Late at night when the Kocho sisters had fallen asleep amidst tension and relief.
In the innermost part of the mansion, Akira's bedroom flowed with a secretive and dense atmosphere. Normally it would have been a boisterous bedroom shared with his seven wives, but today was different.
"Mmm... Master, there... that tickles..."
Oei, who usually had her characteristic banter with her father Hokusai (the octopus) or laughed heartily while swinging her brush.
But on the bed where only the two of them remained, she was just an ordinary girl in love. Her shoulders, clad only in a single kimono, shone white under the moonlight.
I slowly traced my finger down her white spine. In contrast to the calluses on her finger joints from holding brushes, her skin was surprisingly soft and smooth.
"Oei, you're cuter than usual today. Is it because your father isn't here?"
"D-dummy! Don't bring up that old man! You'll ruin the mood..."
She mumbled with her face buried in my chest, blushing. I untied the knot of my yukata and pressed my lips to her exposed shoulder. Not the smell of ink, but a fragrant scent of skin tickled my nose.
"Akira..."
Her eyes grew moist. The gaze of a woman who had set aside both her artistic madness and her dignity as a Servant, looking only at me. That gaze made the instincts of an oni and human affection within me mix and explode.
"I love you, Oei."
"Me too... I love you too, Master."
We explored each other, filling the night's stillness with hot passion. Each time I held her slender waist and thrust deep, Oei let out not her usual rough speech, but high, sweet moans.
Until her mind melted in pleasure and she could only call my name, I loved every part of her as a brush saturates rice paper.
After the intense lovemaking ended, I kissed the forehead of Oei who had fallen asleep languidly and quietly slipped out of the bedroom. My body was languid but my mind was clearer than ever. Today I had one more thing to do.
That's why today I was with just one person, not all of them.
A sturdy stone warehouse hidden among bamboo groves behind the mansion.
In that place where Tamamo had set up double and triple layers of soundproofing and concealment barriers, other heroic spirits were already waiting. As I opened the door and entered, a fishy blood scent assaulted me along with cold, damp air.
"Heya, Master. Had a good round, did ya? The smell of Oei's, um, scent and night flowers is really vibrating off you."
Inside the warehouse, Shuten Douji sitting on a wooden crate greeted me with a chuckle.
In her hand was a sake cup as usual.
Beside her, Ushiwakamaru and Okita stood with arms crossed, and on the floor was a bound female oni with a gag in her mouth, looking up at us with terrified eyes.
"The one you hunted?"
"Yes, my lord! She was quite nimble at escaping, but Okita-dono severed her legs."
Ushiwakamaru reported cheerfully. The woman's hair was disheveled and her kimono torn, but her severed legs had already regenerated thanks to the oni's unique recovery power.
But overwhelmed by the overwhelming caliber emitted by the Servants, she could only tremble violently, not daring to resist.
"Huuuu..."
She instinctively knew. That the beings before her were not opponents she could handle.
Especially the energy emanating from the man standing in the center, Akira, carried the pressure of a predator even though he was of the same race.
Furthermore, with Tamamo's magecraft, her mental power was being controlled so Muzan couldn't see from her perspective.
"Now, shall we begin the experiment?"
I approached the oni. The purpose of this experiment was clear.
Whether we could erase Muzan's control and implant my control.
What Tamayo achieved with drugs, I had to achieve with power.
"Tamamo, prepare."
"Understood. Shuten-san, please. Don't be too rough and blow her head off, okay?"
As Tamamo floated talismans in the air, Shuten Douji approached behind the oni and grabbed her hair.
"Don't worry. My fingertips are delicate. Excuse me for a moment. I'm gonna poke around your brain a bit, so stay still."
Squelch!
Shuten's fingers pierced the oni's skull like tofu.
"Ggrk?!"
The woman tried to scream but only choked moans came out because of the gag.
Shuten is the child of an oni and a dragon god, a candidate for beasthood. She could instinctively sense not just biological structure, but also magical circuits flowing in others' bodies and the source of curses.
Of course, oni (demons) don't have magic circuits like that, but it's enough to similarly stimulate the nerves.
Her fingers stirred the brain matter and found the curse nucleus implanted by Muzan's cells.
"Found it. See this black thing? This is the wiretap and bomb that Muzan guy planted."
Tamamo concentrated purification magecraft on the area Shuten identified. Simultaneously, I activated my Blood Demon Art: Realm Usurpation.
"I absorb."
I reached out and placed my hand on the woman's forehead.
Leaving the oni's life force intact, I absorbed only the curse connections held by Muzan's cells.
A sticky, unpleasant will of another flowed into me, but my powerful digestive ability, which was of Lower Moon grade, decomposed it instantly. With Tamamo's magecraft additionally present, it was safe.
Tamamo's magecraft can even reflect curses like Doma's.
"Gguuuuuu...!"
The woman writhed in pain, twisting her entire body. It must be the pain of her brain burning. But we didn't stop. Muzan's curse was tenacious, but before the power of the heroic spirits and my special predatory ability, it was helpless.
Snap.
A sensation like an unbreakable chain snapping transmitted to my fingertips.
"Success."
I stepped back, wiping sweat. The woman lay collapsed on the floor, panting. Tamamo whispered to her as if casting hypnosis.
"Now, say it. That person's name."
The woman's pupils shook. For an oni, that name meant death. But she too felt that the chains of fear embedded in her mind had disappeared.
"Ki... Kibutsuji... Muzan... bastard..."
The taboo spilled from the woman's mouth. Originally, her cells should have collapsed and she should have died horribly. But she was fine.
"So it is possible."
Even without Tamayo's drugs, we succeeded in releasing Muzan's curse.
"Then the next phase."
I cut my finger and drew blood. Thick, red-black oni blood. Having absorbed a Lower Moon and being Lower Moon grade myself, it was a potent poison and elixir difficult for a stray demon to handle.
"Drink."
I dripped my blood into the woman's mouth. She gulped down my blood, panting with instinctual thirst.
Then her body twisted grotesquely as her muscles began to swell slightly. Blood vessels wriggled like earthworms, and her skin expanded as if about to burst.
"Kyaaaah!"
My blood circulated through her vessels, forcibly activating her cells.
Power amplified. Regeneration speed increased. Just as Rui shared his power to grant abilities to his spider family, I too hoped to share my Blood Demon Art with her or make a new ability bloom.
But that was it.
The woman screamed and clawed the floor, but no special Blood Demon Art manifested like with the Twelve Kizuki. Only her physical abilities had risen slightly.
"She grew stronger but... no supernatural ability manifested. As expected, there's a limit with the concentration of my blood."
Moreover, there was no most important control. Muzan could manipulate and read the thoughts of those he gave his blood to at a cellular level.
But I felt no such telepathic connection. It was merely like creating one strong wild horse.
"Well, I expected as much. Master, you're not a being fundamentally made of curses like Muzan from the start."
Tamamo stepped forward, snapping her fan shut.
"But don't worry. If it doesn't work, we can solve it with magecraft."
She took out prepared red cords and talismans and wrapped them around the woman's neck and limbs.
"."
With Tamamo's incantation, the talismans seeped into her skin like tattoos. The defiance disappeared from the woman's eyes, and her focus dissolved.
"With this, she has become Master's faithful familiar. An absolute command right has been established, just like with Servants. Her ego remains, but she's been fitted with unbreakable shackles."
"Excellent, Tamamo."
Thus I gained one usable pawn. A servant who could handle the household chores or dirty work, even if her identity was discovered.
Well, initially I considered just disposing of or absorbing her. But since I captured her without eating her and even gave her my blood, let's make use of her. Plus, I can conduct additional experiments each time I grow stronger.
Who knows? Maybe someday when a Blood Demon Art manifests, she'll become a second Nakime.
As I was about to release her after finishing the experiment, Shuten Douji, who had been watching with interest from the side, stopped me with a strange smile, grabbing my arm.
"Wait, Master. Since we're experimenting anyway, why not try one more?"
"One more? What else is there to inject besides blood?"
"Yes. In our world (Fate), you know, when supplying magical energy, they sometimes use fluids other than blood. Through mucosal contact... you know?"
Shuten's gaze lingered blatantly on my lower body.
"Rape this bitch, is what I'm saying. We need to check if Master's essence shares power like blood, like magical energy supply, don't we? Aren't you curious what effect a strong oni's semen has on a weak oni?"
I was taken aback.
"No, is there really a need to go that far... And do it with another woman in front of you all? I thought you'd hate that."
At my words, Kiyohime snorted behind her fan.
"My, Master. What are you hesitating for? Such a lowly thing is merely a tool."
She looked down at the collapsed oni as if looking at an insect.
"If anything, experiencing such cheap taste once in a while will make you realize again how elegant and splendid we women are. It's not like you're giving your heart anyway, just using the body, right?"
Their eyes overflowed with composure. Jealousy? That was an emotion felt only toward equals.
To them, that oni was nothing more or less than a stone rolling on the roadside, or a living fleshlight.
"My lord, I agree too! Taking captives on the battlefield is the victor's right, isn't it? If you're going to use her as a servant anyway, it's better to imprint it on her body as well."
Even Ushiwakamaru joined in. The atmosphere was flowing strangely. Having become an oni, my sexual desire had intensified too, and seeing the defenseless oni before me really did make my mouth water.
Well, honestly, when doing it with everyone, I feel post-nut clarity and get tired, but with one or two it feels insufficient instead. I need three or four to be satisfied.
"...Fine. Since it's an experiment."
I took off my clothes and approached the bound woman. Due to Tamamo's magecraft, she offered no resistance. No, perhaps because she had tasted my blood, she looked up at me with dazed eyes, breathing raggedly.
The act was rough and one-sided. There was no love or affection. Intercourse based purely on instinct and experimental spirit.
Her body was colder than a human's, but inside was hot and tight. Thanks to the oni's unique stamina, she didn't break no matter how roughly I handled her.
"Hrk, ugh...!"
She emitted animalistic moans matching my movements. The Servants' gazes focused on us.
Shuten licked her lips, Tamamo observed while wagging her tail. Okita watched to the end, though her face was slightly flushed.
"Take it."
At the moment of climax, I poured everything I had into her. Hot heat filled her womb.
"Haa... haa..."
I adjusted my clothes and observed her condition. Tamamo approached, checking her pulse and magical reactions.
"What are the results?"
"Hmm... Disappointing. Effects like magical energy supply are minimal. Compared to when blood was injected, it's less than one-tenth the level? No, this is just a feeling of temporary strengthening from excitement. As expected, the oni bodies in this world seem designed not to react to anything but blood. Semen can't share power."
Experiment failure. But it wasn't without gain. At least I learned that anything other than blood is meaningless. And most importantly, that she had developed absolute obedience toward me.
I asked the woman lying panting on the floor.
"You, what's your name."
The woman looked up at me with unfocused eyes and answered in a cracked voice.
"...Ubume (姑獲鳥)."
"Ubume. I'll remember that."
I repeated her name.
Ubume. The name of a specter imbued with the resentment of a mother who lost her child.
I didn't know then.
That this woman would later become Lower Moon 1, kill the elder brother-like friend of the Wind Hashira Shinazugawa Sanemi, and become the stepping stone for Sanemi to become a Hashira.
Following the original story, she would have become a strong oni committing terrible acts, but now she was just a beast with weak reason, having become an oni not long ago.
And now she had become my faithful hunting dog, and attendant.
"Ubume, from today you are this mansion's attendant. Absolutely obey my commands, and the commands of those present here."
"Yes... Master..."
Ubume bowed her head to the floor. Tamamo's magecraft tattoos glowed red on the back of her neck. She was now the property of me, Akira, not Muzan.
I opened the warehouse door and went outside. The dawn air was cold.
A new family member (?), no, tool had been acquired. Our military strength in Tokyo had become even more solid with this.
When I returned to the mansion, young butterflies still unable to escape their nightmares would be waiting for me.
I headed to the bath to wash off the smells of blood and semen. All that remained was to raise the Kocho sisters splendidly.
And to prepare for the coming war with Muzan.
The next morning.
"Um, who are you?"
"You called. Miss Kocho Kanae, Miss Kocho Shinobu. I am Ubume, the new attendant. Breakfast is ready, so please come to the dining room."
"You're not human, are you?"
"Yes, I am an oni."
"Haa, sister. Is it really okay to stay in this house?"
"Hmm, she does seem like a bad oni. But still, if she's an oni brought by those people. It should be fine for now."
Ubume began her new start as an attendant.
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Hi everyone!
Anyway, I noticed that the usual 'demons' were translated as 'oni'. I'll try to fix that in the upcoming chapters.