"Lord Nurarihyon," Hoshina Hidegen said quietly, his voice heavy with age and regret, "I've been dead for over four hundred years. I don't have much understanding of the world as it is now.The oni who fought Abe no Seimei just now—what is his background? And what kind of character does he have, as a yokai?"
He hated having to admit it, but as he gazed upon what had become a vast ruin of Nijo Castle, Hoshina Hidegen realized with bitter clarity that—whether it was the Nura Clan or the Hoshina household—neither possessed the power to stand against an existence like Abe no Seimei anymore.
At this moment, it seemed that all of their hopes could only be placed on that mysterious oni standing before them, whose origins were completely unknown.
Yura had spoken quite favorably of him before, but Hidegen couldn't bring himself to trust her judgment completely. Yura had always been a bit naïve—too straightforward, too quick to believe in others. Her evaluations were hardly reliable.
And so, Hidegen turned his gaze toward Nurarihyon beside him instead, hoping for a more objective answer. For an old fox who had lived for four centuries, Nurarihyon's judgment would undoubtedly be far more grounded.
Even now, though they had no choice but to pin their hopes on Ren Kuroda, Hidegen couldn't suppress the unease in his heart.What if Ren Kuroda became a second Abe no Seimei?
After all, whether it was Abe no Seimei or Ren Kuroda, beings at their level—if they truly harbored ambitions toward the world—would spell absolute disaster for everyone else.
"In truth, I don't know that oni brat all that well either," Nurarihyon replied slowly. "You might not believe me when I say this, but when I first noticed him, he was nothing more than a small yokai with decent talent.
"That was only two or three years ago. Back then, I thought I had already seen through him completely. Yet what he's done this time has gone far beyond my expectations.
"Still, judging from how he treats the hundred yokai under his command, and from how he conducted himself back in the Kanto region, he seems to be nothing more than a pure-blooded battle junkie—a kid who loves to fight. It's highly unlikely he'll become a second Abe no Seimei."
Nurarihyon paused, then added calmly, "And even if—worst case scenario—he does become someone like Abe no Seimei someday, that's a problem for the future.
"Right now, if we want to break this deadlock, we need his power."
Abe no Seimei had only just been revived, yet the goals he had stated so bluntly made it clear that his ideals were fundamentally opposed to those of the Nura Clan and the Hoshina family. From the very beginning, the two sides were destined to become enemies.
With a brief exchange of looks, Hoshina Hidegen and Nurarihyon made their decision.
If Ren Kuroda started to lose the upper hand, they would all charge in at once.
When it came to a monster capable of threatening the entire world, there was no need to speak of honor or fair play.
Of course, even if they rushed in right now, it would most likely just amount to throwing their lives away. So they waited—for the right moment.
If Ren Kuroda could defeat Abe no Seimei outright, that would be ideal. But even if he couldn't, he would surely exhaust him to a considerable degree.
And when that moment came, that would be when they made their move.
There were plenty of powerful great yokai gathered here. Nurarihyon refused to believe that, with such a lineup, they wouldn't be able to finish off a severely weakened Abe no Seimei.
After the collision between the "Endless Wine Gourd" and Rashomon, the raging energy storm finally began to subside as time passed.
And from the expressions on the faces of the two combatants, it was immediately clear who had come out on top.
Suspended in midair, Abe no Seimei still hovered effortlessly. Not a single scratch marred his body.
Yet his face was livid, his eyes burning with fury as he glared at the other figure before him.
During that clash, yokai who were farther away might not have seen what truly happened—but Abe no Seimei had witnessed it with his own eyes.
Rashomon, which had already sustained some damage, was smashed head-on by that massive gourd… and shattered into nothing but rubble.
And as Rashomon was destroyed, Abe no Seimei felt it unmistakably—his connection to Hell had been severed.
In other words, with Rashomon, the gate to Hell, reduced to debris, Abe no Seimei had lost the ability to enter Hell altogether.
And the culprit behind all of this was the oni sitting smugly atop the gourd before him, a faintly triumphant smile on his face.
Using the Endless Wine Gourd to smash Rashomon had actually been a spur-of-the-moment idea for Ren Kuroda.
After all, as an SS-rank item, using it solely to produce alcohol felt like an outrageous waste.
The system had clearly stated that the Endless Wine Gourd possessed absurd defensive capabilities—and could freely change its size.
So why couldn't it be used to smash things? To crack heads? To use like a giant flying brick?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, it was as though some strange switch had flipped inside Ren Kuroda's head—and he immediately put it into action.
If even Swift as the Wind could leave such deep marks on Rashomon, then an SS-rank item rated by the system as "extremely high defense" obviously wasn't going to be damaged so easily.
With that confidence backing him up, Ren Kuroda didn't hesitate to try.
And the result?
Abe no Seimei's ashen face said everything.
Rashomon had been smashed into rubble.The Endless Wine Gourd, on the other hand, was completely unharmed—currently serving as a seat beneath Ren Kuroda's rear.
"Even in the era I once lived in," Abe no Seimei said coldly, "yokai of your caliber were exceedingly rare. And someone who could enrage me to this extent—you are the first in history.
"I will admit that in that close-range exchange just now, I may have been at a disadvantage. And yes, due to my carelessness, Rashomon was destroyed."
His gaze sharpened, killing intent surging.
"But I will no longer test you. I will now use my true power to crush you completely.
"Though reborn, I now go by the name 'Nue.' But the one once called Abe no Seimei… has always been most skilled in something else entirely."
He spread his arms wide.
"Astral Manipulation!"
As his voice rang out, a terrifying wave of yokai power erupted from his body.
In an instant, darkness swallowed the entirety of Kyoto.
Shrouded in night, the city looked as though it had reverted to the golden age of yokai from a thousand years ago—the era of Heian-kyo.
And alongside the darkness, the sky filled with countless stars. Some of the celestial bodies were magnified countless times over, appearing so close they felt almost within reach.
Legend had it that onmyoji not only mastered the transformations of the Five Elements, but also possessed deep knowledge of astronomy and geography—capable of predicting fortune and calamity through the movements of the stars.
And those who reached the pinnacle of that field could do more than observe the heavens. They could tamper with fate itself—defying the will of heaven and rewriting destiny.
"So even after a thousand years," Abe no Seimei murmured, "though everything in this world has changed beyond recognition, the paths of the stars above remain the same.
"For the world I envision… for my return as its ruler… let the stars of the heavens once again move according to my will. Astral Manipulation!"
BOOOOOOM—!
The earth shook violently.
The surroundings began to shift once more, and the stars overhead started to whirl at terrifying speed.
The first to feel the change was Ren Kuroda himself—still hovering in front of Abe no Seimei atop the Endless Wine Gourd.
An invisible pressure slammed down on him almost instantly.
A sudden hundredfold increase in gravity crushed him from above, sending both him and the Endless Wine Gourd plummeting from the sky. They smashed into the ground, carving out a massive crater.
When Ren Kuroda struggled to stand again, his body felt as heavy as a mountain. Even taking a single step had become agonizingly difficult.
As the focal point of the technique, Ren Kuroda was clearly being "specially taken care of."
But even Nurarihyon and the others—positioned farther away—were not spared.
They had barely finished reacting to the sudden transformation of their surroundings when that same dreadful gravity swept across the battlefield. Many yokai were instantly crushed flat against the ground, sprawled face-down under the overwhelming force.
Of course, being on the outskirts and not the primary target, Nurarihyon and the others were experiencing a far lesser effect.
What they were enduring was, at most, a trial version.
What Ren Kuroda was dealing with, on the other hand, was the deluxe premium edition.
"An onmyoji… can really do something like this?" Nurarihyon muttered.
Thanks to his immense yokai power and his position at the edge of the field, he hadn't been completely forced to the ground like most of the others. Still, his movements were clearly hindered.
From here, looking toward Ren Kuroda's position, the situation was obvious. Even someone who had displayed such overwhelming strength was reduced to this sorry state under that gravity.
One could only imagine how terrifying the pressure was at the center.
Their earlier optimism had been far too naïve.
Setting aside whether Ren Kuroda could defeat Abe no Seimei—even if he managed to wear him down, how many yokai could actually walk all the way up to Abe no Seimei while enduring such gravity?
And that was just to reach him.
Defeating him under these conditions was an entirely different matter.
Against a monster this absurd, sheer numbers meant absolutely nothing.
"This kind of power that alters the environment itself… and affects everyone within it equally—this must be what's known as a 'Grand Barrier,'" Hoshina Hidegen said solemnly.
"So this is Abe no Seimei… No wonder his name echoes through history. A Grand Barrier that normally requires dozens—no, hundreds—of elite onmyoji working together… and he accomplishes it alone."
Because he existed as a spirit body, the crushing gravity had no effect on Hidegen.
Others might not understand what kind of power Abe no Seimei was wielding, but as an onmyoji himself—one well-versed in ancient lore—Hidegen immediately grasped the nature of it and explained it to the rest.
And though they stood on opposing sides, he could not help but voice his admiration.
"As an onmyoji… regardless of ideology or allegiance," Hoshina Hidegen said softly, "Abe no Seimei truly lives up to his legend. He is, without question, one of the greatest onmyoji in all of history."