(Bonus Chapter)
Chapter 51: Speculation
No matter how one looked at it, Yomi Isayama and Noriyuki Izuna had a point. The moment humanity became aware of the existence of yokai, it would inevitably trigger massive unrest. A tremendous number of yokai would be born from that collective fear and dread, which in turn would cause the power of the yokai to skyrocket.
Hagoromo Gitsune's invasion of Tokyo and her staging of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons was clearly a calculated move to expose the existence of yokai to the world.
Once the power of the yokai reached its peak, she would carry out Abe no Seimei's grand command: to completely exterminate humanity once more and establish a world exclusive to yokai.
Of course, with Hagoromo Gitsune's strength alone, wiping out humanity was highly likely an impossible pipe dream.
Even Abe no Seimei himself wouldn't be able to achieve such a feat.
However, wiping out a single region like Japan and establishing a nation where only yokai existed didn't seem entirely out of the realm of possibility.
Regarding this matter, Yumesaki could only say that this bastard Abe no Seimei was, to some extent, mentally unhinged.
Did he seriously not know that even if a yokai nation were truly established, it would instantly draw the attention of other countries?
If humans in Japan were truly driven to extinction, the nations of the world would absolutely, without a single shred of hesitation, drop nuclear bombs to completely sanitize Japan.
When that day came, just how many yokai would actually be able to withstand such a strike?
Under a nuclear blast, all living things are equal. That was no joke. A blinding flash equivalent to the surface of the sun would be more than enough to vaporize every last yokai.
Or was it that for creatures like yokai, physical attacks were completely useless?
That only supernatural power could harm them?
Even if that were the case, the yokai still wouldn't hold the absolute upper hand.
Science and exorcism had never been parallel lines that never crossed. For example, within the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Division, there was a very specific special operations team... the Ministry of Defense, Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters, Special Strategy Team!
Granted, that team had been entirely wiped out the moment they showed up by Yomi Isayama after she transformed into an Evil Spirit.
But there was no denying that they were all modern special forces soldiers equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry.
The firearms they used were all heavily modified modern weapons capable of killing Evil Spirits.
This alone was enough to prove that if modern weapons were properly modified, they could just as easily slaughter Evil Spirits and yokai alike.
This also meant that modern firepower possessed the absolute capability to eliminate yokai, and a thorough cleansing by nuclear fire would be just as devastatingly effective.
Under these circumstances, how on earth did Abe no Seimei dare to dream of exterminating humans in a single country just to build a yokai nation?
Or, to look at it another way, perhaps he had actually underestimated Abe no Seimei all along.
Maybe what the enemy wanted to destroy from the very beginning wasn't just Japan, but humanity across the entire globe.
Only when humans all over the world perished together would Abe no Seimei dare to raise a world belonging solely to yokai upon the ashes.
But then, a glaring problem arose.
Abe no Seimei was powerful, that much was true, but that was only relative to Japan. If he were placed on a global scale in this world, Abe no Seimei wouldn't even rank among the first-rate factions. At very best, he would belong to a second-rate power.
On what basis did he think he could wipe out humanity across the entire world?
Was it simply because this was a crossover world, and the main plot just happened to take place in Japan?
Outside of Japan, did the rest of the world truly lack other supernatural power users?
What absolute nonsense.
If that were the case, with the kind of morality the Japanese factions possessed, they would have conquered the entire world a long time ago. A bunch of bastards who understood petty etiquette but completely lacked grand justice—could anyone honestly expect them to be good news?
Right at that moment, a sudden thought struck Yumesaki. This world was integrated with Ga-Rei, and within the lore of Ga-Rei, there was a highly specific and terrifying setting.
The Seventeen Naraku.
The Naraku here didn't refer to the yokai named Naraku from the world of Inuyasha, but rather a grand plan of eradication—more accurately, a physical manifestation of a supernatural system designed to drive humanity toward absolute extinction.
They didn't refer to seventeen independent individuals, but rather to the final act of the story where seventeen massive chasms of calamity known as "Naraku" opened up simultaneously across various corners of the globe.
These abysses were the absolute source of Vengeful Spirits, continuously spewing out a limitless tide of Evil Spirits to drag the world down to destruction.
Every single Naraku location would manifest a unique Guardian or a symbolic entity born from the local mythology, history, or cultural symbols of that specific region.
Japan's was Asura, the great nation to the East had Qin Shi Huang, India had Ganesha, Egypt had Anubis, Turkey had the Trojan Horse, Russia had the Matryoshka Doll, Italy had Julius Caesar, England had the Red Queen Elizabeth, America had the Angel of Death Statue of Liberty, while Mexico had Tezcatlipoca...
To put it simply, the Seventeen Naraku could be understood as chasms of pure despair capable of crushing humanity, manifesting all at once across the globe.
If those things truly opened up, it wasn't out of the question that they could plunge humanity into absolute, catastrophic ruin.
So, was Abe no Seimei setting his sights on this exact plan?
With his own power alone, it was impossible to exterminate humans worldwide, but if he could trigger the awakening of the Seventeen Naraku, it wasn't entirely impossible to pull off.
If he actually succeeded, what would the consequences be?
Caught completely off guard, humanity could very well take a devastating, irreversible hit.
When that time came, the entire world would be choked by death, disaster, fear, and chaos, and there was no telling just how many more yokai and Curse Wombs would be born from that malice.
Then, Abe no Seimei would only need to raise his hand and sound the rallying cry to deal the final, lethal blow to a fractured humanity.
That picture was truly...
Even though this was all just Yumesaki's own speculation, he felt that his theory wasn't necessarily wide of the mark.
If things were truly as he suspected, then Yumesaki could only say that this bastard Abe no Seimei was completely devoid of human decency.
Not being chopped into a thousand pieces would be an absolute crime against justice; heck, even being hacked a thousand times wouldn't be enough to vent the sheer hatred he deserved.
During dinner, Yumesaki laid out his theories to Nero, Medea, and Serie.
Medea listened to Yumesaki's speculation in absolute silence, before speaking up softly, "So, does this matter have anything to do with you, Master?"
Yumesaki replied, "Honestly, I've thought about that too. I'm not originally from this world anyway, so what does it matter to me if Abe no Seimei wants to tear this world apart? Besides, I can leave this world whenever I want."
"No matter how strong Abe no Seimei is, he can't do a single thing to me."
"I just came here for a vacation, after all."
"I can't exactly be expected to play the world's savior every single time, right?"
Medea let out an understanding hum as she sliced into her beef steak, gesturing with her fork for him to keep going, silently signaling that she was still listening.
Yumesaki let out a bitter smile and continued, "But I just can't bring myself to ignore it. If Abe no Seimei wants to destroy this country, fine, whatever. But he wants to wipe out the whole world, and that includes the great nation to the East."
"Even if this world isn't my original world, and that country isn't technically my homeland, that place is still Huaxia."
"For that reason alone, I can't just sit back and watch it happen."
Medea looked toward Yumesaki with a subtle, knowing smile, and said, "After all that talking, Master, you still haven't stated what you actually plan to do."
Yumesaki declared, "My plan? My plan is incredibly simple. We just go beat him up and get it over with!"
Medea countered, "But everything you just said is merely your own speculation."
"Doesn't matter."
Yumesaki spoke with absolute, blunt honesty, "Even though I usually like to reason things out with people, I don't mind throwing reason out the window every once in a while."
"Since Hagoromo Gitsune wants to exterminate humans, then I'll just exterminate Hagoromo Gitsune. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"
Nero couldn't help but burst into a grand, boisterous laugh, "Umu! It makes perfect sense! Absolutely brilliant logic, Praetor! I am completely behind you, let us wage a magnificent battle!"
Medea smiled faintly, "What a delightful coincidence. I happen to require a vast number of yokai for my experiments. Hagoromo Gitsune and her underlings will make absolute, perfect research materials."
Serie added in her usual detached, calm voice, "I have no objections. You all decide."
Yumesaki snapped his fingers with a sharp click, "Then it's settled. Tomorrow, we gather our forces, march straight into Kyoto, and take down Hagoromo Gitsune."
With the decision firmly made, Yumesaki slept exceptionally soundly that night.
Early the next morning, right after finishing breakfast, he made a quick trip back to the Fate world, summoning Cu Chulainn, Heracles, King Hassan, Medusa, and EMIYA over in their entirety.
Upon hearing that they were going to strike down a yokai plotting the extinction of humanity, every single one of them agreed to the campaign without a shred of hesitation.
Shortly after, Yumesaki led the formidable group straight to the Nura Clan mansion.
Nurarihyon, Natsume, and Nyanko-sensei were right in the middle of eating their breakfast when they suddenly looked up to see Yumesaki walking in with a pack of monsters exuding terrifyingly overwhelming auras. Every single one of them widened their eyes in absolute shock.
The entire Nura Clan compound instantly fell into a chaotic uproar.
The pipe clattered loudly out of Nurarihyon's mouth and hit the floor with a sharp thud. For a terrifying second, he thought the exact thing he feared most had come to pass—that this group of individuals was planning to wipe out the Nura Clan from the inside out.
But in the very next instant, he stood completely frozen as he heard Yumesaki speak:
"I'm planning to launch an attack on Hagoromo Gitsune. Are you guys tagging along?"
"Huh?" Nurarihyon's face blanked out in sheer confusion.
Natsume asked with immense curiosity, "What exactly happened, Mr. Yumesaki?"
When they formed their alliance yesterday, he could tell that Yumesaki didn't give a single damn about Hagoromo Gitsune's faction. If her people came looking for trouble, Yumesaki wouldn't mind swatting them down, but if she stayed out of his way, Yumesaki was far too lazy to go looking for her.
Why the sudden, uncharacteristic shift today? Why was he suddenly so proactive about picking a fight with Hagoromo Gitsune?
Could Hagoromo Gitsune have done something to provoke him?
Yumesaki gave a brief, simple summary of his deductions from the previous night, leaving Natsume listening with a pounding heart.
What shocked Natsume even more was the revelation that Hagoromo Gitsune was actually the mother of Abe no Seimei, and that this legendary Onmyoji was the ultimate mastermind behind humanity's planned eradication.
If this piece of news ever leaked out, the entirety of Japan would be thrown into absolute chaos.
One had to realize that in this day and age, the number of people who practically worshipped Abe no Seimei was by no means small. If they found out their grand idol wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth, the fallout would be catastrophic.
At the very least, Natsume felt the distinct, jarring sensation of an idol's image shattering into pieces.
Nurarihyon's eyes flickered rapidly, trying to gauge whether Yumesaki's words were true or false.
But he was incredibly quick to adapt. Regardless of whether Yumesaki's theory was true or a total fabrication, this was an unparalleled, golden opportunity to crush Hagoromo Gitsune once and for all.
Judging by Yumesaki and the powerhouse crew standing right behind him, not a single one of them was weak. Each radiated an unfathomable, spine-chilling aura that made his very soul shudder.
Without a doubt, these individuals were not a single bit weaker than himself—in fact, they were significantly stronger.
For experts of this caliber to hunt down Hagoromo Gitsune in a massive group was honestly like using a massive siege engine to crack a tiny nut. Nurarihyon genuinely couldn't fathom a single scenario where Hagoromo Gitsune could possibly survive this.
Even if Abe no Seimei himself dared to crawl out from behind the scenes, he would be instantly beaten to death on the spot.
A bitter feud spanning several hundred years was indeed long overdue for a final conclusion.
"We're going! Of course we're going! I'll gather my forces this instant and march alongside you!"
The moment he confirmed his side held a literal one-hundred-percent chance of victory, Nurarihyon immediately declared his total agreement, deciding to personally lead the charge to deliver a genuinely massive, devastating surprise to Hagoromo Gitsune.
He could only hope Hagoromo Gitsune wouldn't die of sheer joy.
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