This was a wish the Sukuna Demon could not grant. Or rather, as an ancient evil spirit, it couldn't comprehend its meaning at all; it just sounded incredibly distant.
"But what good does that do you? You are the one extending a hand to me, not anyone else. Why should the 'whole world' benefit?
You need only consider your own gains and losses, and be faithful to the desires of your heart.
All the rules of this world are shackles meant to bind the soul. Only by casting everything aside can you see your most fundamental wish!"
The Sukuna Demon coaxed him persuasively. Its low voice was as cold as the night wind, yet it could pierce through everything to reach the heart, stirring up the murkiest desires from the depths of one's soul.
"You are exceptional... young samurai~
I can see it! You are far stronger and more intelligent than ordinary people, full of ambition and passion, brimming with desire for everything!
A man like you should aim for a position above all others, occupy the grandest cities in the world, possess the most elite armies, collect the ten famous swords, and take a hundred peerlessly beautiful women for your own—
Besides you, who else is worthy?!
That's right, only you... because you are the most special, the most powerful one!"
"I... am special?"
"Yes, precisely!"
The Sukuna Demon chuckled, its hoarse voice filled with a seductive magic that slowly stained one's thoughts with an ominous black.
"Since ancient times, all those who stand in high positions have been ambitious and exceedingly avaricious heroes!
There is no shame in facing your own desires! Come, state your wish!"
"...I don't think there's anything I particularly want." Ryu fell silent for a moment before blurting out a sentence that caught the Sukuna Demon completely off guard.
Although it wasn't a yokai that specialized in bewitching human hearts, its spell should have still been effective on a mere mortal, right?
"You don't desire power?"
The Sukuna Demon didn't give up, listing the things most attractive to men.
"To stand above all others, to command the fates of thousands with a single word, to enslave countless people on a whim!"
"...In modern Japan, aren't there corporate slaves everywhere you look?"
Ryu said blankly, "Why would I want to specifically turn corporate slaves into another form of slave... Isn't that just a pointless extra step?"
"..."
Had the world become this cruel after a few hundred years? The Sukuna Demon was speechless.
Of course, when it was "alive," the lives of common people were just as cruel; society had simply adopted a different mode of operation.
"But I can... I can make you the lord of a city, of a nation, with the power of life and death in your hands!"
"But in the end, I can already stand above others, can't I?
Tens of thousands? As long as you have money, whether it's in Japan, Europe, America, or Australia... it's the same anywhere in the world. I can stand at the apex of billions of humans, so why would I lower myself to the narrow scope of a single city or country?"
"Wealth... Yes! You said it yourself, wealth can keep a man forever on high. Don't you wish for endless riches?
Perhaps you are wealthy now, but nothing in this world is constant. Unpredictable fate might cast you into dire straits, but I will always keep my promise and provide you with mountains of gold and silver at any time!"
"Don't talk to me about money!"
The Sukuna Demon had intended to move Ryu with this offer, but instead, it triggered his fierce resistance.
"I'm not interested in money. I don't even want to touch it. The biggest regret of my life was obtaining the [Golden Rule]!
Sigh!"
"..."
What was this Golden Rule?
Still, this was an unexpectedly upright and frugal man—the Sukuna Demon felt a twinge of shame.
Ryu wasn't lying; he truly didn't care about monetary gains or losses. The Sukuna Demon was certain of this.
Such formidable willpower. It wouldn't be easy to corrupt someone like him.
At its core, it too was a warrior and held special respect for those with a steadfast will. Even for this detestable enemy who had just blown it to smithereens, it couldn't help but feel a shred of reverence.
If possible, it would have preferred to defeat this foe in a head-on battle... but alas, there was little it could do right now except resort to petty tricks.
"Don't you wish for eternal life?"
"I'm not even twenty yet. While immortality is certainly a good thing, for me right now... it doesn't quite count as my 'greatest wish.'"
"How about a peerless beauty like Princess Oichi? I can make them fall for you at first sight—what are you doing?"
Sukuna watched in confusion as Ryu's expression changed. He looked at it with a rather peculiar gaze and spread his hands helplessly, as if to say, "You still don't get it?" It was utterly baffling.
Seeing this, Ryu couldn't help but sigh, then said with a serious face, "See this face of mine? That's the answer."
It was indeed the face of a pretty boy that would be popular with women...
"!"
This guy was infuriating!
The Sukuna Demon's tone grew noticeably more irritable. "Just be straight with me, what is it that you want?!
And stop saying profound things that I can't understand!"
"A wish, huh..."
Ryu looked up. "I want Brahma's blessing, so that I may not die by day or by night, not at dawn or at dusk, not by man or by woman, not by the genderless or by a third gender.
All gods and buddhas who possess weapons must surrender their power to my use; all who have sons must dispatch them to fight under my command; all who have daughters must join me in revering the Lingam.
—That should be enough to start with."
The Sukuna Demon: "......"
"What? You don't know Brahma?"
Ryu asked with kindness and concern, "Do you need me to make an international call for you?"
"...You bastard, you haven't been bewitched at all, have you!"
The Sukuna Demon had already sensed something was wrong. When it saw the mocking smile on Ryu's face, its fury boiled over.
"Brat! Are you that eager to die?! You can't possibly think that mere gunpowder and steel can defeat me!"
Hraaaaaaaaaargh!
The boar's mangled corpse was pulled by an invisible force. Bones and sinews snapped and rearranged with a teeth-grinding sound, gradually forming an upright shape. Beneath the demon's head, a powerful body over two meters tall was constructed.
"You have angered me—"
Clink-clank-clink-clank...
A series of smooth, metallic clashes interrupted the Sukuna Demon's words. What appeared before Ryu was a long metal block as thick and hard as a battering ram, its cold reflection glinting in the dark night.
A chain of golden bullets draped down like a beauty's wavy hair, and a sturdy tripod locked itself firmly to the ground. Like the most aloof of models, its seemingly slender form supported an aesthetic of ultimate violence.
"More petty tricks? Give it up. Even if you blast this body to pieces, I am still immortal—"
VREEEEEEEEEEEEN!!
There was no staccato of gunfire, only a high-pitched sound beyond the range of human hearing, a momentary "friction" felt only through the vibration in one's teeth.
The friction of steel on steel!
A scorching "slash" swept past. A corner of the distant shrine collapsed in an instant as if it had become a honeycomb. The Sukuna Demon's form froze abruptly. A magma-like dark red line appeared at its waist, the searing wound constantly emitting heat intense enough to send an ordinary person to the hospital.
Without a doubt, the demon's body was trying to heal itself!
But it was meaningless. The Sukuna Demon tilted its head back and fell, its vision filled with the vast starry sky. Its lower body, severed at the waist, remained standing firmly on the ground.
"What the hell is this..."
"You're right about everything, Mr. Evil Spirit."
Ryu released his slightly numb hands, and the six-barreled machine gun slowly stopped spinning. Only the smoke from the gunpowder drifted slowly upward.
"But this thing is an XM214 6-barrel machine gun, and it can fire over a thousand fucking 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds in one fucking minute!"
—This was also one of the heaviest pieces of firepower Ryu could currently deploy.
He had ways to get his hands on tanks and planes, but materializing and storing items both consumed mental energy!
With Ryu's current mental strength, he generally couldn't "lift" anything heavier than this.
Still, there was almost nothing in the natural world that this thing couldn't solve... and if he did encounter something, he'd be better off turning and running instead of trying to fight it with conventional weapons.
"Purely physical means might not kill you, but it's clear your body isn't invulnerable; it's still flesh and blood. That simplifies the problem. I just have to completely pulverize these few hundred pounds of bone and meat.
If you revive once, I'll smash you once. If you revive twice, I'll smash you twice... until the professionals arrive."
The so-called "professionals" referred to those priests. It was still unknown if they had any real abilities, but given how they panicked and didn't dare come up the mountain after hearing the commotion, Ryu was inclined to believe they were just a bunch of theological researchers...
But he couldn't show weakness now. First things first, he had to make the Sukuna Demon give up all hope!
"Who in the world are you? Conjuring so many weapons out of thin air, what kind of immortal art is this?!"
The demon raised its head, glaring viciously at Ryu. If the man fell into its hands, he would surely be subjected to the cruelest and bloodiest of punishments!
Flaying him and pulling out his bones wouldn't be enough to quell the hatred in its heart!
But it didn't repair its body immediately. It maintained its current state and stared at Ryu, its eyes murky and chaotic, its thoughts unreadable.
The Sukuna Demon, also known as 'Ryomen Sukuna', was a man from the ancient Japanese province of Hida. He was born with two faces and four arms, and was exceptionally intelligent. He was recorded as being "powerful and agile, carrying a sword on each side, and using a bow and arrow with all four hands."
In short, he was a figure of extreme martial prowess.
But he was eventually consumed by his own ever-growing ambition and desires, becoming insubordinate and taking pleasure in oppressing and tormenting the common people. He was ultimately slain by the samurai Nishikida Kojūrō Kagetatsu and permanently sealed on Mount Sukuna.
Times have changed. Mount Sukuna has long since been renamed, and the Sukuna Demon has learned patience through centuries of imprisonment.
—As if!
"Hahahahaha! You think you have me cornered!"
The Sukuna Demon laughed wildly as a dense shadow slowly rose from the corpse, breaking free from its fleshly cage and shifting like a liquid.
It was true that due to Nishikida Kagetatsu's seal, only a small portion of its power could escape. There was very little it could do now, perhaps even less than some of the more powerful modern yokai.
But it would not submit meekly and return to that sunless place for another thousand years!
"That's right, with this beast's body, there's no way I can withstand your strange 'teppo (rifles)', but if I just abandon this physical form, you'll be completely helpless against me!"
The Sukuna Demon's head flew into the air, enveloped in shadow. "I originally wanted to possess you, a pity... but the world is full of people with weak wills. Why get hung up on just one?
Haha, thank you, kid!
I've been a great yokai for so long that I'd forgotten how ordinary vengeful spirits wreak havoc upon the world... Now I have nothing to fear!"
BANG!
A flash of light accompanied the loud report of a gun. A large-caliber bullet pierced the Sukuna Demon's head, but it was like a flower in water or the moon in a mirror—visible but untouchable. The bullet, powerful enough to kill an elephant, merely created a ripple before flying off into the distance without stopping.
The Sukuna Demon was completely unharmed!
"Haha, now it's your turn to be anxious, kid!"
"..."
Ryu's eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced toward the main hall of the shrine.
The Sukuna Demon noticed Ryu's subtle movement. Its laughter gradually faded, but its attitude remained arrogant.
"Yes, that sword... the one left by that damned Nishikida Kagetatsu can harm spiritual bodies. But if you draw it, it would actually be a good thing for me."
As it spoke, the head began to fly higher.
"You're a troublesome one... but you're not the only usable body on this mountain... I wonder if you'll be able to deal with that as decisively as you dealt with the boar, hahaha!"
—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A fierce wind howled past his ears. Ryu kept his eyes fixed on the demon's head in the sky, his body moving through the mountain forest with the agility of a monkey.
[Demon Brain] and [Demon Back] were both activated. His unparalleled concentration mobilized every muscle in his body, coordinating them into a unified whole. His back, serving as his core muscle group, was as stable and reliable as a machine, enabling a series of highly difficult maneuvers.
The Sukuna Demon seemed to be deliberately luring him, always maintaining a distance that was neither too far nor too close, making Ryu look like a child being led by a kite.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the Sukuna Demon began to descend!
"This direction is... Tsk!"
Ryu suddenly grew anxious. His body's potential erupted once more. The Demon Back allowed him to sprint continuously at the speed of a hundred-meter dash champion, ignoring the waist-high weeds and the scrapes on his body, focusing solely on his target!
—Whoosh!
Finally, the path opened up. He emerged into a brightly lit clearing.
"Who's... Lord Ryu!"
"It's Lord Kuse!"
"Ryu-chan, you're back!"
The high school girls and priests who had gathered after coming down the mountain were here. They were startled when something burst out of the bushes, but were both surprised and overjoyed to see it was Ryu.
"Are you alright? Hmm, you don't really look alright..."
"Where are the others?"
Before he had even steadied himself, Ryu hurriedly asked, "The sacred object... where are the other priests?"
"Um—"
Before the words were out, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the night sky. Everyone panicked, except for Ryu, whose brow was tightly furrowed.
"Is it over there... Ruri."
"Here, Master."
"I was going to try using that ancient sword... No choice. This location is no longer viable. Have the helicopter change its pickup point. You take Chika and leave immediately. Don't ask why."
"Understood. I will ensure Lady Chika is safe."
Ruri said seriously, "But you must come with us."
"That's not necessary." Ryu had a persistent feeling of being watched. If he got on the helicopter, he would only draw the Sukuna Demon to it, and he would be completely defenseless in the sky.
"It is necessary!" Ruri said sternly. "This is the first time I've ever seen you with such a serious expression... I imagine the situation isn't very optimistic."
"...What did you just say?" Ryu looked back in disbelief.
"I think Lord Ryu should be the first to leave."
"I'm not discussing this with you!"
"I should obey your orders, but if this command endangers your safety...
At least please tell me why you are unwilling to leave. Even considering the helicopter's weight capacity... you should be the first priority."
Ryu frowned slightly. It was truly rare for his maid to argue with him, but since it concerned his life, Ruri was likely just frantic with worry.
He then shook his head. "It's precisely for safety reasons that I can't take the helicopter!"
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