Isn't this odd, Hyakka?
What do you mean?
The massacre in Hitokabe Village
happened less than three days ago, yet...
there isn't a single reporter or police officer here.
That just means the newspapers and the police
have been told to stay away.
It was the same back then.
They...
appeared out of nowhere.
What the—?!
Everyone in the village was slaughtered.
I barely managed to escape, but...
the incident never made the papers or even sparked a rumor.
But this time, the incident made the papers.
Hyakka, I think this is...
It seems the incident in this village
was a trap to lure us out.
That's right, but...
I never expected you to show up as well, Hyakka.
You bastard! Were you the one behind the scarecrows 20 years ago?!
Well, yes.
Back then, neither of us had the chance
to get a good look at each other's faces.
Would you like to see mine?
Before I take out your remaining eye?
This is the man,
who did that to Hyakka's eye...?
20 YEARS EARLIER
1904 MEIJI ERA
What the hell happened?
HYAKKA
Who did this?
What are those things?
Metal scarecrows?!
Metal aura?!
An onmyoji must be behind them!
Is that him?!
HAKUBI
Hey! This is all your doing, isn't it?
You dragged innocent villagers into this...
You goddamn monster!
What an unlucky village.
All because you happened to be there, Hyakka.
However,
it was an excellent testing ground for my soldiers.
Screw you!
MAO
Hyakka!
These ribbons of steel are identical to the ones used by
the shikigami that attacked me.
This man is also working with Shiranui.
Who are you?!
Stay out of this, Mao!
He's mine!
A barrier!
His arm...
OTOYA
Hey! That arm of yours... Is it because...
of what happened back then?
I underestimated you, thinking you were just a brat.
For centuries,
I was never injured by anyone in a battle...
Though...
it hasn't inconvenienced me in the slightest.
You're...
The only problem is...
I haven't aged... a bit.
HAKUBI
Hakubi!
Mao killed Lady Sana...
Why?!
Calm down, Hyakka.
I saw it, too.
Mao betrayed the Goko Clan...
He's our sworn enemy!
You were summoned to the Goshikido as well, Hakubi?
I was.
Hyakka...
I knew that you were summoned, as well.
Fighting you 20 years ago was a blessing in disguise.
I learned that those of us who were summoned to the Goshikido...
can injure and kill one another.
Among the members of the Goko Clan,
Hakubi was one of the most trusted by the Master.
He was tasked with casting many of the curses.
Master would hand him a scroll...
and within days, rumors would spread that a nobleman had died,
followed by deliveries of various gifts to the compound.
What was inside the scrolls Master handed over
whenever he ordered a curse?
For me, the Goko Clan was where I felt I truly belonged.
But Mao,
your betrayal brought about the Goko Clan's downfall.
Over the centuries,
I fought in many battles.
I discovered that I was better suited to the battlefield...
than lurking in the shadows casting spells.
I died many times... or felt like I did.
But every time I woke up,
every wound I'd suffered in battle had vanished without a trace.
Hyakka...
wasn't it the same for you?
Yeah. Same here.
That is why, 20 years ago, Hyakka...
When we crossed paths and fought one another...
and I realized my severed arm
and the burns on my face would never heal...
I was thrilled from the bottom of my soul.
Because that was when I learned...
there is an end!
Handy arm you've got there.
I'll grant your wish and put a quick end to this.
Ordinarily,
Fire overcomes Metal.
WOOD FIRE EARTH METAL WATER
Master Hyakka should have the advantage, but...
that's only when both sorcerers are evenly matched in elemental energy.
Hakubi's Metal aura is...
powerful.
Ah...
Huh? Can it be...?
Mao, is that the blade that the Master gave you?
The Sword of Hagunsei?
How can this be?
That ill-omened sword was meant to mark you as the sacrifice.
It was never meant to protect you.
This is a cursed sword, bathed in the Byoki's blood.
I, too, am cursed by the Byoki.
Cursed, you say?
Don't make me laugh, Mao.
You're using that so-called cursed sword...
to receive the Byoki's protection!
Mao, give me your body.
The Byoki's protection?!
Who cares?!
Bastard...
Just melt already!
Pearls?
I hate having to use Water energy, but...
Forgot already, Hakubi?
20 years ago, I burned every one of your scarecrows to ashes.
No flames...
Hyakka!
Did he just use the Water energy of the pearls
to seal Hyakka's spell?
Damn it! I can't get it off.
Hyakka...
I'll kill you properly later.
Hakubi.
Are you working with Shiranui?
Why?!
I could say the same of you.
You joined forces with the Byoki
and betrayed the Goko Clan.
Mao...
you are...
the Goko Clan's sworn enemy!
You are the Goko Clan's sworn enemy!
You're siding with this fake Goko Clan?
Fake?
Are you so sure about that?
I first heard rumors of the Goko Clan...
toward the end of the Tokugawa era.
Someone claiming to be from the fallen Goko Clan
was said to be carrying out
life-extension and cursing services for the nobility.
I went looking for them.
I was certain it was an imposter using the Goko Clan's name.
I intended to kill the imposter.
I went to...
the Northern Beach where the Water sorcerers of the Goko Clan trained,
and found a shrine protected by a barrier...
I slipped past the barrier without difficulty.
No... they must have let me in on purpose.
Waiting for me was that woman.
She had a familiar, dark, sinister aura.
She was no imposter.
She was unmistakably a woman of the Goko Clan.
A woman?!
What are you talking about?
Mao, you've already met her, haven't you?
Lady Yurako.
Lady Sana?!
Hey, Hakubi! You bastard!
Dark? Sinister? Who the hell are you talking about?!
Know your place, Hyakka.
Show some respect when you say my name.
Mao, let me tell you this.
She's not the woman you think she is.
What is it that you know...?
You'll have to find out for yourself.
I'll let you meet her right away.
Master Mao!
Mao, I'm taking you back with me alive.
So your objective is...
the secret spell of Taizanfukun?
I have no interest in a life-extension spell.
Shiranui insists on learning it, though.
My Diamond Arm melted?!
Mao! Damn it!
Shiranui told me...
That the Byoki's blood flows through your veins, Mao.
He said it is a deadly poison that
burns and melts anyone who touches it.
You shouldn't have resisted me...
Mao... Don't tell me you're dead?!
Master Mao...
Is that... Mao?!
I see now, Hyakka.
On that day when the compound burned down,
you never saw this monster, did you?
I suppose you were too much of a coward, hiding for your life.
Hakubi's spells are having no effect!
So this is the power of the Byoki...
Mao...
After becoming one with the Byoki, you're no longer
just an enemy of the Goko Clan...
You're the enemy of all onmyoji!
Of onmyoji?
What are you talking about?!
I will punish you!
Before I entered the Goko Clan,
I had never seen a cat before.
Hyakka, it was the same for you, wasn't it?
Is that true?
Yeah...
In those days,
I heard cats were only kept by noble families.
Lady Sana's Haimaru was the first cat I ever saw.
What's your point?
Cats exist outside the realm of Onmyodo.
It is a creature that belongs to none of the Five Elements.
In other words...
WOOD FIRE EARTH METAL WATER
they exist outside the cycle of elemental opposition,
making them immune to elemental spells.
So why would Master have welcomed such an eerie creature
into the compound?
There can be only one answer.
Master intended to turn the cat into the most fearsome kodoku of all,
the Byoki, and make it serve him.
Using the Byoki, which is unaffected by Onmyo spells...
as his shikigami would make him invincible.
But instead,
the Byoki went berserk.
And even worse,
chose the traitor Mao and bound itself to him.
Hakubi doesn't know that Master Mao rejected the Byoki...
and that only his body fused with it?
You hideous monster!
I thought that bastard Hakubi said
Onmyo spells won't work on the Byoki...
Master Hyakka...
Show me your sealed arm.
Huh?
Let's see if this works.
This is my hair.
You grew just one long one? That's so weird.
I should've known no ordinary barrier was going to stop him.
Come at me!
The seven tails have been severed,
and the transformation is reversing...
That cursed talisman he put on his arm...
It's identical to the talisman on the Spear of Taima
that nearly killed the Byoki...
That seems to work.
Hakubi...
You're a dead man!
Hyakka...
You broke the seal?
Hyakka. I'll kill you next time.
Fight me now, you bastard!
He got away.
Damn it!
Master Mao.
Is he back to normal?
Hey, Mao! Pull yourself together!
He fell asleep...
He must be very tired.
Huh?!
I'm glad you were here to help us.
He’s a real pain in the ass.
You're much stronger than I thought.
Damn right!
Fire is stronger than Metal.
I'll tell Miss Nanoka what you did.
Yeah, tell her.
For some reason, she doesn't take me seriously.
NANOKA KIBA
Mao? Otoya?
Huh? No way!
Nobody's here? I feel so alone!
The Byoki exists outside the realm of Onmyodo...
If I could control Mao...
Now that would be interesting.
NEXT TIME
I have no appetite.
My neck feels so stiff...
EFFICIENT
I will give you some medicine.
Let me help, Otoya.
Apparently, there was a huge craze
for a curse that controlled cat kodoku.
What does "maogui" translate to in Japanese?
"Cat demon"
or Byoki.
They said all that was left was a pile of dirt.
What? You mean his body turned into dirt?
Next time: Maogui