Questions

While Yukimura fixed her eyes on the Johari mirror, Takeda walked toward King Enma and his throne. As he did, Takeda straightened his tie before King Enma spoke to him. “What do you want, Takeda? I believe the only person I had business with was the human Kishin. Your group can leave my throne room now.”

“Sorry, King Enma…” Takeda knelt before him as he continued to speak. “But I have some questions to ask you. I believe only you can answer them, and that is why I traveled down to Meido to meet you.”

“Pfft… Bahaha! Takeda, are you kneeling? All you had to do was—”

Before Rentarou could finish laughing at Takeda, Hinako whispered, “Be quiet or I’m going to ignore you for the rest of the day.” And like magic, Rentarou silenced himself.

“A free-spirited one, I see…” he shifted his gaze from Rentarou to Takeda. “And Takeda, you’ve piqued my interest with the questions you wish to ask me. So, I will allow you to ask until the boy returns from the Johari mirror.”

“Thank you,” Takeda said as he stood up straight, staring into King Enma’s intimidating eyes. “For my first question, did you encounter a Hakutaku recently?”

Enma stared into Takeda’s eyes as if he were gauging him before he answered. “Yes, I have. It appeared in my palace not too long ago, but why is that any of your concern? Are you going to ask what it told me?”

“No. I’m asking because I encountered one three weeks ago. It warned me of the Kishin’s emergence, it warned about the inevitable war between Onmyoji and yokai that’s been brewing since ancient times, and the Hakutaku even told me that the Kishin-plagued boy will be the one to end that war. However, one thing about that message has been bothering me. It said that for him to end the war, he mustn’t be swayed by the gourd.”

“So, you’re asking about the identity of the gourd that the Hakutaku was referring to?”

“No, after the information I heard from Shin’s encounter with the Yuki-onna, I deduced that the gourd referred to Nurarihyon.” King Enma widened his eyes when Takeda mentioned the yokai’s name. “I know that he’s referred to as the commander of yokai, but that doesn’t explain anything. So Lord Enma, I’d like to ask who exactly is Nurarihyon? Why is he starting a war?”

Immediately after Takeda’s questions came to a halt, King Enma erupted in laughter. His voice filled the room, and as he laughed, Takeda clenched his teeth. “What’s so funny, King Enma?”

“Nothing. It’s just funny you mentioned his name because he is another yokai who’s deeply related to Abe no Seimei.”

“Can you explain, please?”

“Of course, I did say I’d answer all of your questions.” King Enma cleared his throat before he continued. “Not long after Abe no Seimei died of old age, he appeared in this room as you have now. The only difference was that he was there for judgment, unlike you and your group; however, that judgment never came. I offered him a favor before I cast down my judgment, to thank him for taking care of Shuten-douji. But I didn’t expect him to ask me to resurrect him. Normally, I wouldn’t, but because of his achievements, I gave him a second chance at life and brought him back to life in his prime.”

“What does Nurarihyon have to do with this?”

“I’m getting there, Takeda… At the time, Nurarihyon was both one of my generals and the commander of the yokai. However, after I brought Abe no Seimei back to life, I noticed that Nurarihyon began to sneak off more and more from his duties. That is why one day I tasked Takamura to spy on him, and can you guess who he found Nurarihyon talking to?”

“Was it Abe no Seimei?”

“Yes, Takeda, you’re correct. Nurarihyon spent several years going back and forth between Tsuchi and Meido to visit Abe no Seimei, who was living away from humanity. In that period of time, Takamura observed the two becoming great friends. They’d often go out as they sought out yokai, and despite being a human, Abe no Seimei was quite friendly to them, regardless of whether the yokai had killed anyone or not. However, those peaceful times ended for the two once humans discovered Abe no Seimei was still alive.”

“Don’t tell me they—”

“Yes. He may have died peacefully at first, but after discovering the fact that he was alive, humanity grew scared. They were afraid that Abe no Seimei betrayed them and was helping yokai instead. That was the reason why a group of humans at the time kidnapped the Onmyoji to publicly execute him. So, you can only imagine Nurarihyon’s surprise when he came back to see Abe no Seimei burning at the stake. Would you care to guess what the yokai did next?”

“The answer is obvious, Nurarihyon killed the humans after they killed Abe no Seimei.”

“Incorrect. According to Takamura, Nurarihyon was about to, but Abe no Seimei stopped him. While being burned at the stake, the Onmyoji told the commander of the yokai not to punish those humans and to talk to him in his final moments instead. Takamura couldn’t hear the entire conversation, but he could make out the fact that Nurarihyon was told to wait for a millennium. And so, Nurarihyon has been in Tsuchi since.”

“A millennium?” Takeda asked as his heart rate increased, but he didn’t dare reveal his nervousness to the others in the room. “When did he die?”

Enma didn’t answer immediately. He first closed his eyes as he thought to himself. It only took a moment before he answered. “It would be exactly a millennium in a few hours based on Tsuchi’s time. And I presume that is also when the war will start.”

“What do you mean, a few hours? The war was said to begin on Halloween. We entered Meido on the 27th of October. We should have days to prepare.”

“Currently, it’s the 30th of October in Tsuchi. Time in the underworld moves differently from your plane of existence. So, if you want the boy to stop it, you’d best get a—”

Before King Enma could finish speaking, Shin rolled out of the Johari mirror.