traveler. Thankfully, there weren’t many of them in the world anymore. Nurikabe were slow and stupid, but extremely difficult to kill. Sometimes they could be tricked into leaving or moving aside, but once they made up their minds, the only way past the nurikabe was to destroy it.
The red hag made an impatient noise. “You can see that it’s us,” she hissed. “Move aside. We have important business with Lord Genno.”
Another large crimson eye opened, this one near the bottom corner of the wall, and rolled around as it took us in. “I know you,” the yokai said to the hag in a slow, ponderous voice. “I know you, and I know them.” Both eyes stilled, flicking past the ogress to stare balefully at me. “But I don’t know him,” it rumbled. “And Lord Genno was insistent that I do not open this gate for anyone I do not recognize.”
“Don’t recognize him?” the green hag exclaimed. “You stupid blind fool, don’t you know who this is? This is Hakaimono the Destroyer, commander of the Four Great Demon Generals and the First Oni Lord of Jigoku.”
“Hakaimono?” The eyes blinked slowly, and the yokai seemed to settle even farther into the ground. “I do not know anyone of that name.”
I exhaled. This was amusing…and ridiculous. I figured I could circumvent the nurikabe entirely and go over the wall, but I was not going to sneak into Genno’s castle like a shinobi in the night. The Master of Demons knew I was coming; he should’ve known better than to put this absurd obstacle in my path.
“Not going to let me pass?” I asked, and the nurikabe glowered, its eyes a sullen red in its stony body. I drew Kamigoroshi, and the blade flared a bright purple in the face of the monster. The three hags skittered aside; they knew better than to get in the way. Three more eyes opened in the nurikabe’s featureless wall, and with a rumble of stone and dirt, a pair of thick stone arms emerged from the monster’s body, huge fists clenched in front of it. I grinned, flourished Kamigoroshi and sank into a low stance. “Then I guess I’ll have to carve a path right through you!”
“Enough!” boomed a voice. A figure shimmered to life overhead, pale and translucent in the moonlight, a broad-shouldered human in a pure white robe, wide sleeves billowing around him. His hair was long, the sides pulled into a topknot, and two tendril-like strands extended from his upper lip nearly to his belt, floating down his chest like dragon whiskers. His eyes were sharp, his brows sharper and his chin was the sharpest of all; a razor blade of a face pulled into a grim frown.
“Lord Genno,” said the blue hag, and all three of them bowed. I remained standing, watching as the specter floated closer. It ignored the three ogresses, circling me like a pale shark, leaving trails of wispy light behind it. I didn’t move, even when the yurei passed behind me, cold dead eyes on my back, before floating around again.
“Hakaimono,” the figure stated, gazing down at me. “So, you really have come, after all.”
“Genno,” I acknowledged, with a smirk and a very slight nod. “You look exactly the same as you did four hundred years ago. Well, minus a body.”
The specter’s bloodless mouth thinned. “And you are the same irreverent demon that got in the way of my army four centuries back,” it said irritably, and pointed at me with a long, elegant finger. “Let me remind you, Hakaimono—you might be the greatest of the oni lords, but you are still trapped within the body of a mere mortal. This is my domain, and you are a lot easier to kill.”
“No need for threats.” I smiled, showing fangs. “I didn’t come here for a fight, human. I heard you had a bit of trouble with your new body, so I thought I’d offer my assistance.”
The specter of the Master of Demons raised a pale eyebrow. “Intriguing,” he mused. “The First Oni comes to me with an offer of help. Not for free, of course.”
“Of course not.” I snorted. “Enlisting the service of an oni lord is never cheap, you should know that better than anyone, Master of Demons.” I spread my arms, smiling up at him. “If you want my help, I’m willing to join your little quest to take down the empire, and I’ll probably have a great time doing it. But I’ve got a price, and