Most Youkai were bewildered. No one expected this newcomer 'Akagaki' to already be the Fourth Oni King. As a Great Youkai, he seemed to have a grudge against his own kind, killing one Great Youkai and several powerful ones since his debut. Some even wondered if he was a shikigami of some Onmyoji, but they dismissed it—no Onmyoji could truly subdue a Great Youkai. Even the legendary Zenki and Kouki were subdued by En no Gyoja before they became Great Youkai.
The conclusion: this 'Akagaki' simply had a screw loose and specialized in making life hard for Youkai.
But Lancer was even more bewildered than the Youkai. The actions of the Oni race—specifically his three drinking buddies—were completely unexpected. The only good news was that they hadn't exposed his 'Lancer' identity. He decided to just wear his armor for missions and let 'Akagaki' take the blame for everything.
In the future, he could even say: "What does your search for Akagaki have to do with me, Lancer?"
As for the reason 'Akagaki helped other Youkai,' it seemed unrelated to the Oni, but it actually had deep connections.
Because of the Oni incident, the Onmyoryo had retracted its influence, leading to frequent Youkai attacks in remote villages. But with Lancer message and the Oni's stance, the Onmyoryo's reach began to extend outward again.
This was a rebound.
Humans, Onmyoji, local monks, and priests began purging nearby Youkai. Small fry were killed immediately, but strong ones were harder to handle. Lancer tasks involved these stronger ones.
After Lancer subjugated a 'Suiko' (Water Tiger)—a creature like a Kappa but more ferocious and capable of invisibility—a 'Kawa-Akago' (River Child) which excelled in illusions, and a 'Wanyudo' (a bald Youkai on a wheel) that ran very fast, he encountered a Youkai that was both expected and unexpected.
'Yuki-onna' (Snow Woman)
A household name in Japan, legendary for luring men in snowy mountains. She had a reputation for being both deadly and beautiful.
Lancer arrived at the end of summer/beginning of autumn. Now it was deep autumn, and the snow in the north had come early. A woodcutter, intending to cut wood one last time before the snow covered the trees, witnessed a woman leading a small child in the snow.
Onmyoryo's investigation confirmed faint demonic energy. Due to limited strength and being on the Yuki-onna's home turf, they called for help. Lancer arrived after receiving the news.
He was curious if Yuki-onna was like the legends, but primarily, he found the report strange. If the woodcutter really met a Yuki-onna, why was he still alive?
Youkai that only appear in specific environments are often much stronger in those arenas.
With dual curiosity, he entered the deep mountains. Unfortunately, he couldn't find her even in raven form. He used a 'clumsy method': he disguised himself as a young woodcutter and chopped wood. Lucky or not, a rare heavy snowstorm hit on the second day...
This storm led him to the 'Yuki-onna' mentioned by the woodcutter. She appeared and invited him to her home to escape the blizzard.
Yuki-onna was indeed beautiful, but only relatively speaking. For Lancer, who had seen many beauties, she was just average; he suspected Mokou would be prettier once she grew up. What was stranger was the little girl she was leading.
Lancer lack of fear and his probing gaze made the Yuki-onna realize something was wrong. An ordinary person in a disaster wouldn't be in the mood to analyze things; their first reaction would be to seek help.
The following events stunned her. As she tried to flee, the 'young woodcutter' threw down his basket and pulled a crystalline ice spear from his right arm.
The battle wasn't worth much mention. Although she had strong control over ice and snow, she met Lancer, who had extremely high ice resistance. The Yuki-onna, who specialized in magic rather than close combat, was easily captured. During the process, the little girl attacked Lancer, shouting "Let go of Mommy, you jerk," but Lancer simply used an ice cage to confine the little brat.
Just as the Yuki-onna prepared to self-destruct to save her daughter, the fierce Lancer suddenly sat cross-legged on the snow.
"Tell me, you're a Yuki-onna, right? Why did you let that woodcutter go earlier? With the strength you've shown, ordinary Onmyoji shouldn't be able to touch you."
Lancer showed no mercy to evil Youkai, but he was fascinated by this one who showed him no malice and even invited him in.
She wasn't entirely innocent—as someone who could command spirits, Lancer could sense lives on her hands—but her lack of malice toward him was real. This was strange.
She didn't expect him to say this. In her experience, humans were either monks/Onmyoji trying to kill her, or ordinary people, or Youkai lusting after her body.
After hesitating, she spoke.
"I am a Yuki-onna. But first, please release my daughter."
Truly her daughter?
Lancer was even more puzzled. He snapped his fingers, and the ice cage collapsed. The white-haired child rushed to her mother's side and glared at Lancer, which made him want to laugh.
Children are children; humans or Youkai, they lack the ability to judge a situation before they grow up. Fortunately, her mother was smart enough to hold her tight so she wouldn't provoke Lancer further—even if that 'provocation' looked like 'acting cute' to Lancer.
"Sir..."
"Just call me 'Akagaki' ."
Since Lancer intended to use the Akagaki persona to deal with Youkai, he didn't care much about others' thoughts. Lancer was a righteous samurai; as for Akagaki? Who was that? Nothing to do with him.
To his surprise, when he announced the name 'Akagaki,' the woman instinctively stepped back and hugged her daughter tighter...