The Onmyoji's Request (1)
Under the house of the prestigious onmyoji family, the Jiejing household, a dangerous demon that usually got sealed or killed is being restrained by several magical chains.
"Who is your master?" The voice of the head of the onmyoji household, Mark Jiejing resounded on the torture room.
"......." The demon remains silent as he refuses to answer any of the questions thrown by Mark.
Mark gives a signal towards his subordinate with nothing but a single glance, and the man immediately grasped his intentions. The sound of loud whips once again sounded inside the room
"ARGH!!!! ARGH!!!!" The demon groaned in pain because of the intense pain. His skin is not like a human, it's hard enough that a normal whip shouldn't be able to even scratch him, let alone making him groaned in pain like this.
With his eyes filled with anger because of the pain, the demon stared daggers at the onmyoji that whipped him and realized that there is nothing emitted by the whip. It's just a normal whip.
(So it's because of the user, huh...?)
"If you're questioning why he could injure you with such a normal whip, it's because that rather than using a strengthening talisman on the whip, he used a strengthening talisman on himself when he whipped you. The effect of the talisman enveloped not only his body but strengthening the whip as well," (Mark)
"But when he stopped whipping, he deactivates the talisman, that's why you couldn't sense anything from it. I've answered your question, now it's your turn to answer mine. Who is your master?" Without having his expression changed for a tiny bit, Mark continues to question the demon in front of him.
"I won't... Tell you... Mark Jiejing..." The demon answered weakly, but his eyes are still filled with vigor and anger as he stared furiously at Mark.
"Don't blame me. You attacked me first, and you attacked me when 'that guy' is there as well. You picked the most terrible timing to attack, and that's your own fault. As you've seen, this city is peaceful, and there is almost no conflict between my men and the yokai or ayakashi in this city because of 'that guy'," (Mark)
"I would be very grateful if you don't disrupt the peace in this city since it will increase my workload. Now answer me, demon. Who is your master? Are you the subordinate or the accomplice of the culprit behind the mage that killed several people in this city?" Mark continued to question the demon without getting tired of the demon's reaction.
"I see... 'That guy', huh... So he's the reason why no yokai in this city agrees to assist me..."
"Yes, yes. That's right. You've chosen the wrong city to attack as well. We've been peaceful for several years already, don't start a conflict inside a peaceful region, will you?" Even though Mark's words are long and seem to be containing some joke, his cold voice and face made the demon nor his subordinates knew whether he's joking or not.
"........." The demon remains silent.
"Still not willing to answer, huh..." Mark let out a small sigh because of the demon before him.
Mark give another signal to give him another whip, but when the onmyoji raise the whip, suddenly-
"Wait," Mark stopped him.
"Yes, master," The onmyoji pulled back his hands.
"Come in," (Mark)
Following Mark's words, a man wearing the same onmyoji uniform just like the onmyoji that had been whipping the demon entered the room with the other two figures.
"The men from the Chuzu Akuma detective agency have come, master,"
"I see... So you've come," (Mark)
"Yeah, you've paid us, after all, onmyoji," said the red-haired man, wearing a long black coat.
"Hmph! More hands will help to close the case quickly. It's not like I want your help, but having the elders and the other old men complaining are more annoying, so paying your agency is a small price," Mark snorted.
"Looks like your arrogant attitude never changed, onmyoji brat,"
"And you're as fussy as always, Rakuzan. And you're Pierce, aren't you?" Mark's gaze shifted towards the white-haired man beside Rakuzan.
"You damned brat..." (Rakuzan)
"Rakuzan, we're not here to fight with the onmyoji house," (Pierce)
"I know," (Rakuzan)
"Yes, I'm Pierce. And are you the current head of the Jiejing onmyoji household, Mark Jiejing?" (Pierce)
"Yes, I am. Nice to be your acquaintance. Now it's time for you to do your job," (Mark)
"Indeed. Is that our task?" Asked Rakuzan as he shifted his gaze towards the demon in chains.
"Yes. The one I captured together with your boss. Ray Lance is in the middle of his weird morning run, and I'm in the middle of patrolling the city with my men, and this demon suddenly attacked us both," (Mark)
"I see... Now that's quite some luck. To attack the head of an onmyoji house and the general at the same time," (Pierce)
"Whether he doesn't have any luckiness, or he is just too stupid, I'm not that sure," (Rakuzan)
"Well, either way, it's your part, yokai detectives. Determine his motive, his master, and find out his plans, and we'll pay you the rest," (Mark)
"We're about to do so, so just shut your mouth there, onmyoji brat," (Rakuzan)
"You... How dare you say-"
"Stop it," Mark stopped the whip onmyoji that was about to snap because of Rakuzan's rude remarks towards Mark.
"But master, even if he's the famous detective, Rakuzan, for him to talk rudely to you..."
"Stop it. If you don't want to die, stop it. You're strong enough to fight evenly with an S-ranked demon, but these guys have the strength to not only fight evenly, but each of them is able to defeat dozens of S-ranked demons," (Mark)
"Y-You're kidding me, master!"
"I'm not. Well, trusting or not is your decision, not mine. It's just that it determines your limit. Look at how they do their job, and you'll know the difference between yours and their strength," said Mark as he folded his arms and take several steps backward as if he's indicating that he's leaving Rakuzan and Pierce to finish the rest.
"A-As you wish..."
"But for that guy to send this two serious duo... I thought he would come here himself since that demon attacked him as well... There's no fun talking with these two old men," Mark muttered to himself in a small voice.
"Now, demon. Judging from your look, seems like you know about me," said Rakuzan as he stared straight into the demon's eyes.
It's an absolute rule in the onmyoji teaching that it's forbidden to stare right at a high-leveled demon's eyes. A high-leveled demon's eyes could give a curse towards the soul of a person who didn't have any protection of his soul, and in the worst case, the person would become a demon and become a servant of the high-leveled demon in an instant.
Even though the demon is currently bounded by magical chains, he's still an A-ranked demon. But even so, Rakuzan and Pierce stare right into the eyes of the demon. Their action surprises all of the onmyojis inside the room except for Mark Jiejing. Not only that they stared at the demon's eyes without showing any fear, the one that is shrinking is the demon instead.
"You... I know you... This powerful presence... I see... So you're that Rakuzan of the Chuzu Akuma, huh..." The demon muttered weakly as he averted his gaze from both Rakuzan and Pierce.
"Yeah, I am," (Rakuzan)
"But you're supposed to be a human... Why am I sensing demonic... Gushing out from you...?"
"Hm... So you could sense it as well. Then how about this," (Rakuzan)
"Hm?"
!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Rakuzan suddenly unleashed a part of his demonic aura. He knew, he won't need to unleash all of it, even if the other onmyojis would only be able to recognize it as something terrifying, it's different for yokai and other spirits.
Every yokai, spirit, and demon has its own traits, and the strong ones are famous enough that they would be able to recognize them not from their look, but from their presence, mana, and aura.
"You... That huge black wings... I see... To think that... The king of the Tengu clan... Would be hiding in this city..."
"Wings?" One of the onmyoji exclaimed in question as there are no wings on Rakuzan's back.
But Pierce, the demon, and Mark could see the wings clearly.
The huge black wings of a crow, the wings that once spread fear throughout the world, the wings that were rumored to have the ability to destroy a kingdom if one of its feathers touched its ground.
"How rude, I'm not hiding. I never hide. Like you've seen, I'm a human, but I still possess my demonic powers as well. Now enough about me, it's time for you to tell us everything, little guy. Tell me, who is your master?" (Rakuzan)
"......Even if you torture me for hundreds of nights... I won't-"
"I'm not asking you, [This is an order]," (Rakuzan)