Abundant Evil is one of 39 Myth-type side quests scattered across Nioh 3's open world, and it's among the most important in the Warring States era. The quest takes you into the Haunting Caves of the Maisaka region, where you'll face Hino-Enma — a highly mobile yokai boss who spends most of the fight airborne. Completing Abundant Evil unlocks two follow-up Myths (Headaches and Becoming Champion of the East), so it's a key progression gate for completionists chasing the Answering to the People trophy.
Quick answer: Abundant Evil starts automatically during the main mission "The Battle of Futamata Castle" once you talk to Honda Tadakatsu in Maisaka. You cannot miss it. The quest ends when you defeat Hino-Enma inside the Haunting Caves and rescue the Sudama.
How to unlock Abundant Evil
Abundant Evil is classified as a Myth, meaning it takes place in the open world and appears as a golden person icon on the map. Unlike some Myths that require you to stumble across a ghost or interact with a specific object, this one triggers as part of the main story flow. After you obtain the Guiding Mirror and progress through The Battle of Futamata Castle, you'll arrive in the Maisaka sub-region. Speaking with Honda Tadakatsu there automatically adds Abundant Evil to your quest log. There is no prerequisite side content — just keep pushing through the main missions until you reach Maisaka.
Navigating the Haunting Caves
The Haunting Caves are a compact dungeon with a few yokai encounters before the boss arena. Make sure you activate the shrine at the cave entrance so you have a fast-travel point if you die during the Hino-Enma fight. Collect any loot and clear out smaller enemies on the way down; the path is mostly linear, so there's little risk of getting lost. The Sudama you need to rescue is held near the boss chamber, but you won't be able to interact with it until Hino-Enma is dead.
Hino-Enma's attack patterns and how to counter them
Hino-Enma opens the fight with an immediate Burst Break — she launches herself at you in a straight line like a missile. The timing on this is generous. Wait until she's about to connect, then trigger your Burst Counter to stun her and land several free hits. This sets the tone for the entire encounter: Burst Breaks are your primary damage windows.
For most of the fight, Hino-Enma stays airborne or zips around the arena, which makes her frustrating for melee-focused samurai builds. Her ranged attacks from the air include two main variants:
- Electrified ball — a single projectile that stuns you on hit. Roll to the side as soon as you see it leave her hand.
- Needle fan — a spread of needles that deal minor damage. Running laterally avoids most of them.
After launching projectiles, she sometimes dives downward and performs a backflip on landing. If you're comfortable blocking, stay close and punish the recovery frames right after the backflip. Rolling away is safer but creates distance that lets her reset to the air.
Her close-range moveset consists of quick kicks that come out fast but deal relatively low damage. The important tell here is that her kicks leave her back completely exposed, so circling behind her during these strings is effective. One kick variant launches her back into the air, so be ready to switch back to a defensive posture when she takes off.
The Dark Realm phase
Partway through the fight, Hino-Enma drags you both into The Dark Realm. Her overall strategy stays the same — she'll keep trying to maintain distance and pepper you with projectiles. The key addition is a new Burst Break where she swings her umbrella at you. This move has more fluid, deceptive animations than her dive, making the counter-timing trickier.
Watch for a specific pattern: if she starts throwing kicks at close range, the third hit in that string is often the umbrella Burst Break. Anticipate it and counter for another damage window. Save your Living Artifact for after The Dark Realm ends. Once the realm dissipates, Hino-Enma shifts to more ground-based attacks, which makes it much easier to land your Guardian Spirit's full damage output.
Dealing with Hino-Enma's grab attack
In the later phase of the fight, Hino-Enma starts attempting grabs. She'll run at you and reach out with both arms. Despite how threatening it looks, the grab has very short range and a slow wind-up. When you see her arms pull back before extending, simply roll to either side. If she misses, she's completely defenseless for a long window — this is one of the best opportunities in the entire fight to unload heavy damage or a full combo.
General strategy summary
| Move | Response | Punish window |
|---|---|---|
| Straight-line dive (Burst Break) | Burst Counter | Large — several free hits |
| Electrified ball | Side roll or sprint | None directly |
| Needle fan | Run laterally | None directly |
| Dive into backflip | Block or roll | Medium — after backflip recovery |
| Close-range kicks | Circle behind | Small — back is exposed |
| Umbrella Burst Break (Dark Realm) | Burst Counter after kick string | Medium |
| Grab | Side roll | Large — long recovery on whiff |
The fight is almost entirely about reading Hino-Enma's Burst Breaks and converting them into damage. Outside of the umbrella attack in The Dark Realm, her Burst Breaks are straight-line charges that are easy to predict once you've seen them a couple of times. Patience matters more than aggression here — wait for her to commit, counter, and then deal your damage in short bursts before she retreats to the sky.
What happens after completing Abundant Evil
Defeating Hino-Enma completes the Abundant Evil Myth and rescues the Sudama. Two new Myths unlock immediately. Headaches starts in Hamamatsu and requires you to craft a "Ghostly Call" tool at the blacksmith in the Eternal Rift after dealing with a miniboss. Becoming Champion of the East also starts in Hamamatsu and becomes available as soon as Abundant Evil is marked complete. Both are part of the broader Warring States Myth chain, so finishing Abundant Evil is essential if you're working toward the Answering to the People trophy, which requires all 39 Myths across every era.
Nothing in Nioh 3 is permanently missable — all regions remain explorable after the story ends, and every mission can be replayed through the Battle Scroll at shrines. If you want to come back to Abundant Evil later at a higher level, that's always an option.
