Help! I changed the gender of the male protagonist in the yandere game.

Chapter 241 Remnants
Hiiragi Hiruko's consciousness instantly rose into the sky.

She reached an extremely high position, behind which stood the enormous Heavenly Cherry Blossom, much taller than the surrounding buildings, situated high in the sky with a bird's-eye view of the city.

Her view overlooks the entire City of Mist.

The area around the east gate of the castle town, which was transformed into the first line of defense, looked very desolate, with almost no intact buildings in sight.

"It's too much..."

She murmured in her heart.

The number of demons has decreased significantly, but a small number of demons are still fighting bloody battles with soldiers and exorcists.

The human casualties were extremely high; human corpses were everywhere you looked.

The samurai, soldiers, and exorcists involved in the battle were attacked by hordes of monsters.

Some were devoured, their bellies ripped open; some had their heads smashed; some, though seemingly unharmed at first glance, had skin that had turned reddish-black. They must have been attacked by venomous birds of prey and died tragically from the poisonous miasma.

Among the dense ruins of buildings in the East Gate, there lay enormous demonic corpses, some as large as small mountains. Several of them were shaped like the heads, necks, and feathers of eagles, but their bodies below the chest resembled those of carnivorous animals.

There were also some broken remains, clearly pierced by some kind of huge arrow, in the shape of a combination of a chicken and a snake, with only the upper body of the chicken and a small tail of the snake.

Looking around, this place is almost entirely filled with that kind of thing.

The demonic army also suffered heavy casualties, with the corpses of the aliens scattered everywhere, creating an extremely gruesome scene.

Black smoke was billowing from several corners around the city of Kasumi, and the only smell in the air was that of burning flesh.

This is the cleanup of monsters and the corpses of the dead. Exorcists who are skilled in fire magic are burning the remains and debris with intense flames.

On such battlefields, the corpses of both humans and demons would "contaminate" the land. The resentment of the dead, combined with demonic energy, would turn into miasma, polluting the land or causing plagues.

Under these circumstances, burning away all traces with flames is a pretty good option.

At this moment, even from a great distance, Hiiragi Hiruko could feel the sound of sparks flying echoing in her ears.

At the same time, teams transporting the wounded arrived in an endless stream, and the shrine maidens of the Shin'o headquarters were busy treating the wounded.

For more than a decade, Hiiragi Hiruko lived in this city.

However, when viewed from above, Kasumi Castle appeared as a desolate landscape, filling her heart with a sense of sorrow.

'Don't worry.'

The voice of Tenjin Sakura Mahora echoed from the void.

'Although the castle town suffered some damage, the main force of the demon-wing army has retreated, and Kotankoro Kamui, after his duel with me, felt his chances of victory were slim and chose to withdraw.'

In order to fight against this terrifying and frightening evil god, even the guardian god Sakura Mahora dared not be careless in the slightest.

After learning that the Demon Wing Array had been empowered by divine energy, it removed the barrier that was originally used to protect the entire Izumo Kingdom and instead used its power to reinforce the defenses around Kasumi City.

This is a very correct decision. Although it will reduce our ability to monitor the outside world while diverting resources to strengthen our own defenses, the advantage is that it can increase the strength of our defenses several times over.

This resulted in the demon army's initial momentum crashing into the solid barrier surrounding the City of Mist, wasting a massive amount of demonic power and resources.

"is it?"

Hiiragi Hiruko remembered that Kotancoro Kamui seemed to have shown up once in the middle of the battle as a test, but that vicious fallen god judged that even if he won, he would be injured in the conflict with Mahora, so he chose to back down.

"I have a bad feeling..."

she whispered.

"Kotankoro Kamui did not choose to advance south, continue to devour the spiritual veins of various places, and then find an opportunity to launch an offensive against the capital... However, it did not do that. Instead, it turned its attention to the Yuyu Kingdom, which proves that it must have a great plan to successfully break through the City of Mist and defeat us."

'uncertain.'

Tenjin Sakura Mahora said calmly, "Perhaps that guy just knows he's no match for the Fist Saint stationed in Kyoto, or the Twelve Guardian Warriors... so he has no choice but to turn his attention to Dewa Country."

The tree spirit spoke in a calm tone.

"Furthermore, troops from Dewa Province have gathered from all over. Even if the imperial court doesn't intend to send troops, the 'Mogami Eight Shields,' who have previously guarded Dewa Province, will send troops to aid Kasumi Castle. Our chances of victory are real."

"I know."

Hiiragi Hiruko nodded.

Dewa Province is known as the "land of samurai." Although it lacks famous exorcist families, there are still quite a few samurai who have lived here for generations.

The most famous of these are the eight samurai families led by Kasumi Castle in Dewa Province. Within Dewa Province, they are also known as the "Eight Great Shields".

The Eight Shields refer to the families of Tendo, Nobuzawa, Iida, Obanazawa, Tateoka, Nagatoro, and Rokutahachi.

The Mogami Hachitate have worshipped the heavenly god Sakura Mahora for generations, regarding him as the guardian deity of the entire Dewa Province.

On the other hand, although these eight families were not originally exorcists, they were somewhat similar to the Jujoji clan of the Western Country. In the past, they actively absorbed the bloodlines of spiritual beings and developed some combat methods to fight against demons.

They did not focus particularly on the research of magic and supernatural abilities, but instead took a different approach, and were not weak in combat as well.

However, since Dewa Province was under the protection of the god Sakura Mahora, the remaining eight samurai families of the Mogami Eight Tribes rarely went out. Nevertheless, their fighting strength should not be underestimated.

After Kasumi Castle was attacked, the Mogami Yatsute dispatched its first batch of reinforcements, and subsequently sent more personnel to join the battle.

In the few clashes just now, members of the Mogami Eight Tripods also died on the battlefield.

"After that, the Mogami Eight Tripods will send their main forces. Our initial setbacks were also due to a shortage of manpower."

Sakura Tenjin's tone was also full of confidence.

'As long as we gather more manpower, the scales of victory will tip in our favor.'

Even so, she still felt anxious inside, a feeling that was hard to describe. To put it bluntly, she had doubts about the future.

"By the way, Zhouzi, how are your injuries?"

Ma Horyo raised this question out of concern.

“No big problem.”

Hiiragi Hiruko pressed her hand to her chest.

"I do possess the power of a True Ancestor, after all. As long as all the blood in my body isn't drained, I won't die..." 'Yes.'

Ma Fanliang's voice carried a hint of regret and helplessness.

"I'm so sorry, Zhouzi... Because of me, you'll probably become an immortal being. After that, unless you die in war or encounter some extraordinary disaster, you'll live a very long life. It's both a blessing and a curse."

"I know."

Hiiragi Hiruko did not complain; she felt this was her destiny. However, Mahoro also warned her about the secret of the immortals, which involved an endless period of time—a blessing and a curse.

'However, thankfully, the man corrupted by the aura of the spirits will likely suffer the same curse of immortality as you. Thinking about it that way, you won't be particularly lonely in the future, because there should be people by your side to keep you company…'

Maho's words immediately made the shrine maiden's face turn as red as a bright red apple.

"What...what did you say...?"

'I'm not talking nonsense.'

Mahoro continued solemnly, "I've discussed this with Yukiyasha-hime. The influence of the demonic energy on Hyakusuke is quite profound. Coupled with the blessing of the mermaid's flesh, he should possess the same kind of immortality as you. Rather than solitary immortality, you can support each other and journey together to a vast and distant world, traversing endless time."

"Endless time."

Hiiragi Hiruko seemed to be awakened by these words, and her tone rose slightly.

'Think about it carefully, this is also very beneficial to you.'

Ma Horiyoshi said in a slightly sly tone, "That man has too many women around him. Maybe it's just his personality; he easily attracts attention, and they're not ordinary women. I doubt you've had the chance to get too close to him, Hiruko. Your mild-mannered personality means you're destined to have a hard time gaining the upper hand in matters of the heart."

"However, you both have a long time ahead of you. People often say that love grows over time, so there's nothing wrong with spending a hundred or two hundred years slowly cultivating your feelings. As long as you have enough patience, you can wait until all the women around him have grown old and died before you stay with him, because you are immortal beings who can live forever."

'This is a love unlike anyone else's. The time of ordinary people is insignificant to you. You are the most suitable match, destined to be each other's companions in the long, distant future, forever together…'

Maho described a promising future to her.

The words, "A long time, leaping across endless time," also surfaced in the mind of the shrine maiden, filled with naive fantasies.

Will you stay with me forever?

Hiiragi Hiruko fell into deep thought, her chest surging with a torrent of emotions, an almost uncontrollable feeling that transformed into a continuously boiling heat.

"Hiruko, are you alright? You haven't said anything... Is something wrong?"

Suddenly, Maho asked out of doubt.

"Yes, that's right."

She then woke up with a start.

"I'm sorry, I'm fine."

'That's good. ’

Ma Horyo didn't think too much about it. The tree spirit calmly said, "But then again, let's not think too much about it now. We have important matters to attend to."

"Ok."

Hiiragi Hiruko nodded to herself.

……

"The casualties were truly heavy."

A strange voice slowly rose up.

The sound didn't resemble a human voice; it sounded more like the murmur of some kind of insects gathered together.

"The casualty rate of the demon army is too high... Come to think of it, the Fiend God really treats his demons as expendable resources."

The blurry figure speaking looked like a human form composed of countless insects.

"Because for Kotankoro Kamui, humans can be transformed into monsters at will... no, into his own familiars, and used as expendable resources."

Another voice responded indifferently.

"The enemy's commander-in-chief treats soldiers as numbers, and this war of attrition is probably a test of the defenses of Kasumi City."

At this point, the owner of the voice was a strange man with sharp horns growing from his disheveled hair. He was also wearing armor and exuded a fierce, demonic aura.

"In the end, Kotankoro Kamui is just a fallen god, not an ally of us demons. Although the strategist thought we could try to win him over, in my opinion, Kotankoro Kamui will not consider cooperating with us, the Bloodstained Six Gates."

He sneered.

"If we were to make a deal with him, there's a high chance that Kotankoro Kamui would find an opportunity to betray us. Let me be frank: I oppose any contact with Kotankoro Kamui. Moreover, there's no need for us, the Bloodstained Six Gates, to get involved in the great war currently taking place in the North."

The two powerful demons secretly monitoring from afar were at the level of quasi-demon generals. They were the last remaining demon generals of the Bloodstained Six Gates during the great chaos between humans and demons in the past.

That humanoid mass resembling black flies was known as the "Fly Demoness," a ferocious monster that was infamous in the great war and had killed countless exorcists.
The other man, who looks like a young samurai, is a powerful monster who has mixed the bloodlines of the oni clan and other demons.

It is said that its ancestor was Ibaraki-dōji, whose arm was cut off by a powerful human exorcist.

The Bloodstained Six Gates Army is not just a rabble; they have a very clear mission, one of the most important of which is the theory of saving demons, which is that "all demons are our kin."

The main point of this argument is that human exorcists have been killing demons since their inception, and claims that human actions constitute a "genocide policy" against demons.

It was with this viewpoint that the five great demon kings recruited many demons and threw themselves into this war between humans and demons.

However, after the great war 150 years ago, the Bloodstained Six Gates Army suffered an unprecedented blow. After the five demon kings were sealed and killed in battle, almost all of the most powerful demon generals of the Six Gates were sealed away.

However, some remnants of the defeated army survived. They were fortunate enough to evade the pursuit of the Yamato court, the army, and the exorcists, and survived the great battle.

These powerful demons harbored deep hatred for the Yamato court, and they had no intention of letting go of the opportunity for revenge.

During their century-long incubation period, the remnants of the Six Sects remained hidden in the shadows, honing their claws and absorbing "new blood" from the demon realm, waiting for the opportunity to take revenge once again.

The actions of the malevolent god Kotancoro Kamui also gave the advisors and several leaders of the remnants of the Six Gates an opportunity.

One of the observers was Kotankoro Kamui, who was also a yokai. If they could join forces with him, their chances of defeating the Yamato court would increase significantly.

However, some opponents argue that the evil god Kotancoro Kamui is a dangerous element, that this fallen god is not trustworthy, and that it may not even regard other demons as its own.

(End of this chapter)