!"
She craved. She obsessed. She sank deeper into desire. Deeper into fantasy.
And then—suddenly—a voice tore through her daydream.
"Mmm… Mmmmmmm! Such blazing, scorching emotion! I can feel it burning me at this distance! Ahhh, you gluttonous, unsatisfied devourer—corpse-born from cursed tales—black, malignant force of evil… how delightfully putrid! Hehehehe…"
---
"Translator chained me here and told me to write something clever. Consider this your mandatory reminder that if you enjoyed the chapter, you can toss your precious Powerstones into the void—every 100 of them forces out one extra chapter, like wringing blood from a stone. 100 = 1, 200 = 2, 300 = 3… you get the picture."
"If you're feeling dangerously generous (or just want to peek ahead), there's also a Patreon: patreon.com/wisetl. Allegedly, it's "voluntary support," but let's not kid ourselves—you're here for early chapters."
"That's all. Now leave me be." —Angelica Ainsworth