The Gift You Wanted: Hunting the Demon Kings!

"Idiot!"

"Bastard!"

"Evil demon!"

"How dare you block a gift from this great goddess? You're nothing but a follower, yet you've gotten awfully bold!"

"Next time we meet, I'll make sure you get a proper taste of this goddess's fists!!"

On the outskirts of Kyoto,

beneath the Fated Tree,

a little girl of eleven or twelve, pretty as a doll in her red dress, stamped her feet and muttered furiously to herself.

Beside Yu Zhi stood a basket nearly as tall as she was. A glimpse inside revealed hairpins, combs, jade pendants, rouge cases, bronze mirrors, and all manner of other odds and ends.

After the adorable little girl who called herself a goddess had vented her anger, worry surfaced on her face.

"Mind and Soul Control. The Demon-Exorcising Blade."

"You idiot demon who always acts like nothing can scare you. You finally ran into a powerful onmyoji today, didn't you!!"

"I hope that onmyoji will spare your life for this goddess's sake."

"I hope..."

After blocking the power coming from that foolish goddess, Kidomaru fixed his grave gaze once more on the young onmyoji standing before him with a blade in hand.

It was true that without the foolish goddess's help, he might have struggled to deal with the troubles he had faced earlier—both those eyes with their power to beguile and the blade that could prevent him from healing.

But fleeing was out of the question.

Things were nowhere near bad enough for him to run!

Hunting prey stronger than himself was what he desired most.

There had to be another way.

His demonic eyes narrowed.

At this critical moment, Kidomaru actually looked away from the prey advancing steadily through his chains and began studying his surroundings.

Night had fallen, and only scattered stars glimmered overhead.

The darkness