Ryuji felt completely numb.
If his guess was correct, then not only did he have to deal with the yokai terrorizing the human world—but he also had to somehow pacify the dead, stopping their fear from feeding into this endless nightmare.
"But the worst part is..." he muttered to himself, "If there are monsters down there too... that's going to be a real mess."
His eyes turned again to Kanae.
"Can you travel to the underworld?" he asked seriously. "If you can, would you be able to send a message for me? Let them know we're doing everything we can up here, fighting off these yokai—and also… could you check if there's anything strange going on in the underworld? And the people who've recently died… have they passed on to the Pure Land? Or even reached the underworld at all?"
As he spoke, another troubling thought came to him:
What if the souls of those killed by these monsters were being trapped—or worse, turned into more monsters?
"I… I don't know," Kanae replied, troubled. "To reach the Pure Land, one's heart must be free of attachment. That's something I've never been able to achieve, so I've never gone beyond. But now that you mention it… I don't think I've seen any newly deceased souls recently. Ryuji-san, do you… know something?"
She looked at him with clear suspicion. Her instincts told her he had uncovered something far more serious than he was letting on.
"Yeah," Ryuji nodded grimly. "For example, those monsters out there—they might very well be born from your collective fears and lingering emotions, mixed with something else… something foreign."
He rotated his sword restlessly. Even after such a short time, the air inside the flame barrier had already thinned noticeably.
He had to act fast. If they stayed in here much longer, they'd be forced to step out just to breathe—and by then, things could spiral out of control.
"I understand," Kanae nodded back. She couldn't see what Ryuji was seeing—but his serious expression convinced her he wasn't lying.
"In that case…" Mai hesitated, watching the approaching monsters with a frown. "Are you saying we have to stop fearing them… entirely?"
She paused, reluctant to finish the thought.
She might be able to adjust to the fear—but what about the common people? Even if they fought and defeated hundreds of yokai, as long as civilians continued to be afraid, those efforts would be meaningless.
That meant… there was no real chance of winning.
"Yeah," Ryuji sighed. "Some things… there's just no fixing. We do what we can."
He took a deep breath.
"Things are about to get hot," he warned. "Hang in there. We're heading toward a less populated area. I'll cover you with fire to protect us and cloak our movements—but if anything gets through, I'll need your help fighting."
The flames around him surged.
The power of dragonfire intensified—until waves of red fire burst forth and wrapped around Shinobu, Kanae, and Mai.
All three of them gasped in pain.
"This feeling…"
Shinobu clutched her chest, panting heavily. It felt like her whole body was being set on fire.
But along with the searing pain—she felt something else. A sensation deep within her, like a chain being loosened.
The poison of the wisteria flower—the substance that had always made her body weak and uncomfortable—was being slowly purged from her system.
The fire wasn't really burning her. And while she could tolerate the pain of the flames, the real issue was the detoxification. The sudden purging of the wisteria toxin caused a deep, indescribable discomfort, leaving her feeling lightheaded and weak.
Before today, the idea of losing the wisteria's poison would have been unthinkable. It was her weapon—her edge against demons.
But now, seeing her sister gritting her teeth and enduring the same searing pain beside her… Shinobu felt like maybe it wasn't such a terrible thing after all.
And maybe—just maybe—there were other reasons she no longer needed the poison.
Looking at Ryuji's tall, powerful build, Shinobu glanced sidelong at Mai with a strange sense of foreboding.
"…If Mai-san doesn't help… I'm probably going to die, aren't I?"
She couldn't help the thought from crossing her mind. She knew her own body—knew her heart and lungs weren't strong enough to shoulder certain… responsibilities.
So the best option?
Bring in backup. Namely, Mai.
Besides, Shinobu wasn't sure she could even bear children anymore. If that was the case, then Mai's presence was essential.
Her mind spiraled deeper into irrational thoughts, brought on by her changing body and the heat burning through her.
Kanae who had been temporarily resurrected, watching her sister space out, grew concerned.
"Shinobu? Are you okay?"
Kanae knew about her sister's agreement with Ryuji. She'd witnessed it when they forged the contract—but she also knew her sister's stubbornness rivaled that of a bull. No matter what she said, Shinobu wouldn't give up.
That's why Kanae had reached the same conclusion: If Mai-san could share some of the burden, it would be a blessing for her sister.
Of course, part of it was selfish. Not because she wanted to be revived—but because she wanted Shinobu and Kanao to step away from this dangerous path and live like normal people. That was all she wished for.
"I'm fine, Nee-san. Let's fight together," Shinobu said with a soft smile.
She rose to her feet, willing her body to adjust to Ryuji's fire and the changes coursing through her. When Ryuji glanced over, she met his eyes with a smile that came from deep within.
"I'm ready."
"Good," Ryuji nodded, then turned to Mai.
"Your fire is… really something," Mai said with a mix of awe and discomfort. "It hurts, yeah—but I can feel my body healing. It's amazing."
She stared at the fire wrapping around her body. Despite the blazing heat, it didn't harm her. In fact, it was actively repairing her body. She could feel her muscles growing more limber, her energy surging back.
It was a unique kind of sensation.
Painful, yet… oddly comfortable.
Of course, for a trained kunoichi from the Shiranui-ryuu, she was no stranger to fire. Her body handled the flames with ease. Unlike Shinobu, who was already weakened by the wisteria poison, Mai adjusted quickly. She even swung the Kashu—and knocked away a chunk of flame, which hit and destroyed a lurking lantern yokai nearby.
"You're burning through my energy, y'know!" Ryuji snapped, half-serious. "That wasn't magic, it was physics! The flame you flung has to be replenished!"
"Alright, alright," Mai grinned sheepishly.
"In any case," Ryuji said, glancing at the infernal cityscape around them, "If we're going to fight, it needs to be in an open area. My fire will level this city in seconds if we're not careful. Shinobu, is there anywhere nearby we can use?"
"Yes!" Shinobu answered quickly. "Head east. There's a large open space we planned to use as a base."
With Kanae's help, she pointed the way. Ryuji frowned as the surrounding yokai continued closing in.
He could fight here. He had no doubts about that.
But fighting here meant civilians would get caught up in the destruction—and if their fear worsened, it would only create more yokai.
"This things are really disgusting ... Fine! Shinobu, take point!"
Without hesitation, Shinobu leapt into action—jumping from rooftop to rooftop with practiced agility. Ryuji, Mai, and Kanae followed.
But the moment they cleared the outer gate, the place where they had just stood was crushed by a massive yokai.
Ten meters tall. Its entire body covered in mouths. Long, spindly limbs twisted unnaturally. Ryuji had no idea what it was, but it let out a piercing shriek in their direction.
In the blink of an eye, the entire city stirred.
The yokai abandoned their prey—those trembling civilians hiding inside their homes—and began swarming into the streets, all heading toward Ryuji's group.
And as they gathered, a white mist—thick, visible, and suffocating—wrapped around them, distorting their shapes into even more grotesque forms.
On the other side, Ryuji's group was already being pursued.
As Shinobu landed, a pack of blood-red-eyed wolves—each with two heads—burst from the woods. Their footsteps sliced through the environment, winds laced with cutting pressure tearing through trees and grass.
Even the flame barriers surrounding the group flickered dangerously form the blast of winds.
"Uncivilized beasts," Ryuji growled.
He leapt to Shinobu's side. With a roar, he swept his massive greatsword in a wide arc, launching dragonfire straight into the charging wolves. The leading ones were engulfed instantly, their bodies flung back into the ranks behind them.
But that wasn't all.
As the flames collided with the winds the wolves carried, a violent reaction occurred—amplifying the fire's intensity. The flames leapt through the pack like a wildfire in dry grass.
The wolves screamed, panicked, and some tried to flee. But Ryuji wouldn't allow that.
He charged his greatsword with another blast of dragonfire and swung, releasing a crescent-shaped inferno that sliced through the pack, igniting the rest.
Within seconds, they were reduced to ash.
"Move!" he barked.
He didn't spare another glance at whether the fallen monsters might transform into something more. What mattered now was that part of Shinobu's flame shield had been blown out just moments ago.
But just as they resumed their escape, a new threat swooped down from above—several strange birds diving directly toward them.
His Observation Haki pulsed with danger. Instinctively, he refortified Shinobu's flame shield. A heartbeat later, faint trails of bluish smoke curled above her head.
Ryuji stared at the birds in confusion. What the hell are these things?
He didn't know, and frankly—he didn't care.
If it's hostile, it burns.
Without even lifting his sword, he inhaled deeply, focused his mind, and formed a few precise Flame Arts hand seals. In the next instant, dozens of fireballs burst from his palms and shot into the air, colliding with the birds mid-flight and incinerating them in explosions of flame.
But even as the last embers fell, another massive presence loomed behind them.
The ten-meter-tall yokai leapt into the sky—soaring high above them before beginning its descent, aiming directly for Ryuji's group like a living meteor.
He stared up at it with a baffled look.
"…You can't change direction mid-air?"
What kind of idiot jumps that high without the ability to redirect in the air??!
With a thought, fire surged from his back in a concentrated stream, forming a cloak-like thrust that launched him upward like a rocket. His massive greatsword blazed with fiery light as he shot toward the monster.
And then—
SLASH.
In one clean arc, he cleaved the monster straight down the middle. With the full power of dragonfire and momentum behind the strike, the creature stood no chance.
Its body was instantly reduced to scorched charcoal, crumbling mid-fall into burning chunks before hitting the earth.
But victory came at a cost.
His sword—a weapon once brought from the One Piece world—had begun to warp.
The intense heat, combined with the force of his swing, had bent the blade's spine slightly off-axis.
It was clear: this sword wouldn't last much longer.
It had been a sturdy weapon. But without the protective coating of Haki from its original world, it had become fragile in the face of dragonfire.
Steel, after all, has limits. While the sword's surface could tolerate extreme heat, the core structure and outer edge weren't made of the same material. For most people—or for fire under 1,000 degrees—it would've held up fine.
But Ryuji's dragonfire was far from ordinary. The intense inner heat had finally begun to melt the weapon from the inside out.
In short—
Ryuji's flames were just too damn powerful.
When used for healing, it was harmless enough. But for a weapon bathed in its full wrath—it was a death sentence.
"…Yeah, I definitely need to upgrade my gear," Ryuji muttered. "Looks like it's time to head back to Arad… or maybe some other world. These regular blades aren't cutting it."
The scorched remains of the yokai collapsed behind him, consumed entirely by fire.
But there was no time to rest.
Their momentary stop had allowed the pursuing yokai to catch up.
Floating white cloths, grinning lanterns, grotesque mouth-covered humanoids, kappa, demons, one-legged umbrella monsters… They emerged from the shadows in droves, each surrounded by a thick mist of white fog.
Even without knowing their names, Ryuji could tell:
These monsters were trouble.
His Haki flared again. The collective presence of twisted world power and massive fear gathered around the horde had begun forming something akin to a barrier.
He didn't know what it did—but it couldn't be good.
"…Should I test it?"
He glanced down at his bent sword. The blade was barely holding together—but he was itching to strike.
But then—
Something strange happened.
The yokai stopped.
They snarled and hissed, but didn't come any closer. Ryuji frowned and scanned the horde carefully.
"The mist—it's fading!" Mai said suddenly.
She pointed to the distance. The monsters who had drifted too far from the city wall—more than a hundred meters or so—had begun to lose their white mist.
Ryuji blinked, then immediately activated his Haki to verify.
Sure enough, the further a yokai was from the city, the more its body—made of that strange white mist, or rather, fear—began to unravel.
That explained everything.
These monsters couldn't exist outside the bounds of human fear.
He turned to the ash left behind by the giant yokai. Using his senses, he confirmed it—the fear had completely dissipated from the corpse. In its place, traces of distorted world power began flowing toward him.
Faint golden particles shimmered as they restored some of his stamina—but Ryuji's expression darkened.
"If we can't fight these things outside the city… this is going to get really annoying."
He glanced at the horde again. His grip tightened around his warped blade.
Then he looked up at the sky.
Several more yokai circled above—and their mist wasn't fading at all.
Why?
"Are they… not mature enough yet? Maybe only certain monsters can leave human-occupied zones... or maybe there's something I'm missing."
His thoughts wandered briefly to the yokai that had terrified Mai earlier.
But whatever the case…
None of that mattered now.
The only thing he needed to do was burn them all.
Fire surged across his ruined weapon. It was beyond saving—any warrior would call it broken—but that didn't matter.
He wasn't swinging this sword to cut anymore.
He was using it as a conduit.
Dragonfire. Wrapped around a dying blade.
Let's see what breaks first.
~~~~~~~~~~
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