I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 378 Seven Days to Luoyang, Whoever Stops Me Dies! The Iron Tower, Two Feet Tall, Undergoes a Tremendous Change! The Next Day, the Mountain Woman Appears!

1560, Yonglu three years, January 21.

Deep winter.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

Hours ago, Yoshimoto Imagawa, the head of the Imagawa family in Suruga Province, announced his trip to Kyoto and invited the whole country to witness the ceremony.

Shortly after, the moment the skull from the Demon Guild equated preventing Imagawa from going to Kyoto with the resources that could cultivate three demon gods, the air in the entire Ancient Clan Alliance meeting room fell silent.

Then came a silent uproar!
Almost everyone looked at the gaunt, withered monk—Bodhidharma—whose face had been reduced to a skeletal form after the black smoke and skull had dissipated!
There are at least three resources capable of nurturing god-like beings!
The bounty offered by the Demon Guide Association is incredibly generous and tempting.

It should be understood that without utilizing the accumulated resources passed down through generations, given the current state of the world, even a single legitimate Onmyoji family within the alliance would struggle to cultivate a proper demon god.

Ghosts and spirits, what are ghosts and spirits!
It is a being that transcends mortals, almost like a ghost or a god.

Following the normal timeline, it would take at least one or two decades for a person of exceptional talent, who naturally cultivates to become a god-like being, to be born.

Now, as long as you complete the bounty offered by the Demon Guide Association, you can obtain multiple Demon God-level items within a few years.

Just imagine, if the clan could have three more relatively normal ghosts and gods at the start of this great era, how much of a lead would that give them over others?
Moreover, even without a bounty, the Demon Guide Association still shares the same goal as these ancient clans.

—No matter what, we can't let Imagawa Yoshimoto come to Kyoto so early, lest he give rise to the beginning of the end of this chaotic world full of opportunities!

Previously, everyone was shirking responsibility and passing the buck, but now no one cares about those petty gains anymore.

"Demon Guide Association".

A middle-aged figure from an ancient clan murmured the name of this relatively unfamiliar power.

He had previously heard that a member of the Demon Guide Association named "Daruma" had come to the alliance, so he went to look up the ancient books that recorded the past history and found out what kind of existence the so-called Demon Guide Association was.

—This is the first recorded instance of a force originating from the Tokoyo (the world of the living) and dominated by demons in the early Heian period.

As for further information, it is unclear why it is vague and seems rather mysterious, not having been recorded in much detail.

In any case, the Demon Guide Association has lasted for at least five or six hundred years in the mortal world.

With such a grand scale, there must be many ghosts and gods involved, perhaps even powerful demons above ghosts and gods...

There are many intelligent people in the Ancient Clan Alliance, so after Bodhidharma appeared, a quarter of them knew more or less about the Demon Guide Association.

They know.

Accepting the bounty offered by the Demon Guide Association carries the risk of dealing with a tiger for its skin!
But the world has only just begun to recover, so even if those great demons truly exist, they cannot come to the present world.

The safety is still relatively guaranteed.

After the silence and the subsequent uproar, comes interest.

Even the giant, who was fully aware of the risks of the Demon Guide, stared at Bodhidharma with great interest.

Meanwhile, the bald young man who was closest to Bodhidharma, and arguably the one with the best relationship with him, remained silent and watched coldly from the sidelines.

Just kidding... Since the Demon Guide Association judged that Sha Che's value was equivalent to the resources of three Ghost Gods, then he is definitely worth that price!

It's not impossible for it to be much more expensive than that!
As for why "preventing Imagawa from marching to Kyoto" was actually "killing Che"...

Ha ha.

Besides Tetsu, how many threats does Imagawa Yoshimoto, and even the entire Imagawa family, pose?
The answer is no.

Otherwise, why was the Imagawa family so quiet before Tetsu's return, and why were they even bullied by the Hozuki family, with whom they had previously cooperated?

Even a bald young man with his ass could tell that Che was definitely stronger than ordinary ghosts and gods—whose ghosts and gods could spread their cries for miles with just a few words?

These guys, blinded by the rewards, are mostly just cannon fodder used by the Demon Guide Association to probe Che's strength.

The bald youth decided to temporarily refrain from getting involved in the mess and instead focus on reviving the clan's resources while observing from the sidelines.

If Che isn't as strong as imagined, then a resurrected ghost god could definitely give him a shot; if Che is unexpectedly strong...

Then all those resources for recovery would be wasted along with his future position as ruler.

That's a bit of guts the bald young man has.

"So, how can Your Excellency Bodhidharma guarantee that the Demon Guide will keep his promise?"

Bodhidharma remained expressionless, his dry lips moving slightly.

"contract."

On the other side, the slowly dissipating skull in front of the daimyo spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Once a contract is signed, it cannot be revoked."

A voice came from the hollow skull: "This is the simplest yet most powerful contract. You may freely verify its authenticity and whether there are any traps."

After secretly asking the Onmyoji beside them, the Daimyo were all tempted.

It has been four years since the world was revived. Even if they didn't have any under their command, they certainly knew what "ghosts and gods" were.

Che is a ghost or god.

Perhaps the long-lost swordsman, Uesugi, was one of them.

Such high-end combat power, even if only the resources for its training are provided, are unimaginably generous—if the demon guides were to provide it directly, the daimyo would not dare to accept it.

Regarding the contract... the Daimyo are all shrewd people, and even though the Skull Head of the Demon Guide Association has repeatedly promised and guaranteed, no one will sign it directly.

Two hours later.

Many famous figures signed their names on this contract.

……

Suruga Country, Skylight Avenue.

The gentle, brilliant sunlight shone down, stretching for twenty miles from Imagawa Yoshimoto's army, a stark contrast to the gloomy weather around them.

Naturally, it is also extremely conspicuous.

It constantly attracts demons from the mountains.

Tap tap, tap tap.

At the very front of the army, a magnificent horse, its coat entirely red and white, trotted heavily, carrying the tall iron tower holding a halberd on its back.

This is a dragon horse.

Even if only one ten-millionth of the blood in one's body is related to "dragons," or even just the blood of some distant relatives of dragons that have been hybridized for countless generations.

But that was enough to transform this originally thin and weak dwarf horse into its current majestic appearance, allowing it to lead the way at the forefront of the army.

Okabe Motonobu squinted and caught sight of the bizarre demon that was charging towards him on all fours, its long tongue lolling out.

She had just opened her mouth,
"Lord Hachi-tachi..."

Tread!

Tear it apart!

The sound of the dragon horse's hooves landing rang out first, followed by the echoing sound of iron tearing through flesh.

The ethereal halberd was wielded with ease by the two-foot-tall man, piercing the rotting head with a single strike before casually tossing it into the roadside bushes.

"Lord Okabe, what is it?"

A slightly muffled sound came from the gaps between the stacked, heavy armor, and the two-foot-tall man casually shook the black blood stained the tip of his blade aside.

The sight of such effortless slaying of a demon that would have been terrifying to ordinary samurai immediately silenced many of the samurai who had previously been skeptical of Ryoma's "unfamiliar woman."

Sufficient strength earns respect wherever you are.

Motonobu Okabe's eyelids twitched slightly.

One-hit kill? Is this the same little girl who used to follow Che around every day, carrying a sword, and whose height barely reached Che's thigh?
Did something go wrong?
What kind of abnormal development is this?
This demon wasn't too strong, and she could easily kill it, but one move... would still be a bit difficult.

It will take at least two... three moves!
--Yes.

The two-foot-tall man grew stronger and stronger after embarking on the path to heaven.

The two-foot-long special "Wish Incense Heavenly Path" is different from Uesugi Tetsu's "Witness Heavenly Path"; it will gradually become stronger as you walk along it.

If one consumes incense offerings and prayers, one's combat power can be greatly enhanced.

The young man is now much stronger than he was three months ago—especially in terms of his mental state!

Therefore, the weapons that are conjured naturally become more powerful.

"never mind."

Motonobu Okabe twitched the corner of his mouth and looked ahead: "Let's keep going."

Listening to the sounds coming from not far away, Yoshimoto Imagawa, who had deliberately opened half of the car window, looked up at the sky.

The sun had not yet set.

strangeness.

Even with the clearing light created by Che Jun, there were still too many obstacles blocking the way, and they came too quickly.

Moreover, it's a demon.

The demons in Imagawa's territory have been wiped out by different people more than once.

There's no reason for these surviving demons to come running to their deaths when they see an army of several thousand.

Uesugi Tetsu didn't quite understand either.

He felt that... this was not a normal phenomenon.

Behind this sudden increase in the number of demons, there must be a mastermind who has learned of the news about Shangluo and wants to stop it.

Uesugi Tetsu didn't know who it was, nor did he want to know.

Perhaps it was some Onmyoji family, perhaps it was the Yokai Society that had a feud with him during the Warring States period, or perhaps it was some daimyo he didn't recognize.

But it doesn't matter.

Whether it's an ancient Onmyoji or any other daimyo.

No matter who blocks our path, we can just fight our way through.

Since he had sent out his two-foot-tall master to slay monsters and practice, Uesugi Tetsuya seemed quite content.

At the same time, he had already placed layers of shields around the carriage he was riding in, so that even if a ghost or god were to emerge from the ground and strike, it would not be able to damage the carriage in the slightest.

Witnessing Imagawa Yoshimoto's successful ascent to Kyoto was not only about her own personal wish, but also about his prestige during the Sengoku period and his influence on history.

This could also significantly increase the progress of Hyakume Oni's Heavenly Path, and...

The final forging of the embryo of the heart!
This can be considered Uesugi Tetsu's last and only "main quest" in the Sengoku period.

During these seven days, no one could stop Imagawa Yoshimoto from marching on Kyoto!
Anyone who tries to stop them... will die!
"By the way, Lord Yoshimoto."

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at Imagawa Yoshimoto's fingers tapping on his knees, the frequency much faster than a few hours ago, and chuckled to himself.

Fortunately, Karuta was still in the carriage, otherwise who knows what might have happened...

He said, "If the enemies blocking the road are strong and kill too many samurai, causing panic, there is no need to stop the army and the Onmyoji from escaping."

Uesugi Tetsu shrugged.
"Let them run if they want to."

Imagawa Yoshimoto pulled himself out of his thoughts, silently pondered Uesugi Tetsu's words, and frowned.

Should we allow the army to collapse?

That's completely absurd.

Uesugi Tetsu continued, "But those who didn't run away must all remember this."

—The samurai who survived despite heavy casualties would certainly be useful to Imagawa Yoshimoto in the future.

Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't ask any more questions; she thought of the somewhat strange things Uesugi Tetsu had said before.

She knew perfectly well that Uesugi Tetsuya was not a fool at all.

Since that's the case, it's probably because there's a significant information gap between me and Che Jun... I'll just listen to him and not think too much about it.

But now... even though they've been harassed by demons of all sizes more than a dozen times, not a single person has left the group without permission.

This was naturally thanks to the two feet at the very front who easily cleared the way, preventing even a single demon from harming the fully armed warriors.

These little karaomis are perfectly capable of being handled by the two-foot-tall adult on his own.

Uesugi Tetsu pressed down on the "itchy" little Jia and Qing at his waist, whose sword hilts were constantly vibrating, and said with a smile, "You two don't have to rush, the main course is yet to come."

"They're in such a hurry just because they're eating a small dessert or cold appetizer. That shows a complete lack of trust."

Uesugi Tetsu pointed to Karuta, who was resting with his eyes closed in the corner of the carriage: "Look, can't you guys learn from Karuta and take a break?"

hum...

Xiao Jia reluctantly called out, muttering a complaint in his heart: "Qing and I are like knives, we haven't been drawn in so long, we don't know how much time we've had to rest, Qing, you agree, right..."

"Brother Qing? Brother Qing?"

Qing remained silent. Uesugi Tetsuya's will was his own, and since Uesugi Tetsuya had already made his decision, there was no need for him to say anything more.

When Little Jia saw that his once reliable ally had defected to the "enemy" in an instant, he immediately started making a lot of noise in his heart.

Uesugi Tetsu couldn't contain himself and promised to behead the demon after he was appointed to appease Kaga Kiyomitsu, who could no longer hide his smugness.

Thus, with Er Chi and three thousand elite soldiers clearing the way, the few cats and dogs that attacked couldn't even make a splash.

They set up camp at random that night, ate, rested for a few hours, and then continued marching in the dead of night before sunrise.

Those selected among these three thousand people are naturally all strong individuals who have achieved something in breathing techniques or swordsmanship.

With insufficient rest, marching at night is hardly a challenge.

The first day passed by so casually.

Noon the next day.

The two-foot-tall woman, covered in blood, was about to continue swinging her halberd when, before she could even process what was happening, an enormous fist, reeking of dirt and decay, sent her flying.

It flew backwards for hundreds of meters, and even more!

Howling!
The dragon horse roared in terror, then its eyes widened in fury as it stared intently at the figure emerging from the shadows of the mountains...

Mountains!

"Imagawa...Yoshimoto..."

The bluish-gray "mountain" looked up at the sky and the clouds, then looked down and saw the faces of thousands of tiny people staring indifferently at it from inside the carriage.

The woody, burl-like wrinkles piled up along with the smile, and the vines, wrapped in a thick, yellowish-brown acidic liquid, swayed incessantly.

Its massive mouth opened wide, revealing pale, interlocking fangs.

With the "Giant Mountain Granny" notification above its head, the demon, as majestic as a mountain, chuckled sneer, its words accompanied by a gust of wind.
"Found you! Prepare to die!"

Inside the carriage, Uesugi Tetsuya, who had already put on the Hannya mask but was ignored by Yamaba, raised an eyebrow with a cold smile.

Does this guy think I don't exist?

(End of this chapter)