6:00 AM, Katsura Imperial Villa.
With a bang, tea spilt across the low table, soaking the tatami mats beneath.
"What kind of joke is this?!"
Haigo Keikain's glasses hung askew as his eyes burned crimson with rage:
"Four of the eight seal nodes destroyed in one night! The entire seal broken through barrier techniques!"
"Our Keikain family—some dead in battle, others missing! Four branch heads swallowed by yokai hordes! And now those shrine families dare blame us for the failure?!"
"How dare those bastards!!"
"Calm down, Haigo," the hooded, petite girl Hakko Keikain warned quietly. "The clan head is present."
"How can I stay calm?!"
Haigo ripped off his crooked glasses in frustration:
"The eight seal locations—Nijo Castle, Shokoku-ji, Rokuon-ji, Nishi Hongan-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, Ryoanji, Katsura, Fushimi Inari Taisha..."
"Aside from Inari Grand Shrine politely declining our assistance, we've dispatched personnel to support all other locations. And what happens? Those monks pat their backsides, hand over the defences to us, and run off by themselves."
"They're so diligent about collecting incense money, yet when trouble comes, they flee faster than us? And afterwards, they blame us for fighting Hagoromo Gitsune and damaging their temples?"
"What kind of logic is that?!"
"Apparently, it was one of the Six Sects that instructed them not to resist."
A Keikain family head sneered coldly:
"After all, this is a matter of the Yin-Yang path, the Keikain family's responsibility to seal. It has nothing to do with their Northern Transmission Buddhism."
"Enough talk."
Hakko Keikain sighed, glancing at Hidemoto Keikain at the head of the table before frowning:
"What we need to discuss now is the issue of Hagoromo Gitsune's seal."
"I can understand the four major seals at Nijo Castle, Shokoku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, and Ryoan-ji being broken. But how could the other four seal sites—especially our family's Katsura Imperial Villa—remain untouched while the seals were dismantled using barrier techniques? It makes no sense!"
"Master, did the 13th-generation ancestor Hidemoto say anything? He was the one who originally set the seals. What exactly went wrong to cause the seals to fully release after only half being broken?"
Faced with such direct questioning, the gathered Onmyoji all turned their attention to the current elder Hidemoto.
After a moment's silence, the elder Hidemoto sighed:
"This matter... we're not unaware."
"Even Katsura Imperial Villa has undergone some modern renovations now."
Hakko Keikain was dumbfounded:
"What? You're saying modern renovations damaged the seal's structure?"
"Don't joke with me. Katsura Imperial Villa doesn't even have air conditioning—they still use stoves for cooking. If you just installed plumbing years ago, how could... Wait. Those temples?"
Hakko Keikain's face instantly turned green.
Unlike the Keikain family, burdened with a generational life-span curse that forces them to master Yin-Yang Arts to survive and wrest life from Hagoromo Gitsune's curse...
Japan's temples are family businesses, where abbots are state civil servants.
Especially in Kyoto, where temples thrive on incense offerings, land management, and funeral services—each one rolling in wealth.
These abbots might as well be religious trust-fund kids. How could they tolerate ancient buildings' inconveniences? Naturally, they modernised their residences upon inheriting them.
Since the renovations were minor—just adding air conditioning, fridges, gas pipes, sewage systems—and spread over decades, plus the Keikain family weren't the temples' superiors, the changes were completed like death by a thousand cuts.
By modern times, not just the seals—even natural waterways were rerouted by these monks who drink, eat meat, chase girls, and blast EDM.
Now, the consequences have arrived!
And the infuriating part? The Keikain family are left holding the bag.
"So what now?" Hakko Keikain didn't even mention repairing barriers.
The seal sites are too altered for repairs. They might as well ask the 13th-generation Hidemoto to design new barriers.
But the problem is—Japan's land, especially temple grounds, is ancestral property.
You want to lay hands on their ancestral property? Then our Keikain Family will become the Hagoromo Gitsune in the temples' eyes.
"Hagoromo Gitsune has already taken residence in Nijo Castle." Old Xiuyuan sighed. "By our estimates, Nue will be reborn within seven days at most."
"So we're looking at a siege battle then?"
The branch heads of the Keikain Family below fell silent.
Attacking Nijo Castle - defended by the full might of the Hagoromo Group, likely with covert assistance from both the Gokadoin and Tsuchimikado families.
That fortress might as well be impregnable.
This would require throwing lives at it!
Just how many more could the Keikain Family afford to sacrifice?
Yet if Nue were to revive, would the Keikain Family - his generational enemies - possibly be spared?
Caught between certain death either way, the assembly sank into wordless anguish.
"We can only try to seek help from various factions as much as possible." Hakko Keikain sighed in frustration.
Hearing this, Haigo Keikain said angrily:
"Who exactly can we ask for help?"
"The Bujin-shū might be willing to intervene for the sake of order, but don't expect them to deal with Hagoromo Gitsune."
"As for the six Buddhist sects, needless to say, they were the ones who ordered their subordinates not to resist earlier."
"The Onmyou Agency? Hah, with the Tsuchimikado and Gokadoin Family obstructing things, there's no hope there."
"Among the remaining official forces, the most effective option would be to appeal to the Union for aid. But if we bypass the hierarchy to request Union assistance, once they arrive, our Keikain Family will undoubtedly be devoured by Japan's jackals."
"After eliminating these options, who's left for us to ask? Those non-human races?"
At these words, the assembled heads of the Keikain Family exchanged odd expressions.
If they were to consider whether any non-human races could assist the Keikain Family... well, there was indeed one.
They were just a bit too... roguish.
Just as the Keikain members were thinking this, a male voice suddenly rang out.
"Well, well, if it isn't the youngsters from our brother family?"
The sudden voice, accompanied by the arrival of a handsome, long-haired young man chewing on a blade of grass, froze the expressions of the Keikain members.
"At a time like this, shouldn't you be throwing a banquet to entertain us poor relatives?"
Nura Rihan grinned mischievously, rubbing his hands together as he pointed behind him at the massive horde of yokai from the Nura Clan.
Seeing the sheer number of yokai, the Keikain family heads turned pale.
Hidemoto, in particular, was both amused and pained.
Amused because their old comrades from the Nura Clan, despite centuries of no contact, were still willing to lend a hand. Pained because of the impending strain on the family's finances.
These yokai could really eat like there was no tomorrow!
One yokai could devour ten cows in a single meal. With hundreds or even thousands of them arriving, just imagine the horror!
But since they'd already come, they couldn't very well turn them away or ask them to bring their own provisions, could they?
Though they were exasperated, it didn't stop the Keikain Family from regarding the Nura Clan as important allies.
Previously, they hadn't wanted to trouble their "brothers" out of pride. But now that the brothers had come to trouble them first, pride no longer mattered.
Amidst both laughter and resignation, the Keikain family heads exchanged glances before gritting their teeth and declaring:
"A banquet, you say? Then let's throw the grandest one possible!!"
Hearing this, Nura Rihan burst into laughter, turning to raise his hand towards the yokai outside and shouting:
"Listen up, everyone—banquet time!!"
"Woooooh!!" came the thunderous roar from the yokai, their voices shaking the heavens.