Moreover, what Abe no Seimei was saying now was not merely a simple offer of recruitment—it was also a veiled threat.
With SS–class yōkai power alone, he already possessed the strength to sweep the battlefield clean. Add to that the "Demon King's Little Hammer," an artifact capable of amplifying yōkai power, and Abe no Seimei truly had the qualifications to look down on everyone present without exception.
These words sounded like an invitation—but in truth, they were a warning.
The implication was clear: Abe no Seimei was about to begin a massacre. Anyone who wanted to choose a side had better do so quickly.
Because once the fighting truly began, anyone not standing with him would, by default, become his enemy.
There was no denying it—Abe no Seimei's legendary reputation, combined with the overwhelming power he had just displayed, caused the resolve of many yōkai present to waver almost instantly.
Anyone with eyes could see it clearly.Even though the Hanakain family and the Nura Clan seemed to have the numbers on their side, numbers meant nothing in the face of absolute strength.
Especially when it came to someone like Abe no Seimei.
When he noticed that fewer yōkai than expected had immediately defected to his side after his declaration, Seimei quickly surmised the reason.
His initial entrance had lacked sufficient "impact," thanks to Ren Kuroda's interference.
So, gripping the hilt of the Demon King's Little Hammer, Abe no Seimei moved in the very next instant. As though casually testing his blade, he swung it lightly through the air toward a distant district of Kyoto.
In that moment, an immense surge of yōkai power condensed into the blade.
A sweeping slash erupted forth, carrying with it the force to annihilate everything in its path—
And in the blink of an eye, an entire city block was erased from existence.
Just a single, casual strike.
Yet the destructive power it produced was far more outrageous than the all-out ultimate techniques Gyūkidōmaru had unleashed earlier with his entire life on the line.
With that single slash alone, Abe no Seimei shattered the psychological defenses of the vast majority of yōkai present, making them understand—viscerally—what a true final boss really looked like.
"Gulp—!"
As they stared at the section of Kyoto that had been reduced to nothing but ruins, many yōkai couldn't help but swallow hard.
They simply couldn't imagine that such destruction could be achieved by individual strength alone. And no matter how they looked at it, Abe no Seimei had merely swung his blade casually.
Gyūkidōmaru and the other yōkai who had followed Abe no Seimei a thousand years ago immediately declared their allegiance the moment he was revived, moving without hesitation to his side.
No—rather than saying they switched sides, it would be more accurate to say that Gyūkidōmaru had always been loyal to Abe no Seimei, not Hagoromo-gitsune.
He had only followed Hagoromo-gitsune all this time because she was a crucial piece in reviving Abe no Seimei.
Now that Seimei had returned, Gyūkidōmaru naturally abandoned Hagoromo-gitsune and rejoined his true master.
And he wasn't the only one.
Among the yōkai present, many made the same choice. After Abe no Seimei declared his ambition and demonstrated power worthy of it, quite a few yōkai were genuinely tempted.
Because they, too, longed for the "world of yōkai" that Abe no Seimei spoke of.
In the modern era, yōkai had been reduced to a declining, marginalized existence.
They possessed strength. They possessed ambition.So why should they be forced to live beneath weak humans?
Aside from a small number of elites capable of becoming onmyōji, what right did ordinary humans have to rule the world?
After hearing Abe no Seimei's vision, many yōkai found such thoughts taking root in their hearts.
And when Gyūkidōmaru and the others moved toward Abe no Seimei, it didn't take long for hesitation to give way to action.
One by one, yōkai who had once sworn loyalty to Hagoromo-gitsune—such as Jinglougou, Ibaraki-dōji, Ōtengu, and the Twenty-Seven-Faced Thousand-Handed Centipede—ultimately chose to defect to Abe no Seimei's faction.
No yōkai wanted to serve a useless master.
Hagoromo-gitsune's yōkai power had already fallen to A+ rank—so weak now that even some of her own subordinates surpassed her.
Moreover, Abe no Seimei's offer was genuinely enticing. And strictly speaking, as Hagoromo-gitsune's child, he could even be considered their young lord.
From that perspective, it wasn't really "betrayal" at all.
Very quickly, a large portion of Hagoromo-gitsune's forces defected, flocking to Abe no Seimei's side.
After all, yōkai society had always revered the law of the strong devouring the weak. Most of the Hundred Demons under Hagoromo-gitsune had submitted to her in the first place because of her overwhelming power.
So when someone even stronger appeared and extended an invitation, it was hardly surprising what choice these already-questionable loyalties would make.
In contrast to Hagoromo-gitsune's forces—which almost completely defected—the Nura Clan and the Kidōin faction saw very few deserters. Their core cadres, in particular, stood firm without wavering.
Because unlike factions built purely on strength, both the Kidōin and the Nura Clan had formed their bonds back when they were weak.
Their relationships were not just those of lord and vassal, but ones bound by genuine ties and shared history.
Even so, under the temptation of Abe no Seimei's ambition and the crushing power he displayed, a small number of yōkai still defected from both factions.
Ren Kuroda watched calmly as a few yōkai stepped out from the Kidōin ranks.
He had said it long ago—everyone had the right to make their own choices. He would not interfere.
Besides, his original reasons for forming the Kidōin had never been entirely pure to begin with. He had no standing to condemn those who chose to leave.
At this point, Ren truly regarded the yōkai of the Kidōin as companions and friends. But if someone chose to sever that bond themselves, he could not force them to stay.
Those who remained would be comrades in life and death.
Those who left—no amount of pleading would change their minds.
Compared to Ren's relatively steady mindset, Nura Rikuo was far less composed.
The moment he saw members of the Nura Clan defecting to Abe no Seimei's side, he could no longer sit still. Ignoring Nura Nurarihyon's attempts to stop him, he charged forward with Mimikirimaru in hand.
In Ren's view, Abe no Seimei's recruitment drive was actually a convenient way to weed out fence-sitters within a faction.
No organization could remain perfectly unified forever—just as the Nura Clan had once faced internal issues like Ganshōji and the Old Rat Squad.
But the young Nura Rikuo wasn't thinking that far ahead.
All he knew was that the Nura Clan he swore to protect was beginning to fall apart—and he had to stop it.
Watching Nura Rikuo rush toward him without even activating "Demon Cloak," wielding Mimikirimaru while relying on Nurarihyon's Fear—Clear Mind Like Still Water—Abe no Seimei's face filled with disdain. He didn't even bother to move his feet.
To be fair, Nurarihyon's Fear was indeed powerful. It could distort perception, confuse the senses, and under certain conditions even blur the line between illusion and reality.
It was precisely because of this Fear that Nurarihyon had defeated Hagoromo-gitsune four hundred years ago and solidified his position as the Lord of a Hundred Demons.
But no matter how strong Fear was, it depended entirely on the user.
With Nura Rikuo's current level of strength, using Fear in front of Abe no Seimei was utterly meaningless—it couldn't confuse him in the slightest.
Clang—!
Without question, Nura Rikuo's Mimikirimaru was stopped.
And the way Abe no Seimei blocked it was nothing short of shocking.
He didn't use the Demon King's Little Hammer.
Instead, he stopped the blade with a single finger.
Abe no Seimei's left index finger pressed directly against Nura Rikuo's sword as he held it with both hands. No matter how desperately Rikuo exerted himself, the blade would not advance even an inch—pinned in midair by that one finger.
With a single exchange, the gap between them was laid bare.
Nura Rikuo and Abe no Seimei were no longer on different levels—
They were on entirely different planes of existence.
"So this is all the strength the Nurarihyon who obstructed my plans for hundreds of years amounted to?"Abe no Seimei sneered. "It makes my mother seem even more useless—losing to someone like this."
As Nura Rikuo glared at him in fury, Abe no Seimei flicked his left index finger.
A crisp, shattering sound rang out.
The demon-slaying blade Mimikirimaru—crafted by Hanakain Shūgen and passed down through generations of the Nura family from Rikuo's grandmother—snapped in two.
Staring at the broken blade in his hands, Nura Rikuo froze in shock.
He didn't notice that Abe no Seimei's other hand had already raised the Demon King's Little Hammer.
"Rikuo-sama—!"Cries of alarm rang out from Tsurara and the others. Even Nura Nurarihyon vanished from his spot in an instant.
Nurarihyon attempted to save his grandson using his Fear—but his strength was already a shadow of what it once was. Combined with the heavy exhaustion from his earlier battle with Ren Kuroda, he simply couldn't make it in time.
Just as terror filled Nura Rikuo's face and Tsurara and the others cried out in desperation—
A figure burst forth like lightning.
A size-42 foot slammed squarely into Nura Rikuo's handsome face, sending him flying through the air and replacing him in his original position.
Boom—!
A dull, metallic impact echoed through the battlefield.
The Demon King's Little Hammer collided violently with the blade of the Nichirin Sword, Divine Protection, sending showers of sparks in every direction. The shockwave from the clash alone caused nearby buildings to collapse instantly.
Yet despite the collision, there was no sense of balance between the two.
The spine of Divine Protection had already been forced down onto Ren Kuroda's shoulder. Even though it wasn't the sharpened edge, it still carved a deep gash into his flesh.
Abe no Seimei had struck downward in attack.
Ren Kuroda had raised his blade in defense.
And yet the difference between them remained painfully clear.
Abe no Seimei's expression was calm and indifferent throughout, while Ren—despite activating Monstrous Strength, Chaotic Gods—felt the pressure mounting rapidly.
He was already being pushed to his limit.
And it wouldn't be long before he could no longer hold on.