The Oni watched the carnage unfold before them. Dread and horror froze their blood. What had they ever done to deserve this?

Fighting wasn't an option. Running away didn't seem like it either. However, there was one thing they could do, a slim thread of hope.

"Quickly, break the gate! We'll barricade ourselves inside!" the Oni Kaiser commanded in desperation.

"But the Centauri? How about them?"

"We'll kill them! Now, break that gate!" the Oni Kaiser turned to look at the sole Oni Shaman. "And you, erect the barrier and buy us time."

"It will be done!"

Their lives depended on this. The Oni Samurai jumped to man the Torii Gate, its ram slamming against the gate, each hit a thunderous explosion. The Oni Shaman slammed her staff into the ground, its golden rings clanged like bells, shaking and warping the air around, forming a dome barrier.

Oni outside the barrier slammed their fists against it, shouting desperately to be let inside. Yet the barrier blocked their voices, their cries falling on deaf ears.

"Back off! You're sapping my barrier!" the Oni Shaman roared at desperate figures.

The Oni Kaiser furrowed his brow in anger. "What a disgraceful sight. You are Samurai! Fight with honour, die with honour! [Rally]!" He gave them a tiny bit of courage, just enough to at least turn and face the darkness.

And that darkness came to claim them all. Spiders charged to decimate them, their unstoppable charge trampling the heavily armoured samurai like they were straw ragdolls. The archers aimed and fired a cloud of arrows, hitting both Oni and sliders alike. The men suffered under the friendly fire, but the spider... it seemed they couldn't care any less.

A horned rider, his mount a giant spider, was like a whirlpool of death. Each strike he struck was a life stolen. The spear in his hands glowed in ravenous red, its shaft drenched in blood. Souls of the slain Oni manifested as specters only to be sucked into the spear tip, ending up devoured. Soon the spider rider earned a new name – Shikigami, the Death itself. Those who saw him uttered that name before their deaths.

"Dark magic..." the Oni Shaman frowned. "Perhaps Soul magic, the vilest of the sorts. Let's just hope he isn't a Necromancer," she muttered under her nose. "Well, I can play this game too... Ready the sacrifices!"

The Oni dragged the slaves, pitiful girls bound in ropes and blinded with a cloth sash. Attached to their foreheads was a long strip of paper, the paper was marked in weird symbols brushed in black ink.

The Shikigami was working quickly, his spear engorging itself on souls. By this point, the remaining samurai slumped on their knees, the will to fight left their bodies, and so did their souls. Was it the sheer aura of dread that killed them? Or was it something else? They simply ceased to live...

Either way, the spiderish monstrosities were left with their claws free. Their anger was directed at the protective barrier.

"So it is time," the Oni Shaman gathered her resolve. "[Sacrifice]!" she slammed her staff again, the golden rings clanged, sending visible vibrations through the air.

The paper slip burned, burning the soul it was attached to. The pitiful girl screamed in pain, years of life expiring in seconds, soon she turned into a pile of salt, leaving only binding ropes behind.

The spent soul empowered the barrier, its life would keep it up for at least an hour. Enough time to breach the gate, barricade themselves in the castle, and then... well, they would think of something...

Spiders surrounded the barrier, they couldn't get past it, nor could their attacks. Only the light of their eyes, the murderous glow of yellow, reached the Oni inside. The murderous intent was so thick that it clung to the Oni's skin like viscous slime.

"Breach it! Breach the gate already!" the Oni Kaiser raged at his men.

The spiders raised their axes high and struck the barrier in unison, their axes straining against the impenetrable dome. Of course, their attacks were futile; the barrier would never buckle that easily.

"Relax, we... we have... time," the Oni Shaman swallowed her own words.

As soon as the spiders struck the barrier a second time, it began to crack. This was not supposed to happen! It should have lasted an hour, not a few seconds.

"[Sacrifice]," she repaired the barrier with another soul.

Yet, it cracked again.

"[Sacrifice]," it didn't last. "[Sacrifice]... [Sacrifice]... [Sacrifice]!"

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Whatever this darkness was, whatever these spiders were, they weren't normal... The barrier was cracking and cracking quickly.

"Kaiser, you better be quick!" she warned him, only a few more slaves remaining.

"This gate! There is something wrong with this cursed gate!" He ran to man the Torii siege machine himself.

The Oni Shaman was standing in a field of ash and salt; she was out of sacrifices.

"Samurai!!!" she shouted in desperation, her voice strained. "I need your honour! I need your sacrifice. Give me your souls and save your Kaiser. With your noble sacrifice, we can still do it!" This wasn't a command; she was practically begging them.

"Do it! I command you, [Command]!!!" the Oni Kaiser gave her the necessary support.

The barrier was painted in a web of cracks; unnatural darkness was seeping through them already. With utmost urgency, with trembling hands, the Oni Shaman glued the paper slips to the heads of the volunteers. Her only regret was that she didn't have more paper slips, only another 24. Normally, this would last her a day, but with the spiderish menace in sight...

"[Sacrifice]!!!" she slammed her rod, turning all twenty-four into pillars of salt. "It's all up to you," she left the rest to the Oni Kaiser.

The protective dome thickened, shining in perfect golden light. The light was bright, and the honourable Oni souls strong, so strong that it even pushed the encroaching darkness away, forcing the spiders to recoil from the blinding light.

Despite the small victory, the Oni Kaiser raged, "Gah! It refuses to break! What is wrong with this gate?! Come, help me, lend me your magic!" he demanded of the shaman.

She was there, surrounded by ashes, her form supported only by her staff. "What do you want me to do? My magic is spent..." She trembled at the sight of returning darkness.

"Useless wench!!!" he raged.

The Torii was hitting the gate, each strike an explosion, but even to this moment, the gate simply refused to give.

The brilliant light dimmed, the dome began to crack, and eventually, it shattered. Low fog of shadows, thick as miasma, descended upon the surviving Oni, licking their ankles and freezing their toes.

Soon, the Oni were surrounded by an impenetrable veil of darkness. Evil spiderish eyes glared murderously at them. The spiders stood still, content at simply looking. But for how long?

A voice, shrill and unearthly, cut through the unnatural darkness. "Who Is Responsible?!" it came from nowhere and everywhere, echoing within the darkness.

A horned figure stepped out of the shadows. Everyone gasped at the sight; this was the Shikigami, the Death itself.

"I will repeat, Who Is Responsible?!" the Shikigami pointed his soul-devouring spear at them. "Tell me, and you might live."

The Oni Kaiser looked at the stubborn gate; there wasn't even a single crack on it. Then, he looked at the Shikigami. Shame and indignation tugged at his heart, so much dishonour, but soon all that turned to anger. No, not just anger but bubbling and seething rage.

What even was this Shikigami? He never saw or heard about such a creature; shikigami were merely stories to scare the children. And he was no child! He was Oni, even better, the Oni Kaiser! He had years of experience under his belt. He wore thrice-reinforced heavy samurai armour, each plate plucked from a dragon, enchanted to the point that it was able to deflect all elemental attacks.

And even better, in his hands, he held his companion, a blade made from the best metal mined at the ancestral mountain, the metal folded no less than a thousand times, then tempered under the sacred waterfall, and then enchanted in an occult ritual turning it into a cursed demonic blade. Its name was the Single-Kill True-Strike Heavenly-Cursed Thundering-Water Dragon Claw-Style Naginata.

Even better, it was a naginata against a spear. In other words, the Oni Kaiser had an overwhelming advantage.

Whipping himself into a Berserk rage, doubling his stats, he charged towards the guaranteed victory.

"Rahh!!!"

"!!! ... ??? ... [Disintegrate]," the Shikigami uttered with an uninterested flick of his wrists.

"..."

In an instant, the dragon-plated armour crumbled to dust. The many enchantments were freed, spewing a shower of sparkling motes. Then the Oni Kaiser's skin evaporated, and his flesh turned to ash. The bones fell to the ground and simply crumbled to dust.

Alas, the Nodachi remained. Cursed weapons were immune to Dark magic. Even better, it was still in the hands of the Oni Kaiser, but he no longer was just an Oni. He was now a specter, a disembodied soul with a single purpose – to reclaim his honour.

"Ha! I bet you didn't expect this!" The Oni Kaiser, now a Specter, activated a plethora of skills, condensing them into one sure-kill-ultimate-attack. "Now [Die]!!!" he charged.

The Shikigami simply scoffed, raising his spear ever so slightly.

"???" The Specter's face contorted into something unpleasant. "!!!" Before he could finish his strike, his body was sucked inside the glowing spear.

Alas, the Nodachi continued moving, the blade flying towards the Shikigami's exposed neck. It struck true, and then... The blade shattered like a glass bubble under a boulder.

The Shikigami brushed the debris off his shoulder, his eyes were back on the remaining Oni.

"Last time I ask, Who Is Responsible?!"

The Oni trembled under the unbearable dread. But no one spoke up. It was either fear or perhaps honour that prevented them.

The Oni Shaman, buckled under the pressure, her legs turned to mush. This creature here was no mere Shikigami, or even the Death itself; whatever he was, he was many times worse.

The Oni Samurai might have hoped to die with honour so their souls could be reincarnated into wealthy and happy lives. But they were all mistaken! This monster here in front of them, this thing... it ate the souls it slayed. Meaning there was no salvation in death, only hell in the Shikigami's spear, or wherever the souls it devoured went.

To everyone's surprise, the Oni Shaman shouted, "He! He was the one responsible!" she pointed at the pile of dirt. "He was our Oni Kaiser!"

The dread aura lessened in an instant.

"Oh... I see... Shame... I thought to make him suffer."

"... will... will you spare us?" she asked in a trembling voise. "At least spare our souls."

The Oni just stood there trembling. With weapons still in their hands, they were hoping for an answer. Honour or not, no one dared to attack this embodiment of dread and death; no one was mad enough.

"It depends on what I see past the gate," the Shikigami walked towards it.