Help! I changed the gender of the male protagonist in the yandere game

Within the pillar of violet-black flames, Hyakusuke's entire body was encased in sturdy armor resembling a crab or scorpion, with crimson patterns adorning the purple carapace.

Even his head was covered by black bone armor, the helmet shaped like a grotesque scorpion mask, leaving only a narrow slit for the eyes.

“Hah…”

He opened his mouth and exhaled, a wisp of hot air escaping from the monster-like 'cheek' vents of the mask.

Hyakusuke tilted his neck and gently moved his body, causing the armor to emit a series of 'crackling' sounds.

At that moment, sharp bone spurs sprouted from his joints, including his hands, feet, and along the line of his spine.

“Is this the power of the Yomamaru!?”

Hyakusuke murmured.

After merging with the Yomamaru's power, a tremendous roar echoed within him, a sensation completely unfamiliar—a roar originating from the depths of his heart.

Deep within his heart, with each pulsating beat, flame-like energy extended tendrils of fire, flowing through the spiritual channels within his body, a heat spreading throughout him, sharpening his consciousness to an astonishing degree.

“However, as Yuki Onna-hime said, this is a power that only I can wield in my current state.”

The Yomamaru's power was, in itself, a type of “potent poison.”

A portion of this “poison” was the crystallized power of the fiend lord, Saigaki.

Hyakusuke had plunged this power into his heart, allowing himself to briefly gain the strength of this great demon lord.

This demonic energy was known as “Kishinki,” or the “Karma of Heavenly Demons and Spirits,” either of which proved the ferocity of this power.

“But, wouldn't stabbing a knife into your heart kill you?”

He had asked the Lake Lord for confirmation.

“But, you've already consumed the flesh of a mermaid.”

Yuki Onna-hime gave a sly smile.

“Others would die, but you won't, and your spiritual core will absorb the Kishinki, helping you transform that power into your own.”

Because the Yomamaru was a crystallized form of Saigaki's power, the demonic energy it contained, once absorbed, manifested this armor.

“This armor can enhance my power in every way.”

Now, having actually used this power, Hyakusuke was certain that, upon donning the armor, he could exert immense strength even with the slightest movement.

It felt as if the legendary great demon Saigaki had possessed him, as if he could unleash invincible power simply by surrendering to this torrent of energy.

The Iron Cock “Kuki” sensed a certain danger.

The bird demon abandoned its long-range attacks, knowing its enemy had become more troublesome. It glared at Hyakusuke, its throat emitting a deep, rumbling sound, intimidating him like a crowing rooster.

Hyakusuke tightened his grip on the spear.

His fingers trembled slightly.

At that moment, the Iron Cock “Kuki” suddenly moved, spreading its wings and leaping into the air before swooping down on Hyakusuke with its claws.

The Iron Cock “Kuki” was indeed fast, but Hyakusuke was even faster.

His spear tip thrust out, the spear's momentum rising, the blade slicing diagonally, his entire body erupting with sudden force, as swift as a shooting star.

This force spiraled and impacted, erupting on the spear blade, shattering the surrounding air and releasing it in the form of a tornado.

The Iron Cock also extended its claws, focusing its demonic energy completely. Instantly, the two forces collided in a burst of sparks—

The Iron Cock “Kuki” let out a painful shriek, its right claw and thick thigh completely pulverized, flying through the air.

The force of the spear shot straight up from the ground, instantly erupting like a volcano and unleashing a pillar of raging flames.

The strange power wrapped around the spear blade, twisting and spiraling, impacting with the force to pierce the heavens and earth, piercing the Iron Cock's abdomen, pulverizing bone and flesh alike, spraying crimson organs and blood like a rain of blood.

“Impossible!”

Kuki's head, adorned with its comb, was also blown into the sky, unable to accept the fact that it had been defeated once again.

“I'll lose here…”

However, this demon was merely a reanimated individual brought back to life through the Reanimation Technique, its flesh turning to sand in the air, plummeting from the sky with a thud. Even its shattered heart turned into sand mid-air, crumbling away, leaving not a trace.

“Did I succeed?”

Hyakusuke breathed a sigh of relief.

The “Kishinki” contained within the Yomamaru had an extreme weakening effect on the Impure Spirits, and even greater destructive power against the dead resurrected by the Reanimation Technique.

If it were other sorcerers, even if they tried their best, they wouldn't be able to kill such an enemy that could always be resurrected.

However, as long as they drove the “Kishinki” into the body of an enemy affected by the Reanimation Technique, defeating the opponent was not impossible.

“That being said… how are the others doing? Without the Yomamaru, it shouldn't be easy for them to deal with these enemies, right?”

…

“Who are you?”

Under the blood moon, the girl warily placed her hands on the hilts of the twin swords at her waist, her enemy a gaunt figure appearing in the moonlight.

‘…A swordsman?’

Tsukigara Yami immediately sensed that the enemy was a swordsman.

The enemy exuded a dignified air with every movement, radiating a palpable aura.

This powerful warrior, merely standing still, emanated an intense pressure that made Yami's skin crawl.

“Ugh…!”

Yami's younger sister, Ayaka, let out a cry of fear behind her.

They had been in the courtyard, checking the operation of the barrier around the tenement house, when a sudden, uninvited figure appeared eerily before the sisters.

This must be a warrior. He stood before a plum tree, his sword at his side, dressed in a black, lightweight kimono. In this moment of terrifying silence, he stepped forward like a shadow.

“Draw your swords. I never kill unarmed enemies in my life.”

The man wearing a sedge hat had a flash of sorrow across his pale, stern face.

“In your life?”

Yami asked in surprise, “You're not alive… could it be, the Reanimation Technique?”

“You guess correctly.”

The swordsman quietly drew his sword.

“I have no intention of hiding my name. I am Nemuri Kyoshiro, a ronin in life. I am here to take your lives.”

His sword tip drooped, and an indistinct, eerie sword energy emanated from him.

Yami also took a deep breath and raised her twin swords. Her gaze fixed on this mysterious swordsman, who was placing his sword tip three feet from his toes, an odd stance she had never seen before, seemingly possessing a magic that was chilling.

Whoosh!

The swordsman swung his sword, raising it to strike. The sword light was like wind and lightning, unbelievably fast. Yami could only barely parry with her twin swords.

“So strong!”

She was overwhelmed. The enemy was not relying on spiritual power, but his swordsmanship was divine, the sword light swirling, attacking from the front, now high, now low, stabbing and coiling, giving her no chance to breathe.

“So heavy…”

With each clash, the sword became heavier. Each time she parried, her palms cracked, and her hands could barely hold the two precious swords.

“Not bad.”

The swordsman's blade struck again and again, each strike carrying lethal power and weight, the sword light scattered like scarlet sparks, barely parried and deflected by the girl's twin swords.

The sword's speed increased further, the swordsman wielding his sword in a hazy, circular arc, continuously generating sparks and metallic sounds.

“Your foundation is quite good, but your spirit is terrible!”

With a backhand strike, he knocked the “Maseo” sword from her hands. Yami failed to hold onto her ancestral sword, the blade spinning away and embedding itself in the ground.

“See, your swordsmanship is not weak, but you can't maintain your state of mind. When facing a great enemy, you must enter a state of emptiness. As the ancients said, a swordsman who has grasped the essence of swordsmanship has the grace of a 'sleeping cat watching a butterfly,' but your sword is just chasing after the butterfly. This is completely wrong.”

The swordsman's movements also stopped.

Yami also stopped. She exhaled softly and placed her right hand on the Mizutsukane-no-Mitama sword, assuming a two-handed sword stance.

Her stance was the Eight Aspects.

“Let's try again. Let me see your swordsmanship.”

The man wearing the sedge hat smiled slightly, adopting a lower stance, the sword tip moving from bottom to top, starting along the left side, slowly drawing a large circle. This was his secret sword technique, “Circular Moon Killing,” honed throughout his life.

This was a soul-stealing swordsmanship. When Nemuri Kyoshiro used this wicked sword in his life, his enemies would be disoriented, drawn to the rotating sword tip, as if falling into a slumber, losing their fighting spirit and being slain.

However, Yami did not widen her eyes, her gaze mesmerized by the sword tip. A pattern appeared in her eyes.

The “Soul-Shaving Technique” was activated.

She gripped her twin swords, her expression extremely solemn.

“Good!”

The long sword moved to the upper stance, and just as the blade drew a crescent shape, Nemuri Kyoshiro leaped forward.

Buzz!

The sword light flashed sharply, drawing a silver line.

In that instant, the sword tip pierced the skin, tore the muscle, and severed the bone.

A large amount of blood spurted out.

The ominous sword light prevented the crescent shape, and Yami, taking advantage of Nemuri Kyoshiro's strike, preemptively unleashed her own sword.

Her Mizutsukane sword broke the samurai sword and struck him.

“Ugh, cough…”

The swordsman spat out blood, a wound splitting his left abdomen to his right shoulder.

“Well done!”

He smiled in relief.

“…Thank you… for sending me on my way—”

The soul-slaying sword also severed the soul attached to the earth, stone, and bones, returning it to the order of heaven and earth.

…

Boom!

Amidst the explosions, Kukutsu Ikki and the Night Walker also encountered resurrected enemies.

The two sides immediately engaged in combat, fighting fiercely.

Alas, he did not have the ability to directly eliminate the Reanimated, and had to drag out the battle.

“Troublesome, huh?”

Kukutsu Ikki stared at the man riding the summoned “Dragon,” a divine beast.

“'Dragon Rider'? Even in our country's history, there are only a few who could control such powerful creatures… You must be someone resurrected by the Reanimation Technique, right? Who are you?”

“I am Unryu Kuro.”

The man standing on the dragon's head laughed heartily, the hem of his kimono fluttering in the wind.

“Sorry, but it won't be easy to defeat me…”

…

“W-What is going on?”

Akamatsu Mitsusuke stood in the castle tower, looking out in shock.

“Jinno… I didn't order you to attack Renjo Trading Company and Kukutsu Ikki? Why, why are you doing this?”

“Oh, so Akamatsu-sama, you want to ask about that!?”

Jinno said with a wry smile, “But, I didn't issue those orders. Also, Akamatsu-sama, you don't need to be so nervous, surrounding me with so many people is really scary.”

Around him, several samurai holding spears glared at him fiercely, as if they were about to thrust the spiritual spears containing the power of the Sacred Tree at him in the next second.

“If it wasn't you, who issued the orders?”

Akamatsu Mitsusuke said angrily.

“It was Akamatsu-sama yourself, wasn't it?”

Jinno laughed, “You really don't remember… Ah, well, it can't be helped, that's how it is after the technique is used, right?”

What, what do you mean by that?

As Akamatsu Mitsusuke thought this, he raised his sword and slashed it into the back of a samurai who was loyal to him.

“Puh… Lord, what are you doing?”

The trusted retainer turned around in shock. He could not believe that Akamatsu would attack him.

N-No, that's not right… I can't do this?

Blood mist flew, spraying.

His right hand uncontrollably swung out again, killing another of his trusted retainers.

“Akamatsu-sama… what are you doing?”

Another man who was serving as his bodyguard knelt down, begging for his life.

His right hand, which he was desperately holding down, rose again, the blade slashing at the face that was begging for life.

No… this is wrong, why, why am I doing this?

“…You still don't understand?”

Jinno's sinister voice sounded again.

“This is the Reanimation Technique, Akamatsu-sama… haven't you ever doubted your own identity—”

The corners of his mouth twisted upwards.

“Isn't it possible that you have long been a Reanimated corpse, constantly being controlled by someone else?”