The vibration originated from the depths of Nijo Castle, the place where Hagoromo Gitsune resided. As the shaking grew increasingly violent, the Ninomaru Palace began to collapse.
Hikigaya had already ascended into mid-air to continue watching the show before the palace crumbled. Keikain Ryuji had a harder ti; he was hopping around frantically, searching for a stable foothold.
A massive black sphere burst through the earth following the collapse of the Ninomaru Palace, smashing through the structural debris. It rose slowly, floating above the skyline of Nijo Castle. When it appeared, every yokai stared at it with fixed intensity. Even the few Onmyoji hiding among the yokai ranks did the sa.
"How could it be this fast..." Keikain Ryuji's expression was extrely grim.
The plan in his heart—which he had thought was perfect—to "happily slap down a seal while the yokai's mother is indisposed giving birth" had shattered before it could even be implented.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the upper portion of the black sphere began to wriggle, and a woman's upper body erged from it. Her jet-black long hair spilled down, still connected to the sphere. Her skin was delicate and snowy white; it was as if darkness and light had rged into one within her—both demonic and holy.
A smile of satisfaction graced Hagoromo Gitsune's face. At least, that was how it looked when she first ca out. She even delivered a line of dialogue: "This mont... This Concubine has awaited for a thousand years."
Then, her subsequent lines got stuck in her throat because she saw Hikigaya. The man was staring with a half-smile at the egg-like body that still buried her lower half. The pleasant mood Hagoromo Gitsune originally had instantly turned into a ss of scrambled code. She nearly spat out a string of curses.
She averted her gaze and saw the Onmyoji of the Keikain Clan. And then, the Edo yokai she despised and hated the most.
Yokai regional discrimination is actually far more severe than that of humans; truth be told, they learned it from humans. After all, yokai originally had no social structure. Although so species had tribes, most yokai were lone wolves; fighting humans was no different from fighting other yokai. However, once humans learned the path of cultivation, the practitioners loved to talk big while subduing demons—nothing more than "You yokai are XXX, we humans are 666," and the like.
Having heard it so much, the yokai got a bit brainwashed, and thus, mysteriously developed their own social structures. As human history progressed, the yokai moved forward alongside it. Every ailnt found in human society was present in yokai society, and regional prejudice was rampant. Kyoto and Edo, in particular, were lifelong rivals.
Strictly speaking, Hagoromo Gitsune wasn't a Kyoto yokai because she grew up in the mountains. When she was dating her husband, she was still called Kuzu-no-ha. Speaking of which, back when she first ca out of the mountains, she was pure as could be—she'd blush just from holding hands with her boyfriend. But as the saying goes, who isn't pure and clean when they first enter society? After a thousand years of mingling in the world, she was now a professional at arson, murder, and childbearing.
Plus, she was a supre regional hater. Therefore, when she saw the Nura Clan brat she hated most, she didn't even think; she mocked him first.
"Heh... if it isn't the little friend from Edo?" Hagoromo Gitsune crossed her arms, feeling exceptionally refreshed. "Since you've co all this way to congratulate This Concubine, why do you look so pathetic?"
The Rakshasa King was soone she couldn't afford to provoke, but a group of barbarians from Edo and Toono? She, Hagoromo Gitsune, could handle them! There was still ti before Seii erged, just enough for a bit of fun. Then she'd scratch that annoying face into a bloody ss and bury the bloodline of the Edo Nurarihyon. It would be exhilarating.
"Hagoromo Gitsune..." The still-young Nura Rikuo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze sharp. "Was it you... who killed my father?"
Hagoromo Gitsune: "???"
She wondered if this kid had a brain injury.
'I've been busy giving birth; when would I have the spare ti to run to Edo and chop your dad?' Although four hundred years ago she was staying comfortably in Osaka when his grandfather stabbed her in the back, she was the "Magnanimous Hagoromo Gitsune." She would only kill their whole family after giving birth, not a mont sooner.
But of course, she couldn't say these thoughts out loud; it would lack "prestige." Glancing to the side and seeing Hikigaya simply hanging in mid-air watching with great interest, Hagoromo Gitsune decided to finish her script. To be a leader, one must be skilled at boosting morale.
She shot Nura Rikuo a "go play in the mud" look for him to interpret himself, struck a pose, and used a tone bordering on a chant to slowly announce to the surrounding yokai:
"Everyone, you have worked hard. Today is a day of great joy. The new lord of all monsters and spirits, nad 'Nue,' is about to be born."
The yokai's breathing grew heavy. The Keikain Onmyoji gritted their teeth. Hikigaya took a bite of a waterlon.
"In the past, humans claid to be the light and called us the darkness. Even when we integrated into human life, we were hard by the greed and cunning inherent in human nature, betrayed again and again by those we loved and trusted. Therefore, we made a solemn
wish." Black mist surged around Hagoromo Gitsune. She slowly detached herself from the egg-like body, and the black mist imdiately clung to her, forming clothing.
In an instant, the peerless black-haired beauty stood tall in the sky once more.
"This Concubine's darling was once born human, and is now the strongest yokai. He shall reshape everything with pure darkness. Celebrate, yokai! Rember this mont!"
Having finished, Hagoromo Gitsune toyed with her long black hair, indicating she was done speaking and everyone could express their enthusiasm.
"OHHHHHHH!!!"
A mountain-toppling roar of cheers erupted from the Kyoto yokai. There was even clapping and sycophantic shouting, like "Lord Hagoromo Gitsune is incredible!" or "Lord Hagoromo Gitsune is indeed the most beautiful!"
Hikigaya felt like sothing extra had been mixed in. Perhaps it was an illusion. Then he heard Tamamo-no-Mae's angry voice.
"You bastards! Didn't you say This Concubine was the most beautiful before!? I'm going to kill you all!"
Well, it wasn't an illusion.
But that wasn't important, because the egg-body in the sky had begun to swell again, transforming into the form of a giant infant. A low humming echoed in the ears of all the yokai and humans present. Finally, the hum turned into a clear sigh—it seed like regret, or perhaps nostalgia.
"Seii!" Hagoromo Gitsune was ecstatic. "This Concubine is here! Right here!"
The giant infant did not respond. It began to solidify, its body texture turning into sothing resembling glass. Hagoromo Gitsune's excitent had yet to subside; her eyes were full of doting love. She floated slowly toward the giant infant, gently stroking its now-solidified massive face. Rakshasa King, the remnants of the Nurarihyon—she had forgotten them all. At this mont, she was a tigress protecting her cub; anyone who touched her cub would have to fight her to the death.
"So that's Abe no Seii?" Hikigaya had finished his waterlon. He held onto Tamamo-no-Mae, who was fuming with rage, as he looked at the giant infant in the sky and made a tsk-ing sound. "I have never seen a resurrection so painful to look at."
Tamamo-no-Mae couldn't break free, so she could only huffily give up on killing the Kyoto yokai who had "betrayed" her. However, as she looked at the giant infant, her eyes were filled with trepidation.
"Hachiman... actually, This Concubine..." She decided to weigh her words, but she was interrupted before she could finish.
"Fine, I get it. He's stronger than you; you can't take him." Hikigaya glanced at her. "Tell , what use are you? All you know is eating and playing. Look at Hagoromo Gitsune—you're both Great Yokai, why is there such a gap between you?"
"What gap? What gap!?" Tamamo-no-Mae was displeased. She hated being compared unfavorably to Hagoromo Gitsune.
Hmph! A re kouhai! How dare she be so arrogant! A female fox prettier than —that is absolutely impossible!'
"There's a significant gap, okay?" Hikigaya pointed at Tamamo-no-Mae's chest.
Tamamo-no-Mae looked at herself, then looked at Hagoromo Gitsune, and blew her top.
"But This Concubine isn't married yet! This Concubine hasn't had a man! I can still grow bigger later!"
"And that's why you lost." Hikigaya gave her a look of pity. To think a thousand-year-old Great Yokai could say sothing so childish. Did she not know that "rich experience" ca with a bonus?
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