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After watching Karasu Tengu leave, Akio didn't bother to chase him.He wasn't here for Karasu Tengu today.
He was here for the Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan.
It didn't take him long to find the clan's headquarters in Ukiyoe Town. The trail was obvious—demonic energy was practically spilling everywhere.Here in Ukiyoe, all you had to do was follow the thickest concentration of demonic energy, and you'd find their base.
And this wasn't just a handful of youkai gathered together. We're talking dozens, maybe hundreds. The air was so heavy with demonic energy it was almost forming storm clouds overhead.Hard to miss, really.
At the gates of the Nura Clan, Akio spotted two guards.
That was different from how things played out in the original story. He distinctly remembered there being no guards at all.But now, there they were.
Neither showed their true forms. Both had taken on human guise: black suits, dark sunglasses, standing stiff at the entrance. With the clan's signboard hanging above the gate, to the unknowing eye this could've passed for a yakuza office.
Only insiders would know this was youkai territory.
When the two guards saw Akio walking straight up to the gate, they exchanged a surprised glance.After all, the entire area was enchanted to repel ordinary humans.No normal person should be able to walk in here.
Which meant this one wasn't normal.
One guard stepped forward to block his path."No outsiders allowed. Who are you?"
"I'm here for your Supreme Commander," Akio replied calmly. "Go tell him."
The guard raised an eyebrow. "Do you have an appointment?"
Akio shook his head.
"Then are you a friend of our commander?"
Another shake of the head.
The guard sighed. "Neither one? Then I'd advise you to turn around. This place isn't for someone like you."
Akio just smiled, stepped past him, and kept walking.
"Stop right there!" the guard barked, snapping. He lunged forward, reaching to grab Akio—
—but before his hand even touched, a blast of holy light knocked him flying.
The second guard roared, instincts kicking in. His disguise melted away, revealing his true form: a rokurokubi. His neck shot out, stretching impossibly long as his gaping jaws snapped toward Akioi's throat.
Bang!
A heartbeat later, he too was sent hurtling through the air. He smashed into the gate with an explosive crash, crashing into the courtyard like a fired cannonball.
The noise shook the entire compound.
By the time Akio stepped through the broken gate, youkai were already pouring out from every direction.
Crows descended from the sky—Karasu Tengu. Natto Kozō scuttled out of the shadows. A kappa leapt from the pond with a splash. Kejourou and Yuki-onna rushed out from the corners of the courtyard.
In an instant, the air was thick with hostile presences. Akio was surrounded on all sides, sky and ground alike, by a ring of unfriendly youkai.
"Who are you?"
From within the mob, Dōhiki the Headless Ghost stepped forward, hauling the unconscious rokurokubi back onto his feet. His hollow gaze fixed coldly on Akio, brimming with undisguised hostility.
Akio glanced around at the circle tightening around him. His expression didn't change."Call out your Supreme Commander."
Dōhiki narrowed his eyes, irritation rising. The faint glimmer of killing intent started to leak from him.
But before he could act—
"My, my. What a rough guest we've got here."
A voice carried from the back of the crowd.
At once, the wall of youkai parted like the sea, opening a path.
Down that path strolled a tall man with long black hair, clad in a flowing kimono. He carried himself with easy grace, the kind of roguish charm that made him seem both careless and commanding.
Dōhiki bowed his head respectfully."Supreme Commander."
For the first time, Akio's eyes flickered with surprise.
Because standing before him wasn't the clan's first commander, Nurarihyon, nor its third, Rikuo.
It was Nurarihyon's son. Rikuo's father.
The strongest of the clan, who in the original story should've long been dead at Yamabuki Otome's hands—
Nurarihyon Rihan, the Second Commander of the Nura Clan.
In the original timeline, though Nurarihyon himself was called the Lord of Pandemonium, it was Rihan who had truly carried the clan to its golden age.
At his peak, he'd annihilated the Hyakumonogatari under Yamamoto Gorōzaemon, and clashed again and again with Tamamo no Mae. His strength was such that even Abe no Seimei, watching from the underworld, had been forced to ally with Gorō just to plot Rihan's downfall.
And yet, in this twisted world, Rihan hadn't died. He was alive, and still standing as commander of the Nura Clan.
That was… unexpected.
But only that. Whether Rihan or Nurarihyon himself, Akio didn't see either as his match. Not him, not the entire Nura Clan.
Rihan folded his arms loosely, one eye closed, regarding Akio with a sidelong glance."So, our rough guest. What business do you have with me?"
The words were polite, but the tone was icy. Less a question, more a demand for justification.
Akio heard the nuance, but didn't care. He said evenly, "Not long ago, I was eaten by a youkai. Pretty good appetite, that one—left nothing but a finger of me."
Rihan froze for a second.
The rest of the clan stared, taken aback. What was that supposed to mean?
"I'm a demi-human," Akio went on. "So I revived. By chance, I also gained some new strength. And then, I came here to see the Nura Clan."
Rihan's face grew more serious. "You're saying the one who ate you… was one of my clan's?"
"That's impossible!" Dōhiki snapped before Akio could answer. "The commander has given strict orders: the Nura Clan may consume fear, but never humans. No one would dare disobey him!"
Rihan placed a hand on Dōhiki's shoulder, calming him."As you can see, guest, our clan abandoned eating humans long ago."
Expressionless, Akio replied, "That's just your word. If you want to prove your innocence, then round up every man-eating youkai in Tokyo—and bring them to me."
Rihan blinked. Then, slowly, he laughed.
"..."
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