Sagami Province, Hōjō main castle. Odawara Castle.
The most fortified castle in the Kantō region, bar none.
Since the first generation Hōjō Sōun, through three generations of development, this castle nestled between mountains and sea had been forged into an impregnable fortress.
Layer upon layer of tall stone walls. The main gate was a full three inches thick. A dense network of watchtowers would exact a heavy toll on any invader.
In those days or perhaps in later times, when Uesugi Kenshin, ruler of Echigo, led an army of a hundred thousand to attack, all he could do was sigh in frustration beneath the walls.
The reputation of the strongest fortress in the Kantō was no empty boast.
Compared to the Imagawa's main stronghold, this place was undoubtedly far more formidable.
But now,
Shinji stood on a hillside outside the castle, looking down at this legendary fortress. The castle's outline was clear under the moonlight.
But he only felt that everything was intact, and everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
No patrolling soldiers. No burning torches. No signs of human activity.
The sprawling Odawara Castle was like a giant tomb.
"The demonic aura here is thick. Thicker than at Imagawa's place."
"And not just demonic aura." Shinji's eyes narrowed.
He could see it.
The entire castle was shrouded in a faint golden mist. The mist glistened with tiny specks of light under the moonlight, like countless fireflies dancing.
But those weren't fireflies.
They were scales.
Gaikimaru's scales.
"It's already done something." Yura's voice came.
"Done something?" Shinji understood instantly. "You mean… everyone in the castle?"
"All dreaming." Yura's voice was muffled, and she seemed wary. "All under its scales."
Thousands of people were trapped in sleep.
Their breathing was steady. Their heartbeats normal. But their consciousnesses were trapped in another world.
Gaikimaru's illusion.
"This one really is more troublesome than the thunder beast." Shinji frowned.
Yura was right.
The thunder beast was strong, but it was a frontal-attack type demon. It hid underground and released lightning. As long as you forced it out, you could deal with it.
But Gaikimaru was different.
It was a mental-attack type.
The thunder beast's lightning transformation was fierce and fast, but ultimately traceable.
Gaikimaru, though also an elemental transformation, was more ethereal than lightning. It was a spiritual transformation.
Its scales could invade human dreams, creating fear within them.
Shinji walked toward the castle gate. The heavy wooden door was wide open, with no guards.
He simply walked straight in.
Before him was a wide street, lined with neat houses and shops.
As the Hōjō's main base, Odawara Castle's castle town was normally bustling with merchants and crowds.
But now, all the doors were closed.
All the windows were dark.
Occasionally, he saw a person or two lying on the ground, motionless, still in the position they'd fallen.
Shinji crouched to examine one.
It was a middle-aged man in merchant's clothing. His face was twisted in fear.
His eyes were closed, but his eyeballs were moving rapidly beneath the lids.
He was dreaming.
And it was a nightmare.
Wounds were even appearing on his body, spreading, emerging.
It seemed the nightmare was manifesting in reality.
"The situation here is much more severe than at Imagawa's." Shinji stood.
The Imagawa had only been harassed by the thunder beast for three days, with a few dozen casualties.
Most of the damage was panic.
But here in Hōjō territory, the entire castle's population was trapped in illusion. If they weren't rescued in time, these people would die one by one in their nightmares.
The resentment from their deaths would accumulate.
Gaikimaru would grow stronger.
A vicious cycle.
He continued forward. Blood mist spread, perceiving the entire castle.
Where was Gaikimaru?
He didn't know. That damned moth was hiding too deep.
It had likely already sensed the thunder beast's death, the thunder horn was still on his back, radiating a dense lightning aura that any demon connected to the thunder beast could detect.
So it was hiding.
Probably within this illusion woven from its scales. Not showing itself. Not appearing.
Yura's tone showed no surprise. She had said as much before.
She added, "It's hidden itself inside the illusion of its scales. That's why it's so hard to find."
Shinji frowned.
This was troublesome.
Gaikimaru wasn't like the thunder beast, which had a fixed lair. It was a being that merged with its illusion. As long as the illusion remained, it was everywhere and nowhere at once.
But…
"Not completely without a way." Shinji looked up at the golden mist filling the air.
Yura paused.
"The nightmares of everyone in this entire city are its domain. Trying to find its true body from within that is like fishing for a needle in the ocean."
"You really think you can find it?"
To this,
Shinji didn't answer immediately.
He stopped walking, standing before a tall building.
This was the main keep of Odawara Castle, the tenshu.
The residence of the Hōjō clan's successive lords.
"Can't find it directly from the surface…" He raised his hand. More blood mist seeped from beneath his skin, spreading outward.
"Need another approach."
Yura was stunned. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to enter their dreams." Shinji's voice was calm.
"Are you insane?" Yura couldn't believe it. "You can enter dreams? And that's Gaikimaru's illusion. Going in voluntarily is suicide!"
"Who said I'm going into its illusion?" Shinji smiled.
That smile under the moonlight looked eerie.
"I'm going into… the dreams of every person in this castle."
The blood mist began to spread faster.
Starting from the main keep, it extended outward, covering the streets, covering the houses, covering every sleeping person.
That blood mist seeped into their skin, merging with their breath, establishing a connection with their dreams.
Gaikimaru's scales were a net, trapping everyone in nightmares.
Shinji's blood mist was another net.
One that eroded the first.
Blood Resonance.
His blood mist was also his "eye."
Ultimately, dreams are essentially nothing more than neural activity in the brain, the conduction and transmission of electrical signals. Even though this world is filled with demons and monsters, some principles still hold true, like the way different materials interact.
So, by using blood to invade and touch those "signals,"
Shinji could genuinely achieve this: entering dreams.
To "see," to "sense."
The compulsory education from Shinji's previous life wasn't wasted!
"You…" Yura's voice trembled slightly. "You're going to use your blood mist to enter dreams?"
"More or less." Shinji closed his eyes.
His consciousness began to split.
Part of it remained in reality.
More of it, carried by the blood mist, entered countless people's dreams.
And then, he actually did it. He saw.
Nightmares.
Countless nightmares.
People being consumed by flames. People being hunted by monsters. People watching their loved ones die one by one.
Every dream was filled with fear.
Every fear was being harvested by Gaikimaru, converted into resentment.
"Quite an appetite," Shinji murmured.
"Making an entire castle's population have nightmares at the same time…"
"Is it trying to get fat in one go?"
His consciousness moved through countless dreams, searching for a specific presence.
Not Gaikimaru.
The master of this castle.
The head of the Hōjō clan.
If he wanted to do something in these dreams…
Starting from scratch would be too slow.
Better to go straight to the most core person.
And then
Give everyone in this castle a reason to "wake up with a start."