Steel of the Celestial Shadows

Edition excerpt from Steel of the Celestial Shadows, Vol. 3 (2024): Down-and-out samurai Ryudo Konosuke has a supernatural gift, but it is a power that has ruined his life.A down-and-out samurai named Ryudo Konosuke struggles through his hardscrabble life in early 19th-century Japan. It is said that a samurai’s spirit rests in their sword—and Konosuke can’t even pick one up thanks to a cruel curse that repels anything made of metal that gets near him. Destitute and hopeless, he decides to end it all. But when a beautiful and mysterious woman saves his life and his soul, it is the beginning of Konosuke’s journey into a strange world of magic that exists a step away from his own.After fighting off a bizarre attack by a troupe of manzai comedians, Konosuke and Aki realize the forces of the Tsuchimikado clan are after them. The Tsuchimikado oversee all of the onmyoji and the gifted throughout Japan, and Konosuke realizes finding Tsuki means confronting the powerful clan. But doing so means going to Kyo, the capital. As Konosuke and Aki decide to put Edo behind them, another strange assassin comes calling, and life or death will depend on Konosuke controlling his power to warp metal, or losing himself to it…