How did I, an Onmyoji, become the Lord of Yokai?

If I had to describe it, this place would be 'nothingness,' a space where nothing exists.

It is this characteristic of 'nothingness' that ensures that no changes occur here, just like stopping time, where neither growth nor death is possible.

As long as Ibuki is here, she will never grow up.

After realizing this, the evil god began to think of ways to make Ibuki leave. Although he wanted Ibuki to stay by his side, his initial plan was to send her away from the Yin-Yang Rift after she grew up.

He will not leave his only daughter here, nor will he let her stay here forever in darkness.

The terrifying nature and characteristics of the Yin-Yang Rift have led both humans and gods to refer to it as an absolute cage that is 'only accessible, never exitable'.

To open the Yin-Yang Rift, one can only rely on the power of those outside... The 'nothingness' within seals off all possibilities.

However, for outsiders to open the Yin-Yang Rift, they would have to pay a huge price. Apart from deities such as Amaterasu and Susanoo, very few people are capable of opening it.

For Him, imprisoned here, to want to escape is nothing short of a pipe dream.

But no matter how difficult the conditions, He absolutely did not want his daughter to never be able to leave.

Therefore, He began to set up a deception... In order to prevent any accidents from happening to His own body, and in order to prevent Him from being resurrected and escaping again in the event of His death, Amaterasu set up a formation at the place of His seal.

Originally, this formation was the last resort to seal Him, and He should have been unable to touch it no matter what. But sometimes, unexpected things happen... Chapter 453, Section 450: The Priest and the Tomb Guardian Beast, the Broken Seal

The Great God's array imprisons the freedom of the evil god; it is powerful, profound, and filled with mystery. Neither gods nor humans can break this array.

Therefore, the evil god can never leave this place.

However, nothing in this world is absolute. Perhaps because Amaterasu's divine power is too strong, this power will occasionally penetrate the Yin-Yang rift and collide with the void power within. The collision and fusion of the two powers miraculously produced sentience.

The seal that suppressed the evil god gained its own sentience and, according to its own will, transformed into a giant beast.

It calls itself... a tomb guardian beast!

Upon learning of the existence of the tomb guardian beast, the evil god felt a surge of joy.

As a wicked god who manipulates the world, temptation is His most powerful weapon—He attempted to tempt the tomb guardian beast to remove the array and open a passage for Him.

Not long after its birth, the tomb guardian beast, as blank as a sheet of paper, was captivated by the prosperous world described by the evil god and developed the desire to see this world for itself.

However, to the evil god's surprise, despite the tomb guardian beast's yearning for the outside world, it remained steadfast in its seal and refused to leave.

This situation annoyed the evil god. Pure people may be easy to deceive, but once they have their own bottom line, they will never abandon it.

Therefore, the attempt to deceive the tomb guardian beast failed.

However, the evil god did not give up. Since direct temptation could not lure the tomb guardian beast, He changed his approach.

He is an evil god, and the tomb guardians do not trust him by nature, so his temptations have no effect.

But what if... it were someone else?

Whether it was because the heavens heard His prayers or not, while He was considering who should tempt the tomb guardian beast, the tomb guardian beast suddenly became friends with a human Onmyoji.

No... they can't be called human Onmyoji. The term Onmyoji didn't exist in that era. They should be called priests.

Shrine staff who worship deities.

A shrine priest accidentally stumbled upon the place where the evil god was sealed, and also inadvertently learned the truth about the tomb guardian beast. So, he began to come here every day without getting tired of it.

He told it stories, described the sea, and spoke of the clear sky, promising that once it was freed from its seal, he would take it to human temple fairs and festivals, so that it could see all the beauty of the human world.

The tomb guardian beast was tempted and agreed.

It also hoped to be able to see the bustling world of the ocean with this human priest.

However, simply agreeing is not enough.

It is a seal. Despite having the body of a giant beast, its true form is still a seal. As long as the seal remains, it can never leave. And once the seal is broken, it will disappear directly.

Even if it could leave with the seal, it would be unable to move.

Beneath it lies a wicked god... a wicked god even the lord of Takamagahara fears.

Therefore, it cannot move; no matter how tempting the outside world may be, it must never leave this place.

After meeting the human priest, the tomb guardian felt that time was passing faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed. The once young and energetic priest had become mature and steady. However, time did not erase their friendship. On the contrary, it made their feelings grow stronger.

The human and the beast became each other's best friends.

Unfortunately, the priest is no longer the priest he once was. He inherited the shrine and took on new responsibilities, so he can no longer spend a whole day with the tomb guardians as he used to.

The tomb guardian beast longed for the old days and hoped that he could continue to stay with it, but it couldn't say these words. It could only silently watch him come and go in a hurry.

And then, one day, suddenly, the priest made a request to him, saying that he wanted to see what kind of being it had been suppressing for so many years.

The tomb guardian beast rejected the request without hesitation.

For so many years, it had not told this human priest about its mission, just so as not to make him worry.

Now that he has offered to see what's inside its seal, isn't that just sending a lamb to the slaughter?

It will never agree to this.

But its refusal did not end the matter. The priest patiently begged it to go in and take a look, promising that it would not touch anything.

The tomb guardian beast had no choice but to comply with its friend's earnest request, and in the end, it could only let the priest go in for a quick look.

The priest happily promised to only glance at it as he stepped into the seal.

However, the tomb guardian didn't expect that after its friend went inside, it would suddenly say to it, 'You shouldn't stay here forever; you deserve a better future.'

'If the gods cannot hear my prayers, then I will help you in my own way.'

Amidst the astonished and regretful gaze of the tomb guardian beast, the priest cast a substitution spell, intending to use himself to take the place of the beast!

Over the past decade or so, the human priest had asked the tomb guardian beast to leave with him countless times, but the tomb guardian beast always shook its head and refused. From that moment on, he understood that the tomb guardian beast could not leave the seal.

Perhaps it is believed that the existence under the seal must be guarded by it, or perhaps the seal itself prevents it from leaving, but whatever the reason, it cannot erase one fact—the tomb guardian beast can only live in the seal for its entire life!

The priest was unwilling for the tomb guardian beast to live out its life like this. It had finally gained intelligence and learned about the world. It clearly had a better future, so why should it hide here and silently guard the seal like this?

With a firm resolve in his heart, he had been preparing for a long time and finally waited for this day.

He entered the seal and used the Substitute Technique. If the divine spell was successful, he could replace the tomb guardian beast and become the seal here.

Some might ask if it's worth it? To abandon everything and one's future for a spirit that was born by chance, and to be trapped in this narrow place.

Some might say it's not worth it, while others might say it is, since everyone's sense of value is different.

But in the priest's eyes, what he did was worthwhile!

The Substitute Technique was activated, and the connection between the Tomb Guardian and the seal was brutally severed. The Tomb Guardian, which had never stepped out of the seal in the decades since its birth, was now separated from it.

Replacing it within the seal is its only friend...

The tomb guardian beast was unsure of what to do. It had finally gained the freedom it had always dreamed of, but it had sacrificed its only friend. Was it worth it?

Is it really the most worthwhile?

Without you, what's the point of this bustling world?

The tomb guardian beast was unwilling to accept this freedom; it did not want this freedom, nor did it wish to gain it in this way!

If it has to sacrifice its friends, it would rather live in the seal for the rest of its life!

With this in mind, the tomb guardian beast planned to return to the seal and regain control of it.

It is the spirit of the seal and has absolute control over it. It is merely a substitute technique and cannot completely sever its connection with the seal.

But just as it was about to do so, a giant snake suddenly appeared behind the priest... Chapter 454, Part 451: The Wrath of a Daughter-Obsessed Person

The priest died right before the tomb guardian beast's eyes.

The moment the priest received the seal of the barrier, a giant venomous snake suddenly emerged from the crack and swallowed the priest's body without hesitation.

—It was as if they had foreseen that the priest would replace the tomb guardian beast!

"Hehehe... Humans are ultimately nothing more than pawns to be manipulated."

The evil god chuckled softly; even within the rift between Yin and Yang, He remained the same evil god.

An evil god who manipulates the people and mocks the gods!

How could a mere seal possibly confine Him for a lifetime!

That's right, this scene was orchestrated by the evil god.

Ever since He learned more than a decade ago that the Tomb Guardian could not be tempted and that a human had become its friend, He had been waiting for this opportunity.

Using the priest, its friendship with the tomb guardian, and the accumulated experience of over a decade, they can help themselves and Ibuki escape from this rift!

Why would the priest know that a powerful being is suppressed beneath the tomb guardian beast? Why would the priest know that the tomb guardian beast can be freed using the Substitute Technique? And why does the priest... know the Substitute Technique?

Long, long ago, before the development of Yin-Yang magic, the divine arts mastered by priests were limited to the simplest prayer techniques. Divine arts such as the substitution technique were absolutely impossible for them to master.

The only answer is an evil god.

He told the priest everything, 'If you are willing to sacrifice yourself, the tomb guardian beast will be free,' tempting him, 'Your life is only a few decades long, while the tomb guardian beast lives for millions of years. Are you willing to let it guard the seal for its entire life?'

Following the 'advice' from the evil god, the priest succumbed to demonic possession. He chose to sacrifice himself to protect the tomb guardian beast, unaware that as he used the substitution technique to switch places with the beast, the seal would weaken slightly...

Ultimately, the evil god used this slight opening to send Ibuki out of the barrier and devour the priest.

The priest replaced the tomb guardian beast as the seal of the spirit, but was completely unprepared for it. Therefore, the spirit could take the opportunity to devour him. Once it devoured him, the seal would lose its connection with the spirit and would return to the stage before the spirit was born. So... the tomb guardian beast would also be unable to return to the seal and suppress it again!

Even if the seal still exists, it is like a dead object without intelligence. How can such a seal suppress a god who can manipulate people's hearts and find a way to break the deadlock even in the most desperate situations?

This battle between the evil god and the tomb guardian beast ultimately ended in a resounding victory for the evil god!

The tomb guardian beast was overwhelmed with grief upon witnessing its friend's death. It wanted to make the evil god pay the price, but having lost its sealing power, it was no longer able to contend with the evil god. In the end, it left the place in despair.

To this day, there is no news of the tomb guardian beast; no one knows if it is still alive or where it lives.

Of course, the evil god doesn't care whether the tomb guardian beast is still alive; all he cares about is his daughter, Ibuki-dōji, whom he sent away.

Just as the evil god had guessed, after leaving the Yin-Yang Rift, Ibuki began to grow up gradually, from a helpless infant to a girl who could walk on her own, and finally to the demon king who would rule over a region.

From birth to adulthood, the evil god has always been with her.

Watching his daughter grow up, this evil god, who had never experienced love, began to understand the feelings of a father.

He even felt an urge to stay with Ibuki forever.

As long as things remain the same, He can continue living like this with Ibuki, without anyone disturbing them or chasing them... a leisurely life that belongs only to him and his daughter.