*Ding Dong!*

“Coming!”

The doorbell ringing echoed, followed by the voice of a young girl.

Shortly after, a young girl with blond hair opened the door to see a young man with glasses holding a few plastic bags, which made her freeze for a moment.

As if she didn’t expect it at all, she blinked her eyes before widening them slightly.

“Yo” Leo waved his hand at the startled girl.

However, his lack of enthusiasm didn’t seem to affect the girl.

Her doubtful expression brightened swiftly and said ” Leo! It has been ages since I’ve seen you. Why didn’t you visit us lately?”

Kaho Saji, the younger sister of Genshirou Saji, was pleasantly surprised to see Leo, but because the latter ignored her greeting and looked around, she frowned her eyebrows.

However, Leo suddenly tilted his head and looked at her. His expression was a bit weird while beaconing with his hand. Although a bit confused, Kaho still got closer out of curiosity and followed Leo’s line of sight.

From the second-floor window, the shadow of a person could be seen on the glass.

Genshirou was pressing his face on the window, almost blending into the frame, looking down at Leo and Kaho. His eyes and expression were so ominous as if he became an evil spirit.

The setting sun cast a shadow on a certain angle of the house, making his look much creepier, especially when he saw Leo waving his hand.

Looking at this scene that’ll make children cry at night, Kaho’s face darkened before quickly entering the house, leaving Leo alone again.

“They are a happy bunch, huh?”

Listening to the sounds coming from inside and some screams as if a squishy toy got strangled, Leo looked at the clouds passing slowly while whispering “And she closed the door in my face… the audacity”

…

After resisting the urge to call 119 and tell the clueless dispatcher that a big brother was owned by his little sister, Leo finally made it inside Saji’s household.

There isn’t much to say about the interior of the house. It wasn’t flashy nor shabby, giving it a sense of coziness. This wasn’t the first time Leo has been here, so he is very familiar with it.

He went inside with Kaho, who returned with a smile and said ” Sorry to make you wait, Leo. But my brother is… Um, what did you do to him this time?”

Kaho’s face was a bit troubled. Although this isn’t the first time her brother and Leo played pranks on each other, she felt Genshirou was a bit weird this time.

“I’ve told him the truth, but he couldn’t handle it”

“… Right, what kind of truth exactly?”

“He’s an idiot and… Anime is not real” Leo rubbed his chin before stating seriously.

“…”

Kaho heard the dumb answer as she shook her head with a sigh.

She already knew that getting a serious answer from Leo is nigh-impossible. This is how he always has been.

When she was lost in thoughts, Leo was going to ask if she adopted domestic violence as a new hobby and why she didn’t invite him to watch, but a small boy walked over to him.

“L-Leo, you came! I missed you. Did you bring anything for me?”

“Gengo, don’t say something like that to a guest” Kaho started to discipline the little boy, but Leo didn’t mind.

Considering his history with annoying hellspawn kids, if this was any other little kid in general, Leo would have taught them why he’s hated by the masses.

But looking at the little boy pulling his shirt with sparkling eyes, Leo squatted down and ruffled the boy’s hair before saying “Of course, I brought you all something. Unlike your brother, I have manners and shit”

“OI! What are you teaching my little brother!?”

“Leo! Stop teaching Gengo bad words!”

Genshirou’s angry face popped from the end of the hallway while Kaho covered her little brother’s, Gengo Saji’s, ears.

“Yeah, yeah, I taught him nothing though. But here, catch” Leo gave the bags he was carrying to Kaho, startling her before she looked at them.

Seeing they were a bunch of ingredients and snacks, Kaho became embarrassed and said ” You really didn’t have to, Leo…”

“Hm? Since when I really didn’t have to? And you, when did you decide to suddenly act mature, huh? It was just yesterday that you were crying because you were scared from the dark”

“I WASN’T!” Kaho instantly retorted with her face beet red.

“So, did you age when I wasn’t here or something? Stop acting like you never saw me. At this point, do you still intend to treat me as a guest?”

With his eyebrow twitching, Leo stared deeply at Kaho’s face, making her turn away immediately while muttering “But… but…”

“Leo isn’t a guest!” Gengo broke away from his sister and stood by Leo’s side.

“Hmmm, indeed, very good. This is why I spared you” Looking at the little boy taking his side, Leo nodded sagely.

“What?”

“You’ll know when you grow up. Be happy in ignorance”

“…”

Kaho didn’t know what to say. She could only look at her confused brother nodding to Leo’s nonsense. This scene was strangely familiar to her, well, if you replaced Gengo with her.

Kaho couldn’t help but cover her face. Those memories were very embarrassing.

“I’ll be taking this”

Suddenly, Genshirou came and took the bags from Kaho’s hands and nodded at her.

“You and Gengo go and relax. I’ll be preparing dinner, so I’ll borrow this guy”

With a wide smile, he warped his arm around Leo’s neck before he dragged him away.

“Ah, wait, I can help”

“No, no, just go and relax. This guy isn’t a guest and we should not waste his visit”

Despite being smiling, Genshirou’s expression was dark and ominous, making Kaho speechless, but then she saw Leo waving his hand at her.

With a very solemn face, Leo gazed at Kaho in the eyes before saying “If I don’t come back, call 119 and tell the dispatcher that I’m not sorry for anything!”

Along those few last words, Leo got dragged by Genshirou away, leaving Kaho and Gengo staring at each other.

“… But why the dispatcher and what did you do to them?” Kaho sighed helplessly and took her little brother.

Strangely, she felt more relaxed as a smile bloomed on her lips. This atmosphere and scene are a bit nostalgic for her.

…

“You fucker… What are you teaching my siblings?!”

Putting the bags on the table, Genshirou glared at Leo, who went to wear an apron.

“Why and how gacha is both a physical and mental form of torture that originated from ancient hell hole we call, my crumbling social relationships after hours of grinding”

Leo said slowly before heading towards the largest knife in the kitchen.

“….”

Genshirou is by no means a psychic, but such a scene produced nothing but dread for the next moments and a lot of overthinking about how maybe it’s the wrong idea to let this guy enter the kitchen, especially after the gloomy gacha talk.

This feeling only intensified when he saw Leo sharpening the knife with his bare hand. Sparks actually flew from the quick contact, making the poor knife seem in much more danger than Leo’s unclad skin.

“What? This is faster” Leo tilted his head in response to Genshirou’s weird stares.

Genshirou shook his head and went to wear another apron. He seemed to be very familiar with the process and preparing ingredients.

Leo followed suit while twirling the knife in his hand at a ridiculous speed, leaving afterimages, and almost making Genshirou’s eyes fall.

“I wonder, but you… did you actually leave my coin in the drawer?”

After a painful period of silence and knife spinning, Leo finally decided to speak, but his words almost made Genshirou drop a plate before coughing.

“That… um…*cough* You know, well, is this why you possessed my desk?”

“No, I suddenly spawned from a wormhole inside your desk just because I could”

“Seems legit” Genshirou nodded to himself and accepted it as truth.

“….. Shut up”

“Rude, but does it matter? I could easily lose small stuff like that, so I keep them in a safe place when I’m home”

“That coin is the last thing you should be worried about losing. But oh well, it’s your problem if that peerage of yours came roleplaying in front of me and I had to break all their jaws before leaving them next to the trash”

Leo cut down some vegetables calmly and spoke without changing his face, unaware that Genshirou broke into a cold sweat.

For the safety of the student council, he decided he’ll keep that coin with him all day long. He just didn’t want to see a clash between the two people he is very grateful to.

However, Genshirou had a few doubts. It seems he’s kinda preventing the inevitable doom of the student council, rather than stopping a clash between them and Leo.

But this didn’t make sense! Isn’t Sona the little sister of one of the Four Satans?! Aren’t those some very, very big guys?! While Leo is… he has no idea except he’s an angel and has a terrorist wet dream ability.

He tried to get more information from Sona, but she only looked at him weirdly because he never showed any interest in this stuff! If not for the Trickster Coin taking the wheel every time, he would have already exposed everything to her!

“*Sigh*…” Genshirou felt tired about the status quo, but he recovered and said ” By the way, if you’re here, can you tell me abo-…”

However, he got interrupted by Leo waving the knife and saying ” Yeah, no. I don’t think I will.”

“Hah?! Why? And stop waving that thing around!”

“Simply because I know you’ll ask me something boring and mundane to explain”

“What? That’s not true”

Leo stopped waving the knife and looked at Genshirou with dull eyes before saying “Then are you going to ask how to take out that chess piece? Let me be honest, it’s an eyesore to look at”

Gazing through Genshirou, Leo easily spotted the pawn devil piece.

For Leo, even if he didn’t join the Chat Room, the main reason he denied all the possibilities of joining the ranks of devils in this world is that he had to put a chess piece inside of him.

That game and all those devils who like it can burn in the smoldering hell! Wait, hell in this world isn’t technically… hell?

Leo wondered for a moment before shrugging. There’s more than a way to increase hell’s temperature, no? Into the perfect warmth to cook marshmallows.

“Huh… um, no?” Genshirou became speechless and answered nervously.

“So, are you going to ask how to hijack the chess piece to trick that bob-cut girl, then take off when the situation allows?”

“… I don’t think so”

“Hmmm, maybe you’ll ask about how to control the chess piece? So, even if you walked away, you don’t have to care about any side effects. To be honest, I still think taking off that eyesore of an object is a much better approach”

“…..” Genshirou stood dumbstruck in his place for a few seconds before he said

“Leo… why do I feel you are focusing on the fact that it’s a chess piece more than it’s devil-related. After all, aren’t you an *cough* an- *cough* ang- *cough*…”

“Sorry…” Putting the wooden spoon down, Genshirou solemnly said “I can’t say it. My whole body refuse”

“Are you going to do it or not?”

“Hmmm, no. The president didn’t treat me badly and she helped me a lot. To be fair, it’s quite interesting to participate in all those activities”

Genshirou smiled and shook his head, but Leo stared at him deeply before fixing his glasses and saying “Wait until you get spanked with a magic circle”

“What?”

“What?”

Both of them stared at each other in confusion as Genshirou’s expression was full of suspicion. What about a magic circle and spanking?! He just heard something very dangerous!

“See? You’re only going to ask about boring stuff”

“Then why did you come here?! And stop changing the subject!”

Genshirou wanted to grab Leo and shake him for answers, but Leo started waving and twirling the knife at high speeds again!

“Hmmm, an alright question. I’m here to see those little two. It has been a while since I’ve been here because I had several… ‘problems’. Also, I don’t trust you with two little kids”

“You dare?! Do you think you can take care of my siblings better than me?!” Genshirou fumed up as if Leo hit a nerve, but the latter didn’t react much and said “No, but you know what I’m talking about”

Different from what he expected, Leo didn’t refute him this time. However, Genshirou was also too lazy to argue now.

Sighing a little, Genshirou looked down with bitterness and said ” You know how Kaho is. Since they were gone, she has always tried to help me and be reliable. I keep telling her it’s okay and she doesn’t have to bother, but yes, she’s persistent”

“They just don’t want to burden me further. I never thought I’d be so jealous of some maniac, uncaring, menace to society, asshole personality, but here we are”

Genshirou recalled how his siblings always open up when they meet this guy as he couldn’t help but look at Leo with resentment.

“It’s easy to be one though. It’s a simple process of two steps that might include irreversible consequences. Want me to help?”

“I’d rather die”

“That is step one”

“…. Anyway, the most annoying thing is them thinking of you as a big brother too. I don’t know how I should feel, but I’m sure resentment is included!”

The colors of irritation filled Genshirou’s face as if he’s going to throw the spoon at Leo’s face. Of all people, his siblings had to stick to this guy! Although this honestly relieved him, it also generated a lot of grievances.

“Now, that’s just a bad idea”

Leo fixed his glasses and finally put the knife down, making Genshirou breathe a sigh of relief. He swore to hide all the knives next time!

“Because of various childhood traumas, I have made an oath to torture my little siblings, exactly like how it happened to me. I’m a very petty person and I don’t care”

“Haaah? How? Aren’t you an only child? When did you get big siblings?” Genshirou’s expression became a mix of puzzlement and confusion, trying to find logic in Leo’s nonsense.

“Is that so?” Leo didn’t continue on this subject.

He only continued cooking in silence under Genshirou’s gaze.

“Dude, you’re weird”

“No one is normal, everyone pretends to be because they don’t want to stand out. After all, what is truly normal doesn’t exist, it just keeps changing and you can’t decide what it really is…”

Leo suddenly started speaking quickly as Genshirou’s face grew paler.

“Shut! I don’t want a philosophy lesson. The ones at school are more than enough! Even if I needed help in my studies, you’re the last person I’ll go to!”

Genshirou closed his ears quickly and stopped Leo from continuing his ‘We live in a society’ lessons.

“So, you go to the bob cut girl? Interesting” Leo felt the days of magic-circle spanking were getting closer as his look gave Genshirou some chills.

“No, yes, maybe… Ahhhh, I don’t know! And it’s not like you’re going to ‘help’…”

“Hm? Is that so? I’ll help you if you ask nicely… and if it wasn’t very mundane to do”

“Yeah, right. After you make a simple problem very complicated and over the top!”

Genshirou snapped before he scratched the back of his head and said” Whatever, it’s not like I can keep asking you for help. You’ve already helped us more than enough. As for the president(Sona), although I’m very grateful for her help, I can treat this as a job and repay her. Unlike someone who doesn’t accept any repayment at all”

As if he released something heavy, Genshirou breathed a sigh of relief before patting his chest. Suddenly, he looked at Leo, who was squinting his eyes, before laughing bitterly when he recalled how he acted earlier.

It took him a bit of courage, but Genshirou managed to say “Hey, Leo. I’m sorry”

“For what?”

“Can’t you read minds? I’m not spelling it for you”

Leo’s dull eyes suddenly fixed on Genshirou before he pointed at the boiling pot. ” If you’re feeling sorry, why are you dragging me to cook then?”

“….. Shut up”

“…..”

Under Leo’s cold stare, Genshirou turned away while humming a song.

This made Leo shake his head before saying “I guess I’m also using you as a shield, so we’re even”

“Hold up, shield for what?” Genshirou paused.

Why does it feel like he suddenly got involved in something very troublesome?

“We got a new annoying neighbor, and she was suddenly invited to dinner, so I slipped away. I’m ‘staying’ here tonight. I have things to do anyways”

Aware of Genshirou’s situation and how his parents passed away, Minami couldn’t say no when Leo decided to go and ‘help’ Genshirou in taking care of his siblings.

Leo gave Genshirou a thumbs up and patted him on the shoulder without caring about the latter twitching eyebrows and annoyed expression.

“But I’m more shocked you actually came here and didn’t make the neighbor reconsider their life decisions”

Genshirou recalled all the past events and grew more alarmed. This must be one of the very few times Leo tolerated someone he labeled as ‘annoying’.

“Hmmm… I don’t know, but I think I hate her?” Rubbing his chin, a bewildered look surfaced as Leo took a while until he found the correct words.

“What?” At this moment, Genshirou was truly dumbstruck and frightened.

“It’s hard to explain, but the more I experience time with her, the more I see and understand, I realize. Yes, I truly despise her”

The colors of bewilderment grew stronger on Leo as if this was strange even for him.

But for Genshirou, he was already sweating as if the sky was collapsing. What did he just hear? Hate? Truly despise?

{The only time I heard him saying such a thing solemnly is when he kept saying he loathe himself more than anything} Genshirou already figured this is something he should stay away from.

“Well, I’ll figure it out later. As for you, I only have one thing to say to you about your questions. Listen carefully because it’s very important”

Leo’s expression suddenly recovered and became deadly serious.

“Seriously?” Genshirou had more than a reason to be suspicious, but as if he was affected by the atmosphere, he listened carefully.

“This is Japan”

“… And?”

“This is Japan”

“….”

“….”

Leo and Genshirou stared at each other as the latter had a mixed expression of disgust and ‘why do I even bother’.

“This is all you need as for the rest, find them yourself” Leo nodded to himself before ignoring Genshirou completely.

Genshirou’s disgusted expression lasted for a moment before he became puzzled. {Wait, is this guy truly serious? Japan? Of course, this is Japan! We live in it!}

Strangely, it stuck on him, and he kept thinking about it even after preparing dinner and eating together with his siblings and Leo. It felt like he forgot something very important.

{Japan, japan… Hmmmmmmmmmmm, what do we have in Japan again? Except suddenly seeing devils and an ang-… not so angel person}

Even after putting his brother and sister to sleep and looking at Leo vanishing into thin air with a peace sign, Genshirou still couldn’t put his finger on something.

Only after he went to bed and saw a small souvenir that was given by his grandmother, did Genshirou feel he had been struck by lightning.

Holding the small cat status that was supposed to bring happiness and luck, his entire face became pale before he barely muttered ” Youkai”

…

Youkai, or Yōkai, is a difficult term to pin down, even in Japanese. The word had a lot of translations across the years, from monster and demon, to even spirit, but it’s much more broad and vague than that. It also includes ghosts, gods, transformed humans and animals, spirit possession, urban legends, and other strange phenomena.

Every rule has an exception, and every answer has a contradiction.

The difficulty in determining what is and what is not a Youkai makes figuring out the correct meaning much harder. So, for simplicity, the supernatural world generally uses the term to refer to Japanese folklore, excluding several figures like Gods from it.

In the DXD world, however, the situation is much weirder, especially if you started or focused mostly on the center of the plot, Kuoh town.

You’re bound to get an ‘Oh shit, this was supposed to be Japan’ feeling when remembering that Kuoh is in Japan and for some reason, you only saw Devils and Angels instead of Youkai.

Carrying that feeling, you’ll see there’s a whole new world and mythological system hidden in Japan.

“Did you understand, Ddraig? It’s uncanny, to say the least”

Under the radiant moon, Leo slowly walked into the forest near Kuoh.

His steps crushed the dead leaves and broke the small twigs, making a particularly loud sound in the night. Strangely, his presence was clear and radiating a terrible atmosphere.

His eyes were plainly shining in the darkness and followed something as the red necklace on his neck flashed with green gleam.

“…”

Ddraig didn’t have anything to say about Youkai because he never cared about their existence, although he found the situation to be a bit dumb.

However, the Red Dragon focused more on what Leo was holding in his left hand.

A traditional Japanese sword rested in Leo’s left hand. The katana’s handle was white with a golden pommel and handguard. The blade was hidden inside a black scabbard, tied by a blue cord.

Even if this sword was releasing a horrible aura for some reason, Ddraig didn’t care about that more than the weird… music?

*Muffled Bury The Light*

Ever since Leo took this sword out, it kept emitting some strange music and calling itself ‘the storm that is approaching’, which was very loud in the quiet forest.

Ddraig squinted his eyes at the sword then at Leo, who was acting as if everything was normal and observing the dragon vein of this region.

{I get it. Although this noise is annoying, looking for these small fries is more annoying. Oh, here they are}

Ddraig closed his eyes as he sensed several auras coming from afar.

“Hm? Indeed, I have dragon veins to check and I don’t want to waste all the night looking for these harlots. Also, it’s not like it matters if they find me or not, but aren’t they a bit too much?”

Without raising his eyes, Leo already saw several life energies burning like torches in the night. They were on a completely different level from regular humans, showing the disparity in pure vitality.

It didn’t take long before several shadows appeared on tree branches, surrounding the place while keeping a distance.

Even in the darkness of the night, they were completely clear for Leo. These creatures weren’t much different from the Japanese macaque, but they were much bigger with a very vicious expression and gleaming red eyes.

As if they were imitating humans, they wore clothes and held different weapons in their hands. Their clothes were like old garments from ancient japan.

These creatures showed wariness to Leo because he was holding a weapon, but after they figured he was alone and standing still as if he was frozen from fear, their cruel instinct was awoken.

Even so, they made no obvious sound and acted stealthily. If a regular human was here, they’d never notice their presence. As if they were discussing between themselves, one of them suddenly descended on the ground and showed itself.

Compared to the rest, it looked much smaller and acted as if it was scared, but curious about Leo. However, after showing no response to it, the Youkai decided to get closer.

When it reached a certain distance and noticed Leo didn’t react at all, the monkey’s friendly expression turned furious as its claws grew longer and struck Leo’s chest.

But as if it hit a steel plate, the claws were repelled as the monkey stared at its broken fingers in bewilderment before screaming in pain. Its howls made all other Youkai agitated.

“Eek! Eek!”

“Hoo, hoo, hoo!”

The place suddenly became very noisy with these monkey-like creatures howling everywhere and circling Leo.

But Leo only frowned at the ear-shattering noises these monkeys are making. Seriously, these creatures can scream very loudly and it’s irritating.

“I assume that you won’t take me to your chief or boss willingly, no?”

Leo speaking didn’t make any difference as his voice was drowned in the noise and some restress Youkai had already jumped down and rushed towards him.

One of them already sprinted with claws and struck Leo’s back, “Why do I even bother?”

Rubbing his forehead, Leo raised Yamato in its scabbard and gently tapped the head of the Youkai who wanted to attack again.

*Boom!*

The entire upper body of the monkey exploded into pieces of flesh and internal organs. The blood and organs even splashed the faces of other Youkai, freezing them in their place.

At this moment, the noisy forest suddenly went quiet, except for Yamato still emitting music.

“So, shut up and run”

After rubbing his forehead, a scary atmosphere rose from Leo, making all the Youkai around tremble in fear. It’s as if the harmless human-looking person turned into a horrible monster looming over their heads.

It took them a moment of realization before a commotion broke again and the monkey-like Youkai madly escaped. Some of them even crawled as fast as they could because their legs froze from horror.

“The intelligence of these seems to be degrading”

Shaking his head, Leo looked at the escaping monkeys before his necklace flashed.

{Something is a bit weird about them. For some stray and rogue youkai, they are strangely organized}

“Hmmm” Leo hummed before he followed behind the escaping monkeys.

…

Sarugami is a type of monkey-like Youkai. They look just like the wild monkeys that are found across the Japanese islands. However, they are bigger, more vicious, and much smarter compared to regular monkeys.

The Suragami, who ‘escaped’ from Leo, rushed as fast as they could into a large tree filled with their kinds. This whole area of the forest near the mountain seemed to have been newly changed and turned into a temporary base by these Youkai.

The Suragami started screaming and howling, awakening a lot of other Youkai. One of them rushed into a big shadow on top of the tree, but before the Suragami could speak, a large hand suddenly caught its head.

Compared to the regular monkeys, this one was massive and its expression was very human-like. The white fur on its body shone with luster under the moonlight as its giant palm held the small Suragami’s head easily.

The red eyes stared at the small monkey and signaled it to speak. The Youkai didn’t dare to defy and started telling all that it knows, but after a few moments, the giant Youkai’s expression became furious.

It slammed the monkey in its hands on the tree trunk before speaking in a rough voice ” Not only did you run like rats from a single human, but you even led them here?!”

Much like their name, the Suragami are a prime example of ‘fallen’ spirits once revered as gods in Japanese folklore but got forgotten by time.

These monkeys that were once worshiped by humans deteriorated into shadows of their past selves, mad and cruel Youkai. Yet, it seems they appear to have always been like this in the current world.

Although how they came to existence seems very different in DXD, their nature didn’t seem to change much.

The giant Suragami grunted as he looked at the small one struggling in its palm. Its eyes were calm and more cunning than the rest of its kind. It knew that humans would follow these cowards, so it needed to prepare to test the enemy.

The choice of fighting or running needs to be made quickly.

*Muffled Bury The Light*

“…”

The muffled music suddenly echoed in the Suragami base as all the monkeys suddenly stopped. All the Youkai stared at the figure that appeared from the shadows of the night without breathing.

They didn’t dare to breathe.

The horrifying aura seems to be squeezing space, rendering their legs weak and minds blank, especially the giant one. Unlike the others who can barely feel Ki and use it, the giant Suragami could see and feel much more than them.

When its eyes met those blank blue eyes in the bottom, the storm of mad and evil Ki sent its mind into oblivion.

That’s not a human… There’s no way that is a human. The monkey’s face became as pale as its fur in an instant and its eyes almost popped from their sockets.

“Oh, there’s a one who can talk”

Leo looked at the big Youkai on top of the tree, but before he said anything else, the giant Suragami threw the small Youkai in his hands and ran without looking back.

The giant Suragami ran like there’s no tomorrow, pushing all his power and Ki, even if he just abandoned all his kins. The only thought occupying its mind was ‘run or die’.

*Teleports Behind You*

However, the strange music he heard earlier abruptly became much clearer. The scene changed into a few meters ahead before a shadow appeared behind him.

“Nothing personal Kid”

*BAM!*

A white and crimson fist clad in emerald gems slammed the giant Suragami’s head sideways, sending it flying and smacking several trees in the process.

Despite his vision becoming blurry and his head ringing from the attack, the giant Suragami still tried to stand up and run. However, looking at that monster appearing, he gave up all hopes and awaited death.

“Hm? You can use Ki, right? Oh my, both Senjutsu and Touki. I wonder what someone like you is doing in this place. Would you mind telling me?”

Despite it sounding like a question, the giant Suragami didn’t dare to utter a sound of disobedience. Maybe this is a chance to survive.

The fear began to slowly drive his mind mad, even his body acted on its own.

Under Leo’s gaze and Yamato scabbard resting at its forehead, the Suragami spoke shakenly everything he knew with his rough human language.

“So, because of the chaos that happened lately, the previous regulations became very lax and a Uwabami, who is approaching the ranks of Daiyoukai(Great Youkai), decided to take the chance to build a force and a territory of it own?”

The giant Suragami nodded while trembling before Leo continued “Also, you and a bunch of other Youkai decided to pledge loyalty and join it? And I assume this new territory is Kuoh, right?”

The giant Suragami carefully chose his words and only spoke when ordered. He didn’t even dare to raise his eyes and look at the monster again.

“Hmmm… Tell me about the other Youkai that came here” Leo fixed his glasses and ordered, which made giant Suragami squeeze its brain and recall every Youkai it knows here.

“Okuri Inu, a flock of Yosuzume, Enkō, etc…” Leo tapped Yamato’s handle with his finger as his expression grew strange.

{This doesn’t sound like a normal occurrence at all}

Ddraig spoke as Leo nodded at his words. Of course, this sounds strange. Even for rogue Youkai, suddenly marching like this towards a Devil’s territory isn’t logical at all, especially if the leader of all of this is a Uwabami, a big snek.

These cold-blooded Youkai put their lives at top priority and won’t risk them at all by muddling with the two sisters of Four Satans just because of a poor territory such as Kuoh.

Unless, of course, they are sure of their actions and have a guarantee. A guarantee that won’t make them suffer even if this has been brought to light.

“Wow, this is becoming troublesome”

Leo shook his head before he looked at the giant Suragami. Now, what should he do with this one?

Noticing Leo’s gaze landing on it, the Suragami tried to make itself smaller without caring about any pride as a strong Youkai.

“Well, you know, Ddraig? This situation doesn’t sound too bad. I lacked a watchdog around here anyways. So, let’s just do this”

Azure mana suddenly flared up from Leo’s body, dyeing the dark forest with its colors. The change startled the Suragami, but the next scene made it cry from fear.

As if someone threw ink into water, the pure azure mana darkened and soon was overtaken by an inky black hue.

The murky mana resembling black mud, drenched in massive amounts of curses, circled around Leo as if the malice of the world itself possessed it.

This is the thing that horrified the Suragami. As a practitioner of Senjutsu and Ki, the first thing to be careful about when training and using Ki is the corruption from the malice and ill will that flows in the world.

But what can the one do when a monster that looks like the embodiment of this malice suddenly appears in front of you?

A strand of the black mud hit the Suragami before his eyes rolled and lost consciousness.

{What did you do to it?}

“I gave it a tiny curse to stay obedient. Now, let’s go see the end of this”

Without glancing at the Suragami, Leo pulled Yamato and swiftly slashed a cross in the air. The sound of something getting torn apart was heard as Yamato’s blade left a dark trace in the air before it collapsed into a giant portal.

Leo entered the portal without any hesitation, leaving the unconscious Suragami alone on the ground while the portal slowly closed.

…

“Grrrr… Awooooo!!!”

A giant wolf-like creature howled to the moon before its legs broke the solid ground and jumped. Its speed easily left an afterimage in the previous position and turned into a shadow in the night.

Its bloodshot eyes were locked on a single target as its claws and teeth were covered in Ki, torn through the night, and aimed at that target’s neck.

This prey has escaped its attack once and kicked its body away! This has already driven the Okuri Inu mad with bloodlust. However, the prey suddenly disappeared from its sight and a blue light flashed.

“BURY THE LIGHT DEEP WITHIN!!!”

A blade cut through the air, leaving a blue afterimage like a crescent moon overlapping with the celestial body above.

*Crack!*

However, that one crescent moon suddenly multiplied, filling all the space around the Okuri Inu before the sound of glass breaking echoed.

The image of the Youkai dashing in the air unnaturally froze and began to overlap as if someone cut a picture to pieces and put them on top of each other.

The scene only lasted for an instant before it returned to normal, except the body of the wolf getting torn to pieces and falling into the ground part by part.

{…}

Ddraig looked at the overkill scene before he squinted his eyes. He has several problems with the damn song that is still playing and it’s driving him mad, especially when Yamato left it scabbard.

Firmly putting Yamato inside the scabbard, Leo looked at the handle and said ” It has been a while since I used a sword, but it doesn’t matter. Now, are you satisfied?”

Yamato vibrated in Leo’s hand as if it was nodding, but it seemed it still wanted to go on.

Leo shook his head. Should it be counted as a legit demonic sword now? It actually tells its wielder to kill things, well, slicing them, but it’s all the same!

“This is the third one”

Leo looked at the Okuri Inu’s corpse as he was lost in thoughts.

Okuri Inu, or the Okuri Okami, is a Youkai that haunts forests and mountain paths, waiting for travelers to trip before it rips them to shreds. It’s counted as both a curse and blessing type of Youkai because as long as you don’t trip, it’ll guard you along the way.

It possesses a high level of speed among many Youkai and a regular human would have been swallowed before they even realized what happened.

Leo already met two of these massive wolf-like Youkai here, but the first two hide like little puppies after getting kicked once.

These Ki-sensitive creatures are really terrified of him.

Leo looked above him to see several birds like creatures frozen without any movement.

Hundreds of sparrows-like birds nested like statues on the trees and when Leo looked at them, they either fell on the ground and pretended to be dead or covered their eyes with their wings. Some of them even lose their grip and hang upside down on the branches like bats.

“…”

{Interesting}

Leo was speechless while Ddraig found the situation to be very entertaining.

Yosuzume, or the night sparrows, are bird-like Youkai that appear mostly at night. They usually count as signs of bad omen and also as a warning.

This is largely attributed to the fact that these Youkai appear where there’s a lot of other wildlife or other Youkai, like the previous Okuri Inu, telling travelers about the danger ahead.

{This suttles it. There’s definitely something fishy about these Youkai}

“Indeed. It seems some people are unhappy with leaving a whole territory in the hands of devils”

Even if it’s a small flock, the presence of Yosuzume tells how many vicious Youkai have appeared near Kuoh. Even if the entirety of Shinto, the Five Principal Clans, and the shrines are paralyzed by work, something like this can’t happen and go unnoticed as rogue Youkai shenanigans.

Leo fixed his glasses before continuing walking, letting the poor Yosuzume flock breathe a sigh of relief before crying and running as if they survived a calamity.

They’ll never come to this place again! It’s too scary!

Looking at the sparrows flying(escaping) into the night sky, Leo closed his eyes before he headed straight towards the depth of the mountain.

The path in the forest unnaturally widened with large traces as if a huge object was dragged on the ground.

Leo didn’t take long before he reached a giant cave next to the mountainside. The vision was completely obstructed by the darkness of the night, but anyone could tell this place is bad news.

The wind was unnaturally coming and going from it as if a typhoon was blowing. It delivered a thick smell of alcohol, which is to be expected from an Uwabami and their love of liquor.

Leo looked at it for a moment before his right foot shone with an azure hue.

*BAAAM!!*

He stepped hard on the ground, spreading cracks like spider-webs, and making the entire mountain tremble. The cave shook violently before it collapsed, sealing the entrance.

“…..”

Counting silently, Leo grabbed Yamato before the mountain started shaking again.

*BOOOM!!*

“HISSSSS!!!”

The collapsed cave suddenly exploded as rocks flew everywhere. A giant snakehead appeared from beneath the rubble, releasing a hideous screech in the night, and rushing towards Leo’s head straight.

Just the movement of this body was enough to cause a natural disaster, not to mention the Ki that surrounded it. This was a Youkai approaching the Daiyoukai ranks and it didn’t seem to care about surroundings to make its shape smaller.

*BAMMMM!*

However, before the Uwabami understood what was happening, the mana on Leo’s foot detonated like thrusters. The energy created a blue circle in the air before kicking the snake’s jaw.

The kick dragged the Uwabami and the rest of its body inside the cave into the air and sent it flying several meters high.

Receiving this brain-shaking attack, the snake’s mind was filled with pain, making it lose every trace of rationality, and become very violent. It opened its bloodshot eyes and glanced down to see who dares to attack it!

However, its vision was soon overtaken by a deep blue gleam flooding the ground.

Leo held Yamato tightly and poured some mana inside before he pulled it! The dark blade carried a torrent of energy in a wave before it exploded like a dam, drowning the entire space in a deep blue hue.

“DRIFTING IN THE OCEAN ALL ALONE!!!”

This wasn’t the usage of Yamato’s ability of separation or cleaving the fabric of space. This is simply charging the blade with an exaggerating amount of mana before throwing it all out recklessly.

It sounds simple, but the scene it created was engraved into Uwabami’s mind. The blue light rose from the ground, taking the shape of a crescent moon, and joining the silver moon in the snake’s vision.

Most of the Youkai in the forest raised their heads to see a second moon rising against the shadow of a giant snake before their jaws dropped.

The beautiful moment only lasted briefly before the energy tore through Uwabami’s protection and scales, leaving a massive wound along its body and tossing it further in the air with a bang.

The rising crescent moon collapsed into fragments after finishing its job and scattered in the night wind.

The giant snake twisted in mid-air before gravity affected it and fell into the ground with a massive impact, shaking the mountain again, and raising a cloud of dust.

The impact of the Ubawami’s fall caused several trees to fall and fragments to fly everywhere.

*Click*

Sheathing Yamato, Leo took a few steps as a wave of mana rushed, blowing all the rubble and dust away, and exposing the struggling Uwabami’s inside.

A grave wound extended along its long body, gushing with blood, but it wasn’t that life-threatening for the Uwabami.

The snake coiled up, covering most of the injury as a small stream of water abruptly manifested around its body. The Ki surrounding the Uwabami’s body acted quickly and started repairing the damage, but it was very much slower than usual as if something prevented recovery.

The Uwabami, who recovered its sanity after getting slammed, grew nervous and wary. The fear of facing someone who could reduce it to this state was nerve-wracking for it.

However, much like almost every Youkai in this forest, the snake froze like a statue when its eyes landed on Leo. The previous horror suddenly multiplied several times as the giant snake returned its extended tongue and didn’t dare to release it.

Its head, which was above, suddenly snake in the middle of the coil and its eyes looked at Leo from the gaps of its looped body as if it’s trying to pitifully hide.

“…..”

{Hahahaha}

Leo was speechless again and Ddraig laughed at his face.

Uwabami are enormous serpents. Apart from their incredible size, they closely resemble ordinary snakes. They are famous for causing floods and rock slides.

Yet, their favorite thing is to feed and drink alcohol. So, these snakes who are supposed to live away from civilization decided to get closer to the source of food.

“Well, just so you don’t attack me like the others, I decided to give you a tap. Now, what I was going to say” Leo rubbed his chin as the Uwabami broke into cold sweat despite its snake-like body.

{Who is it?! Who are these retards that dare to attack this monster?!} The Uwabami cursed several times in its head and almost cried because it thought this was caused by its subordinates.

“Ah, right. I was going to ask why you’re here, but to be honest, I couldn’t care less about a plan to show the incompetence of those devils and kick them from Kuoh”

Leo walked towards the snake as every step made it shrink back a little.

“It smells like politics and power struggles, ugh”

Clicking his tongue, Leo looked at the Uwabami’s huge eyes before he smiled and said ” So, how about you stay here and keep what you’re doing, but don’t step into that city or let any other new Youkai enter it? Oh, take care of those stray devils too”

“…..”

In addition to not daring to speak, the Uwabami was a bit confused. Isn’t it going to get killed?

“Am I clear? You’re the boss around here, so you can do it, right? Or maybe you don’t want to?”

Leo tilted his head with a question as it caused the Uwabami to shiver before nodding quickly as it could and saying “Y-y-yes, I-I U-understand”

The Uwabami wanted to cry from grievance now, but at least, it could keep its life from this monster. The amount of malice radiating to the Ki around him has already made it dizzy and horrified.

“You’ll do it? Good, good. Well, make sure nothing happens or I’ll pay you another visit”

The Uwabami nodded as fast as it could again before it froze at the sight of the black mud rising in the sky. This was its last thought before the cursed mana struck it.

Looking at the snake rolling its eyes backward and blacking out, Leo nodded in a good mood before walking away. The curse he planted should tell this Youkai and several others what they should and shouldn’t do.

As for not listening? Well, no one with a desire to live wants a curse planted deep into their vitality to detonate, right?

Leo felt he should thank this guy who wanted to mess with the devils. They actually gave him some useful and unsuspicious watchdogs to circle Kuoh and prevent most of the annoying flies from entering, especially those stray devils, just how many are there? Aren’t devil pieces supposed to be limited?!

Strolling the dark forest that became much quieter after most Youkai got beaten to a pulp, Leo looked at the moon in the sky before watching the night lights of Kuoh.

{This doesn’t seem to be the end}

“Indeed, whoever started this, didn’t do it on a whim”

These power struggles usually involve a period of planning, especially if someone wants to move these rogue Youkai without anyone noticing, or at least, they don’t take action against them.

“Who knows, maybe this event was planned for a long time ago, but I wonder what made them stop. Perhaps a certain peace treaty and a Red Dragon Emperor? Tsk, tsk, damn politics”

Leo clicked his tongue recalling all those annoying procedures before he said “Anyhow, I couldn’t care less because this sounds like their problem”

{You’re speaking as if it’s not you who caused this to happen}

Ddraig knows that whoever caused these guys to act is mainly related to Leo making the world go to chaos… twice! And he’s going to do it again! Of course, people would feel restless and those who want to achieve a change will take the chance.

“Nope, it still sounds like their problem. Also, you need to remember, Ddraig. Although benefits are important in these power struggles, you shouldn’t forget that personal feelings and grudges have a big role too”

Leo shook his head while raising the necklace on his chest before it flashed and Ddraig voice sounded {Hmph, it’s not like you stopped it anyways}

“Hm? Oh, you figured it out?”

Despite turning most Youkai here into security guards, Leo told them nothing about stopping their plan. As for not entering Kuoh? Well, if they can’t enter, the devils can always go to them.

These Youkai can’t keep roaming around Kuoh in secret forever, the devils will find out sooner or later and come to demand an ‘explanation’, giving them a chance to show how the devils couldn’t protect their territories from some rogue Youkai.

{This whole thing sounds dumb}

Despite not wanting to admit it, Ddraig started to find this whole maneuver to be idiotic. Is this truly caused by a personal grudge?

“I know and I don’t want to get involved, but for the kind person who gave me a bunch of security guards, I think I’ll pay them a visit for the extended warranty of their Dragon Vein”

{This still sounds like it’s your fault}

“Really? Hmmm, well, I remember that a few crows and even their big boss appeared in Kuoh, so I might go ask them for their extended warranty too. But hey, the official governors(devils) didn’t know a thing. I don’t know about you, but this continues to sound like their own problem”

{…..}

Leo gave Ddraig a thumbs up with a solemn expression, rendering the Red Dragon speechless.

“Enough chit-chat. The moon is full today, and looking at the mountain behind us, I think the Dragon Vein should be… wait, wasn’t there a storm on the east coast a week ago? Hmmmm… I wanted to study the behavior of the energy flow here before leaving to the other areas, but Kuoh doesn’t even have a main node”

Leo frowned as he took a smaller map of Japan from his space pocket and started marking it.

Looking at how Leo was engrossed in marking the Dragon Veins, Ddraig rolled his eyes and observed him, but he quickly frowned.

Yamato was still doing a solo play of Bury The Light and isn’t planning to stop anytime soon.

{Can’t you tell that sword to be silent?}

“Never, I need motivation.”

{…}

Ddraig was speechless as Leo pulled Yamato and opened a portal before vanishing into it.

The portal closed slowly as the moonlight shone gently on the dark forest, landing on several Youkai. This night will be something they’ll never forget for the rest of their lives.. It’s the day they got visited by a walking calamity.