The Storm of Demonic Energy

In Tokyo at night, a bright moon hung high while dark clouds gathered from all directions. Deep within the vast and complex metropolis, in a shadowy place where the city's neon lights could hardly reach, a thick, heavy scent of blood intertwined with the mixed energies of countless yokai. This district, which had already transformed into a demon realm, was filled with cold chills forming a frost-mist that spread across the ground. Flickering streetlights weakly illuminated the battlefield. The deserted road was riddled with cracks and scattered rubble. The blood and corpses of the yokai that had fallen earlier had now been devoured by the monsters birthed from the demonic blade. The group of yokai who had nearly been consumed by the rampaging flesh now instinctively formed a large circle, staring with wide, startled eyes at the dark figure in the center.

Just moments ago, the blood serpent—a monster formed from the flesh of slaughtered yokai—had its impact effortlessly halted by this mysterious dark figure using only a single finger. With a mere tap, the shock of the blood serpent was pushed back. The sinister power that had rendered the yokai of the Nura Clan and Shikoku helpless was dispelled with such casual ease that every yokai on the scene was left speechless. They could only gape in a daze, their minds racing with endless guesses and imaginings about the dark silhouette.

"What... what's going on... That guy actually... he just pointed his finger and sent that monster back?!" Kejoro murmured, scratching her hair in disbelief, while Kurotabo stood beside her with a furrowed brow.

"Truly terrifying power. Is he human or yokai? I can't feel even a trace of energy leaking out," Kurotabo said solemnly. Although the dark figure before them had displayed immense strength, he hadn't released any demonic energy or spiritual power when using it. Being unable to tell if the opponent was human or yokai was more frightening to Kurotabo than the strength itself. On the other side, Tsurara, who had been about to rush over to rescue Rikuo, felt her legs go weak the moment she saw the black figure appear and collapsed to the ground. Propping herself up and slowly standing, she looked ahead, the words that Gyuuki, an elder of the Nura Clan, had spoken to her back at the main house echoing in her mind.

'That... that silhouette. No way! It's the one who took the Young Lord that day. Him... which means... he's...'

Standing in the center of the battlefield under the gaze of the gathered yokai, Miketsu, once again in her Owl form, pulled the Demonic Fang Blade from the ground. She looked toward the dust rising from the abandoned building where the blood serpent was roaring and struggling to rise. Its head, which had been flattened by the heavy blow, was now completely restored.

Opening its giant maw, the blood serpent let out a piercing roar at Miketsu. A purplish-red sinister power radiated from its body, and its fury made the surrounding scent of blood even more pungent for a moment.

'Stubborn as always, at least when it comes to life...'

Miketsu thought to herself as she slowly raised the sword in her hand. At that moment, the blood serpent also began to change.

As its flesh writhed, thick and sturdy scales emerged from the serpent's surface, encasing it entirely in an instant. After reinforcing itself with ample defense, the serpent's thirty-meter-long body arched back slightly, its muscles tensing as it gathered power, assuming a posture for a full-strength strike.

An invisible pressure radiated from the blood serpent, causing the surrounding yokai to instinctively retreat several steps. Instinctive terror told them to flee, but the intense curiosity sparked by the dark figure kept them rooted to the spot. Every yokai seemed to want to see how the figure would respond. At this time, Nura Rikuo, who had slowly stood up despite having his demonic power drained, felt the pressure emitted by the blood serpent and the power contained within its massive body. He couldn't help but call out to the figure holding the blade, "Hey... are you okay? Need..."

Before he could finish, Rikuo froze. He noticed that the dust on the ground around the dark figure was being lightly stirred up, swirling in a spiral around him. The black robe fluttered under the influence of an invisible force.

'This is... a wind of demonic energy. This wind is formed from the Owl's demonic energy.'

A breeze of demonic energy swept through the battlefield. Just as the yokai were beginning to feel this strange sensation, the breeze suddenly intensified. The gentle wind became a raging storm, and the floating dust turned into a fine, pervasive dust storm, swirling small pebbles into the air.

Suddenly, terrifying demonic energy surged from the dark figure. The gale formed by the energy not only made it difficult for the yokai to keep their eyes open, but the immense pressure it carried made them almost unable to breathe. Under this double suppression—both physical and psychological—many of the weakened or injured yokai simply fainted.

"Ugh... this wind is actually demonic energy? You've got to be kidding... How... how can there be this much demonic energy to release?!"

"Cough, cough... It's so suffocating. The concentration of demonic energy... it makes breathing difficult."

Amidst the swirling storm of demonic energy, the rank-and-file yokai began to experience various forms of distress. For these modern yokai, a typical release of demonic energy only allowed them to scatter a hint of their unique scent into the air, detectable from a distance. Stronger yokai could make the scent more pungent and carry a hint of pressure. Generally, when humans encounter yokai, they say a 'yokai wind' has blown, referring to a faint scent of demonic energy carried by the wind. It was nothing like what the yokai were facing now—a storm entirely constructed of demonic energy. Such a massive amount of energy merging into the air squeezed out the oxygen, making it hard for the yokai to breathe. Although the master of this energy had suppressed the pressure within it as much as possible, these modern yokai still struggled to endure the colossal gale. At the center of this storm, in the eye of the demonic hurricane, the black-robed Miketsu had slowly raised her blade. Beneath the shadow of the hood, her single crimson eye stared at the blood serpent ahead, which was poised to strike.

With a roar, having gathered all its strength, the scale-armored blood serpent shot forward like a streak of red light, moving like a giant cannonball toward the dark target below. At a speed almost impossible for the eye to track, the blood-red afterimage reached Miketsu in the blink of an eye.

At that precise moment, Miketsu's blade, which had been suspended in mid-air, swung down.

"Explosive Current Wave!"

The wind—the yokai wind that had been blowing across the entire battlefield—instantly converged at the tip of the demonic blade. Wind pressure surged, and a vortex gathered. A tornado of demonic energy spiraled from the earth to the sky, roaring forth in the direction of the Owl's blade and colliding head-on with the blood serpent. The demonic wind erupted, and the howling dragon of wind instantly swallowed the massive serpent. The powerful suction pulled its entire enormous body into the vortex. Within the storm, tens of thousands of blades made of demonic wind easily shredded the sturdy scales. The fleshy body was hacked into pieces in an instant. Blood and shredded meat dyed the demonic tornado a deep crimson. After devouring the massive blood serpent, the majestic dragon of wind showed no sign of weakening. Amidst the howling of the gale, it soared straight into the sky, piercing through the dark clouds above like a true dragon ascending to heaven. The massive amount of demonic energy it carried exploded outward. Across all of Tokyo, every yokai in the demon realm and every human with spiritual vision turned simultaneously toward this direction, staring at the giant pillar of wind rising into the sky.

In the park of Ukiyoe-cho, members of the Onmyo Agency who were still testing the residual yokai blood looked at the distant sky in shock. Even from such a distance, the demonic energy readings on their devices hit the maximum values, sounding continuous red alerts. The test tubes they held fell to the ground and shattered. In the Onmyo Agency headquarters, the entire building fell into chaos. The paper katashiro placed on desks to sense demonic energy all turned pitch black. In the central control room, the large electronic screen that monitored Tokyo's demonic energy reactions turned entirely red with error warnings before fading into static. All demonic energy detection equipment suffered sensor failure at that moment. Terrified Onmyoji rushed to the windows, looking toward the source of the eruption. They wanted to mobilize, but for a moment, none of them had the courage. The Director of the Onmyo Agency slumped into his seat for two seconds before springing up to call the Prime Minister.

Not since the Warring States period had the land of Japan experienced such a massive eruption of demonic energy. The eruption occurring in Tokyo now was so intense that the energy radiating even from its periphery exceeded the maximum limits of modern detection equipment. On a street corner, by a black sports car, the Onmyoji from Kyoto, Keikain Ryuji, looked toward the distance in shock. The cigarette he had just lit fell to the ground. Beside him, Mamiru, whose expression was usually indifferent, also widened his eyes in surprise.

"Is this a joke? This level of demonic energy release is a joke, right? How... how can such a yokai exist? Are the Yokai Commanders fighting?" Keikain Ryuji murmured in shock. He then gritted his teeth and decided to drive to the Onmyo Agency immediately. He wondered if some ancient Great Yokai had broken its seal, throwing all of Tokyo into a crisis.

In the suburbs of Tokyo, within an abandoned hospital, the evil spirits residing there suddenly let out a collective scream of terror and fled their hiding spots.

"Ha! Got you!" In the hallway of the abandoned hospital, Hozuki Eiko, holding a spiritual vision camera, spotted an evil spirit that had turned into a panicked soul-fire trying to escape. She caught it with a bag filled with salt and lifted it happily. Holding the bag, Eiko looked at the nearby Yayoi and Keitaro. Both were standing frozen in place, staring blankly at the distant city center through a broken window.

"Ya... Yayoi... what was that feeling just now?" Keitaro murmured. It was the first time in his life he had felt that sudden chill down his spine, the trembling of his entire body, and an inexplicable sense of panic. It was more terrifying than any powerful evil spirit he had encountered before.

Asked by Keitaro, Yayoi remained silent for a long moment before slowly speaking. "It's demonic energy. Different from evil spirits, it's the demonic energy of yokai. Compared to evil spirits, yokai are the true rulers of the invisible world. And such powerful demonic energy... it's completely unheard of." After Yayoi's murmur, she lowered her head to the ground and asked, "Hey, do you know anything?"

Yayoi was holding a stick wrapped in barbed wire, from which hung a pale, distorted human head. The pale god, now turned into a severed head lantern, wore a twisted expression. Feeling that demonic energy, it wailed in pain. Elsewhere in Tokyo, on top of a high-rise building, Nurarihyon and Tamamura were stunned, while Makoto wore a faint smile.

"Great..."