The Land of Illusions (Part 1)

1885 A.D, Japan. The ending moments of the great youkai wars were hell itself.

The battle unfolding before their eyes had been the worst sight most of them had seen; Thousands of human warriors facing their hated enemies with a single goal, the makeshift seal made by combining the wisdom of the gods making escape impossible for all of the beings gathered there.

The land ravaged by arrows and magic and corpses, screams filling the air while the lesser ayakashi and the unexperienced humans met their bloody ends.

Amidst the maelstrom of carnage and bloodshed, a girl looked down, her determined face, almost crying, hidden by her body soaring at near-light speed through the skies and blinding lights flashing, always followed shortly by roaring explosions which marked the death of several different youkai.

Fantasy Seal - A secret technique of shinto origins that uses a specialized soul-manipulating method to generate a magic pulse that can be unleashed at long distances.

In this age where single youkai could dominate entire armies with their magic, heirs to the ancient wisdom of the gods had developed this skill - the anti-ayakashi homing technique that always brings death to its target without fail, a merciless art of war created for the sole sake of anihilating youkai in a single blow.

From a distance, a certain youkai watched the maiden of the Hakurei wield her ultimate magic, bringing what should be an overhwelming massacre to an even battle. She looked, and laughed, her voice tinged with insanity only dwarfed by the intensity of her presence.

"Haha. Hahaha. Hahahaha"

Yukari turned her head to the side and touched the shoulder of the red-haired, two-tailed kitsune near hear, laughing heartily, her whole being dominated by an unseen madness.

"Look at her! Her determination. Her power. Her beauty. Her woe... This is the best! The greatest moment of my life!"

The kitsune slapped the hand away from her shoulder, tears coming out of her eyes while she glared at Yukari, her gaze as cold as the eternal ice of siberia itself, filled with fury which threatened to spill out, her lips quivering in sorrow for the loss of the only people she could call friends.

"...I'm going. To face this beast the humans created"

And yet, she knew. If she went into the battlefield, there would only be one result- Certain death. Inescapable defeat. Resisting only to escape from her own emotions, completely without meaning; Despair consuming her to the point of ridiculousness - therefore, she wanted, nay, needed power.

Her face contorted in shame, her shoulders trembling in powerlessness. If she had more- if she could exceed her limits- she would be able to destroy her enemy. Justice, love, revenge and liberty- all facades had been broken down, and in the critical moments of battle, all that was revealed was an all-consuming hatred from men and ayakashi alike, cruelty taking over their entire beings.

The young kitsune stared at Yukari's eyes, her long hair fluttering from the wind of the blood-filled tornado of magic happening at their back.

She blinked and took a deep breath. There would be no turning back.

"Very well, Yukari. I'll take you up on that offer you so often make me."

She kneeled. Aaaah, and so I cast away the light of day- from now on, for all eternity, I'll be bound

"Yukari Yakumo!", she exclaimed to the skies - "Give me power! Fight alongside me in this battle! And, from now on, to the day I die, I swear to serve you!"

And with that gesture, her mind eased. Because, even if it was only insanity, she now had a reason to justify this hellfire.

Yukari slowly approached her, and touched her head, her lips turned in a devilish smirk.

"Then it is done. From now on, your name is Ran Yakumo. My shikigami. "- with these words, magic engulfed their figures, pure gold born out of her otherworldly power.

And thus, Ran's body changed- her hair turned into the gold of splendor, more radiant than all of creation, beautiful in its solemnity, an exotic, beastly power. A being outside the realm of humans, ayakashi and gods, and thus, unbound from the laws of the universe.

And the young youkai of boundaries and the younger kitsune flew forward, the waltz of death surrounding them insignficant, its power much too mediocre to have any effect for the two of them.

...All but three beings wouldn't leave that battlefield alive- the carnage of which would eventually lead to the creation of the Great Hakurei Barrier - which the Hieda family would later document as the leading factor of what brought ayakashi to their tragic but heroic fate, which would unfold millenia later.