Decay

On Nightless Island, in the center of the Shengui Tower ruins, a giant larva tens of meters long stood, supported by a third of its body. The variegated patterns on the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s body almost hypnotized all the yokai on Nightless Island, making them prostrate themselves in worship of this ancient insect creature bearing the name of a god.

Twisting its corpulent body, the Tokoyo-no-Kami turned its head in a certain direction. Then, hundreds of short, thick tentacles beneath it exerted force together, propelling its bloated, massive body to crawl in that direction. It crushed over the ruins of Shengui Tower and onto the street, along the way pulverizing every building that stood in its path. Yet, the worshipping yokai neither moved nor avoided the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s crushing advance, maintaining the same posture from beginning to end, allowing it to roll over them.

The Tokoyo-no-Kami’s pace was not fast. As it slowly moved forward, the yokai around it, who had been worshipping, all stood up and staggered towards the Tokoyo-no-Kami, eventually pressing close to the giant insect body and plunging into it, then being directly swallowed by the writhing flesh walls into the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s body.

Thus, the Tokoyo-no-Kami crawled forward, feeding as it went, and the direction it crawled towards was, naturally, where Ao Andon and Seimei were. The Tokoyo-no-Kami clearly sensed excellent sacrifices there; it wanted to devour the powerful bodies of the Yokai Lords.

“Ugh… It’s coming this way… It wants to eat us…”

In the sky above Nightless Island, as the Tokoyo-no-Kami approached, Shiranui involuntarily clutched her head, speaking with difficulty. Clearly, Shiranui, as the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s miko, had her mind disturbed by the Tokoyo-no-Kami.

“Ah, I can see it without you telling me…” Ao Andon said slowly, not looking directly at the Tokoyo-no-Kami at the moment, but instead summoned a special demonic eye, floating in the air, to see for her, thereby avoiding the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s passive hypnotic effect. The demonic eye spun once in place, shifting its gaze from the Tokoyo-no-Kami to the cage of light threads hanging across the sky.

“Now that there’s no retreat, we can only fight this so-called deity to the bitter end…” As Ao Andon spoke, a Secret Lore card materialized in her hand. At the same time, Seimei took out two talismans, and Slippery Nura gripped his sword tightly. Seeing this, Ao Andon turned to them and spoke sternly.

“You don’t need to act. It’s not something ordinary beings can handle. You won’t be able to help much in the upcoming battle. You’d be better off moving Lady Shiranui and those who are still deeply asleep to a safe place and finding a way to wake them. The more allies we have now, the greater our hope of escaping.”

Hearing Ao Andon’s words, Seimei and Slippery Nura, though slightly unwilling, ultimately said nothing more. Ao Andon was right. With their current strength, they hadn’t reached the level of Yokai Lords. Just looking directly at the Tokoyo-no-Kami carried the risk of being hypnotized, and their role in battle would be minimal. Given the current situation, moving the mentally unstable Shiranui and the four sleeping Yokai Lords to a relatively safe place to try and wake them was the more prudent approach.

“We understand. Be careful,” Seimei said, throwing several talismans that stuck to the four Yokai Lords, attaching Aerial Jutsu-shiki to them in the form of talismans. Then Seimei and Slippery Nura, taking Shiranui and the four Yokai Lords, separated from Ao Andon and quickly flew towards the edge of the island.

Facing the giant insect now close at hand, Ao Andon also began her offensive. She revealed the Secret Lore card in her hand, directly manifesting her most powerful secret lore.

“A riot of demons, the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons… Secret Lore Manifestation, Heian-kyo Demonic Calamity!”

After consuming a massive amount of demonic power, waves of blue light appeared across various parts of Nightless Island. Within these blue lights, yokai of various forms materialized. They bared their fangs and glared fiercely at the bloated, corpulent Tokoyo-no-Kami. Among these hundreds of yokai, there was also a giant spider, colossal in size, comparable to the Tokoyo-no-Kami.

Heian-kyo Demonic Calamity. Facing the Tokoyo-no-Kami, Ao Andon unhesitatingly manifested the strongest secret lore she could. In an instant, countless fierce yokai, large and small, covered the entire island. These yokai were directly controlled by Ao Andon and essentially had no independent consciousness, thus they would not be hypnotized by looking directly at the Tokoyo-no-Kami.

“Go!”

With Ao Andon’s command, the countless yokai, large and small, sped through the streets and between buildings, charging directly towards the Tokoyo-no-Kami in unison. However, in the next moment, something Ao Andon had not anticipated at all occurred.

The bodies of the hostile yokai rapidly approaching the Tokoyo-no-Kami visibly shriveled and withered, their fur and claws falling off, scales peeling, and carapaces cracking. Humanoid yokai developed deep wrinkles on their faces and collapsed weakly as their hair fell out.

All yokai approaching the Tokoyo-no-Kami began to rapidly decay and age from hundreds of meters away, reaching the end of their lifespans in just a few seconds, collapsing powerlessly to the ground, turning into withered corpses. After complete death, they vanished in a flash of blue light. Seeing this, Ao Andon’s eyes widened in shock.

At this moment, Ao Andon suddenly recalled the secret lore about the Tokoyo-no-Kami from three hundred years ago.

“Legend has it that those who sacrifice to the Tokoyo-no-Kami can make the old young again, and the dead reborn… So that’s it. The flip side of rejuvenation is accelerated aging. While it can bring beings back to life, it can also directly bestow death upon all living things… Is this the Tokoyo-no-Kami, a deity who controls the transformation of life’s processes, symbolizing reincarnation?”

Watching the yokai she summoned rapidly age and die, watching the Tokoyo-no-Kami silently deprive hundreds of beings of their lives just by crawling, Ao Andon was momentarily stunned. Only now did she suddenly realize that she seemed to be fighting a true deity. At this moment, a question arose in her mind: “Why would such a powerful deity exist outside of Takamagahara? Shouldn’t such a powerful deity be an orthodox god of Takamagahara? Facing such an entity, can I truly hold it back?”

Just as Ao Andon felt a pang of fear facing the Tokoyo-no-Kami, a powerful demonic energy surged from afar, accompanied by a bold voice.

“Primal Demonic Orb!”

…

On a beach at the edge of Nightless Island, Seimei, Slippery Nura, and Shiranui gathered there. Four unconscious Yokai Lords lay flat in a row. Seimei was diligently trying to dispel the slumbering demonic art that Yakumo Yukari had placed on them.

“How is it going? Can you undo it?” Slippery Nura asked, watching the busy Seimei, but Seimei’s reply was not optimistic.

“Hmph… It’s difficult. The demonic art on them is extremely profound. It definitely comes from a yokai highly skilled in demonic arts. It will be very difficult to undo it anytime soon.”

“But, but we don’t have much time to wait!” Hearing Seimei’s words, Slippery Nura also spoke anxiously. Just as the atmosphere grew tense, a familiar voice reached their ears.

“Then let me try…”

Dressed in black, Miketsu walked quickly along the beach, approaching them.