Ateru

Please note: This article is about the yobanjin known as the Demon of Wyvern Pass. For other uses of the term, please see Ateru (disambiguation).

Ateru
Born:	Unknown
Died:	Fifth century
People

Ateru, the Demon of Wyvern Pass, was a yobanjin warrior of the Hyōketsu tribe, its foremost warrior and a ambitious, cruel, and uncaring man.

Betrayed

The Hyōketsu used to stage raids against the Isawa provinces, and they made extended campaigns after a visitor from the Imperial Court paid the Hyōketsu to run daring attacks throughout Isawa lands. When the Phoenix warriors confronted the Yobanjin, they trapped Ateru's forces at a mountain pass, which would be the end of the Hyōketsu. His betrothed, the princess Kaito no Momotsukihime, became a traitor when she brokered a treaty with the Isawa, her tribe in exchange for a place among the Phoenix Clan. The next day saw a massacre of the Hyōketsu at the hands of the Shiba family warriors, but Ateru escaped.

Death

The Hyōketsu became a vassal family, the Kaito, and were granted lands in the mountains of Garanto Province. Yobanjin valued freedom over all else, and many Hyōketsu refused to join the Phoenix. After many years of preparations, a civil war began among the Hyōketsu, with Ateru as their leader. Kaito, who was an expert archer, killed Ateru with the bow. His corpse fell deep into a well, the Well of the Ateru, and, which became frozen to keep Ateru's spirit imprisoned. Kaito had realized that Ateru's dagger had become an artifact of Tōshigoku, the Realm of Slaughter, and with her last breath, she had prayed to seal his body for the rest of the time. A shrine, Sanpuku Seidō was built around the well.

After Death

Ateru had died lusting for revenge and was forgotten, his name came to mean demon in Kaito dialect. The well became a portal to Tōshigoku, his followers became onryō, and as a restless spirit Ateru began to seek the destruction of the Kaito. In 1123 his spirit and followers were totally vanished after a fight against the current Kaito Daimyō, Kaito Kosori, the Phoenix Champion Shiba Tsukune, and the Scion of Earth Isawa Tadaka. While trying to drag Tsukune into Tōshigoku, the soul of Shiba Ujimitsu appeared and sacrificed himself, passing to the Realm of Eternal Slaughter with the Ateru.

References

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