Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

Ibaraki-doji, who instantly caught the change in his opponent's expression, felt deeply humiliated. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he immediately roared indignantly.

"I'll kill you right now!"

With a furious roar, the boiling power of the demonic seed transformed into a blazing torrent of flames, rising from Ibaraki-doji's body and converging on his empty right arm, through which it was channeled into the enormous demonic claw connected to his main body.

That kind of temper is definitely Berserker's.

Seeing the ghostly flames that shot up several meters high from the claw in an instant, Samael frowned slightly and subconsciously released the ghostly hand.

"Hehe...you've fallen for it!"

Seeing his right hand free, Ibaraki-dōji grinned triumphantly and slammed his enormous right hand, which was wreathed in blazing wind and flames, toward the enemy's location.

"Ride forth, Murakahara Fire! — The Great Grudge of Rashomon Arises!"

For a moment, ghostly figures loomed, the air was scorching and distorted, as if one were in a train hell.

The term "Rashomon" was originally written as "罗城门" in Japanese kanji. Its most original meaning refers to a gate located in the "罗城" (outer city wall), which means "gate of the capital city".

Due to the constant warfare in ancient Japan, corpses littered the fields. Many unidentified bodies were dragged to the castle towers and abandoned. Over the years, as the towers fell into disrepair and decay, they became desolate and eerie.

Over time, this created an impression of gloom and terror in people's minds, a place where ghosts dwell, hence the ghost story that "Rashomon" is the gate to hell.

Therefore, the term "Rashomon" originally carried the meaning of "a struggle between life and death."

As the legendary demon of Rashomon, Ibaraki-dōji can open the gates of the underworld by borrowing a trace of hellish power.

only……

Samael stood motionless amidst the flames, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Hell is under my jurisdiction.

The former ruler of hell and king of demons casually took a step forward, extinguishing all the surrounding flames and ghostly shadows. His once mighty ghostly claw lost all its supernatural powers, possessing only brute force and no deterrent effect whatsoever.

This guy……!

A strong sense of crisis welled up in his heart, but as a proud demon, Ibaraki-dōji was already in a difficult situation, so he simply stopped thinking about it and gritted his teeth to strike the figure hard.

However, as soon as Ibaraki-dōji made a move, he realized that his opponent had disappeared.

where? !

Ibaraki-dōji's mind was already racing, and he subconsciously looked around.

A gentle breeze brushed his cheek, and when Ibaraki-dōji's gaze refocused, he was astonished to see the figure that blended into the darkness standing right in front of him, only inches away.

So fast!

Ibaraki-dōji's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively tried to swing his claws to block.

Before they could react, a hand suddenly loomed large in front of them.

"boom!"

In an instant, that fair, even somewhat beautiful hand pressed down on Ibaraki-dōji's head and slammed it hard onto the ground. The oni's hard body, like a falling battering ram, blasted a crater more than ten meters in diameter and seven or eight meters deep into the hard ground.

"puff!"

With his lungs trembling violently, Ibaraki-dōji coughed up a mouthful of blood and looked utterly defeated.

"You're too slow..."

The understated evaluation was as if it were merely stating a trivial fact.

As they stared at each other, those dark eyes that looked down at them were as deep as an abyss, sending chills down one's spine. Even Ibaraki-dōji, who was a demon, felt a faint, indescribable fear.

But then, Ibaraki-dōji's anger was overshadowed by his panic. He spat out a mouthful of blood and his eyes turned sinister.

In an instant, the whistling wind from behind rapidly approached.

Samael decisively abandoned Ibaraki-dōji and leaped out of the deep pit.

After missing its target, the ghostly claws suddenly stopped and continued to swing and smash at Samael like a leech.

Taking advantage of the moment, Ibaraki-dōji stood up from the deep pit, his entire body surging with magical power, as if he were burning, and roared angrily.

"You want it fast, huh? Fine! — Mount Ooe, the Great Flame Rises!"

At the same time, under Ibaraki-doji's full power, the Demon Claw exhibited incredible speed and agility. In addition, fireballs formed from the fusion of Karma Flame gathered around the Demon Claw like wristbands, automatically searching for targets and firing them.

That scorching ghost flame can pulverize and burn metal and stone until they are completely destroyed. If a living person touches it, they will be left with only charcoal-like bones in the blink of an eye.

"Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up! You're too slow this time!"

Ibaraki-dōji's expression grew increasingly ferocious as he continued to retort.

"boom!"

The mockery stopped abruptly, and the head slammed into the hard concrete floor once more.

Damn it, I can't see anything at all...

Ibaraki-dōji, who was being humiliated by the same hand pressing him to the ground, had eyes full of resentment. He wanted to use the same trick again to summon the demon claw and attack from behind.

However, before the ghostly claw could get close, several kicked pebbles, accompanied by sharp whooshing sounds, pierced through the mutated arm in mid-air and precisely severed the ghostly hand's vital joints.

This is the drawback of remote control. The severed right wrist may seem to increase the attack range, but it loses the necessary reaction ability and flexibility in close combat.

Samael glanced at the demon hand that lay motionless on the ground behind him, then turned his gaze back to the immobile Ibaraki-dōji below, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

“Strange, you don’t seem to have lost your mind, and you can still talk…”

Faced with this sudden question, Ibaraki-dōji was stunned, looking equally bewildered.

Doesn't she even know it herself?

After several rounds of probing exchanges, Samael frowned deeply, his doubts growing.

Why do heroic spirits fall at night, yet these demons seem to remain conscious?

"careful!"

Just as he was about to ask further questions, he heard Hana Rin's anxious warning from behind.

At the same time, a large shadow emerged from the night, and a monster with branching horns rushed towards them with a violent aura, spewing lightning and fire.

Another one?

With a heavy blow, Samael knocked Ibaraki-dōji unconscious. Then, he grabbed the branch-like horns that were hurtling toward his chest and lifted the deformed monster with astonishing strength, repeatedly slamming it to the ground.

In an instant, muffled rumbles echoed from the ground. The monster, tens of meters long, was like a doll in the face of Samael's absolute suppression. Its scales were shattered, blood gushed out, and it finally collapsed helplessly in the deep pit, unable to move any longer.

It seems like grabbing just one tongue is enough...

The demon in the deep pit flashed its eyes and slowly raised its clenched right hand.

"No!" Just as Samael was about to finish off the new oni, a pleading cry came from behind him. A stumbling figure rushed into the pit, grabbed him from behind around the waist, and refused to let go. "Don't kill my servant, she'll turn back, she will..."

Servant?

Samael was taken aback. He looked down at the somewhat ferocious dinosaur head beneath him and the enormous body that clearly bore some dragon-like features, his eyes widening in astonishment.

It's Momiji the Demon Woman!

Damn, I almost killed this giant dancing dinosaur, mistaking it for a troublesome demon.

Sin, sin, sin!

Realizing he had just hurt his teammate, Samael quickly and guiltily withdrew his attack, unleashing a series of purification and healing spells on the dinosaur girl to barely stabilize her injuries.

As the rampaging magic within him was gradually brought under control, the giant dinosaur in the deep pit also shed its ferocious appearance as an alien dragon, and its body took on a human-like outline.

Of course, with this level of change, it's impossible to retain any clothing.

Following Tomoe Gozen, Samael once again enjoyed the benefit of being completely naked during this Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

But right now, this dinosaur girl was covered in wounds, and Samael, as the culprit, really had no mood for anything lewd. He quickly tore open his shirt to temporarily wrap the unconscious ghost girl Momiji, carried her out of the deep pit, and placed her on a recliner next to him.

"You take care of her first, I'll go..."

Just as Samael was about to hand the unconscious Momiji over to her master, Karin, and continue interrogating Ibaraki-dōji, his voice suddenly stopped, and he looked behind him in astonishment.

"puff!"

Amidst the dull ripping of cloth, a slender figure stood at the edge of a deep pit, frantically stirring the long spear thrusting down, her gaze icy, her chilling tone filled with unparalleled disgust and hatred.

"All those who have fallen should die!"

At the same time, a black, viscous substance seeped from Utsumi Eriyo's body, turning into tendrils that pierced deep into her small body in the pit, roughly pulling out a blood-stained spirit core.

But just as the spirit core was about to be retrieved by Eriyo, a bloodstained arm suddenly emerged from the pit and grabbed the girl exorcist's snow-white wrist.

"You want us dead? You'll be buried with us! Hahahaha!"

Awakened by excruciating pain, Ibaraki-dōji coughed up blood, grinned savagely, and completely revealed the crazed side of the demon race, instantly detonating his spirit core.

In an instant, intense flames swept in all directions, completely engulfing the two people inside and outside the pit.

Chapter Fifty-Four: Mother-in-law, I can do it!

The sudden turn of events left Samael with no time to think. He immediately charged into the blazing light, braving the scorching flames and violent ethereal impacts around him, and forcibly pulled Eri out.

Hana Rin, who was a beat slow to react, also rushed forward to ask.

"How is she? Is she alright?"

"He's not dead yet, but he's close to it."

Samael turned and placed Eri, whose face was ashen, on a bench beside him, his voice low.

Even though he intervened at the last moment, pulling the girl out of the epicenter of the explosion.

However, due to the suddenness of the incident, Eriyo inevitably bore the brunt of the impact.

Being so close to Ibaraki-doji's spirit core caused his internal organs to shift and multiple fractures throughout his body. It's a miracle he survived.

If I hadn't forcibly suppressed the fiery energy and rampant magic that surged into her body, I wouldn't even need to collect her body now; I could have just put her ashes in a box.

"Humph!"

The ancient snake glanced at the charred, deep pit ahead, its expression turning grim, and it couldn't help but let out a cold, slurred sound.

Now, not only is this girl critically injured and on the verge of death, but the breakthrough he had finally found has also been completely destroyed.

Therefore, Samael was in a very bad mood.

"Eri (Karin's nickname for her best friend in the original setting) didn't mean it, please save her!"

Sensing Samael's displeasure, Hana Rin hurriedly tried to explain for her friend.

“These fallen heroic spirits took away her parents from a young age, which is why she lost her composure like this…”

parents?

Samael was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and immediately thought of the large house where Eri lived alone.

She seems to be only 14 years old.

This is the age when one should be living with family.

The child's corruption led to the death of his parents, so he has always hated the Servant who caused it all. Therefore, he became an exorcist from a young age and took on the duties of the Night Watchman, often going out at night to hunt down those troublesome Servants and Oni.

Gradually, Samael understood why he had met the young exorcist on the tram outside the city that night.

Orphaned, burdened by a blood feud—what a tragic script this is...

Having figured out the reason, the ancient snake sighed, and the annoyance in its heart lessened considerably.

Things have already come to this point, there's no point in pursuing it any further; we can simply wait for the next opportunity.

"Eri is bleeding, black blood! What should we do?"

At this moment, Hana Rin, who was taking care of her friend, cried out in panic. Facing the several wounds on Eri's body that were constantly oozing clumps of dark blood, she was at a loss and instinctively turned to Samael behind her for help.

At this moment, this is the only person they can rely on.

Samael, who had just adjusted his mindset, subconsciously looked up, but suddenly his pupils contracted and he grabbed Hana Rin's hand.

"Get out of the way!"

Before the girl, who had been roughly pulled behind him, could react, Samael suddenly raised his left hand and grabbed several black branches that had somehow appeared in mid-air.

This is……

Still shaken, Hana Rin looked ahead and was shocked to see these dark "branches" originating from her own good head, Eriyo.