Chapter 5 Let’s Free the Evil Dragon!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Yaten—the dragon feared as the world’s destroyer—sat motionless, eyes shut tight, her expression twisted with regret.
Even a being once called the embodiment of evil couldn’t bear being rejected by the daughter she loved most. Bound hand and foot by shimenawa, she neither stirred nor opened her eyes, as if she were a condemned criminal awaiting judgment, tormented by the sins she had committed.
”If it’s for Mother as she is now, I’d do anything to win back her love.”
”Ahh… I know that, but still—”
Was this really the right choice?
I was about to offer Yaten the worst kind of bargain, all for the lofty goal of breaking a thousand-year-old custom. If she accepted Exorcism and became my Shikigami, then Sakuya would grant her forgiveness. If I exploited her maternal love, she would surely comply. And yet—how could I trample Yaten’s dignity as a mother? I couldn’t. Not when she truly loved Sakuya from the depths of her heart. As a fellow parent, there was a line I refused to cross, even if the other was a dragon that had once brought calamity upon the world.
Yes, Sakuya’s plan would end our clan’s ancient duty and neutralize the evil dragon once and for all. But it would also mean toying with Yaten’s motherhood, with her feelings for her daughter. That was the one thing I could never allow.
”…Father? What are you trying to—”
”Yaten. I know you can hear me. So listen closely to what I’m about to say.”
Sakuya panicked when I stepped away from the plan and walked up to Yaten instead.
Though she kept her heart shut, Yaten’s expression twitched at the sound of my voice. That was all. She looked almost the same as when we first met—like a slumbering princess. The only difference now was that she was plagued by nightmares, writhing in guilt and regret. And that was exactly why I had to save her. I couldn’t let Sakuya become the villain in this story.
”Sakuya’s condemnation was an act. In truth, she loves you—as her mother.”
”Father…?!”
Her cry came out like a scream of shock. I could hear her confusion, her panic at my reckless betrayal of the plan we had built together. But Yaten, a woman of legendary cunning and beauty, understood everything just from her daughter’s reaction. She lifted her golden eyes to me, their gaze wavering in bewilderment. At the very brink of fulfilling her purpose, she could only gape at me, words tumbling from parted lips.
”Why…? You could easily bind me if you used my love for Sakuya against me.”
”And what? Force my own daughter to stain her hands? Trample on your motherhood in the process? No. As a parent myself, I can’t allow that.”
”…For Sakuya’s sake, then. Yes. We are both parents—we can’t neglect our daughter.”
Her words were tinged with exasperation, but her smile carried no scorn. Foolish choice, she seemed to say, and yet in those eyes that had once burned with malice, I saw only resignation—and even tenderness. She let out a long, weary sigh.
”Taneharu… what do you intend to do now?”
”Nothing drastic. It won’t be the optimal path, but there are other ways to sever our clan’s bonds to this curse. It may take years, but I’ll manage.”
”Idiot. That means forcing Sakuya to keep living down here.”
She sighed again, this time so long and theatrical it was almost comical.
”Cast Exorcism on me. That’s the best way forward for Sakuya.”
”…Are you certain? You’d be enslaved as my Shikigami.”
”Enough! Don’t make me say it twice! I’m not doing this out of affection for you—it’s my plan, for Sakuya’s sake! So don’t get the wrong idea. A human won’t live more than a hundred years, and I’ll only submit for that brief span. Nothing more!”
”…Then I swear, as the one holding your life in my hands, Yaten—I will never treat you with contempt.”
”Ha! Listen to this human child,” she said, laughing with startling brightness.
Perhaps it was only a dragon’s whim. But the fact that she trusted me enough to entrust her life, even for Sakuya’s sake, filled me with genuine gratitude. If we had gone through with Sakuya’s plan from the start, no bond would have formed between us. Now, with both sides in agreement, Yaten’s becoming a Shikigami felt like the most peaceful solution we could have hoped for.
She knew exactly what she was: a calamity-bringer. By surrendering herself of her own free will, she handed me the reins of her existence, giving me authority over the evil dragon that had once plagued the world. If it allowed Sakuya to live freely, then entrusting her life was worth it to her.
I couldn’t ignore that trust. Even if it meant holding the power of life and death.
”You know this already, but the Shikigami ritual engraves itself onto the soul—”
”I know. Only the summoner can undo it. Spare me the chatter and get on with it.”
”…All right. If you hesitate, resist me at once. ‘Exorcism.’”
”…Ahh…! So this is what it feels like, becoming a Shikigami. Hm. Quite the rare experience.”
Without resisting, Yaten accepted the bond etched onto her soul. On the surface, nothing seemed to change—she still laughed easily, still looked me in the eye. But the change was real. She had become my Shikigami, reborn into a state where disobedience, even resistance itself, was impossible.
And yet, to honor her resolve—to honor a mother who would even submit to humanity for her daughter’s sake—I untied the shimenawa that had bound her for a thousand years. The seal, passed down through generations of Shiryuin heads, ended with me.
It’s strange. So many of my ancestors had given their lives to bind this dragon in chains of death and sacrifice, and yet in my time, she had become my servant. Fate was nothing if not ironic.
”…I feel no hatred, no hostility, and no disgust. So this is what subjugation feels like.”
To be honest, I had feared this moment—feared that Yaten might reveal her true nature once freed. But instead, she stretched, moving her body for the first time in a millennium, her voluptuous form revealed by childbirth, and laughed brightly at me, her new master. Her aura still reeked of darkness, overwhelming and dreadful—but none of that malice was turned on me. She looked at me with warmth, almost with camaraderie.
She glanced down at the discarded shimenawa and tilted her head in curiosity.
”So the seal was undone so easily? I expected something stronger, for one such as me.”
”The authority of the Shiryuin head carries everything. The seal itself is made from the spiritual power of my predecessors. As their heir, I can undo it with nothing more than my will. But for that same reason, no outsider can.”
”A seal that demands lives as its price… the humans who bound me cursed their bloodline with a terrible fate.”
”You’re not wrong. They placed the fate of Japan itself on our clan.”
And that was why the Shiryuin Clan wielded such absolute power.
We were raised from childhood to carry the nation’s fate on our shoulders, indoctrinated until we could die with a smile for the seal’s upkeep. That was why my father embraced death so gladly. But in the modern era, compulsory schooling had eroded that training, leaving me to stray from the path. A thousand years of perfect custom had worked flawlessly—until the tiniest crack in the dam brought us here.
”In the end, the seal of the evil dragon was broken, and yet the world didn’t end. A strange irony.”
”Well, nothing but a miracle of chance. If my beloved Sakuya hadn’t been born, and if I hadn’t chosen to entrust my life to a husband on a whim—” *[T/N: Yaten refers to Taneharu as 旦那様, meaning both “husband” and “master.”]* “—then the moment the seal broke, I would have drowned the world in calamity.”
”…True enough. Even now, if I don’t keep the reins tight, you’d still try to destroy it… Wait. Did you just say husband?”
”Of course. You are Sakuya’s father, and, whim though it may be, my master. Husband suits you well. Or do you object?”
”N-no! Not at all!”
Her sharp glare froze me on the spot. Even knowing it was a joke, the sheer pressure made my blood run cold. That was the presence of a true evil dragon. And yet somehow, I could already imagine a future where the reins I thought I held ended up in her hands instead.
”Well then… where’s my mischievous little daughter who plotted all this?”
”M-Mother…! Congratulations on your release from the seal and becoming Father’s Shikigami!”
”Oh, what a shameless greeting! Honestly, you are such a handful.”
Yaten beamed as she spotted Sakuya peeking out from behind one of the shrine’s stone pillars and strode toward her. She might have loved her daughter more than life itself, but that didn’t exempt Sakuya from a mother’s scolding. And Yaten, calamity incarnate, radiated a terrifying presence when angry. Even Sakuya, usually so composed, looked pale with fright, her eyes darting toward me in silent plea.
That gaze mirrored the one Yaten had once turned on me. Like mother, like daughter. The resemblance stirred something deep in my chest.
”Talk things through with your mother, Sakuya. And when you’re done—there’s still a conversation waiting with your father.”
Yaten’s voice rang out, heavy with the authority of a dragon.
*”That’s how it is. Mischief or not, I cannot forgive my beloved daughter for toying with my heart. Inheriting the blood of the evil dragon is one thing, but as your father said—trampling on my motherhood is the one scale that must never be touched. My gekirin [T/N: the dragon’s wrath].*
*Fear not—I won’t let you suffer pain. I’ll only scold you, harshly, very harshly. But know this, when a dragon speaks, her words carry weight. Prepare yourself.”*
The dragon’s fury, after a thousand years of slumber, struck to the very core of the soul.
Sakuya looked from me to Yaten as if in prayer, but there was no escape for her this time. I clenched my teeth and let it happen. Better that she hear her mother’s anger seriously, rather than be spared. If I were the one to scold her, as her Shikigami’s master, it would only come out as an order. From her mother, it would sink into her heart.
Yaten seized her by the scruff of the neck and dragged her toward the depths of the Sealing Seat with inhuman strength. For some reason, the image of a calf being led to slaughter in the old song *”Dona Dona”* [T/N: children’s song about a cow resigned to its fate] flashed through my mind. Sakuya’s wail—”Faaatheerrrrr!”—sounded surprisingly lighthearted, as if she still had some spirit left in her.
”…Well. First things first, we’ll need to prepare food and a bath for Yaten—for the first time in a thousand years. And clothing too…”
Life in the Underground Temple meant we had to handle everything ourselves: cooking, laundry, cleaning. Sakuya was old enough to start learning the basics, and Yaten—evil dragon or not—wasn’t just my Shikigami anymore, but part of the household. As a mother, she’d have to show her daughter by example.
”For now, we’ll let her settle into daily life. Once Sakuya’s older, we’ll move forward with the plan to return to the surface. Until then… maybe a year or so, we’ll be living here.”
The immediate problem was clear: teaching the so-called destroyer of the world how to do housework. No matter how powerful she had been, no matter how luxuriously she once lived as a legendary beauty, I swore I’d make her adapt to this life.
I gazed at the now-empty Sealing Seat.
”So the thousand-year custom has ended… No. For us, this is where life really begins.”
The shimenawa lay untied, the barrier shattered. Yaten was no longer there. Proof that the Shiryuin Clan’s ancient duty had finally been broken. No more would we be sealed away to maintain the barrier. No more would the clan head have to offer his life upon succession. I was free—me, Shiryuin Taneharu. My short fifteen years so far had been bound to fate, but now I was released.
Of course, this wasn’t the end.
Even with the clan’s customs broken, Yaten remained my Shikigami. And Sakuya, who carried her blood, would one day have to face the darkness in herself. The distortions caused by a thousand years of duty, the politics of states and branch families that had profited from Yaten’s existence—all those entanglements were still knotted tight. I might have severed my own personal chains, but as head of the Shiryuin Clan, my work was far from done.
”…But for now, at least one chapter is closed. Time to rest, gather strength for what’s ahead.”
――――■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■…!!
From deep within the Sealing Seat came a roar like the rumble of the earth itself. It was Yaten’s scolding voice. It was enough to make the soul quiver. I worried for Sakuya, hearing that voice so close—but I trusted her mother. Yaten would never cross the line. She would soften her hand enough not to leave a scar on her daughter’s heart. I was certain of that.
”…Worst case, Yaten will just blow everything else away.”
Yes, she was the evil dragon who could destroy the world. But as an ally, there was no one more reliable. Even the fog of an uncertain future seemed to lift at the sound of her mighty roar. Her scolding carried a force that lightened my heart, giving me courage to face what was to come.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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