"Bloodlust・Awakened" Memory Scrolls

* TW/JP Servers: January 20th - February 16th 2020
* GL Server: February 26th - March 17th 2020

This was the memory scroll event accompanying the release of the SSR shikigami Kidoumaru.

### Rewards

When each part of the scroll is fixed, rewards will be distributed across server depending on participation. The participation value depends on the shards being given, and the more given the higher the value. Each portion of the scroll has a separate ranking for participation, and the ranking spans the entire server. Data is refreshed once every minute.

Personal Contribution Ranking Rewards

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## Shikigami Story

* Scroll I
* Scroll II
* Scroll III
* Scroll IV
* Scroll V
* Scroll VI

### Lost

I first met that boy in a village freshly pillaged by bandits. The blood and fire had painted the moon red. He was still a baby then, wrapped in a blanket. Blood was oozing from the wound on his waist. His mother cuddled him, and he sucked on a cut on her finger. Even though he looked like an ordinary boy, I knew, when our eyes met, that he was half-spirit and half-human. Half of his blood was human and the other half was demon. There was no fear or sadness in his bright eyes, only an unstoppable excitement.

When I was young, I used to kill spirits blindly for the honor of my clan. A female spirit once kneeled down before me before she was executed. She had had a baby with a human male. I had never imagined humans and spirits could live together like that. The screams of the female spirit made me want to spare her. My inferiors looked at me in disgust. But, looking at my blood-stained hands, I fell to the ground; my belief had started to falter.

From then on, I swore never again to kill another spirit in error. The nobles laughed at me for this, but it has never made me break my promise.

I picked up the baby with the same hands that had been haunted by the spirit’s grudges. I tied the red string from the shrine around his neck. This blessed string created a special bond between us, I started to dream of creating a world where humans and spirits could live peacefully together.

*(Video)*

### Faked Face

Humans are pieces of rotten meat to me or, as the books put it, withering flowers. Earlier, when a classmate stood before me, talking bashfully, all I saw was the blood running through her veins beneath her skin. A rot wrapped in beauty. How weird.

Only the Master is different from us. He is complete but he is lonely. When I look at him, I see no blood.

More than once, I wanted to rip the skin off those humans. But my education has quelled my demon nature. I know, if I do anything, my life with the Master will be over. I was like a caged beast whose teeth had been worn down. I had to claw at myself with my talons.

Gradually, my classmates started to look at me differently: with fear, disdain, and provocation.

“Humans fear those who are different,” said the Master when I approached him full of doubt.

“How do I get along with them?” I asked.

Master sighed and said that the easiest thing was to be like them.

You want me to be like those things?

His words pierced my heart and echoed through me, mocking me.

They gathered together and started jeering and taunting me. Now they were the majority they could squeeze out those who were different.

In effect, flowers murdered the beast.

That half-spirit, half-human kid chose that path, hiding his spirit nature so he could blend in with the crowd. If that ever happened to me, the rot would crawl over my body and eat away the real me.

Our latest assignment is to save our classmates trapped in the Demon’s Walk. The place was extremely dangerous. I was wounded while trying to protect a classmate and hurt a junior by mistake. He fell to the ground, dragging his wounded arm, shaking, his eyes fixed on me. The fear in his eyes was greater than the fear he’d felt on seeing the monsters.

*(Video)*

### Flower Power

The rumour of my being half-spirit, half human began to circulate at the same time that classmate came back. There were more groundless speculations, more name-calling. The humans showed no restraint in their hostility, even though no harm had been done. This is more repulsive than any reasonable hatred.

Then, this malice finally found a real cause. A mangled body was found on the hill behind school. The wounds had been made by deep claw marks, clearly with the strength of a demon.

“This is a monster’s doing.” Eyes full of daggers watched me suspiciously.

There was no way out.

Humans believe what they want to believe. And their “facts” are nothing but the opinions of those who can shout the loudest.

Bodies started to pile up by the third day; by the seventh day, there were more. But no one had actually seen a monster. The guild offered huge rewards to anyone who could fight it. The reward was so high that it was impossible to say “no” to it. But people lost patience after a few days search. And, since there had been no more killings, they were even more convinced that I was the culprit.

I still tried to suppress the demon urges deep inside me, while the curses, the mocking and Master’s teachings whirled around my head.

What a noise it all made.

The sensation of a blade running through my chest pulled me out from my thoughts. The smell of blood seeped into the air. As I broke the blade off, my patience with mankind finally snapped. I turned around to face the one who had stabbed me. His fearful expression suggested it was the first time he’d done anything like this. But the look hardened, as if he was looking at a monster, that I was not his kind but a prey that should be killed. Then, surrounding me, the rest of them drew their weapons and started to chant spells.

A timid junior tugged at the leader’s coat and asked, “What will we tell the Master?”

“Don’t worry. The dead don’t talk.”

That poor, adorable lamb crashed to the ground the moment he’d finished his words. Blood splattered into his eyes, never to close again.

I’m not sure if letting him finish speaking could be considered kind, like the Master had taught us.

This sudden death startled the weaklings who’d cowered behind him for protection. The fight went out of them. Only the fear was left on their faces.

Just moments ago they had thought they’d had me at their mercy - how the tables had turned.

I smiled: “You’re right. The dead don’t talk.”

*(Video)*

### Gone Mad

Terrified, they started to back away, their aggression rapidly evaporating. I chased them off with a spring in my step, humming a little tune as I went. As I caught them, I smiled as I ripped their faces off their masks - how red these little flowers were underneath!

“What humans fear most is not demons and monsters. They are afraid of anything that is different. Only when you blend in with them can they accept you. Or you would run into trouble constantly. You should be like them, Kidomaru. Don’t be eccentric or arrogant. Treat them nicely even when they treat you unfairly.”

Humans hate difference. You’re either one of them or an outsider. The Master was right about everything. But if I’m destined to be different, I’d rather wreck my wonderful revenge than get destroyed in silence, hating myself all the while. Doing evil is easy when you want to do it.

My hands were soaked in blood by the time I realised what I’d done. After a few seconds of feeling shocked, I started to laugh. All this blood was disgusting, but thrilling and beautiful at the same time. Humans are only beautiful with their throats cut. At the end of it all, I found the peace that I’d never experienced before. Still, I felt confused and regretful, even a little disappointed. If they just hate me no matter what I do, why didn’t I start hunting them sooner?

Ironically, the scent of their blood started to attract the monsters they had been so desperate to find. But they were just clueless imps who ripped their food apart like savages. I tried to stop one from chewing a big chunk of flesh. But these monsters only survived by basic instinct. Faced with a more intimidating foe, they back away, leaving the so-called “food” for me.

“You’re wrong.”

I focused my spiritual power into the imp. My demon force grew strong, and, for a moment my own markings appeared on its skin. Crows took flight with a sense of foreboding.

“It would be boring to let them just die like that. Their bodies destroyed but their souls are trapped in this imp with no way of reaching the Underworld. From now on, they will be doing what they used to hate so much: killing and devouring. Isn’t this better?”

The imp struggled in pain. Countless voices screamed and cried inside its head. Then it curled up and went back to shoving food in its mouth. Its body was covered with mud.

Noisy, aren’t they? And these are just a few of the ones who used to torture me.

Poor things.

“Feast now, little one.”

*(Video)*

### Pitied

Kidomaru was standing among piles of bodies, laughing eerily. He looked no different to the boy who sat by the window in my memory. My arrival didn’t distract him. He threw a glance at me and continued his ‘performance’. The withered leaves are his instruments and the crying of the monsters are his melodic voice. The smell of blood that refuses to be dispersed seems to be a reward the valley presented to him. He looks as graceful as always, but there’s an inconcealable madness under that gracefulness.

The guild finally caught the murdering monster yesterday. Dozens of people have been murdered since the incident began. As people mourned for the dead, the monster who’s been tied up on the side opened his eyes as wide as he could. It’s not fear you saw in his eyes, but immense pain. It’s the look of a human. The monster couldn’t speak so he jerked a bloody tear drop out of his eye. I felt a chill. The moment I touched it, the cold truth shattered.

How could an imp kill dozens of elite onmyoji. I sensed a familiar demon force from his body. It’s the demon force of Kidomaru.

“You foxes have an excellent nose.”

In a flash, I was stomped to the ground. I could taste blood in my mouth. I regained my breath and suppressed my anger and asked him.

“Why did you kill them? They’re harmless humans to you.”

“Why? For fun I guess.”

“For fun?”

His casual attitude gave me the creeps, as if killing classmates was nothing more than improvised entertainment. Then I saw the red string that was still tied to his neck.

“Did you let the imp destroy the bodies because you were worried you wouldn’t be able to stay with the Master if anyone found out?”

He laughed disdainfully, as if I was telling a killing joke.

“I never intended to lie. It was the authorities in the guild who lied about the number of casualties and how much damage had been done. I waited for a long time, then I started to get bored because one came to catch me. After catching that imp, they felt sorry for mistaking me. In yesterday’s ceremony, they threw the same hateful look they used to throw at me on their lost family members. How interesting.”

He didn’t kill me, but tortured me like I was his prey. Blood burst out from his hands as more wounds appeared on him, yet he felt no pain. This hysterical look about him looked like a patient who needed help. If someone could treat him, he would become like us again.

“You’ve gone mad. What’s truly making you mad is that you’ve lost yourself. You should know best whether to be a human or a monster. Are you the one they say you are? A bloodthirsty monster, driven by your base desires?”

Suddenly he stared at me, an urge to kill rose up. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I know I was looking at him in pity. The one who’s been stripped bare is Kidomaru. The one who’s turned into a monster is also Kidomaru. He said nothing for he had made up his mind about me. Someone blocked a fatal blow targeted at me. On his stone cold face, I saw panic for the first time.

“Ma-Master...”

*(Video)*

### Returning Home

An amulet was placed firmly on Kidomaru’s skin. It’s the kind of amulet used specifically for binding monsters. He could have gotten away from it, but instead he stood there, allowing the amulet to burn him. The pain is far less scorching than a look from the Master.

“Did you do this?”

“I only killed a few puny humans.” Kidomaru said in a casual tone. The life of a human is nothing more than a pest.

Exhaustion crushed Kamo no Tadayuki. His straight back collapsed for the first time.

That ten seconds of silence felt like an entire lifetime. It was so quiet that Kidomaru started to think about his childhood. After the bell rang, a classmate was sitting on his father’s shoulders. His laugh looked like the wild flowers in spring. You could only tell the passing of time from the turning of his pinwheel. Kidomaru looked at the crowd passing before him when, suddenly, he was picked up by someone. He was pretending to be sophisticated but now that look had disappeared. Tadayuki put him on his shoulders and handed him a flower.

“I know you don’t have a parent to pick you up, but I hope you like my shoulders.”

From then on, the master was like a parent to Kidomaru. As his memories turned vague, the kindness of the Master waned, as if the nature of him being a demon would disgrace the Master.

“I knew this day would come when it became obvious that you’re the son of a hunter demon. I have been watching your every move. But in the end… I guess you can never tame a demon.”

Kidomaru thought about the possibilities: the Master would scold him, and even repel him to set an example. But he never thought that the Master had ever truly trusted him. He took in all he had to take for the Master. But now they made him a joke.

“Haha... Hahaha...”

That thundering laughter, filled with pain, resolution, and malice gave Seimei the chills. Tadayuki’s shoulder was run through by a sudden attack. Though the demon force of the hunter demon started to affect his body, he didn’t panic and unsheathed his blad. Killing wills between the master and student clashed.

The face of the Master in his eyes started to become terrifying before it turned into rotten meat and no intact skin was left.

“That’s more like it. That’s how prey should act. You’re finally like them!”

He looked at the Master affected by his demon force as if he was looking at one of his masterpieces.

“Only when you wear one’s shoes can you feel their pain. That’s what you taught me, Master.”

“You didn’t know that the humans and the demons were born to be different, one to be good and one to be evil. You shouldn’t have adopted me. This is the price you pay for your naivety!”

Let’s descend into the chaos together and achieve hate.

Let’s fall into madness and achieve delirium.

Let’s fall together into the abyss and stay in a nightmare you can never wake up from.

Kidomaru looked like a happy child and even cried some happy tears. The thrill of doing something evil made him truly happy for the first time. Kidomaru waited to be executed, feeling refreshed after he had got his revenge.

“Are you waiting for me?” You can hear how exhausted Tadayuki is in his voice. The student he invested so much in had committed an unforgivable crime. As the most powerful onmyoji, he could have killed Kidomaru in his first strike. But he couldn’t do it. He felt ashamed for bringing disgrace to the Kamo Clan. He hated himself.

“Fighting with demons and monsters until your death is how your life shall end. I will banish you into the Demon’s Walk. And you will never go anywhere near the capital.”

Kidomaru started into the sky, feeling lost. Things change like the clouds in the sky. What never changes is the color of the sky - redder than bloom.

It was a rare clear day in the Demon Domain, where the blood mist was always thick. Warm sunlight shone down from the sky on the piles of bodies and rivers of blood. After years of killing, there was only one demon left in the Demon’s Walk, a hunter demon. Kidomaru felt peace after its long absence. Peace yet boredom.

The one and only flower in blooming in the land of malice. Watered by blood and nurtured with bodies, the center of the flower turned black. Kidomaru bowed down and tried to pick it up. The red string tied to his neck fell on the ground next to the flower. After a pause, he picked up the red string and started to study it. The face of the Master he saw when he was rescued appeared in his mind. He looked saved, with a true and exciting look.

“I know where to find the most interesting prey. It’s time for a reunion.”

Kidomaru walked towards a short path in the Demon’s Walk, the very path he walked when he was banished to this place.

*(Video)*