The mont Shuten Doji swallowed Ibaraki, the crimson space shattered.
It felt like being ripped from a fever dream. The fleshy walls, the sea of blood, and the swarming spirits all disintegrated into a void of nothingness. Kashimo felt his feet strike solid ground again. Dirt. Grass. The honest, heavy scent of damp earth.
He looked up, his expression hardening. Ibaraki's domain had functioned as a bridge to the underworld, but the ghosts of the past rarely had enough soul-energy to cross back into the living world. The door was always open, but they were too weak to walk through.
Now, things were different. Shuten Doji had consud the souls of his two greatest generals. He had the fuel he needed.
Before them, a massive silhouette began to solidify out of the thin air. Cursed energy poured from the figure in a dense, suffocating tide. This was a monster that had stood as a peer to the King of Curses during the Heian era. The King of Ogres had returned.
Nearby, Kenjaku's protective barrier dissolved as the domain collapsed. The translucent film faded like lting ice, leaving him and Fuka on the grass. Fuka's legs were shaking, but she gritted her teeth and stayed upright, her eyes imdiately darting to the battlefield.
She saw the mountain of a man forming in the clearing. Shuten Doji. The pressure of his energy made the very air vibrate.
Kashimo glanced over his shoulder at Kenjaku.
"Kenjaku," he said. His voice was calm, almost bored. "I'm doubling my price."
Kenjaku stood a few paces away. He didn't look annoyed or surprised. He simply nodded with the composed air of a rchant who knew the value of a rare commodity.
"If that is your request," Kenjaku said. "Consider it done."
He didn't bother to haggle. The creature before them was nearing its full, ancient power. With the souls of his generals acting as a catalyst, Shuten Doji was a force of nature. The price was worth it.
Fuka leaned down and snatched the erald staff from the dirt. The wood felt warm in her hand. She gripped it tight and looked at the white-clad back of the man standing before the monster.
Shuten Doji's body fully manifested. Six massive, muscled arms extended from his torso, each palm large enough to crush a human skull. A legendary sake gourd hung at his waist, glowing with a dark, bruised light, as if it held the grievances of a thousand dead souls instead of wine.
The ogre looked down. His pale, unsettling pupils drifted across the three of them before settling on Kashimo. His demonic face split into a wide, jagged grin, revealing rows of uneven fangs.
"Hahahaha!"
The laugh bood across the clearing, the sheer volu making the trees shudder. There was no malice in it, no imdiate bloodlust. It was the boisterous, terrifying joy of an old friend greeting guests.
"All who co are guests, and all guests must drink until they can drink no more!"
He spread his six arms in a grand gesture of welco.
"This is the Pure Land, and this is the Blood-Stained River. Cast aside your worries and drain the cup. Join in the dream."
The gourd at his hip unsealed itself. A heavy scent of rich wine and iron-thick blood flooded the air.
"Domain Expansion…"
The world shifted. The sky and the earth were stripped away, replaced by a vast, shimring illusion of gold and red. A river of golden sake flowed through a field of red spider lilies that stretched to the horizon. Massive sake vats hung inverted in the sky, pouring endless streams of nectar into cups the size of human heads.
"…Drunken Dream of the Underworld."
The domain was open. It had no shell, no boundary to trap them. It simply expanded from the ogre in every direction, swallowing the forest for half a kiloter. It was an invitation that could not be refused.
Kashimo reacted the mont the space changed. He wove a sign with his hands, and a thin, protective film wrapped around his body.
Hollow Wicker Basket.
He looked back. Fuka was frantically trying to mimic the sign, her movents clumsy but desperate. She managed to trigger the defense just before the intoxicating mist could touch her. She was pale and gasping, but she was safe.
Kenjaku was more composed. He stood nearby, his own Hollow Wicker Basket held with effortless precision. He looked at the golden rivers and the giant vats in the sky. He could have expanded his own domain. He could have countered the ogre with his own brand of slaughter, a clash of Heian-era nightmares.
But he looked at Kashimo. He saw the lightning beginning to snap around the man's shoulders. He lowered his hands and chose to watch. Why waste his own energy when he had a tool like this?
Golden wine flowed at their feet. Red lilies swayed in the wind.
Kashimo stood at the center of the feast, facing the six-ard king. The scent of wine was sweet and deadly. He shouldered the Soul Split Katana and looked up at the giant.
"What a pathetic party," Kashimo said, his lips curling into a sharp grin. "Looks more like a funeral to ."
Shuten Doji looked down. There was no anger in his pale eyes, only the detached curiosity of a host dealing with a rude guest.
"I am the King of Mount Oe," the giant bood. "I am Shuten Doji. And who are you?"
Kashimo tilted his head. "You're the one who got turned into minced at by Sukuna, right? And you call yourself a king?"
His tone was light, almost conversational. "I wonder who made the rankings back then. You think you're in the sa league as the King of Curses?"
Shuten Doji's expression shifted. The boisterous joy didn't vanish, but sothing cold began to settle in his eyes.
Kashimo lowered the black blade, its tip tracing a line through the golden wine at his feet.
"Let introduce myself."
He looked the ogre in the eye.
"I am the God of Lightning. Kashimo."
The electricity around him exploded. Blue and white light snapped and hissed, tearing through the scent of wine and flowers as the storm took hold.
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A/n: And I... am... BATMAN!!
This week's first power stone goal is 100 power stones. 100 power stones = I will drop 1 bonus chapter instantly. So, don't forget to vote with ur power stones!!
For early access to 15 chapters ahead: p@tre~~/Demonic_Fiction (Link is in the synopsis and my profile).
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