Tetsu no Sosuke looked back. From the moment he entered the village and sat outside Honmyo Yutaro's house until Honmyo Yutaro came out, something must have happened—something he had missed.
Or perhaps something had escaped his notice, allowing them to fool his senses and draw him into this trap without him realizing it.
Yuko was their Killer. They needed her to win Tetsu no Sosuke's complete trust so she could strike a fatal blow at the crucial moment.
The villagers were Bait, there solely to draw Tetsu no Sosuke's attention.
The dark figure on the raised platform was another Bait, keeping Tetsu no Sosuke watching him instead of the little girl in his arms.
And the instant their Killer struck, those Bait would turn into blades, grinding Tetsu no Sosuke to pieces like a meat grinder!
A blood-red light ignited in Tetsu no Sosuke's eyes. It began like a spark, yet burned as fiercely as the sun!
His organs, muscles, and bones tightened in an instant. Yuko's ten tentacles locked in place, unable to pull free.
The smugness, bloodlust, and arrogance in her eyes vanished when she saw that blazing yet merciless red light in his. They gave way to the deepest fear.
The Hammer Pillar!
To the demons, he was terrifying, but not invincible.
Many Upper Moons of the Twelve Demon Moons had died by his hand or through his schemes, but his own strength was not beyond overcoming.
Every victory had come down to luck, to a struggle on the edge of death. Each time, they had been a hair's breadth from killing the Hammer Pillar, yet their comrades had been the ones to fall.
That had split the newly risen Twelve Demon Moons in their views of him.
Some believed Tetsu no Sosuke was terrifying. If they