— — — — — —
Creaaak—
The gates of the manor slowly opened.
In that instant, the eyes of every nearby yokai—especially those watching from the hill—snapped to attention.
After arriving at the gathering point, word had already spread among the yokai, passed down from the elusive strategist with nine tails, Ran Yakumo: the one who summoned them was none other than the mysterious Yokai Sage, and she was inside that very manor.
What's more, a particularly reckless yokai had tried to fly up and spy on the manor from above... only to get blasted into ash without a trace.
That single display had sparked another rumor: could the legendary Master of the Four Seasons be present as well? Perhaps she, like them, had been summoned.
And now—under the scrutiny of dozens of yokai—a figure slowly emerged from the manor.
It was... a little girl.
Dressed in elegant robes, holding a fan, her face delicate and doll-like—like something carved from jade.
"Who's that? Where's Yukari Yakumo?"
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
"Weren't we called here for a war or something? Where's the war? How much longer do we have to wait?"
"That kid… looks so soft and tender. Bet she'd taste great steamed—hey, what are you hiding for?"
"Relax, I just don't want your blood splattering all over me in a second."
...
Disappointment rippled through the crowd.
She wasn't the Yokai Sage. She wasn't the Flower Master of the Four Seasons. She wasn't any of the famous millennia-old yokai.
Just some random kid no one recognized.
The crowd buzzed with confusion and irritation.
FWOOOSH—
A burst of multicolored light flashed.
The yokai who'd just made the comment about "steaming the kid" instantly shriveled into a dried-out husk, then crumbled into dust, like they'd lived through a million years in a blink.
The eerie scene silenced the crowd.
Even among the dozens of powerful yokai present—including a few whose strength rivaled that of the Yokai Sage or the Flower Master of the Four Seasons—no one dared speak.
Because that wasn't just some weakling who'd been vaporized.
That guy had been a proper big-name yokai. And yet—he hadn't even had time to scream before he died.
Not a chance to fight back. Not even a moment to realize he was dying. Just gone.
"I'm Kaguya Houraisan," the little girl said clearly, her voice cutting through the heavy silence.
She glanced at the gathered crowd with an air of composed arrogance.
"Most—no, all—of you have likely never heard my name before," she continued. Her voice, amplified with spiritual energy, carried effortlessly across the entire area. "But that's alright. I'll properly introduce myself now."
"I once had a father," she said, her tone turning solemn. "Back in the days of Takamagahara, he was called Tsukuyomi, Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto, Tsukuyomi-no-kami, the founder and lord of the Lunar Capital, Lord of the Moon, Moon God…"
She let the titles hang in the air.
"He is one of the 'three noble children'—alongside Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Susanoo, god of the sea and storms."
"Eventually, Tsukuyomi grew disgusted with the impurity of the earth and led our people to the moon. There, he founded the Lunar Capital and became the Lord of the Moon."
The entire crowd of yokai erupted in shocked murmurs.
Every major yokai gathered here had been briefed—either by Ran or by Yukari Yakumo herself—about the objective of the coming war.
They were going to invade the moon and dethrone the Lord of the Moon.
And now, right before they were even set to depart, a girl calling herself Tsukuyomi's daughter had just waltzed into their base.
Was this a setup? Had the plan been leaked? Were they about to be ambushed?
Some of the more hot-headed yokai immediately began charging up their powers, planning to eliminate Kaguya before she could act.
Only to be physically restrained by the more rational, sharper-witted big shots nearby.
Yukari Yakumo—who possessed the space-bending power of "gaps," a power everyone agreed was a pain to deal with—had made no move to stop Kaguya's appearance.
Did she not want to stop her? Or... couldn't?
No way.
That meant there had to be a reason why the Moon Princess was allowed to show up here unchallenged.
And then they recalled something she'd said: 'I once had a father.'
Not "have a father."
That one detail made something click.
Why would Yukari dare to provoke Tsukuyomi—a former High Deity of Takamagahara—and try to seize his territory on the moon?
Well... if there was a rebellious daughter of the Moon God who wanted to stage a coup then it all started to make sense.
Several of the more quick-witted yokai exchanged awkward glances.
So all that time they'd spent worrying—thinking Yukari had laid some elaborate trap, or worse, planned to use the Moon God to wipe out her political rivals among the yokai—they might have completely misunderstood the situation.
After all, they'd made deals on the way here. Sworn to support each other. Some of them had even thought Yukari was trying to eliminate them because they'd opposed her ideas in the past—especially her views about the future of the yokai race and her belief that those weak little humans would one day dominate the world.
But now it looked like… maybe Yukari really was trying to do what was best for all yokai.
Maybe… just maybe… she really did deserve that title: Yokai Sage.
But among them, the truly sharp ones—those rare yokai with minds even sharper than the rest—noticed something else.
Only one person had stepped out: Kaguya Houraisan. Neither Yukari nor her shikigami, Ran Yakumo, had shown themselves.
That… wasn't a good sign.
And while everyone's attention was locked on the Moon Princess outside, a few figures silently started retreating—one cautious step at a time—into a gap that had quietly opened behind them.
No one noticed… until—
"Crow Tengu?"
The voice was slurred, heavy with the stink of booze.
A slender arm—smooth and soft-looking, but absurdly strong—looped around her neck from behind, effortlessly locking her in place.
The girl in question, Aya Shameimaru, a crow tengu with raven-black wings, nodded like crazy.
Then a gourd full of sake was shoved in her face.
"C'mon, have a drink."
Recognizing the signature horn on the drunk's head, Aya gulped nervously. She knew exactly who this was—and in this situation, the smartest move was to just drink.
So she opened her mouth obediently, only to immediately scrunch her entire face in disgust.
"What the hell was that?! Why did something this vile even exist?!"
"Jeez, it's not that bad. You guys just don't know how to appreciate it. This stuff can get an oni drunk, you know!"
The oni in question, Suika Ibuki, huffed and rolled her eyes at Aya's reaction to her prized sake.
"Alright, Suika, cut it out for now," came a voice not far off.
Yukari Yakumo was smiling faintly as she looked over at the flustered crow tengu. "Didn't the Great Tengu, Megumu Iizunamaru, tell me the tengu weren't interested? Or are you one of the wild ones?"
"Ah—No no, I am from the Youkai Mountain!"
Aya quickly explained, "The Great Tengu did say the tengu wouldn't officially participate in your campaign… but he also said that if any of us were personally interested, we could come check things out as individuals. I just wanted to… y'know, see what was going on."
"Worst decision ever," she thought, already regretting everything.
She risked a sideways glance at Suika and another familiar face—Yuugi Hoshiguma.
Two oni kings… here. Just casually.
The yokai sage didn't just invite the tengu… she invited the damn oni tribe too?!
And it got worse.
...
"Originally, I planned to use the filth clinging to your bodies as a little gift to my oh-so-pure father," came Kaguya's voice from just beyond the wall.
"But now that I've seen you all in person, I realize… I might have miscalculated."
"Sure, we've had our share of bad blood. But the Lunar Capital… is still half my home."
"I might hate it. I might wish I never saw it again. But that doesn't mean you filthy things have the right to desecrate it."
"So, before I head to the moon… could I trouble you all to just die here first?"
...
Aya Shameimaru stared, wide-eyed, toward the wall separating them from the courtyard—where the self-proclaimed daughter of Tsukuyomi had just casually declared mass slaughter.
And Yukari? And Yuuka Kazami, who was standing nearby? And Suika Ibuki, still lounging with her gourd?
All of them… had heard her too. But none of them made a move. None of them even flinched.
It was at this moment Aya knew... she fucked up.
.
.
.