Tanuki Rise of the Yokai Clan

Maou's Hammer.

Tamazuki was familiar with this weapon since it was a weapon that gave him the confidence to take down the Nura Clan in the original story.

The history of this weapon was rather old, and this was also the weapon that made his father's expedition to conquer the Matsuyama Castle in the past end in failure.

Shikoku was once the treasury of the youkai to the tanuki youkai especially. It was paradise, and they far outnumbered the human population.

About 300 years ago, in a youkai tale passed down in Shikoku, the might of the tanuki youkai continued to grow, and before long, they had formed a group beneath the banner of "Fear." They attempted to capture a castle of humans. Lying in wait for them at Matsuyama Castle were ten thousand mere humans, and facing them, the youkai army spearheaded by Inugamigyoubu Danuki, with divine power beyond human understanding.

The outcome was perfectly obvious.

However... the tanuki youkai were utterly annihilated by a single sword held by the humans. Its name is Maou's Hammer. A sword with the power to destroy youkai.

And this sword appeared before him, being given to him as a gift.

Tamazuki didn't say anything and observed the sword curiously. The appearance was nothing but bizarre. It was an old, broken, weird sword with a Demon King Summoning Scream written on its sheath.

It has the ability to absorb the "Fear" of those it kills and transforms their bodies and hatred into power for its wielder. The more it kills, the more it looks like a living thing.

Like in the original story, this sword fell on his hands again.

However, unlike in the original, he believed that he could use this sword well.

In the original story, he used this sword to make himself stronger and forcefully injected the "Fear" inside the sword onto his body. It was like a balloon, which was full of air before it was injected even more air before it exploded.

However, he was different from the original Tamazuki, and he knew how to utilize this sword well. He could use it as a battery to replenish his "Fear," and he could also use it like "Excalibur," releasing all the "Fear" on this sword into the destructive blast, which was enough to destroy anything in its path.

More importantly, with his learning ability, he would master this sword shortly.

While he observed this sword in silence, neither Yosuzume nor Mitsume said a single word as they waited for him.

"Thank you."

These were the only words that came from his mouth.

Mitsume showed a bright smile upon hearing those words. "No, no, I am happy that you are happy, Tamazuki-sama."

"It's a good weapon, and I know it isn't cheap, so I won't mistreat you. Is there something that you want?"

"No, no, I have just been lucky to meet this sword by chance, and this is just my meeting gift with you."

"Is that so? I will gracefully accept it, and if you have any requests, then let me know."

"Then... then... can I ask you a question?" Mitsume asked after a moment of thought.

"Sure." He nodded. "Ask away."

"When are you going to destroy the Nura Clan?" Mitsume asked in eagerness and full of hate, showing his hatred toward the Nura Clan or Nurarihyon and all of his descendants.

He didn't answer his question immediately but asked, "Mitsume, do you want me to kill Nurarihyon and his grandson or just destroy the Nura Clan?"

"....."

Mitsume blinked his three eyes and asked, "Is there a difference?"

"Naturally." He nodded. "If you want me to destroy the Nura Clan from the public and render them into a mere small size clan with only a few people, then it is easy for me, but if you ask me to kill Nurarihyon and his grandson, then it is rather difficult."

"But why? Why is it difficult for you, whose might is stronger than any youkais in this world?" Mitsume was confused.

"Mitsume, you overestimate me." Tamazuki shook his head.

"No, Tamazuki-sama. You're strong." Yosuzume interjected since she genuinely believed that he was strong, especially when she had always stayed by his side. He was young, yet his power was better than most youkais, even the legendary one. She had also watched his fighting video against Nurarihyon. Even now, she knew that his battle with his father was nothing but just a formality for his accession to get the throne of the commander of the Shikoku Youkai.

"Yes, I am strong, but if I ask you who is stronger between Buddha and me, what will you answer?"

"..." 2x

You and Buddha?

Was there even a comparison?

"Yes, a Buddha is stronger than me. Even if you ask anyone, no one will believe that a tanuki can defeat a Buddha, right?"

He might be powerful, but it was impossible for him to destroy a city with a single blow, but Buddha might be able to do it.

"Now, the question is, why should I mention a Buddha in our conversation, right?"

Why?

They couldn't help but feel curious.

"By the way, have you two read Shounen manga?"

"...Shounen manga?" 2x

"You should read it later. Anyway, in the story of the Shounen manga, the protagonist stands up again and again. Even if he is defeated by his opponents, he will stand up, and in the end, he will win. Even if the opponent has a Demon King-like power, where he can dominate the entire world, the protagonist will win and achieve the victory with a smile."

While Yosuzume was confused, Mitsume's three eyes twitched, then asked, "Tamazuki-sama, don't tell me..."

"Yes." Tamazuki nodded. "I feel like all the Nurarihyon from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are protagonists of this world since heaven will help them no matter how tough their situation is. Do you know? My poison is enough to kill anyone as long as they touch it. Yet, Nurarihyon, his grandson, and all of his executive members seem like they are being protected by something, and my poison seems useless except for making them weak."

"Huh? Really?" 2x

The two were dumbfounded since even they knew how powerful his poison was.

"You must know about my battle with Nurarihyon before, right? What happened after the battle? All of them should be poisoned by me, but how is their condition after that?" Tamazuki looked at Mitsume curiously.

"Er... when they went back, Zen, a poisonous bird yokai who specializes in making medicine, happened to be there and cured every one of your poison."

When Mitsume thought about it, he started to get weird since Zen had always holed up in his house, which was on the far mountain, yet why should Zen appear at that time?

"More importantly, while no one has confirmed it, I am the one who set up all the youkai clans to attack the Nura Clan before, but in the end, the Nura Clan won. Don't you think that it is weird? After all, with the numbers alone, the coalition group crushed the Nura Clan. Yet, a certain accident had always happened, brought the Nura Clan to advantage, then won."

Anyway, the Nura Clan was his enemy. Even if Mitsume and Yosuzume would betray him sooner or later, they were also the Nura Clan's enemy, so he wanted them to cause bigger trouble for the Nura Clan.

"You know? It's like we, the youkai will always have to live in the darkness, and the light will always oppress us because this is fate. Yes, it is fate. Everything has been decided from the beginning by heaven. We have become nothing but a foil to make Nurarihyon and his descendants stronger. Why? Because I think Nurarihyon and his descendants are the agents of the heavens. The heavens want us to die by sending Nurarihyon and his descendants."

"...." 2x

When those words fell, Yosuzume and Mitsume felt their hearts were dreaded.

Huh?

Was Heaven their enemy?

"Of course, this is just my hypothesis; I don't have a proof for my speculation. Yet, think about it, Heaven, Buddha, and many other gods become stronger with the worship of humans. They need a human to be scared, so they will worship them even more, so our existence is necessary. However, if our existence destroys the balance, then the agent of heaven will come and punish, killing until everything becomes equilibrium."

"...."

The space was quiet.

Neither Yosuzume nor Mitsume talked, but their bodies were drenched with cold sweat as if they could feel that they had been dancing on the top of the palms of the god and they were nothing but their tools to make the humans worship them even more.

"Then... then... what are we?"

"You, me, everything is nothing but a piece of a pawn on this board known as the world."

"....."

Hearing those frank words from his mouth made their entire bodies weak.

Could they fight a god?

Impossible!

Then, should they become friends with the protagonist?

"Mitsume, you should stay as an obedient servant of the Nura Clan, and you don't need to change your nature so suddenly. Just act the way you are since if you suddenly change your nature, all of them will become suspicious."

"Yes, Tamazuki-sama." Mitsume bowed his head. Even if Tamazuki didn't say anything, he would do so since this news made him scared!

"Yosuzume, if you want, you can go to the Nura Clan too, you know?" Tamazuki looked at Yosuzume with a smile.

"?!"

"No, I will follow you, Tamazuki-sama."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I am not forcing you, you know?"

"It's my happiness that I can stay with you."

She bowed her head as she begged him to let her stay with him.

"Is that so?" Tamazuki didn't glance at Yosuzume's expression and just sipped his warm tea calmly.

Yet, Mitsume curiously looked at Tamazuki, then asked, "Aren't you afraid, Tamazuki-sama? Your opponent is heaven and the gods themselves."

"Of course, I am afraid, but living cowering in fear isn't something that I like. I might as well die if I live like that since living is nothing but a shame, and even if my opponent is the agent of heaven and the heaven itself, so what? Sooner or later, I will pull those gods from their altars in heaven and dominate this entire world.

"And I am prepared to bet my life on this war."

"....."

Why?

Even though they planned to betray and use him, they had to say he was so charming, and they understood why he had so many followers. More importantly, he didn't ask them to follow him since he knew how dangerous his ambition was.

Should they say something?

Should they say that they would follow him?

Yet, the lie, which they could utter easily as they breathed, couldn't come out, and they could only stay in silence in a depressing mood, contemplating their lives, thinking that they were nothing but a bug.

Still, somehow, they felt an urge from their lips to say they would follow him, yet they couldn't.

However, in their mind, they thought this was what a man should be.

"Well, let's have enough of this talk. Let's walk around the villa. I will introduce my garden to you." Tamazuki still maintained a warm and calm smile.

"Ye-Yes." Mitsume awkwardly answered, and Yosuzume only stayed in silence as she followed him like his most obedient pet.

The two followed him and could see how big his back was, yet lonely it was.