The New King

The pitch-black sky was illuminated by golden rays piercing through the clouds. A peaceful and warm light shone upon the blood-soaked earth. With the descent of this divine golden power, Toga’s blade underwent a startling transformation. At this moment, his century-long struggle with Oyakata, the Leopard Cat Lord, finally reached its conclusion.

"Ugh... it hurts... What is this light!? You... go to hell!!" Bathed in the radiance falling from the heavens, Oyakata—whose body was still emitting a purple-black aura to capture escaping souls—appeared to be in immense agony. He aimed his ten claws at Toga and opened his massive maw, unleashing his demonic power to the fullest.

Instantly, arcs of electricity flickered from Oyakata's long horns and fingertips. Freezing demonic energy condensed in his mouth, while scorching flames gathered between his palms. Having acquired vast amounts of demonic power by devouring his subordinates, Oyakata began to display multiple abilities at once, pouring them all toward Toga in a single, overwhelming surge.

Oyakata mixed the various attributes of his demonic energy together. Flames and frost entwined with arcs of lightning, sweeping toward Toga like a cataclysmic tide. Facing this staggering offensive, Toga simply swung his blade in a mid-air strike. With a flash of golden light, the mixed attack—despite its immense demonic power—was largely erased, vanishing into nothingness. The expression on Oyakata's face froze in shock.

"What! This is..."

Before Oyakata could react, Toga was already in motion. He turned into a blur, charging straight ahead. After another flash passed through Oyakata, Toga’s silhouette appeared behind him. In that split second, he had completed an instantaneous slash.

"Ugh! Heh... it’s useless. Since you can't liberate my soul anymore, your sword is ineffective against me!" After a brief moment of stunned silence, Oyakata turned around and mocked Toga with a sneer. Through countless battles, he had already figured out Toga's limits. Currently, Toga’s Tessaiga lacked the means to break through Oyakata's current state, and Tenseiga’s soul liberation was sealed by the power of the Great Snake. To Oyakata, this wild dog had no way to defeat him!

"Oh... is that so..."

"Hmph, you damned dog, you still want to talk—gah!"

Facing Oyakata's mockery, Toga calmly turned to face him. Just as Oyakata, enraged, prepared to strike again, a sudden mutation occurred in his body.

From his left shoulder to his right abdomen, a golden rift nearly ten meters long manifested on Oyakata's massive frame. It then burst open. Immediately, a vast amount of demonic power within him began to evaporate into thin air, and a colossal surge of souls erupted outward once more.

"Aaaargh! Lord Deity! Lord Deity!!" Oyakata wailed toward the sky again. However, this time, the power of the Great Snake's blood sacrifice was suppressed by the residual energy lingering on the massive wound. It was unable to help him restore his body or reclaim the souls. Oyakata could only watch in terror, eyes wide, as his life and power rapidly drained away.

In the distance, the Lord of the Dog Clan, suspended in the sky, flicked the blade in his hand. At this moment, the weapon had become vastly different from before.

Attached to the ancient hilt was a blade composed entirely of flowing golden light. Along the straight, long blade of light, six sub-blades branched out like tree limbs. Including the main blade at the tip, what Toga now held was a radiant blade with seven branches.

"Narukami-ga... Spirit Seven-Branched Sword..."

Gripping the seven-branched sword that should have only appeared in ritual settings, Toga murmured softly. This was his divine blade, Narukami-ga. The brilliance upon it was the manifestation of Miketsu's demon-slaying divine power.

It was this demon-slaying power that had erased Oyakata's attack earlier. Now, it had easily bypassed Oyakata's defenses, leaving a massive wound that caused his demonic power to evaporate while inhibiting the Great Snake's blood sacrifice.

The damage caused by Narukami-ga was absolutely fatal. Oyakata could do nothing but writhe his massive body and howl in agony. Seeing this, Toga tightened his grip on Narukami-ga, preparing to continue the assault. However, at that moment, another change occurred in Oyakata.

"Lord Deity... O Great God, aaaaaargh!"

In his final moments, Oyakata called out to his god and forced his massive mouth open in pain. Then, the power of the Great Snake, which had been suppressed, came gushing out of his mouth in an escape. Along with it came the still-massive amount of souls and flesh within Oyakata's body. They converged and mixed into a dark-red pillar of blood that shot high into the air. In response, Oyakata's frame rapidly shriveled and flattened.

"Master... what is that?"

"The power of the evil god has escaped, carrying away the souls and flesh Oyakata harvested! It plans to abandon him!" Toga said, narrowing his eyes at the scene. He then gripped Narukami-ga and slashed at the massive blood pillar rising into the sky. However, the blood pillar actually twisted on its own, evading Toga's strike.

The mutation originating from the Great Snake was not yet over. Across the entire battlefield, all the leopard cat yokai still fighting began to struggle in agony. One by one, pillars of blood erupted from their mouths, carrying the soul-blood they had harvested from across Harima Province. As the leopard cat yokai instantly turned into desiccated mummies, the thousands of blood pillars on the field converged, forming a rippling river of blood. If Miketsu were here, she would clearly recognize that this river of blood was identical to the one that had provided flesh and blood to the bones of the Great Snake over a decade ago!

Just as all the humans and yokai were struck with horror by the sight, the massive river of blood suspended in the sky suddenly poured down. It cascaded into the valley and rapidly seeped into the rocks and soil. Thus, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the river of blood—which had gathered the flesh and souls collected by the Leopard Cat Clan—vanished in an instant.

"Th-this... the soul-blood of the living beings of Harima... all of it, all of it is just gone?!" Myoga stared blankly at everything before him, as if unable to believe his eyes.

"Yes... it seems the god of those leopard cats abandoned them at the last moment, taking back its power with interest..." Landing on a cliffside and looking at the massive mummified corpse that was once Oyakata, Toga spoke in a low murmur. He suddenly felt that Oyakata and his followers might have been nothing more than livestock specifically fattened for slaughter from the very beginning.

"No... no matter what, Oyakata is dead now. This war... we should consider it our victory, Master..."

"Victory?" Hearing Myoga's words, Toga looked around at the blood-soaked battlefield strewn with corpses and let out a long sigh.

"I suppose... we have won."

Toga used his demonic power to project his final words loudly. A moment later, he was answered by a tragic yet grand cheer composed of various voices echoing across the mountains.

No matter how devastating the cost, at this moment, they who had resisted for a century finally welcomed the result of victory.

Just as Toga was about to say something more, a reaction of demonic energy suddenly came from the sky. Toga tightened his grip on his blade and turned to look. He saw a demon-faced Oboroguruma flying down, wreathed in demonic flames, landing not far from him.

"My, what a wonderful show. I originally intended to wait for Oyakata to suppress the rebellion before coming to find him, but I really didn't expect that guy to be so weak—to be overthrown by the rebels in his own territory."

The yokai girl, Dodomeki, stepped down from the Oboroguruma. She spoke with a tone of contempt as she looked at Oyakata's distant mummified remains, then turned her gaze toward Toga.

"Well then... since Oyakata is now dead, the Yokai Lord who rules the Harima demon realm should be you... the leader of the rebels who overthrew Oyakata's rule, the Lord of the Dog Clan—Toga..."