"Tsurara, you really haven't improved at all lately," Nekomata said with a faint sigh, her tone half-mocking, half-regretful."All you do is follow behind that second-generation yokai, calling him Young Master. That won't cut it, you know.
"As members of the Hundred Demons who stand behind them, if we don't push ourselves harder… one day, we might not even be able to glimpse their backs anymore."
As Kidouin's Hundred Demons collided head-on with those of the Nura Clan, it was only natural that the executives of both factions were drawn into battle as well.
After the fight at the old school building, Nekomata and Tsurara had gradually become fairly close friends. Both were yokai with the appearance of young girls, and both deeply admired their respective Young Masters, which gave them plenty of common ground.
However, unlike Tsurara—whose strength had barely improved—Nekomata had been repeatedly summoned by Ren Kuroda to fight in other worlds. Combined with the blessing she had received upon becoming a Demon King-type, her strength had been steadily and continuously rising.
Whether it was combat experience or yokai power, she now stood far above Tsurara.
There had always been a gap between them in the past—but now that gap had widened almost infinitely.
Throughout the fight, Tsurara was nearly completely suppressed.
Still, because their relationship was good—and because Ren's orders were merely to stall the Nura Clan rather than kill them—Nekomata never aimed for a lethal blow.
Tsurara unleashed her technique "Snow Makeup," but Nekomata dodged at blinding speed. Unfortunately, the group of lesser yokai behind Nekomata wasn't so lucky—they were caught in the blast and instantly frozen into solid chunks of ice.
"Nekomata… why did you choose this path?" Tsurara asked, gritting her teeth."Isn't Kidouin's creed about protecting those helpless, wandering yokai?
"If Hagoromo Gitsune gives birth to that monster called the Nue, it'll be a disaster—for humans and yokai alike!"
Tsurara knew she wasn't Nekomata's match, and she could tell the other girl harbored no killing intent. So she chose conversation instead.
"I don't need to know what kind of yokai Hagoromo Gitsune is," Nekomata replied calmly."Helping her and ensuring the birth of the one called Nue—that is Lord Ren's will.
"As long as it's what Lord Ren desires, we'll follow him to the very end. It's that simple."
In truth, similar conversations weren't limited to just Nekomata and Tsurara.
Many yokai from the Nura Clan and Kidouin had decent personal relationships, so exchanges like this were happening all across the battlefield. Tsurara and Nekomata were hardly unique.
Meanwhile, beyond the clashes between the executives, the leaders of the factions themselves were locked in fierce combat.
Hagoromo Gitsune's opponents were Rikuo Nura, along with Hanakain Ryūji, Hanakain Akifusa, and several other elite members of the Hanakain family who had been guarding the seals.
Rikuo was already in the state of Oni Binding, and the long blade in his hands—Mimigirimaru—had transformed into a massive scythe.
"Oni Binding · Violet Aster Assault Scythe."
This was a joint technique unleashed by Rikuo and the Kamaitachi yokai Chūtoku of Tōno.
So-called Oni Binding was the act of fusing with yokai, borrowing the power of the Hundred Demons and making it one's own.
There were multiple known forms of Oni Binding, such as Fear Cannon and Fear Assault. Fear Assault altered one's appearance, while Fear Cannon caused little change in clothing, focusing instead on transforming weapons and attack methods infused with Fear.
Even after returning from his training in Tōno, Rikuo's yokai power had only hovered around A-rank.
But after completing Oni Binding with Chūtoku, not only did he gain the ability to wield wind blades—his yokai power itself surged explosively.
From A-rank, it leapt straight to S-rank.
That was how terrifying Oni Binding truly was.
Understanding the true meaning of "The Art of Commanding the Hundred Demons" and mastering Oni Binding was precisely why Rikuo had dared to challenge Tsuchigumo again.
Oni Binding was absurdly powerful—and more importantly, it wasn't limited to a single partner. One could theoretically bind with multiple yokai at the same time.
Of course, bearing the accumulated karma of the Hundred Demons was an immense burden. The more karma one shouldered, the heavier the toll.
But as long as his body could endure it, Rikuo could still grow even stronger—perhaps one day becoming a man who truly "carried the Hundred Demons" upon his back, just like his father, Rihan Nura.
Hagoromo Gitsune herself was in a poor state due to her pregnancy, yet even so, as a great yokai, she wielded a tachi and single-handedly suppressed Rikuo in Oni Binding along with several Hanakain prodigies.
As a reincarnating yokai, every rebirth granted Hagoromo Gitsune an exceptionally powerful companion weapon.
The tachi in her hands now was the weapon born from her third reincarnation—the Three-Tailed Great Tachi.
And although Rikuo gained wind-based attacks through Oni Binding with Chūtoku, he was repeatedly blown away by Hagoromo Gitsune's other companion weapon—the Two-Tailed Iron Fan.
They were fighting her with superior numbers, and Hagoromo Gitsune was clearly weakened—yet even so, Rikuo and the others found themselves constantly teetering on the brink of danger.
One Hanakain shikigami user—originally assigned to guard Kyoto's second seal—had been brimming with confidence in her strength.
But within just a few exchanges, she was obliterated outright by Hagoromo Gitsune's technique "Four-Tailed Tiger Exorcism," shikigami and all, her head blown apart in a single strike.
Despite handling Rikuo's group with ease, Hagoromo Gitsune's gaze kept drifting toward another location on the battlefield.
The seal of Nijō Castle had already been breached.
At the center of the city, a massive, embryo-like sphere had formed—and within it slumbered the soon-to-be-born calamity: the Nue.
Near that gigantic sphere, another battlefield raged just as fiercely. The yokai energy erupting from that area was even more violent than the clash between Hagoromo Gitsune and Rikuo.
Sensing the rampaging aura and shockwaves from afar, Hagoromo Gitsune felt a surge of relief that she had accepted Ren Kuroda's cooperation.
Otherwise, even if they had broken the seal of Nijō Castle, whether the Nue could be successfully born would still have been uncertain.
The enormous sphere at the city's center radiated terrifying, malevolent yokai power—but because the Nue had yet to fully emerge from its embryonic state, it lacked any true defensive capability.
After realizing just how evil and powerful the Nue was, Nurarihyon and the others naturally intended to destroy it before it could be born.
But just as they moved to act, a single figure blocked their path—holding back the Supreme Commander of the Kantō yokai and several Nura Clan executives all by himself.
"If I remember correctly, your name is Ren Kuroda, isn't it?" Nurarihyon said grimly."I don't know what your goal is in helping Hagoromo Gitsune—but can't you feel it?
"Even before it's born, that thing called the Nue is already emitting such horrifying, evil power.If you allow it to be born… do you truly understand what kind of consequences will follow?"
Four hundred years ago, Hagoromo Gitsune had stolen Nurarihyon's living liver. His body had aged terribly since then, and his combat strength was far from what it once was.
Yet with his overwhelming Fear, he could still contend with Ren with apparent ease.
Beside him stood Gyūki and Ichimoku, both legendary great yokai from centuries past—no weaker than Kintarōmaru, whom Ren had fought earlier.
And yet, these three yokai—each unquestionably S-rank—were now completely blocked by a single young yokai, unable to break through.
Ren Kuroda had long since entered the state of Blade Spirit Possession.
The injuries he had sustained in the main world from the Kusanagi Sword had already fully healed thanks to his newly acquired Regeneration ability.
Before engaging Nurarihyon and the others, Ren had even tilted his head back and taken a deep gulp of alcohol—carefully measured, having learned from past experience.
In his normal state, Ren's yokai power was around A+ rank. But once he unleashed the Fear of the Oni race, his power rose to S-rank, matching Nurarihyon and the others.
Unlike his fight with Tsuchigumo, Ren was now also drawing upon the power of his Nichirin Blade — Divine Blessing.
Though his surface-level yokai power hadn't changed, every other aspect of his strength had risen to a level incomparable to before.
Nurarihyon's Fear of Illusion—Flowers in the Mirror, Moon on the Water was undeniably powerful, and his mastery of Fear far surpassed Rikuo's.
Yet with the blade spirit's assistance, Ren saw through Nurarihyon's Fear again and again—forcing him into danger multiple times.
If Gyūki and Ichimoku hadn't been constantly supporting him from the sides, the aged Nurarihyon would have already lost in a one-on-one fight.
And it was precisely because of this brief exchange that Gyūki and the others felt a deepening sense of shock.
Tsuchigumo's reputation was indeed fearsome—but the three of them were hardly ordinary yokai themselves.
As a frontline combat specialist, Gyūki was even the same type of yokai as Tsuchigumo.
Previously, hearing that Ren had defeated Tsuchigumo had surprised them—but not truly shaken them.
After all, any one of them could have fought Tsuchigumo to a standstill—or even defeated him outright.
Ren's victory had merely marked him as a talented and promising young upstart.
It hadn't inspired fear.
But the reality before them now was completely different.
Three beings who could each solo Tsuchigumo… were being suppressed by this junior.
And that was simply incomprehensible.
When Ren fought Tsuchigumo, the battle had looked evenly matched—so why was the outcome the same now, even against opponents far stronger?
Had the passage of time dulled their strength?
Or had Ren Kuroda never once revealed his true power in that earlier battle at all?