A Tale of Forgotten Gods

Chapter 111: The Demonic Spirit

In world six, the baboon-robed man jumped from a tree and landed on the ground.

It was a place surrounded with red spider lilies as he walked through a pathway and reached slowly toward a vast forest line. He slowly entered inside the tree lines and stopped near a vast shrine.

”That is the shrine of the ruler of the west... Kureha.”

He pulled out the Shikon Jewel and stepped forward toward the gateway of the shrine.

The red spider lilies swayed in the wind as the baboon-robed figure stopped near the place. Their blood-red petals seemed to follow his movement, turning slightly as if they were watching.

He looked at the old gate, which had been standing so long that the concept of decay had given up on it, the dark wood giving it a very peculiar look. Above the entrance, a symbol of the half-crescent moon was carved into it.

Yumikoto grinned beneath the ape skull and planted one of the shards in the shrine.

The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the world shifted. The forest behind him vanished, leaving only the red lily trees and the shrine ahead. ”Ruler of the west, I wake you up.”

The black shard in the wood heated up as the shard’s gate opened in slow motion.

Inside lay a man with his eyes closed. He had a conspicuous blue moon mark on the center of his forehead and two blue straps on both his cheeks that had rough edges like flames. His long white hair scattered around as his body stirred and opened his eyes slowly.

His body lifted forward as the solid iron armor clattered against his pale skin.

The golden eyes looked at the baboon-robed man who watched it without any words. ”Who are you? And why must you wake up, I, Lord Kureha?”

Yumikoto was on one of his knees and muttered. ”Unexpected turn, Lord Kureha... you may call me... Naraka, a demon.”

”Your scent speaks more; you are a half demon with multiple low Youkai merged into a human body. What could be your purpose to wander here?”

”I wish you would join me and find shards with me.”

”I refuse.” Kureha said bluntly without a single of hesitation while narrowing his eyes. ”You are trying to use me? That’s stupidity; if you want to get spared, leave this place.”

Yumikoto kept looking at the ground and then murmured. ”The other three will wake up and may destroy you if you wouldn’t be stro—”

He couldn’t finish his words before his hand was ripped apart; he looked ahead, but Kureha didn’t even move from his place.

The ruler squinted his eyes in a warning. ”That is not my concern, and I can obliterate them any time I wish.”

”I’ll give you half the shards, to make you even stronger.”

”Pathetic, as expected of a half demon. I don’t demand something I already have.” Kureha stared with a deadpan face and turned his back on Yumikoto, his golden eyes dull in uninterest. The red spider lilies outside the shrine swayed almost as if mocking the half-demon’s futile attempt.

Without saying a word, Kureha left the shrine he had been sleeping in for centuries.

Yumikoto walked toward the shrine and plucked out the embedded shard and grunted. ”I’ll watch how your arrogance will lead to your demise.”

With that he disappeared from the sight as his hand had regenerated again.

Outside, one of his incarnations had been waiting, the woman threw four shards at him who caught it in his grasp.

Yumikoto walked away without any words, still thinking of the failure.

***

Kiyori entered a large village and looked around. The farmers were working in their fields under the sun as sweat dropped from their faces. Her senses caught up to something strange, a scent of fading miasma, which meant it was a place where a demon was living.

Her eyes darted around and found an old woman. Kiyori walked toward her and asked. ”This village had an unusual presence; have you ever seen something strange?”

”No... with that clothing, are you a priestess?” The old woman’s low voice reached her ear as she glanced at the huts.

”Yes, this place needs an exorcism.”

The old woman looked at her suspiciously and muttered. ”There was a monk who also said something similar and ran away after stealing...”

”I won’t take anything.” Kiyori said immediately.

The old woman narrowed her eyes and studied her slightly tanned face, looking at the messy hair. ”It has been three weeks, and people go missing in the dawn near the emperor’s estate. His daughter is also sick, and he tries to keep her safe from evil. You may talk to him.”

Kiyori nodded. ”Where is it?”

The old woman pointed a finger toward the far end of the village where a large weathered house sat atop a low hill.

Kiyori thanked the old woman and walked toward the estate. This presence has the shard.

She stopped at the door where guards stood outside.

”State your business.” One of them spoke.

”I’m a priestess; I can help to counter the sickness here.”

Both of them exchanged glances, then one entered the estate while the other waited and murmured to her. ”Wait for the permission.”

A few minutes passed; just then the guard returned and whispered in the guard’s ear, who looked at her, then pointed at the estate to enter.

Kiyori moved inside a large building with a vast garden where flowers bloomed. She stopped near the door as the ruler came out, who was a typical middle-aged man with a small beard.

He examined the priestess for a few moments and spoke. ”Can you truly exorcise the place?”

”I’m certain.” She said as the man nodded and let her enter the estate.

”Rest in this room; every night we hear screams, and when we wake up to see, the next day there is one man missing.”

Kiyori looked around the estate, trying to understand. ”Were there a demon before that died, there is a presence that feels like a demonic spirit.”

”Yes, there was a demon that was killed years ago.”

”Have you purified the bones of that demon?”

”We did, its bones were thrown into the bone eater well near the basement shrine.” He walked away and called out to his servants to look for the priestess and give her shelter until the exorcism.

As the night fell, an eerie silence followed the estate. There weren’t any signs of horror yet, as the people weren’t outside. Kiyori stepped into the dark and waited, but nothing happened yet.

Soon, a voice that seemed like a scream echoed throughout the estate.

She quietly moved through the place and stopped near the voice where it came from but saw nothing.

Then, she saw someone walking toward the shrine. A man who was sleep walking and reached near the shrine, but as he entered inside, his body disappeared.

Kiyori watched it from afar but didn’t move toward it. After a while, she looked at the sky and noticed a faint face of a humanoid thing that appeared in the smoke.

Suddenly, screams came out of the estate. She quickly rushed inside and saw that people were running away.

Behind them, a human head floated in the air. She quickly shot an arrow, which instantly vaporized the head, but then the emperor surged forward. His face twisted into a contorted look with large fangs. The guards rushed in, and one of them shouted. ”Look for the princess!”

Kiyori moved first and yelled. ”I’ll do that.”

With that, she moved toward the princess’ room. Rushing through the corridors, she finally reached a door.

She moved her hand and pushed the door open, which clicked loudly as it snapped open and shut against the wall.

Inside, a long-haired demonic head floated above a woman lying on the ground.

The head turned toward the door and looked at the priestess standing there. Without any words, it lunged toward her.

Kiyori stood still, her hand gripping the door. As the demon approached her, its body instantly melted just by coming close to her spiritual pressure.

Then the head crushed down on the ground almost the very next second as it went closer to her within a three-meter radius. Kiyori watched the crushed head for a second, then moved toward the princess.

Her hand examined the body and ran a hand through the head, which was cold. ’She is dead... that means the demon was using her as an excuse.’

The realization pulled her out of her thoughts as she stood and looked around to understand. ”The emperor is not a demon... he is being used as a distraction, but who is the true demon then?”

She heard the screams outside; the emperor’s demonic form had been overwhelming them, and without wasting a moment, she came out of the room. ”The true demon must be in the shrine.”

She muttered as she felt the presence of the shards near by the shrine.