Shota is surrounded by monsters!

Shota silently wished her a happy birthday in his heart.

"But my father... really can't take it anymore..."

Is it that same father again? What has he done to you this time?

“I really don’t want to continue anymore. I can’t take it anymore… Every year, he uses the excuse of documenting my growth to take nude photos of me…”

"Pfft... What a devilish father!"

Shota couldn't help but say something. He originally thought Rea's father was just a rigid, stinky old man, but he never expected him to be a perverted father who liked to take nude photos of his daughter.

Using his daughter's birthday as an excuse every year? That means he's been filming for at least a decade! What is this perverted father trying to study? His daughter's development? But that's just weird.

Rich people are all weirdos, as expected.

Shota glanced at Rea's beautiful figure and her relatively large breasts for her age. Could it be that the devilish father specially gave his daughter the bitter melon soup?

"A demonic father? Hmm, he really is a father as terrifying as a demon..."

Rei seemed to think the word was well-chosen, nodded, and was about to continue speaking with a resentful expression, but then, who was speaking just now?

It feels like the sound is coming from Kin-chan's body... Could it be...?

Kin-chan...can talk?

Is it a monster?!

"what!"

Rea suddenly pushed Shota off her lap, screamed, and backed away, but tripped over a tree branch and fell to the ground.

Oh no, oh no! Hearing this news all at once was too exciting. After all, this is the first time he's ever heard of a real-life "demon father." Shota patted his head with his paw and saw Rea lying on the ground looking at him with terrified eyes. He wagged his tail helplessly.

Since that's the case, I guess I have no choice but to leave. It seems my wonderful life as a kept woman by a rich heiress is about to end before it even began.

"Wait, wait a minute!"

As Shota's figure was about to disappear into the woods, Rea, not knowing where the courage came from, said to him, "Kin-chan, are you... a yokai?"

"Let's just call it a cat for now."

When he transforms into his miniature form, Shota's voice changes from a cheerful boyish tone to a somewhat indistinct shota voice. Similarly, when he reveals his most ferocious Taotie form, his voice becomes somewhat wild and hoarse.

"A man-eating...monster?"

"I don't eat people, cat."

Rea still couldn't quite accept the fact that monsters existed in this world.

"Why, why me?"

"It was just a coincidence, meow. I just happened to run into you that day. Oh, by the way, yesterday... yesterday I accidentally overslept, so I apologize to you."

Shota licked his paws, sat down on his bottom, and said to Rea, who was looking at him warily, "Well, also, I didn't mean to lie to you, kitty. I was just afraid you'd be scared that day, so I pretended to be a kitty to leave. Who knew you'd just pounce on me like that?"

"Is that right?"

Rea stood up from the ground, took a cautious step forward, and noticed that Shota didn't seem hostile. After hesitating for a moment, she suddenly asked, "Um, Kin-chan, can humans and youkai... be friends?"

"Yes, meow, I also have a human friend."

Shota nodded, tilted his head, and said, "Actually, I only approached you for the food, because your family seems to have a lot of delicious food."

"Eh, ah, just... for food?"

Rea found Shota's words somewhat unbelievable. Could it be that all yokai are such simple creatures?

"Hmm. It's just for food, meow." Shota "honestly" revealed his predicament, hoping to move the young lady in front of him. He said, "I have a big appetite, but in the human world, food costs money. To follow the rules, I can't rob or steal, so I'm always hungry and can only eat a little bit each day thanks to the charity of kind people, meow..."

"How pitiful... But my family doesn't allow pets. What if my father finds out..."

For some reason, even though she knew that what was in front of her was a demon and not an animal, Rea subconsciously treated it as a pet after accepting this fact.

"Actually, all I need is for you to sneak out some food for me, meow."

Shota was somewhat surprised to see that the other party didn't seem afraid of him at all, and was even more composed than Senjougahara had been when they first met. So he asked, "Aren't you afraid of me, meow?"

"afraid."

Rea nodded and said, "But... the moment I saw Kin-chan, I knew you weren't an ordinary cat. I just didn't expect you to actually be a yokai. But..."

"But?"

"The only ones willing to listen to me are monsters."

"..."

Seeing the faint look of despair on her face, Shota felt a little guilty. If he hadn't appeared, no, no one knows how the girl's future would have changed if he hadn't appeared.

Since that's the case, let's not worry about what might happen in the future. Why not just make this girl in front of us happy?

If she's happy, she might actually bring herself a lot of food every time she goes out...

"I can give you a ride around the town, meow."

As he spoke, he slowly grew larger, revealing his true form. With his eyelids half-closed, he looked at Rei, who showed fear towards his true form, and said, "If... you're not afraid of me."

One minute, two minutes, three minutes...

Shota sat there waiting for Rea's response. She neither left nor moved towards Shota, but seemed to be having a fierce internal struggle, with various expressions flashing across her face.

Five minutes later, she took two steps toward Shota's position.

"If... you're going to eat me, please just swallow me whole, okay?"

Perhaps feeling that death might be another form of relief, Rea slowly walked up to Shota and tentatively reached out to touch his forehead.

"I won't eat you."

Shota let out a slight sigh of relief and said, "Come sit down."

Although he intended for Rea to sit on top of him, Taotie was not a creature meant to be ridden, so in the end he could only let Rea ride on his neck, with her legs clamping tightly around his neck and her hands holding the small fleshy bumps that were beginning to appear on his head—the horns that had not yet grown out.

Be careful.

"Ah... um."

After giving a word of advice, Shota took two tentative steps and, finding that Rea was unlikely to fall, began to run faster.

"Shh."

After traversing the forest in a few quick steps, Shota jumped back onto the deserted road. After confirming where the human presence was, he prepared to avoid them and make a hasty run.

"Hold on tight... Let me take you to see the city at night."

Before Rea could react, the monster beneath her had already begun to run lightly on all fours. Each time it landed, it felt like it was floating, without any jolts, so she felt no discomfort whatsoever, except...

"Ah~~~"

The thrill of high-speed travel, like racing, still made Rea shout out.

However, she seemed to be wearing an excited smile.

Shota nimbly traversed the streets, and before long, he had approached the city center. But this time, instead of hiding, he jumped onto the rooftops and, under the cover of darkness, leaped and darted between the rooftops of various buildings.

Reiya gritted her teeth and barely managed to keep from making a sound. After all, once they entered the city, Shota had told her to try not to scream, as it would have a bad influence.

"How about the city's night view?"

Standing atop a building hundreds of meters high, Shota said to Rea, who had already climbed off his neck, "Isn't it beautiful?"

"This is... the first time I've ever seen a city at night."

Rei let the night wind tousle her hair, opened her arms, took a deep breath, and said, "It smells so good."

"is it?"

Shota wanted to say a few more words, but suddenly turned his head to look north, where a soaring demonic aura was brazenly displaying its presence.

Even Shota couldn't help but feel a little fear when he noticed that demonic aura, but he quickly swallowed that fear.

Such beings are at least S-rank… Shota looked at the demonic aura soaring into the sky in the city and a question arose in his mind. Who in this city could possess such demonic aura? Even Nurarihyon no Taisho… he couldn’t possibly still possess such strength now, could he?

unless……

Shota stared intently at the wisp of demonic energy and discovered that it was formed by the fusion and sublimation of many different auras.

The Nura Clan's Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

"What's wrong……"

Seeing Shota looking warily to the north, Rea asked with some confusion. She was still afraid of Shota, but if they could communicate… Rea believed she could become friends with Kin-chan in the future, right?

"A great show is about to unfold; today is super lucky!"

Shota turned to Rea and said, "Would you be interested in watching the legendary Night Parade of One Hundred Demons?"

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

Image: "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons", Location: "Images/202730-16977.jpg"

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons is the best stage for yokai to show their strength. All kinds of yokai, led by their leaders, rampage through human streets without restraint. All evil spirits and villains retreat to the sides. Even the most powerful exorcists or onmyoji are not confident in stopping the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, which is at the height of its power.

This is a feast for monsters, their final feast in a world where resources are constantly being eroded by humans.

Shiranui, Amatsukozo, Tenjo-shita, Daishou, Chokin, Kappa, Nattokozo... Shota could recognize some of the yokai, while he couldn't distinguish some at first glance. But the most obvious one was the one leading the group.

He had long, silver-white hair, black hair from the back of his head down, red eyes, and wore a black kimono with a blue overcoat...

Nurarihyon... no, it's Nurarihyon's grandson, the future third head of the Nura Clan, Rikuo Nura.

"So cool!"

Shota stood high above, looking down at the hundred demons marching in procession through the mist. Due to the magic, the pedestrians on the street could not see them at all. Only he, being a demon himself, and those with spiritual vision could see them.

To be honest, Shota felt a pang of envy and resentment at that moment. After all, leading a Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) was practically every yokai's dream. Unfortunately, Shota knew he probably couldn't assemble such a grand procession. The Nura Clan's Hyakki Yagyō had reached its current scale after hundreds of years of development. If Shota were to lead it…

He figured he'd be driven by desire and would eat half of it first.

"Is there... anything down there?"

Rea stood beside Shota, but couldn't see anything below. After all, someone without psychic vision couldn't see the ghosts roaming the streets. She could only see the thick, eerie fog hanging over the street.

"hold."

Shota flicked his tail in front of Rea, and after hesitating for a moment, she grabbed his tail.

"what……"