"Master Seikyo! Our forces have captured this... thing."

The soldiers brought their prisoner before the sorcerer. As it turned out, it was Seiryu's loyal follower Nangyo.

"So, at last we capture Seiryu's mighty sarugami," Seikyo smirked.

"May the kami take pity on me!"" Nangyo cried out loud, making a scene. "Woe to my master, cooped up at the sea kami's shrine!"

The yokai then covered his mouth and banged his head on the wall in regret.

"Thank you for that information," Seikyo said with a sinister smile. "But now you are of no use to me. Execute him."

The guards took the Nangyo out to the chopping block, where he defiantly lamented that he couldn't be with his master to the bitter end. One of Seikyo's advisers started to get suspicious, but the sorcerer was feeling so confident that he ignored him.

"I know the place he's describing," Seikyo boasted. "At the southern end of the Fushigina Forest there is a small island with a large temple dedicated to the sea kami. He will no doubt put up a defensive position at the shrine, along with a few villagers from the forest."

He then turned to the suspicious adviser.

"Since you lack faith in my abilities, you will not partake in the capturing," Seikyo reprimanded him. "Instead take a small force to the fort close to the entrance of the forest. Guard this with your life."

He handed him a small kanabo or mace with engravings of yokai.

"What is this master?" the adviser ask.

"You see, I have enhanced my soldiers tenfold by having them possessed by shikigami," Seikyo boasted. "This mace is what keeps them under my control. With you holding on to this at the fort, I can fight freely without having to worry about losing control over them."

The adviser nodded. As he and Seikyo left to prepare for that night's raid, a yatagarasu flew to the air.

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That night, Seikyo marched his mighty army into the shrine. With the thought of terrifying Seiryu and the villagers, they kicked open the doors and dashed inside only to find... nothing. In fact, there was not a single soul in sight, save for a few villagers holding peony lanterns.

"What is the meaning of this?" Seikyo demanded angrily.

"They are peony lanterns lord sorcerer," the villagers replied. "Prince Higure himself sent them for you."

"The banished prince?" Seikyo scoffed. "What for?"

"He says it's to light your graves," the villagers replied.

But before the sorcerer could react, warriors dressed in full armor started pouring in from all corners of the shrine. These were the warriors loyal to the prince. Rallying from the troops the north corner was none other than Higure himself, his golden armor shining and his mighty Yumi bow ready to launch his deadly arrows. Seikyo pointed at Higure, ordering a large detachment of his troops to charge and meet Higure, who was riding ahead of the pack. Without flinching or showing any sign of fear. He drew an arrow from his quiver and pulled the bow of his magical weapon Tengoku. Aiming it towards the sky, he fired the arrow. In an instant that single arrow became several meteors that crashed on Seikyo's charging troops, wiping them all out completely. Panic spread across the sorcerer's remaining forces like a wildfire. They started to retreat, but Higure's forces routed them. The prince himself barked orders not to let anyone escape. Soon more troops arrived to reinforce Higure, seemingly led by a large komainu that bit and tore the enemy with its powerful jaws. Seikyo tried desperately to control his troops but it was no use.

"Stop!" Seikyo screamed. "My shikigami magic should amplify your strength! Hold your ground!"

"Are you insane? Your spell is broken!" one of his soldiers yelled before one of Higure's men ran him with his spear.

"What? Impossible!" Seikyo cried. "How is this happening?"

"As you can see, you've fallen for my trap," said a voice from behind him.

He turned around to see Higure himself, his bow drawn.

"First I had Nangyo deliberately captured," the prince continued. "I made sure that he would scream our location to you in such an obvious manner. We wanted to lure you to the shrine, where we can trap you inside for the perfect ambush."

"Damn it!" Seikyo. "So that adviser was right!"

"Indeed, you should have listened," Higure smirked.

He turned his horse to the side to reveal the head of the very same adviser dangling. He unfastened the knot and threw the head at Seikyo's feet. He then continued:

"For the second phase of the plan, I told Seiryu to lead a detachment of troops to sack the small fort at the mouth of the forest. Their objective was to kill your adviser and destroy that mace you used to control the shikigami. Once done, they are to rendezvous with me here."

"H-How did you know about the shikigami?" Seikyo stammered.

"Oh, a little bird told us," Higure grinned as Seiryu's yatagarasu flew by and perched on his shoulder, cawing. "As you can see, the meeting is successful. Seiryu himself handed me that head."

"So, it seems I should kill you both!" Seikyo growled as he tried to conjure more shikigami.

Higure however shot both of his hands one after the other, piercing the sorcerer's palms.

"Don't even think about it," Higure said.

Realizing that the battle was lost, Seikyo spurred his horse away from the archer, trying to make a desperate attempt to escape through the south gate. He knew full well that Higure could have shot him dead if he wanted to, so he tried to be as out of range as possible. Just then, a powerful arm struck him in the chest, sending him off his horse. As he slowly got up, he saw that standing there at the gate, blocking his path was none other than the sarugami Nangyo. The yokai bared his teeth as smelled the fear of his most hated enemy.

"H-How are you still alive?" Seikyo stammered.

"Why don't you take a closer look at the thing you executed?" said a voice from the shadows.

Seikyo turned around to see Seiryu step out from where he was hiding. On the palm of his hand was a shikigami torn in half which had the scent of Nangyo. Realizing that he has been beaten, the sorcerer tried to make a run for it. However, he could not outrun Nangyo, who simply picked him up and stretched out the sorcerer's arms as if he was being crucified.

"You're not the only one who can conjure shikigami," Seiryu smirked, his flute inching closer to his mouth threateningly.

"No please, don't!" Seikyo begged. "Have mercy!"

Seiryu simply ignored him and played a haunting melody. The tune filled Nangyo's heart with hatred for the fallen sorcerer. With a loud roar, he tore Seikyo's arms off and left him lying in a pool of his own blood. Seiryu stopped playing his flute and walked up to the dying man. Yanking him by the hair, he put the sorcerer out of his misery by slitting his throat with the flute's hidden dagger. Seiryu then ordered Nangyo to rip off the sorcerer's head and stick it on a spear, which the sarugami did so.

Higure meanwhile was busy pouring oil on the grass. Once he was done, he asked Seiryu to place the mutilated head just before the spot he poured on. Once everything was in place, he set the grass on fire thus revealing his intention. Watching from a distance at the Yurei clan castle, the Yako spotted the fire on the island. He growled in fury and clenched his fist as he recognized the shape.

It was the kanji for retribution.