Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Volume 2

Author's Bio

“It looks like those planned three volumes have turned into five,” observes the author of
Yashikiden: The Demon Princess
with a smile. As with any masterpiece, the child has exceeded the parent's initial expectations and continues to blaze a trail on its own. Forthcoming developments will only make his books all the harder for his readers to put down.

Hideyuki Kikuchi was born in 1949 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture. While studying law at Aoyama University, he participated in the college's “mystery and detective novel” club. After graduation, he published stories in
doujinshi
magazines and translated science fiction while working as a magazine reporter. His debut as a novelist came in 1982 with the publication of
Demon City Shinjuku
.

In 1985, the highly-anticipated
Makaikou
was published to great acclaim, propelling Hideyuki Kikuchi into bestselling author status like a rocket. That status continues to this day, making him one of Japan's busiest and most popular writers.

Yashakiden: The Demon Princess Vol. 2

Yashakiden:The Demon Princess vol.2 - Yashakiden 2 (c) Hideyuki Kikuchi 1997. Originally published in Japan in 2007 by SHODENSHA Publishing Co.,LTD. English translation copyright (c) 2010 by DIGITAL MANGA, Inc. All other material (c) 2010 by DIGITAL MANGA, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the copyright holders. Any likeness of characters, places, and situations featured in this publication to actual persons (living or deceased), events, places, and situations are purely coincidental. All characters depicted in sexually explicit scenes in this publication are at least the age of consent or older. The DMP logo is (tm) of DIGITAL MANGA, Inc.

Written by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Illustrated by Jun Suemi

English Translation by Eugene Woodbury.

English Edition Published by:

DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING

A division of DIGITAL MANGA, Inc.

1487 W 178
^th
Street, Suite 300

Gardena, CA 90248

USA

www.dmpbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available Upon Request

First Edition: May 2010

ISBN-13: 978-1-56970-146-1

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in Canada

Author's Note

As with any series, each new installment should be more interesting than the last, and
Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. II
should hopefully prove no exception to this rule. A crimson shadow has fallen across Shinjuku. There are no timeouts in this struggle to the death. Setsura has been badly battered and Mephisto is working overtime to keep it together.

I didn't originally intend to push the story into so many precarious corners. It developed that way naturally. The enemies this time around are strong and terrifying, forces that must be reckoned with.

Victory was once assured for Setsura and Mephisto. Now the future is looking less certain. But I'm not the slightest bit displeased.
Yashakiden: The Demon Princess
has shaken off its bridle and is running free.

Hideyuki Kikuchi

Main Characters

Setsura Aki

The manager and owner of a Demon City
senbei
shop and a P.I. agency. A handsome man with magical powers literally at his fingertips, he defeats his enemies by wielding strands of sub-micron thin “devil wire.”

Mephisto

It is rumored that the “Demon City Physician,” as beautiful as he is feared, can even bring the dead back to life.

Princess

The Chinese vampire Biki—as gorgeous as she is evil—has wandered the world for four thousand years in search of a safe refuge for herself and her followers.

Kikiou

This crafty old warlock is Princess's principal retainer. He desires to subjugate all of Demon City Shinjuku.

Ryuuki

A later addition to Princess's retinue but also a vampire, he plays the mesmerizing ghost koto
Silent Night
and has a powerful, death-dealing
qi
at his command.

Shuuran

A vampire and servant of Princess, she can fashion killer vampire dolls from her own blood.

Takako Kanan

A college student specializing in ancient Chinese history, she is swept into supernatural conflict because of her obsession with the mysterious Daji from the Hsia Dynasty.

Yakou

A vampire who lives in Demon City's Toyama housing project, he is the grandson of the Elder, who was defeated and killed by Princess.

A vicious gang of four from China appears in Demon City. Nightly vampire attacks on the citizens of Shinjuku quickly follow. The victims are brought to Mephisto's impregnable hospital, but these vampires are not deterred, invading the hospital's layers of defenses and baring their fangs before Setsura and Mephisto.

The blood-drenched battle for Shinjuku has begun. Along with her three retainers—Kikiou, Ryuuki, and Shuuran—Princess has surmounted four thousand years of space and time in order to seize control of Demon City.

To fight these immortal enemies, Setsura and Mephisto have allied themselves with a clan of vampires living in the Toyama housing project, led by the Elder and his grandson Yakou. But Setsura is seriously injured by Ryuuki's powerful
qi
and Princess slays the Elder.

Now her evil claws reach deep into Mephisto Hospital, where Takako Kanan watches over the unconscious Setsura.

The woman's voice rose up from the depths of a dark land, filled with a kind of elation and malice that would make the blackest of hearts shudder with fear.

“So this is Setsura Aki?”

“You—you are—” Takako Kanan gasped. Red-hot fear shot through her. Her own voice sounded like it belonged to somebody else.

Without giving her a second glance, the woman approached Setsura's bedside. Abruptly she stopped. “You are Setsura's woman?”

Takako's body shook. Terror ate at her insides like bad brandy, leaving her intoxicated with dread. It was the combination of the woman's voice and the undamaged half of her face. The ugliness of the burned, inflamed part elevated the rest to an unimaginably haunting degree.

As horrifying as the sight was, she could not look away.

“You needn't answer. You are not one of the attending nurses. You must be a relative or a friend. I wonder whether I should first make you my servant?”

The woman fell silent, assessing her reaction, as Takako's face turned a ghastly shade of gray.

“Don't worry. I prefer not to be waited on by those of humble birth. Though I'm not so discriminating as Kikiou. Serving as witness to this man's death is a role that would suit you fine. And yet—”

She raised her hands and gazed at the faint red rivulets running down her seductively fair skin.

“These wounds to my neck and my legs. Still unhealed. Back during the Wei Dynasty, not even the sword of Zhao Yun could inflict such wounds. Ah, here is what Kikiou feared and what made Ryuuki retreat without accomplishing his objective.”

Takako didn't understand that the wounds had been inflicted by the defensive “fence” Setsura had woven around them. It entangled any object that drew near, mercilessly drawing and quartering anything that did not stop in its tracks.

Nor could she comprehend the monstrous nature of the woman who'd calmly pulled it apart.

“But all for naught.” She turned to Setsura, “In deference to such comeliness, I will allow you to die with your features intact.”

All at once she was standing at the head of the bed. She slowly pressed her hands down. The edges and ends of her mother-of-pearl-like fingernails at the tips of her alabaster fingers were honed like knives.

The comatose Setsura was beyond salvation now. Her hand reached his neck. Takako tried to scream but her throat was glued shut. All she could do was watch.

The woman gathered her strength in her hands. They shook slightly as they spread apart. A shiver ran down her fingers. Her nails touched the line of Setsura's jaw, pressing into the flesh.