The Shikigami

Inside the quiet park deep within the Buddha city, a ruptured fire hydrant continuously gushed pillars of white water toward the sky. The spreading curtain of water fell from above, drenching the park grounds like rain.

Miketsu held a parasol in one hand and a lollipop in the other, which she was currently munching on. Sheltering beneath her umbrella were the stunned Nura Rihyon and Natto-kozo. Directly ahead of them, where their gazes were fixed, was a black figure lying prone on the ground.

The tall, black-clad yokai lay spread-eagled, his entire body emitting a charred stench that even the falling water could not wash away. One shoe remained on his foot while the other had been flung far into the distance, his long legs twitching incessantly. It was clear that even for a powerful yokai with immense vitality, a high-voltage shock was no small matter.

"What just happened?" Nura Rihyon uttered in shock. Sensing the growing killing intent behind him, he had been ready to strike, but he hadn't expected this situation to arise. He didn't understand why the leader of the ambushers had suddenly been tossed into the air, electrocuted, and dropped right in front of him. Had someone attacked him? But he hadn't sensed any demonic or spiritual power at all.

"A... a strange person suddenly popped out—no, it's a yokai! Where on earth did he come from?" Standing at Nura Rihyon's feet, Natto-kozo, who was still within the demon realm, spoke with equal surprise. He hadn't detected any assassins before this.

'Damn it, what's going on... what's wrong with these human devices...'

On the other side, the tall, black-clad yokai struggled to stand. His black fedora had fallen off, revealing a pale, malicious face beneath hair that stood straight up from the shock.

"Eh! He can still stand?" Natto-kozo exclaimed, watching the assassin sway unsteadily as he clawed his way up, looking as though he might collapse again at any moment. However, he soon noticed the assassin's posture was very peculiar.

Though the black-clad yokai was tall, his legs were turned inward in a pigeon-toed stance and were trembling slightly. His facial expression was horribly contorted, as if he were enduring some intense pain from his lower half. Clearly, the yokai hadn't just suffered an electric shock; that high-pressure water jet that had blasted his rear and sent him skyward had obviously caused deep internal damage. Even a yokai would find it hard to resist the destructive force of high-pressure water on their internal organs.

Enduring various torments, the black-clad yokai forced himself to stand straight and steady his demeanor. Amidst unspeakable agony, he forced a fierce look and barked at Nura Rihyon. "Hmph... hello there, Nura Rihyon. I... I am the assassin who has come for your head. Prepare yourself..."

He spoke while wincing in pain. Hearing his words, Natto-kozo couldn't help but take a startled step back.

"Ah! An assassin! Supreme Commander, look out! It's an assassin!" Natto-kozo cried out, looking toward Nura Rihyon, only to see the old man staring grimly at the black-clad yokai without any intention of responding.

"Supreme Commander, you..." Just as Natto-kozo was confused by Rihyon's behavior, he saw the young girl beside him, still holding her umbrella and focused on her lollipop. In an instant, he understood Rihyon's thoughts.

'The Supreme Commander is deliberately not speaking to the assassin because he doesn't want the human girl to see him talking to thin air. He's trying to prevent her from being pulled into the demon realm... he wants to protect her?'

"Are you going to ignore me? You're just a smelly old man, yet you still put on the airs of a Supreme Commander! In that case, I won't be polite. Boys! For the sake of Lord Tamazuki, take Nura Rihyon's head!"

Upon hearing the black-clad yokai's words, Nura Rihyon's expression shifted. At that moment, seven more black-clad assassins, dressed identically to their leader, burst from the surrounding treetops and bushes. After leaping from their hiding spots, their arms began to flail wildly like whips, ignoring the constraints of joints, producing a series of sharp, whip-like cracks.

Amidst the relentless sound of the wind, chaotic, invisible wind blades were launched by the assassins, streaking toward Nura Rihyon and the others in the center of the encirclement. Natto-kozo screamed in terror at the sight.

'Kamaitachi?' Nura Rihyon judged the technique in his mind. Simultaneously, he drew the short blade he had been gripping in his sleeve. With a few leaps and slashes, he shattered all the wind blades coming from the four directions.

Watching the old man dancing wildly with his blade, Miketsu, still munching her lollipop, said with a smile, "Old man, you're quite energetic."

Nura Rihyon managed a reply in the midst of the fray. "I'm old, after all. I need to exercise more, don't I? Little girl, why don't you stay by my side and see how my calisthenics skills are?"

Seeing this interaction between Miketsu and Nura Rihyon, Natto-kozo covered his head in despair.

'It's over! This human can't see the anomalies of the demon realm at all. Now the Supreme Commander has to protect her while fighting seven-on-one. He... he can't use his full strength like this!'

The black-clad yokai surrounded Nura Rihyon in a circle, continuously firing gale-force wind blades at high speeds. Nura Rihyon moved around Miketsu, constantly swinging his blade to cut through the wind. Although he was perfectly managing the seven-pronged assault, he remained on the defensive, unable to counterattack.

The reason was simple: he had to protect the human girl beside him. With so many enemies, the moment he left her side to counter, she would immediately be struck by the wind blades coming from other directions. One-sided passive defense could not lead to victory; it only gave the attackers infinite opportunities to find an opening.

Standing at a distance, the assassin leader, who had not yet joined the fray, stared deathly at Nura Rihyon. Meanwhile, an invisible, silent wind blade was rapidly condensing in his hand. This wind blade made no sound and its demonic energy was heavily suppressed, making it visually imperceptible. This was the silent assassination blade specifically prepared by the leader for Nura Rihyon—noiseless but far more lethal.

The assassin leader watched with focused intensity as Rihyon swung his blade. Then, spotting an opportunity, he whipped his right arm out, launching the silent, formless blade at high speed directly toward Rihyon's vitals.

Nura Rihyon, who was leaping and slashing through countless wind blades, suddenly felt a surge of crisis from behind based on pure instinct. When he jerked his head around, he saw the slightly distorted air already inches away. The colorless, odorless, silent assassination blade was already upon him.

'Crap!' Nura Rihyon's pupils dilated, his gaze freezing. Just as the invisible wind blade was about to slice into his neck, an unexpected object blocked his view.

It was, remarkably, a lollipop.

Crack!

Accompanied by a crisp snap, the sudden invisible wind blade dissipated into the air. That assassination blade, which was far sharper and more powerful than an average wind blade, had been stopped by an unremarkable, ordinary lollipop. More importantly...

Looking in shock at the slender hand holding the lollipop, Nura Rihyon saw the smiling face of the young girl.

"It seems your calisthenics skills still aren't quite up to par, old man. You'll need to practice more in the future," Miketsu said slowly with a smile. Seeing her like this, Nura Rihyon gasped in disbelief.

"You... just who are you..."

"Me? Just a beautiful girl passing through."

Seeing his wind blade neutralized in such a baffling way, the assassin leader stood frozen in shock. He clearly hadn't expected that seemingly ordinary human girl to suddenly strike. But he quickly regained his composure, refocusing on the battle.

'No time to wonder about this now. Keep attacking! We can't let this fail at the last step!' The assassin leader turned to his subordinates and shouted, "What are you standing there for? Speed up the attacks!! Pin them down!"

"Understood!" Hearing their leader's command, the black-clad yokai immediately increased their attack frequency. Denser wind blades shot toward Nura Rihyon and Miketsu. Nura Rihyon had no choice but to tighten his grip on his short blade and resume his defense.

The assassin leader then crouched down, his legs beginning to twist and writhe like whips. A cold whisper escaped his grim face. "In that case, I'll have to do this myself..."

Meanwhile, Miketsu was holding the lollipop she had been munching on outside her umbrella, letting the "rain" from the sky drench it. Upon closer inspection, the originally disk-shaped lollipop had been chewed into a human-like shape.

Suddenly, the whip-like legs of the assassin leader erupted with demonic power, whipping up a violent wind pressure that launched his entire body forward. He lunged toward Nura Rihyon and Miketsu at high speed. At that moment, Miketsu spoke softly.

"Shikigami... materialize."

As she whispered, she tossed the rain-drenched lollipop man. The lollipop emitted a blue radiance, and from within it erupted an ethereal blue flame. Seeing this, Nura Rihyon was struck with internal shock.

'That's a shikigami summoning!'

The blue fire flourished in the air, suddenly expanding to over ten meters high. Then, a massive figure stepped out from the flames.

It was a singular form that even the well-traveled Nura Rihyon had never seen before.

Nearly ten meters tall, it had a massive cylindrical body in a striking pink hue. It had round, stubby legs and long arms. Around its head was a white ring with two pitch-black, adorable eyes—this bizarre creation appeared entirely clumsy and cute.

Looking at the strange giant that had suddenly appeared, the assassin leader was stunned. However, in the middle of his charge, he could no longer stop. 'I just have to break through this weird shikigami barrier!' the yokai thought as he began to condense a powerful wind-pressure shield around himself, intending to smash the strange monster to bits in one go.

Facing the wind yokai charging straight at it, the cute Sugar Shikigami reached out a large hand and nimbly caught the black-clad yokai, completely ignoring the intense winds surrounding him.

Held in the Sugar Shikigami's grip, the assassin leader looked on blankly. He looked up from below at the shikigami's adorable face, which showed absolutely no change in expression. Then, a deep terror surged from the depths of his soul.

Squelch!

With a single squeeze of that massive hand and its irresistible force, the assassin leader was reduced to a puddle of gore within the Sugar Shikigami's palm. Fresh blood leaked from between its fingers.

'An improved version of a Paper Shikigami... as expected, other materials can be used to create them too. Testing this out is quite fun,' Miketsu thought, nodding as she looked at her Sugar Shikigami.

Behind her, Nura Rihyon watched everything with a wooden expression, his mind churning with a thousand thoughts. 'Formula... Onmyojutsu... Yin and Yang... A powerful Onmyoji... that face... a powerful Onmyoji... I remember... I remember! I finally remember where I've seen her before!'

In an instant, Nura Rihyon's thoughts drifted back a thousand years to Heian-kyo.