Just as the Nurikabe—currently wearing Ren Kuroda's face—realized he was nothing like the humans it had toyed with before and turned to flee, Ren's figure, which had been standing perfectly still a moment earlier, appeared in front of it as if he had teleported.
The copy-Ren's expression twisted in a very human terror before it scrambled backward, slipping into the shroud of darkness.
The Nurikabe had no intention of fighting anymore. The moment it sensed Ren's aura, it understood he was far beyond anything it could handle. So it planned to retreat and hunt down the other two humans instead, gathering more "Fear."
In this era, yokai had only two paths to survive or grow stronger.
The first: devour humans or their own kind to increase their demonic power.The second: accumulate "Fear"—the terror humans felt toward them—to maintain their existence.
Just as gods vanish when forgotten, demons fade when no one fears them.
That was why the Nurikabe lurked here in the first place: to gather enough fear to sustain itself.
During the day, the office was too crowded, so it didn't dare reveal itself. But at night, it crept out to spook lone employees working overtime, feeding on the fear they produced.
Despite being a low-rank yokai, it was surprisingly smart. It understood that the world was no longer an era where monsters roamed freely. Exorcist clans still existed — and with modern technology, humans could easily kill minor yokai like itself.
So the Nurikabe chose not to kill. It merely frightened people. Once, a woman had actually stumbled toward a window in panic, nearly falling out — but the Nurikabe caught her in time and prevented her death.
Since it relied on fear, not corpses, it didn't want unnecessary trouble.
It had assumed that once it melted into total darkness, Ren — just a normal human in its view — would be helpless.
But it realized how disastrous that assumption was almost immediately.
Ren didn't possess "Dark Vision," true.But he did possess Demonic Power Perception.
No matter how well the Nurikabe hid, unless it could conceal its own demonic aura, Ren could track it with perfect accuracy.
Sensing its location in the blackness, Ren stomped down, shattering the ground beneath him, and shot forward like a gale.
Ever since Ren learned the sword style "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain," he hadn't found anyone capable of testing it. The students in his school kendo club could barely swing a shinai; they weren't suitable opponents at all.
To Ren, the Nurikabe was a perfect practice dummy.A low-tier demon, yes — but one built like a fortress.
That was why he hadn't exploited its obvious weak point right away.
"I hear the divine wind howl…and the swift breeze answers!Swift as the Wind!"
As he ran, Ren's body seemed wrapped in a spiraling gust. In only a few breaths, he closed the distance and appeared right behind the fleeing Nurikabe.
Raising his longsword high, he swung down in a single, precise stroke.
A slashing wind roared outward, pulling the surrounding airflow into a cutting gale.Desks, chairs, and loose papers were torn apart, shredded into ribbons.The floor cracked under the intersecting marks of airborne blades.The entire thirteenth-floor window exploded outward from the pressure.
The Nurikabe saw the incoming attack and understood instantly: with its short, stubby legs, it couldn't escape.
If it didn't want to die on the spot, it had only one choice.
In desperation, it reverted to its original form — a massive stone wall adorned with two large, lantern-like eyes — and activated its Defense Enhancement ability.
But Ren's slash was already upon it.
Wind — the sharpest and most merciless of elements — struck the Nurikabe's body.A crescent-shaped wind blade hit the toughened rock exterior and detonated, bursting into dozens of smaller cutting currents that raked across its massive form.
Even with its hardened body and defensive boost, the Nurikabe couldn't endure the relentless storm. It survived, yes — barely — but its once-smooth, blocky form was now covered in deep gashes and gouges, the surface marred by jagged lines like the scars of countless blades.
Ren looked over the destruction, honestly a little surprised.
The power of Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain was far greater than he had expected.
He hadn't used any demonic energy at all — just his enhanced physical strength and the form's basic technique. The demon blade Oni-Scar and his Advanced Swordsmanship certainly boosted the strike, but not enough to justify this level of devastation.
"Swift as the Wind" was supposed to be the movement-based strike of the style, not its strongest technique. The most destructive form was "Aggressive as Fire."
Yet without demonic power, "Swift as the Wind" had already carved up a C-rank yokai with defenses comparable to a B-rank.
If he used demonic power alongside "Aggressive as Fire"…could he actually kill an A-rank yokai in a single hit?
Ren felt a thrill run through him. His excitement grew. He could barely contain the urge to test it.
That was why he'd held back earlier—he wanted the Nurikabe to survive a few more blows so he could test the entire sequence.
With Ren's current strength, even a defense-type demon like this wouldn't survive a demonic-power-enhanced "Swift as the Wind." He would've killed it instantly.
Ren's plan was simple:
Overwhelm the enemy first.Then force it into submission.
That way, he could both test his technique and earn a new subordinate. A perfect outcome.
Ren shifted his stance, preparing to unleash "Aggressive as Fire," the most offensive form of the style—
—but before he could even gather power, the giant Nurikabe suddenly shouted in human speech.
"I—I surrender, Onmyoji! Stop! No more fighting! I'll surrender! I'll become your shikigami! Just don't kill me! And I—I haven't killed anyone since awakening!"
Ren: ╮(￣▽￣"")╭