Chapter 520: Spreading Fear
That same night, the old noble was summoned into the Son of Heaven's great hall.
On his throne, the Son of Heaven asked anxiously:
"My dear minister, you survived the Giant Yōkai's jaws. Is there anything you can tell Us?"
Still spattered with blood, the old noble raised his head numbly and looked at the Son of Heaven seated on his throne.
When he saw the urgency and terror on the Son of Heaven's face, he ground out through clenched teeth:
"Terror!! The Giant Yōkai wants us terrified!!"
The civil and military ministers in the hall had no idea what he meant. The Son of Heaven asked shakily:
"My dear minister, what exactly do you mean? Please explain in detail!"
The old noble said through gritted teeth:
"The Giant Yōkai and his demon army sealed the small gates with boulders and left only the great gate open.
"Then his demon army camped on Peach Blossom Mountain, facing the great gate. If anyone dares run out of the city, they can charge down the mountain and hunt them to death. He's trapped us inside the city!
"A hundred people. Every day the Giant Yōkai will come into the city and eat a hundred people. That's how he means to make us, to make Kyoto, ripen!"
The Son of Heaven asked, trembling, "Ripen what?"
The old noble gritted his teeth. "Fear!! He wants our fear to ripen!!
"That demon! He'll kill a few of us every day, so we grow more and more afraid, more and more terrified of him!
"Only that way will we grow more and more delicious, and only that way will we taste sweeter and sweeter to him!!"
At that, the lords in the hall looked at one another. None of them could say a word.
The threat of their realm's destruction filled their hearts. It felt like the weight of a mountain coming down on them!
Just then, a samurai ran in from outside and reported loudly:
"Disaster! Common folk in the city took it on themselves to go out the great gate and try to escape Kyoto.
"But the Big Yōkai charged down from Peach Blossom Mountain and caught them at once. They tortured them to death, tortured them to death!
"Now the gate is covered in torn-apart bodies. What do we do?!"
The ministers immediately descended into chaos. The Son of Heaven had no idea what to do either and sat on his throne tearing at his hair.
The old noble who had survived murmured:
"He left one gate open on purpose, to sift out the brave ones, the ones who'd still dare run out and fight for a chance to live.
"He lets those brave people out on purpose and kills them, so that only the cowards are left inside the city. That way the fear ripens even sweeter.
"Ha ha... ha ha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The old noble had gone mad. His wild laughter filled the hall. The furious Son of Heaven had him dragged away, then gave an order:
"Send out the scouts! Have them scatter and go to every domain to summon troops to rescue the throne!!"
At the Son of Heaven's roar, nearly a thousand scouts gathered at Kyoto's great gate.
At their leader's command, the thousand riders burst out of the city and scattered in every direction across the realm like petals flung from a heavenly maiden's hand!
The riders carrying the message out of the city were, naturally, spotted by the demon army waiting on Peach Blossom Mountain.
The demon army came charging down the mountain, all fangs and claws, to slaughter the riders!
The Big Yōkai weren't just huge. They were fast runners, too, fast enough to catch cavalry.
Some riders were caught by the Big Yōkai and brutally killed, while others managed to get away.
But even the riders who got away and reached other domains couldn't bring back any reinforcements.
The demon army's savagery was known all across the realm. Every daimyō feared for himself. They could barely protect their own lands, so how could they send troops to the capital to rescue the throne?
So the Son of Heaven's hope of summoning reinforcements was hopeless!
But while they couldn't summon reinforcements, they could summon a hero!
...
"Hyah! Hyah!! HYAH!!"
A rider kept lashing his horse with his whip. His horse was running so hard it was foaming at the mouth!
Behind him, two Big Yōkai over two metres tall were chasing him, all fangs and claws!
When the Big Yōkai ran, the ground shook, and the distance between them was closing fast.
"Hyah! Hyah, hyah!!"
The rider was running blind. He had no idea where he'd ended up. All he saw was a stretch of paddy fields ahead, with farmers working in them, and a town on the far side of the paddies.
The Big Yōkai had chased the rider past caring about anything. All he knew was to keep running forward.
The rider reached the town gate, but before he could get all the way inside, he suddenly felt a chill at his back. The Big Yōkai had caught up, and with one swipe of its claws it tore the horse's hindquarters to shreds!
The horse let out a terrible scream and went down. The rider was thrown from the saddle and hit the ground so hard he saw stars and couldn't get up.
Lying on the ground, the rider shakily drew the katana at his waist and slashed wildly, shouting in panic:
"Stay back! Stay BACK! AAAAAH!!"
The Big Yōkai walked over, grabbed the rider's sword arm, and pulled.
Rrrip!
"AAAAAAAAH!!!"
The rider let out a heart-rending scream. The Big Yōkai's tremendous strength had torn his arm clean off.
The Big Yōkai tossed the arm aside, scooped up the rider's body in both hands, opened its bloody maw, and bit into his belly!
It tore away the rider's armour with one bite, then sank its jaws into his soft belly and easily ripped out his intestines and organs!
The rider's screams rose higher and higher. He tried to fight back, but he was nowhere near as strong as the Big Yōkai and could only be held there while it ate his belly.
On the streets of Bamboo Grove County, the farmers coming and going saw this and froze, too terrified to move.
The other Big Yōkai saw that its partner was already eating while it had nothing, so it strode into the village to catch prey of its own.
The Big Yōkai charged into Bamboo Grove County, and the townsfolk scattered in terror.
At the town gate, the Big Yōkai that had caught the rider was kneeling on the ground, cradling the dying rider and intently savouring his organs.
The farmers in the surrounding paddies were fleeing in panic too. But one person didn't run. It was Tarō!
Tarō ran against the fleeing crowd toward the town gate. An old farmer grabbed him.
"Tarō, don't be a fool! Run with us! That's a Big Yōkai. It takes at least ten spearmen to deal with one!!"
Tarō shook off the old farmer's hand and charged at the Big Yōkai by the town gate.
"That rider came from Kyoto. He must be carrying important news. I can't let him die!!"
Tarō charged at the Big Yōkai, snatching up the katana from the severed hand on the ground as he went.
"DIE, DEMON!!"
Tarō reached the Big Yōkai's back, raised the katana high, and swung it down hard at the Big Yōkai's neck!
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