The air itself seemed to tremble as the chains split apart, one after another, each shattering like the toll of a war bell. The giant oni's form swelled, fire and smoke wreathing its body, tusks glinting in the light of burning thatch and collapsing beams. Its claws stretched upward, tearing holes into the night sky itself.
Shiba Kenzō spat blood from his lips and steadied his naginata."We cannot let it step into our world," he barked, his voice thunder over the panic. "If it sets foot beyond the gate, everything from here to Edo will be ash."
Aya's hands shook as she gathered her talismans, her voice ragged but resolute."Then we seal it in the clearing—now. While the chains still hold it to the pit."
"Move!" Kenzō roared.
The hunters surged through the burning village, yokai snapping at their heels. Taro, half-limping from his wound, stabbed one through the jaw, snarling as Jiro dragged him onward. Aya's chants rang out, scattering lesser fiends with bursts of sacred fire. The clearing loomed above, the earth splitting as the oni dragged itself higher, each step shaking the mountain.
The hunters broke through the treeline. Before them stood the giant oni, still half-anchored to the portal—its legs churning with smoke, its torso bulging with cursed flesh. The broken chains trailed from its shoulders like torn banners.
"Circle!" Kenzō barked. "Aya, prepare the rite!"
They spread around the clearing, talismans and weapons raised. Aya knelt, slamming her beads into the dirt, her voice tearing through the night:
"O spirits of barrier and flame, bind the unholy! Seal the gate, return this filth to the pit from whence it crawled!"
The ground ignited in a ring of blinding gold, encircling the oni. It howled, a sound like mountains cracking, swiping at the light. Each strike split the air, sending hunters staggering. Jiro drove his spear into the ground, anchoring the glowing circle, while Taro thrust upward with the last of his strength, igniting the beast's arm in searing flame.
Kenzō roared as he charged straight in. His naginata blazed with wards, each stroke carving burning sigils across the oni's flesh. With every strike he shouted a prayer, each one forcing the creature back.
The oni thrashed, tusks gnashing, its roar shaking heaven and earth. But the circle tightened, Aya's voice growing hoarse, blood spilling from her lips as the power drained her body.
At last, the oni's claw was dragged into the seal. Smoke poured from its wounds, chains lashing once more around its frame as the hunters pressed every last ounce of strength into the rite.
The monster's eyes blazed crimson as it reared back, its voice splitting the mountain.
"CURSE YOU, HAYATE!!!!"
The name tore from its throat like thunder, rattling the bones of every man and woman present.
Then it vomited a torrent of black curses, a storm of shadows shooting skyward, spiraling like a tornado.
The hunters shielded themselves as the air burned and the ground split apart. The curses spiraled higher, higher—toward the distant cliffs.
—
There, in a cave carved into the mountain's side, Ranmaru stood. The onryō's silken webs glistened around him, its cold presence hovering like mist. The half-Jorōgumo child lay bound and faint nearby.
Ranmaru's eyes narrowed as the black torrent ripped through the night sky, its power washing over him, stabbing pain through every vein. His jaw clenched as the name Hayate echoed again and again, shaking the peaks.
The ground beneath his feet trembled. He gripped the cave wall for balance, watching as the mountain itself seemed to sink.
The hunters below pushed with their last strength, Aya's voice breaking into silence as the golden barrier flared one final time—
—and the oni's body was torn downward. Its roars bled into the abyss, chains wrapping it like serpents, dragging it back into the black pit of hell.
The clearing was consumed in light, then silence.
Smoke rose where the oni had stood. The yokai that had flooded the mountain shrieked and crumbled, their bodies collapsing into ash as their tether snapped.
Ranmaru stood alone in the cave's mouth, his breathing shallow. His veins still burned with yokai corruption, yet his eyes were sharp. The onryō hovered behind him, silent as ever.
He looked down toward the ruined village, the faint glow of dying fires trembling in the valley. His lips curled faintly.
"So," he whispered, voice rough. "That wasn't its true form after all."