The Great King Enma

When we passed through the gate, I could feel it. The intense amount of mana inside this palace hit me immediately. I grabbed onto my head as it quickly started to become overwhelming for me. And when I did, Shin immediately asked from behind, “Are you okay, Yukimura?”

“Yes, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.” I may have said that, but the pain only worsened as we progressed through King Enma’s castle. The floors didn’t help either. With every step we took, I didn’t hear a normal creak; it sounded as if birds were chirping.

Before I could even ask, Rentarou shouted, “Why the hell does the floor sound like that?” His booming voice echoed through the hallway we were walking through. “Is it even the floor, or are there birds in here?”

“Shhh!” Takeda whispered as he passed by one of the many lanterns that illuminated the hallway. “I’m not sure if there are birds in the underworld, but what we’re hearing is indeed the floorboards. They’re called nightingale floors.”

“How do you know that?” I asked as I looked back at the lights behind Shin that flickered off after we walked a few steps past them.

“I had the same question when I visited General Hyon’s office. For some reason, he installed them without regard for anyone else in the Onmyoji Organization.” Takeda might have chuckled when he said that, but I know he didn’t stop being cautious. And that was evident once we made it to the end of the hallway.

Takeda first stopped in front of the dazzling light in front of us before signaling us to stop walking. It was only after we all stopped, including Shin, that he proceeded forward by himself.

One… two… five… sixteen… seventeen— I counted how many seconds it took for him to get back because one thing he said to me when we went on missions by ourselves was: “If I’m ever gone for a minute, leave me behind.” And this time it only took him seventeen seconds to return to us.

When he did, he wore his usual relaxed smile. “I cleared it. It’s safe, just make sure to bow when you enter.”

“Okay,” That's what almost everyone said as we entered. The only one who questioned Takeda’s words was Rentarou.

“Why do I gotta bow?” However, after we passed through the light, we all learned the reason why he had to bow. It was because King Enma, the lord of the underworld, was waiting for us on the other side.

We all bowed as we entered, following Takeda’s lead. We kept our heads down until King Enma said, “Lift your heads.” His voice filled the room, but not like Rentarou’s. His voice was imposing; even Rentarou didn’t dare to speak up as we raised our heads.

When we were allowed to have our heads up, my eyes immediately scanned the room we were in. The floor we were standing on was made of marble. The walls were embroidered with gold patterns. Then, in the center of this room was a throne made of jade, and sitting on that throne was King Enma.

King Enma and his throne triumphed over Mezu and Gozu in size. His head rested on his right fist as his left hand stroked his long black beard. King Enma’s eyes looked down upon us as I had no choice but to look up at his fearsome expression. Nobody dared to even speak as we felt his mana despite being a great distance away from him and his throne. King Enma didn’t even speak.

The only person to break the silence was the regular-sized man who stood on King Enma’s shoulder. Unlike the king of the underworld, the man beside him had no beard; instead, all his hair seemed to go toward his head. But despite his wild hair reaching down to his feet and covering his eyes, the man’s glasses were still apparent from their shine. I saw the man open his mouth, but I couldn’t hear him. However, no one called him out, except Rentarou.

“Hey, dude, none of us can hear you!”

Hinako’s eyes widened as she heard her brother speak. She whispered in a low tone beside him. “Rentarou, close your mouth.”

“But why? We can’t even hear the dude next to him, and Enma isn’t even speaking. What’s there to be quiet for?” After her brother spoke, Hinako bowed and forced him to bow again.

“I’m sorry for his outburst. As his sister, I take full responsibility.” Hinako probably expected the two on the throne to be angry. However, King Enma’s face didn’t change, and while the man next to him did have a reaction, it was laughter. I knew he was laughing because his voice started to project throughout the entire room.

“Don’t worry about it, you don’t have to bow. Lord Enma isn’t offended in the slightest.” Hinako raised both her and Rentarou’s heads as the figure advised. “I would know because I am one of the three people who are always by Lord Enma’s side. My name is Ono no Takamura, Lord Enma’s most loyal advisor, but you five can simply call me Takamura.”

“Takamura, where are the other two if there are three of ya?” Rentarou asked as soon as his head was raised. That idiot.

“Well, those two are busy wrangling the souls of the wicked in Meido that might have escaped. Normally, a Kasha would do it, but they all followed the head Kasha to Tsuchi. That’s what you humans call Earth, Rentarou.”

“You know my name?”

“Of course, we both know all your names. You’re Ozeki Rentarou, and Ozeki Hinako is the one next to you. Next is Suki Yukimura, then Yasura Shin, and last but not least is… Takeda K—”

“Just Takeda is fine, Takamura.” Damn it, I was hoping Takamura would reveal Takeda’s given name. Even after living with him for ten years, I never came close to learning it.

“Okay then, Takeda. But Lord Enma didn’t invite you five here today to ask about your names and inform you about the Kasha problem. In fact, he didn’t even mean to invite all of you here. The only one he wanted to speak to was…” Takamura moved his pointer finger among us until it stopped. I looked around to see who it landed on, and the person whom Lord Enma wanted to speak to wasn’t surprising. “Yasura Shin! Isn’t that right, my lord?”

“Yes, you are right, Takamura. However, the Hakutaku did warn that he might bring company.” Enma’s voice made me want to look away from him, but I couldn’t bring myself to look away from him. “However, before I tell you why I require your presence, are you aware of who the Onmyoji named Abe no Seimei is?”

Abe no Seimei? Isn’t that the strongest Onmyoji in history? Takeda knows more about him than I do, but I’m at least familiar with him. But Shin just learned that yokai existed practically last week. His answer is obvious.

“No. Am I supposed to?”

“Yes, you are, for he is deeply tied to your very existence, Yasura Shin. That is why Takamura will explain to you who he was.”

Takamura cleared his throat. “Yes, my lord. I will start from the very beginning.”