The Blue Fox's Veil
This is not a legend. This is the personal memory of a certain fox yokai. A curtain she would rather never lift again.
In a field of pure white snow, the blue fox lay collapsed, her body covered in wounds. Had a hunter’s arrow struck her? Or had she fallen victim to the wicked schemes of dark sorcerers?
Not long after, the fox’s eyes fluttered open. She stared at the man trudging toward her and spat out her words.
"If you spare my life, I swear I will repay this kindness. A hundredfold. No, I will repay it a hundred times over. I pledge this upon my name."
“I have heard you are the fox spirit who rips out and devours human livers. If I let a wicked yokai like you live and harm comes to the village, would that not be my responsibility? Therefore, destroying you here and now is the path that benefits everyone.”
"I swear to the heavens that I will never devour another human liver again."
“My master warned me that fox spirits possess treacherous cunning and must never be trusted lightly. I cannot take you at your word.”
"Even I possess a heart. You do not seem like the kind of cold-blooded monster who would mercilessly steal the life of one who still has feelings."
Watching the fox spirit grovel in such an ugly display, the man—who was both the first Force Arts practitioner and the king of Yuldo—gradually began to feel pity for her. Sympathy. It was his only weakness.
Taking pity on the fox, the king used his qi to heal the wounds of the single-tailed wild fox. Then he continued.
“Very well. However, I cannot simply leave you be when you pose such a grave threat to my people. I will strip away all of your yokai energy.”
At the king’s words, the blue fox spirit answered in great alarm.
"That you must not do. In truth, I am a wild fox who has not yet become an immortal fox. If you take my yokai energy, I will lose every chance of ascension."
“You are fated to become not an immortal fox, but a wicked one.”
"That is not so. According to the Taija Shin’gi, even a wild fox like myself can ascend."
“Then that book must be mistaken.”
Exhausted by the king’s continued denial, the fox spirit finally roared in fury.
"The Taija Shin’gi is truth itself! Does the king of Yuldo not even know that? This lady is destined to become an immortal fox by claiming the livers of a thousand humans!"
“Even if everything you say is true, have you never considered that your method is terribly wrong? Who will save my people whose lives you have taken?”
"I will! After I ascend, I shall embrace those thousand souls! Once I ascend, I can revive as many insignificant human lives as I wish…"
“Enough.”
Deciding there was no longer any value in listening to the fox spirit before him, the king of Yuldo gathered qi in his hand and spoke.
“How arrogant. Even I, their king, would not carelessly claim I would embrace anyone, yet a mere wild fox like you dares say she will embrace a thousand souls?”
"I—I can do it! This lady’s vessel is…"
“I will take your yokai energy. I shall leave just enough that you will not die immediately. At that level, you would not be able to harm even a ten-year-old girl. You will not survive this winter, so spend the remainder of your life apologizing to the humans you have killed.”
The conversation ended there.
The king of Yuldo stripped the fox spirit of nearly all her yokai energy, leaving only enough to barely sustain her life. The once-mighty blue fox was reduced to a frail being no longer worthy of being called a yokai.
Yet although the king had purified her yokai energy, he could not purify the wickedness in her heart.
While she lay ill and prepared for hibernation, the fox happened to meet a kind-hearted scholar and took his liver. After sleeping for five hundred years, she awoke once more and began plotting to devour the livers of a thousand humans in order to ascend.
This was not a legend. It was the unforgettable past of a single wild fox.
…How filthy, ugly, and detestable this memory is.
The blue fox spirit, who had been lost in old memories for a moment, let out a low growl as she gazed at the full moon pouring down its brilliant blue light.
The man who had introduced himself as the king of Yuldo had, on that day five hundred years ago, stolen everything from her.
The blue fox spirit had not lied to him. She truly had ascension within reach. Although she was not a nine-tailed fox like Dalki, the favored concubine of the ancient Chinese Shang Dynasty, she had already claimed the livers of a staggering nine hundred people. Five hundred years ago, she had been a mighty being who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with goblins.
Yet the king of Yuldo was a being who had transcended the human realm, capable of easily exterminating not only her but every last monster and demon that crossed his path.
If she had any failings, the first was the misfortune of encountering the king of Yuldo. The second was her own arrogance.
She should have taken human livers boldly. She should have taken them cunningly.
And so, when she awoke from five hundred years of hibernation, although her power was weaker than before, she had become far more ruthless and far more cunning. She had been reborn as a far more dangerous existence than she had been in the past.
In this era, there is no king of Yuldo to stop me. This time, I will ascend without fail.
“Ugh…”
Hmm? So you were still alive. How surprising.
The blue fox spirit turned toward the source of the groan. Her gaze landed on a woman with long black hair, collapsed and bleeding. It was not a man, but a woman. The Force Arts practitioner, Lee Ha-neul.
The blue fox spirit licked the blood from her claws and spoke.
The blood of a female is still as tasteless as ever.
Even though she could have easily finished off the woman lying on the ground, the reason she did not was simple. She had questions.
Get up, girl.
“I was… ngh… cough, cough, cough… I was going to get up anyway…!”
Oh?
Even though she was on the verge of death, Lee Ha-neul’s eyes still burned with fighting spirit. The blue fox spirit looked at her face with interest before asking.
Girl. That power you use is very familiar to me.
“You… you know about Force Arts…? And you’re still alive after seeing it…? That’s impossible…”
Force Arts? Is that what you call this power?
The blue fox spirit knew exactly what this power was. She could never forget it even if she tried. After all, it was the very same power the king of Yuldo had used five hundred years ago when he had stripped her of her yokai energy.
With a voice full of curiosity, the blue fox spirit spoke again.
At the time the situation was too urgent for me to notice, but seeing it up close like this… It is a marvelous power that gathers the energy of the earth and infuses it with force.
“H-how do you…!”
Lee Ha-neul was utterly shocked by the fox spirit’s answer. The yokai before her eyes had precisely grasped the profound principles of Force. To understand its essence with nothing but a casual glance was an entirely illogical deduction.
The blue fox spirit observed the Force carefully for a long time before eventually losing interest. She spoke in a bored tone.
So this is the power left behind by the king of Yuldo who humiliated me. However, compared to that man…
Girl, the power you possess is utterly insignificant. It is so primitive that merely looking at it fills me with disgust.
Now I understand for certain. In this era, there exists no ordinary being capable of stopping this lady.
“…What did you just…”
Show me that repulsive power one more time, girl.
Lee Ha-neul did not answer the fox spirit’s words. Insulted to her face, she burned with rage. Knowing this was her final chance, she began gathering every ounce of Force she possessed.
Oh ho, this time it’s rather…
As she gathered her Force, Lee Ha-neul thought to herself. If only she hadn’t chased after that three-tailed white fox. If only she had conserved her energy. If only she had preserved her stamina—maybe she could have captured this fox spirit.
…No. It still would have been difficult.
A Rank 4 yokai? No way. The fox spirit before Lee Ha-neul’s eyes was no mere Rank 4 fox. She was a human catastrophe that could grow into at least Rank 3… no, perhaps even Rank 2.
Lee Ha-neul bet everything she had. There was no surviving these wounds anyway. She was going to die here.
In the end, she would draw her last breath without ever understanding what a yokai’s heart was like.
No. That wasn’t true. Today, Lee Ha-neul had realized that yokai could possess hearts too. For some reason, the being that came to mind right now wasn’t her parents. It wasn’t her master who had taught her Force Arts. It wasn’t even her close friend with whom she could speak without reserve.
It was the three-tailed white fox she had met only minutes ago. That ten-year-old little girl. She was the one who came to mind.
…I wish I could have talked with her a little more, but this is enough.
Indeed, the old monk’s words that yokai might also have hearts had been true.
Her hesitation vanished. The Force of a Force Arts practitioner whose hesitation had disappeared was on another level. At this magnitude, even the blue fox spirit before her would not escape unscathed.
As proof, the arrogant blue fox spirit was trembling all over, visibly panicked.
…Wait. Even so, she shouldn’t be panicking this much.
Sensing something strange, Lee Ha-neul paused with Force gathered in her hands and glanced around. Only then did she finally realize why the blue fox spirit was so shaken.
You, you, you, you… What exactly are you…?!
“Ah.”
A three-tailed fox… Don’t tell me… Don’t tell me it’s you…!
“…”
The cute teenage girl who had been looking back and forth between Lee Ha-neul and the blue fox spirit fidgeted for a moment before finally mumbling.
“I’ll just… head out now.”