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As everyone knows, the Underworld or better known as the Netherworld is a realm for the dead.
Even though this world has seasons, changing skies, blooming spring flowers, and falling autumn leaves… Even though birds soar in the sky, beasts roam the land, and fish swim in the waters—none of them are truly alive.
So when a wild party—thrown by both humans and yokai—erupts in this eerily quiet land, it's no surprise it attracts certain rowdy individuals...
"..."
"Wait, what's she doing here?"
Yukari narrowed her eyes at a dense mist slowly drifting in from the horizon. "No wonder we couldn't find her before…"
"Another friend of yours, Yukari?" Yuyuko asked curiously, seated beside her.
"Mhm. Haven't seen her in years."
Yukari gave a small nod, then opened a gap in space and reached through it toward the mist. She stirred the air with her hand a bit, but the mist didn't react.
She then shrugged. "Anyone wanna help her sober up?"
"I'll handle it."
Yuuka lifted her parasol and fired a magic blast straight into the mist.
"Haa~ Hahaha~~!"
A high-pitched yet strangely commanding laugh echoed from within the mist. "Oh, it's Yuuka! Was that your idea of an invitation?"
Flames erupted from the mist, clashing with Yuuka's magic beam just before it landed—canceling it out in mid-air.
"Think whatever you want."
Yuuka's lips curled into a pleased smirk. She leapt into the sky, covering hundreds of meters in an instant, and slammed her parasol down on the mist with full force.
BOOM.
The mist was sent hurtling from the sky into the earth below.
"Wow, that's some strength…"
At the center of the newly-formed crater, a petite girl with bony horns jutting from each side of her head groggily shook it off. She flicked up the gourd in her hand, just in time to block Yuuka's second strike from above with it.
"I could've sworn you weren't thisstrong last time we fought."
"Good memory," Yuuka nodded slightly. "But you? You don't seem to have changed much at all."
"…Heh. Interesting."
The horned girl chugged a huge swig from her gourd, then let out a fiery belch ."Can't believe someone actually wants to go toe-to-toe with us oni."
She stomped her foot into the ground—BOOM!
Her body suddenly swelled with energy, enlarging rapidly. A huge fist shot toward Yuuka.
BOOM! BOOM!!
With every step and swing, her massive form grew bigger. She towered dozens of meters high—like a walking natural disaster.
Manipulation of density and sparseness—that was her ability.
To control density meant she could alter how tightly matter was packed in any object. In simple terms: compression and dispersion.
During her attacks, she could create miniature versions of herself—or blow herself up to giant size. She could even make her own body turn into vapor, a mist, by decreasing her density.
Now, she was going all in—relentless punches, no defense, no hesitation.
Just raw, overwhelming power.
The strategy was simple: crush everything before they had a chance to react. It left her wide open… but if you couldn't stop her, you'd be flattened.
What shocked her was that Yuuka was still calmly blocking every punch without flinching.
"…Alright, alright, I give up. Seriously, what have you been training with?!"
With that, the towering giant shrank back down to her petite form. She casually strolled into the house like she owned the place, reaching out for one of the wine jars on the table—
Only to get her hand smacked by a fan popping out of a gap in space.
"Oi, oi, oi! Yukari, don't be so stingy!" she barked, glaring as the fan disappeared. "What kind of party doesn't let the guests drink?!"
"A guest should be welcomed with a drink, sure," Yukari replied casually, sipping her cherry-blossom sake, "but when did you become a guest, exactly?"
"Didn't you guys invite me down here?" Ibuki Suika pouted. "And anyway, you don't just kick someone out of a party, right? Uninvited or not, a guest is still a guest!"
"Don't bring your oni customs out into the world like that." Yukari rolled her eyes, then turned toward Veyron and Yuyuko.
"This is Suika Ibuki, one of the Big Four of the Mountain—a well-known oni. You may have heard of her."
"So? What brings you all the way out here?" Yukari added. "The Netherworld isn't really an oni hangout, is it?"
"Ehehe… I'm not sure myself."
Suika scratched her head and gave the classic drunk excuse. "I think I just kinda… woke up here?"
"Don't tell me you drank yourself to death?" Yukari quipped, deadpan.
"C'mon, like that would ever happen!"
Suika then held out her gourd of sake, offering it to Yukari. When she refused, Suika turned to Yuuka, then to Veyron, and finally stopped in front of Yuyuko.
"Oh, fine," Yuyuko said, already reaching toward the gourd. "One more drinker won't hurt. Just don't go wild halfway through."
Yukari quickly stepped in and stopped Yuyuko.
"Hold up. If you take sake from an oni at a feast, that basically means you've accepted a drinking challenge. From there, it's either drink them under the table... or beat them into the ground."
"And this one in particular has a cheat skill that makes it damn near impossible to lose a drinking contest."
"It's not a cheat skill!" Suika huffed. "It's my ability to control density and sparseness! Don't make it sound weird!"
"Yukari always makes things weird," Yuuka chuckled as she stepped back into the courtyard.
"True," Suika nodded thoughtfully, then gave a satisfied thumbs-up. "Fair enough."
"Hey! If you two are gonna talk behind my back, can you at least pretend I'm not right here?" Yukari grumbled, especially under the curious gaze of Yuyuko, who looked very amused by it all.
"How is that talking behind your back?" Veyron laughed, pouring Suika a full bowl of cherry blossom sake. "We're just speaking the truth."
Yukari: "..."
"Whatever, I'll let it slide."
Suika downed the sake in one gulp and smacked her lips. "Not bad. No wonder I could smell it from miles away… but it's a little light for my taste."
She sighed wistfully.
"If only Yuugi were here…"
Yuugi Hoshiguma, like Suika, was one of the Big Four of the Mountain—and bearer of the treasured sake dish, "Hoshiguma Dish."
Much like Suika's gourd, "Ibuki Gourd", which could produce a near-limitless amount of alcohol, the Hoshiguma Dish had a unique trait of its own: any sake poured into it would be instantly refined, greatly enhancing its flavor and potency.
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P.S: An auxiliary chapter has been posted with images of the main world characters. Some of them will appear in the upcoming chapters.
Check it and drop ur rare images if you have any.