Arrival at the Island

Dawn broke over Nightless Island.

Between the sea and sky, the first light of dawn appeared, yet Nightless Island itself lay in ruins. Immense, brutal force had ravaged a large area of the island; buildings were flattened, streets destroyed, and countless yokai still caught in illusions died inexplicably. The central area of Nightless Island had become a wasteland.

Amidst these ruins, the colossal Tsuchigumo opened its massive maw, its razor-sharp chelicerae biting down fiercely on the bloated, corpulent body of the Tokoyo-no-Kami, pinning it in place with all its might. Yet, no matter how hard the Tsuchigumo’s chelicerae bit, they could not pierce the giant insect’s seemingly soft and delicate skin.

Under the ruins of a distant house, Ao Andon lay sprawled, covered in dust, her lamp staff nowhere to be found, looking utterly disheveled. Her expression was one of extreme weakness, her eyes tightly shut. Through demonic eyes hidden outside, she subtly monitored the distant battlefield where the giant creature fought.

To avoid being affected by the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s terrifying power of decay, Ao Andon had kept a great distance from the battlefield from the very beginning, only controlling her summoned Secret Lore Yokai to fight alongside Shuten-doji from afar, preventing her true body from being discovered by the Tokoyo-no-Kami. Now, her summoned Secret Lore Yokai were almost completely annihilated, and her hiding place had been affected by the main battle. A flying boulder had smashed through the house, and Ao Andon had narrowly avoided being crushed beneath it just moments ago.

“Damn it… even this isn’t enough?” Ao Andon murmured weakly, her demonic power now completely depleted. The Tsuchigumo was her last Secret Lore Yokai.

Pinned by the Tsuchigumo, the Tokoyo-no-Kami showed no signs of resisting with force. It remained silently in place, while the Tsuchigumo’s body began to decay rapidly at a visible rate.

Its armor-like shell cracked open, exposing fleshy parts that quickly shriveled. Its chelicerae began to erode. Even a Great Yokai like the Tsuchigumo could not resist aging. As its predetermined lifespan ended, the Tsuchigumo’s internal tissues had rotted into nothingness. Its segment-by-segment cracking shell fell away, transforming into a green light and vanishing.

Just as the Tokoyo-no-Kami was about to break free from the Tsuchigumo’s grasp, a scorching Demonic Energy Cannon, shimmering with bright yellow light, flew directly towards It from afar, hitting It squarely in a violent explosion.

From the direction the Demonic Energy Cannon had flown, Shuten-doji was panting, half-crouched amidst the ruins, weakly staring at the Tokoyo-no-Kami engulfed by the explosion. As the main attacker against the Tokoyo-no-Kami, he still had some demonic power remaining, but he was in an even worse state than Ao Andon.

‘Let me take over, your situation is terrible right now!’ In this critical moment, a different part of Shuten-doji’s inner self spoke to him.

‘Stop babbling, just stay put. You can’t withstand the power of this filthy bug…’

Shuten-doji flatly refused the request for his other self to fight. The reason was simple: the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s power was not something ordinary beings could contend with.

The Tokoyo-no-Kami’s power of decay had a wide-ranging effect, and with focused consciousness, It could also expand its influence to a specific target. Almost no human or yokai could resist in its presence.

The reason Shuten-doji could fight the Tokoyo-no-Kami at a relatively close distance was entirely due to the Divine Blood from his mother within him. The divinity brought by the Divine Blood not only made him immune to the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s mental illusions but also significantly mitigated the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s power of decay, preventing him from showing obvious signs of aging on the surface. If the Ghost Girl’s other Shuten-doji had stepped in, with her scarce Divine Blood, she would have quickly decayed and died.

However, even with Shuten-doji’s strong resistance to the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s power of decay, it didn’t mean he was completely unaffected. As the battle with the Tokoyo-no-Kami progressed, Shuten-doji felt his body growing weaker and heavier, his limbs felt as if filled with lead, increasingly difficult to lift. Breathing became difficult, and his consciousness blurred. His entire body felt as if afflicted by a severe illness, and the condition was worsening.

Shuten-doji was now almost unable to stand. Not only was movement difficult, but mobilizing demonic power to release it was also extremely difficult. The ordinary demonic power blast he had just unleashed was almost exerted with all his might. In contrast, the Tokoyo-no-Kami had sustained no other damage apart from a few additional marks on its body.

When the smoke and dust from the explosion cleared, the corpulent, bloated giant insect reappeared. It was looking at Shuten-doji, its large, black eyes devoid of light.

“Tch, still no effect…” Shuten-doji gritted his teeth, a boundless frustration in his heart, as he looked at the hideous, garish giant insect. At that moment, the Tokoyo-no-Kami made its move.

The giant insect’s maw opened, from which it spat out thin, glowing threads. These threads tightly wrapped and bound Shuten-doji, tying him in place, unable to move. After this, the Tokoyo-no-Kami bit off the light thread and turned its head to the other side—the direction where Ao Andon was hiding.

Again, another light thread shot towards the distance, piercing through numerous barriers and wrapping around Ao Andon, who was hiding in the ruins, dragging the surprised Ao Andon directly out of the rubble.

“What… It actually knew my location?”

In an instant, Ao Andon was dragged to the Tokoyo-no-Kami’s side, yet she was not rapidly corrupted by the power of decay. Instead, she was dropped directly in front of It. Ao Andon’s heart tightened as she, still with closed eyes, saw all this through her external demonic eyes. She already knew what the Tokoyo-no-Kami intended to do.

It was going to eat her! To keep her fresh, it hadn’t used its power to decay her…

The Tokoyo-no-Kami sucked on the light thread, pulling the bound Ao Andon towards its maw. Feeling the endless hell drawing closer, Ao Andon’s mind went blank.

Is this how it ends? The collector of secret lore ultimately perished within this ancient secret lore…

With this thought, Ao Andon ceased the summoning of her demonic eyes, allowing her vision to return to darkness. She didn’t want to see herself being eaten from a third-person perspective.

In the sky, a whistling sound tore through the air. A swift, dark shadow sliced through the dawn’s early light, striking directly against the giant insect’s massive, bloated body. With a strange cry, the Tokoyo-no-Kami was knocked sideways by the immense force, and the light thread in its maw had already snapped as the dark shadow swept past.

After feeling a moment of weightlessness in mid-air, Ao Andon felt herself finally caught by someone in the air, landing in their embrace. Feeling the familiar demonic power, a faint smile softened her previously despairing expression. “Owl?”

“Open your eyes. You can’t see It right now.”

Listening to the low tone, Ao Andon opened her eyes and looked at the single red eye glinting within the shadow of the hood. Her entire being relaxed, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

“I thought you’d forgotten about me…”

“Although many unexpected changes occurred, a promise is a promise. You promised me you would take risks to disrupt Yakumo Yukari’s plan, so I would naturally come to save you. While the current situation is very different from what was originally anticipated, overall, I suppose I’ve kept my word.”