Note: Gekkoutane is born when a bright moonlight shined through the windows of his mother's room, hence Gekkou. He usually gets called Gekkou too.
About the 'King of Fantasy', it's easy to figure out who he is. Hint: Let's going, King of Fantasy.
As some of you may realize, I partly use Nioh 1 and 2 as the base(s) to build a Japan of Heian to Edo periods in my style.
"Maou? Is your kind getting new leaders now?"
"No! No one sits on my kind, other than me of course." Nura smirked briefly and then frowned again. "But my point is that, they are dangerous. Many of my good subordinates fell and only the wrath of Susano'o, who happened to be nearby and drove them off."
Gekkoutane swallowed his sake and wondered out loud. "I see, but I still don't see your intention of informing me this. Wouldn't you be happy if I died? Like, I am one of the more powerful Yokai Hunters right now and well, you know it."
"Heh, to be honest. I like your guts. You kill judicially and you spare the good. I always wanted to eliminate the troublesome individuals and you! You helped me with it. Look here, kid." The yokai straightened his pose and looked at Gekkoutane. "I don't want to see you dead and I hate it when I have to go to Meido and drag you back so I can revive you. A rare gem like you is very hard to find. Nozuchi, one of my best guys, informed me that there is a long haired, douche-looking guy asking around for you. If you see one, flee at all costs. He is one of the Satans. You can't stand against him, especially now he has a large portion of my power with him."
"If he is that dangerous, I must exterminate him. It's my duty as a Hunter to vanquish evil and base on what you said, I have a huge bone to pick with him" Gekkoutane allowed a savage smirk widening on his face. Nurarihyon sighed in defeat, raising both hands to emphasize, and produced a vial from his yukata.
"Take this with you. It was supposed to be my last-ditch attempt to win against them but eh, what could I do? It will infuse a small Yokai essence, in your case, and strengthen your body tremendously for a short period. If you win, well, it's like being buffed by the monks. Otherwise, you will become a yokai, no way around."
"…Are you planning to turn me?"
"Maaaaybe?" Nura jokingly admitted but did a double-take when Gekkou clicked his sword. "Waaaait, I was joking! Man, you are such a killjoy. Well, the vial was extracted from my blood so in worst scenario, you will become a Yokai or a Reiki depending on how violent your body reacts and the least is, congrats, you have become arguably the first half Yokai that isn't born as one!"
Nurarihyon left shortly and Gekkoutane packed up his belongings. He eyed the vial with suspicion; he knew that the Yokai had his best intention when giving it to him but, what's the point of becoming what you were hunting? And half-Yokai, wasn't it even possible? Too many questions without answers.
Gekkoutane paid for his night and now headed to his next location: Dojou-ji. He received a letter from the priests requiring his help in exorcising a particularly stubborn Onryou safeguarded by several Onis. The Yurei was rumored to be a princess of a kingdom existing before Emperor Jimmu's rise. The Yamato Ruler's unification of the land inevitably destroyed the kingdom, whose name had been erased from the history, with the princess being defiled, humiliated, forced to watch her people getting executed and then perished in the hands of the Emperor personally. Her hatred and sorrow soon cursed the land and her spirit couldn't pass away peacefully, resulting in the Onryou.
Gekkoutane was passing the forest of Kobe when the sky got blackened by a sudden thunderstorm. He held his sword tight as this might be the sign of a Raijuu, Thunder God Raijin's companion. While it's written as there was only one Raijuu, there were reports and sightings of multiple ones on a heavy storm night in a wide area. Raijuu was famous for their very violent nature during a thunderstorm, which was happening now. He had never faced one before so he had to be extremely careful.
"ARUUUUUUUUUU"
There was a howl on his left as Gekkoutane immediately drew his sword. A golden, lighting-covered beast was standing there and announcing its presence to him. His Eyes pierced through the Raijuu's and read its intention. It was half sane half feral, which was clear to him that someone was making a storm to aggravate the divine wolf-like creature. A passing advice from Yoritsugi played in his head.
'When a Raijuu is agitated yet it makes no move against you, lower your weapon SLOWLY and do not let your guard down. This will show respect to the beast and it may let you go but the chances are low so pick your choice.'
He thought that guy was joking since he was dead drunk back then but Gekkoutane followed his words anyways. He slowly withdrew his blade and the feral Raijuu simultaneously became relaxed. The progress lasted for a minute before he fully re-sheathed his sword and the divine creature lay down like a pup, although its face struggled to snarl at him.
"Aruuuu…"
It whined while its eyes flashed at him. Gekkoutane's Eyes shined in response and he partly understood what it was saying, aside the (welcome back, O King of Fantasy) part. He couldn't find any document about this King but the reactions of the priests and monks when he asked them told him that the King was forbidden to talk about. Kinda reminded him of the atrocities the Emperors had caused, including the aforementioned Jimmu.
"!"
A sound of something cutting through the air whistled to his ears, causing him to draw the katana and slash the source. A mutilated bat as big as a crow fell to the ground, black ichor leaking from its body. Trusting his heart, Gekkoutane rushed to the Raijuu and stood protectively before it, eying around for potentially more enemies. He reached his bag and produced a red talisman before throwing it at the empty space ahead. The paper exploded and lightened the area. At that moment, he spotted three suspicious people with bat wings and unknown weapons in the process of creating bats from a glowing crest.
"Dare da!" He shouted at them. The Raijuu behind him growled as if to tell him that they caused its unstable state.
"The abomination found us!"
"Kill him quick!"
Their accents were strange to him and Gekkoutane deduced that they were foreigners, no, foreign demons if their bat-like wings were to believe. He took out another talisman, this one was yellow, and slapped it on his sword. The edge began to glow and sparks emitted from it. The assailants were surprised at the magic but stayed calm and lunged at him. Gekkoutane took a long breath and aimed at the first one's throat and thrust. It didn't get to scream with his body was getting electrocuted to death before Gekkoutane pulled out. Using the smoking body as a shield, he rammed into the next one and delivered an upper slash at the other. The humanoid demons roared and fired red fireballs at him, forcing him to jump.
"Haaaah!"
Gekkoutane pointed his sword downward and dove his body at the gaping demon, leaving a trail of lightning behind. The attack skewered it right in the mouth and using the momentum, he bisected the head to get his sword out, blood gushing out of the hole, and went for the finishing strike at the last. The sword pierced the demon in the middle of its chest.
"Ack…ka…Damn you, Fantasy Eye bearer!"
"What do you know about my eyes? Who is the King of Fantasy?" Gekkoutane inquired as he pushed the sword deeper. "Answer me!"
"Cursed child of Fujiwara, you shall not stop my lord Satans from conquering the world! HAIL SATAN!"
Gekkoutane's eyes widened as he couldn't retreat in time and got engulfed by the demon's suicide attack. Its body built up demonic energy and then exploded, engulfing him in the process.
At the other side of the mountain, on the Hidaka riverbank lies a small village. Its headman, Shoji, was wealthy enough to entertain and provide lodging for traveling priests, who often passed by on their way to Dojou-Ji. His daughter, Kiyo or Kiyo-hime as the villagers affectionately called, was famous for her beauty and personalities to the point the priests staying in her family's lodge often got enchanted. Today, her mother asked her to gather some herbs on the mountain but when she was about to return, a sudden thunderstorm descended down on her. Kiyo had to take shelter in a relatively safe cave for the time being. Unknown to anyone outside her family, she was a dragon-serpent Yokai so she could sense the wrongness of this storm. It was clearly caused by someone else not the gods.
"Ah!"
The cave shook as a loud explosion occurred nearby. Kiyo waited until the rain lessened and got out to check the cause. A smoking crater appeared on the ground while the trees around were scorched to their roots. Kiyo sensed a weakened human essence coming from the crater so she rolled up her kimono and glided down. A man in his 25s lay face-down in a messy mass of meats and blood with his right hand still holding a katana. Kiyo quickly dragged the unconscious man out but not without taking a small bottle stuck in the mass. She invoked part of her true form and flied back to the lodge.
"Where…am I?"
Gekkoutane saw peaceful night sky with the brightest moon he had ever seen and then, the sound of flames sputtering woke him up. Dead, scorched bodied everywhere and a burning Imperial Palace. He saw an army of ancient and powerful Yokais led by a man with two long horns spouting from his chest to his back and cladding in a dark blue-pink armor. His face was obstructed by the helmet yet Gekkou could see through the shadow. And of all sudden, the person turned to him.
The scene changed to that night, the night where the Yokais went on rampage and killed his mother. His eyes blinked uncontrollably as if to try to block it away and then, he saw that same person again but instead of commanding the monsters, he cut down them with a blazing sword on his left hand while the other conjured a torrent of flame. He stood up and slowly approached the person but then someone or something spoke up behind him.
"You are not ready. Return to your reality."
…
"!"
Gekkoutane shot up from the futon, sweats drenching his attire. A sharp pain in his chest urged him to stay still as he resisted the urge to shout. After calming down, he decided to investigate where he was in fear of being captured.
'Why would my kidnappers treat my injuries and provide me with a nice futon?'
He mused to himself as he took a look at the room he was residing in. The furniture was definitely top notch and Gekkoutane had a feeling that he was in very luxurious inn on par with those in the noble-district in the capital. His sword was sheathed and placed neatly next time along with his clothes cleaned and bag with the content still inside and not missing anything He had a hunch that Lady Tamamo was his rescuer but quickly brushed it away as the chance of her in the same place as his was too low to even consider it. After a while, he was too sleepy to think so he relaxed his mind and closed his eyes.
Gekkoutane woke up when the footsteps and murmurings outside his room were too loud to ignore. Feeling that he should find whoever saved him to thank and pay for the night, he quickly dressed up. When he reached the shoji, he was met by a beautiful face.
"Ah, you are awake."
"So it seems." Gekkoutane raised an eyebrow at her. "And who is the beauty I'm looking at?" He might close his heart indefinitely but he could still appreciate women you know. The girl blushed at his compliment and answered him with her sweet voice.
"My name is Kiyo, daughter of this place's landlord."
This story will be slow but it shouldn't take more than five chapters until it switches to the Underworld Civil War. Stay tuned guys!