"You..."
Kakugyoki was stunned.
Evidently, this was a situation even he did not expect.
Who was he?
Ibaraki-doji, a demon king who had lived for over a thousand years, possessing unfathomable power. In terms of accumulated jutsuryoku alone, he was on par with Ashiya Doman. Even Miyachi Iwao would likely only be able to fight him to a draw at best.
And now, he had lost in a contest of pure strength—so decisively, in fact, that Kakugyoki could not help but be shocked.
In contrast, Ibaraki-doji was completely unsurprised. Instead, his expression became even more disdainful.
"You're too weak. Do you really think you're worthy of being called Ibaraki?"
Ibaraki-doji actually scolded him.
A surge of anger rose within Kakugyoki, and he was about to step forward when Harutora raised a hand to stop him.
"I'm quite curious," Harutora said, staring directly at Rozen—or rather, at the shikigami around him. His intelligent eyes gleamed as he asked, "Some of them were already dead. How are they appearing here again?"
Harutora raised this question.
Rozen raised an eyebrow before suddenly smiling.
"Is that really so surprising?" Rozen shrugged and cast a glance at Yashamaru and Kumomaru. "That Yase-doji over there was supposed to be dead too, yet here he is."
The implication was immediately clear to everyone.
"Could it be Taizan Fukun Ritual?"
Hishamaru murmured the suspicion in everyone's mind.
They assumed that the reason great yokai like Ōtakemaru had reappeared in the world was because Rozen had used the Taizan Fukun Ritual.
With a forbidden technique capable of manipulating souls, the boundary between life and death could indeed be freely traversed.
However…
"Ordinary souls, sure. But even ancient spiritual entities like these—so many of them—being resurrected? That's…"
Yashamaru's voice was filled with disbelief, mirroring the shock in everyone's hearts.
Although the Taizan Fukun Ritual was indeed a secret art that manipulated souls, it wasn't something that could be used so casually.
For instance, its success rate was a major issue.
Such a powerful forbidden technique had an inherently low chance of success. Resurrecting normal souls was one thing, but to bring back spirits as ancient and powerful as Otakemaru and the other great yokai? That was no simple feat.
And that was just one entity at a time. Yet Rozen had revived multiple beings of such incredible power and even subdued them as his shikigami. The difficulty of this endeavor was unimaginable.
At the very least, Harutora knew he could never accomplish such a thing.
Even in his past life as Yakou, taming Kakugyoki had been an arduous process, requiring numerous conditions to align in his favor. In the end, Kakugyoki had only submitted to him because they shared mutual respect. Otherwise, Harutora knew he would never have been able to make an ancient demon king his shikigami.
So when faced with Rozen's accomplishments, Harutora not only acknowledged his inferiority but also felt deep admiration.
But...
"What about the Ibaraki-doji at your side?" Harutora turned his gaze toward Ibaraki-dōji and said, "A fake… doesn't seem to be the case, does it?"
Even though their appearances were different, the ancient spiritual presence and demonic aura were unmistakable.
This Ibaraki-doji was undoubtedly the real thing. Otherwise, Shaver wouldn't have gone berserk.
But how was this possible?
How could two Ibaraki-doji exist in the same world?
That should have been impossible.
That was what everyone thought.
Unfortunately for them, Rozen remained as composed as ever.
"Is that really surprising?" Rozen smirked. "Your Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel were created by imitating Kinu and Gyokuto, weren't they?"
With those words, Rozen subtly hinted at the truth behind Ibaraki-doji's presence.
Just like how Yakou had created Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel as imitations of Kinu and Gyokuto, Rozen had seemingly created Ibaraki-doji by imitating Kakugyōki.
That was the conclusion everyone reached.
"Of course, unlike your purely artificial replicas, my Ibaraki-doji is the genuine one."
Rozen said this nonchalantly.
And that made all the difference.
Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel, though modeled after Kinu and Gyokuto, were no more than high-quality replicas—just as a forged artifact, no matter how realistic, remained an imitation. Those artifacts were not divine beings, nor did they possess divine energy. They merely had similar appearances and spiritual characteristics.
They were merely spiritual entities—not high-level spiritual beings like Kinu and Gyokuto. They lacked divinity entirely.
In contrast, Ibaraki-dōji not only had the exact same demonic aura and spiritual nature as Kakugyōki but was even stronger.
This was far beyond the level of a mere replica.
Rozen simply stated:
"If you have a fragment of the original, you can nurture it, allowing it to develop a new consciousness and will. If it grows to rival—or even surpass—the original, wouldn't that be possible?"
His words, spoken as if they were nothing, sent chills down everyone's spines.
Rozen's meaning was clear: this was precisely how he had created Ibaraki-doji.
It sounded impossible, but theoretically, it wasn't.
All it required was an exceedingly profound and terrifying mastery of jujutsu.
And for Rozen, who had successfully undergone divine descent as an onmyoji, such techniques were well within his capabilities.
Not to mention… Kakugyoki was indeed missing a part of himself.
His severed arm, which had been cut off by Higekiri.
Rozen was telling everyone, in no uncertain terms, that he had used that severed limb to cultivate another Ibaraki-dōji.
Even though many found this hard to believe—especially Kakugyōki, whose emotions were in turmoil—it was the only explanation for why Rozen was able to command the entire Hyakki Yakō.
"Besides Ibaraki-dōji, many other members of the Hyakki Yakō were long thought to have vanished from history, never to return. Finding and subjugating them would be nearly impossible… but if all you needed was a fragment of them, then for someone like you, it wouldn't be difficult."
Harutora let out a bitter smile.
"You personally nurtured, created, and revived the Hyakki Yakō, bringing the true Night Parade of a Hundred Demons under your control. Not even my ancestor, Abe no Seimei, could have accomplished that. But you did. No wonder you're the one who successfully underwent divine descent and even took a god as your shikigami."
At last, Harutora accepted the truth.
Little did he know that everything had been intentionally guided by Rozen.
The truth, of course, was entirely different.
The Hyakki Yakō under Rozen's command were the real deal—not artificially created nor resurrected.
Rozen had long since discovered that the Summoning knowledge in his mind spanned multiple worlds.
He had access to the summoning systems of different worlds.
By using a particular world's summoning technique, he could summon the corresponding beings from that world.
For example, when Rozen used Heroic Spirit Summoning, he called forth Heroic Spirits and Servants from the Throne of Heroes.
When he used Divine Spirit Summoning with this world's jutsuryoku, he performed a divine descent ritual that summoned Kinu and Gyokuto.
As for Shikigami Summoning, that belonged to yet another world's summoning system.
Thus, the Hyakki Yakō he had summoned were from another world—but they were still the genuine Hyakki Yakō.
This was the truth.
Regardless, one thing was certain.
Rozen had truly accomplished the legendary Hyakki Yakō, bringing the demons of night under his command.