Xia Ji, I Renounce My Humanity

And all of this, Tanihara Danjo, is what you have forced me to do.

I had already prepared myself to be your loyal retainer, to guard Tanihara Castle well for you.

But... it was you who betrayed me first.

Takekawa Yukuma's face was dark as he thought...

"Tanihara Danjo is truly a fool. To possess a powerhouse like the General, yet force him to guard the castle, has led to this military failure. If the General had been on the battlefield, how could we have lost this war?"

"Exactly. It seems Tanihara Danjo is becoming increasingly muddled. In his hands, Tanihara Castle will sooner or later perish due to his stupidity. It is only right that you, Lord Takekawa Yukuma, should rule instead."

The officials and samurai preparing to pledge their loyalty to Takekawa Yukuma showered him with flattery, for they knew that with Takekawa Yukuma's combat prowess, taking Tanihara Castle was only a matter of time.

For some time now, Tanihara Danjo had begun to alienate Takekawa Yukuma; it was nothing short of self-destruction.

But only Takekawa Yukuma knew that the reason he intended to rebel was not because Tanihara Danjo no longer trusted him, but because of a woman.

Tanihara Danjo's daughter, Xia Ji.

A few months ago, perhaps because Tanihara Danjo realized that Takekawa Yukuma was already dissatisfied with him, he began to slowly reclaim the power Takekawa Yukuma held.

In the last war (a conflict involving a few hundred men), he did not bring Takekawa Yukuma along. However, Tanihara Danjo overestimated his own strength; without Takekawa Yukuma's formidable combat power, the previously invincible Tanihara Army suffered a crushing defeat.

After the defeat, Tanihara Danjo retreated to Tanihara Castle. At that time, a lord from Kyoto sent an envoy, saying he was very interested in his daughter, Xia Ji.

He wanted to marry her.

Although it was not the same noble Xia Ji had met in Kyoto during her last visit, it was another. However, this noble possessed even greater power.

Tanihara Danjo, reeling from the failed war, desperately needed a powerful backer, so he quickly agreed to the envoy.

He would marry Xia Ji off.

Upon hearing this news, Takekawa Yukuma immediately prepared to rebel. He intended to seize control of Tanihara Castle and win Xia Ji for himself.

In Takekawa Yukuma's heart, surely Xia Ji must hate such a political marriage, right?

Besides, he and Xia Ji could be considered "childhood sweethearts."

Xia Ji must love him, too.

But this was far from enough; Takekawa Yukuma had other preparations.

Using his own martial prowess to take Tanihara Castle was no problem, but facing the surrounding powers, or even the forces from Kyoto, was far from enough.

Therefore... he had to become even stronger.

After the secret meeting concluded, Takekawa Yukuma walked to the outside of Xia Ji's room, but he was quickly blocked by the surrounding samurai.

"Move aside, let me in to see Xia Ji!"

Looking at the samurai belonging to the Tanihara daimyo before him, Takekawa Yukuma spoke with a dark expression.

"Apologies, Lord Takekawa. The daimyo has given orders. Recently, incidents of missing young women have occurred frequently, and Princess Xia Ji is betrothed to a great noble from Kyoto. Before the Princess is married off, there must be no mishaps, and she is not to meet with any men."

"Not even me?"

"That is correct, Lord Takekawa, not even you!"

"Baka!" Takekawa Yukuma roared in anger.

"Lord Takekawa, please do not make things difficult for us!" The samurai immediately drew their weapons.

"..."

Takekawa Yukuma's face turned livid; he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

Tanihara Danjo, you forced me into this...

Leaving Xia Ji's room, Takekawa Yukuma turned and headed out of the castle, arriving at a dark cave nearby.

"Takekawa Yukuma, you have returned..."

After entering the cave, a hoarse and sinister voice echoed.

A strange tree with a human face could be seen, wearing a look of pleasure on its face. Beneath the tree... the corpses of young women lay on the ground, and without exception... their hearts were gone.

"Tree Demon... how much longer until the wood heart matures?" Takekawa Yukuma looked at the tree demon before him. This was his hope for reclaiming Xia Ji and uniting the land.

This was a demon tree that grew on battlefields littered with corpses, having transformed after absorbing vast amounts of human blood and resentment; it was known as a "Tree Demon."

It was highly aggressive; practically no creature that passed by it survived.

However, this Tree Demon had been severely wounded by a powerful shrine maiden some time ago. After fleeing in its wounded state, it had accidentally encountered Takekawa Yukuma.

It was unknown where Takekawa Yukuma had learned that if a human used the heart of a Tree Demon as their own, they would become much stronger.

As a top-tier samurai among humans, Takekawa Yukuma understood one truth deeply.

Human strength is limited.

Therefore... to become stronger, one must discard the human body. For the sake of Xia Ji and this world, Takekawa Yukuma was prepared to stop being human.

Thus, Takekawa Yukuma and the Tree Demon struck a deal: Takekawa Yukuma would help it recover from its wounds, and the Tree Demon would give Takekawa Yukuma its wood heart, allowing him to become a demon.

To heal the Tree Demon's wounds and let the wood heart mature, Takekawa Yukuma had sent his trusted subordinates to capture those young women.

For some reason, the demons of the Eastern Island had a particular fondness for the hearts of young women...

The heart of one young woman was worth more than eating the men of an entire village.

High-level demons often preyed only on young women; only low-level demons ate others.

"Not enough. These women are far from enough. I need more." The Tree Demon looked at Takekawa Yukuma and expressed its craving.

"The people of the Tanihara faction are already very vigilant. I am not yet the ruler of Tanihara Castle, so I cannot take too many risks.

However, I have already sent men to other territories to snatch people."

"I do not care about that. Give me food... and I will give you my wood heart. When that time comes... you will possess even greater strength, rule all of Musashi, and even the entire Eastern Island. And... you will obtain that woman you dream of day and night. Ahahaha..."

"Remember your words..."

Hearing this, Takekawa Yukuma could not help but feel excited, though he did not show it on his face.

In the Eastern Island, it was not the first or second time that human nobles had cooperated with demons.

In the past, a daimyo, in order to seize the world, had sacrificed everything of his unborn son to a demon god (a demon), in exchange for over a decade of favorable weather... and an unrivaled army.

In a short time, he became one of the strongest lords of that era...

Although, in the end, he still failed!