Deepest Part of Jukai Forest
In the distance, a woman in a red dress walked forward with elegant steps.
Softly, lightly.
She was walking alone in the very heart of Jukai Forest—the so-called kingdom of yokai—yet not a single yokai dared to approach her. Even the lower-tier yokai, which lacked intelligence, instinctively understood.
They must not lay a hand on her.
“Hmm.”
The woman held a folding fan in front of her face, concealing everything except her eyes. Beyond her gaze, a procession of yokai—known as Hyakki Yagyō(Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)—knelt with their heads pressed to the ground, trembling like leaves in a storm.
Each and every one of them was powerful enough to be classified as a Gamma-class entity, yet they could not even meet her gaze. They simply shuddered in fear.
But not all of them did.
The woman’s gaze shifted to a pale man at the very front. He was the only one in this place who dared to look at her directly.
“Was it you? The fool who goes around calling himself the King of Yokai?”
[That’s right. I am the King of Yokai—Kairikunanshin. I was born from the grudges of the yokai in this land. They called me forth, and they created me. Thus, I shall build a kingdom for yokai here. No—beyond this place, I shall create an entire world for yokai.]
Kairikunanshin. A being born from the accumulated grudges of yokai within the ominous Aokigahara Sea of Trees.
As he himself declared, he existed solely to establish a kingdom for yokai and to enthrone himself as its ruler.
The woman in the red dress let out a mocking laugh. Since her fan obscured most of her face, her smile remained hidden.
“Pfft. What nonsense. You’re nothing but a worm.”
Kairikunanshin radiated a fierce aura of yokai energy and responded harshly.
[Who are you? This forest is mine. Since you have entered without permission, you will now abide by my will.]
The moment he finished speaking, the woman flicked her fan.
Boom!
The entire forest shook, and Kairikunanshin’s head exploded.
Yet, in the very next instant, his head restored itself to its original form.
Kairikunanshin looked at the woman, his face contorted in disbelief. From the moment of his birth, he had never doubted that he was a king. But now—
[…]
“Tsk. And you call yourself a king?”
[What… are you?]
“Even if I told you, do you think you’d understand?”
[…]
“Well, at least you seem somewhat useful.”
Two yokai appeared from above. One had black wings, and the other had five horns.
“Put it down here.”
The black-winged yokai, Daitengu, lowered the jar he was carrying. The massive vessel was covered in talismans, and even Kairikunanshin—the so-called master of this forest—instinctively moved back from the ominous energy seeping from it.
[What is this?]
“You’ll figure that out in time. And from now on, these two will be staying here as well, so keep that in mind.”
Daitengu and Shuten-doji both knelt on one knee, addressing the woman with the utmost respect.
[Where will you be going?]
[How long should we remain here?]
The woman in the red dress replied.
“Why ask so many questions? It’s not charming when you’re so curious. Just handle things as you see fit.”
Then, turning her back, she walked out of the forest.
“Sigh. Looks like I’ve got a tail on me. These damn administrators, they love to be a nuisance. How’s anyone supposed to move freely like this?”
The moment she left, the yokai energy within the forest, already thick, became even more dense—so much so that it was incomparable to before.
Kairikunanshin, staring blankly at the jar, finally realized the truth.
He was not the true King of Yokai.
[…The real king was someone else all along.]
The jar trembled.
Taesan and Xiao Yun were running at full speed.
The distance from their location to the temporary outpost wasn’t far, but the relentless waves of yokai attacking them delayed their progress.
“Senior, are you sure returning to the outpost is the right decision?”
“Junior, if you’ve got the breath to talk, use it to move faster! At this rate, we’ll be dead before we make it back!”
A flying dagger sliced through the air, shattering the skull of a yokai right next to Taesan. Drenched in a spray of blood, he scowled.
“But… I can’t shake the feeling that we’re putting the other administrators in danger by doing this.”
He was genuinely worried.
What if their return ended up dragging the people at the outpost into the crossfire?
But Xiao Yun saw things differently.
“You idiot. Let’s say we stay here and fight, risking our lives to cut down their numbers. If we’re lucky, we might take out two Beta-class yokai and some weaker ones. But in the end, we’d be crossing the Sanzu River either way.”
“…Yes.”
“And do you think the rest of them will just go, ‘Oh, they took out two of us, so let’s call it a day and go home?’ No. They’ll keep going—straight to the outpost. Don’t you get it yet? The fact that they’re finally making their move means something big is happening.”
“…….”
“They’ve gained confidence. Confidence that they can kill us.
Your subordinate was right—until now, they weren’t sure they could win, even if they fought with everything they had.
But now, that’s changed.
Rather than dying a meaningless death here, returning to the camp and joining forces with the other administrators is the far better option.
We’re not dragging them into hell just to save ourselves—we’re increasing everyone’s chances of survival by regrouping.”
Taesan wasn’t entirely convinced by his words, but Xiao Yun was serious.
No matter how hard they fought, they would only die in vain against such overwhelming numbers.
Their best bet was to rush to the temporary camp, where they could at least serve as an additional line of defense and increase their odds of survival.
“If we stand together, we live; if we scatter, we die.
Judging by the situation, we might both die either way, but…
These bastards weren’t even aiming for us in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
Crunch!
Taesan crushed the head of a nearby yokai before asking, his entire body soaked in blood from the dozens he had already slain.
“I don’t sense the presence of any of their presumed leaders.
Looks like they’re heading for the camp.”
So they don’t even see us as worth their attention?
It was a remark made half in jest, but deep down, Xiao Yun was relieved.
The situation was spiraling into disaster.
The sheer number of yokai coming after him and Taesan was staggering, but the truly dangerous ones—their leaders—were nowhere to be found.
If those monsters had been present from the start, they wouldn’t even be thinking about returning to camp; they’d be worrying about their own last moments.
And that would’ve meant disaster for the remaining administrators at the camp.
After all, two of their strongest fighters were currently stranded outside.
Taesan exhaled harshly, his breath ragged from the relentless battle.
In stark contrast, Xiao Yun remained pristine—despite having slaughtered over three times as many yokai as Taesan.
“Hah… Hah…”
It took them about thirty minutes to finally reach the outskirts of the temporary camp.
Under normal circumstances, with their level of qinggong, they could’ve covered the distance in under three minutes.
But the constant wave of yokai had severely delayed them.
Taesan looked ahead.
Thousands of yokai swarmed around the camp, their grotesque forms writhing like cockroaches.
“Senior… Are all of those… yokai?”
The sheer horror of the sight crushed the last shred of hope lingering in his heart.
The protective barrier, painstakingly constructed by the administrators, had long since collapsed.
The supporting pillars were unrecognizable, reduced to rubble.
The breached entrance had rendered the camp completely defenseless.
If it had once been a sanctuary, now it was nothing more than a cage, trapping the people like prey.
Inside, chaos erupted.
“Aaah… I don’t want to die… Don’t eat me… My leg…!”
“We should never have come here… Damn tree bastards… I’ll curse you even in death…”
“Shiiiit! I don’t wanna die like this, you motherfuckers!”
“Hey! Get a grip! Snap out of it! What the hell are you doing spacing out in a situation like this? You wanna die or—huh? Haruka…? Why are you…?”
“Eheheheh! Die! Die! All you filthy humans should just die! Eheheheh!”
If there was a hell, surely it would look like this.
Inside the camp, administrators and yokai clashed in a frenzied bloodbath.
Those who had been guarding the entrance had already been torn apart, their remains devoured.
A few administrators managed to regroup and resist, but fear was a beast they could not control.
Some, driven mad by terror, took their own lives.
Others, in their turmoil, turned their weapons on their own allies.
Severed heads rolled across the ground.
Organs were torn from bodies and flung into the air.
Blood rained down like a storm.
Comrades who had shared meals just hours ago were now nothing more than minced meat.
Half of the administrators were already dead.
And that was only because Ashiya Doman, a Beta-class administrator, was holding the line.
Thanks to him, at least half had survived.
If he wasn’t here, they would’ve been completely annihilated long ago.
“…Damn it. Showing up now, after half of us are already dead… What’s the point?”
“We got here as fast as we could, but the situation’s worse than I expected.
Looks like this place is about to become our grave, old man.”
“Heh. I have no intention of dying just yet.
With this many corpses around, it’s far too early to give up.”
“…Then buy me some time.
I see something in the distance, but it’s still just beyond my grasp.”
Doman’s lips curled into a wicked grin as he rang his bell.
The lifeless bodies scattered across the ground began to stir.
Thanks to Doman’s shikigami and Xiao Yun’s arrival, the interior of the camp was quickly brought under control.
But everyone knew—
The real battle hadn’t even begun yet.
The Beta-class yokai leaders remained at a distance, watching.
‘Half of the administrators are already dead, and the real threats haven’t even made their move yet.
This is the worst possible scenario.’
Doman’s abilities helped even the playing field somewhat, but the sheer number disparity was overwhelming.
With a savage roar, Taesan charged forward like a beast.
He had spotted his team members—including Lee Eunha—still alive.
Though they were in terrible condition, the fact that they were still breathing was enough.
With every movement of his iron-hard body, nearby yokai were ripped apart like paper.
“Get out of my way, you bastards!”
“…Captain?”
“Thank god you’re alive! Everyone, get over here!”
Taesan, leading the charge, carved a path through the horde and led his team toward Xiao Yun.
Because if there was anywhere in this hellish battlefield where survival was even slightly more likely, it was by his side.
Before long, every surviving administrator had gathered around Xiao Yun and Doman.
For now, the camp’s interior was somewhat stabilized, allowing them to focus on recovery.
“…?”
“…?”
Something felt off.
Xiao Yun suddenly jumped into the air, his feet pressing against the void itself.
The sight of him standing in midair reassured the others, if only briefly.
His gaze pierced the distance.
“What do you see?”
Five kilometers away.
A twisted grin spread across the face of Kairikunanshin (Monster of Unmatched Strength) as he locked eyes with Xiao Yun.
Then, he murmured,
“The fun is over.”
Beyond him, a sea of dark specks filled the horizon.
When Xiao Yun enhanced his vision, he saw them clearly.
All of them—yokai.
Tens of thousands.
No, perhaps even hundreds of thousands.
As if every yokai from the entire Aokigahara Sea of Trees had gathered here.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Drums blasted from the distance.
To the beat of the war drums, Kairikunanshin danced.
And with a unified stomp, the yokai army charged forward.
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