Chapter 1: You Call This Onmyōji?!

Nighttime, Sumida Ward, Tokyo.

Beneath heavy, oppressive clouds, the 634-meter golden spire of Tokyo Skytree pierces the sky, resembling a blazing sword tearing through the heavens.

At the very top of Tokyo Skytree, amidst howling high-altitude winds, the sound of ripping burger wrappers mingles with the breeze—along with the grumbling complaints of a boy.

"Ugh~ Even though Rias said the target would appear between five and eight, it's already past seven! Couldn't the intel be a bit more precise? I've been waiting for over two hours, and now I'm starving. Might as well eat something first..."

Muttering to himself, the boy takes a bite from a double cheeseburger he bought two hours earlier in the shopping district below. His dark eyes don't reflect Tokyo's bustling cityscape and myriad lights but instead focus on a distant, pitch-black abandoned harbor.

Before he can savor his meal, his brows suddenly twitch. His gaze sharpens as he notices something unusual in the direction he's watching. He clicks his tongue, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Well, speak of the devil. Can't a guy eat in peace first?"

With that, he steps forward, melding into the wind. His figure vanishes into the night like ink washing away.

...

At the abandoned harbor, layers of waves crash against the dock. The dark water reflects the distant, illuminated Skytree.

Bright car headlights cut through the darkness as four black luxury sedans weave along the port road, turning sharply to align along the dockside at 60 kph before halting.

All the car doors open simultaneously, and interior lights switch on just in time to reveal 16 men in sunglasses and black suits stepping out in sync, looking every bit the part of bodyguards—or perhaps gangsters involved in a shady deal.

"Finally, I've been waiting ages for you..."

A gruff voice rings out, though none of the suited men are speaking. The voice doesn't even come from the dock—it's from the water.

In the faint light scattered by the cars, an unpowered speedboat floats silently on the water. A muscular man over two meters tall, with wild hair and a beard, lies inside, legs crossed, hands behind his head, casually resting on a locked briefcase as a pillow.

He slowly opens his almond-shaped, eerie green eyes as the men on the dock start moving.

Without wasting words, the man—his piercing gaze wolf-like—gets up in one fluid motion, grabs the briefcase behind him, and steps onto the dock with an imposing air. He places the briefcase in front of the group of suited men.

The suitcase hits the ground with a muted thud, causing the bodyguards clustered by the cars to instinctively step back half a step.

"This is what you wanted. Where's the money?"

"I-it's right here..."

After a moment of tense silence, one of the bodyguards steps forward, also holding a briefcase. He musters his courage to place it on the hood of a car, then pushes it toward the wolf-eyed man.

"Good."

The man doesn't say much. He opens the case, and his green eyes scan the neatly arranged stacks of yen. After a quick check to ensure it's not stuffed with fake bills, he closes the briefcase and sets it aside.

He pushes the case he brought over to the bodyguards.

"Alright, deal's done—"

"Ciao～ Since you're here, why rush off?"

Before he can finish speaking, a voice rings out from behind the bodyguards—between the port's warehouse buildings...

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of footsteps in the alley, accompanied by a vague teenage voice, tinged with a hint of Kyoto accent.

"Who's there?!"

"Who's this?!"

Like the sudden clap of thunder on a clear day, the sixteen bodyguards, who had been tense and cautious just a moment ago in front of the wolf-eyed muscular man, immediately turned around. As they did, their handguns were already in their hands, and the sixteen tactical flashlights attached to their waists illuminated the figure of the newcomer like stage spotlights.

The person, as his voice suggested, was a young man around seventeen or eighteen years old. His frame was tall but not excessively thin, dressed casually as if he had just finished working out at the gym. He was holding half a hamburger in his hand, and his cheeks were slightly puffed out with food he had yet to swallow.

"Keikain Fukuki, currently serving as the Kyoto Onmyōji family's official representative, dedicated to serving high-net-worth clients, accepting all exorcism and demon-banishing work. My personal phone number is 185... Oh, sorry, I'm so used to promoting that I got carried away. Forget the last part."

With a tone that was completely devoid of sincerity, as if he were reluctantly performing a duty, the young man recited the advertisement line, then took another bite of his hamburger. He casually waved the remaining half of the burger, still wrapped in its packaging, toward the group.

"Alright, back to business. Now, everyone else can leave, but you need to leave the goods behind. And you, the one with the wolf eyes, the lone demon, come with me. Don't forget to bring my two boxes along, thanks. I'm eating and can't hold them, but if you cooperate, I can have Rias send you back to the demon realm in a softer way. Next time, if you want to visit the human realm, make sure to go through the proper procedures and register at the Demon District first. Thanks..."

His tone was full of arrogance, and in just a few words, the ownership of the two boxes changed in the boy's mouth.

But obviously, reality wasn't like a Dragon-Emperor type novel where the villain would immediately bow down at the protagonist's imposing presence. If a villain became weak just by being threatened, they wouldn't be considered a proper villain.

"Lone demon?"

One of the bodyguards in the suits frowned slightly.

"Mm-hmm~"

The boy shrugged, his gaze passing through the human wall to gesture towards the wolf-eyed muscular man standing among the crowd, who looked like a high school athlete in a group of elementary school students.

"What, can't you tell? You don't think those are the eyes of a human, do you... Alright, alright, let's all cooperate and be a bit more dignified. Otherwise—"

"..."

"..."

This was no negotiation, nor a discussion—it was a blatant threat!

At this point, there was no turning back, especially for the bodyguards, who knew their employer's cruelty.

If they couldn't bring the goods back in one piece, the only outcome awaiting them would be...

Death.

The air fell into a deadly silence, and the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

"Idiot!"

Without warning, one of the bodyguards yelled and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Bang!

The sound of gunfire rang out like the breaking of a cup, and in an instant, all the bodyguards squeezed their triggers.

Though they were all using semi-automatic pistols, the combined fire of sixteen guns was so intense in such a short time that the density of the shots surpassed even the sweep of a submachine gun.

"Tch, looks like I'll be working overtime again..."

Ignoring the violent barrage of bullets flying toward him, the boy sighed softly, as if speaking to himself, then shoved the rest of the hamburger into his mouth.

In the next moment, a fierce golden spiritual energy surged around his body.

There was no blinding flash of fire, but the remaining hamburger wrapper in his hand turned to ash in an instant.

At the same time, the bullets that had been fired earlier were already approaching him.

And then... the bullets disappeared.

More accurately, they were "evaporated."

If a high-speed camera had been filming from a distance and played the footage frame by frame, it would have shown that the bullets, as they got close to the boy, melted into molten iron, and then, in the next moment, they vaporized and disappeared into the air.

The boy took one step forward, and the spiritual energy around him grew even stronger.

In theory, such high temperatures should have incinerated everything instantly. However, the asphalt road under his feet remained intact, with no signs of melting or softening whatsoever.

The wolf-eyed muscular man twitched slightly at the corner of his eye, sweat starting to flow uncontrollably from his forehead.

Such terrifying spiritual energy... An Onmyōji? Could an Onmyōji be this powerful?

If it came down to a direct confrontation, he definitely wouldn't be able to win. As a lone demon, he wasn't among the strongest in the demon realm. He had come to the human realm purely because his physical abilities had an overwhelming advantage over ordinary humans, making it easier to do shady work... like killing and stealing...

But he didn't want to surrender either, because if he were exiled back to the demon realm, ignoring the numerous crimes he had committed in the human world, at the very least, he would return to a position where he could only serve other demon lords.

Under someone's protection, living a life of tightening screws to make ends meet.This was something he absolutely could not accept.If he couldn't win and didn't want to surrender, there was only one option left.That was—to flee!As a wolf demon, he had considerable confidence in his speed.

Buzzz~Just as the thought of running popped into the wolf-eyed man's mind, the sound of a phone vibrating suddenly came from the young man walking towards them step by step in the distance.

"Keikain Fukuki tilted his brows in confusion.

Logically, Rias and Akeno-senpai should be monitoring elsewhere at this time. Now that he had found the target, why would they still send a message?Could it be...

Reaching into his pocket, the boy pulled out his phone and glanced at the message. Sure enough, the sender wasn't Rias or Akeno-senpai but someone else.

[Sis has been home for a while now, nya. Hua Hua, where are you? Out so late, nya?]

Followed by a cute black cat emoji with a questioning expression.

Emmmm~Fukuki lowered his raised eyebrows and switched to voice input. Pressing the voice record button, he moved the phone to his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm still outside. I'll be back in about 15 minutes. By the way, the big delivery box in the living room contains a new TV. Don't touch it—I remember you broke the last one..."

An opportunity!Seeing that the boy, who should have immediately turned them to ash, was instead leisurely sending a voice message, the survival instinct in the wolf-eyed man surged dramatically.

"Move aside!"Abandoning all pretense of civility, the wolf-eyed man smacked away the gun-wielding bodyguard in front of him. At the same time, he revealed his true demon form. His rugged face, already reminiscent of Uvogin from Hunter x Hunter, morphed into a massive wolf head with a protruding snout and a receding jaw.

His body expanded further, ripping through his clothes. Thick, black fur sprouted from every pore, and sharp claws grew on his fingers and toes.

In less than half a second, he transformed from a burly human into a four-meter-tall giant werewolf. With his gnarled claws hooking onto the handle of a suitcase, he planted a foot on the hood of a luxury car.

Under such immense weight, the car roof caved in instantly. Simultaneously, the werewolf's leg muscles bulged as if on the verge of exploding. Even with just one leg's strength, this jump would propel him onto the rooftops. Once there, his natural speed as a werewolf would make it easy to...to...to what?

His thoughts abruptly stopped as a blazing, golden, spiritual finger touched his brow. The overwhelming pressure froze him instantly. He couldn't move.

Was...was this really still a human?!

From above, the young man's nonchalant voice drifted down.

"Doggie, what are you up to now?"

As his words fell, an immense golden spiritual energy, thousands of times stronger than before, erupted like a tidal wave, engulfing the entire dock. It then surged into the air, condensing into a colossal golden lotus as large as a mountain. The lotus descended heavily—

Illuminating All Rivers!