Chapter 223: Stepping Alone Into the Dark Eclipse Realm

Hmm????

Is the entire Ashiya Doman family not simple?

The murmurs cut off abruptly; everyone present turned to look at this senior.

"Are you suggesting Ashiya Doman's bloodline is actually half-human, half-demon, because Ashiya Doman himself was half-human, half-demon?"

As Professor Nakata finished speaking, Director Takahashi beside him interrupted, responding in a solemn tone.

"Professor Nakata, you're wrong. I'm afraid Kono's guess isn't just about Ashiya Doman being half-human, half-demon—he's suggesting Ashiya Doman isn't as simple as history records."

The senior named Kono Ryō nodded.

"Yes, my point is that Kamikawa Mitsu's identity isn't as simple as it seems, because his ancestor Ashiya Doman himself wasn't simple."

With this, Kono Ryō glanced at everyone, finally fixing his gaze on Professor Beishan.

"Professor Beishan, you're well-versed in Japanese historical figures—surely you're familiar with Ashiya Doman."

Professor Beishan nodded.

Since joining the Supernatural Response Division, the historian Professor Beishan had frantically studied every possible supernatural historical figure—Ashiya Doman, the mortal enemy of Abe no Seimei, was naturally well-known to him.

"Are there any ancient texts detailing Ashiya Doman's origins—his birthplace, his parents?" Kono Ryō asked.

Professor Beishan raised an eyebrow, then answered.

"No. Records on Ashiya Doman are scarce. He's only described as a folk onmyōji—not from any prestigious onmyōji lineage, but a commoner who rose to the top. His exact birthplace and parents are completely unrecorded."

His childhood and life experiences are also barely documented. Almost all surviving ancient texts portray Ashiya Doman only from the moment he became famous—when he began opposing Abe no Seimei. Very few records mention his actual life story.

Those few are merely folk legends."

No verified origins for Ashiya Doman?!

Everyone froze.

As the sole rival of Japan's greatest onmyōji, Abe no Seimei, such a famous figure had no verified identity or origins? Only legends of his battles with Seimei? It was unthinkable.

Clearly, they understood Kono Ryō's implication.

Ashiya Doman had zero recorded lineage—so mysterious, his origins must be far from simple.

"It's as if he suddenly appeared out of nowhere in history," murmured Director Takahashi, voicing his first impression of Ashiya Doman.

His words sent shockwaves through the room.

Yes—according to Professor Beishan's account, Ashiya Doman was like a drop from the sky: appearing on the historical stage with the immense power of Abe no Seimei's rival.

"I don't know where he was born—or if he just appeared out of thin air. My god, this is just like Yamata no Orochi!" Professor Nakata cried.

Yamata no Orochi appeared out of nowhere—or rather, he wasn't born in Japan, but came from elsewhere, so Japanese history has no record of his origins.

Is Ashiya Doman not Japanese?!

Like a sudden revelation, everyone snapped awake, their expressions filled with horror.

Of course—if Ashiya Doman was an outsider, then the absence of any records about his identity or life makes perfect sense. He came from another country and never revealed his origins, so naturally, Japanese history would contain no trace of his past.

Perhaps when he arrived in Japan, he was already immensely powerful—appearing on the historical stage at full strength, with no record of any weak or early years.

"If Ashiya Doman was an outsider, then who was he? Could he have been exiled like Yamata no Orochi or Tamamo-no-Mae?" asked Yoshimura Yoshikichi.

For a moment, everyone fell into deep thought.

As the only rival Abe no Seimei ever acknowledged, such power couldn't have gone unnoticed in any other nation—he was almost certainly a famous figure there.

So who could Ashiya Doman have been?

Possible traits surfaced in their minds: half-human, half-demon; non-Japanese; outsider; not of Western appearance, yet Asian—each clue emerging one by one…

"Holy shit!! I just had a terrifying thought," Professor Beishan exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Professor Beishan—you don't mean… that place, do you?" Professor Nakata pointed in a direction—not at the room, but far beyond, toward the nation geographically aligned with that direction.

Professor Beishan swallowed hard, then slowly nodded.

The next second, Professor Nakata hurriedly spoke.

"Don't say it—I feel if we say it out loud, we'll all be silenced. Fuck, this is too terrifying."

"I feel the same," Professor Beishan replied slowly, then fell silent, his whole body trembling violently—he clearly didn't want to continue.

"Fuck, you just leave half a sentence hanging!"

"Damn it, if you've got an idea, just spit it out!"

Everyone looked pained, itching with frustration.

"Not saying it. Not even if you kill me."

"Yeah, not saying it. If we say it, it's not just about our lives—it feels like we'll lose even reincarnation, vanish completely, soul and all."

Director Takahashi and the others winced.

"I… wait—look at the screen!"

Everyone turned to the large screen displaying footage of the Phantom Demon Realm—and instantly paled.

Phantom Demon Realm.

The battle raged on, brutal and fierce.

Kamikawa Mitsu had slain the Azure King. The phantom demons' morale surged, climbing higher, roaring, howling, their battle fury swelling to a torrent.

"Charge into Meishoku!!"

"Their Azure King is dead! Charge! Leave every last one of their lives in the Phantom Demon Realm!"

"Kill them all! Soak the Sacrificial Domain in their blood! Offer their blood to the phantom demons who died there!"

Morale surged like a flood; battle spirit soared, tearing through the clouds.

After days of invasion into Meishoku, the phantom demons had long simmered with rage. Now, with battle unleashed, they fought with bloodshot eyes, utterly insane. And now, Kamikawa Mitsu had slain an entity beyond kings—like a powerful stimulant injected into their veins, driving them even wilder.

Watching the phantom demons and Meishoku creatures clash across land and sky, Kamikawa Mitsu, having just slain the Azure King, did not immediately intervene. His brow furrowed slightly, as if deep in thought.

"Not enough."

Kamikawa Mitsu spoke these words himself.

He still had not reached the Third Step Realm; that battle with the Cang King was merely a touch of the Third Step Realm, without truly stepping across that threshold.

"How dare you!!"

Suddenly, from within the great mist gate connecting to the Nether Erosion Realm at the center of the Sacrificial Domain, several furious roars erupted.

The roars were terrifying.

They carried supreme fury, sweeping through the nine heavens and exploding across both realms.

One could see that within the grand gate lay a desolate land, stretching endlessly for countless miles.

Suddenly—

At the far end of the desolate land, three figures appeared, walking step by step; the entire earth trembled with each of their strides, as if they were the sky and earth of that boundless land, like divine beings approaching the gate.

Simultaneously, one of the figures extended a massive hand, wreathed in black mist, crossing the boundless land, stepping beyond the gate, reaching toward the vast array of Void Demons in the Sacrificial Domain.

This was an attempt to directly suppress and slay the Void Demons from across the world, establishing dominance.

"Do you think I'm not here?!"

A roar split open from deep within the nine heavens above the Sacrificial Domain.

Boom!!

The void shattered, as if the sky of an entire world had been sliced open.

A battle halberd slashed through the air, instantly shattering the hand that spanned both realms, piercing straight into the grand gate—lengthening infinitely, shooting up into the heavens.

In the Sacrificial Domain of the Void Demon Realm and the boundless desolate land of the Nether Erosion Realm, countless beings looked upward; that colossal halberd, spanning from a distant realm, stretched for countless miles, radiating majestic power that filled all directions of the cosmos.

The halberd overshadowed the entire sky and earth.

It crushed the heavens; the void itself shattered.

The cosmos trembled—the halberd split the heavens!

Then, with a soft *puff*, the halberd pierced through that figure, pinning and slaying it in the void.

Everything happened too fast; no one had expected Kamikawa Mitsu to be so aggressive, to strike so suddenly, to unleash such terrifying power—yet before anyone could even be stunned, Kamikawa Mitsu had descended from the depths of the nine heavens and appeared before the grand gate.

"Keep killing. I'll be right back."

Without another word, Kamikawa Mitsu left a message for the Demon Lord and the others, then stepped alone into the Nether Erosion Realm.

……