Note: This chapter was supposed to be released as ch59, but I decided to not keep thje cliffhanger hanging so... have it earlier ;P


What came before: Rihan's group was defeated by Shoumen Kongo's servant, Bonnouma, and Rihan is accepting his inner darkness…


Chapter 55 – The King of Fears

"How disappointing," Bonnouma said while looking at Rihan who sat, unconscious, under the pillar into which he threw him.

"How utterly disappointing." Bonnouma said when he looked at Shiori, who was now lying on the floor while Yanagida kicked her head and mocked her.

Although he was certain in his victory, Bonnouma was still disappointed that the son of the infamous Nura Rikuo proved to be such a pushover that he did not even get a chance to fight.

In the end, the Fear which his master and Sanmoto Gorozaemon spent to make a Prophecy that would protect Bonnouma from defeat was wasted. That very thought made him want to torture both the boy and the girl who stupidly attacked someone above their league."Brethren!" He called and half a dozen Yasha appeared behind him, holding large swords that looked like butcher's knives. "Play with that boy, but don't kill him."

"With pleasure, Bonnouma-sama," the evil Yashas said with sadistic grins on their faces and then started walking towards the boy.

He himself would deal with Shiori. He expected even more from her than from the boy, seeing as she was the one who thwarted several of his master's ambitions.


~)(~


"Why did you do it?" A female voice asked him.

After being hit by Bonnouma's mace, Rihan lost consciousness and returned to the dream-world. He was once again in a snow-filled place at night, with a blooming sakura above him. But this time, he was alone with an image of Shiori.

"Why did you do it?" Shiori, who had a ghostly body that was made of Fear, asked him while sitting on a branch. It was not really her, but rather just a part of her Fear… of more exactly, she was the tea that he drunk.

"I did it because I did not want to accept the consequences of the sakazuki exchange," Rihan answered in a calm tone while resting on the snowy ground.

"Why?" Shiori's eyes narrowed. "You will be tortured by Bonnouma until you break while the rest of us will die. Also, they will use you against your own clan. Was it really worth it?"

"It has nothing to do with worth. My heart simply could not accept it."

"Why?" She yelled. "Explain it to me better!"

Rihan stayed silent for a few moments. He was not sure how he would explain it to her. "Shiori, just want kind of youkai is a Nurarihyon?" He started with a question.

She looked at him as if he asked something pointless, but she gave an answer anyway. "Nurarihyon is a youkai who sneaks into other people's houses."

"Yes, that's what a Nurarihyon originally was." Rihan caught a snowflake that was falling towards his face. Those were simpler times, so to say. "But since then, Nurarihyon became something more. Try again."

"He is a hero who-"

"No, he is not." Rihan shook his head. "I understand that now… he is no hero. Dad is a hero and so is grandfather, but they are heroes because of their human blood. Great-grandfather, the original Nurarihyon, was not a hero." Rihan's eyes narrowed. "No, that is wrong. Let me rephrase it: he was a hero, but he was not a Hero of Justice like dad and grandfather were. In other words, he just cared about those close to him and about having a fun life, but would not actively go and protect the world or something."

"Then only one thing remains." Shiori tried again. "Nurarihyon is the Master of all Youkai."

"Basically, a Nurarihyon is master of a Hyaki Yakou. Nurarihyons are youkai who lead other youkai… in your dictionary that is our tale." Rihan raised himself into a sitting position. "Well, it differs from person to person. The original Nurarihyon would have agreed with your first guess while Dad would agree with the hero claim. But my heart…" Rihan put his hand on his chest. "To me, a Nurarihyon is something like a King. Leading youkai is what, to me, it means to be a Nurarihyon."

"So that is why you rejected the sakazuki exchange?" Shiori asked to which Rihan nodded. "But this was not a 75:25 exchange, but a 50:50 one. That would make you-"

"It would make us siblings sworn by both blood and oath rather than her sworn subordinate, yes. And I could make my own Hyaki Yakou even if I were her subordinate, let alone as her sworn brother." Rihan rubbed his hands. "But it would still make me sworn to her and I already said the reasons why I don't want that." By accepting this, for the rest of my life, and after it, I will serve you and the Nura Clan. "I do not want to serve my sister in any way or some clan, as it would feel like I am going against my own Fear." The Nura Clan will become my sole ambition. "I have my own own ambitions, and I do not want to compromise them for the clan." I will live to support you and my children will live to support yours. "I don't want to live my life only so I could support my sister, nor do I wish for any of my descendants to have such a fate. Gods know, my situation alone is already a heavy burden." All of the clan's enemies will become mine... you too Shiori. Rihan smiled at his own selfishness. "Also, it would formally make me a sworn member of the clan and I…" Rihan's eyes shivered. "I don't want that."

"Why the hell would you not want that?" Shiori still sounded annoyed. "Just what is it that you want anyway?"

"I love my clan, don't misunderstand it… and I love my family. But…" Rihan looked at his hand. "I want to be like my great-grandfather and create something of my own… I want to make a name for myself in the youkai history. I do not want to serve under someone else."

"But you can still do that even if you are a member of the Nura Clan. Clans serve clans after all."

"Look Shiori…" Rihan raised himself to his feet. "If just being a leader was all I wanted, I would have competed with my sister for the leadership of the clan. After all, the heir is chosen either via election by the executives or by the active Supreme Commander, not strictly by being born first." Rihan looked towards Shiori. "But I did not as I always thought that my sister was the more fitting heir. No, even if my sister were not there, I would reject the inheritance because I could never be a worthy leader of that clan."

"Are you belittling yourself again?"

"Belittling? Hahahaha!" Rihan laughed at her guess. "No, I am not worthy because of what kind of person I am. Even if I do envy my sister and how amazing she is, this is not the actual reason." If I was a worthy person, I would have accepted the sakazuki exchange.

"What are you talking about?" Shiori looked annoyed. "Why don't you stop beating around the bush and just tell me what the problem is?"

"Remember when Dohiko and Awashima mentioned how I am intentionally trying to not release all of my Nurarihyon Fear?" When Shiori nodded he continued. "The reason is there: my Nurarihyon Fear scares me."

"What? Why would you be-"

"Pssst!" Rihan put a finger on his own lips and called in his Fear. "Stay silent for a while and listen."

Shiori looked at him in confusion, but accepted his suggestion and closed her eyes. Rihan released some of his Fear, which attracted certain voices.

Shiori opened her eyes in shock. "This is-"

"Pssst!" Rihan silenced her again after which the voices got, as his Fear accumulated, progressively louder… the voices belonging to the humans.

"The Kudan Prophecy is not wrong!"

"Nura Rikuo is actually a hero, but it never said he was a villain in the first place."

"We had to kill Rikuo so he would not have children."

"His child will bring ruin to the world!"

"The hero's dark son hahaha!"

The human voices could be heard everywhere around them, until Rihan pulled back his Fear and they retreated. "They sound so entertained, do they not?"

Shiori looked sad. "They always do."

The Kudan Prophecy… while for the most of the Nura clan it was a thing of the past, to Rihan it was present and future. The prophecy stated that the country of Japan would be thrown into ruin unless the humans killed Rikuo. The ones responsible for the Prophecy were the Hyaku Monogatari Clan, back then led by someone called Enchou, who used it to rally the humans against Rihan's father as, for obvious reasons, they thought that he would be the one to bring ruin to Japan.

In the end, the Hyaku Monogatari lost and, with help of Saaya's father, over the years that followed his own father proved to the humans that he was in fact no villain. Although some still distrusted him, many humans continued to discuss the prophecy on the Internet and amongst one another. The carnage that happened during the Tokyo Tag was not something the humans would forget so soon.

And when most humans realized that his father was innocent, they started to read the prophecy in a different way. They saw his father's death as something that would stop the future tragedy, and the most popular theory proved to be that Rikuo's child would bring to that future. Obviously, killing Nura Rikuo would have stopped the child's birth and, with it, whatever that child may have caused.

And so, just like how Tales of the Hyaku Monogatari were given birth by human belief and thoughts, Rihan's nature got altered to fit the human imagination. He sometimes wondered if this was Enchou's goal all along.

"I don't hold a grudge against them though, even if I want to oppose their wishes." Rihan smiled. "My sister could have also fallen victim to it, but she did not. If I had to guess, the Kudan's Prophecy would plague our family until it found someone suitable." Rihan's smile widened. "I guess I am, for the same reason for which I rejected the imaginary exchange, the most suitable one. That is, I am too ambitious and not loyal enough. And you see, my heart was happy about it… the very thought that I could be someone that so many humans feared excited me! I would not be the younger brother of the Nura heiress but a famous and feared youkai in his own right! Indeed, I would not have minded if I became a Maou rather than a hero."

He waited to see if Shiori would say something, but she just silently looked down at him.

"The very fact that my heart desired something like that terrified me." Rihan leaned against the tree with his back. "Dad always said that we are protectors of humans… that it is our clan's duty to keep them safe and happy, that our Fear was to bring awe, not terror. So what was I supposed to think about this part of me?"

"So, what did you do then?"

"I rejected my own Fear, obviously. I did not even release my Fear in fullest because it made me act differently when my Nurarihyon blood boiled." His father's attitude also knew to change depending on his form, but at least he was deep inside the same person. Rihan was not so sure about himself. "I was sure that if I tried enough, I could become a son that my dad wanted… that I would never become someone whom Dad could not accept." Rihan clenched his hands. "So I decided to become a true hero of justice! By keeping in my Fear I became weaker, but that was no problem: the evil I hunted was also weak."

"The Urban Legends you mean?"

"Of course, they were a perfect enemy! Most of them were evil, so I could tell myself that killing them made me a hero. All evils are enemies to my clan, so I could kill them without consequences. They were weak, so there was nothing to fear. And, just like me, they were haunted by the human voices dictating what their Fears were supposed to be so by killing them I could fool myself that I was better than them, that I was able to oppose the human orders." Rihan put a hand across his face. "And I made myself hate them… oh, how easy and delightful it was to torture and kill the ones I hated… even if those individuals never did anything to me nor to someone I knew. Looking back at it, I was really no better than them." Rihan sighed at his own stupidity. "And before I knew it, I got obsessed with it. Sometimes I told myself that it was what a hero was supposed to do, other times I used Gagoze or the Nakano Incident as an excuse. Before I knew it, darkness invaded my heart."

"The Koshin."

"Yes, the Koshin and his damn monkeys." Rihan shook his head. "To be exact, they were there with me since I was a kid, but until Gagoze hurt me, I always rejected them. Well, it was during my stay in the Hanyou Village that I realized what kind of Fear I possessed and in what ways it was different from my father's." It happed through dreams: at first, he had nightmares about Gagoze. But after several weeks a six-handed blue demon came to him, for whom he now knew was the late Shoumen Kongo, came to him to save him from those dreams, filling his ears with honeyed words and re-assurances that he and his friend would help him to become a true hero.

"Gagoze?"

"Ah yeah, you don't know. Well, forget about it." Rihan shrugged his shoulders. "In any case, a few nights ago I realized that I may not be a hero… today I realized that I may have become even worse than whatever I rejected to become." He looked up at Shiori again and smiled. "All that Bonnouma said was correct… one part of me, the human part, enjoyed suffering I caused, and it still does… I am no hero, I am just a butcher."

Shiori, who said something similar in the past, did not try to dissuade him.

"I rejected my Nurarihyon blood which desired to follow the words of the Kudan. As a result, the human part of me got corrupted by the Koshin, but I rejected him as well by drinking your tea. Hahaha…" Rihan laughed a bit before continuing. "And then you gave me a chance to finally become what I wanted to be, and I rejected that path too. I am such a mess."

"I see…" Shiori finally left the branch and landed in front of him. Rihan could see that the left part of her body, and the entire lower part of her body. The fact that more of her body was quickly disappearing made it clear that she would not stay here for much longer.

"But you must accept something, or it will get worse." Shiori told him but did not wait for his response. "Many years ago, I found out that I was no normal girl and that I, too, could not follow a path of virtue. But unlike you, I did not try to change my ways… instead, I tried to kill myself."

Rihan's eyes widened, but for some reason he could not understand he felt like he already knew this.

"But then someone came to me and said that, even if I was a bad person, that I would be dear to him no matter what happened. Those words did not only save my life, but they also saved me in the future form becoming something I would not want to become." She put her hand on his cheek. "So let me give those words back to you: no matter which choice you make, you will always be dear to me."

And then she disappeared, signifying that the effects of the tea had passed.

"Thank you."


~)(~


Rihan returned to the consciousness and the first thing he saw was five Yashas walking towards him.

But no matter how much pain the weapons in their hands promised, he did not pay much attention to them and instead turned his head towards Ao-Ju who was trying to get back onto his feet, but due to broken arms had trouble doing so. Ao-Ju, the youkai who swore his life to me… he is a subordinate whom I failed.

His ears could hear the sounds of battle from afar. Dohiko and Awashima, two friends of my father who joined my foolish expedition into this place. I brought them here, yet I was unable to help them in any way…

And finally he turned his eyes towards Shiori whom some blond man held by her hair and whose pretty face was smeared by blood. The fact that Bonnouma walked towards her made it clear that something bad was about to happen. The girl who loved me no matter how I treated her and who tried to help me even if it meant that I would become her enemy and forget the love we felt for one another.

He wanted to punch the blond bastard and his annoying smirk.

He wanted to make Bonnouma pay not only for the humiliation he caused upon him, but also for the humiliation he caused to Ao-Ju and his Toono allies.

He wanted to avenge the death of the comrade whom he was manipulated into killing. He could never free himself of this sin, but at least he could try to restore some of his honor.

For those reasons, he raised himself onto his feet and he picked Nenekirimaru up from the ground. The five Yashas, who were now around ten meters away from him, laughed while he tried to regain balance. But, unknown to them, his Nurarihyon blood raged and boiled, trying to break from the shackles he put around it.

"No matter which choice you make, you will always be dear to me." Remembering those words, Fear started pouring from Rihan. No matter what kind of person she is and no matter what sins she committed, she was always there for me. Shiori might have been pure darkness to some, but to him she was a flicker of light.

"I would betray my own if I followed such a wish." He remembered the words that he said to the memory of his great-grandfather when he and Shiori just entered the land of memories.

"So what?" was the answer that his great-grandfather gave him. Ah yes… now that I think about it, he always complained about the hero of justice deal.

And so, the rest of the chains he put on himself have been unlocked and his Fear was released in its fullest. And with his Fear, so grew his ambitions and desires. I don't know how evil deep inside I am but… He looked back at the Yashas who no longer seemed as assured of their strength. I know one thing for certain: I have to protect my allies, those who pledged themselves to me and those I love.

Rihan took a deep breath. He could feel all the Fear that was collected in this place. Misery, greed, decadence, insanity, passion… how pathetic. He was certain of one thing now: even under influence of his evil fear, he could not accept what Sanmoto Gorozaemon and Shoumen Kongo did to the humans. He felt anger at how these two dead demons abused the powerless humans and so he wanted to teach them a lesson.

He was sure of one thing now: he still had his honor, which was something he had lost on his quest of vigilance. After quickly disposing of the five Yashas without them even noticing until their heads left their bodies, he turned his full attention to Bonnouma.

He wanted to end it with one strike by beheading him. But just before he ran and jumped, his senses noticed something: a tremendously strong Fear surrounded his enemy. Rihan concentrated and noticed that he could hear words coming from it.

He knew what it was: it was a Prophecy, just like Kudan's. He was not sure what it did and what would trigger it, but he had a bad feeling about it. Tz, something needs to be done about this first.


~)(~


Is this how it ends? Shiori had no idea what else she could do to turn the situation around. As usual, Midori did not answer her calls in desperate situations, everyone was taken down by Bonnouma and even if someone with a fighting chance appeared, the Prophecy would protect the Temple's Guardian from defeat. Shit, I hoped for a more interesting end to my life.

"Can you just break her bones or something?" Yanagida asked Bonnouma. "Sanmoto-sama would prefer if she were tortured before she died."

"Sure, I can use my Fear to just damage her without causing death." When Bonnouma raised his mace, she closed her eyes. Well, losers can't be choosers.

"Good night, little Princess." Yanagida mocked her. "But I fear your sleep will be long and filled with nightmares hehe." Yanagida giggled. "A shame Kyousai is not with us, I am sure he would be able to create many different demons to... court you."

For some reason, Shiori decided to open her eyes and, when she did so, she saw Bonnouma slip and start falling towards them. "What?" Yanagida yelled and jumped away. Since he still held Shiori by her ponytail, she was pulled with him.

"Clumsy are we?" She heard Rihan say and then saw him above Bonnouma. He hit the enormous ape onto the back of his head and buried him into the ground.

"Huh?" Yanagida was surprised just like she was. "But you are supposed to be-" When Rihan landed in front of him, he went silent.

"Hi there." Rihan made a fist which was then enveloped by ice. "Harassing my woman does not make me happy you know." He then punched Yanagida right into his face with such force that he threw him ten meters across the hall.

"You…" Bonnouma muttered behind them and the next moment Shiori felt someone grab her and jump into the air, from where she could see Bonnouma strike at their mirages.

"Sorry it took so long to come and help you, my love." Rihan made a reassuring smile when he landed on the other end of the hall. "But I will deal with this monkey now."

"What? Huh?" Shiori did not know what she should ask him. "Did the tea work?"

"If by that you mean me declaring servitude to my sister, then no." Rihan continued to hold her and once again jumped away, thus avoiding Bonnouma who was now running at their mirages. "By the way, just what kind of evil demon overlady tries to create a hero and have him join her enemies? Seriously, did you even read your job description?"

"Eh?" Due to his behavior, Shiori had trouble trying to stay worried.

"Let me make one thing clear: if I wanted to join my sister's Hykai Yakou, I would have done so a long time ago. And if I wanted to be a loyal member of the Nura Clan, I sure as hell would not have left them alone and come here." Seeing as Bonnouma stopped trying to run at him, Rihan moved away his right hand with which he held his sword. However, he still continued to hold her with his left. "I am not fighting for the Nura Clan here, nor for anyone else. I am fighting solely for myself." Rihan gave her a kind smile. "Your tea helped me remember that, so in that way it worked."

"I am not sure I understand…"

"It does not matter." Rihan looked at Bonnouma again. "I am hungry and so I crave a sandwich. Once I kick his ass, let us buy one."

"Fufufu." His optimism was contagious. "I will gladly eat one, honey." She did not know what happened to him, but she felt like it was still the boy she loved… or more exactly, it felt like he was finally honest. "But can you really defeat him? He kind of… you know… beat you up."

"I will find a way…" Rihan's eyes narrowed as he gazed upon Bonnouma in the distance. "…but there is a certain meddlesome Fear protecting him."

"So you noticed, huh?" Shiori could guess what he meant. "Gorozaemon and the Koshin are protecting him with some kind of Prophecy. It is impossible to kill him or flee."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said: if you come close to defeating him, destiny will do something to make you lose." Shiori's worries started returning to her. "And it also makes it impossible to flee."

"Oh, is that all?" Rihan put a hand on her head. "Well then, you think of something."

"Huh? Me?"

"Of course." Rihan grabbed her with his left hand and pulled her towards him. "We came together here, and together we will defeat him."

"But-" She tried to complain, but was stopped by a small kiss.

"You will think of something, I am sure." Rihan winked at her and then moved away. "And until you come up with something, I shall play with him."

Shiori wanted to say something, but Bonnouma was faster: "Are you two finally done?"

"Yes, we are." Rihan slashed the air in front of him. "I know you won last time, but would you mind if we had a rematch?"

"Against you…" Bonnouma started and then crossed the entire hall in a second. "…there is nothing that can be called a match!" He finished and swung his mace at Rihan.

Shiori froze for a moment, but the one whom Bonnouma hit was a mere mirage. And the moment after, Fear started pouring from Bonnouma's left shoulder.

"Huh?" Bonnouma was surprised that someone landed a hit on him. "This is…"

"Shiori, would you mind getting the hell out of here?" Rihan reminded her that she was too close to the two of them. "I am sure you can think somewhere else."

"Hai!" She said and started running. Bonnouma did not even pay her any heed as his entire attention was on Rihan whom he finally recognized as a proper enemy.


~)(~


"The dog finally learned how to bite I see." Bonnouma looked excited. "But it is not due to Koshin-san's help."

"As if I would actually need help from that stinking master of yours." Rihan mocked him to which Bonnouma replied with a furious storm of swings, all of which Rihan managed to avoid.

"Do not get too full of yourself, fool!"

Although Rihan now had his full attention and had both saved Shiori and told her to find a way around whatever protected this youkai from defeat, he still had no intention to seriously fight him. No, I must not fight him seriously. As Shiori said, doing so would bring the wrath of the Prophecy upon me.

He said that they came together to this place and would defeat him together… and the number of people in their little group was three, not including the Toono youkai who were busy somewhere else.

"Ao-Ju!" Rihan landed beside his ally. "How are you doing?"

"Not as good as you, chief." Although Ao-Ju wore a mask, Rihan could somehow feel that he was smiling. "He broke my arms so I don't think I will be useful."

"The arms will heal in time." Rihan tapped his shoulder. "Now tell me, do you still have some energy left?"

"I have a lots of energy but-"

"Perfect." Rihan gave him thumbs up. "I will wear you then?"

"You will what?" Ao-Ju asked, but Rihan did not bother answering and instead started using his technique. "What? What is going on here?" For obvious reasons, Ao-Ju was a bit startled by the fact that his body started turning into black mist and envelop Rihan.

"This is a family technique called Matoi." Rihan told him. "Fear not, we will be fighting as one for a while."

"I am not sure I understand… but alright."

The next moment, an explosion of Fear enveloped Rihan's body and after a few moments he was in a uniform resembling the one that was worn by the Shinsegumi centuries ago, a special police unit that protected the Shogunate in Kyoto. The uniform consisted of a blue haori and hakama worn over a blue yukata. In his left hand he held his sword Nenekirimaru while in his right he held one of Ao-Ju's pistols.

"A Shinsegumi uniform, huh?" Rihan commented when he saw how he looked.

"Well, I am still a policeman at heart."

"So, this is the fabled Matoi." Bonnouma spoke while walking towards them. "This day is getting more and more interesting…" Bonnouma licked his apish lips.

"Ha." Rihan smirked. This was the first time he managed to use Matoi with someone and that made him proud.

Without any kind of warnings, Bonnouma suddenly ran and crossed most of the hall, with his mace already slashing towards Rihan. As it slashed him, and revealed that it was only a mirage, Bonnouma did not stop swinging the mace: he turned around while the mace still moved and slashed at it towards real Rihan.

Rihan shot a bullet at the mace, thus pushing it away just like Ao-Ju did several times before. The difference was that the mace also froze.

But Bonnouma paid that difference no heed: he just hit the ground with it and broke the ice, and then moved at Rihan again. The boy did not waste his Fear to create another mirage and instead just step sideways to avoid an attack from above.

Rather than raise his mace and slash with it, Bonnouma immediately started moving it while it was still in the ground, a feat not hard to achieve for someone with his strength. Rihan just jumped over it, but too late did he realize that Bonnouma moved one of his hands away from the mace and could now use it to grab his enemy.

Rihan instinctively cut at the hand with his Nenekirimaru. Although he only scratched it, Bonnouma's reluctance in front of that sword made him pull back. Rihan used the opening to start putting distance between himself and Bonnouma, all while shooting bullets at his enemy.

"I'd advise you to stay at the distance, chief." Ao-Ju spoke from within him. "The closer we are to him, the more menacing he is."

"Have you forgotten how fast that bastard moves?" Rihan replied to him.

As if confirming Rihan's words, Bonnouma jumped and, after a mere moment, was already above Rihan.

"So, let's try something else." Rihan smirked and moved away from the spot towards which his enemy was falling at. At the moment he landed, Bonnouma immediately rushed at Rihan and started slashing and thrusting his mace without stopping even for a moment or caring that his mace destroyed the ground around them.

Using Mekyou Shisui and simple evading techniques, Rihan kept himself moderately safe. But, Bonnouma was getting better and better at predicting where he should make his next attack.

But at one point, he made the opening Rihan desired and the boy pulled the trigger.

"AHHHHH!" Bonnouma roared in anguish and grabbed his head while Rihan jumped away at a safe distance.

Then Bonnouma moved his hand away and revealed that there was an ice spike stabbed into his left eye. The entire hall shook as Bonnouma screamed for getting a first serious injury inflicted upon him.

And then the scream turned into laughter. "The paaaain!" The sadistic youkai shouted. "The beautiful paaain!"

As if curious or what happened to Bonnouma, many Yashas and Demon Monkeys stormed into the hall and surrounded Rihan from behind. Well, at least Dohiko and Awashima should now have easier time.

"Chief, I don't think that this was a good idea." Ao-Ju noted. "If you already did that much, why did you not use the opening while he was still holding his head?"

"Because we can't defeat him yet." Rihan prepared himself for the attack that was bound to come in a moment. "We will have to wait for Shiori to do her thing first." Rihan put the pistol under his yukata and then raised his sword so it stood in a horizontal direction. "Well, let's use a Nurarihyon Technique unique to me." Rihan spoke while releasing Fear. "Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Doku!"


~)(~


Shiori gazed at the battle from the safety of one of the hallways, where she felt the chance to be seen and attacked by Bonnouma was low.

Think of something, huh? He said like it was the easiest thing for her to do. But finding a way around a Prophetical Tale was no simple thing. Her earlier plan depended on the Nura Clan's Fear overpowering the Prophecy's, but even the chance of that one succeeding was more of a blind optimism than an actual certainty.

She started biting her nails in frustration. And just what happened inside of him after he drank the tea? He got stronger certainly, but not in a way I expected him to. She thought about it both due to curiosity and wondering if the answer to her current problem lay there somewhere.

"By the way, just what kind of evil demon overlady tries to create a hero and have him join her enemies? Seriously, did you even read your job description?" She wondered why he told her something like that. Or why did he talk like me being some evil demonic overlady was a good thing?

"Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Doku!" She heard Rihan shout in the distance and then malicious Fear engulfed the hall. What? Did Bonnouma do something again? No, this doesn't feel like him… did Gorozaemon create something again?

But once she turned around and looked what was going, she realized it was Rihan's Fear. Not his Fear under influence of the Koshin, but Rihan's own Fear. In awe, she gazed for several minutes what happened.

And then her lips spread into a malicious smile and she turned around. I see, so that's how it is. She left the hall and started to walk through the hallway, now knowing what she might do to thwart the Prophetical Tale. He is right. It is not befitting an evil demon overlady to push someone out of the abyss and help them find salvation, but to pull them in. There was one card she kept in her sleeve for last three years and which she could now use.

She put her hand under her shirt and took out her mirror. Well then Riha-chan, as per my job description, let me pull you right into the abyss and into my arms.


~)(~


Meikyou Shisui was the basic Nurarihyon technique, allowing them to hide their presence even in plain sight, but there were also techniques derivating from it. One was Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Sakura which allowed one to turn sake into strong, controllable fire and Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Zan which further derived from it and was basically the Sakura variant engulfing a sword.

His great-grandfather also had Shin Meikyou Shisui which basically strengthened the basic Mekyou Shisui by making the opponent too frightened to move.

His sister had developed two of her own by mixing her Nurarihyon and Yuki Onna Fears, one which she fittingly called Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Yuki.

But just like his sister, Rihan naturally developed his own variant as well, Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Doku. But due to his reluctance to use his Nurarihyon Fear in its fullest, he rarely used it and when he did, it was to a limited extent. Several days before his father went to the United States, he used it on him during training. He was not sure why he felt a need to do it, maybe he wanted to see how his father would react to it. But, just as expected, his father seemed shaken by it.

In any case, once he used it and his entire Fear engulfed the hall, even Bonnouma went silent. It took only a few moments for the other of Koshin's youkai to start screaming.

"AAAAAHH!"

"What is going on? Where am I?"

"It hurts! It hurts!"

Then, some of them started fleeing from the temple. Others started fighting and killing one another. And some just fell on their knees, weeping.

Even Bonnouma was not left unaffected, as could be seen from his remaining eye shaking and his body shivering. But unlike them, he knew what he had to do: he raised his mace, put all of his Fear into it and swung it, cutting through Rihan's Fear.

However, only he seemed to have gotten better, the others still looked like they were under effects of his technique. "What is going on?" Bonnouma yelled.

"I did not call it Doku (Poison) just because it sounded fancy, you know." Rihan answered his demand. "My technique spreads like poison and, once inflicted, it stays in one's body, violating all of their senses until they die from the sheer amount of Fear or enough time had gone by… although I do not guarantee that they will stay sane after that time passes." Rihan shrugged his shoulders. "In any case, all you did was stop it from spreading further."

Bonnouma snorted at him and then turned his attention to the youkai behind Rihan. "You are the chosen of Koshin-san!" Bonnouma yelled at them. "Get your act together and attack!"

"Yes, go and attack!" Rihan said and slashed his hand at the air in front of them, releasing more of his Fear at them.

"Yes, attack!" Most of them got back to their senses and ran in his direction. "Attack him!"

"You did not terrify them this time, Rihan-kun." Bonnouma boasted in pride, unable to see the smirk on Rihan's face as the boy was not facing him.

"Chief, is it really alright if we just stand here?" Ao-Ju asked when the horde of Yashas and black monkeys got dangerously close to them.

"Yes, it is fine." Rihan said and then the youkai reached him… and just ran past him.

"What?" Bonnouma was surprised. "What are you doing, brothers?" No doubt, he was even more surprised when his brethren attacked him.

"Just who do you think I am, Bonnouma?" Rihan asked while turning in Bonnouma's direction. "I am a Nurarihyon, the one who rules over all evil spirits!" Well, that is just one mythos about Nurarihyons…"And after feeling my Fear from before, they are so terrified that they will attack whomever I tell them to. Most evils are, after all, cowardly." And it will take a while for them to regain their senses.

"Basically… they fear me more than they fear your puny god-wanna-be"


~)(~


When Shiori opened her eyes, she was in a dark room without doors, illuminated with only a few candles with blue light.

Beside her stood Yanagida who frantically looked around and, in front of them both, an old man in an orange yukata sat on a stool.

"Yanagida and Midori." The old man and the founder of the Shin Sekai, going by the name Onieda Masahide, spoke in disinterest. "Shiori, did you use that mirror of yours again?"

"Yes." Shiori politely bowed to this man who was her enemy.

"The mirror?" Yanagida shouted. "You had the mirror with you?" No doubt he was angry at himself for not checking for it and taking it from her. Just like how Shiori desired to get her hands on the Teapot of the Conquerors, so did Sanmoto Gorozaemon desire to get his hands of the Mirror of Condemnation. After all, those two artifacts were supposed to go one with another.

"Please do not waste our time, Yanagida." Masahide waved his hand at him and turned his attention back to Shiori. "So, what is it that you want this time?"

"I want to add a rule to the game." She immediately demanded.

"You want to add a rule?" Onieda Masahide rested his head on his right hand as he sat. "You can't just add the rules onto a game that had started."

The game, that Onieda Masahide spoke, was the currently on-going Hyaku Monogatari ritual. It was a game played by a hundred humans where each one of them, one after another, would create tales that would then be turned into youkai (although some like Shiori and Gorozaemon could create youkai outside the game as well, but one needed proper resources for that to be possible). The game would go on until ten thousand tales have been told, a hundred for each player, after which Ao-Andon would be born and controlled by the one whose tales accumulated most Fear.

"One of the core rules of the game was that each coalition could make a rule." Shiori continued explaining.

The players were split into four groups which consisted of three coalitions and the non-aligned player. The players inside a coalition were allied with one another and shared the Fear each one of them earned. As a result, the leader of the Coalition would control Ao-Andon and the other members would get something in return from the leader. Also, the leader of each coalition had the right to add their own rule to the game.

"The Sunflower Coalition made the rule that players can't share the information about the game, nor tales made in it, with outsiders." The Sunflower Coalition was basically the group of Shin Sekai loyalists, led by a member of the Onieda family. Since they were sponsoring the game and made it possible for all the tales to be spread enough to be born, their leader was also the supervisor of the game.

If Shiori wanted to get her way, she had to persuade the supervisor to agree with her… which was no small feat seen as she killed his grandson, the former leader of the Sunflower Coalition and game supervisor, and waged war against his family.

"The Skull Coalition…" Shiori pointed at Yanagida with her hand. The members of the Skull Coalition were those players loyal to Sanmoto Gorozaemon. "They added a rule that anyone could use Sanmoto Gorozaemon's Fear to enhance their tales under condition that half of the earned Fear goes back to Gorozaemon."

"Then there is the Black Mask Coalition who added a rule that tales should not only be youkai, but that they could also be events." Like the Nakano Incident.

The Black Mask Coalition was created as a balancer so that Sunflowers and Skulls, who were allies, could have someone else to compete against. They were the most brutal of the coalitions and served the game purely as Fear hoarders rather than a group with ambitions. They were also the ones whom Shiori despised the most as they were the ones who were responsible for death of her parents and the Nakano Incident.

But they were no more: after Kuruguya Midori became Sanmoto Shiori, she hunted down and killed every member of this coalition, together with Onieda Masashi. Since the third coalition was necessary for the game to go on, the other two coalitions accepted Shiori's demand to let her found her own coalition.

"Now I, the leader of the Rose Coalition, demand to use this right in order to add my own rule to the game." Shiori bowed once again.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yanagida, naturally, wanted to stop her from doing this as he knew that she would somehow use it against them in the fight against Bonnouma. "The Black Masks have made a rule and that rule is still being followed. You, who have merely taken their place, do not have the right to add another rule!"

"I agree with Yanagida." Masahide nodded. "You could have requested for their rule to be negated and make your own." He spoke, his tone showing no emotion. "But not only did three years pass without you doing that, but you have also made use of their rule and the tales you prepared for the game depend on it."

"It does not matter." Shiori did not intend to give in just yet. After all, she knew this would not be easy. "The Rose Coalition and the Black Mask Coalition are two different entities."

"Let us repeat one fact, Midori." Onieda Mashide looked annoyed. "You replaced the Black Mask Coalition. You can replace their rule."

"Well, if she accepted replacement, I would not mind it." Yanagida smiled and gave her a mocking smirk.

Of course you would not mind it! You know I need that rule active!

"If Yanagida is in favor of that option, then I won't mind it," Masahide said, "Alright, even if you made the use of the old rule, I will allow you to replace it."

Cunning bastards… but I am not amateur either. Shiori smiled, which made Yanagida worried. "I see… alright, I will accept it." Masahide's eyebrow rose at her acceptance. "But since this means that I am the inheritor of the Black Mask Coalition rather than a new player, that means that I inherit everything from them, right?" Masahide, who realized where she was going, raised his head and put the hand, on which he rested his head, down on the stool. "After the annihilation of the Black Mask Coalition, the Fear they earned through their brutal undertakings was split between the other players. However…" Shiori spread her arms. "…if you say I inherit them, then you should return that Fear to me."

Yanagida gasped while Masahide's eyebrow shook.

But she was still not done. "Since you used that Fear for three years, often against me, I will demand interest," Shiori smiled, "Onieda Masahide, would you mind calculating how much interest I should get? Oh, and I demand a percentage of all earnings you made by using that Fear." Masahide's both hands dig into the stool. His tendency to treat Fear like a countable resource became a weapon she could use against him. "Or did we get ahead of ourselves and I am an actual new player?"

So what will you give me? An extra rule or will you hand me an enormous amount of Fear that will weaken you and strengthen me? To Shiori, both outcomes were profitable in their ways and both could be used to defeat the Prophetical Tale in the temple. However, she would prefer the first option, even if only because she hated the very idea of owning anything connected to the Black Masks.

But to these two the second option was unacceptable. "Tell me girl…" Onieda Masahide spoke after calming himself down. "Which rule do you wish to add?"

Shiori's lips spread into a vicious, self-satisfying grin. I won.

"And explain why we should accept this new rule." Masahide may have lost the former battle, but he would still look if he could somehow sabotage her. "Although everyone has the right to add one, there are limits and if I, the supervisor, deem that the rule does not fit under those limits, I retain the right to reject it."

Round two… Obviously, she could not say that she merely wanted to save her boyfriend. However, she was already certain in her victory.


~)(~


"Then die you damn heretics! You damn Heathens! Infidels!" Bonnouma shouted and killed many of the youkai who attacked him with one swift strike of his large mace. "How dare you turn against Shoumen Kongo?" He shouted and killed more of them. "Run! Run to the ends of Earth in terror!" However, due to having lost an eye, his precision dropped by a large margin, so he needed more strikes than he previously would to strike them all down.

"It is useless…" Rihan appeared behind him and aimed his pistol at Bonnouma's back. "They are so terrified that they lost their reasoning. They have practically become mindless dolls." Rihan pulled the trigger and an ice spike stabbed into his back, forcing him to fall down.

Rihan backed away while the Yashas hit him on his head with their weapons, spilling Bonnouma's blood in all directions.

"How dare you…" Bonnouma's body shook while he tried to raise himself up, ignoring the attacks from the youkai around him. "How dare you fall under the control of his Fear?" Great amounts of Fear started seeping out of his body. And then his mace turned into a giant sword, but more similar to a butcher's knife than a proper weapon, and he started turning around like a tornado, turning everyone around him into minced meat "Die all of you! Go and beg Koshin-san himself for forgiveness!"

"Chief, I feel like a tsunami is going to hit into us any moment now," Ao-Ju said the exact thoughts that were on Rihan's mind.

"Die you damn infidel!" Swinging his bladed weapon around, Bonnouma ran at Rihan.

"Chief, he is cutting the stone as if it were bread," Ao-Ju commented after the bladed weapon cut a stone inside the crater in half, "In my profession, this would be when we would call a SWAT team."

"Unfortunately, we lack a radio to call a SWAT team with." Rihan prepared his body for the fight that was incoming. "And a free SWAT team for the matter."

Bonnouma swung his sword in all directions at incredible speeds, but Rihan was able to avoid most of them with no more than a scratch.

However, the situation was fine as far as Rihan was concerned: Bonnouma was now blind from one eye and that made it easier to deal with him. Moving with high speed while lacking an eye was counter-productive. And after Rihan enraged him, Bonnouma was unable to think rationally so he was slow to getting used to fighting handicapped. Like this, he could keep avoiding him and tiring him out until Shiori came up with something.

But then Bonnouma suddenly stopped moving and Rihan instinctively moved away from him. What is going on?

"Ahhhh…" Bonnouma suddenly relaxed. "Thank you, Koshin-san…" He said and put his hand on his face. "I completely lost myself, but your voice calmed me down." He moved his hand away and looked at Rihan. There was no longer any rage there, only composure. Damn it, he's calmed down.

"So this is the potential that Shoumen Kongo saw in you." Bonnouma continued speaking. "And I see that we were wrong… you have two kinds of darkness in you, one ours and one rejecting us. It is a unique situation but…" Bonnouma put down his sword and moved his body in such a way that he looked like he was prepared to run a marathon. "…not one I can't deal with!"

"Chief! Without a heavy weapon, he will be-" faster was the word that Ao-Ju probably wanted to say, but too late: Bonnouma already reached them.

"First, cleansing of the minor demons." Bonnouma punched his two fists together and then punched Rihan into his guts, literally pushing Ao-Ju out of his body.

"Chief!" Ao-Ju called up to him, but Rihan was too preoccupied by holding his stomach.

"And now, for salvation!" Then Bonnouma grabbed Rihan's head with both of his hands and raised him up so their faces were on the same level. "Let me show you once again where the true path lays!"


~)(~


"There, it is done!" Shiori said after she was done writing something on a scroll. She had managed to convince Onieda Masahide to let her have her way and now the only thing she needed was for Rihan to give his approval. She doubted that he would like it, but this was the only option they had left.

She raised herself from the floor and put the folded paper into her purse. "Alright, now to find Rihan." Saying that, she turned around and met someone she hoped to avoid.

"I will not let you." Yanagida stood in front of her in the hallway, holding a knife and having an enraged expression on his face. "We worked too long for this… I can't let you-"

"Be a nice spectator and move away Yanagida." Shiori ordered and put her hand into her purse. "Or Gorozaemon will need to find himself a new bitch."

"Why you…" Yanagida pointed his knife at her. "What can you, a lowly human, possibly do to-"

Shiori took out her gun, which aimed itself where she wanted, and then she pulled the trigger.

"Ah!" Yanagida shouted when a bullet hit his arm, making his knife fall on the floor. "Aaaaah!" He screamed when she shot both of his legs.

"On second thought, why am I delaying it?" Shiori asked and aimed her gun at his head. "I will just kill you here and save myself future trouble."

Yanagida's enraged face was now fully replaced with an expression of fear and he ran backwards, until he reached a fork in the hallway. Just before Shiori pulled her trigger, he ran into it and her bullet missed.

Well, it is too early for you to die anyway. Shiori put her gun back into the purse and ran through the hallway.


~)(~


"REMEMBER!" Bonnouma shouted while pouring his Fear into Rihan. "REMEMBER THE WRATH INSIDE YOU! REMEMBER ALL THE HATE!"

"Let go of me, you damn ape!" Rihan shouted back. He could not muster strength to force himself away from Bonnouma's grasp for most of his energy was spent on resisting his Fear.

Although Shiori's tea made him more accepting of his other darkness, the darkness brought in by Koshin was not gone. The hate, wrath and sadism of it were still inside his heart, only quelled.

And now, Bonnouma tried to force it back. "COME BACK TO YOUR SENSES, CRUSADER!" His words echoed through Rihan's head. "REMEMBER! REMEMBER THE EXCITEMENT OF SLASHING YOUR SWORD THROUGH AN ENEMY WHILE THEY SCREAMED IN AGONY!"

"No…" He remembered the sensation… the ecstasy he felt at those times. He remembered the beautiful feeling of stomping the worms… "NO!" He shouted again, forcing himself to remember the disgust he felt at such actions. He forced himself to remember the disgust he felt at killing a comrade and, with it, raised his desire to reject that dark influence.

"DO NOT BE MANIPULATED! THE KOSHIN-SAN KNOWS WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU!" Rihan's head hurt from the loudness of Bonnouma's words. "DO NOT LET THAT RED-HAIRED SUCCUBUS MANIPULATE YOU!"

Remembering Shiori actually made it easier for Rihan. "Hehe…" Rihan laughed. "A pretty red-headed girl or a geezer with blue balls." Rihan smirked when Bonnouma's face contorted with rage. "The choice is obvious."

"DO I NEED TO REMIND YOU?" He shouted at him again. "SHE WILL BRING A NEW AGE OF DARKNESS AND SUPERSTITION."

"Come on, that does not sound so bad! It might even be fun!" Rihan said in full honesty. "Also, your master would DEFINITELY create an even darker and more sinister future."

"FOOL!" Bonnouma pushed his head into the ground. "FOOL!" He raised Rihan's head up and did it again. "RETURN TO THE RIGHT PATH! IT IS YOUR DESTINY!" He yelled when he raised Rihan back up.

"First the Kudan and now a monkey… Why do ugly creatures always tell me what my destiny is supposed to be?"

"REMEMBER YOUR DESIRES! DO YOU NOT DESIRE TO WALK THE PATH OF THE CRUSADER? FOLLOW YOUR DESIRES!"

"Ah yes... that's right! I do remember my desires and my hearts seeks to follow them." Rihan spoke as if he finally gave in, due to which Bonnouma seemed to have calmed down. "But the path of the crusader was not a desire but an obssession. What I desire is something else!"

"YOU-" Rihan put his hands on Bonnouma's and froze them until he caused a spasm. "AH..."

Then Rihan freed himself from his grasp and took Nenekirimaru back into his hands. "One of my desires: kick your sorry ass!" Bounnoma tried to kick Rihan with his leg, but he avoided it and jumped behind the large ape. He then froze the ground around them and kicked Bonnouma at the appropriate place, forcing the large ape to fall onto his back.

But Bonnouma landed on his arms, which stabbed through the ice, and threw himself away. But that did not matter much to Rihan who jumped up and slashed through Bounnoma's back with his sword. "WAAAAH!" The ape screamed as the Fear sipped out of him. Rihan ran towards the spot where Bonnouma was about to land, but stopped himself when he realized that Bonnouma swung his hand at him. Phew, I almost got grabbed again.

"Just who do you think you are?" Bonnouma looked at him with eyes. "You can't win, the gods forbid it."

"I am a Maou (Demon King), so of course I will win." Rihan said with a smirk. "And worry not, my Queen is going to find a way around that annoying Prophecy of yours."

"She will..." Bonnouma's eyebrows raised when he hard that. Rihan was surprised by this as he expected him to not pay it much heed. "I... see. In other words..." Bonnouma's Fear grew and he prepared to sprint at Rihan. "I see you are beyond salvation. I will send your soul right to Shoumen Kongo."

Shit, I am too close to him! Rihan remembered how fats Bonnouma could move. Next moment, the large youkai was already in front of him, his fist going towards Rihan's head.

then someone ran past him, hitting his legs in the process. "What?" Bonnouma started falling backwards and then the same figure jumped on his face.

Awashima? Rihan recognized the woman who was filled with bruises from head to toe. She grabbed Rihan in her path, staking him away from Bonnouma.

"OOOOHHHH!" Dohiko, who jumped above them, shouted before he fell on Bonnouma. With his fists that burned in black flames of raw Fear, Dohiko started hitting Bonnouma right into his wounds. By the time Rihan and Awashima reached the ground, it looked like Dohiko gave Bonnouma a fury of five dozens punches before putting his hands together and giving Bonnouma one last strike, after which Dohiko backed away.

"You are still alive, Rihan." Dohiko greeted him with a smile.

"We thought you would be dead by now or hiding behind a pillar." Awashima said while hugging him. Rihan felt kind of embarrassed for his head resting on something soft. "But it seems like you gave that guy quite a beating."

"I am glad to see that you two are also alive." Rihan smiled and moved away from Awashima's grasp.

"Don't remind me." Awashima sighed. "I actually thought that they would never stop coming."

"And I see that Ao-Ju is also alive and well." Dohiko said when Ao-Ju joined them.

"If we ignore my limpy hands, I am good I guess." Ao-Ju nodded. "Don't expect any help from me however."

But as usual, Bonnouma did not give his enemies time to rest. "Infidels…" He whispered, but the malice in that whisper was strong enough that everyone could hear it. "Dirty… smelly… infidels…" he said in the same tone, making everyone's hair rise up from it.

"Must that guy always find a way to get scarier?" Dohiko complained, although he and Awashima would probably, like always, be the most composed in front of him.

"I will make you pay…" Bonnouma raised himself up. "Remaining brethren, come here…" He said in a low tone, and the rest of the youkai serving him ran to him, even those who should have still been under influence of Rihan's technique.

"Are they all intending to attack us at once?" Ao-Ju guessed.

"No…" Awashima did not think so. "Something bad is going to happen soon…"

"Offer me…" Bonnouma spoke while breathing heavily. "…YOU FLESH AND BLOOD!" And then Fear started pouring from every part of his body. "OFFER YOURSELF TO THE SERVANT OF THE KOSHIN!" He grabbed two of the Yashas and bit off their heads. It took only two more bites to eat the rest of their bodies, leaving only pools of blood on the ground.

"He is-"

"OFFER YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD TO THE KOSHIN!" Bonnouma yelled and started eating his brethren left and right, moving as fast as he did when he fought.

"Why are they not resisting?" Ao-Ju said while looking at how everyone just stood there, their hands spread up in the air, as if they truly offered themselves to death.

And with each bite, the Fear around Bonnouma grew. The group could only watch in horror while the ground beneath Bonnouma turned into a lake of blood and meat. "LET YOUR FAITH AND SACRIFICE BECOME MY STRENGTH! MY FEAR! KOSHIN-SAN'S FEAR!" With each youkai he ate, the Fear around him grew thinner, until he looked like he was engulfed in black flames.

"Come on now…" Awashima scratched her head. "He was not even losing! Why is he so quick to make himself even stronger."

Rihan could not help but agree. Bonnouma's power was already high enough, but now the situation is looking near to impossible. Again, he just loves making us feel hopeless…

"Riha-chan!" Rihan heard Shiori's voice and immediately turned towards her. "Come here!" She waved her hand at him.

"I'll return shortly." Rihan told to the others and ran towards Shiori. "You keep him occupied!"

""...are you kidding?"" Awashima and Dohiko yelled at the same time. "Oh no... that guy is now looking at us!"

"You came up with something?" Rihan asked Shiori.

"Form a contract with the Devil." Shiori offered him a folded paper. "The Devil being me of course."

"And the fine print is?" Rihan opened the folded paper and, once he saw how many letters there were, turned back towards Shiori. "Give me the summary of the fine print please? And a pen if you have."

"Of course I have a pen." Shiori took one out of her purse and gave it to him. "Basically, you will keep your mouth shut about me and get to prance around killing Youkai. Oh, and you will be immune to Prophecies and other Tales."

"This one included?" Rihan pointed at Bonnouma who was now running after Dohiko and Awashima, both of whom were in the midst of what looked like a proud Strategic Retreat.

"Of course! As long as it is your sword that cuts him, the whole Guardian Prophecy will not protect him."

"Sweet!" Rihan said and opened the pen.

"You should really read the whole thing first, you know," Shiori warned him, "Or at least look through it. I don't want to be guilty for anything you may regret later on."

"Time is thin so I will accept the consequences of reading it later," Rihan said while a sound of a collapsing building could be heard from behind, "Also… could you not have made this cooler? I mean, a folded paper with horrible handwriting."

"Well forgive me for being in a rush and not using my best hand-writing!" Shiori pouted. " "And just what would you have wanted?" Shiori asked him with an annoyed smile.

"I don't know… something like a fancy scroll where I leave a fingerprint. Or a lady coming from the heavens and-"

"Shut up and just sign the damn thing Rihan!" Shiori hit him on the head. "I will give you a fancy ceremony later on if you want!"

"I will hold you for your word!" Rihan was not sure what their future would be once Bonnouma was dealt with, but he played along. "By the way, since when did I become Rihan and not Riha-chan?" he asked while signing the paper.

"I wonder…" Shiori teased him.

"Okay, it is here!" Rihan handed the paper to her. "So, when will the flash effects start?"

"Huh?" Shiori took the paper. "This is it. There are no flashy special effects."

"…are you serious?" Rihan looked at her in worry. "No sudden surge of power in my body?" She shook her head. "No paper turning into ashes in order to confirm there is no turning back?" Shiori shook her head again. "Just a… signed paper?" Shiori nodded. "I expected more of you. This is so unlike you!"

"I did not have time to prepare, sorry." Shiori shrugged with her shoulders. "Now go and kick his ass, love. And then come and cry on my lap because you are regretting having signed this."

"I will regret this," Rihan sighed and turned around. However, when he looked at Bonnouma, he did not feel as hopeless as he did before. I no longer sense any greater force protecting him. That alone made signing a contract worth it.

After swinging his sword in the air in order to warm himself up, Rihan ran towards Bonnouma who was causing mayhem while fighting Awashima and Dohiko.

Time to stop playing around. Rihan smiled at the thought.

Bonnouma, now looking like a monster engulfed in black flames, slashed his sword towards Dohiko. Dohiko tried to punch him in the face after he left an opening, but he may as well have hit a rock by how unfazed Bonnouma was. Koshin's ape punched the Toono's ape back and then went to slice him in half.

Although Rihan could see that Dohiko was prepared to jump away, he still went to help. And before Bonnouma could react to Rihan's appearance…

"Arhhh!" Bonnouma screamed when his right arm got decapitated. "What is… how can you even-"

"You are not the only one who finally got serious!" Rihan replied and ran at him again. Bonnouma tried to hit him with his left hand, but seemingly eating his brethren did not return him the full eyesight so not only did he miss, but he also got cut on his chest by Rihan's sword.

Bonnouma, who was fooled into thinking that Rihan was weaker than he really was, became anxious and Rihan could see that he was unsure as to what he should do. The fact that his Fear leaked from his cuts, afflicted by Nenekirimaru, should have also made him more worried.

But just like how Bonnouma never gave them time to take a breath, so did Rihan not waste time in striking at him. He ran back towards Bonnouma who immediately struck at him, but the only thing his fist punched was a mirage. Rihan tried to stab his sword into his chest, but it could not go deep enough to cause any noticeable damage so he just pulled it out and evaded Bonnouma's kick.

"Tz, I will need to go all out on him." Rihan muttered after pulling back from Bonnouma.

"Yo Rihan, where did all this come from?" Dohiko asked him.

"No time to explain." Rihan raised his sword and put one hand on the blade, preparing to use another technique.

"Koshin-san… Gorozaemon… what is the meaning of this?!" Bonnouma yelled in the air. "Why do I not feel your protection? Where did it go?"

Tz, he noticed huh? Rihan hoped that he would realize it only once he died, but Bonnouma's senses must have been better than that.

And then Bonnouma's eyes fell on Rihan. "You… you have done something… and you are going to do more!" Bonnouma pulled back as well, until he reached his sword. He grabbed it with his left hand and rose into the air, after which the weapon turned back into a giant spiked mace.

"Chief!" Ao-Ju seemed to have noticed something. "He is going to jump and do that again!"

"Do what?" Awashima and Dohiko were confused and they were not there when he threw his mace and created a crater.

"I will blow you all with this entire temple!" Bonnouma shouted and then collected all of his Fear onto the mace. "Koshin-san, give me strength!" And then he jumped up.

"Dohiko!" Rihan yelled, hoping the Toono youkai would know what he wanted.

"Right!" Dohiko put his hands together and ducked. Seeing as he got the message, Rihan jumped onto the hands after which Dohiko threw him towards Bonnouma.

"Haaaaah!" Rihan yelled and slashed his sword when he got close to Bonnouma. But he did not slash at the youkai: instead, he cut the weapon's handle and continued ascending towards the top of the tower. Good throw, Dohiko!

"Now…" Rihan gave Bonnouma a look and a smirk, "…for the main dish!"


~)(~


Bonnouma was terrified. Bonnouma had his share of challenging fights, but this was the first time that he was overpowered while giving it his all.

Why are you... Bonnouma gazed upwards, at Nura Rihan who now stood in front of him, blocking the view on Shoumen Kongo whose image was painted on top of the tower's ceiling. Move away! I can't see Shoumen Kongo because of you! How could he beg his master for aid when this devil blocked his view?

Then all of the Fear that was collected in the temple from the humans harassed by Sanmoto Gorozaemon flew up. Koshin-san! you are answering my prayers!

But the Fear passed past him and towards Rihan. "What… how… that is not your Fear!"

"Did you forget who I am?" Rihan asked and he conveniently reached the ceiling in such a way that his legs touched Shoumen Kongo's face. "All evil youkai answer to me, as does all malicious Fear! Now let me show you a technique I based on Matoi and the idea that all youkai are made of Fear." He swung his sword and said: "Shadow Equip!"

All of the Fear accumulated in the Temple engulfed Rihan's body, just like how Ao-Ju's Fear did a while ago. "I am so lucky we fought here where you fools let all this Fear flow." Rihan told him. "You are so strong that am not sure if I could win if we fought outside or anywhere else at my current level."

"And this will not be enough now, either!" Bonnouma, who had already started to fall, shouted and collected great amount of Fear in his fist. "Come here Nura Rihan, will you slash my heart or will I crush yours? Let us see!" He would crush his heart, least this devil caused more harm to his master.

"You have already lost… Aggressive Fear Mode!" As he said that, the strength of Rihan's Fear, both his own and the temple's, multiplied.

"Ahh… no…" Bonnouma lost all hope. Koooshiiin-saaaaan! He prayed, but those prayers no longer gave him hope.

"As the King of Fears, I issue this…" Rihan, whose hair was now released and not defying gravity, pushed himself away from the ceiling and flew towards the falling Bonnouma. "…ROYAL EXECUTION!"

The Fear from the Prophetical Tale tried to stop the devil, but the boy just cut through it like it was butter. Bonnouma's Fears have come true: something overpowered the power of Shoumen Kongo and Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

Bonnouma thrust his fist towards Rihan's heart, but the devil cut it off with one swing of his sword. "This is for all the pain you caused me!" With another swing he made a large cut over Bonnouma's chest. "This is for Dohiko, Awashima and Ao-Ju!" And then he cut half of his face. "This is for the youkai you ate!" Then he cut the rest of Bonnouma's left arm. "This is for trying to make me into one of your brothers." Then he stabbed and slashed a dozen strikes at Bonnouma's entire body. "This is for the comrade you forced me to kill!"

Then Rihan landed on his body, taking a tanto out of his pocket."And all that follows is for all the pointless misery that your two false gods caused." The devil poured all of the Temple's Fear onto those two weapons. "I thought about turning you into minced meat, but doing so would be pointless." He raised his two weapons, ready to use them. "So I will have the humans judge you."

Then he made an X-cut with both of them. "Reverse Shadow Equip!" In an instant, the Fear poured from the weapons onto Bonnouma. Since his Fear was too weak to control such vast power, the alien Fear started devouring him.

"Why?" A man cried while holding the body of his dead wife in his arms. "Why are you doing this?" He asked the cultists, but Bonnouma felt like he was asked that question.

~Bonnouma was one of the Raksasha of India, although his name back then was different~

"NO! Not the children!" A woman screamed while the sound of butchered meat could be heard. "NOOOOOO!"

~He was a ferocious warrior~

"Mister..." Voice of a young child spoke to his neighbor who often gave him sweets. "Why are you holding the axe? Are you going to chop some wood? Can I help you-"

~But what gave him pleasure were not battles~

"Shut up!" Bonnouma's screamed while body started to burn in black flames.

~He loved the simple pleasures of life~

"Please shut up!" Bonnouma begged while the Fear he collected through his life by torturing human bodies and minds also assaulted him.

~An old woman's cooking made with love, a child's smile, festivities and simple joys~

Thousands of voices now screamed inside Bonnouma's head, but somehow they no longer gave him pleasure. No, each part of his body could feel their anger and confusion at why they had to suffer. He was literally being burnt alive by their emotions.

~He wanted to help humans understand that joy and to protect them so they could continue having such joys~

His vision jumped between brighter times that were forgotten and horrors he committed in later parts of his life.

~So he turned to a wise and powerful Rakhasha, Shoumen Kongo, knowing that he would bring righteousness to everyone~

"I am sorry..." The youkai known as Bonnouma started crying while his body started tearing into pieces and turn to dust by the black flames. "I am sorry... this is not... what I wanted..."


~)(~


Rihan looked from above while Bonnouma's body was being devoured by the overwhelming Fear and turned to dust, all the Fear disappearing with him.

"Best use of it, I think," Rihan said with a somber face while both Nenekirimaru and the tanto broke into pieces. "And this whole place now feels much less sinister," Rihan said after taking a deep breath. The humans have gotten their revenge themselves and his and Shiori's mission, which was to stop Sanmoto from getting this Fear, had been accomplished.

When Rihan landed on his feet, he was greeted with cheers.

"Woohoo, that's the way to go!" Awashima yelled. "Ha ha, we won!"

"Gooo Rihan!" Dohiko was also joyful. "I changed my mind! You are just as crazy as your dad and sister!"

"That's my chief for you." Ao-Ju nodded in approval. "A promotion is in order… oh wait, we are not in the Police…"

"Rihaaaaan!" Shiori shouted and jumped at him. "You were so amazing that you made me fall in love with you all over again!"

"Stop that… you are strangling me!" Rihan said, but was happy to feel relaxed enough to enjoy her warmth again. "We won." He said and returned the hug.


I-I-I-I-I


Author Notes:

- We start the chapter with Rihan explaining why he rejected the Sakazuki Exchange (which symbolizes his connection to the Nura Clan) and the existence of another darkness inside him. Either way, this serves as a turning point for Rihan, even if the Sakazuki Exchange was not real

- Those who read the ch0 omake now see where the Kudan Prophecy plays a role: it turned one of Rikuo's off-spring into the one who would bring ruin to the world. But what exactly does ruin mean? Although Rihan Jr.'s Fear is a tad bit more sinister than of the rest of his family, we also see that he has more chivalry than while he suppressed it and he was very keen on avenging the lost human lives. Well, all in its due time…

- Rihan's acceptance here is not definite however: through Bonnouma we see that a part of his humanity is still corrupted. This time they took the Koshin by surprise, but there are three more Shimas left… all of whom will probably be better prepared than Bonnouma was. Rihan's inner battle is still not over…

- And we got our second original Matoi in this story and the first one with an original youkai. With this technique, Rihan brings both a gun and a sword to a swordfight ;P

- Although the Prophetical Tale protecting Bonnouma was not easy to see, it was an important element nevertheless for, without lifting it, Bonnouma was practically immortal. Without it, he was weakened enough that someone strong enough could defeat him

- Rihan had demonstrated a number of his own techniques here, two of which feel like darker versions of the usual Nurarihyon techniques (one which takes confusion of one's senses into more painful levels and another one which allows Rihan to control malicious youkai and Fear)

- We also get introduced to the Game that Shiori is playing and its political structure. This also serves as an introduction into plot elements that will be important in the upcoming arcs… but what kind of contract did Rihan make with the red-haired evil demon overlady?

- When Rihan considered turning Bonnouma into minced meat as a payment for the human lives killed by the cultists, I was actually showing the first idea that came to my mind. But seeing as NOT doing such things was supposed to be part of Rihan's development I changed it… and came up with something more fitting and satisfying: Bonnouma practically being killed by the humans who suffered by the cultists