Shota is surrounded by monsters!

After saying something casually to Snake Princess, Shota turned his gaze to Senjougahara, who looked somewhat lonely standing by the window, and said, "Thanks, Senjougahara."

"...No, you're welcome."

Senjougahara glanced at Shota and Rea beside him with a somewhat cold expression for some reason, then looked away and said:

"Then I should go back too."

"Oh, right."

Reiya nodded in agreement, saying, "Shota-kun, shall we go back to Tokyo? I have a bad feeling about this place."

Shota glanced at Yomi, who was staring silently outside. Yomi noticed Shota's gaze and turned to look at him with a serious expression.

Their eyes met, and after a while, Huang Quan said with some helplessness, "My own life is more important."

But she didn't want to leave like that. Her strong sense of justice from her past life made it impossible for her to ignore the current situation in Kyoto.

"Oh."

Shota suddenly chuckled and said to Rea, "Can you wait a few days for me?"

"Shota-kun, you..."

"I'm already involved in this, and it's too late to escape."

Shota grasped Rea's cold hand, looked into her eyes, and said as if pleading for her understanding, "I'm sorry, I have something I have to do."

"Don't go...it's dangerous."

Mashiro seemed afraid that Shota would be caught again, and quickly tried to stop him.

"Don't worry, I won't be so reckless this time."

Patting Mashiro's head, and seeing that Rea remained silent, Shota had no choice but to continue, "Trust me, I will come back safe and sound."

"really……"

Rea lowered her head, not letting Shota see her eyes, and whispered, "Shota-kun is truly a hero..."

"Heroes and such..."

Not at all.

Shota gave a bitter smile.

"Go."

Rea looked up, met Shota's eyes, and said, "Since Shota-kun has decided to do it, then do your best. I'll be here waiting for you."

"Shota, come here for a second."

Just then, Nurarihyon suddenly entered the room and called out to Shota with a serious expression. Shota was bandaged all over his head and body, and he was the most seriously injured when he escaped from Nijo Castle.

"coming."

After patting Rea on the shoulder and telling her he would be back soon, Shota followed Nurarihyon out.

"Although I would very much like to leave everything to Lu Sheng to resolve... things have already exceeded my control."

As Nurarihyon walked through the passage, he said to Shota, who was following behind him, "Even if Rikuo and his hundred demons reach the level of his father, the chances of them defeating Hagoromo Gitsune, who possesses the Sessho-seki, and the thing inside her belly are extremely small."

"Ok, I know."

Without the Sessho-seki, Hagoromo Gitsune was merely a near-S-level yokai, but with the Sessho-seki, she became an unstoppable yokai for humans—and if you add in the yokai forces of Kyoto, it would be almost impossible for her to sweep across both the human and yokai worlds of Japan.

"Come in."

"Wow, buddy, you're here so fast?"

There were three people inside the house: Oshino Meme, Hanakain Yura, and an Onmyoji that Shota didn't recognize.

"Not a living person?"

Shota took the repaired bracelet that Shinobu Meme tossed to him and put it on his wrist. After feeling his heart gradually calm down, he looked at the handsome man he didn't recognize.

"Is this the Taotie? It's a bit more ordinary than I imagined. Nice to meet you. I am Hideyuki Kakaiin. As you can see, I am here using magic."

Hideyuki Hanakain?

Shota glanced at the old man and noticed he was exchanging glances with the Onmyoji, so he changed the subject:

"Where is Lu Sheng?"

“Lu Sheng, he…”

Nurarihyon sighed and said, "He was taken out for special training by Ushioni. He's not in a good mental state right now. If you have time later, Shota, could you go check on him?"

"Were they defeated?"

"Earth Spider."

"what is that?"

"A great monster who roams the Kansai region, known as an invincible creature."

Hideyuki Kakaiin explained, "However, with Taotie around, defeating Tsuchigumo isn't impossible... In other words, the only thing we need to worry about in our counterattack plan is Nijo Castle. I heard that Taotie ate a lot of Nue? That's bought us about three days."

"No, you can deal with Tsuchigumo yourselves. Right now, even if I stood in front of Nijou Castle, I wouldn't have the strength to defeat Hagoromo Gitsune."

Shota shook his head and said, "I'm going away for three days. I'll be back in three days."

"Shota, where are you going?"

Nurarihyon squinted at Shota and asked.

"overseas."

Shota said, enunciating each word clearly, "I want to obtain the power to defeat Hagoromo Gitsune."

"Shh-"

Rikuo Nura, kneeling on one knee, looked at the Gyu-oni before him, a figure completely different from the one he knew. This power, this intense fear—had he been hiding his true strength from him all along?!

"You only have three days, Lu Sheng."

The ox-demon stepped forward, sword in hand, and said, "You must become stronger, stronger than the Nurarihyon, stronger than yourself, and learn the karma of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons..."

"Bam—"

The demon swung his sword again without any mercy, and Rikuo barely managed to block the blow before being sent flying once more.

"Hagoromo Gitsune gets stronger every time she revives, so you can only defeat her completely by becoming stronger than your grandfather and your father!"

"What do you mean by surpassing..."

After being defeated by the Tsuchigumo and even captured by the Yuki-onna, Rikuo's once firm beliefs began to waver. He murmured somewhat dejectedly, "I'm three-quarters human, how can I possibly surpass Grandpa and the others..."

"who!"

Just then, a loud shout suddenly came from inside the wooden house, and a burly old man with wings on his back rushed in the opposite direction from Lu Sheng and the others.

"That aura...that guy?"

After hesitating for a moment, the Ox-Demon hurriedly shouted, "Great Tengu, don't attack..."

"boom--"

The words had barely left his mouth when the guy that the bull demon called the Great Tengu was hurled back like a meteorite.

"Stop it, Shota!"

"A demon?!"

It was Shota who suddenly attacked and repelled the Great Tengu. He leaped over to Ushioni and Rikuo and said, "This guy is a Kyoto yokai, what's he doing here?"

"he……"

"That was ruthless, kid. Is this guy your friend, you devil?"

The Great Tengu stood up from the pit, clutching his arm, and looked at Shota warily.

“There’s a reason for this, and I’ll talk to you about it later.”

Ushiki didn't plan to tell Rikuo everything, so he decided to talk to Shota alone later.

Is that so?

Shota glanced at Ōtengu as well, then said to Rikuo, "I need to talk to you."

After parting ways with Ushioni, Shota and Rikuo walked through the forest.

"I... lost."

Lu Sheng spoke first, his head bowed and his fists clenched weakly.

"I... lost too."

Shota chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "So I'm going to leave for a while, and I'll leave that time to you."

"I can't do it. I can't even protect the people around me, someone of mixed race like me..."

"You can do it, Rikuo."

Shota patted him on the shoulder and said, "Compared to me, your will and awareness are much higher."

"But relying solely on those methods is simply not enough to defeat the enemy!"

"Lu Sheng!"

Seeing that Rikuo was getting stuck in a vicious cycle, Shota punched him in the face without hesitation, knocking him to the ground.

"Do you know? The Nura Clan was at its strongest during the time of your second generation, your father. Your father was also half-human and half-demon, but he not only accepted his demon side, but also his human side!"

Shota grabbed Rikuo by the collar and lifted him up, looking him into the eyes and saying, "You are different from me. You have your own Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. You just need to believe in them, believe in the you that they believe in, and believe in the self that believes in itself!"

"..."

"Lu Sheng, I'm counting on you."

Shota didn't get a reply from Rikuo. He let go of his hand, sighed, and said, "Wait for me to come back."

"You don't need to wait for me to come back; I will take care of everything myself."

Lu Sheng seemed to have figured something out, and with a wry smile, he rubbed his face and said, "That was really ruthless."

"what……"

Shota shook his head and said, "I'm leaving now."