Chapter 197
* * *
At Shinohara Inosuke’s house in Kumamoto, Cale, the Sin of Sloth, slammed his fist down as he watched the japanese Hunter Alliance drive back the Hellgate.
“Damn it. Baekhwa had to pop up there, of all times!”
Baekhwa. The founding commander of the Baekhwa Cult, wielding chaos much like Aži Dahaka’s Authority. With that power, she had mercilessly slaughtered the Demons, and even the second dagger Sloth had kept hidden had come to nothing. It would have been better if it had at least inflicted heavy damage, but Shinohara had also pushed forward with a large-scale force, so the Demons that emerged from the Hellgate failed to do any serious harm to japan. At this rate, japan would preserve a major fighting force and undoubtedly stand in sin’s way later.
“Hoo… calm down. It isn’t over yet.”
This time, he had to show his wife what kind of man he was. He would show her that when he set out to do something, he did it. Then she would stop doing things like calling that strange dragon master. Yes. He would show her by personally moving.
“Let’s see if they can handle the Oni too.”
To any Japanese person, the being known as the “Oni of Chaos” was the worst calamity in japan’s history. Could they truly fight as well as they had so far even when it appeared? Cale called to Shinohara Inosuke, who was standing in one corner of the room.
“Shinohara Inosuke.”
“Yes.”
“You said Shinohara Castle failed?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
It would have been nice if he had inflicted even a little damage. Unfortunately, he had failed. Well, there was no way a man like him would be useful.
“Hoo. I expected as much, since Yu Eunha’s group is there.”
He had not expected it to be this bad. To think Yu Eunha’s women were so strong. Though perhaps that was only natural.
“Um, what should I do now?”
“I will prepare the Oni for you. With that, we will move Shinohara Yuzuki.”
Once the Oni began to move, Shinohara Yuzuki would move as well. From the look of it, Baekhwa did not seem inclined to approach any more than necessary. In that case, he could relax.
“Is the Oni alive?”
“That is none of your concern.”
When Sloth glared at Inosuke, Inosuke lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Could they stop this too? No matter how strong Shinohara Yuzuki or Baekhwa might be, they would not last against the Oni. Fine, then. Let us see this through to the end.
* * *
Mount Fuji Hunter Alliance command Center
Shinohara Yuzuki checked the damage suffered by the Hunter Alliance and began reorganizing the gate front line. Since they had somehow stopped the Hellgate, it would be best for a while to set up barricades to defend against any Gates that might occur.
“House head! A pillar of fire has shot up over there!”
“That pillar of fire…”
A violet pillar of fire was rising from beneath Mount Fuji. They were the Flames of Chaos, the fire that had wounded every Japanese person long ago. They were flames that inspired terror and dread merely by being seen. It meant the Oni of Chaos had appeared.
“It’s the same pillar of fire as when the Oni appeared!”
Surely the Oni had not revived?
“Wait, that’s impossible. The Oni is coming out now? We spent all night holding back the Flood and the Hellgate.”
No. Why was the Oni appearing now in the first place? She could not understand it. The Oni appearing at all should have been impossible. They had defeated it before, at the cost of countless sacrifices. There was no helping it. If this was how things stood, she had no choice but to step forward herself. If they had just overcome the Hellgate, then all that remained was to deal with a single Oni.
“Shinohara House Head! Your orders!”
“I will face the Oni alone. None of you are to intervene under any circumstances.”
If the japanese Hunter Alliance tried to face the Oni, casualties would only mount, and they would still not be able to suppress it. In that case, she had to fight the Oni alone. The strongest person in japan right now was Shinohara Yuzuki herself. Yuzuki of the Heavenly Sword. Even if she did not step forward, the other skilled hunters were in charge elsewhere and could not come.
“It’s dangerous. We should - “
The Shinsengumi tried to step forward, but Yuzuki raised a hand to stop them.
“You cannot face the Oni. Do not worry. Shinohara never loses.”
She had to stop it here, alone.
#
Shinohara Yuzuki headed toward the place where the pillar of fire had risen. From within the pillar, a being as large as a house was slowly walking out. It was, quite literally, a massive oni that looked like it had stepped out of an old japanese painting. A hulking crimson frame. A red body. Horns. Ash-gray hair. Every single feature was eerily strange.
“Grrrrrrrrrr.”
Each time the Oni of Chaos breathed, scorching heat swept across the ground. That alone was enough to set the grass growing from the earth ablaze. When the heat reached Shinohara Yuzuki, she spread magic power through her body and forced it back out.
'As expected, I’m not dealing with anything ordinary.’
Even so, she could not retreat here. The best option would have been to fight alongside Yu Eunha, but there was no time to contact her separately. If Yuzuki had known this would happen, she would have kept Eunha at her side.
“Oni of Chaos.”
“Grrrr. Kraaaa.”
“The great calamity that completely split Eastern Japan from Western Japan, making Eastern Japan impossible to save.”
It was a being that had effectively doomed tens of millions beyond saving. And because of the Oni’s emergence, the Shinohara Family had been able to seize power.
Ironically, it was both the being that had helped Shinohara take power and the great calamity that had split japan in half. But now the Oni had appeared again and was trying to ruin japan. The Shinohara Family could lose its power. Even Western Japan could be utterly destroyed. Such a thing must never happen again.
“Will chaos win, or will the heavenly sword?”
Aren’t you curious?
“Kruaaaaaaa!”
At the roar, Yuzuki drew her sword. As she drew the famed blade of the Shinohara Family, passed down since her father’s generation, the Thousand Swords lined the sky like a silver river and surrounded the Oni of Chaos.
“Heavenly Sword Art. Dual slash.”
The Thousand Swords floating in the sky slashed both sides of the Oni at once.
Shraaaaaak!
The Oni’s body was cut open, and scorching lava flowed down as if a volcano had erupted. Seeing lava flow instead of blood, Shinohara Yuzuki narrowed her eyes.
“Gruuaaaaaaak!”
Was it angry that it had been attacked first? The Oni, whose wounds had healed before Yuzuki knew it, glared at Shinohara Yuzuki with both eyes. The Oni had recognized Yuzuki as an enemy. Yuzuki had no intention of giving her enemy even the slightest chance. When Yuzuki swung her sword, the Thousand Swords, filled with magic power, attacked the Oni from every direction.
Thnk! Th-thnk! Th-th-thnk!
With the sound of blades driving into flesh, the charging Oni’s body froze for an instant.
“I may not look it, but japan rests on my shoulders.”
“Grrrrrrrr.”
“My resolve is fundamentally different from that of a savage, vulgar, dim-witted Oni that knows nothing but destruction and can only be called a calamity.”
When Yuzuki lightly flicked the sword in her hand, the blades lodged in the Oni’s body tore its flesh in different directions.
CRACK!
“Gaaaaaaaak!”
Spewing lava from its entire body, the Oni crashed into the ground. Riding the momentum, Yuzuki immediately drove the heavenly sword into the Oni’s Achilles tendons. As lava gushed from its whole body, the Oni tried to rise, only to shriek each time a sword pierced its Achilles tendons. It merely flashed its red eyes at Yuzuki.
“Heavenly sword - Shower of Swords.”
Th-th-th-th-thunk!
The fierce Blade Wind of Shinohara rained down again, tearing the Oni’s body apart. Shinohara Yuzuki did not become arrogant or careless simply because she had the advantage. That was the Shinohara way. In battle, one never lost composure. The same was true now. Especially while carrying the enormous burden called japan, she could not afford to give the Oni even the slightest opening.
“Heavenly Sword - One Strike.”
Dozens of swords transformed in midair into one great sword and pierced the Oni’s body.
“Khaaaaaaaak!”
So she would not disgrace the name of Her Excellency Yuzuki of the Heavenly Sword, she moved her blade relentlessly and attacked the Oni. Though now it was suffering like that, the Oni was surely saying, “Is that all?” Yuzuki thought so and did not stop her sword, continuing to bring it down. She struck, battered, stabbed, and cut it down. She focused on carving apart the Oni’s body. Its whole body covered in the lava it had bled, the Oni howled in pain.
“Grrgh. Gaaaaaaak!”
Then an enormous surge of magic power burst from the creature’s body. At the same time, all the swords were flung away. It seemed a little dangerous, but not impossible. Clearly, the wounds remained. In other words, Shinohara Yuzuki was strong enough that it had to strike back before it had time to heal them. Shinohara Yuzuki’s epithet, and her sword strike, were by no means weak. That was all the more why Yuzuki refused to stop. I will win this fight and return. I will use the public support earned by defeating japan’s worst calamity alone to establish a shogunate. Then I will go back and embrace Yu Eunha. I will show her that I can give her more pleasure than all those other women. I will prove it.
“I cannot lose, and I will not lose.”
Shinohara’s heavenly sword rang out fiercely. The Oni of Chaos began to limp forward with menace. Shinohara Yuzuki focused her eyes on the Oni’s movements. From the outside, it looked as if it were walking toward her on its wounded leg, but that was not the truth. After taking a few steps while being struck by the swords, the Oni suddenly kicked off the ground and leaped.
“Despicable wretch.”
The Oni’s claws could tear apart anything in an instant. Now, as the Oni soared into the air, those claws aimed for Shinohara’s heavenly sword.
“Groaaaaaaa!”
Before slamming its claws down, the Oni poured lava from its own wounds.
“Heavenly Sword - Sword Barrier.”
The Thousand Swords became a shield and blocked the lava the Oni poured out. She had to block it here. If she failed, the Oni would pour the lava meant for her throughout japan.
KRAANG!
The Oni’s claws and Shinohara’s sword collided.
“It’s strong, but not so strong I can’t withstand it.”
Perhaps because it had not been long since it had revived, the Oni might have been weaker than expected. Its magic power was not actually that strong either. If so, perhaps she could win.
BOOM!
Melee combat began in earnest. Shinohara Yuzuki’s Thousand Swords continued to pressure the Oni of Chaos, and the sword in Yuzuki’s hand struck the Oni. The Oni was certainly fast despite its size, but unfortunately for it, its attacks did not reach Yuzuki.
With a body far smaller than the Oni’s, Yuzuki nimbly dodged its attacks. At the same time, she controlled the heavenly sword and counterattacked the Oni.
Shrrraaaak!
“Grrrrrrgh!”
The Oni screamed as its flesh tore open and lava erupted. The lava that fell to the ground melted the earth outright.
Rumble…
If that touched her, her whole body would undoubtedly melt. Countless japanese had screamed in agony inside that lava, their bodies burning from head to toe. In the Shinohara Family, successor training taught that one must never let one’s guard down at any moment. Yuzuki had not forgotten what japan had looked like when it was ravaged by the Oni in the past. Nor had she forgotten how the Shinohara Family had risen amid that pain and driven back the Monsters. The father she had trusted and followed was no longer here.
As the house head of the Shinohara Family, and as the leader of japan, she now had to face that great calamity herself. Repeating those words inwardly again and again, she refused to let her guard down and avenged the japanese who had died screaming before that mass of disaster. At that moment, the Oni of Chaos once again kicked off the ground, now flowing with lava and resembling hell itself, and leaped.