Chapter 15: The War Begins
Looking at the trademark ugly expression on Minagoroshi-Jizo's face, Hagoromo Gitsune's delicate brows furrowed slightly.
To be honest, Hagoromo Gitsune also found Minagoroshi-Jizo quite revolting, but it was undeniable that he was useful—occupying a role akin to a military strategist. She suddenly felt that she should eat first.
"Minagoroshi-Jizo, we will speak later." Halting his explanation before it could officially begin, Hagoromo Gitsune stepped past the cadres, who parted to make a way for her. She left the bedroom and headed to the second-floor dining room to eat; the cadres followed closely behind.
Since the human servants had all been taken away by Hikigaya, Kyokotsu had taken over the role of serving her. Shortly after Hagoromo Gitsune sat down at the massive dining table, Kyokotsu presented a plate of raw liver.
Though Kyokotsu was a yokai—and one not particularly skilled at cooking—Hagoromo Gitsune's diet was fortunately simple enough. Having watched Hagoromo Gitsune eat every day, Kyokotsu had a general idea of her mistress's preferences. There was only one ingredient for Hagoromo Gitsune's daily meals: raw liver. That was easy enough to manage. One just had to use as little water as possible and maintain maximum freshness during any light preparation, served with a bit of sauce.
Aside from the presentation not being as refined as a human chef's, Kyokotsu felt everything was okay. Still, she remained very nervous.
"Lord Hagoromo Gitsune, this is today's liver." Kyokotsu looked at Hagoromo Gitsune with a mix of anticipation and fear as her mistress inspected the meal. After a moment, Hagoromo Gitsune picked up a fork and knife and began to eat.
She hadn't lied to Hikigaya earlier. What increases a yokai's power is the force of human emotion, and the liver is the part of the human body that carries the most of this energy. Those of "great evil," "great wisdom," or "great magical power" often carry the concentrated emotions of others, making them excellent supplements for yokai. This was the foundation upon which the "Living Liver Theory" was accepted by so many monsters.
However, the livers of villains were the best. Villains not only possessed intense personal emotions but also carried the negative sentiments of their many victims. What she was eating now was the raw liver of an evil man.
Yet, Hagoromo Gitsune couldn't help but feel that this contemporary Rakshasa King didn't seem to harbor much ill will toward the Oni tribe. This was strange. During the Heian period, the gods could even manifest on earth through reincarnation, but even those demigods treated yokai with blatant hostility and lack of mercy. Why did a Rakshasa King of human origin seem so devoid of malice?
Hagoromo Gitsune found it odd, but that was all. After all, she only had one truly important goal.
Finishing the raw liver served by Kyokotsu, Hagoromo Gitsune wiped her mouth, took a sip of the tea Kyokotsu had brewed, and said to Minagoroshi-Jizo, "Begin."
"Yes... Everyone, compared to four hundred years ago, the 'Saru-no-michi' is now largely ineffective." Minagoroshi-Jizo scanned the assembled demons and began sharing intelligence. "The current obstacle to our 'Rakuyo' (march on the capital) is the 'Spiral' barrier placed by the Keikan clan throughout Kyoto. These seals must be uprooted."
"Minagoroshi-Jizo, why are you talking so much nonsense?" A young yokai with half his face covered by a wooden board spoke up impatiently. "Just tell us the locations of the seals. We'll send someone to each spot and deal with them all."
To this, Minagoroshi-Jizo smiled on the surface, while thinking to himself: Has this fellow rotted his brain eating raw liver? If it were that simple, would I be wasting my breath here?
"That won't work. This 'Spiral' barrier is the same as the one Tenkai placed in Edo Castle, which protected the Tokugawa for three hundred years. The barrier in Kyoto was improved by the thirteenth Hidemoto of the Keikan clan; we can only uproot the seals one by one, following the order of the 'Spiral'."
As soon as these words were spoken, most of the cadres were displeased and began to grumble.
"So you're saying we have to follow a route predetermined by that guy?" "Cursed Onmyoji, helping the Tokugawa four hundred years ago and making us suffer so much!" "How about we just curse all the Onmyoji in Kyoto to death first?" "Curse your mother! That Rakshasa King is still in Kyoto!"
The demons suddenly fell silent, then simultaneously turned to look at Hagoromo Gitsune.
Hagoromo Gitsune had originally intended to follow up on Minagoroshi-Jizo's words with something like "This Concubine finds it interesting" or "This Concubine thinks playing along is fine," but now the words were stuck in her throat. With a Rakshasa King added to the mix, the plot had suddenly veered off course.
Hagoromo Gitsune felt very displeased. And somewhat annoyed.
'Why is everyone looking at me? Do you expect me to go and kill the Rakshasa King?'
As a reincarnating yokai, she was essentially immortal, and her power grew with each rebirth. But that was only a quantitative increase. If she challenged monsters like gods or the Rakshasa King, the only result would be a "GG" and another reincarnation. She was a reincarnating yokai, but that didn't mean she enjoyed the process. And this raw liver—did they think it actually tasted good?
Truly, at first, she only did it to vent her anger. Later, it was a necessity; after all, she had promised her son she would give birth to him again, so naturally, she hoped to be in top condition for the labor. If possible, she really hoped to succeed this time. Eating liver every day after every rebirth... she was about to vomit from the taste!
"Enough. As long as the Onmyoji do not block our path, there is no need to pay them heed. We only need to focus on uprooting the seals." Hagoromo Gitsune set the tone for the operation. "Where is the first seal?"
"It is Ryoan-ji, Lord Hagoromo Gitsune," Minagoroshi-Jizo replied. "Following that are the Katsura Imperial Villa, Fushimi Inari-taisha, Kiyomizu-dera, Nishi Hongan-ji, Shokoku-ji, Kinkaku-ji, and finally, the first seal—Nijo Castle."
Hagoromo Gitsune had witnessed the construction process of most of these places, but she felt no nostalgia. In her memory, among all the structures built by humans, the only one that had ever brought her warmth was a small wooden hut. The owner of that hut had once made her forget, for a time, that she was a monster.
Hagoromo Gitsune stood up. Snow-white fox tails extended from behind her, sweeping the dining table aside. Even if that strange Rakshasa King were to change his mind, he likely wouldn't do so this quickly. Hagoromo Gitsune decided to seize the time.
As Hagoromo Gitsune and her cadres stepped out of the mansion, the dark cursed power that had been lingering and suppressed no longer held back. It expanded rapidly, erupting into its true form. The fog-thick cursed power howled like a hurricane and shot into the sky—a signal fire for the start of war.
Countless yokai emerged from every corner of the grand garden estate, following behind Hagoromo Gitsune and her cadres in a massive, surging wave.
Almost simultaneously, thick black clouds rose over Mount Hiei. Under the terrified gazes of the Hiei monks, a dense army of yokai rode the wind out from the mountain forests. This army ignored the monks, flying into the sky until their silhouettes blotted out the sun, casting a colossal shadow over the earth below.
Finally, the two yokai armies merged at the foot of Mount Hiei.
Standing on the back of a massive Brute-type yokai, Hagoromo Gitsune looked coldly at the legions gathering from all directions and issued her command: "Move out! Target: Ryoan-ji!"
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