Hyakka

Hyakka comes from a prestigious family of fire sorcerers.

Although he still looks like a boy, his skill with fire techniques is exceptional, and he has driven back Shiranui many times.

He is younger than Mao, but because he entered the estate ten days earlier, he is technically Mao’s senior fellow disciple.

The two treat each other accordingly, with Hyakka insisting on that seniority.

He is one of the true successor candidates of the curse arts.

Like the other candidates, he became effectively immortal and revives even after being killed, though he himself usually reacts as if he merely “almost died.”

In the Taisho era, he wears an eyepatch over his right eye.

He lost that eye twenty years earlier in a battle against Shiranui, during which he also burned Shiranui’s face and took his left arm.

Hyakka is a fire-attribute onmyoji who specializes in controlling things imbued with fire.

He is especially adept at using insect-like familiars and small creatures wrapped in flame.

Among the creatures he commands are red dragonflies, sparrows, and moths.

He can also make homemade dynamite.

His fire arts are powerful, but they have clear elemental strengths and weaknesses.

He is weak against water-based onmyoji arts and strong against metal-based techniques.

Despite his genuine talent, his personality makes him poorly suited to curse work.

While Shiranui accepts killing by curses, and even the more moderate Mao and Kamon use onmyoji arts to support fairly comfortable lives, Hyakka struggles along doing practical work for cash.

In everyday life, his prized fire techniques seem to find use mostly in street performances or tending stove fires.

That gap between great power and humble employment gives him a slightly tragicomic charm.

Hyakka is loud, overconfident, and full of attitude.

At the same time, he is timid underneath and not very honest with his feelings.

He is impulsive, straightforward, and unable to hold onto negative emotions for long.

Mao even remarks that Hyakka is “not suited to sorcery,” essentially meaning that he is too decent-hearted for it.

Because he is short and comes off as an ordinary cheeky boy, Nanoka Kiba tends to underestimate him.

That said, when fire starts flying, people quickly remember who they are dealing with.

In the Heian period, Hyakka often got scolded for letting his insect familiars escape outside the estate.

He also caused trouble by setting fires in the residence.

Not long after Mao was chosen as successor, their master summoned Hyakka to Goshikido.

There, he was locked in a room filled with monsters and forced to choose between two brutal options: curse Mao to death, or die there himself.

At that time, Hyakka had long black hair tied back and had both eyes intact.

His younger age contrasted with the fact that he still held senior status over Mao.

In the Taisho period, Hyakka was living with a traveling performance troupe under the name of the “Fire Neck User.”

However, when Byōki revived, the skulls that had become attached to him all fled, and he ended up leaving the troupe.

He later reunited with Mao at Ryounkaku.

There, he explained the circumstances behind Mao being selected as the successor.

At first, he hated Mao because of a misunderstanding.

Over time, that hostility faded, and the two began to fight on the same side.

His appearance had changed noticeably by then.

His bangs had turned white, white hair was mixed into the back as well, and his hairstyle had become short.

Around the time of the Russo-Japanese War, he was living as a farmer in a rural village.

Shiranui attacked the settlement, the entire village was wiped out, and Hyakka lost his right eye in the assault.

After the Great Kanto Earthquake, he made a living by running a udon stall.

It is a very down-to-earth path for someone with such dramatic powers.

Mao

Mao is Hyakka’s former junior fellow disciple, though only by ten days.

That tiny difference matters greatly to Hyakka, who acts as the senior.

When Mao was chosen as successor, Hyakka was pushed into a terrible situation and came to resent him.

Even so, his nature does not let him cling to hatred forever, and he eventually becomes Mao’s ally.

Mao understands Hyakka well enough to see that he is fundamentally too good-natured for the darker side of sorcery.

Their relationship mixes friction, history, and real trust.

Shiranui

Shiranui is one of Hyakka’s most dangerous enemies.

Hyakka has repelled him many times despite his youth and appearance.

Their clashes are brutal and costly.

In one battle, Hyakka lost his right eye, but he also left Shiranui scarred and deprived him of his left arm.

Nanoka Kiba

Nanoka Kiba tends to look down on Hyakka because of his height and brash, boyish manner.

His everyday behavior often makes him seem less intimidating than he really is.

Hyakka has the appearance of a boy, even though he is a highly accomplished sorcerer.

His small stature contributes to people misjudging him.

In the Heian period, he had long black hair tied behind him and both eyes.

In the Taisho period, his front hair had turned white, white strands had spread through the back hair, and he wore it short.

He now wears an eyepatch over his right eye.

That injury came from his battle with Shiranui twenty years earlier.

Hyakka is voiced by Hiro Shimono.