Kyoso no Oni

Kyoso no Oni was one of the most feared Oni Lords. She was an enemy of Daigotsu and actively tried to destroy his dark empire.

Agasha Kyoso
Kyoso was named by Agasha Kyoso, a powerful young shugenja destined for greatness. Agasha Kyoso was driven to maho when her beloved, Asahina Anzai married Kakita Ryo to maintain political relations. When Kyoso summoned an oni, she bonded with it physically and became the dominant will controlling that oni. Despite her violent tendencies, Kyoso considered herself a patron of love, and offered her protection to wronged lovers while pretending to be a fortune.

Supremacy in the Shadowlands


After Fu Leng was banished to Jigoku following the Second Day of Thunder, Kyoso worked actively to make herself the Sovereign leader of the Shadowlands. Her efforts were thwarted by Kuni Yori, who had obtained Fu Leng's Skull and claimed to be the true successor of Fu Leng.

Surveying Yori
Kyoso kept an eye on all the activities of Yori, seeking a weakness so she could defeat him. In 1132 she was at the orders of Kuni Yori in the ruins of the seized Shiro Hiruma. Yori commanded Kyoso to scort Jama Suru to the Isawa Woodlands where they should contact with the Shadows.

Morikage Forest
Suru told Kyoso they would travel without conflicts. While Kyoso searched the Hidden Emperor Toturi I intending to kill him, Suru kept his forces searching a magical Mask. Her journey brought her to Morikage Forest, where Suru sensed two Unicorn and lured them both with the magic of the Hidden Heart of Iuchiban. The first to appear was Otaku Kamoko and Suru began a ritual that would allow Iuchiban's soul to be binded to Kamoko, but Kyoso wanted the blood of the Thunder and knocked the bloodspeaker backwards, breaking the Heart's charm. The second lured Unicorn, Otaku Xieng Chi, appeared at that moment with her mind recovered, and immediately began to fight the Oni and the bloodspeaker. Xieng Chi had no weapons, because she was resting at a Mantis camp before being charmed, but she used a jade finger and surprisingly Kyoso vanished. It gave time to Kamoko to flee.

Kamoko and Kyoso
Kyoso had not vanished, she only had occupied the corpse of Kamoko and was within her body. A strange feeling had overcame Kamoko, as if something horrible had just invaded her dreams. Kyoso no Oni had tempted Kamoko. The Oni Lord promised to give Kamoko power who protected her from the Taint. Kyoso would help Kamoko to control the Dark Moto, and lead them to destroy the Kolat within the Unicorn, the same Kolat that destroyed Kamoko's mother. Kamoko had permitted Kyoso to join with her, and together they would destroy Moto Tsume, only at the cost of Kamoko's soul.

Burning Words


When Kuni Yori met Iuchi Shahai in Unicorn lands in 1132, Kyoso secretely watched over their meeting. Yori gave Shahai the Burning Words, a written account of a bargain between Fu Leng and the Shi-Tien Yen-Wang, gaijin Lords of the Dead. Inside the written account was a prophecy, which told of a True Moto who would strike down his bethren. The bloodspeaker willingly accepted the quest to find the Unicorn hero.

Thunder
Otaku Kamoko, who found Shinjo's purge of Kolat within her clan distasteful. Shahai sensed Kamoko's displeasure, and offered her the Burning Words. Kamoko initially refused, until she heard the voice of Kyoso in her mind promising to protect her against the taint. In return Kyoso would be hidden inside Kamoko's soul, until they had the opportunity to get close to their mutual enemy Moto Tsume. Kamoko accepted and killed Shahai, who had secretely anticipated this action and was returned to health thanks to a ritual performed before the meeting. Tsume, who had been reborn by Yori, swore fealty to Yori and lent his strength to Yori's claim over the Shadowlands.

War in the Shadowlands
At the Battle of Twilight Mountains Kamoko managed to get close enough to Moto Tsume for Kyoso to defeat him. With Oni no Akuma losing against the Lion army, Kyoso obtained Fu Leng's Skull, becoming the first among those below the Dark Lord. Kyoso offered Kamoko another bargain, to join the lost, but when Kamoko refused Kyoso killed her. Furious Kyoso intended to consume Kamoko's soul, dragging her down into Jigoku. The Kami Shinjo realized Kyoso's intent and moved Kamoko's soul beyond Kyoso's reach, placing her in the heavens as a constellation. Kyoso fled when she saw the Kami arrival.

Aftermath
Akuma no Oni had fallen, and Kuni Yori was entombed in a sphere of pearl. Deep within the Shadowlands, the last of the oni overlords claimed her right to rule.

Death of Toturi
Kyoso was guessing who was behind the Toturi's death and the Tsuno arrival, and asked Shahai, but she had not been involved. The Oni Overlord felt his supremacy contested by an unknown individual.

Daigotsu


Kyoso treated Daigotsu as another outsider to his supremacy in the Shadowlands. The powers of Daigotsu were so great that in 1158 Kyoso was vanished to Jigoku, out of the mortal realm. Daigotsu wielding the power of Kyofu, Onisu of Fear, had slain the Oni Lord.

Spawning from Jigoku
Most banished Oni Lords could not return to the Mortal Realm until a mortal summoned them, but Kyoso was a special case. If she found a heart as consumed with vengeance as hers once was, she could visit that person in dreams, seduce them with promises of revenge, and consume them as she was once consumed. The unfortunate soul would become the new Kyoso no Oni.

A prey is found
Kyoso found a prey she could consum in Beiden, Yogo Mana, a maiden who was deeply in love with a Lion bushi. The bushi had had to leave the city after the Beiden Pass was collapsed in 1150. Kyoso visited Mara in dreams, fed her anger and vengeance, driving her to murder local shugenja, as if they were responsibles of the destruction of the Pass. The assassinations were under investigation. It was not clear if Mara was consumed or if she was saved.

Enlightenment
Seeing so many great powers of Jigoku defeated by mortals, Kyoso decided that she could not overlook the strength of the mortal spirit. Turning aside her disdain, she began to plumb the mysteries of mortality.

Kyofu
During a battle against a group of Crab soldiers, Kyoso was severely injured by Kyofu before she was able to kill him.

Defeat


In 1170, Asako Fosu and Isawa Mariko sacrificed themselves to bind Kyoso no Oni in a Black Scroll. The human form of Agasha Kyoso reappeared then, and was taken into custody by Seppun Tashime.