Chapter 131. The Strange Demon Island, the Appearance of Ibaraki Douji
"..."
Ian of course knew who "Ibaraki" that Shuten Douji mentioned was.
She was the other demon who had severely injured Watanabe no Tsuna during the campaign at Ooeyama.
Just that alone was enough to prove that the power of Ibaraki Douji was certainly no ordinary matter.
But—
Why did she appear on this mysterious demon island?
While Ian was still pondering this, Shuten Douji beside him seemed somewhat embarrassed and spoke up first.
"Ehm… may I make a small request?"
As she said this, Shuten Douji did not dare to look Ian directly in the eye. She seemed like there was something she was hiding.
This strange behavior made the Grand Onmyoji feel that something was off.
He asked:
"What do you want to request?"
"I just want to say—"
Shuten Douji's face turned red as she glanced at Ian beside her.
"If we really meet Ibaraki later… could you…"
"Could I what?"
"Could you spare me some face?"
"If I get captured by an Onmyoji and Ibaraki sees me, it would be really embarrassing…"
"Oh…"
Ian didn't expect Shuten Douji to say something like that.
"Let's get to the island first and talk later."
"Whether we meet Ibaraki Douji or not is still uncertain."
"...That's true."
[The boat carrying you and Shuten Douji gradually approached the demon island, Onigashima.]
[You both stopped the boat at the shore.]
[You set foot on Onigashima.]
Boom—boom—boom—
Thunder rumbled across the sky, and pale lightning flashed through the dark clouds.
The waves surged violently, crashing against the rocky shore.
This was an island covered in darkness.
Even without using his Onmyoji identity to observe, Ian could still feel that this was definitely not a place where ordinary people could easily set foot.
Ushi Gozen.
The mysterious figure who sent the letter was currently on this island.
What kind of existence was that?
Ian felt a mix of tension and curiosity.
After all, the other party was definitely not an ordinary person.
But—
Looking at Shuten Douji beside him, Ian had another question he wanted to confirm.
"Ibaraki Douji, is she someone very important to you?"
"It's not about importance or not!"
Shuten Douji immediately flushed red.
"She's my subordinate! If she sees me stripped of all my powers, she'll definitely think I'm useless!"
"Then what will you do?"
Life or death aside, for Shuten Douji, the title "Demon King of Ooeyama" seemed incredibly important.
Ian felt that this had some resemblance to human nature.
Moreover—
He realized that he had unintentionally used that mystical ability of his again—a power that could sketch the form of a demon.
"Shuten."
"The 'Ibaraki' you're talking about, is she a demon a bit shorty than you, with blonde hair, golden eyes, and a pair of fierce red horns on her head?"
"..."
Shuten Douji blinked, looking somewhat confused.
"Eh?"
"How do you know? I thought you two had never met?"
Shuten Douji wasn't mistaken.
As soon as the demon suppression army set foot on Ooeyama, she had used her ability to control the entire mountain to separate Ian and Minamoto no Raikou from the others.
While she faced off against the two of them, on the other side, Ibaraki Douji had encountered Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings.
What happened to the others, she didn't know.
But she was certain he had never met Ibaraki Douji.
"..."
Shuten Douji's reaction proved that Ian's words were completely accurate.
He hesitated for a moment before speaking:
"Shuten, actually…"
[You told Shuten Douji about your ability to randomly sketch the shape of demons.]
[She appeared very surprised.]
[Because this is definitely not something an ordinary person could do.]
Even though Shuten Douji already knew that Ian was not an ordinary person, at this moment, she couldn't help but feel surprised.
"Are you kidding me?"
"You can randomly know what a demon looks like?"
"But I just proved it, didn't I?" Ian looked at Shuten Douji before him and said so.
"..."
Shuten Douji knew that this man had no reason to deceive her.
After all, they had already arrived at Onigashima together.
She really couldn't figure out why Ian would deliberately try to cause confusion.
"What exactly are you?"
Shuten Douji carefully observed the Grand Onmyoji before her.
"You're like a sketchbook."
"I'd like to know what I am too."
Ian's gaze swept over the scenery on the demon island.
"Anyway, if I could understand who I really am, I could help Raikou better."
"..."
Shuten Douji curled her lip.
"You're always thinking about her."
"Isn't that natural? We—"
"You two are married, right?"
Shuten Douji raised her hand to stop Ian.
"I've heard enough of that."
"Look carefully at this island."
[You and Shuten Douji began investigating the surrounding area.]
[You collected a lot of information.]
[You both started analyzing.]
"I feel like the atmosphere here is very unusual!"
Shuten Douji, looking at the path beside her, spoke up.
"There's a strangely familiar feeling!"
"A familiar feeling, huh…"
Ian repeated the words Shuten Douji had just said.
After pondering for a moment, he asked:
"Do you feel like this place resembles somewhere else?"
"Yes!" Shuten Douji nodded, "It really resembles somewhere else!"
"..."
"It's Heian-kyo, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Exactly Heian-kyo!"
"Eh?"
As soon as she said that, Shuten Douji realized this might be a serious issue.
Although this place didn't have the same architecture as Heian-kyo, nor the same kind of streets, just the area where the two of them were standing—just the distribution of the mountains and rivers alone—had striking similarities to the layout of Heian-kyo.
So then—
What was the issue?
Why did an island thousands of miles away from Heian-kyo have a layout like this?
Shuten Douji couldn't understand this.
It was just that her instincts were screaming—this was definitely not something to celebrate.
"Why is it like this?"
Shuten Douji turned to Ian and asked.
"What exactly is this place?"
"Not sure." The Onmyoji shook his head.
"But Shuten, if we look at it from this angle, the one called 'Ushi Gozen' might not just know Raikou a little."
Ian wasn't just guessing.
Whether it was the use of demons to disturb Heian-kyo or the layout of Onigashima,
He could feel a strong sense of familiarity.
It was as if the person he was facing was really Minamoto no Raikou.
Was this imitation?
Or was there something else?
Ian found it difficult to make a judgment.
Just as Shuten Douji was about to say something else, the horns on her head suddenly glowed.
The small demon girl instinctively looked toward one side of the island.
The next second—
A massive red demon burst through the forest, letting out a terrifying roar, then frantically chased after something.
And its target—
Was a small figure with blonde hair, golden eyes, and a pair of fierce red horns on her head.
There was no mistaking it—that was—
"Ibaraki!"
Shuten Douji shouted.
The worry on her face was enough to confirm that the person in front of them was indeed Ibaraki Douji.
The situation was urgent.
Ian pondered for a brief moment before reaching out and placing his hand on Shuten Douji's head.
["Blessing of Shuten Douji" activated: You have temporarily restored Shuten Douji's power.]
[She feels it.]
"You…?"
Shuten Douji widened her eyes at the man beside her, her lips slightly parted, her face full of astonishment.
"Why would you…"
"Don't you care a lot about your reputation?" Ian countered, "In this situation, don't you want to put on a bit of a show?"
"..."
Shuten Douji never expected Ian to actually take her words seriously.
But she would not waste this goodwill.
Shuten Douji's purple eyes gradually burned with a brilliant red light, and her body began to emit waves of heat.
"Alright, wait for me a moment!"
With that, Shuten Douji, now fully unleashing her demonic nature, stomped down on the ground of Onigashima and shot forward toward the massive red demon.
Watching her figure disappear, a word unconsciously surfaced in Ian's mind.
"Mana Burst."
Shuten Douji's activated body was continuously releasing an enormous amount of mana.
And that mana manifested clearly in two forms—fire and heat.
This was the true reason why Shuten Douji could burn.
On the other side—
Shuten Douji, her entire body blazing like a flame, reached Ibaraki Douji with unimaginable speed.
In terms of size, it would probably take a hundred of her to even come close to the massive red demon before her.
But in battles between demons, victory had never been determined by size.
"Shuten?!"
In Ibaraki Douji's startled voice, Shuten Douji leaped into the air.
The rich scent of alcohol wafted from her body, followed by an extreme concentration of heat and flames.
"You dare lay a hand on Ibaraki?!"
"Then just sleep here forever!"
The small demon girl drove her fist straight into the massive red demon's head.
At first glance, the scene looked like an ant trying to shake an ancient tree.
But in reality—
That wasn't the case.
A crimson explosion erupted directly atop the red demon's head, followed by a devastating impact.
This was the Fire Fist Strike.
When the flames dissipated, the massive demon had been beaten beyond recognition. It staggered for a moment before finally collapsing to the ground with a deep, resounding thud.
[Shuten Douji has saved Ibaraki Douji.]
[You have reunited.]
"This human is…"
Ibaraki Douji's tone was anything but friendly.
Clearly, the battle at Ooeyama had left her with unresolved feelings toward humans.
But thanks to Shuten Douji's initial strategy, Ibaraki Douji had never met Ian directly.
However—
Even Shuten Douji herself didn't know how to respond at this moment.
Logically—
Now that Ian had returned her strength, whatever she said would be considered correct.
But thinking about the trust he had just placed in her, she felt like she couldn't lie.
What should she do?
While Shuten Douji was still caught in hesitation, Ian spoke first:
"I am Abe, a servant of the Demon King of Ooeyama."
"Eh——?!"
"Nani——?!"
Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji simultaneously cried out in shock.
Then, they turned to look at each other.
"Shuten, why are you so surprised?"
Ibaraki Douji blinked her golden eyes, looking completely confused.
"Isn't he your subordinate?"
"T-That… um…"
Shuten Douji's eyes widened, her face clearly showing her internal panic.
No choice.
She could only grit her teeth and go along with Ian's words.
"Y-Yes!" Shuten Douji puffed out her chest, trying to look proud. "This is my loyal servant!"
"Oooh——~"
Ibaraki Douji gazed at her with admiration.
"Sasuga Shuten, sugoi!"
"You always have devoted followers no matter where you go!"
Hearing this, Shuten Douji grew even more flustered.
She turned to look at Ian, only to find that the Onmyoji was struggling to hold back his laughter.
The little demon girl's face turned red.
She stammered for a moment before quickly changing the subject:
"L-Let's not talk about this anymore!"
"Ibaraki, why are you here?"
"Well… it's like this…"
[Ibaraki Douji recounted how she ended up here.]
[After the battle with Watanabe no Tsuna, she was struck down and lost an arm, then fell unconscious by the riverbank at Ooeyama.]
[When she woke up, she found that her arm had regenerated, and she had been transported to this strange island.]
"Huh?"
Shuten Douji stared at Ibaraki Douji in front of her, reaching out to touch her arm.
"How did it grow back?"
"Shuten, I have no idea." Ibaraki Douji looked just as confused. "I thought I'd have to live with one arm for a long time."
"But that didn't happen."
"Regenerating an arm… Could there be some mysterious power on this island capable of doing that?"
Shuten Douji muttered to herself, then suddenly realized something.
"Could it be 'Ushi Gozen'…?"
The moment this thought struck her, she turned to Ian.
He gave a slight nod, confirming that it was indeed a possibility.
After all, everything about Ushi Gozen was a mystery.
"Ushi Gozen?"
Ibaraki Douji looked at Shuten Douji in confusion.
"Who's that? I've never heard that name before."
"Well—"
Shuten Douji cast a meaningful glance behind Ibaraki Douji.
"You washed up here too, didn't you?"
"We came here because of a letter signed 'Ushi Gozen.'"
"But I've never heard that name mentioned anywhere on this island."
Ibaraki Douji answered truthfully.
"On the other hand, there's someone incredibly powerful here. I've been constantly hiding from her."
"Someone very powerful?"
Hearing this description, Ian immediately became alert.
"What does she look like?"
Though still somewhat annoyed at Ian being called Shuten Douji's 'servant,' Ibaraki Douji carefully described what she had seen.
"She's a tall woman. She has long purple hair and dresses like a samurai."
"Oh, right! And she has a dekaiiiii oppai! Just like a milk cow!"
"..."
Ian and Shuten Douji exchanged glances, both showing expressions of shock.
Because—
That description unmistakably matched Minamoto no Raikou!