Chapter 105: Slaughter Ghost
Time slipped away.
The sun sank beyond the mountains, and night descended over the private scenic area.
Tonight's darkness was heavier than usual.
No stars shone through the sky. Even the moon had withdrawn behind a thick curtain of clouds, leaving only a vast, suffocating blackness overhead. The air itself seemed to have sunk, pressing down on the earth, making every breath feel a little tighter than the last.
It was the kind of night that made people uneasy for no reason.
As though the world itself knew something terrible was about to happen.
And tonight, something terrible was indeed coming.
The entire world of Onmyōdō was waiting.
Tonight was the night when Gin Tsumugi, the current [White Fox] and one of the [Twelve Divine Generals], would attempt to confront a Great Yokai with his own strength.
From all over Japan, countless eyes had turned toward Minato Ward.
Toward the private scenic area.
Toward Shinomiya Manor.
They were waiting to see whether this rare genius of Onmyōdō, the young man who had outlined the shocking Onmyōdō Framework known as Myriad Laws, was truly worthy of the storm of praise surrounding him.
Could he really resolve the supernatural incident haunting Shinomiya Kaguya?
Could he truly stand against a Great Yokai?
Or was he merely forcing himself onto a stage too large for his current strength?
Doubt. Expectation. Worry. Mockery.
All of it would soon be answered.
Tonight would decide whether the name White Fox Gin Tsumugi would ascend to the summit of Onmyōdō in a single battle, or fall beneath the claws of a Great Yokai and become a cautionary tale for every young Onmyoji who mistook talent for invincibility.
Among National Level Onmyoji, only a handful could confront a Great Yokai alone.
Each of them stood at the pinnacle of the current Onmyōdō world.
Miyaji Hanao, the [Flame Demon] of the Onmyo Bureau's [Twelve Divine Generals], famed as one of the strongest Onmyoji alive and known as the gifted child of Fudō Myōō.
Kūgū Tenma, the [Noble] of the Onmyo Alliance's [Twelve Heavenly Generals], also counted among the strongest of the current era.
Tsuchimikado Arima, commander of the Onmyo Alliance.
They were monsters among humans, existences capable of standing before calamity without being crushed beneath it.
After tonight, would Gin Tsumugi earn a seat among them?
Or would the title of [White Fox] become a brilliant spark that vanished too soon?
At Shinomiya Manor, the air was heavy with tension.
In the plaza prepared for the ritual, the gathered Onmyoji stood in silence. No one joked. No one chatted idly. Their expressions were grim, their bodies taut, their spiritual senses stretched to the limit.
Even though they were not tonight's main force, every one of them understood what they were about to face.
A Great Yokai.
A legendary being standing at the peak of monsterkind.
Just the thought was enough to make their hearts sink.
Near the center of the plaza, Ouchiyama Megumi, the High Priestess of Ise Grand Shrine, was working together with several shrine priests.
Shinomiya Kaguya sat cross-legged upon a temporary altar.
Her long black hair fell neatly over her shoulders, and her eyes were lowered in silent composure. Yet no matter how elegant her posture remained, the unnatural tension in her fingers betrayed her fear.
Before her, Ouchiyama Megumi held her hands in a ritual gesture and chanted in a low, solemn voice.
"Namo Bhagavate..."
The Sanskrit syllables rolled through the night like a sacred current.
"...Tathāgatāya... samudaya... mahāne... svāhā..."
The accompanying shrine priests followed her chant, their voices overlapping and weaving into a Shingon ritual formula filled with divine power.
"Namo..."
"Svāhā..."
The air around the altar trembled.
One by one, golden patterns emerged across Shinomiya Kaguya's pale skin. They spread from her arms to her shoulders, then climbed toward her neck and cheeks, covering every exposed inch of her body in luminous script.
The divine markings did not diminish her beauty.
Instead, they wrapped her in a solemn radiance, adding an almost sacred quality to her already refined features.
When the final syllable faded, Ouchiyama Megumi slowly lowered her hands.
Her face had grown visibly tired.
The rite had clearly consumed a significant amount of her divine power.
"With this," the High Priestess said, her voice slightly hoarse, "Miss Kaguya may feel a little more at ease."
"Thank you, High Priestess."
Kaguya bowed her head politely.
The purpose of the rite was not to help her withstand a Great Yokai's direct attack.
If divine protection of that level were possible so easily, there would have been no need to gather so many Onmyoji here tonight.
The true purpose of the ritual was to temporarily conceal the aura of the mark on her body.
In other words, even if Gin failed, even if he were killed while resisting the Great Yokai, Shinomiya Kaguya had prepared a thin thread of survival for herself.
A retreat path.
A desperate chance to avoid being dragged away like a helpless sacrifice.
She had calculated even that.
"Why hasn't that guy appeared yet?"
Isayama Yomi walked over with Tsuchimiya Kagura beside her, her brows drawn together in annoyance.
"He didn't run away at the last moment, did he?"
"Brother Gin is probably resting and making his final preparations," Kagura said softly. "He is about to face a Great Yokai, after all."
Yomi's eyes narrowed.
The way Kagura defended him made her mood sink even further.
She reached out, pinched Kagura's soft cheek, and began tugging it with merciless affection.
"Oh? You little traitor. You haven't even gone to Shibuya Ward's Myriad Law Supernatural Department yet, and you're already speaking up for your future boss?"
"Wuu... Yomi-nee, that's not true!"
Kagura's face was squeezed into a pitiful shape, her eyes watery with injustice.
"You are. Big Sis raised you for nothing."
"I really didn't..."
"Maybe once you reach Shibuya Ward, you'll forget all about me."
"I won't!"
Their low bickering, oddly enough, eased a fraction of the tension pressing down on the plaza.
Even Shinomiya Kaguya, whose nerves had been stretched tight since dusk, felt her breathing steady slightly.
Then her gaze drifted toward a group of people near the edge of the plaza.
Her expression cooled.
Imai Takumi.
And the women beside him.
More than a dozen young women stood there, all beautiful in different ways. Some looked elegant and refined, some innocent, some seductive, some delicate enough to stir a man's protective instincts. Their clothes and accessories were expensive, but their nervous expressions betrayed that they had no idea what kind of battlefield they had been brought into.
Kaguya recognized them.
Her elder brother's mistresses.
"What is Imai Takumi doing here with Brother's women?"
Her fingers tightened slightly on her sleeve.
She had not forgotten Gin's warning from before.
Imai Takumi had approached Gin on behalf of Shinomiya Ōkō, asking him to refuse her commission. Now, on the very night when the Great Yokai was expected to arrive, he had brought these women to the manor's plaza.
There was no way this was innocent.
Unfortunately, she no longer had the time or energy to investigate what her brother was plotting.
For now, she could only watch.
At the edge of the plaza, the women gathered around Imai Takumi were already beginning to panic.
"Sir," said a bespectacled girl who looked like an honor student, "shouldn't we step aside? These Onmyoji seem to be dealing with a supernatural incident for Miss Kaguya."
The words supernatural incident made the others' faces pale.
"That's right... supernatural incidents are terrifying."
"Why don't we go back to the room and wait for Young Master Ōkō there?"
"I agree. We shouldn't be here."
"Maybe we'll get in the way..."
To ordinary people, the phrase supernatural incident had long become a nightmare.
It meant disappearances.
Mass deaths.
Bodies found in impossible conditions.
People vanishing into places where logic failed.
No sane civilian wanted to be anywhere near one.
"Do not worry."
Imai Takumi smiled faintly, his tone calm and reassuring.
"There are so many Onmyoji gathered here tonight, and I am here as well. I will protect you. Nothing will happen."
"But..."
A timid short-haired girl tried to speak, but Imai Takumi interrupted her.
"This is Young Master Ōkō's request. If you are unwilling, this old man will not force you."
The sentence was polite.
The meaning was not.
The girls fell silent at once.
They understood their positions.
They had been brought into Shinomiya Ōkō's circle because of their beauty, obedience, and usefulness. Each of them still clung to the faint hope that perhaps, one day, she might climb higher. Perhaps one of them could enter the Shinomiya family openly. Perhaps one of them could become more than a disposable lover.
After seeing the luxury of Shinomiya Manor, that desire had only grown stronger.
Even if becoming the legal wife of the future head of the Shinomiya Conglomerate was little more than a dream, none of them wanted to anger Shinomiya Ōkō and lose their current lives.
Luxury goods.
Apartments.
Allowances.
Status.
The taste of wealth was addictive.
Once swallowed, it was difficult to spit back out.
"A rather clever tactic."
A calm voice sounded beside Imai Takumi's ear.
The old Onmyoji stiffened.
He turned sharply and saw Gin Tsumugi walking past him, his expression composed, his eyes unreadable beneath the darkness.
"Mr. Gin."
Imai Takumi bowed at once, far more respectful than he had been the day before.
After their encounter at Minato Station, he understood the gap between himself and the young man before him.
White Fox Gin Tsumugi was not a genius inflated by reputation.
He was a true National Level Onmyoji.
A monster wearing a human face.
More importantly, what did that sentence mean?
Had he seen through something?
A chill crawled up Imai Takumi's spine.
But Gin did not stop, nor did he explain.
He walked past him as though passing a roadside stone and headed straight toward Shinomiya Kaguya.
Only after several breaths did Imai Takumi realize that cold sweat had soaked his back.
Beside him, the young women had fallen into a daze. Their gazes followed Gin's retreating figure with almost obsessive fascination.
His appearance alone was enough to steal the breath from ordinary women. Combined with the refined, almost otherworldly aura around him, he was like an irresistible poison.
Even if they knew it might kill them, some would still drink it willingly.
"Lord White Fox."
Furukawa Oishi, the official representative of Minato Ward, quickly stepped forward with several Onmyoji behind him.
"What are your instructions for us?"
"Focus on defense," Gin said. "Protect Miss Kaguya. Leave everything else to me."
"Yes!"
No one objected.
No one complained about being relegated to support.
Every Onmyoji present knew their own limits. Against a Great Yokai, pride was meaningless. Ancient records described such beings as walking disasters, and those descriptions were not exaggerations.
For ordinary Professional Level Onmyoji, simply surviving the aftermath of such a battle would be an achievement.
At that moment, Shinomiya Kaguya's body suddenly trembled.
"Hiss...!"
She bit back a cry of pain and clutched her left arm.
The evil head mark crawling across her pale skin began to writhe. It looked alive, its lines twisting and swelling beneath the golden divine patterns. The color deepened, glowing with a sinister light.
An ominous aura rose from it, thick and foul, like a beacon calling something across the dark.
"It's coming," Gin said calmly.
Everyone's expression changed.
Isayama Yomi gripped Shishio.
Tsuchimiya Kagura's face tightened.
Ouchiyama Megumi's eyes narrowed.
Furukawa Oishi and the other Onmyoji immediately spread out to reinforce the defensive formation.
Imai Takumi's expression stiffened as well.
No one knew whether Shuten-dōji himself would descend tonight, or whether, as Gin had predicted, he would send one of his subordinates.
Before anyone could speculate further, the answer arrived.
Boom!
A deafening roar erupted from the pitch-black, starless sky.
The entire private scenic area shook.
The mountains trembled. The streams rippled violently. Windows across Shinomiya Manor rattled as though struck by an invisible storm.
Then came the pressure.
A vast, overwhelming killing intent poured down from above, crushing the plaza like a blood-soaked mountain.
The night sky turned red.
Not a gentle red.
Not the red of sunset or lantern light.
It was the color of spilled blood.
Malevolence swept across the scenic area in a freezing wave, so dense and cold it seemed capable of clotting the blood in one's veins.
Animals hidden throughout the forest could not withstand it.
One after another, their bodies burst apart.
Blood mist scattered through the trees.
In an instant, the beautiful private scenic area became a place of slaughter.
"Is this... a Great Yokai?"
Isayama Yomi's hand trembled slightly around Shishio's hilt.
The enemy had not even fully appeared, yet the pressure alone made her feel as though she had been thrown into a swamp. Her limbs were heavy. Her breathing was labored. Even the spiritual power inside her body flowed sluggishly.
She was not the only one.
Every Onmyoji present, including Furukawa Oishi, felt the same crushing sensation.
For the first time, they understood.
A Great Yokai was not simply a stronger yokai.
It was an existence standing in another realm entirely.
Their hearts chilled.
Can he really handle something like this?
Yomi's gaze shifted to Gin.
He stood at the front of the formation, facing the blood-red sky. The terrifying pressure washed over him, yet his expression did not change in the slightest.
Shinomiya Kaguya's face had gone pale. Still, she forced herself to remain seated on the altar, her hands clenched tightly, her eyes fixed on the blood-soaked heavens.
The women brought by Imai Takumi were already trembling. If not for the defensive barriers erected beforehand, most of them would have fainted on the spot.
Then, within the crimson sky, a figure emerged.
It was humanoid.
Nearly three meters tall.
Its entire body was covered in blood-black malevolence so dense it had almost become physical armor. Its muscles bulged grotesquely beneath that dark aura, and its limbs ended in long, razor-like claws.
Its face was hideous.
A demon's face.
Fangs jutted from its mouth, and its blood-red eyes shone with murderous hunger, like an Asura crawling out of hell.
The mountain-like pressure came from that body.
Ouchiyama Megumi's eyes widened.
The yokai hanging in the sky was undeniably a Great Yokai.
And its appearance matched a certain name buried deep in her memory.
"Slaughter Ghost..."
Her voice was low, but everyone heard it.
The Slaughter Ghost.
Ranked one hundred and twenty-eighth in the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.
An extremely dangerous yokai that existed only to kill.
A mad spirit said to have once slaughtered tens of thousands of Yokai, earning its title through bloodshed.
Among monsters, it was known by another name.
The God of Death.
.....
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