"Scar Father's long wait had finally paid off. The art known as swordsmanship had taken root and sprouted. Along the cracks of this seed, an unprecedented schism would emerge among Remnant Wolf's followers, and Scar Father would not let this opportunity slip away."
Power Struggle status: "Scar Father" held the orthodox position!
After Hebe told the tengu about the swordmaster system, Scar Father suppressed Remnant Wolf in the Power Struggle for the first time!
In the night sky, Mars's radiance dimmed, while Jupiter, which had always been somewhat obscure, shone brightly.
The former symbolized Remnant Wolf, while the latter was regarded as Scar Father's incarnation.
Hebe came back to her senses and found the tengu looking at her excitedly. "Lady Tamamo-no-Mae, please accept my bow!"
Kishibō Hōgen knelt on the ground and bowed deeply to the Golden-Furred, Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox.
"If not for Lady Tamamo, I don't know how many more years I would have groped through the darkness! But now I've summarized a 'sword style'... Hehe, perhaps this might be the oldest sword style in the Eastern Lands! I only managed to summarize it after traveling through the Western Lands and receiving Lady Tamamo's guidance!"
Hebe heard the tengu's excited voice echoing through the mountains and forests.
"This sword style should be called Heavenly Fox's Teachings: Kurama Eight Styles... For all ages to come, my disciples shall regard you as their master!"
Hebe left Bungo Province with a blank expression amid Kishibō Hōgen's farewell.
The tengu seemed to have their own means of communication. Though tengu of this era had yet to invent the profession of reporter, they had already developed the habit of "going wherever there was excitement."
And they really could fly fast.
At first, tales of Hebe had only circulated around Hyuga and Bungo, but once those chattering tengu spread the news, they instantly became popular throughout the Eastern Lands.
Traveling with the Dragon, subduing demon tanuki, dueling the Great Tengu, founding a school... Every one of those deeds was legendary.
Whether demons or humans, everyone talked about them with great relish.
That Minamoto Noble from Hyuga even flourished her brush and composed more than a dozen Chinese poems and waka.
It was said that in Heian-kyō, court nobles had recently begun asking after "the Fox Spirit who crossed over from Cathay, possessed of both wisdom and beauty"...
Yet Hebe still seemed rather unhappy.
The reason was that her group was currently within Mount Ōe's territory—her excessive fame had alerted the Oni Host, who were trying to find the legendary "Fox Spirit."
As for why they were going to such lengths, the Oni Host had all sorts of theories. Some said Ibaraki-dōji wanted to take precautions and eliminate unstable elements that might overthrow Mount Ōe's regime in advance. Others said Shuten-dōji had heard that the Fox Spirit possessed astonishing wisdom and wished to meet her.
Whatever the reason, Hebe and the others had to remain inconspicuous and leave no trace while traveling through Mount Ōe's territory.
And that was difficult, because Mount Ōe was territory governed by oni, as well as the foremost battlefield of the two rulers' Power Struggle.
On the Egyptian lands, Hebe had witnessed the terrifying sight of the Nine Calamities spreading. But that had merely been the aftermath of the rulers competing in the wilderness, later repurposed by the Red King in the present world.
A Power Struggle was a confrontation formed when two rulers personally entered the fray, battling over every possible perspective and every possible thing. On Mount Ōe, this was particularly obvious. Every inch of river water, every leaf, and every rock displayed extremely sharp edges. Here, flames and smoke tore at each other's forms; trees and raging winds nearly overwhelmed one another; rivers and land fought for each other's space; the Oni Host battled endlessly among themselves; even the thoughts in their minds opposed one another.
The moment one thought was born, the next would deny it, only to be brutally torn into nothingness by what followed.
Like interlocking gears, like game pieces locked in a deathly struggle, this was the Power Struggle. It would never truly decide a victor, but in any given era, there would be rises and falls, strengths and weaknesses.
"Here, the two rulers' powers are unprecedentedly strong. The compass needle points to the edge of the sun, and time is blown by the wind. The conflict between beasts and humans ends at the top of the food chain. Between the shifts of 'intercalary' and 'orthodox,' the sovereign father's army and the gray beast horde fight to the death."
—"As calendars are successively calculated, the remainder returns to the end. When an emperor rises, there must be an intercalary position."
An "intercalary position" was an unorthodox rank of honor. It was comparatively weak, but when certain opportunities arose, it would turn into the orthodox position. In other words, the transition from intercalary to orthodox, and from orthodox to intercalary, was the process of the Power Struggle.
Mount Ōe was where the two rulers fought each other. Here, the battle had reached a stalemate, to the point that They were no longer able to move their pieces and could only wait for them to determine victory or defeat. But you were not like that.
Hebe withdrew her gaze. The twisted patterns on the water's surface faded away, becoming waves without any meaning once more.
Scar Father had been suppressed by Remnant Wolf until not long ago, when the situation finally turned around.
And as one could imagine, Remnant Wolf would not let the matter rest. While He and Scar Father exchanged heavy blows, He would certainly do everything in His power to search for Hebe's trail.
Guarding against Remnant Wolf's attention was only one concern. More importantly, after walking all the way in from Mount Ōe's outskirts, it had been difficult to suppress her emotions.
On Mount Ōe's outskirts, the land was barren, and the rivers reeked of blood. The Oni Host vented their desires here. Their food was every living thing that wandered into this place, including even themselves.
Naturally, humans were the Oni Host's favorite food, because for them, killing and devouring a person could ease the frenzied urge for destruction within their hearts.
Remnant Wolf longed to destroy all order under Scar Father's command, and the Oni Host naturally yearned to kill all humans belonging to "civilization."
Looking only at Mount Ōe's outskirts, it resembled the demon realms described in every novel.
But when one's gaze turned to the lands truly governed by Mount Ōe, everything became different.
There were towns, streets, and all the "order" needed for ordinary life. The residents communicated and traded with one another, seemingly without any problem.
Even more surprising, there were not only oni here, but ordinary humans as well. They even walked down the same roads together, talking and laughing.
Was that possible? Even within the broader category of "beasts," oni occupied the most extreme end. The gap between them and demons was no smaller than the gap between demons and humans.
If humans and demons could at least leave behind bloodlines, then there was absolutely no room for reconciliation between humans and oni.
That was because the urge for destruction between humans and oni could not be reconciled. Before they could ever unite, they would destroy one another first.
Then what did these people living under Mount Ōe rely on to survive? The answer was simple.
—Oni ate humans, and they ate demons too.
"Then why can't humans eat demons, eat oni, eat humans?" The drunken Oni King tipped the cup of blood wine in her hand. "After all, haven't the court nobles always been feeding on you lot?"
"Drink, eat—thus the hunger and thirst in your bellies shall be satisfied, and thus you may escape this pitiful, painful floating world... Hehe, whether human or oni, all drift through this floating world."
This was Mount Ōe, the true demon realm.
It occupied the southeastern corner of the Eastern Lands' main island, bordering Heian-kyō to the north and Bungo Province to the south.
And the most ironic thing was that oni were actually limited in number. When Ibaraki-dōji founded the state, she had even driven out most of the demons.
Those who truly made the lands under Mount Ōe prosper were commoners abandoned by the Heian court nobles.
They resembled oni even more than actual oni did.
Hebe stared at the people raising their cups and singing around the bonfire.
She turned around.
Those people drinking blood and eating meat collapsed into the bonfire one after another, falling silent within moments.
Perhaps these people had once suffered. Perhaps they had been coerced, perhaps they longed for freedom, or perhaps they simply wanted a full meal, without caring what exactly entered their stomachs... In any case, they had joined Mount Ōe and become oni worse than oni.
Or perhaps they still had grievances they had never spoken aloud.
But that truly had nothing to do with Hebe. She only walked the true path—if she happened to see them, she killed them in passing.
On Mount Ōe's outskirts, she offered aid to everyone she saw. In the lands governed by Mount Ōe, she brought destruction upon every "person" she saw.
And during that process, Hebe's meeting with Mount Ōe's Oni King came earlier than expected.
Why Blame Me
Hebe walked out of the blazing village.
The collapsed buildings buried every sin that had taken place within them.
She stood on the ground faintly seeping the stench of blood and beckoned to Miss A-Long.
Miss A-Long wrinkled her nose.
Mount Ōe's environment affected Miss A-Long the most, because she had originally been a great serpent transformed into a dragon, an existence considered top-tier even among "beasts."
That Miss A-Long merely felt some emotional disturbance in such an environment was already an impressive achievement.
"Please take Tanutarō and little Saga farther east, Miss A-Long—go as far as you can." Hebe extended a hand to stop Miss A-Long's question. "If Miss A-Long stays here, you can indeed help me, but what about Tanutarō and Saga?"
Hebe tucked both hands into her sleeves, her tone seemingly calm.
"Th-then A-Long will go first." Miss A-Long held Saga in one hand and the tearful Tanutarō in the other. "You must meet up with us, okay?"
Hebe nodded slightly and watched Miss A-Long disappear into the raging wind.
"My, my... You aren't keeping that great serpent with you? It seems you're quite arrogant too. Good, that suits my tastes."
The collapsed buildings crumbled for the second time, and the Oni King's voice suddenly rang out amid the burning ruins.
A burning figure walked out from within.
Judging by appearance alone, she looked like a small child, making it difficult to associate her with the legendary Oni King who ruled Mount Ōe.
Ibaraki-dōji stood in an open space nearly twenty meters away from Hebe. Narrowing her eyes, she carefully inspected the legendary fox demon who had defeated the Great Tengu.
"Mm... I can't tell at all. How exactly did you defeat that detestable tengu? And where are your tail and ears? Why won't you show them to me?"
The Oni King with two horns suddenly roared. Flames extended from her palms and climbed onto her massive bone sword.
Scarlet filled the eyes of the capricious evil oni.
"Damn it! Damn it! You neither kneel and beg for mercy nor flee with your head in your hands—what exactly are you trying to do!"
"I'm waiting for the moment you can no longer control your anger." Hebe slowly withdrew her hands from her sleeves. "But it seems you can still control yourself. That's rare."
Because I'm nearly unable to control myself already, Hebe thought.
The linen-colored long-haired girl smiled faintly.
That smile completely ignited Ibaraki-dōji's fury. Roaring, she raised a leg and kicked at Hebe.
Of course, oni had no real technique when they fought, nor did they need to practice swordsmanship. Their physical abilities were simply too powerful. An Oni King like Ibaraki only needed to swing a fist to stir up a gale capable of blasting a human body into mangled flesh.
Hebe looked at her empty hands with some regret.
Then she clenched her fist and swung it to the left.
A muffled bang rang out.
Hebe's fist struck Ibaraki's ankle with perfect accuracy.
Sparks scattered as Ibaraki-dōji's right leg snapped in the middle, shattering into powder in midair.
—Great Quake Master!
The Oni King lost her balance and slumped to the ground.
"You..."
Hebe raised a finger to her lips. "Shh—endure it a little."
The Oni King's long brows trembled faintly. From them, she somehow read a trace of fury that was difficult to suppress.
It brought to mind furious magma beneath the earth, and mountains about to collapse.
Hebe carried Ibaraki-dōji and her sword as she walked along that burning path.
After taking only a few steps, she saw Saga and Tanutarō unconscious beneath a tree, along with Miss A-Long, whose eyes were half-open and half-closed as she was about to fall asleep.
A rich scent of alcohol drifted through the air. A petite figure stood not far away, pouring herself drink after drink.
"My, my, even Ibaraki couldn't keep you here—"
Shuten-dōji did not get to finish.
Hebe tossed Ibaraki-dōji, who had lost both her arms and legs, onto the ground. In her right hand was the Bone Blade she had seized from her.
"This truly is beyond anything I imagined... That Ibaraki who feared neither heaven nor earth was beaten until her eyes brimmed with tears and snot bubbles formed at her nose."
Shuten-dōji chuckled. "I'm afraid I won't forget today for the rest of my life."
Hebe said nothing and merely swung the Bone Blade.
Her movement was small, even cautious, like a spoon stirring clear water in a bowl.
It was a technique used to churn tides in the deep sea.
On land, it was no different from a natural disaster.
But as long as it was fast enough, its force could be unleashed before the disaster took form.
This was the tengu's art of chasing raging winds through the clouds.
The Bone Blade fell toward Shuten-dōji's forehead.
Before you continue