Looking at the demons and ghosts tramping forward through the dreary fog of Suzaku Avenue, Lily had a feeling of déjà vu.
Once upon a time, Kagami Lily, a young girl who had no power to even bind a chicken, came to the Heian world and encountered the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons on the streets of Kamakura, nearly losing her life.
But now, Lily could feel the aura of these approaching demons and deduce that they were no longer a threat to her.
However, there was a parade of demons in front and dignitaries behind. This was Lily’s first time in Heian-kyō and there was no reason to be caught between them. She quietly propped up the parasol and retreated into a nearby alley on the edge of the avenue.
Peeking from the dark alleyway, Lily saw a band of demons and spirits being led by two one-eyed monsters. These two monsters wore black-and-white high hats and held lanterns that lit the way for the procession following behind them. There were demons and ghosts of various shapes, some being tall, short, fat, or even thin. Among them, there was a small demon resembling a natto1 straw wrap jumping back and forth. Beside it rolled a huge wheel bearing the tormented face of a dark-skinned man. There was also a monk with wild-looking hair who clasped a string of skeleton prayer beads. Not far away, a giant centipede measuring hundreds of meters long opened its big jaw as it trailed along. Its dark green eyes flashed with disdain of the mortal world and parts of its body would occasionally crawl on the ground while the rest suspended in the lingering demonic miasma.
The group of demons and phantoms passing by, the swaying lights, the drumming and music, as well as the scattered Heian Dynasty market buildings in the background, formed a fascinating picture for Lily. Did the demonic aura of these one hundred ghosts and demons inadvertently excite her Blade Maiden physique?
Lily suddenly took out the Record of One Hundred Demons in the dark alleyway and unfolded a section of it. She dabbed a large brush in some water to thin the ink and started to freely paint. Naturally, she didn’t paint any of the hundred demons as none of them were worthy of her time.
What Lily painted was Suzaku Avenue!
Behind a few demons painted on the scroll, some clouds of demonic miasma were added. Lily ended up painting a few meters worth of blank space, but this wasn’t more than half of the scroll. Most of this space was dedicated to the night scenes of Suzaku Avenue which was painted with light ink.
Lily didn’t know why she wanted to do this— it was just a sudden feeling. It was her first time seeing The Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons on Heian-kyō’s Suzaku Avenue so she decided to paint it2.
At this time, around a hundred meters away from the band of demons, the bullock carriage escorted by the samurai continued to move forward as if nothing was wrong.
In the carriage sat a boy with beautiful black hair and center-parted bangs. His long hair was tied with several strands of golden feather hair ornaments that gave it a layered look. His face was also small and fair, giving him a beauty similar to girls. He wore a sleeveless pink-green kimono with red threads that showed his slender shoulders and fancy innerwear. There was a light orange sleeve buckled on the outside but his upper arms were left exposed. The short pink-green kimono barely covered his legs as he sat on his knees, appearing to be well-educated in female manners3.
This beautiful boy was Prince Narinaga. He had a pair of big bright eyes that hid a trace of tiredness, looking as if he was returning from a long journey.
“I guess it’s too late to reach the Heian Palace today so I’ll pay my respects to my elder brother tomorrow.” Prince Narinaga showed an elegant smile and casually picked up a book to read. The book was titled: ‘The Legend of Great General Tamuramaro’.
“Boys, why do you always want to fight and kill; it makes you sweaty and stinky. So indecent, unlike me and my brother…” Prince Narinaga put his hand on his moist lips and said4.
The bullock carriage suddenly shook as cold winds battered against its frame, causing the curtains in the front compartment to flutter wildly.
The book was immediately blown from the prince’s weak hands and torn into pieces, paper flying everywhere.
“Ah, what’s happening?! It’s cold!” He shouted. “Demon! It’s a demon!” “Demons are attacking!”
Horrified cries came from outside the carriage.
“No, it’s the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons! Get out of the way quickly!” A public official beside the carriage shouted. “It’s too late, protect His Highness the Prince— AH!!!”
Pfft!!! A wave of blood splattered into the carriage and a few drops stained Prince Narinaga’s white face.
Soon after, he felt something wet and hairy rolling to his feet. He couldn’t help but shudder and look…
Below his small feet in short white socks, he saw the head of a rough man with protruding bloodshot eyes that seemed to glare at him.
“Ahhhh—!” Prince Narinaga let out a high-pitched scream. “Protect His Highness the Prince!”
At an intersection not far behind the attacked carriage, a team of warriors in bamboo hats and white clothes had just walked out.
Upon hearing the prince’s scream and seeing a horde of demons attacking the gorgeous bullock carriage, they immediately unsheathed their swords and rushed over.
Outside the carriage, there was only one surviving samurai who tried his best to fend off the iron rod of a giant monk. He looked terrified and his body visibly trembled, seeming to lose all strength.
“Hah!” Not far away, a tall dark green ghost with a droopy face came along and ripped off half of the samurai’s shoulder with one of its huge claws. The samurai howled as blood spurted from half of his body. He fell to the ground and rolled in pain, slowly bleeding to death.
By this time, the driver was already scared out of his wits and tried to squeeze into the bullock carriage through the roof. Unfortunately, his upper body got stuck halfway through and the dark green ghost bit off his head. The ghost playfully dangled the headless corpse and caused blood to patter inside the carriage. This triggered another blood-curdling cry from the terrified young boy inside.
“Heavenly spirits, protect this cursed ground…” The old public official beside the bullock carriage seemed to know some arcane magic and began chanting an incantation. His black clothes gradually floated and spiritual light erupted from the soles of his feet, spiraling into the surroundings.
Bam! A rotting demon looming three meters tall kicked the grey-haired public official with its huge foot. The old man flew out for tens of meters like a ragdoll and his ribs, spine, and shin were all broken upon impact. His neck was twisted at an unnatural angle and blood seeped from his protruding eyes. Along with his death, the spiritual light of the spell he was chanting immediately dissipated.
Lily held her parasol and watched this scene from the dark corner of the alleyway, saying in her heart, “No matter how powerful arcane magic is, it is meaningless if you leave your body unprotected and an enemy gets close.”
After a while, the team of white-clothed samurai finally arrived.
“Oh? I finally get to see other people on the road. These samurai should be official guards on night patrol, right?” Lily observed secretly.
The leader of the group steadied his sword, “We are the night patrol of the Ministry of Justice! Which demon dares attack His Highness the Prince?!”
The three-meter-tall demon swung a claw at the leading samurai. However, these samurai were obviously well-trained and scattered one after another. Seeing that conversation was useless, the samurai split into pairs to attack the hundred demons.
A melee suddenly broke out on the avenue. Some samurai were milled into two pieces by the huge wheel demon while some smaller demons were chopped and killed by the samurai.
The huge centipede sprayed poisonous mist at the battling samurai and several of them were too late to dodge. They were sprayed together with the demons they fought and their bodies started to rot and burn as they screamed.
The centipede was a hundred meters long but extremely swift. Like a shadow, it quickly struck and retracted, crunching a samurai between its jaws!
“What?!” The leader of the samurai was horrified as he watched more than half his men die in the blink of an eye.
He exploded with spiritual energy and led several samurai to kill the giant centipede. However, the centipede spat out purple poisonous mist that quickly engulfed them before sweeping its hundred-meter-long tail down from the night sky.
BOOM!!! Like a flexible wall, it smashed the several samurai into mush on the spot. Even the leader was impossible to recognize among the pools of flesh.
Nearly a dozen samurai were almost wiped out. The two survivors looked at the hideous horde of demons with despair and threw down their swords. With terrified cries, they turned and fled far away.
The hundred demons did not chase them. Instead, they surrounded the bullock carriage. Two huge evil spirits, one pulling the ox’s head and the other pulling the carriage, forcibly tore off the innocent animal and threw it to the demon horde for a quick snack.
The other demons examined the bullock carriage as if it was a big toy. The two terrifyingly ugly faces of the evil spirits peeked into the carriage, their eyes flashing with a brutal light.
The prince inside was already scared and paralyzed with fear. He shrank into the corner and shivered constantly, his teeth clattering. His voice was the same as that of a girl, “No, don’t kill me. Do y-you demons and spirits know who I am, huh? I am a descendant of the gods and the younger brother of the current emperor, Emperor Go-Toba! Even those three peerless demon kings wouldn’t dare to kill me!”
Although Prince Narinaga was scared to death, he still clung to the arrogant traits of the imperial family!
“Oh?” Not far away, a ghostly light flashed in Lily’s eyes. She hated weak, effeminate boys very much5, but although this prince’s voice was very girly, he at least showed some courage in the face of a hundred demons.
The two evil spirits whose faces occupied half the doorway of the carriage uttered human speech, “We will not come to innocently kill descendants of the Tenson Tribe; it is not we man-eating spirits who want you dead, but someone respectable among you! Perhaps it’s even someone close to you who you trust, kehehehe!”
“What?” The prince’s eyes froze for a moment and a layer of gray clouded his innocent, pearl-like pupils.
One of the evil spirits opened its mouth wide and disgusting saliva dripped from its fangs, “You should know that deaths among heirs of the imperial family aren’t rare. Die, and let me taste the meat of a god’s descendant. What’s the difference between the meat of a prince and ordinary people?” The evil spirit reached into the bullock carriage with its open claw that almost covered half of the prince’s thin body.
“No, no, don’t kill me, don’t kill me, please, don’t kill me! I’ll give you a lot of money, treasures, official positions; I’ll give you whatever you want!” In the end, the prince’s fear conquered his arrogance, prompting him to beg.
The huge claw opened like a dark sky, blocking the prince’s final vision.
“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me ah—”
Swish! A crimson glow cut between the darkness.
Lily descended from the sky and landed in front of the bullock carriage. An arc of scarlet light gradually scattered around her body and several demons and evil spirits lost their heads.
