"Speaking of which, Kuka-chan may be a shrine maiden, but her spiritual vision is ridiculously weak. And honestly, your… unconventional sword style is probably the biggest reason you still can't find a husband—"
Kamishiro Isshin didn't even get to finish.A sudden, unmistakably murderous aura rippled beside him. A longsword—its bare edge gleaming silver under the moonlight—was already pressed beneath his chin.
"Mr. Kamishiro," Kuka said with a too-sweet smile, "if you keep talking about matters that have nothing to do with work, I won't mind asking you for a little sparring. I feel like my strength has improved again lately."
Feeling the chill of the blade at his throat, Kamishiro Isshin swallowed hard, the playful grin melting off his face instantly.
"K-Kuka-chan, I was just kidding! Put the sword down! That's Onikiri, you know! Getting nicked by that thing is instant death!"
He wasn't exaggerating.
The weapon Yamato Kuka wielded was no ordinary sword. It was a national treasure—one of the country's most legendary demon-slaying blades. It didn't quite reach the divine-class tier of Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, or Futsu-no-Mitama-no-Tsurugi, but Onikiri was still hailed as one of the greatest anti-demon weapons in the nation.
According to legend, during the Heian era, the great general Minamoto no Yorimitsu possessed two famous swords. One was Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, named after the legendary slaying of the oni king Shuten-dōji—one of the Five Great Swords of Japan.
But few knew Yorimitsu owned another blade as well. That second sword eventually passed to Watanabe no Tsuna, who used it to sever the arm of another infamous oni, Ibaraki-dōji. That feat earned the weapon its name: Onikiri — The Demon-Cutter.
Though less famous than Dōjigiri, Onikiri was still a blade capable of wounding even the powerful flesh of an upper-tier oni. Within the spiritual weapon system, it was graded an impressive A+.
If not for the deep acquaintance between Kuka's mother and the sword's former caretakers — and the Yamato family's considerable wealth — there was no way Kuka would've been entrusted with such a relic.
Kuka knew she'd reacted impulsively, but Kamishiro's teasing had hit the sorest of her pressure points.
Just the other day, she'd overheard her parents whispering about relaxing her "age requirements" for a husband.
In other words: as long as the man had enough spiritual talent and agreed to marry into the family, even someone ten years older was now considered acceptable.
Everyone only has a small window in life where their spiritual power is at its peak. And as Kuka approached the end of hers, her parents were becoming desperate. Producing a spiritually gifted heir during that peak period was practically a family mission.
To escape her suffocating home, Yamato Kuka had decisively joined the Unnatural Countermeasures Team. With government authority behind her, even her parents couldn't drag her home for arranged introductions.
But while Kuka and Isshin were in the middle of their miniature crisis, Ren Kuroda, Hinano, and the others finally returned to the office building they had investigated earlier that morning.
Ren was lucky — before coming here, he activated his newly acquired skill, Demon Power Concealment, afraid that his aura might be too intense and scare the Nurikabe off before they even got close.
Thanks to that, Kamishiro Isshin had sensed nothing unusual about him.
Had Ren not hidden his power, Isshin wouldn't have merely detected strong spiritual energy — he would've sensed terrifying oni-class demonic power. And once they realized Ren was a demon, they wouldn't be trying to recruit him. They'd consider sparing him a mercy.
With his aura suppressed, Ren now felt almost indistinguishable from regular humans like Hinano and Yuzaburō — aside from the sword at his waist.
In the dim corridor, Ren immediately sensed a dramatic change. The faint demonic presence from this morning had thickened into a suffocating density.
No mistake — the real culprit was here. And it was watching them already.
The lights Yuzaburō had switched on earlier to boost his courage flickered erratically, as though the wiring had a short, before finally being swallowed entirely by darkness.
"It's here," Ren said calmly. "Stay close. Don't wander. If you get too scared, hit yourself hard enough to knock yourself out."
He'd barely spoken when a wave of dense demonic energy surged outward, drowning the entire floor in absolute darkness. Hinano and Yuzaburō vanished from Ren's side instantly.
Darkness — complete, suffocating black — is one of humanity's oldest fears. In the kind of void where even your own fingertips can't be seen, terror blooms easily.
And when a figure stepped out from the darkness, wearing Ren Kuroda's face… smiling with a gentle but bone-chilling expression… new information flickered into Ren's vision.
Entity Detected:Nurikabe – "Painted Wall" (Low-Class Yokai)Power Rating: D → C–Skills:• Defense Boost• Visual Blockade• Illusion Distortion• Dark Vision
A low-class yokai whose body resembles a living wall. Its hardened shell traps victims in maze-like illusions, but its stubby legs struggle to support its massive weight.
Just as Ren suspected — not a high-tier yokai — but the power rating surprised him. A Nurikabe at C–? Unexpected.
The Rat King from before had reached C-level only because it was a mutated monarch of its species. But a rank-and-file Nurikabe reaching that level…?
"Come play with me!" the Nurikabe chirped, wearing Ren's own face as it examined him.
It seemed delighted. Most humans panicked the moment darkness fell. But Ren… Ren was different. His lack of fear only made it more eager.
"Sure," Ren replied lightly. "How would you like to play? Though before playtime… I need to discipline a rather disobedient child."
He had no intention of targeting its weak legs. Instead, he slowly drew his sword.
The instant the blade left its sheath, the Nurikabe wearing his appearance froze. Utter, human-like terror flashed across its features before it spun on its heels and bolted.
Whatever Ren looked like to this yokai… the aura coming from his sword terrified it to its core.