At first, everyone stranded on the snow-covered mountain already felt chilled to the bone simply from the environment itself.
But soon enough, as a darkness so vast it felt capable of swallowing heaven and earth spread outward and enveloped everything, the people on the mountain sensed something far worse.
The already frigid air became even colder.
And this cold was fundamentally different from what they had experienced before.
The cold brought by snow and ice was a purely physical chill—a consequence of low temperature. But what they were feeling now was a cold that froze straight through the bones, a cold so deep that even the soul itself seemed to shiver.
When Ren Kuroda's Innate Domain unfolded and swallowed everything around it, Ibaraki-Dōji felt the abrupt change in the environment and the demonic energy saturating the air—yet his expression barely changed.
Ever since meeting Ren, he had been bombarded with too many surprises. By now, he was past the point of being astonished.
However, the moment Ibaraki-Dōji discerned the vast oni army formed from the "evil of this world" lurking within the pitch-black darkness—an army invisible beyond arm's reach—he realized something.
His previous evaluation of Ren had still been too conservative.
Earlier, Ibaraki-Dōji had even worried that Ren, despite wielding such terrifying power, had refrained from attacking humans in the Tokyo region out of misplaced mercy.
But now, that concern vanished completely.
He didn't know exactly what kind of ability an Innate Domain was—but judging from the aura alone, from this power so similar to his own domain, Ren was definitely not a "good person."
No—if anything, Ren was far more sinister than Ibaraki-Dōji had imagined.
So this was what never judge a book by its cover truly meant.
The oni army summoned by Innate Domain · Demon Realm had grown stronger alongside Ren's own rise in power.
Even so, at this level, they still weren't meant to challenge Ibaraki-Dōji himself head-on.
But Ren's target had never been Ibaraki-Dōji.
From the beginning, his true objectives were the Hair-Eating Demon and the human exorcists who had been lured here by the temptation of "spiritual power crystals."
Within this Innate Domain, whether human or yōkai, any being that generated negative emotions—fear, rage, despair—would become nourishment for Ren, fueling his strength and further amplifying his combat power.
Even creatures that died inside the domain would have their flesh and blood absorbed by its power, ultimately converted into raw resources to enhance Ren's parameters.
"By your command, my lord!"
With nothing more than a glance from Ren, the five Great Oni Generals behind him immediately reined in their nightmare steeds. Each led a massive contingent of oni soldiers as they charged toward the yōkai and human forces trapped within the domain.
Although his power had been temporarily stacked through various buffs and states, Ren's demonic power had now undeniably reached SS-rank.
As a result, the oni army summoned by his Innate Domain experienced an explosive surge in strength compared to before.
In the past, ordinary oni soldiers were roughly C-rank in strength.
Now, however, these tens of thousands of oni soldiers possessed an average combat rating of B-rank.
As for the Five Direction Oni Generals—each of them had leapt from their former A-rank status and directly evolved into S-rank existences.
Tens of thousands of B-rank oni, supported by five S-rank generals—and more absurd still, these beings possessed abilities bordering on immortality. The sheer destructive potential of such a force was self-evident.
Almost the moment the charge began, the Hair-Eating Demon and Gray Monk—A-rank great yōkai who had been swaggering just moments before—were cut down beneath the blades of two S-rank oni generals.
The gap between A-rank and S-rank was already like a chasm. And against oni generals that were nearly unkillable, dodging attacks was hardly even necessary.
Thus, in a brutal sweep, the yōkai faction that had once fancied itself capable of breaking away, establishing its own power base, and ruling a region was annihilated like dry leaves before a storm.
After the Hair-Eating Demon and the others were slain by the oni army, something eerie happened—no corpses were left behind.
Instead, their remains dissolved completely into the abyssal darkness, flowing along the ground like branching veins toward the spot where Ren stood.
When the humans present saw a force that had rivaled multiple exorcist families wiped out in a single charge, every single one of them stiffened as if facing a mortal enemy.
They had originally planned to stand aside and watch the two monstrous yōkai—Hyakki and Ibaraki-Dōji—tear each other apart.
But now it was clear.
Neither of them intended to spare the humans.
"I remember these fully synchronized oni constructs," one exorcist said through clenched teeth. "They appeared in the previous great battle too—almost unkillable monsters.
Against them, aside from binding or sealing techniques, there's practically no effective counter."
Watching the oni army surge forward—and witnessing A-rank great yōkai slaughtered in an instant—caused the psychological defenses of most of the humans to collapse on the spot.
The pitch-black environment, the despair-inducing enemies… even if they were elites among humanity, that didn't mean they were immune to fear.
Although the heads of the major families stepped forward immediately to stabilize the situation, their forces had already suffered casualties during the earlier battles and the massive avalanche.
Now, faced with monsters that were virtually impossible to defeat, the fact that no one had turned tail and fled outright was already a testament to their mental fortitude.
Confronted with such an overwhelming disparity in power, the human faction made a painful but decisive choice after brief deliberation.
Facing tens of thousands of B-rank oni—and five S-rank entities on top of that—even the family heads could see no hope of victory in this desperate situation.
After a short discussion, exchanging solemn looks, the leaders reached a final decision.
Resisting the oni army head-on was effectively impossible. And challenging an even stronger Hyakki afterward would be even more hopeless.
But while they couldn't defeat Hyakki, that didn't mean escape was completely impossible.
Based on earlier observations by the head of the Kagumori Family, who specialized in barriers and sealing techniques, Hyakki's blackened domain was itself a form of barrier.
And as long as something was a barrier, there was always a way to break—or at least exploit—it. Drawing upon his extensive knowledge and experience, the Kagumori family head had identified such a method.
Of course, facing an SS-rank Hyakki, they neither had the ability nor the delusion to completely dismantle his domain.
But tearing open a gap large enough for people to escape was still feasible.
That said, ripping open a breach within such a bizarre barrier was anything but easy.
First, a master of formations was absolutely essential—and in that regard, the Kagumori family head was more than qualified.
Second, to forcibly tear open the boundary between realms, at least four S-rank spiritual power exorcists were required to stabilize the formation, positioned according to the Four Symbols.
"Kuka," the head of the Yamato Family said softly, "after you leave this place, I want you to succeed me as the head of the Yamato family.
I know this goes against what you want. But from now on, I need you to stop being so willful.
And… help me apologize to your mother. Tell her I'm sorry. But also tell her—I truly loved you both."
The moment the Kagumori family head proposed this plan, the Yamato family head and the others already understood the cost.
Compared to being completely wiped out here, it was better to use their limited strength to preserve hope for the future.
As family heads, they bore the responsibility of protecting their clans—and they could not deny their own culpability in how things had turned out.
Anyone with eyes could see that the so-called "spiritual power crystals" had been bait from the very beginning, deliberately cast by Hyakki.
And they, the exorcist families, were the fish that couldn't resist biting the hook.
Even without Ibaraki-Dōji's sudden intrusion, they would never have escaped a fully recovered and even stronger Hyakki.
Their greed had led their clans into this deadly trap. And now, for the sake of their families' final hope, it was time for them to make sacrifices.
Hearing her father's words, Yamato Kuka turned pale with anxiety.
She didn't know exactly what he planned to do—but her instincts screamed that it was nothing good. Otherwise, he would never entrust the most important thing—the entire family—to her with such solemnity.
"It's a good thing we didn't bring Yūichi along this time," the head of the Himura Family said quietly. "With that kid's personality, if he knew the truth, he wouldn't agree so easily.
After you leave here, take my final orders back with you. The elders will handle clan affairs for now.
Once Yūichi is able to stand on his own, let him inherit the position of Himura family head."
Words like last wills were not spoken only in the Yamato family.
Similar scenes unfolded among the Himura family, the Kagumori family, and the others.
When the Kagumori family head had approached them with this plan, the consequences were already clear to every family leader present. That was why this moment existed at all.
They knew exactly what it meant to require four S-rank exorcists to tear open the barrier.
Those who stayed behind would not survive.
Yet aside from this option, there was no other path left to them.
There were many exorcists here—but only a handful possessed spiritual power at the S-rank level.
After further discussion, it was decided that the Kagumori family head would construct the formation, while the heads of the Yamato, Jiso, Himura, and Hiiragi families would stabilize it.
As for Sora Ryōsuke, Ren Kuroda, and the others—because they were younger, with far greater potential than these aging leaders, they were excluded from the sacrifice.
The only thing the Kagumori family hoped was that while the formation was being established, Ren, Sora Ryōsuke, and the other powerful fighters could buy them time—
Enough time for as many people as possible to escape.
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