Chapter 39: Chapter Thirty-Nine: Lord of Chimera and Wraiths

“So this is the true meaning of Hyakki Yagyō...”

Takahashi and his team were shaken to their core.

Arrogance, dominion, the symbol of a king...

Suddenly.

Takahashi and his team froze, then whirled around, staring at the screen.

In the twilight cosmos, over a hundred demons, monstrous as divine beasts, followed a single ornate carriage, flanking it as they crossed the horizon where heaven met earth, their might crushing heaven and earth, shaking the cosmos.

Isn’t this exactly what Professor Furuta described—the Hyakki Yagyō, where a ruler commands a hundred demons to follow him?!

No!

Not just that.

The hundred demons under his command were immensely powerful, like divine beasts among demons—this was the Hyakki Yagyō that ruled over yashin, the most terrifying Hyakki Yagyō of all!

Gulp.

Online, someone couldn’t help swallowing hard, typing out each word slowly, pausing after every few characters, unable to calm their emotions.

“So... who is the demon that commands this Hyakki Yagyō...?”

When the Yunhu footage revealed the horizon scene, many yokai scholars also reached their conclusion, revealing the true meaning of Hyakki Yagyō.

At that moment.

The live stream’s once roaring flood of comments was abruptly cut off, the stream of text halting.

Countless viewers sat stunned, their minds racing.

Hyakki Yagyō, in truth, symbolizes a king.

Then, what kind of demon king could command divine beasts?

【Ancient City!!】

Someone suddenly remembered the Ancient City, frantically pounding the keyboard, nearly breaking it, sending out a comment.

Instantly.

The live stream and major forums erupted like nuclear bombs had been dropped, exploding in thunderous noise.

【That vast ancient city—could it be the residence of the demon in the carriage?】

【Quick, check what era that ancient city’s architecture resembles!】

【Great yokai each have their own era’s glory—find out which era the ancient city came from, and we might identify the demon inside the carriage.】

【If Sakuda’s group had just survived, they’d have seen the inscription on the city gate.】

Keywords like “ancient Japanese city,” “ancient Japanese demon king,” “Japanese city architecture”...

Became trending search terms across all search engines, surging to the top within moments as countless people frantically searched.

The ancient city was immense, majestic, resembling a celestial palace—calling it the dwelling of a god wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Even calling it a divine city fallen from Takamagahara wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

No one believed the ruler of the ancient city could be ordinary—undoubtedly, it was an unfathomable being.

The demon commanding the divine beasts on the horizon perfectly matched the profile of the ancient city’s ruler.

Arrogant toward all beings, unseeable, supreme beyond measure.

Unfortunately, Yunhu’s footage showed the ancient city’s gate, but the inscription was obscured by clouds—visible, but unreadable.

Only Sakuda Wenzhi and his group had seen it.

Countless viewers were desperate and itching to know—hoping Sakuda’s group would survive, even just one of them.

Because others couldn’t see it didn’t mean Sakuda’s group, inside the yokai world, couldn’t—Yunhu’s footage had clearly shown them staring at the ancient city in awe.

If even one survived, they might know the characters on the ancient city’s gate.

Time passed.

The upheaval above Arakawa Ward intensified, spreading to more and more people.

Flight tickets from all over Japan to Tokyo sold out completely; reservations were already booked through next month.

Many went mad, desperate to go to Tokyo and see for themselves.

Not just flights—subways, trains, bullet trains—all transportation tickets to Tokyo were sold out.

Some spotted an opportunity and bought multiple tickets, reselling them at inflated prices.

In a short time.

Prices for all tickets to Tokyo skyrocketed several times over.

The most extreme case: a scalper sold a Tokyo flight ticket for midnight tonight at 100,000 yen—and someone still bought it, a wealthy tycoon snapped it up.

Countless scalpers wept, cursing themselves for selling too cheaply.

For scalpers, this day became the highest-grossing day in history, breaking all records.

The frenzy continued to climb.

In some factories, workers stared at their phones, neglecting their work.

“Hey, get back to work!”

The factory supervisor bellowed, yet his eyes never left his phone.

His shout went unanswered by the workers.

Are you kidding? This is a historic moment—the upheaval above Arakawa Ward is no different from aliens making first contact with humanity. This could be the day yokai are proven to exist—who wouldn’t want to witness it?

“Son, come out right now!”

A father, stunned by the live stream, shouted loudly.

He shouted again and again, irritating his son who was doing homework.

“Dad! I’m doing my homework! Stop yelling! Wait till I’m done—I have a ton of work today, I...”

“Homework, homework, all you ever think about is homework! What good is homework? Come out and watch the livestream—the world’s being invaded by yokai, and you’re still studying?!”

“Huh?”

The son was dumbfounded.

Was this really his father? Was he sure he was saying something a father should say?

Confused, the son stepped out of his room...

“Dad! There are yokai!!”

Laughter burst from the mouth of a middle schooler in an apartment.

He laughed wildly, staring at the livestream on his computer, then picked up his phone and dialed.

“Hahahaha! Miyata, you guys—dare you still laugh at me for being a weirdo? I told you—there really are yokai out there!”

He was a chuuni teen, obsessed with anime, always convinced yokai existed.

Now, by chance, he saw the Arakawa Ward livestream and screamed with excitement.

He grabbed his phone to call the classmates who mocked him.

And he felt inexplicably thrilled—perhaps with the emergence of yokai, his own destiny was about to begin. Maybe he’d soon meet a yokai, his left hand drenched in yokai blood, transforming into a holy hand capable of suppressing demons, launching him onto the heroic path of demon slaying.

At this moment.

Yunhu churned, waves crashing, the lake’s scene shifting—countless eyes turned toward it.

Far on the horizon, the ornate carriage glowed with yao light, radiating brilliant brilliance. Though moving slowly, it had already traversed ten thousand miles and arrived silently above the airspace where Da Naido and the other yokai hovered.

Its speed was uncanny—shrinking distances, collapsing the gap between heaven and earth.

As the carriage halted, every yokai in this realm bowed their heads.

Even Da Naido, the yokai experts like Nakata had labeled a great yokai, knelt low, bowing in submission.

At that moment.

In the twilight cosmos, all sound vanished—only one unified, reverent voice remained.

“We pay homage to the Lord of Chimera and Wraiths!”

All beings—whether chimera, wraith, or celestial demons—bowed in worship.

Sovereign of Ten Thousand Demons!

Above the nine heavens, stars shimmered brilliantly—clearly visible, the stars circled the carriage as if the moon drew the stars, its radiance outshining sun and moon, becoming the brightest light in this realm.

The Demon Lord has emerged—the heavens and earth bow in awe.

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