"Yura, is what you said really true? Did that person actually frighten off the Hyakki Yagyō led by the Nura Clan—all by himself?"
After hearing how serious Yura sounded, the head of the Keikain family—who had been sitting with his eyes half-lidded—slowly opened them. A rare look of solemn focus appeared on his aged face.
Killing a B-rank rat yokai was nothing worth boasting about. But driving back the Nura Clan's Hyakki Yagyō through sheer presence alone—that was an entirely different matter. It meant the other party truly possessed strength that could not be underestimated.
"Yes," Yura replied with a nod. "I could tell at the time. Even though he never directly made a move, the Nura Clan's people were clearly extremely wary of that… senior."
As Yura recalled the night she encountered the rat yokai, she vividly remembered the expressions on the Nura Clan's demons when they came face to face with Ren Kuroda. Their faces had been twisted with anger, yet at the same time filled with unmistakable caution and fear.
Naturally, Yura assumed that such a reaction could only mean one thing—the Nura Clan must have suffered at Ren Kuroda's hands before.
"The Tenjoin family?" the Keikain head murmured. "I don't recall ever hearing of such an onmyōji clan. Still, if what Yura says is true—if this young man named Ren Kuroda possesses such power at his age—then the family that nurtured him can't be weak either."
"Exactly," another elder chimed in. "Compared to relying on the so-called Nura Clan, I believe seeking help from other onmyōji families—fellow humans—would be far more reliable. And from Yura's account, this member of the Tenjoin family seems to be someone who hates evil with a passion. Once he understands the threat the Hagoromo Fox poses, he should be willing to try persuading his family to lend us their aid. I think it's worth attempting."
After Yura voiced her agreement, the other members of the Keikain family began sharing their own thoughts, one after another. Most of them felt this was indeed a plan worth trying.
After all, with their current strength alone, resisting the Hagoromo Fox would be extremely difficult. And if the Nura Clan could not be relied upon, then they had no choice but to seek help elsewhere.
"Yura," the family head asked once opinions had largely converged, "can you contact this member of the Tenjoin family? And how confident are you that he'll agree to come to Kyoto's aid?"
"I do have his contact information," Yura answered after a brief hesitation. "As for whether he'll agree to help… judging by Ren Kuroda's personality, I don't think it'll be too difficult."
As she spoke, she recalled how he had looked after her before—his calm demeanor, his steady reliability—and her confidence immediately grew.
"Beep—beep—beep…"
The entire hall fell into utter silence. All the Keikain family members watched quietly as Yura pulled a cellphone from within her kimono and dialed a number.
Meanwhile, in another corner of Kyoto, Ren Kuroda was holding a gourd of sake in his hand. His normally handsome face was flushed bright red, making it painfully obvious that he had drunk far too much.
Reality had proven that even after reincarnation, while he was no longer the kind of lightweight who collapsed after a single cup like in his previous life, his tolerance hadn't exactly improved by much.
Or perhaps it was simply because the alcohol produced by the Endless Wine Gourd was of such absurdly high quality that even with Ren Kuroda's current physical constitution, he couldn't resist its effects.
"Beep-beep-beep-beep…!"
As the urgent ringtone rang out, the slightly tipsy Ren Kuroda fumbled out the secondhand knockoff phone he'd bought in this world. When he saw the caller ID, he froze for a moment.
"H-Hello… is this Ren Kuroda, big brother?"
The moment he heard that form of address, a thick black line seemed to appear across Ren Kuroda's forehead.
Being called "big brother" by a stoic, expressionless girl was, admittedly, not a bad thing. But what really worried him was what would happen if his yokai identity were ever exposed. Would the entire Keikain family hunt him down on the spot?
After all, Yura was currently the only member of the Keikain family with the potential to wield Shikigami: Breaking Star. She was even being groomed as the next head of the family.
The thought of the future head of the Keikain clan calling a yokai "big brother" made Ren Kuroda feel that his chances of being executed were uncomfortably high.
"It's Yura, huh? Didn't I tell you before? You can just call me Ren Kuroda. 'Big brother' is really a bit much for me," he said with a wry laugh. "So, what's the reason for calling me this time?"
Although they had exchanged contact information, Ren Kuroda was still quite curious about why this normally quiet girl had suddenly called him.
Following the Keikain family head's instructions, Yura carefully explained how dire Kyoto's current situation was, and subtly expressed their hope that the Tenjoin family standing behind Ren Kuroda could offer assistance.
As he listened, Ren Kuroda's expression gradually stiffened.
He had really bragged too hard back then. What family did he have? In this world, the so-called "Tenjoin family" amounted to exactly one person—him, a lone commander with no troops.
Still, thinking about how he'd been deceiving such a kind, earnest girl all this time, Ren Kuroda couldn't quite bring himself to shatter the lie completely.
So instead, he said that this was a long-standing feud between the Hagoromo Fox and the Keikain family, and that the Tenjoin family could not openly interfere.
However, he also stated that they had been closely monitoring the events unfolding in Kyoto. If things were to deteriorate to the worst possible point, the Tenjoin family would step in to help the Keikain clan restore order.
Moreover, Ren Kuroda directly revealed a crucial piece of information to them.
The Hagoromo Fox breaking through the eight seals was not meant to take revenge on the Keikain family or the Nura Clan, nor was it to restore her power and reclaim control over Kyoto.
It was all for the sake of allowing "Nue" to be born.
And the true identity of this "Nue" was none other than the legendary onmyōji from a thousand years ago—Abe no Seimei.
After Yura ended the call, the Keikain family's hall remained so silent that a pin drop could be heard. Only after a long while did voices slowly begin to rise again.
The sheer amount of information they had just received was far too shocking. None of them had ever imagined that the Hagoromo Fox—the great enemy they had prepared themselves to face—was merely a pawn being manipulated, and that the truly terrifying enemy lay elsewhere.
Even with such vital intelligence in hand, none of the Keikain members felt relieved. If anything, the burden on their shoulders felt heavier than ever.
"Abe no Seimei…" someone muttered. "Why does it have to involve such a monstrous figure? And just what kind of background does this Tenjoin family have, to be able to uncover secrets like this? How much of what he said can we really trust?"
Because of the information Ren Kuroda had revealed, the Keikain family council once again descended into noisy chaos, like a bustling marketplace.
In the end, it was the elderly family head who brought his staff down and made the final decision, bringing the meeting to a close.
Of the Hagoromo Fox's remaining three seals, the Keikain family would abandon the first two entirely, concentrating all their forces on fortifying the final seal—Nijō Castle.
Compared to the threat of the Hagoromo Fox alone, the Keikain family now believed that the danger posed by Abe no Seimei was far greater.
At the same time as reinforcing Nijō Castle, Yura would also accelerate her training with Shikigami: Breaking Star.
As for the so-called Tenjoin family—even though they had promised to intervene before things reached the worst-case scenario, those were still just words. The Keikain family had to prepare their own countermeasures in case everything went south.
Kyoto was now a city in turmoil, its situation as murky as muddy water being endlessly stirred.
After the Keikain family finalized their battle plan, Rikuo Nura and his group returned from Tōno.
The Rikuo who had once been utterly crushed by the Earth Spider—so badly beaten that he had nearly lost faith in himself—had undergone rigorous training in Tōno. After learning about the Art of Commanding a Hundred Demons from Gyūki, he finally mastered his father's signature technique: Demon Cloak.
In simple terms, after learning Demon Cloak, Rikuo instantly felt like he was unstoppable again. And so, he set foot in Kyoto once more, fully intending to first seek out the Earth Spider and reclaim his pride.
Meanwhile, on the Hagoromo Fox's side, something began to feel off.
After consecutively destroying five of Kyoto's seals, she had stopped taking the remaining three seriously. But when she swept into the sixth seal with overwhelming momentum, she discovered that it was completely undefended.
Breaking it was even easier than destroying the very first seal.
And it wasn't just the sixth. By the time she reached the seventh seal, the Hagoromo Fox finally realized something was very wrong.
By all logic, the Keikain family should have chosen to defend the final three seals with their lives. Yet now, they were abandoning them with alarming ease.
On top of that, she had previously sent Kintarōmaru and Aragokotsu to investigate the opposing Kidōin—and not a single message had come back.
Even if the leader of that so-called Kidōin truly possessed power on the level of Inugami Keibu-danuki, Kintarōmaru and Aragokotsu should have been more than capable of handling it together.
Even in the worst-case scenario, with their abilities, retreating safely should not have been difficult. It made no sense for there to be no news at all.
Combined with the Keikain family's abnormal decision to abandon such critical seals, the Hagoromo Fox couldn't shake the feeling that this might all be part of an elaborate trap.
Her caution was not without reason. She had waited countless years for an opportunity like this.
And now, this moment was the closest she had come to her goal in four hundred years.
She could not afford to be careless.
So much so that on her way toward the final seal—Nijō Castle—the Hagoromo Fox abruptly changed her original plan.
She decided to personally pay a visit to this so-called Kidōin and see for herself just what kind of existence it truly was.
After all, both the Nura Clan and the Keikain family had been her sworn enemies for centuries. If there was any place where an unforeseen variable could arise, it could only be this suddenly emerging Kidōin.