200 - F.O.A.F.

【エフ・オー・エー・エフ、efu oo ee efu】

[Massive spoilers ahead, don't read this until you've completely seen the game.

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I hope you enjoyed the game!]

F.O.A.F. means a friend of a friend---

In other words, it is an existence that bears the role of spreading information, created in the moment urban legends are disseminated.

Naturally, this "friend of a friend" does not exist.

Our organization, F.O.A.F., was named after this insubstantial source of information.

Its role was originally to control the spread of information on strange phenomena that could cause unrest among the people.

However, the current organization has lost sight of its purpose and is now intent on unraveling the mysterious and putting it to practical use on the military stage.

The organization's influence has already spread from the political and business worlds to the police force.

As a founding member of the Police History Archival Office, I, along with Ranko Indou and others, have worked as pawns of the organization. But as a result, we lost something irreplaceable...

That tragedy is still told as the rumor of the Metropolitan Police Department's 5th basement.

I have changed my identity and infiltrated the organization again, while Ranko Indou has falsely sworn allegiance to the organization and is still a member of the Police History Archival Office.

Our immediate mission is to covertly prevent the organization from spiraling out of control.

That is why I brought in new members to the Police History Archival Office.

But the organization is not stupid. They will eventually realize what we are doing.

When that happens, which side will be the survivor in the end?

Only God knows...

D. K.

199 - Rokuyou

【六曜、rokuyou】

["六 (roku)" means "six" and "曜 (you)" means "shine" but is mainly used in names for celestial bodies and the 7 days of the week. A translation could be "six days" or "six radiances", which is also seen below.]

Also called "Rokki (the six radiances)", it is known as a calendar system that predicts the fortune of each day by assigning them to one of the six classifications: "Senshou", "Tomobiki", "Senbu", "Butsumetsu", "Taian", or "Shakkou".

Senshou originally meant "the earlier the better", this day's morning is lucky and the afternoon is unlucky.

Tomobiki is considered to have lucky mornings and evenings, but unlucky afternoons. It originally meant a "day without victory or defeat", as friends would be pulling against each other, but it came to mean "to pull away from your friends", and it is now considered a bad day to hold funerals and other ceremonies.

Senbu means "the earlier the worse", this day's morning is unlucky and the afternoon is lucky.

Butsumetsu is said to be the "day when all things perish", everything will be unlucky. Celebrations are especially to be avoided.

Taian is a day of "great peace" and is considered good luck in all matters.

Shakkou originated from Onmyoudou's unlucky days, generally misfortunate outside of midday.

According to popular belief, Rokuyou was invented by Zhuge Liang of Romance of the Three Kingdoms fame, and is sometimes referred to as the "Kongming Six-Day Fortune". In reality, however, they are based on the "Six Waters Time Assessment (Rikujinjika)", a time-based divination method of good and bad fortune invented by Li Chunpeng, a Chinese Tang Dynasty calendar scholar.

The Six Waters Time Assessment was introduced to Japan around the end of the Kamakura period (1185-1333), and eventually changed from a method of divining good or bad luck at a certain time of day to a method of divining good or bad luck on a certain day, and spread to the public from the late Edo period to the Meiji period.

The Rokuyou are determined in the order of Senshou, Tomobiki, Senbu, Butsumetsu, Taian, and Shakkou, and the days of each month are also determined in that order. In other words, the Rokuyou are the same every year on the old Japanese lunisolar calendar.

185 - Metamorphosis

【メタモルフォーゼ、metamorufooze】

Originally a compound of the Greek words meta (change) and morphose (form), it refers to the physical change of an insect from a pupa to an adult, or the transfiguration of the body due to magical forces.

Thus, the Western werewolf, who transforms at the sight of a full moon, could be considered a type of metamorphosis.

In Japan, there existed the "Tsukumogami (付喪神)", the yokai of vessels.

Originally called "九十九髪 (Tsukumogami) [Lit. 99 hairs, this is still used to refer to the gray hair of an old woman]", this word was used to describe longevity, but it eventually came to represent beings with magical powers gained through their longevity, and it was thought that spirits would reside in long-lived people and vessels that had been used for a long time, transforming them into yokai.

It was also believed that not only vessels but also animals such as cats and foxes acquired magical powers as they aged, and that they could change into human form and bring about calamity.

Additionally, legends of people transformed into oni by grudges or passion, such as the "Legend of the Bridge Maiden of Uji (Uji no Hashi-hime)" or "Kurozuka", can also be said to be a type of metamorphosis.

[What a very specific mention, I wonder if this is a clue? *wink* *wink*]

187 - King You

【幽王、yuu-ou】

The twelfth emperor of the Zhou dynasty, he was the one that brought the Western Zhou dynasty to an end with his maladministration and started the age of warfare that followed.

King You became captivated by his concubine, Bao Si, and ousted his legal wife, the daughter of the Marquess of Shen, and her son, Yijiu, from their positions as queen and crown prince, respectively, and took Bau Si as his legal wife and her son Bufo as his new crown prince.

In 771 B.C., the Marquess of Shen, angered by this, made an agreement with the Quanrong, a tribe of horsemen from the west, and attacked the Zhou Dynasty, as a result, King You was captured and killed at the foot of Mount Li.

Meanwhile, the Marques of Shen established Yijiu as the new king of Zhou and named him King Ping, but the capital, Haojing, had already been ravaged by the Quanrong, so they were forced to move it to Luoyang in the east.

The birth date of King You is unknown. His reign was from 782 B.C. until his death in 771 B.C.

178 - Kingdom of Magadha

【マガダ国、magada-kuni】

It was one of the oldest major Indian states that emerged around the 6th century B.C. in the middle reaches of the Ganges River, in what is now southern Bihar.

At that time, there were sixteen kingdoms in India, but Magadha annexed the other kingdoms one after another. In the first half of the 6th century B.C., the Kingdom of Magadha developed its power during the reign of King Bimbisāra, and during the reign of his son Ajatashatru, Magadha took control of the powerful Kingdom of Kosala and became the largest Indian kingdom.

Both Bimbisāra and Ajatashatru lived in the same period as the Buddha, both took refuge in Buddhism, and both played a major role in the subsequent development of Buddhism. Later, Jainism, with its precepts of abstinence and penance, also emerged in Magadha.

The Kingdom of Magadha began with the Haryanka dynasty, followed by the Shishunaga dynasty, and reached its peak in the 4th century B.C. when the Maurya dynasty united all of India. The third king of the Maurya dynasty, King Ashoka, is said to have respected Buddhism and devoted his efforts to its development.

However, Magadha gradually lost its power and, after several dynasties, disappeared from history.

174 - Bao Si

【褒似、houji】

The woman who, together with King You, is said to have been the main cause of the Zhou dynasty's downfall.

Originally born in the State of Bao, she was given the name of Si and offered to King You as compensation for the ruler of Bao's misdeeds to the Zhou.

Once Bao Ji became a concubine, she captivated King You, who then deposed his legal wife, the daughter of the Marquess of Shen, and the crown prince, her son Yijiu, and took Bao Si and her child as his new wife and crown prince, respectively.

Legend has it that Bao Si was a woman who rarely smiled.

King You held various banquets and events to see her smile, but she still did not even show the slightest hint of a smirk.

One day, however, the king mistakenly rose a warning beacon to warn the people of an imminent crisis.

The various sovereigns saw the beacon and rushed to the palace, believing that a great national crisis has occurred, but were stunned to learn that they were mistaken. The sight of the people was so funny that Bao Si, who had never smiled before, couldn't help but laugh.

King You was so delighted to see Bao Si's smile that, after that incident, he raised the warning beacon many times just to see her smile.

Later, however, an event occurred in which the Marquess of Shen, whose daughter was deposed, launched an attack against Zhou together with the neighboring nomadic tribe of Quanrong. King You hurriedly raised the warning beacon, but the other rulers thought it was a call for a smile and did not assemble. As a result, King You was slain and the capital of Zhou was relocated.

This event is also famous as the first time the warning beacon was mentioned in history.

It is also said that Bao Si was beheaded or captured after King You was killed, but it remains unclear what actually happened to her after that.

167 - Butsumetsu

【仏滅、butsumetsu】

One of the Rokuyou, a "day so unlucky even Buddha perished (仏を滅ぼす)", one should avoid games of chance, weddings, and such on this day.

Originally, however, it was called "Kuubou" or "Kyobou" [both use a Kanji for 'void' and the Kanji for 'death'] in China, and was believed to be the day when all things come to nothing.

When it was introduced to Japan, it came to be called "物滅 (Butsumetsu)", meaning "the day when all things perish", which in turn became "仏滅 (Butsumetsu)".

Although it had no connection whatsoever with Buddha's death, February 15, his death anniversary, is "Butsumetsu" every year according to the old Japanese lunisolar calendar.

159 - King Hansoku

【斑足王、hansoku-ou】

[Also called Prince Hansoku depending on the story.]

An ancient Chinese legend claims him to have been a king of the Kingdom of Magadha, but whether he really existed is unclear.

According to the legend of Tamamo-no-Mae, which recounts anecdotes about the Nine-tailed Fox, he favored Consort Kayo, who was said to be an incarnation of the Nine-tailed Fox, and was said to have committed many violent acts at her behest.

In the Jātaka, an ancient Buddhist tale describing the Buddha's previous lives, he is said to have been born of a human father and a lion, and was called "Hansoku (Spotted Foot)" because of the spotted pattern on his feet. His character was also ferocious, and it is said that he liked to devour human children, eventually becoming a kind of evil demon called a Rakshasa.

157 - Bofu

【伯服、hakufuku】

[The difference between the Chinese and Japanese pronunciations is quite big, isn't it?]

The son of King You of Zhou and his favorite concubine, Bao Si.

King You was so captivated by Bao Si's beauty that he deposed the previous queen and crown prince, Yijiu, and replaced them with the new queen and crown prince, Bao Si and Bofu, her son.

However, this is said to have been the cause of the downfall of the Zhou dynasty.

After King You lost his life due to the invasion of foreign enemies, his former son Yijiu became the new king of Zhou, and it is said that Bofu was slain. But according to the legend of "Tamamo-no-Mae", which recounts anecdotes about the Nine-tailed Fox, Bofu was banished and later disguised himself as a beautiful woman before disappearing elsewhere.

130 - King Zhou

【紂王、chuu-ou】

The 30th and last emperor of the Shang Dynasty.

King Zhou was the name given by later generations to the emperor, his given name was "Shòu", but could also be called "Di Xin". [Zhou refers to a horse crupper, the part of a horse's saddle most likely to be soiled.]

He had a keen mind, a sharp tongue, and a courageous spirit, but later, as emperor, he became known as a tyrant who committed all manner of vices and outrages that led to the downfall of the Shang.

Although King Zhou was a brilliant ruler in the beginning, he gradually became addicted to pleasure and began to rule without regard for the people around him.

Particularly after acquiring his favorite concubine, Daji, the both of them indulged in daily debauchery, which drove people away from him.

He had three talented retainers named Weizi, Bi Gan, and Jizi, who petitioned the king repeatedly, but the king would not listen to them. Consequently, Weizi left the country, Jizi was captured, and Bi Gan had his heart gouged out by the king's order.

In addition, he executed the Marquis of E, a member of the nine marquises, who studied under the three dukes, the highest rank of nobility outside of the emperor, and imprisoned Western Count Chang.

Western Count Chang would later be known as King Wen, who laid the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty that ruled China after the Shang Dynasty.

King Wen, liberated by tribute, established a benevolent regime in his lands and strengthened the nation's power, and his son, King Wu, raised an army to attack King Zhou.

After suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of King Wu's forces at Muye, King Zhou fled back to the capital, where he is said to have died in flames.

Although King Zhou was famous as a tyrant among the emperors of his time, these anecdotes were invented during the later Zhou dynasty, and it seems that he was not such a bad emperor in reality.

On the contrary, it is said that King Zhou attempted to prevent decadence, all the while looking to expand to the east, at which point a western country, originally composed of nomadic tribes, is believed to have aimed for the moment King Zhou sent his armies westward to strike.

125 - Daji

【妲己、dakki】

She was the favored concubine of King Zhou of Shang, known for her brutal nature and role in the downfall of the Shang dynasty.

Daji was a woman from the Yousu family, a rival clan to the Shang, whom the King fell in love with when he defeated the Yousu family and then took as his wife.

Thereafter, the emperor was completely captivated by her beauty, and it is said that he granted her whatever she wished for. For her sake, he held feasts and banquets and amassed numerous treasures, which caused the people to suffer heavy taxes.

In addition, she is said to have created the punishment of "paolao", in which an oiled copper pole is placed over a blazing fire and the criminal is forced to walk across it. The slipperiness of the oil and the heat of the seared copper would cause the criminal to fall into the flames and die, which she is said to have thoroughly relished.

As a result of the king's actions, brought about by Daji's seduction, the public's hearts drifted away, allowing foreign enemies to invade, leading to the Shang dynasty's downfall.

According to the Ming dynasty book "The Investiture of the Gods", she was the incarnation of a fox, and her true nature was discovered by Taigong Wang, who buried her by his own hand.

However, in Sima Qian's "Records of the Great Historian", it is only mentioned that King Zhou loved and obeyed her, and that the Shang Dynasty was destroyed, her actions weren't known at all. Therefore, the image of Daji as a cruel and evil woman was probably created by later generations.

121 - Taigong Wang

【太公望、taikoubou】

A famous tactician known for supporting King Wen of Zhou and his son, King Wu.

He is also called Lü Shang, as his clan name was Lü and his given name was Shang, or Jiang Ziya, as his ancestral name was Jiang and his courtesy name was Ziya.

The name "Taigong Wang", whose characters nowadays refer to a fisherman, is derived from one of Lü Shang's legends.

Already an old man, Lü Shang had been casting a fishing line along the banks of the Wei River, avoiding the world, when King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty passed by and spoke to him, finding him to be an outstanding man.

King Wen thought that he was the man that his father, the Grand Duke, had been hoping for, and he took Lü Shang as his military strategist.

For this reason, Lü Shang was called "Taigong Wang (Grand Duke's Hope)", which later came to describe a fisherman as well.

According to the Ming Dynasty novel "The Investiture of the Gods", Taigong Wang was a Taoist from Kunlun named "Fei Xiong", who used his powers to defeat King Zhou of Shang's favorite concubine, Daji, who was the incarnation of a fox.

It is also said that one of the most famous books on the art of war in China, "Six Secret Teachings", was written by Taigong Wang.

115 - Killing Stone

【殺生石、sesshou-seki】

It is said that the Golden-furred Nine-tailed Fox, which had brought the Imperial court into a stupor as "Tamamo-no-Mae", transformed itself into a stone with its magical power after it was exterminated in Nasunogahara, Shimotsuke-no-kuni.

However, even after it turned into a stone, its magical power did not diminish, and it is said to have spewed out such malice that it would cause people to die.

Legend has it that the Killing Stone killed anyone who passed by it, be they man or beast.

It is said that Gennou, a Buddhist priest passing by this area in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), saw a flying bird fall to the ground, and when he realized that it was caused by the magical power of the Nine-tailed Fox, he crushed the stone with his dharma power. The shattered stone's fragments are said to have flown to various places, where it continued to spit out malice, and the places where the stone is said to have flown to can still be found today.

According to the Noh play concerning the legend of the Killing Stone, a woman appeared to the priest Gennou, who became suspicious when he saw a bird falling from above, and told him that the stone here was the Killing Stone and that he should leave because it would kill him if he approached it. But the truth was that this very woman was the spirit of the Killing Stone, the shadow of what once was the Golden-furred Nine-tailed Fox.

The priest Gennou felt sorry for the woman, and when he held a memorial service for her, the Killing Stone shattered, as the fox spirit's soul rested peacefully, and no longer emitted its poisonous air.

The Killing Stone still exists today in Nasu Town, Tochigi Prefecture.

In front of the site is an area called "Sai-no-kawara (Riverbed of Death)", which since ancient times has been a place where toxic gases such as sulfur and zinc acid gas have spewed out, causing harm to the people.

It is for that reason that this legend was created.

The famous Bashou Matsuo also visited the area and wrote a haiku entitled "The Stone's Malice Yet Remains", it goes as follows:

Incense of stone and  Reddened summertime grass  Warmed tears of dew

[The haiku is relating the deaths caused near the Killing Stone to the sulphuric hot springs of the area (incense of stone) and fresh blood (reddened grass and warm dew).]

101 - Debauchery

【酒池肉林、shuchinikurin】

A Japanese expression derived from a legend about King Zhou in the "Basic Annals of Shang" of the "Records of the Grand Historian" by Sima Qian, it was originally used to describe an extravagant banquet but has come to mean a state of extreme pleasure, in which one is surrounded by people of the opposite sex.

According to the "Basic Annals of Shang", King Zhou was a man of many misdeeds. For his own pleasure, he is said to have conducted the punishment of "Paolao (Bronze Toaster)", which had him force criminals to cross a bronze suspension set atop burning charcoal, and to have indulged in the daily pleasures of extravagant banquets.

The "Basic Annals of Shang" describe the scene of such a banquet, "with pool of wine and forest of spread meat, men and women were made naked, and whilst they chased themselves, long nights were made".

In other words, it tells of a feast that took place for many nights, in which King Zhou created a pool filled with wine and a forest of displayed meat, where naked men and women would pursue each other. This is the origin of the historical expression "Shuchinikurin".

Additionally, the "Basic Annals of Shang" state that King Zhou did whatever his favorite concubine, Daji, asked him to do, and it is said that Daji was the one who made King Zhou commit all these outrages.

98 - Zhou Dynasty

【周王朝、shuu ouchou】

This dynasty was founded around the 11th century B.C. by King Wu, who overthrew the last king of the Shang dynasty, Zhou.

King Wu stood up against the tyranny of King Zhou, and with the help of his military strategist Taigong Wang and the capable chancellor Dan, Duke of Zhou, he defeated the Shang forces at Muye and established a new dynasty, the Zhou dynasty.

The Zhou Dynasty, with its capital at Haojing, near present-day Xi'an, abandoned the system of government that had previously been determined by divination and ruled the country under a new system of feudalism in which subjects were given fiefdoms in exchange for military service and tribute payments. After the death of King Wu, the second emperor, King Cheng, was supported by the Duke of Zhou, Dan, who emphasized the importance of etiquette as the foundation of social order.

Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, who was born during the later Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, is said to have regarded the Western Zhou Dynasty's Duke of Zhou, Dan, as the ideal man, and to have adopted "courtesy" as well as "benevolence" as the basic principles of Confucianism.

During the reign of King You, the twelfth emperor of the Zhou dynasty, the Zhou were attacked by the Quanrong, a horse-riding tribe from the west, and was forced to relocate its capital to Luoyi, east of Haojing.

As a result, the dynasty in the period up to 770 B.C. is called Western Zhou, and in the period after that is called Eastern Zhou. At this point, however, the Eastern Zhou had already lost its momentum as a dynasty, and China then entered the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, a time of great conflict among the various nations.

88 - King of Beasts

【獅子王、shishi-ou】

[Lit. King Lion]

This is the name of a treasured sword said to have been given to Minamoto no Yorimasa, who was active at the end of the Heian period (794-1185), for his distinguished service in defeating the Nue, a monster that threatened the capital.

Minamoto no Yorimasa was the only master archer to fight for the Heike clan in the Genpei war and was also famous as a poet.

According to the Tale of the Heike, Yorimasa was in charge of guarding the Imperial Court when a strange creature with the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the tail of a snake, and the arms and legs of a tiger appeared and threatened the capital. Yorimasa, who was ordered by the emperor to exterminate the Nue, shot it down with his skill with a bow, and his subordinate Inosouta finished it off, thus successfully completing his mission.

For his efforts, he is said to have been given the treasured sword "King of Beasts".

Seven years later, when the mythical creature appeared again in the capital, Yorimasa was summoned in turn. The Nue, which hid its form and kept its voice low, was made to cry out in fright with a kaburaya whistle, said to harm evil beings by making sound, so that Yorimasa could detect its location and shoot it down with his bow. [A kaburaya whistle is actually an arrow, which has a whistle attached to it, so it can make a sound when shot.]

The kaburaya whistle used by Yorimasa at that time is said to have the power to exorcise foxes, one of which later possessed him, and the treasured sword "King of Beasts" is also said to have the power to harm evil.

In particular, the King of Beasts is believed to have had some power over fox spirits, as it is said in the "Tamamo no Mae Asahi no Tatomo (Tamamo-no-Mae on the Edge of the Horizon)", a Kabuki and Bunraku play, that the golden-furred nine-tailed fox desired it. Therefore, one of the spells to exorcise fox possession is to chant the name of the King of Beasts.

On a disk, the Kanji for "dog (犬)" is written in red 14 times in a circle, and "fox, lion, love, tiger, wolf (狐獅子愛虎狼)" is written vertically in Kanji below the circle. Then pour water drawn early in the morning, chant "Like the King of Beasts (如獅子王 or Goto Shishiou)" 33 times, and let the fox-possessed drink the water. It is said that this will exorcise the foxes that possessed them.

67 - Five-pronged Vajra

【五鈷杵、goko-sho】

[The first Kanji means five, but the second and third both mean 'vajra', but the last Kanji is actually optional.]

A vajra used in esoteric Buddhist rituals, consisting of a narrow handle and thick pestles on both ends.

The vajra was originally an ancient Indian weapon, but it was incorporated into esoteric Buddhism as a symbol of firmness and indestructibility to crush worldly desires and to represent bodhicitta (the aspiration to reach Buddhahood).

The five-pronged vajra is a type of vajra with five prongs, called a goko, while the one-pronged vajra is called a dokko and the three-pronged vajra is called a sanko.

According to legend, Kukai, the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, threw a single-pronged vajra, a three-pronged vajra, and a five-pronged vajra from a ship on his way home after studying esoteric Buddhism in China, and built Kongoubuji Temple on Mount Kouya in Wakayama Prefecture, where one of these three-pronged vajras fell.

The Indian vajra, from which the Buddhist vajra is derived, is said to be the armament of Indra, the supreme god of ancient Indian mythology, and the god Taishakuten, whose origins lie in Indra, is often depicted with a vajra in his hand.

64 - Priest Gennou

【玄翁和尚、gennou-oshou】

[Oshou is the honorific used for Buddhist monks and priests, particularly those in charge of temples or monasteries.]

He was a Soutou Zen Buddhist priest who made great achievements from the Nanbokucho era (1336-1392) to the Muromachi era (1392-1573). His monk name is sometimes written as Gen'ou, and his name is Shinshou.

He was ordained at the age of five, and under the tutelage of Jouseki Gazan, who developed Soutou Zen Buddhism as a popular religion among the people, he founded many temples throughout Japan, from Akita Prefecture in the north to Kagoshima Prefecture in the south.

Gennou's many legends include those about the discovery of hot springs and miraculous water, and the extermination of yokai, as seen in the legend about the Killing Stone. As a Zen Buddhist monk, Gennou's character as a practitioner of asceticism is strongly apparent in these legends.

Such an aspect can be seen in the fact that he pilgrimaged to various mountains and established temples in various provinces, spreading Soutou Zen Buddhism among the populace by offering blessings and prayers to solve problems that were more closely connected to the common people.

One type of hammer is named "gennou", used for striking a chisel, which was named after Priest Gennou, and is said to have originated from the tool with which he crushed the Killing Stone.

[Sometimes gennou is also used to refer to sledgehammers.]

53 - Golden-furred Nine-tailed Fox

【金毛九尾の狐、kinmou kyuubi no kitsune】

The legendary fox with a white face, golden fur, and nine tails. The most famous legend featuring this Golden-furred Nine-tailed Fox is that of "Tamamo-no-Mae".

Legend has it that the Nine-tailed Fox first became the favored concubine of Shang dynasty King Zhou, and after seducing him with her beauty and leading the Shang to ruin, it took on the role of Consort Kayo, the queen of King Hansoku of the Kingdom of Magadha, in an attempt to destroy the country.

However, the doctor Giba discovered her true identity and she fled, only to re-emerge in China as the favored concubine of King You, who seduced him and is said to have been responsible for the fall of the Zhou dynasty.

Since then, the nine-tailed fox had been in hiding, but this time it showed itself to Japan. In the Nara period (710-794), a group of Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty led by Kibi-no-Makibi was accompanied on their way home by a beautiful girl, who is said to have been the Nine-Tailed Fox.

After arriving in Japan, the Nine-tailed Fox remained dormant for a while, but during the Heian period (794-1185), she emerged as "Tamamo-no-Mae," the favorite courtesan of the emperor of the time. Using her bewitching charm as a weapon, Tamamo-no-Mae entered the court and made the emperor fall ill, but her true identity was discovered by the onmyouji Abe-no-Yasuchika, and she escaped to Nasunogahara in Shimotsuke-no-kuni.

However, the Nine-tailed Fox was eventually hunted down and ruthlessly slain by a strike force led by two famous warriors, Miura-no-suke Yoshiaki and Kazusa-no-suke Hirotsune, but even in death, it is said to have turned into a poison-spewing stone that harmed anyone who came near it.

In the ancient Chinese geography book "Classic of Mountains and Seas", it was written that a fox-like beast with nine tails would devour people, and conversely, if you ate this beast, you would not fall victim to evil thoughts. Further down the ages, it was said that this fox would appear when a king would unify or rule well under the heavens, indicating it didn't always have a bad image.

Eventually, folklore began to tell of old foxes possessing magical powers and disguising themselves as people to deceive them, and legends began to emerge of fox spirits appearing when the country was in turmoil, and these attributes were combined to create the Golden-furred Nine-tailed Fox as a demonic beast that bewitched the rulers of the time.

43 - Giba

【耆婆、giba】

A famous doctor that lived in the same period as Shakyamuni in the ancient Indian Kingdom of Magadha. His Indian name was Jīvaka.

A devout follower of Buddhism, he is said to have advised King Ajase, who was distressed by the death of his father, to seek direction from the Buddha.

He also specialized in treating headaches and is said to have performed an incisional surgery in which he opened the patient's head and removed a parasite (presumably a tumor of some kind).

According to the legend of Tamamo-no-Mae, he is said to have been the one who, while treating the headache of the wife of the Kingdom of Magadha's King Hansoku, discovered that she was possessed by a fox.

[He is also considered a patron of traditional medicine in India and China.]