Zu Generals

The Suiko guided them for several minutes before stopping. “What’s the matter?” Takeda asked while reminding the yokai of the sword near its back.

“Oh, nothing. I’m just trying to make sure I remember the way.”

“You don’t remember the way?”

“No, I do, boss, it’s…” the Suiko’s eyes shifted from left to right before it pointed its webbed fingers to the right. “That way. Follow me.”

As the group continued to follow the yokai, one question formed in Shin’s mind: Why did it not say anything when it pointed to me? Is it because it doesn’t know me, or is it because of—

“We’re here!” The Suiko said this as it led the group to a grand gate. The sheer scale of it rivaled the tallest buildings any of them have seen. Its doors were predominantly black, but rust grew alongside the bottom of the gate. And next to that gate were two distinct yokai who stood on either side of it.

The one on the left had the head of a horse while holding a whip in its hand. The yokai on the right had the head of an ox and tightly gripped onto a ginormous axe. Despite their different heads and weapons, both of the yokai were humanoid oni and enormous ones, too.

“This doesn’t seem like Enma’s castle, Suiko.” Takeda nudged the blade closer to the yokai’s back.

“Y-Y-You’re right, sir. But these are two of Lord Enma’s most important generals, Mezu and Gozu. They may be guarding Jigoku, but I’m sure they can take you guys to Enma’s castle.”

“So you didn’t know?”

“I did know… it just… uh, moves. Yup. If you let me talk to them, I can figure it out, and we can be on our merry way.”

Takeda’s gaze pierced the Suiko as it nervously smiled at him for a moment. Takeda knew it was lying, but he still said, “This is your last chance.”

“Thank you, boss. You won’t be disappointed,” the Suiko said while skipping over to Mezu and Gozu. However, even when the Suiko was at the oni’s feet, they didn’t pay it any mind. No matter how much it shouted, cried, or begged, there was no reaction until the Suiko kicked the horse-faced oni’s foot.

When it did, the yokai bent down until its face hovered above the Suiko’s body. “What do you want, Suiko? I don’t recall any of your kind being sentenced to eternal punishment. Why are you here?” As it spoke, the equine’s yokai breath felt like steam on the Suiko’s scales.

“W-W-Well, you see, I have something to discuss with both you and Mezu—”

“I’m Mezu, and that’s Gozu!”

“R-Right… Anyway, I need to discuss something about Enma and the group behind me.” Mezu turned his head to see the five humans behind the yokai.

“What are they here for? To complain about punishment?”

“N-No…” the Suiko then whispered, “They’re living people.” When the yokai revealed this, Mezu’s eyes widened. Mezu then placed the Suiko down as it stood up and began to quietly converse with Gozu.

“What did they say?” Takeda asked when the Suiko returned.

“W-Well, you see… they didn’t give me anything conclusive. So we’ll have to—”

“Denied!” They both said simultaneously. “Only the dead can speak with Lord Enma. So to visit him, all of you must die!”

Gozu rushed at the group like the bull he was. He may have stopped a great distance away from them, but he could still reach the five with his axe. Before the axe slammed down on them, Takeda shouted, “Hinako,” as he tossed his sword.

Takeda didn’t need to say what to do next; she already knew. Hinako lifted Takeda’s kodachi as she began to mouth a spell. When the incantation finished, so did Gozu’s strike. The two weapons began to clash, revealing Hinako’s yellow mana forming a barrier around the group.

“What is she doing? Is she actually standing up to Gozu?”

“No,” Takeda responded to the Suiko as he brought out and loaded the pistol in his hand. “She only started to seal the damage into the sword; it’s not like she’s using strength to fight back against it. However, it is effective in stalling, and now we can use it for a counter-attack.” Then, Takeda grimaced as he began to shoot Gozu in the thigh.

“What are you doing, Takeda? You know bullets won’t work well on tough yokai! This is how you take down a massive one!” Rentarou jumped into the fray as his body began to grow nearly to the size of Gozu. “You gotta beat them at their own game!” He said before punching Gozu in the ribs.

As the bullets pierced Gozu and the impact from Rentarou’s fist resonated through his body, he didn’t bat an eye. His focus remained on completely crushing Hinako first. “You think attacks like that will faze me? Maybe in a thousand years they will!” The bovine yokai laughed as Takeda’s sword began to crack. “Is this the best you humans who infiltrated Hell have to offer?”

While Gozu remained strong against Takeda, Hinako, and Rentarou, Yukimura didn’t once move her blade. She kept the edge of it pointed at Mezu, who was cracking its whip on the ground.

That dim-witted Gozu… He just charged in with no regard for a plan… But, maybe that’s good. He drew the attention of half of them, and I think the Suiko will try to save its own hide. I only have to worry about those two over there. Lucky!

Yukimura and Shin saw Mezu swing the whip toward Rentarou’s enlarged body. When she saw this, Yukimura pointed her sword toward Rentarou. “Wall!” As Yukimura commanded, a wall of ice was erected behind Rentarou’s back; however, it didn’t do anything to stop the whip.

It may have looked like it was going for Rentarou, but before making contact with the wall, it weaved. The whip moved as if it had a mind of its own as its target switched from Rentarou to—

“Yukimura!” Shin charged ahead of where Yukimura stood. She may have seemed ready to defend against it, but after Shin saw her cast that spell, she looked unsteady. She wasn’t fatigued, but Yukimura was shaking; it was unlike her.

As the whip approached Shin, he extended his right arm out, and Mezu smiled. “Are you trying to use your body as a shield for the girl? Go right ahead, human!” Mezu then proceeded to unleash a variety of slashes on Shin’s body.

Some were fast, some were slow, but they were all deadly. Every flick of the whip Mezu showcased was backed by the skill it accumulated over thousands of years of protecting Jigoku. And yet, even with that skill, Shin managed to catch Mezu’s whip with his right arm.

Mezu’s eyes widened at such a feat. The yokai was not only marveled at the fact that Shin was able to catch his whip, but Mezu couldn’t believe the wounds inflicted on Shin were already healed. Only the blood remained on Shin’s body, but even that was beginning to disappear. As the blood soaked into Shin’s skin, his right arm began to fiercely glow. Its scarlet mana slowly leaked out as Shin channeled all of his strength into that arm. Mezu couldn’t even react as Shin suddenly jerked the whip toward himself.

There was so much power behind that motion that for a second, Mezu was caught off guard. The equine yokai was swept off his feet and was now on the way to colliding his skull with Meido’s sandy floors. And despite falling, Mezu didn’t struggle. The yokai only loosened its body as it thought.

Was a human able to best me in strength? No… That wasn’t the power of a human. That was his mana… The mana of that bastard Shuten-douji! Why is that human using it? That oni and all of his mana are supposed to be sealed away! Wait, no, remember Mezu. Lord Enma said an individual with his mana would come; it must be that boy.

As Mezu’s colossal body collided with the ground, the impact echoed throughout Meido. It made the Suiko’s eyes bulge out, and Gozu even lifted their axe. Neither could believe one of Lord Enma’s generals fell on their back, to a human no less.

“Mezu!” Gozu shouted while racing to the other general’s side. He held onto Mezu before laughing in its face. “I can’t believe you got knocked down by a human, Mezu! I told you, you should’ve been using a better weapon than that whip of yours. Now you’ve gotten all weak.”

“Gozu, you idiot. I didn’t lose to a human, look at him!” In that moment, Gozu turned their head to look at Shin.

“I don’t understand how you got beaten by that human. He’s not even super muscular like us.”

“No, you bull! Look at his arm!” After Mezu’s yelling, Gozu reinspected Shin, focusing on his arm. When Gozu stared at it for a moment, the yokai began to shake.

“I-Is that mana—”

“Yes, you bull. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. That mana in his arm belongs to him.”

“Who’s this ‘him’ you two are talking about?” Takeda sneakily appeared on Gozu’s shoulder without the two yokai realizing.

“How did you get there, human? Who are you?”

“Mezu, who I am, doesn’t matter much, but you can call me Takeda. What matters is what you know about the Kishin inside of Shin?” When the two generals heard the K-word, both of their tails stood straight.

“K-Kishin? What’s that? I never heard of it. Did you?”

“Stop trying to lie to him, Gozu. Takeda probably already heard us talking, and Lord Enma will probably tell him anyway.”

“Tell me what?”

“Well, not you, but the Kishin boy. A Hakutaku appeared not too long ago, and since then, Lord Enma has been expecting his arrival.”

“So will you lead us to King Enma, or do I have to still fight you guys?” Takeda flashed a few of the talismans in his pockets before he continued. “I still have a lot more to go through if we are to fight.”

“No, no,” Mezu said. “We can’t harm you now since we know that you are Lord Enma’s exalted guests. We’ll begin summoning the entrance for you right now. You should go tell your group below that as—”

Before Mezu could finish, the gate to Enma’s castle already appeared. It was a grand gate of the same size as the gate to Jigoku, but unlike it, this gate was well taken care of. The gate that appeared retained its emerald luster and had golden rims on the edge. Even when it opened, there was no creak; there was only a golden light as two figures emerged from it.

One was male, and the other was female, but they were both wearing a white cloth over their bodies. The male had a purple man bun and muscles that could be seen even through the cloth. On the other hand, the female had streaks of black and white hair along with golden-rimmed glasses. However, both of these individuals had the same soulless expression on their faces. And their faces were both ones that every Onmyoji would recognize.