Chapter 58: The Uproar
Nausea, dizziness, disorientation, vomiting... One negative status effect after another swept into Nurarihyon's heart like a sudden landslide or a towering tsunami.
He couldn't comprehend it. He was clearly a powerful yokai commander, so why was he reduced to being as fragile as a common prisoner at this exact moment?
Realizing he could no longer endure the torment, Nurarihyon turned his gaze toward Yumesaki, hoping that Yumesaki would step forward to restrain his companion.
However, when he looked at Yumesaki's designated spot, his pupils shrank violently.
Because at this point, Yumesaki had already vanished.
Disappearing along with him were Medea, Medusa, as well as Serie—several individuals in total.
How... How shameless, aaaaaaaah!
Nurarihyon had always believed that his own habit of freeloading at other people's homes made him exceptionally thick-skinned, but witnessing Yumesaki's swift exit today, he finally understood that he was still far too decent.
At this moment, Nurarihyon honestly felt like rolling his eyes back and passing out on the spot.
The following day, when Nurarihyon went to meet Yumesaki...
Well, the reality was that he couldn't meet Yumesaki at all.
Yumesaki was incredibly shrewd; he knew full well that his actions from the previous night would inevitably draw complaints from the old yokai, so he opted to return straight home, denying the other party any opportunity to voice their grievances.
On the other hand, when Nero returned, she lodged a heavy protest against Yumesaki, asserting that she had gone to great lengths to perform a celebratory song, only for Yumesaki to flee the scene before she could even finish.
"Praetor, did you do that on purpose?"
Confronted by Nero's interrogation, Yumesaki openly admitted that he had indeed done it intentionally. "When other people sing, it costs money; when you sing, it costs lives. I genuinely believe it would be best if you abstained from singing altogether in the future."
"If you truly persist in singing, I am gravely concerned that you will end up with no friends left, Nero."
"Hah! Nonsense, that is absolutely impossible!"
Yet, faced with Yumesaki's earnest counsel, Nero proudly puffed out her ample chest, declaring that such an outcome was utterly impossible. After all, she was the Emperor of Rome.
An Emperor required no companions.
Therefore, she could never lose her friends to her singing, because fundamentally, she possessed no friends to begin with.
Yumesaki: ...
Ah, well. Confronted by such an astonishing display of logic, Yumesaki found himself entirely at a loss for words.
And right as Yumesaki and Nero were engaged in their debate, the entirety of Japan was thrown into a massive uproar due to a certain incident.
What incident?
Naturally, it was the total disappearance of Nijo Castle.
The previous night, Emiya had unleashed a single shot of a Fake Caladbolg. Not only did it completely obliterate Hagoromo Gitsune's trump card, but the entirety of Nijo Castle had also been reduced to absolute ash beneath the destructive force of that projectile.
Leaving nothing behind at the scene save for a massive, bottomless crater.
Because Serie and Medea had jointly erected a Bounded Field the night before, the citizens of Kyoto had remained completely oblivious to the cataclysmic events unfolding inside Nijo Castle.
However, once the Bounded Field dissolved early this morning, the tragic state of Nijo Castle was laid bare before the public eye.
Particularly after being covered extensively by television news broadcasts, the entire nation of Japan fell into a state of shock.
What sort of place was Nijo Castle?
It was not merely a renowned historical landmark within Kyoto, but it also served as an enduring symbol of the Edo Shogunate's authority. Its cultural significance in the hearts of the Japanese people was practically akin to the Forbidden City in China.
Though it might not be as opulent, magnificent, sprawling, or sacred as the Forbidden City, its core nature was fundamentally similar.
Consequently, with Nijo Castle vanishing overnight and leaving only a colossal crater in its wake, the resulting reaction from the public could easily be anticipated.
Innumereable news outlets began scrambling to report on the phenomenon, ensuring that every corner of Japan became aware of it. People from all walks of life were frantically searching for clues regarding the mystery of Nijo Castle's disappearance, and the police presence at the site was as thick as a cow's fur.
The news even reached overseas netizens, who promptly began utilizing the incident as material for memes and entertainment.
Many individuals strongly suspected that this had to be an act of terrorism.
The issue, however, lay in the fact that to completely atomize Nijo Castle and carve out a crater of that magnitude, the sheer volume of gunpowder or missiles required would be staggering.
Standard military missiles were entirely incapable of achieving such a feat; it would require a continuous barrage of heavy ordnance to yield such devastation.
The resulting shockwaves from those explosions would have easily rattled the entire city of Kyoto.
Yet, during the previous night, the residents of Kyoto had not detected even the faintest sound of an explosion, which was profoundly bizarre.
As a result, various experts were left completely unable to formulate a single logical explanation from beginning to end.
Meanwhile, for the Onmyoji and Jujutsu Sorcerers belonging to the supernatural side of the world, they found the situation to be even more unsettling.
They were acutely aware that Nijo Castle had long since been converted into the primary stronghold for Hagoromo Gitsune's faction, which was why the site had been closed off to the general public for a long time.
A single night passes, Nijo Castle vanishes, and Hagoromo Gitsune along with all her subordinates vanish right along with it.
Judging by the current state of the site and the residual energy fluctuations left behind, Hagoromo Gitsune had most likely suffered an ambush and had been erased from existence alongside Nijo Castle by an unknown powerhouse.
Thus, the question arose: who exactly was responsible for eradicating Hagoromo Gitsune?
One had to remember that Hagoromo Gitsune was the former Lord of Pandemonium. Even though she had suffered a defeat at the hands of Nurarihyon once before, that did little to diminish her reputation.
In the hearts of many yokai, Hagoromo Gitsune remained the definitive Lord of Pandemonium.
Because Hagoromo Gitsune was simply too powerful.
So powerful that the collective supernatural community of the entire nation possessed no effective means of opposing her and her subordinates. If they had, they would never have permitted Hagoromo Gitsune to occupy Nijo Castle, let alone dominate Kyoto.
Now, this towering mountain of a threat had abruptly vanished, wiped out by someone.
The supernatural underworld was thrown into total chaos, endlessly deliberating over what sort of individual could have executed such a feat.
After all, there was no one within Japan capable of doing this. Could it possibly be the work of an overseas faction?
If that were truly the case, what could their motives be?
Had Hagoromo Gitsune somehow offended them, or was this foreign power attempting to enter Japan to instigate a period of unrest?
If it wasn't a foreign power, then who else could have done it?
For a time, countless questions arose one after another, keeping the upper echelons of Japan incredibly busy and plagued with headaches.
On one hand, they had to provide a plausible explanation to the public who remained ignorant of the supernatural truth.
On the other hand, they had to investigate the actual truth behind the incident.
Consequently, for the next several days, the authorities of Japan were either working overtime or currently en route to work overtime due to this event. Everyone harbored a deep-seated frustration in their hearts, wishing for nothing more than to apprehend the main perpetrator and give them a thorough thrashing.
And as for these matters, Yumesaki was naturally completely oblivious.
He only knew that because of Nijo Castle's disappearance, the entire country was in an uproar. Whether in Tokyo or Kyoto, people everywhere were actively discussing the topic.
Even Senzaemon Nakiri went so far as to bring Erina Nakiri along for a visit to his residence to inquire about the matter.
Erina Nakiri in particular was consumed by curiosity regarding the event.
The manner in which Nijo Castle had vanished was simply too bizarre, and Erina Nakiri felt that it had to be the handiwork of someone possessing supernatural power. Thus, she had come to visit in order to ask if Yumesaki held any inside knowledge.
Yumesaki chose not to hide the truth from the duo, stating matter-of-factly: "I was the one who did it."
"Huh?" Erina Nakiri's face blanked into utter bewilderment, unable to comprehend why Yumesaki would want to demolish Nijo Castle. Even if Yumesaki hailed from the land of China, if he wanted to destroy something, he should have targeted a certain controversial shrine instead.
Why vent his frustrations on Nijo Castle?
Senzaemon Nakiri inquired cautiously: "There must be some sort of misunderstanding involved here, right?"
Yumesaki shook his head and replied: "There is no misunderstanding. The reason for destroying Nijo Castle was simply because it served as Hagoromo Gitsune's lair. While engaging Hagoromo Gitsune, I accidentally exerted a bit too much force, thereby erasing Nijo Castle in the process."
Erina Nakiri was instantly struck with immense shock, exchanging a stunned look with her grandfather.
Nijo Castle turned out to be Hagoromo Gitsune's stronghold, and Grandfather never mentioned a word of this to me.
Senzaemon Nakiri felt equally helpless, as he himself had been entirely unaware of this fact. However, he now finally understood why Nijo Castle had vanished—it was all because of Hagoromo Gitsune.
This was truly... a disaster of unforeseen proportions.
"Then what is the current status of Hagoromo Gitsune, Mr. Yumesaki?" Senzaemon Nakiri's eyes flickered slightly as he posed the question in a measured tone.
Whether Nijo Castle vanished or not held no personal relevance to him. If it hadn't been for Erina Nakiri's insistence on uncovering the truth, he wouldn't have bothered coming at all.
His primary concern rested entirely on Hagoromo Gitsune; after all, their family's Zashiki Warashi had been targeted by her.
Therefore, compared to the news about Nijo Castle, he cared far more about the life and death of Hagoromo Gitsune.
Yumesaki read Senzaemon Nakiri's thoughts and stated: "You will most likely never see Hagoromo Gitsune again in the future."
Hearing those words, Senzaemon Nakiri let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
In his heart, Hagoromo Gitsune had always been like a massive mountain weighing down upon his chest, heavy and suffocating to the point of making it hard to breathe.
Even though Yumesaki had previously driven back Hagoromo Gitsune's subordinates, Senzaemon Nakiri had remained unable to truly settle his mind.
Now, hearing this definitive statement from Yumesaki, he could finally ease his worries.
Yumesaki observed the other party's slightly slouched back suddenly straighten up, realizing that this Demon Commander of the Culinary World had been enduring a considerable amount of pressure.
But now that the pressure had dissipated, his entire demeanor had instantly revitalized.
After seeing off Senzaemon Nakiri and Erina Nakiri.
Asuna came by to meet him next.
Hagoromo Gitsune had vanished along with Nijo Castle in a single night, and while the public remained clueless as to who was responsible.
An innate intuition told Asuna that this event was inextricably linked to Yumesaki.
Because Yumesaki possessed both the credentials and the raw capability to pull off such a feat.
Hence, she had rushed over to ask Yumesaki directly whether he was indeed the one behind it.
"Yes, it was me."
Yumesaki had already confessed to Erina Nakiri, so he naturally had no intention of keeping it a secret from Asuna.
Asuna took a seat on the sofa, her face filled with astonishment as she stared at Yumesaki, unable to resist asking: "Why?"
Yumesaki had previously seemed entirely disinclined to involve himself in this matter, so why had he suddenly reversed his decision, completely uprooting Hagoromo Gitsune's forces in a single stroke while simultaneously pulverizing Nijo Castle?
Yumesaki poured himself a cup of coffee, and after taking a slow sip, he calmly outlined his reasoning.
"If Hagoromo Gitsune merely desired to wipe out Japan, I wouldn't have spared it a thought. However, they actually harbored ambitions to exterminate the whole of humanity, including the great nation to the east. That is something I simply cannot tolerate."
"Even though I am not a native of this specific world, that place still bears the name of China."
"Hagoromo Gitsune's actions gave me every reason to grant her death."
Hearing this, a look of sudden realization dawned upon Asuna's face. "And so, you killed her."
"More or less."
"Then what about Abe no Seimei? He is the true mastermind behind everything, isn't he?"
As Asuna uttered those words, her brows furrowed tightly, her gaze clouded with confusion, carrying a deep, profound sense of disappointment.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
70 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter (Up to 5 bonus chapters per week).
Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters from Webnovel here:
patreon.com/FaaanzKun