The Story

A dark wind blew in the evening, and the moon rose high.

To the southeast of Heian-kyo, within a dense forest on a small hill near Inari Mountain, a cave lay hidden. At this very moment, three figures stood before the cave: a god, a yokai, and a fox.

"Alright~ this is the place. Because it used to be a Secret Realm, very few humans or yokai know about its existence, so it's quite safe," Konkiku explained, shrinking from a large white fox back into a small white fox as she stood at the cave entrance, finally leaping cheerfully onto Miketsu's shoulder.

"It used to be a Secret Realm, huh..." Toga slowly walked into the cave by himself, surveying the environment. Inside, he saw a very spacious area. Apart from some dust, it was quite clean, even containing some stone stools and withered grass. For a yokai, it was indeed a suitable living environment.

Seeing Toga enter the cave first, Konkiku, perched on Miketsu's shoulder, lowered her voice and whispered into Miketsu's ear.

"This was an old stronghold for the foxes. Since Sister Tsuruha voluntarily confined her activities back to Inari Mountain, this place was abandoned."

So it was an abandoned stronghold? No wonder there were many signs of it being worked on. Listening to Konkiku, Miketsu nodded, then followed Toga into the cave.

Finally, the two sat on the stone stools at the cave entrance. Illuminated by the moonlight, Toga began to explain the full story to Miketsu, as promised.

...

To the west of Kinki, there was an ancient province named Harima, where many yokai tribes resided.

The Dog Clan and the Leopard Cat Clan were initially friendly tribes living in the same region of Harima. However, one day, after the Leopard Cat Clan accidentally acquired a secret technique that could enhance their power by devouring souls and flesh, the two clans went their separate ways. Over the next hundred years, the Leopard Cat Clan rapidly grew in strength through that secret technique, eventually giving birth to the Yokai Lord, Oyakata.

The Leopard Cat Lord, Oyakata, was an undeniable Great Yokai. With him at its head, the Leopard Cat Clan, based at Mount Nukazuka, ruled the entire demon realm of Harima Province. Its sphere of influence even radiated to the surrounding areas of Harima. Under his sway, all yokai submitted without exception. His influence could even extend into the human realm, causing many human villages and towns to fall into the demon realm, transforming into demon territories. The Onmyoryo had attempted to subjugate them but ultimately suffered heavy casualties.

Even by yokai standards, Oyakata was an extremely cruel yokai. He was bloodthirsty and indiscriminate in killing, possessed a strong desire for control, and wantonly harvested flesh and souls within his territory. Under his tyrannical rule, both humans and yokai suffered immensely. To combat this brutal Yokai Lord, the yokai and humans of Harima had, on more than one occasion, joined forces to launch rebellions.

The Dog Clan was the backbone of the resistance against Oyakata. Under their alliance, rebellions against Oyakata surged one after another. In the most recent rebellion, the combined number of humans and yokai participating nearly covered half of Harima. However, in the end, it still failed due to Oyakata's incredibly powerful individual strength, resulting in a bloody suppression and countless casualties.

...

"In the last defeat, we realized one thing: before a Yokai Lord, any numerical advantage is useless. Our side must have a combat power of the same level to contend with him."

"Oyakata's strength comes from the countless flesh and souls he harvests. We cannot rely on such methods to increase our power like him, but normal cultivation is simply too slow. We cannot wait that long, nor will Oyakata allow a strong individual who could threaten him to grow slowly. Therefore, we began to plan to seek power elsewhere."

Silently listening to Toga's account, Miketsu now understood the situation in Harima. Facing Toga, she also had a rough guess in her mind.

"So... you came to Heian-kyo to seek power?" Konkiku asked curiously, her thoughts aligning with Miketsu's.

"No, it wasn't me who came to Heian-kyo to seek power, but one of my retainers."

"Retainer?" Seeing Toga's denial, Konkiku and Miketsu were both a little confused. "Indeed, a loyal retainer of mine. His name is Totosai, a renowned yokai master blacksmith who forges demon blades," Toga continued to explain.

"Yokai master blacksmith... demon blades..." Listening to Toga's words, Konkiku couldn't help but ponder.

"Totosai is an extremely skilled craftsman. He excels at forging demon blades with extraordinary powers, using all sorts of unexpected materials. He once forged countless such powerful blades for me and for those who resisted Oyakata, but unfortunately, almost all of them broke during the war against Oyakata."

Hearing Toga speak to this point, Miketsu couldn't help but swallow. She truly felt Oyakata's immense power from Toga's words.

"After the failure of the last war, our clan and the various resistance forces in Harima suffered heavy losses. Seeing countless demon blades he had forged broken on the battlefield, Totosai was greatly affected. He locked himself in his room for several months, almost neither eating nor drinking, researching forging, but with no results. According to him, none of his blades could reach a level capable of confronting a Yokai Lord, which greatly frustrated him."

"Finally, one morning, Totosai disappeared from his forging room, leaving only a note stating that he was going on a long journey to find a way to forge stronger demon blades. He was gone for two years."

"Two years later, we received a letter brought by a messenger raven. The letter stated that he had found a way to forge the strongest demon blade, but to forge this blade, he would need my help. Therefore, he hoped I could set off for Heian-kyo."

"The handwriting on the letter was fine, and it bore his unique, unforgeable mark, so I set off without suspicion. However, I didn't expect that when I arrived at the pre-arranged location near Heian-kyo mentioned in the letter, I would be ambushed by Oyakata's yokai general, Torin, causing me to be injured and flee. I hid in the mountains, waiting for my wounds to heal. By chance, I encountered a friendly human Onmyoji who guided me to Choyo-machi. But I didn't realize that Torin had already posted a bounty for me there beforehand. And the rest of the story... you already know."

After Toga finished speaking, the scene fell silent. Miketsu was busy processing the information she had just received, while Konkiku, after a moment of thought, spoke directly with a suspicious expression.

"A friendly human Onmyoji? Are you mistaken? There aren't any good guys among those Onmyoji..."

As soon as Konkiku finished speaking, Miketsu's eyelid twitched sharply.

"If you ask me, you must have been tricked by that insidious and cunning Onmyoji. This was a trap set for you from the very beginning!"

"In any case, Lady Owl, we shouldn't believe a single word from those human Onmyoji ever again! Oh, tell me quickly, what's the name of that detestable Onmyoji? We should be wary of them in the future."