Why can't humans do it too?

“Alright, then let’s go with the fire.” Despite being interrupted twice, Yukari Yakumo wasn’t angry. She just asked curiously, “You don’t seem surprised by our appearance?”

"To be precise, your return is not unexpected," Huo Zhao said, clearly needing a favor. He was quick to answer any question. "I just didn't expect you to take so long to come back."

The information revealed in Huozhao's words shocked Yakumo Yukari, causing her eyes to widen in shock. If what this demon said was true, wouldn't that mean that her every move when she last came to this underground city was being watched by something she hadn't noticed?!

The gap monster cannot accept this.

"Let's talk about that monster first," Suer and Xinke were more interested in what they had just seen than the matter between Yakumo Yukari and Hizo.

Everything they saw in this world was like opening an unknown book, filled with novel things they had never seen before.

"A monster?" The black-haired demon's smile grew increasingly bitter, even though the teeth he revealed as he spoke were so sharp and pointed. "Indeed, it is a monster now... Perhaps you cannot believe that it was once such a beautiful boy."

“My third brother’s child, a boy who should call me uncle… I’m afraid even my naive brother couldn’t believe until his death that my father would use his child to do such a thing… Haha, hahaha…” The black-haired demon seemed to have gone mad, crying and laughing, and smashed the wooden table next to him with force.

“Third brother? That would be Huo Yuanli’s…” Her pupils had shrunk to the size of pinpoints. Compared to Su Er and Xin Ke, who knew nothing about this world, and Kazami Yuuka, who was only interested in battle, Yakumo Yukari, who aspired to connect all the yokai and become the ruler of all yokai, was very clear about the relationship between these gods and gods.

“Yes, it’s him… Pelican grass is not suited to his fate,” the demon named Huozhao nodded slowly with a sorrowful expression. “Perhaps it was because of the worldly principle reflected at the time of his birth that he became the most suitable… material in his father’s eyes.”

“Using blood as a medium, different essences are gathered, and then the impurities are purified by oneself, extracting the purest dew to fill the void in Father’s body and deceive that curse…” The tall and burly demon should have been extremely fierce, but now he was curled up in front of Suer and the others, just like a helpless child.

He was indeed crying.

“…It’s all that curse…it’s all Oyama Tsumi’s fault…it’s all Father’s fault…why…why…”

He kept chanting, "This is a cursed scripture."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Metamorphosis

In the world where Suer first lived, he did know many famous monsters from the neighboring island nation, and the Oni race was among the best, including but not limited to Shuten-dōji, Aoki, and Akaki.

However, in this world, Su'er became uncertain again. After all, the name Huozhao was completely unfamiliar to him. Was he the originator of the Oni race? Or did he merely create this type of monster? Were the two worlds the same in this respect? Or different?

For Suer, it was like exploring an unknown mystery. Every step and every new discovery brought him and Xinke wonderful joy. At least in this era lacking entertainment, they wouldn't be too bored.

"According to this logic, that grandson of the heavens... I mean, your father is in the black hole at the very bottom of that monster?" The amusement was there, but the disgusting scene he had just witnessed hadn't faded from Su'er's mind.

“I don’t know,” Huozhao shook his head and said, “I haven’t seen my father’s face for too long since I fell into the demon race… but the essence he needs should always be extracted from that child’s body.”

"It would be more accurate to say it's extracted from the blood of those humans," Yuuka Kazami casually remarked, carefully observing the interior of the house.

"Wait a minute, did you become a member of the Ghost Clan voluntarily?" Suer suddenly raised an eyebrow and relayed the question that Xin Ke, who couldn't show herself, had noticed.

"Ah, yes...that's right."

"Really? Whatever your purpose in telling us this, you should think carefully before you speak. I'll ask you one more time—did you choose to become a member of the Oni race?" As if he hadn't heard Huo Zhao's words, Su Er simply repeated them in a threatening manner.

Unlike the oppressive feeling that Kazami Yuuka had experienced, as if the entire world were pressing down on her, the oni named Hizoki suddenly realized that in front of this male demon who looked like a human but was definitely not human, his breathing was constantly weakening, even the torches lit on the wall were shrinking and swaying, his vision was dim, and he was being exiled by the world in this underground corner... spiraling downwards...

"It's me...it's me..." Huo Zhao murmured, sweat soaking his exposed skin. "No, it's me...it's not me...it's Father...Father...father killed us...all of us..."

"The answer is obvious, isn't it?" Apart from the panic she felt when her supposedly secretive infiltration was actually seen through, Yukari Yakumo was surprisingly calm at this moment. It's no wonder, since those ugly demons are all too common in this world.

"He was forcibly transformed into his current form by that Heavenly Grandson, and the reason is easy to guess—to resist the curse, to try to break free from the curse—simply to survive."

As soon as Yukari Yakumo finished speaking, Hizo collapsed to the ground as if all her strength had been drained, slowly banging her head against the steel floor. Her strong and muscular body looked like a joke.

[Not only that, the human population of Yamato is clearly insufficient... These forcibly transformed demons could also become an army to plunder the humans of Izumo... But aren't they already yokai? Will yokai really be so obedient?]

'Ah, indeed,' Suer thought to himself, conversing with Xinke.

Xin Ke's words were easily corroborated, and the biggest evidence at the moment was lying in front of Su Er—if he didn't have ulterior motives, how could this black-haired ghost have led Su Er and his group here quietly?

“Being a ghost… I mean, being a ghost isn’t easy, is it?” With a kind smile, Su’er was almost ready to squat down and pat Huozhao’s head. “You are clearly a direct descendant of Amaterasu, the Great Goddess, a radiant being who should be revered, yet you are now in the deep underground where the sun never shines… You like flowers, don’t you? And everything on the surface of the earth.”

His gaze swept over the dried flowers hanging on the wall, and Suer spoke without hesitation. His words undoubtedly struck Huozhao's weak spot, and the sound of the black-haired demon's head hitting the ground became even louder.

“Father knows…he knows everything…but he doesn’t care at all,” Huo Zhao muttered to himself as his mind was on the verge of delirium. “It’s as if there’s another self inside every part of our bodies. We are all cicadas…cicadas that have shed their outer shells.”

“He was speaking to me in my mind, all my memories, but with a different gaze… as if a second head had grown from my shoulder.”

Huo Zhao's cervical spine was cracking and twisting violently to this side, as if a phantom head was smiling at him there, causing him to roll his eyes in fear.

“He said a lot… those were his thoughts… those were my thoughts…” Huo Zhao’s burly body trembled as he covered his face in agony, his sharp nails digging into his skin, almost tearing it apart.

"—Oni clan member Hizo—is not a god, nor a descendant of Amaterasu Omikami, but merely a youkai—okay?" Hizo slowly stood up from the ground, smiling inexplicably, as if all the pain and abnormality that had just occurred to him did not exist, asking gently and tenderly.

The black-haired demon walked to the corner of the wall in a few steps, then took out a piece of burlap and wiped the sweat off his body, looking completely different.

Standing here is merely a newly born youkai, whose demonic aura is no different from that of Yakumo Yukari and Kazami Yuuka, and the alien creature mixed with the concept of divinity can no longer be sensed.

The sugar melted, and the salt dissolved, no longer distinguishing themselves. The two blended perfectly into one, neither sugar nor salt, but a unique flavor. The only difference was in the realm of demonic energy, just like the demonic energy that distinguishes different demons, yet all within the realm of demons.

He is a monster, and that's all.

"Welcome~", smiling at this unexpected surprise, Yakumo Yukari kindly opened her arms, as if embracing this new life, "Welcome to the world of youkai".

However, her welcome was met only with a dreamlike reply from the demon, Hizo.

"……not enough."

"Ok?"

Ignoring Yakumo Yukari's doubts, the youkai Kazou simply walked to the edge of the room. The hard steel was as fragile as ordinary cloth under his palm, and a hole was easily torn in it.

Chapter Thirty: Little Devil

"It's not enough for me alone," Huozhao's voice became firm as he peered out from behind the torn hole at everything around him. "Do you see that?"

The underground world was illuminated by the torchlight and the occasional flashes of eerie purple light. Through the holes in the walls, Suer and his companions could even see the ghosts laughing and talking maliciously to each other in the distance. The only change was the demonic aura emanating from Huo Zhao. The place he was looking at was still filled with strange demonic aura that condensed into cloud-like shapes and occasionally revealed illusory faces on its surface, neither demonic nor not demonic.

Huo Zhao turned around and looked at Su Er.

“They’re right outside, my people are right outside… but they’re still asleep, they haven’t woken up,” the black-haired demon’s sharp teeth chattered between his smiles, and even the spiral horns on his head seemed to grow longer with the cracking of his bones. “…They’re not pure enough yet.”

"That's your business, it has nothing to do with me," he said expressionlessly. Suer didn't care about the Ghost Clan at all; he only wanted to know what lay beneath this city and about that Heavenly Grandson.

“Ah, yes, what you want to know is my father… at least my father from the past,” Huozhao nodded repeatedly, already guessing what he should say before Suer could even ask. “I know.”

"?"

If Suer remembered correctly, he had just said that he hadn't seen his father in a long time... Oh, he understood—the one he hadn't seen was the divine being Huozhao, right?

“That’s right,” even his manner of speaking was completely different from the Huo Zhao from before. Su Er’s expression changed slightly, and he laughed. “Actually, he knows, but he just can’t accept it, so he wants to forget it and bury it in the deepest part of his mind.”

He calmly referred to himself as "him" from a few seconds ago, the terrifying monster fire-wielding bachelor.

"No problem, I can take you," Huo Zhao readily agreed, then added, "In fact, even if you hadn't said anything, I was planning to take you anyway—"

knock knock knock.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the iron gate behind him, which brought Huo Zhao's words to an abrupt halt. Along with the knocking, a very young voice also rang out.

"Uncle Huozhao? Uncle Huozhao!" The knocking suddenly stopped because the person knocking had noticed the hole in the wall next to them. "Ah, what are you doing, Uncle Huozhao?"

A tiny ghost head emerged from the hole in the wall—I mean, the head of a demon. It was clearly quite young; one had to stand on tiptoe to see what was inside the room.

"The... monster outside?" The child, clearly a demon, tilted his head and looked into the house.

Unlike Huo Zhao's horn, which was a work of art, the horn on the child's head, who was lying in the hole in the wall, was crooked and even had a malnourished yellow color. The entire horn was also strangely shrunken. Yes, the entire horn—it had nothing to do with words like beautiful or majestic. Instead, it was an irregular horn cluster that was crooked and twisted together.

"It's... a letter?" The voice hesitated slightly, but it was fleeting, a detail that the little brat wouldn't notice. Hizoki then broke into a bright smile. "They are indeed monsters from outside, but they are all my friends. Can you keep it a secret for me? A letter?"

As he spoke, the demonic aura that had been continuously emanating from his body became murky until it returned to the state it had been a few minutes earlier. However, for Su'er, who had witnessed the whole process, this unique demonic aura could never be returned to.

Even if the imitation is perfect, the smallest details are completely different. However, it's still enough to fool this little brat. In fact, the brat didn't even notice these minor details.

"No problem! Don't worry, Uncle Huozhao!" The little devil named Xin pounded his chest loudly at such a young age, making a solemn promise. However, it was quite cute that he could no longer be seen through the big hole in the wall after pounding his chest.

"Hahaha, that's really reliable, no wonder you're my right-hand man," Huozhao said, opening the door next to him and letting Xin run in, speaking in the standard way that sounds like he was talking to a child.

"What just happened? I heard a clanging sound from far away," the kid asked without any sign of stage fright. He was incredibly bold and didn't act like a stranger at all. After coming in, he immediately threw himself onto the wooden bed next to him and kept scanning Suer with his big eyes.

To be precise, his gaze swept from Suer to Yakumo Yukari and Kazami Yuuka and back again. This unbridled probing gaze made Kazami Yuuka's brows twitch. To be fair, she was not a good-tempered youkai.

Without a doubt, this little brat was also transformed from a former god, but compared to Huo Zhao, who was a direct descendant of the Heavenly Grandson and had a rich bloodline, Xin's bloodline as a god had become pitifully weak after countless generations.

For the same reason, this weakness manifested in his horns after he became a demon.

"Ah, it's nothing much. I just tripped and bumped into the wall, and I got a little angry and tore it down. It's nothing serious," Huozhao said with a smile after carefully checking outside to make sure no more demons happened to be nearby. He heard Xin's question as soon as he entered.

"Oh, I see~", Xin said, swinging her legs on the bed. Although it sounded ridiculous to Suer and Xinke, Xin accepted it without a doubt.

After a moment's thought, Suer and the others were no longer puzzled—it was obvious that it was very common for people to become so enraged by unexpected events or unpleasant things that they destroyed their homes. Perhaps, for them, it was a way to show off their power.

"That's right! I've found the way up! Uncle Huozhao!" Xin shouted excitedly to Huozhao, quickly putting aside the unimportant matter. This was the reason he had come here at this time.

"...Go to the surface?" Instead of the joy Shin had expected, Huo Zhao's expression made him fearfully serious. "It's not those guys again, is it? Shin, I told you not to hang out with them!"

"...No, I just went to take a look." The little brat, who had been extremely excited just moments before, was startled by Huo Zhao's reaction and had now calmed down. He mumbled something and kept trying to get help from Su Er and the others with his eyes.

Putting aside strength, this kid is quite smart.

Chapter Thirty-One: The Wall

There were no hard soles on the shoes; the only sound made by the feet of the several people stepping on the steel ground was a rustling sound.

"Are there many children like Xin among the demon race?" Sur asked casually, curiously observing the underground cities along the way, which were completely different in style from those of the goblins.

The brat named Xin didn't linger for long before Huo Zhao chased him away. Then, led by Huo Zhao, the group continued their journey deeper into the earth.

“Shin’s personality is rare even among the current Oni race… You’ve probably noticed that after being transformed from a god into an Oni, no matter how kind one’s personality was before, it will undergo a negative change, just like our appearance and names.” Huo Zhao, who was walking at the front, did not turn around. He simply stretched out his palm, making a fist and then opening it. His sharp nails were extremely intimidating just to look at. “We are just an experiment by Father, a weapon.”