34. Oni. Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward, Shihei Territory.
“Move out, hurry up!”
Exorcists from the Shihei family—one of Japan's three great exorcist clans—were dashing through every alleyway. They cast Restoration spells on scorched or damaged areas, returning the streets to their pre-battle state, and regrouped their forces.
“Transport the wounded, then Spell Unit 1 heads to Ota Ward, Unit 2 to Meguro Ward!”
“Understood!”
Having received prior intel, the Shihei family was thoroughly prepared. They finished clearing out all yokai far earlier than other districts. All that remained was cleanup in their own territory and deploying forces to other wards.
The family head, Shihei Rin, who had personally led the exorcists, formed hand seals and murmured.
“Spreading some goodwill at a time like this isn't a bad idea, is it?”
Sooner or later, it would be repaid—or at least give her leverage over them. Yes, favors were truly wonderful things.
With a smile playing on her lips, Shihei Rin nodded to herself and addressed her beloved summon.
“Orochi, with that in mind, how about extending some grace to that poor fellow too?”
Rrrmble rumble—!
As if in response to its master's words, the massive white serpent coiled its body tighter. Under the mounting pressure, the yokai trapped in its coils grimaced.
The ugly yokai—with a massive lump on its forehead—thrashed desperately and cried out.
“……S-Stop! That’s enough!”
This lump-headed monster was also an Oni, a yokai of considerable rank. A specimen swollen with Lust, it hadn't approached her carelessly. Its physical prowess was impressive, and it wielded hypnotic arts, making it dangerous.
But they hadn't worked on her.
“So, where are the other Oni?”
Shihei Rin asked the yokai, bound tight by the white serpent, with a kindly smile.
“……I-I don't know!”
The lump-headed yokai answered without hesitation, and Shihei Rin tilted her head to the side. Her smiling expression didn't change.
“Hmm, I see.”
Was it that meaningful look that unnerved it? The Oni trembled and added hastily.
“……I-I swear, they all rode the spirit vein currents, so I don't know! It's not my fault! P-Please, just let me live…”
“Sigh, I figured as much, but still a bust.”
Shihei Rin shook her head, releasing the hand seals she'd held all this time. The white serpent was instantly freed from its restraint.
“Go ahead and eat.”
With its master's permission granted, there was no reason to hesitate. The serpent squeezed tighter and gaped its enormous maw, disproportionate to its head.
“……Wh-what? Uuugh?!”
Crunch!
The white serpent Orochi bit off the yokai's head in one go as it flailed in its coils.
Family head Shihei Rin placed a hand on her cheek, sighing deeply as she muttered.
“I thought we'd finally have something praiseworthy to add to the tally.”
It had ended with just one Oni captured.
Shihei Rin smacked her lips, stored Orochi in her subspace, and turned her gaze rearward.
“Dokomo, what's the situation in the other wards?”
A maid in a yukata stood there. Shihei Dokomo—who had waited until all interrogations concluded—replied calmly.
“Excluding Kenju's Nerima Ward and Shibuya-Shinjuku under the Fire Shrine's influence, everywhere's in dire straits. Support requests have been pouring in since earlier.”
“Hmm, surely some didn't believe us and dragged their feet.”
“Why not just let those fools die?”
“Tempting as that is, it'd earn us the ire of our apostle of justice, wouldn't it?”
Shihei Rin wagged her head side to side.
Her nature wasn't purely kind, but not outright vicious either. Lately, with someone on her mind, she was making an effort to live as virtuously as possible. Besides, she knew better than anyone how profoundly being saved in a crisis could reshape one's values.
“No helping it—let's graciously lend a hand. Where's Shiki?”
“Report just came in: he entered Taito Ward.”
“Then leave the northeast to Shiki. We'll swing wide west into Setagaya and Suginami Wards.”
“Yes, I'll see to it.”
As Dokomo's back receded to reorganize the forces, Shihei Rin sorted her thoughts.
He's surely fine.
She wasn't overly worried about Shiki. He wasn't the type to falter in mere pandemonium like this.
Of course, if he returned late, she'd fret—but objectively, he was safe.
What did worry her was elsewhere: her new disciple and her companions.
“……They'd better not run into one.”
Special specimen, Oni. At her or Shiki's level, they could suppress them easily, but her subordinate exorcists would struggle against these top-tier yokai. If they encountered one, nine times out of ten—
They'd die.
BOOM!
My all-out kick snapped the giant's head back at a lethal angle—one that would kill any living thing that wasn't some amorphous octopus-like blob.
But perhaps because it was a ghost, not mere flesh—or maybe a particularly special Oni among them—
“Gaaah! Humaannnn!!!”
The giant wrenched its head back into place and glared at me with bloodshot eyes. It clenched its fist and swung down at my head.
Whoooosh—!
The wind whipped by that fist sounded like thunder—or ten thousand hornets buzzing past my ear.
“Heh, are you really swinging at a pacifist like me?”
I, who pursued and upheld peace, found violence utterly distasteful. Bad fists deserved to vanish.
Click!
I drew my sword in an instant, burning with righteous fury, and delivered justice's iron hammer.
Slash!
Justice's hammer severed the giant's hand, sending the cleanly cut fist flying through the air.
“Gaaaaahhh!”
I shoved the hammer into the screaming giant's mouth.
“Oops, hand slipped!”
A bit lower—its neck—and slash! Another clean result.
The severed hand hit the ground, followed by the giant's agonized head tumbling through the air.
“Oh no! I thought I was saving Kenichi's buddy!”
They seemed to share the same intellect; they'd have gotten along great. What a tragic accident.
BOOM!
With a roar, the giant's head smashed into the ground. I watched it crumble to ash, expressing deep regret from the heart.
Goodbye, Giant Kenichi.
I'd have loved to wallow in sorrow all day, but duty called. As the giant died and the museum began regenerating, I distanced myself.
With things mostly wrapped up, I moved to the next street, slaying yokai, finishing cleanup, then advancing to the next ward to continue purging.
Slash!
“Gaaahhh!”
“Guhhhhggh!”
No sign of them until now, but soon I snagged two more Oni. One was a gaunt, paper-doll-like thing; the other, a cactus covered in spines.
The paper-doll yokai wielded wind and flight; the cactus fired spines as expected and held its own in close combat for a moment.
Needless to say, it died quickly.
“Really, I have no taste for getting pricked by spines.”
Playing punchies only to keep getting jabbed soured the mood. So I ended it fast—smashed it dead with mana-clad fists.
After clearing Arakawa and Sumida Wards, I reached Koto Ward. Midway, an exorcist reported: Kenju and Shihei had each bagged one Oni.
Five Oni slain in total.
Exact numbers and spawns shifted per playthrough, but never more than six max—so we were nearly done.
But from the descriptions of those caught, neither matched the one I sought.
“Hmm.”
Of course—the most dangerous one remained.
“……Hah, huff!”
Gasping for breath, Kenichi let out a hollow laugh as he surveyed the scene.
“……We did it.”
A river of yokai corpses stretched before him, splattered in every color of blood. After hours of burning, piercing, and slashing, they'd cleared them all.
Thousands of yokai, no less.
The path here had been grueling. Sawamura Cento's once-stoic brow was furrowed; even Eris Betelgeuse, brimming with vigor earlier, looked drained.
Too exhausted to fully savor victory.
“Yeah, finally over.”
The star mage Eris suddenly sighed and stretched.
Even with her experience, she'd never unleashed magic like this before. The blood-red full moon—or perhaps this spirit vein—accelerated her mana recovery. The yokai had grown fiercer too, but without it, they'd be even more spent.
Mentally, she was already on the brink.
“Ugh, so tiring.”
Cento silently agreed with Eris's dazed mutter. Kenichi, rolling on the ground, was worst off, but weaving spells drained the mind enormously.
Cento swept back her hair, seeking spots to rest until the divided spirit vein reopened. She was the least worn, so she'd handle it.
“Oh, it's finally opening up.”
But then—an unfamiliar voice.
Cento whipped her head around, eyes wide. An intruder stood there.
In a spirit vein that had held only yokai and them until now, a new guest had arrived.
It resembled a werewolf.
“Crawling with 'em—barely squeezed in.”
Too beastly for human, with fur everywhere; too intelligent for beast, standing upright with wit in its eyes.
“Thought about killing you myself……but looks like it's done.”
And its feral yokai aura ruled out exorcist.
An Oni.
As Cento instinctively prepared a spell, the Oni—stroking its chin, scanning the vein—spotted Kenichi staring blankly. Precisely, the sword in his hand.
The Oni grinned.
“Whoa, that's one hell of a sword.”
It stepped forward, crossing space to appear before Kenichi.
“……!”
Shocked by the speed, Kenichi swung instinctively—all his remaining strength in one blow.
But it was effortlessly blocked.
Skreeee—!
With bare hands, no less. Claws extended, the Oni gripped the blade and chuckled.
“Gimme that.”
Crunch!
With those words, Kenichi felt agony as his right arm tore free.
“Kenichi!”
A scream echoed.