Hagoromo Gitsune departed with her host of yokai. Ren Kuroda and the forces of Kidouin followed close behind, leaving the members of the Nura Clan and the other remaining yokai standing there, their expressions having grown exceptionally grim.
They had realized one undeniable truth—things were spiraling rapidly out of control. One Hagoromo Gitsune alone had already been more than enough to give them a crushing headache. Now, on top of that, Ren Kuroda and Kidouin had entered the picture as well.
The only reason Ren had not acted against them before was because their objectives had yet to clash. But a conflict between them was never a question of if—only when.
The goal of the Nura Clan and the Hanakain family had always been clear: prevent Hagoromo Gitsune from regaining her full power and stop the birth of the so-called Nue.
Ren Kuroda's objective, however, was the exact opposite.
He intended to see the Nue born—and then face it in a decisive battle.
With their purposes fundamentally opposed, a collision between them was inevitable.
To be honest, after mastering Oni Binding, Rikuo Nura had believed that he had finally caught up to Ren Kuroda.
But after witnessing Ren's battle with Tsuchigumo, he was forced to confront the truth.
There was still a vast distance between them.
Before that, Rikuo had sensed Ren's S-rank yokai power from afar and assumed that Ren must have entered some kind of full demonized state. Yet when he arrived at the battlefield, he realized that Ren had merely released the innate Fear of his race.
Just by unleashing his natural Fear, his yokai power had already reached S-rank—and was overwhelming enough to defeat Tsuchigumo, who had previously crushed Rikuo without effort.
Rikuo couldn't even imagine how terrifying Ren would be if he fully transformed and then unleashed that same racial Fear.
At that point, even the current Hagoromo Gitsune might not be his opponent.
Perhaps that was exactly why a battle-crazed existence like Ren Kuroda—unable to find a worthy adversary—had eventually set his sights on a monster like the Nue, just as Tsuchigumo had.
"Young Master," one of the retainers said gravely, "given what's happening in Kyoto, I think we need to contact the Supreme Commander and report everything immediately.
"The situation has already become far too chaotic—and it's clearly beyond what we can control with our current strength."
Nurarihyon had agreed to let Rikuo come to Kyoto for two reasons. One was to temper and train his grandson. The other was his trust in the strength of Kurotabo and the others.
It was true that both the Nura Clan and the Hanakain family had weakened severely over the past four hundred years. But Hagoromo Gitsune herself had not fared much better.
Not only had her power been greatly diminished by the seal left behind by Hanakain Hidemoto, but over four centuries, the number of yokai still loyal to her had dwindled to a mere fraction of what it once was.
That was precisely why Nurarihyon had felt confident enough to allow the sole heir of the Nura Clan, Rikuo Nura, to come to a place as dangerous as Kyoto.
But now that Ren Kuroda—a being of overwhelming strength—had chosen to side with Hagoromo Gitsune, the situation was clearly slipping out of control.
Kurotabo and the others all believed that their still-inexperienced young master simply couldn't hold the line anymore. At this point, only the Supreme Commander himself could intervene.
On the other side, the Hanakain family, who had been stationed at the seal within Nijō Castle, naturally received word that Kidouin had joined Hagoromo Gitsune's faction.
For them, this was nothing short of a catastrophe piled atop disaster.
Defending the seal against Hagoromo Gitsune alone had already been an uphill battle. With Kidouin added to the mix, the difficulty had increased by far more than double.
Previously, the Hanakain family had only paid cursory attention to Kidouin. But once they learned that this group had actually defeated Tsuchigumo, they were jolted awake.
This was no force that could be ignored.
In fact, from a certain perspective, the overall strength of Kidouin was now no weaker than Hagoromo Gitsune's current faction.
The next day, Nijō Castle—normally one of Kyoto's most popular tourist destinations—was eerily devoid of people.
The Hanakain family had already erected large-scale barrier techniques around the area, driving away all civilians.
They knew all too well that Nijō Castle would not remain peaceful today.
A great battle was inevitable—and its outcome would directly determine the fate of Kyoto itself.
As twilight fell, the Hour of the Demon, when yokai became most active, Hagoromo Gitsune arrived as promised, leading a massive host of yokai. Dense, oppressive yokai energy blanketed Nijō Castle almost instantly.
Ever since Kidouin had joined Hagoromo Gitsune, Kurotabo and the others had already informed the Kantō yokai Supreme Commander—Nurarihyon—of everything that had transpired in Kyoto.
What they didn't know was that Nurarihyon had actually arrived in Kyoto himself not long after Rikuo and the others.
And he hadn't come alone.
Veteran Nura Clan executives such as Gyūki and Ichimoku, relics of an older era, had already been in Kyoto for some time.
Everything Rikuo had done in Kyoto had been observed closely by Nurarihyon and the others. That was why Gyūki had appeared at such a perfectly timed moment—none of it had been a coincidence.
As Hagoromo Gitsune's four-hundred-year nemesis, Nurarihyon had never been as careless as he appeared on the surface.
Training his disappointing grandson was one thing—but allowing Hagoromo Gitsune to fulfill her long-cherished ambition would spell real disaster.
"I said before that I saw potential in that boy rivaling Rikuo's father," Nurarihyon muttered, "but now that I look at him… I still underestimated him.
"It hasn't even been that long since his fight with Inugami Gyōbu Tanuki. And yet his strength has already grown to this extent—to the point where he could even defeat Tsuchigumo."
The aged Nurarihyon took a slow puff from his old-fashioned tobacco pipe, gazing thoughtfully at Ren Kuroda standing beside Hagoromo Gitsune.
To be honest, Nurarihyon had never doubted Ren's potential. His ability to continuously break through his limits during the battle with Gyōbu Tanuki had already proven his extraordinary talent.
What Nurarihyon hadn't expected was for Ren's growth to be this absurdly fast.
At Ren's current level, let alone Rikuo—even Nurarihyon himself wasn't confident he could win if he stepped onto the battlefield.
What Nurarihyon didn't know was that, to them, Ren's power seemed to have exploded in a very short span of time.
But for Ren Kuroda, compared to when he first arrived in the world of the Nura Clan, he had experienced far too much along the way.
His growth had never been the result of a single leap within one world—it was the accumulation of countless battles across multiple worlds.
"I'm honestly curious what kind of parents could give birth to a monster like that," Nurarihyon chuckled."If he'd been born four hundred years ago… facing a freak like him as an enemy would make even me uneasy."
Because the Nura Clan's executives were comrades who had fought alongside Nurarihyon four centuries ago, they could joke so freely with him.
"My old friends," Nurarihyon said, knocking ash from his pipe, "how about we go meet this monstrous little brat ourselves?
"With Rikuo's current strength, it's still far too early for him to face that kid. Hagoromo Gitsune's side can be left to Rikuo—but as for that oni brat…"
He smiled thinly.
"…it seems these old bones of ours will have to work a little harder."
The battle of Nijō Castle finally erupted.
This single conflict brought together four powerful factions: Kidouin, Hagoromo Gitsune, the Nura Clan, and the Hanakain family.
Since the age of peace began, clashes between yokai forces of this scale had become exceedingly rare. This was likely the first such battle in a century.
Anticipating that Kidouin's alliance with Hagoromo Gitsune would put them at a numerical disadvantage, Nurarihyon had brought a large number of yokai from various groups with him to Kyoto.
Though their numbers did not reach ten thousand, they were roughly equal to Kidouin's forces.
Compared to the four-hundred-year-old Nura Clan, Kidouin was still a newly risen power. In terms of raw combat experience, its Hundred Demons should have been inferior.
After all, both factions had risen by sheltering lesser yokai, and the majority of their members were nameless, insignificant spirits.
But the Nura Clan's four centuries of accumulation meant that even those once-weak yokai were no longer what they used to be.
Initially, Nurarihyon and the others believed that even with equal numbers, the more battle-hardened Nura Clan would hold the advantage.
Yet once the fighting truly began, they realized—once again—that they had underestimated Kidouin.
Ren Kuroda's presence was simply too dazzling.
Whether it was the Nura Clan or Hagoromo Gitsune's faction, whenever they looked at Kidouin, their eyes were inevitably drawn to Ren, causing them to overlook everyone else.
Only after the battle at Nijō Castle erupted did they realize that Kidouin's yokai were more than capable—holding their own against both the Hanakain onmyōji and the Nura Clan's forces.
By all logic, both sides had risen by protecting weaker yokai. But the Nura Clan had stood tall for four centuries—those once-small fry had long since grown into formidable beings.
Kidouin, however, had only existed for a short time.
So why was it that, aside from Ren's monstrous talent, even the Hundred Demons under his command—who had once been mere low-level yokai—were now strong enough to fight the Nura Clan to a standstill?
The answer was simple.
The Nura Clan didn't know that Ren Kuroda was a system-backed anomaly from another world.
Through Yokai Power Crystals exchanged from his system, Ren had directly elevated Kidouin's Hundred Demons to a level comparable to the Nura Clan's core forces.
At this moment, the balance of power among the lower ranks was perfectly even.
Which side would ultimately prevail depended entirely on the outcome of the battles between the top-tier combatants.
Whichever faction's strongest fighters claimed victory first would decisively tip the scales—and determine the outcome of the entire war.