As for Spider Princess's side of things—after she relayed the discovery of Ibaraki Dōji to Ren Kuroda's main body and his artificial body through her familiars, Ren was genuinely taken aback.
He truly hadn't expected the oni leader who had long entrenched himself in Hokkaido—Ibaraki Dōji—to travel thousands of kilometers all the way here.
And according to Spider Princess… the other party seemed to be here for him?
To be honest, Ren had always been curious about his own identity.
As for himself and Ryūki—No, scratch that. If it were just him, then without the System, his talent wouldn't even come close to his little sister's.
Ryūki, despite being only a half-yokai, possessed terrifying innate yōki and strength. In fact, she was stronger than the vast majority of full-blooded yokai.
Their mother, Amamiya Masami, came from an exorcist family, but her natural talent was unremarkable. There was no way she could have passed on such overwhelming potential.
Which meant that the reason Ren and Ryūki—both half-yokai—possessed such extraordinary yōki could only be attributed to one source.
Their conveniently absent father.
From the yokai aspect of their bloodline alone, it was clear that their father came from the oni race—and not just any oni, but a high-ranking one with an extraordinary background.
And now, with Ibaraki Dōji personally showing up, Ren suddenly felt that the truth behind his identity was finally about to surface.
It wasn't as though he'd never considered going to Hokkaido before. But one thing after another had always gotten in the way, and every attempt had ended without results.
Now, however, Ibaraki Dōji had come to him.
Ren's instincts told him that as long as he met this man, he would finally obtain the answers he had been searching for all this time.
On the snowy mountain, after gaining a powerhouse like Ibaraki Dōji as reinforcement, the Hair-Eater and the others instantly shifted from anxiety to exhilaration.
Once again, the roles of hunter and prey were reversed.
Originally, their yokai faction had never been inferior to the Tokyo exorcist families in either numbers or overall strength.
What they lacked was only top-tier combat power.
On the exorcist side, the truly troublesome ones were merely the wielder of the divine weapon and the heads of several major exorcist families.
The current situation bore an uncanny resemblance to the great battle that had once erupted in the Tokyo district.
In terms of raw strength, the Hair-Eater, Ash Monk, and their companions were no weaker than the coalition once formed by the Samurai Spirit faction.
As for Ibaraki Dōji—he far surpassed even Hyakki Yagyō of that time.
Meanwhile, the human combat strength in Tokyo had barely changed at all, aside from some so-called "Serum Soldiers."
In other words—
Under Ibaraki Dōji's leadership, they might not only break through the encirclement this time, but could even cripple the human forces of the Tokyo district and seize complete control of it.
Below the mountainside, a considerable number of exorcist forces had already gathered.
Yet instead of focusing on how to deal with the yokai on the slope, the various families were busy arguing endlessly over how to divide the spoils afterward.
This was exactly what Ren despised the most.
Objectively speaking, the human combat power of the Tokyo district was not weak at all.
But because these families always prioritized their own interests, the situation in Tokyo had deteriorated year after year.
Back when they had the ability to purge the yokai infesting Tokyo, they deliberately turned a blind eye—so as to preserve the exorcists' so-called "transcendent status."
In the end, that negligence had benefited Ren instead.
And now, with the enemy right in front of them—before the Hair-Eater and his group were even eliminated—they were already discussing how to divide the Spirit Power Crystals on the snowy mountain.
"You find this disgusting too, don't you?"Yamato Kuka said quietly as she walked up beside Ren, noticing his tightly furrowed brow."At some point, exorcists who once fought only to protect civilians from yokai… became like this instead.That's why I joined the Countermeasures Division without hesitation—and why I truly don't want to inherit the Yamato family head position."
"Once you become family head, there's too much to consider," she continued softly."Living like this is freer.The sword in my hand can follow my own will—unsullied by利益, swung only to protect others."
She assumed Ren was bothered by the same scene.
Yet Ren's eyes never left the mountain peak as he replied calmly,
"It is incredibly foolish. They seem completely convinced that Hyakki Yagyō won't show up.But what they probably never imagined… is that although Hyakki Yagyō didn't come, someone far more troublesome did."
"It's almost funny. They're still thinking about how to divide the spoils—when they themselves are about to become someone else's spoils."
Ren's abrupt, seemingly disconnected remark made Kuka freeze for a moment.
But when she saw that his expression was anything but joking, her face turned serious.
"Ren… did you sense something again? Like when you detected the Hair-Eater's yōki before?"
By now, everyone in the Countermeasures Division was accustomed to Ren's strange and varied abilities.
And they trusted them deeply—because he was rarely wrong.
Even so, after working together for so long, Kuka had rarely seen Ren look this grim.
"Yeah," Ren replied quietly."Someone truly ridiculous has arrived. As for who they are… I think the sword at your waist knows better than I do.That guy is stronger than Hyakki Yagyō was during the Tokyo war.And yet these exorcist families are still squabbling over their petty利益.Don't you think that's hilarious?"
Hearing the faint mockery in his words, Kuka shot him an annoyed glare—as if blaming him for not sharing such critical information sooner.
Then her expression shifted to urgency as she turned and sprinted toward the cluster of family heads.
She had to inform them immediately—
A presence even more dangerous than Hyakki Yagyō had appeared on the snowy mountain.
Yet before Kuka even made it halfway, the katana at her waist—Onikiri—began to tremble violently.
A famed blade possessed a will of its own, and Onikiri was no exception.
In the past, it had occasionally reacted when facing special opponents, so Kuka didn't find that strange.
But this time—
The vibration was on an entirely different level.
Stronger than ever before.
So intense that it felt as though the blade might leap from its scabbard on its own.
This wasn't the resonance of meeting a worthy opponent.
It was the violent reaction of encountering a destined nemesis.
"It seems he's already here," Ren said calmly from behind her."I only just sensed him myself. Otherwise, do you really think I'd still be standing here knowing something like that was on the mountain?"
"Such overwhelming yōki and demonic pressure… I honestly don't know if this body of mine can withstand it."
In the next instant, an incomparably vast yōki burst forth—engulfing the entire snowy mountain and locking onto every single person present.
There was no longer any need for Kuka to warn anyone.
The sudden eruption of monstrous demonic pressure had already thrown the arguing family heads into stunned silence.
With the concealment of his black robe removed, Ibaraki Dōji's terrifying yōki and aura were laid bare before everyone.
Compared to the grim, shocked expressions of the exorcist family heads, Ibaraki Dōji himself looked utterly relaxed.
There was even a trace of amusement on his handsome face as he casually scanned the crowd.
In the end, his gaze settled on Ren Kuroda and Yamato Kuka—and his expression brightened with interest.
"Well now, this is quite amusing," Ibaraki Dōji chuckled."I haven't even found the person I came to Tokyo for yet, and I've already run into so many interesting humans."
"Not only the so-called wielder of the Kusanagi Sword…""But also my fated enemy."
His eyes locked onto Kuka.
"Girl—what is your relationship to Watanabe no Tsuna?""Every time I see that blade at your waist… my arm starts aching on its own."
The legend of Onikiri and Ibaraki Dōji was widely known to anyone with even a passing interest in yokai—it was one of the country's most famous tales.
Although Ibaraki Dōji had not yet formally announced his identity, the information conveyed through Onikiri left Kuka staring at the tall, handsome oni in disbelief.
Slowly, she spoke four words:
"Ibaraki… Dōji."
The moment that name left her lips, every exorcist family head present stared at the beautiful oni once more—faces filled with shock and disbelief.
Yet almost immediately, doubt crept in.
Ibaraki Dōji was the ruler of the Hokkaido yokai.In fact, it was said that nearly all of Hokkaido had already fallen under his control.
There was no way someone like that should be here.
"Kuka… you must be mistaken," someone said hesitantly."This oni's aura is terrifying, yes—but surely he can't be the legendary Ibaraki Dōji, right?"
This country had countless types of yokai—so many that even exorcists couldn't recognize them all.
Yokai with obscure or little-known legends, no matter how strong, were comparatively easier to deal with.
The truly dangerous ones were those with ancient, widely spread legends—beings whose names themselves generated Fear.
Such legends granted them endless 『Fear』, constantly reinforcing their power.
And among them—
The Demon King Ibaraki Dōji was unquestionably one of the most troublesome existences imaginable.
If they had to fight an SS-rank yokai, the exorcists would far rather face an unknown monster than a demon king whose legend was etched into history.
Yet in the face of such wishful thinking—including that of her own father—
Yamato Kuka spoke with a heavy, resolute expression:
"No. He is Demon King Ibaraki Dōji."
"Even if I were mistaken—Onikiri would never be."