Allegedly, there was a secret Onmyoudou book written by Abe no Seimei.
It was the 'Gathered Legends of the Yatagarasu and Moon Rabbit'. A legendary book that everyone related to magic had more or less heard of.
But the transcript circulated after his death had actually been compiled from multiple sources, and the five-chapter book clearly had some contents that had been filled in after his death. One example of this was that the name of the chief compiler was Seimei ('晴明') rather than Seimei ('清明')[1].
But that was all just common knowledge. The Tsuchimikado family had actually handed the secret magic left behind by their ancestor Abe no Seimei down through generations.
But it wasn't in the form of a 'book'.
"Do you understand?"
Harutora did his best to elicit a reply. As expected, it was tough to set up a stable 'space' between the Raven's Wing and Full Moon when they were so far apart. More importantly, the aura from 'him' remaining in Yakou was too thin a thousand years later. Yakou had placed his spiritual power and magic symbols into the Raven's Wing in order to maintain 'his' aura and placed his intelligence and personality into the Full Moon. In other words, it was basically impossible to communicate with the Full Moon unless it was near him. Even so, Harutora still focused his mind and attempted to fathom the returning signal.
"What should I do? She's almost at her limits already, and I don't know when her connection with Hokuto will break. No, even if I do something, Tokyo's spiritual state will instantly be overturned once the Souma decide to start carrying out their plan, and she won't be able to stand it in that state."
He had to find a way to save Natsume. No matter what, he had to find a way somewhere that would save the currently 'distorted' Natsume. He had to find that way!
......Even if he couldn't fix Natsume's abnormal state, Harutora would grab at anything that could prolong Natsume's current longevity. Harutora had been resolved to step onto the path of true Onmyoudou and sacrifice half of his life for the resurrection ritual in the first place when he had called back Natsume's soul with the Taizan Fukun Ritual.
"Please grant me instruction. Please!"
But Harutora's wish wasn't answered.
There is no other way...... than the theory of yin and yang......
The momentary whisper made Harutora tightly grit his teeth as he restrained himself.
The megalomaniacal lecture he had given Yashamaru several days ago surfaced in his mind. Just like the one he had once given Suzuka.
Even so, he couldn't give up.
Even if he had to rely on witchcraft or demons, he couldn't give up here.
"Is it really impossible to do anything without stepping into the theory of yin and yang!? Any way at all......!"
Harutora waited with for a reply, holding his breath because of his overwhelming, runaway thoughts. A few seconds of time seemed as long as several days.
......You can...... only...... make amends......
"Amends?"
Send her soul...... to me......
He suddenly felt as if his whole body had frozen. "I refuse." He immediately replied. "You want me to have Natsume die? I can't do that. Even if I violate the theory of yin and yang, I won't do that!"
Harutora didn't receive a response to his anger. He just received a calm message saying this wasn't the case.
Amend...... everything happening now......
The conversation with 'him' happened via thoughts rather than words. He had to transform the ideas of the 'space' he had managed to make into words. Alongside that difficulty, Harutora didn't know whether he had correctly grasped the meaning of what had been conveyed to him. He asked again, "Amend everything? What do you mean?"
However, in that moment, the space started making a sharp noise.
"No!?"
It seemed like something had happened around Akino. No, the 'space' he had forcefully constructed had been about to reach its limits anyway in Tokyo's spirit flow disturbed from the 'god summoning'.
Are you...... listening? ......It's...... not...... not there......
"Seimei-sama!"
......time.
Harutora did his best to safeguard the final thought that came from the rapidly-crumbling Taizan Fukun Ritual.
"Hey, what's wrong with you!?"
She was suddenly grabbed from behind and spun around. "What were you thinking!? Do you understand what the situation is right now!? This isn't your individual problem!"
This time both her shoulders were grabbed and she was shaken forcefully. Even so, Akino's consciousness didn't recover immediately.
"......Huh? Akino?"
She stopped, feeling that something was wrong. Akino finally came to her senses. Her eyes focused on the girl glaring at her.
"......Wait. Just now, that was...... magic? And judging by the spirit, that was the 'Full Moon', right? What were you doing?"
"Oh no...... Natsume, she - Natsume's going to die! Just now, that...... And she's going to decay if this goes on!?"
"H-Hold on! Calm down first. What's been wrong with you recently!?"
"It was Harutora-kun just now!"
"Hah!?"
Becoming more and more confused, Suzuka instantly tensed up after hearing Harutora's name. She grabbed Akino again.
"......The Full Moon was summoned, huh. What did that idiot use the Full Moon for?"
"U-Um! I couldn't hear his voice, but I felt that Harutora-kun was talking with someone! ......He said that Natsume will be in a lot of danger if this goes on! Also, Harutora-kun asked how to save Natsume, it seems like things aren't going smoothly......"
Suzuka listened while muttering "Magic, huh?".
"What's the deal? Didn't that Bakatora resurrect Natsume once? With the Taizan Fukun Ritual?"
"It seemed like he said that was no good......"
"No good...... It was a failure?"
"I-I don't know. I never heard anything like this before, but Harutora-kun said that Natsume had another soul......"
Suddenly, Akino thought of Harutora's promise and her mouth stopped as her body froze. Seeing Suzuka's suspicious face, she hastily explained, "D-Don't say that to Natsume! Harutora-kun said that if Natsume knew this, it might have a negative effect on her, h-he told me not to tell anyone......!"
"Hah? You spilled everything just now."
Akino's face reddened and tears started welling up below her glasses.
Why was she so useless?
She wanted to be useful. She wanted to be Natsume's reliable friend. She had always desired this, but everything she did was unnecessary, insignificant, or a blunder. She hated that. It shamed her so much she wanted to cry.
Feelings of inferiority filled her chest. She felt so bad she wanted to die. But,
"Hmph. I see."
Suzuka put her hand on Akino's head with a plop. Akino closed her eyes out of fear, her body stiffening up.
But Suzuka's actions weren't violent. Rather - they were so gentle that she couldn't believe it.
She gently stroked her head between her ears. That movement was gentle enough to raise her spirits. Akino opened her eyes in surprise. Suzuka looked away, the corners of her eyes slightly red.
"......Y-You're not mad?"
"Hah? Mad about what?'
"Um...... for running here alone a-and troubling you and the others......"
"Are you stupid? Of course I'm incredibly mad. Also, I hate people like you who do things sloppily."
Completely merciless. The fact that she didn't berate her excessively actually gave her the sense that these were her true feelings, which made it hurt even more. But.
"......You don't want to just sit around on standby, right?'
"Eh?"
"You have to do something yourself - that's what you think, right? And you're hoping that others will recognize you, right?"
"In that case, there's nothing wrong with it."
She inadvertently doubted whether she had heard wrongly. Her eyes jumped up as she looked straight at Suzuka.
"I wanted to do something stupid once before too, and ended up getting stopped by Bakatora and Natsume. But they didn't deny me as a person. In other words, um...... it's not your fault? Well, th-that's basically it. Even I wanted them to recognize me as soon as possible."
She had an inexplicable feeling.
Suzuka was a Divine General. A star of the magic community called the 'Child Prodigy' that even a nameless youngster like Akino had heard about in the temple. A young, brilliant idol that everyone striving to be an Onmyouji yearned to be like. Even though she's younger, she's acting an adult and extending a hand to my useless self. At this moment, she looked so much like a normal girl.
Akino timidly grasped Suzuka's hand. It was a small hand, like her own. The moment she grasped the hand, Akino seemed to sense Suzuka become relieved.
"Then let's go back. For now, we'll send Natsume a message."
She fiddled with her phone in one hand as she spoke. She was probably embarrassed. Akino also became inadvertently embarrassed, but she still didn't intend to let go of Suzuka's hand.
Just then, Akino's rabbit ears turned behind her. It seemed like they had noticed something. Akino turned her head around.
Down the slope stood a girl whose long shadow stretched from her feet.
She was a delicate and pretty androgynous girl who could momentarily be mistaken to be a boy. An archaistic air showed from beneath her cool expression, and she gave off an unearthly, mysterious presence just by standing there.
The most striking thing about her was her red hair. Her red hair swayed against the background of the setting sun like a burning flame.
The girl looked at them. Then,
"...Suzuka?"
An irrepressible joy showed from her slightly surprised voice.
Akino instinctively grasped Suzuka's hand tighter at her words.
"To think I'd be able to run into you here. What a surprise."
The girl continued speaking to them. Thinking that she was someone acquainted with Suzuka, Akino recalled the matter of the 'red-haired girl' that she had heard about a few times.
That's right. Natsume and the others had talked about her. She remembered her name was Souma--
"Takiko......!?"
Suzuka stared at the girl, almost speechless from shock. But the red-haired girl smiled tenderly at Suzuka.
The 'Divine Sword' had entered a magic battle on the street.
After receiving the emergency report, the Mystical Investigators instantly moved out in full force, with all their members rushing to the scene. The Exorcist Bureau also sent out an urgent communication telling exorcists to move out.
But in that hubbub, Yamashiro and Miyoshi stayed on standby at the Mystical Investigator's Bureau. In particular, Yamashiro sat in his chair flipping the pages of the small paperback book in his hand like nothing was going on. Using a tone like someone asking if he was going to answer that ringing phone, he asked Yamashiro, "......Is it alright to not go?"
But Yamashiro, who was just the opposite of Miyoshi and restless in his seat, angrily said, "Didn't I say? Chief Kurahashi gave the order that we were to standby at the Mystical Investigator's Bureau!"
"A standby order...... Did he give any reasons?"
"None."
"Why?"
"No, even if you ask me......"
Not expecting to have this asked back of him, Yamashiro was silent for a while. Miyoshi looked down, too lazy to even raise his head as he said: "It was an order, right? If you normally don't ask for the rationale behind an order...... If you just blindly obey without understanding why the order was given, you'll never in a hundred years climb up to a position where you give orders, you know? Also, as a Mystical Investigator, you can't just give up thinking because they don't tell you." He turned another page.
"......The opponent fighting with Kogure-shi...... He appeared in Ogikubo before. Could he be Tsuchimikado Harutora!?"
"No, it's not him. It's someone else who fought against him at the time." Miyoshi smiled wryly, but that wry smile was mocking. "In other words, Kogure-shi's currently fighting against an enemy of Tsuchimikado Harutora."
Yamashiro was momentarily speechless. He looked blankly at Miyoshi and only uttered words after a long while.
"......Are you saying Kogure's betrayed the Onmyou Agency......?"
"Even so, I'm less interested in that fact and more in his 'reason'. After all, it's that Kogure...... But......" Miyoshi avoided Yamashiro's gaze and his words became vague.
"......What is that 'reason'?"
Miyoshi didn't respond. He asked again,
"You reported to Chief Kurahashi that we weren't able to contact Kogure after getting his message, right? Kogure only ordered us to standby after learning that Kogure was acting independently. Right?"
The conversation of questions responding to questions continued. But it wasn't like they couldn't communicate. In contrast, the two of them both obtained answers from the other's silence.
Directly purifying him was meaningless. He had to capture him.
It was extremely difficult to catch a shikigami against its will. But it wasn't impossible.
Amidst the blood-red sunset, night and day exchanged places and yin and yang revolved. Omagatoki[2].
"You must already understand my intentions." Kogure said.
"Mostly." Kumomaru answered.
"You don't need to reply. I don't have so much time that I'd debate with a shikigami."
"......You're not asking anything? Exactly how much do you know?"
"I basically know nothing. But with my personality, I can't rest unless I see for myself. Mutobe - no, it's better to call you Kumomaru. Let me properly confirm how much was hiding behind your appearance of a terrorist and Yakou fanatic."
Right as the words left his mouth, a huge spiritual energy burst from Kogure's body. He stepped forth, moving close, drawing his sword, and readying himself for a straight slash at lightning speed.
Kumomaru crossed his arms in front of him to block. The mighty sword strike and torrent of magical energy entirely engulfed Kumomaru and raged inside the room. An incredibly overpowering hurricane instantly smashed the hotel's decorations into fragments, and the window in front of the sword strike was blown away along with the outer wall.
In the next moment, Kogure cut open the dust storm and rushed straight through, jumping down from the window to pursue.
This was the twenty-second floor. Without paying any heed to the dusk scenery or perturbed by the shockwaves, he swung his blade again straight towards Kumomaru below.
The second slash.
Without time to even dodge, Kumomaru took the strike head-on and hurtled to the ground like a meteor, sending up another wave of dust.
"You're stronger than I anticipated." Kogure uttered coldly. The materialized Kumomaru stood steadily on the rubble of his landing point. He knew with one 'look' that the damage he had done was far lighter than he had expected.
To capture a shikigami, one first had to whittle away their spiritual power bit by bit and then bind them with magic. Naturally, the stronger a shikigami's spiritual power, the more difficult capturing it would be.
"It looks like this will take some effort." He murmured as he raised his blade and continued attacking. But Kumomaru didn't flee. Instead, he dodged the blade head-on--
"Haaaaaaahhh!"
The sword danced. As sword techniques split the air, Kumomaru's speed became faster and faster, dodging every slash. More and more slashes cut nothing but air. Kogure inadvertently clicked his tongue.
A human's speed couldn't possibly catch up to a shikigami's in the first place, which was why he needed to discharge magical energy into his surroundings and increase the spiritual pressure, slowing down the shikigami's actions as if the force of gravity had increased. But Kogure had been constantly putting out a great deal of magical energy, yet in contrast, Kumomaru seemed completely unaffected. His expressions didn't change as he confronted Kogure's blade amidst the shockwaves of his slashes.
It was unexpected for him to have this much power. The moment after Kogure thought this, Kumomaru deflected Kogure's attack and struck out with his leg. This was a blow filled with spiritual power, just like Kogure's slashes. Kogure also gathered his spiritual power and parried the kick.
Bang. The impact went straight to his bones, and he inadvertently backed up a step.
As expected, he was no pushover. Powerful strength, with keen and calm movements. But......
...Could it be?
"I'm surprised myself."
Kumomaru suddenly said. Kogure took a stance and guarded. "I experienced the power of the 'Divine Blade' two years ago. To be able to fight until now...... I might not have been able a few days ago."
"......What does that mean?"
"Look forward to it. Look forward to what I'll show you next."
His suspicion became reality. "What are you trying? You should know without me having to tell you, buying time will just be disadvantageous for you."
He had to escape or defeat Kogure. Since he didn't intend to escape, then it could be seen that he wanted to defeat Kogure. But he had just been defending and dodging the whole time before and hadn't taken the initiative to attack. It would be even harder for him to get away when reinforcements arrived.
Was he going to use someone from the reinforcements as a hostage? It was still suspicious. This guy had avoided showing himself in front of others as much as possible, so why was there suddenly no more reason for him to hide himself?
As if seeing through Kogure's suspicions, Kumomaru leisurely gathered magical energy.
"......It's starting. 嗡 牛头 谛哵 誓愿 随喜 延命 娑嗢呿!"
"......! You!?"
Yin magical energy poured from the earth and the balance of the five elements fell apart. Phase Two...... Phase Three......
Twisted bestial spiritual disasters appeared alongside the third phase. And there were four of them.
"'Type-Chimera'!?"
Nue.
The same kind as Kumomaru had used in the spiritual disaster terrorist attack two years ago. But this time, Kumomaru had created Phase Threes right here without any kind of preparation beforehand......!?
"Go!" At Kumomaru's order, the Nue opened their maws and rushed forward.
The concepts of time and space were distorting.
In her delusion, sound and light, aura and time, melded together as one.
She lost her five senses, and the boundary line between her and the world became ambiguous. Slowly, the meaning of 'her own' presence became vague as well.
Her soul wandered to the other side.
She was one with the world.
Then all of a sudden, a light.
A golden point of light appeared. The point of light flowed, extended, and carved out a majestic ribbon.
The ribbon of light wrapped around 'Natsume', clarifying the boundary line between 'Natsume' and the world. 'She' formed self-consciousness as she was excised out, and Natsume came to her senses.
The ribbon of light pulled strongly on Natsume. It pulled her to the place she had originally been - her body.
It seemed like she heard a voice.
A very nostalgic voice.
Natsume!
Shouted awake, Natsume opened her eyes.
A very familiar teenage boy was staring at her in her blurry field of vision. Where was this? Her brain couldn't work. Her body couldn't move as she wanted it to either. She felt like she was separated from the entire world. Could this be a waking dream?
Then, a voice kind of like 'wake up' came from inside her. A voice she had been hearing just before.
A very nostalgic voice.
"......Hokuto? Incense? No more?"
But that voice slowly grew distant until she could no longer hear it. It became one with the golden light and vanished into the magic.
......Magic?
Natsume's eyes focused back on reality.
"Natsume!" It had been Touji[3] in front of her calling to her. Seeing that Natsume had woken up, Touji breathed a sigh of relief. "Great, I was wondering what happened to you. Your aura stopped completely for almost a minute, it almost scared me to death."
"......One minute?"
"Yeah. Nothing about the situation has changed. Rather, what was going on just now?"
...What had happened? Hokuto? And at the end, it had said......
Incense. Right, it had said 'there's no more incense'. What did that mean? And what did 'incense' refer to--
When she had thought this far, Natsume and Touji looked in the same direction. The direction of Kogure and Kumomaru's battle.
"That's......!"
"'Type-Chimeras'!"
That's right, Nue. Exactly like two years ago.
"First seal, release!"
Touji released his seal and became a living spirit. Immediately after, Natsume said, "I'll go too!".
"Uh...... Got it! But remember not to use your draconic aura!" Touji controlled his demonic aura, picked up Natsume, and rushed to the battleground.
"Go!"
The Nue[4] leaped to attack Kogure at Kumomaru's order.
As far as Kogure knew, only ara-mitama like Ashiya Doman could control just-formed spiritual disasters like this.
"Interesting." Kogure formed a seal with his empty left hand.
The Nue still rushed fiercely at him, but they turned into dust in the next second.
"Wha--!"
The dharani[5] of Bishamonten[6]. Partially-materialized aura surrounded Kogure, and the Nue that his blade cut across were purified without spurting out miasma. Kumomaru clicked his tongue and formed four more Nue. But just like before, the group of Nue attacking like a wave were cut apart by Kogure's sword.
"...Why don't you stop that?"
In an instant, taking advantage of an opening in the group of Nue, Kogure broke out of their surround and pointed his blade at Kumomaru--
"On bishibishi karakara shibari sowaka[7]!"
He heard an incantation that almost came from next to his ears.
...Damn!
He only remembered now. Back then, there had been two shikigami confronting Harutora.
A number of seals overlapped before his eyes and his body was bound by jet-black fog.
"Miyachi-kun might get mad if we just killed you. We won't take your life here - it's too early for you to die."
A young voice. All he could see through the black fog was a monocle.
I knew for sure that you would act after we made the attack announcement. I was truly relieved when I got the information that you were acting independently. Ahh, right, just like Mutobe-kun, I go by the name Yashamaru now."
Right as the words left his mouth, the magic bound Kogure's consciousness completely.
Clunk. His sword dropped to the ground.
"How......"
Natsume and Touji hid on a rooftop to the side and witnessed everything.
...They hadn't made it in time.
Natsume and Touji had arrived at a great opportunity, when Kogure was single-handedly fighting the group of Nue. If not for Yashamaru's ambush, they definitely could have won. The mighty spiritual power from before[8] was now completely imperceptible, as if it had been an illusion.
...If I hadn't fainted before...
They had been a tiny bit late. If only Natsume hadn't fainted along the way, she and Touji would have been able to successfully make it in time, the battle would have ended in Kogure's victory, and he would have been able to join them.
...Because of me......!
She was incredibly regretful.
"I don't believe it...... The Yase Doji are clearly much stronger than before. Though they were also powerful back then, I could have at least fought against them. Now......" Though Touji's tone was calm, his expression was pale. "'You guys are no good'[9]...... huh." He gritted his teeth and murmured.
"Anyways, we should first withdraw and meet up with Suzuka and Akino."
Right. Though it pained her to leave Kogure, she needed to ensure the safety of her friends. Natsume took out her phone and was about to contact Suzuka when she received a message. It was from Suzuka. She said that she had succeeded in meeting up with Akino.
"No sense in hanging around. Let's go."
Touji left the battleground carrying Natsume. At the end, she took one look, praying to herself.
...Sorry. Please, be sure not to die......
Soon afterwards, Natsume got the second message.
"Souma Takiko......!?"
Suzuka doubted her own eyes.
The last time she had met Takiko had been last month - no, it had been two months ago. She hadn't come to the research lab since Suzuka got her hands on the information about the spiritual disaster terrorist attack. They hadn't seen each other for a long time.
But it was really strange.
She knew it was Takiko, but inadvertently, she asked, "...Who are you?"
Without a doubt, it was Souma Takiko standing there downhill. Her androgynous and beautiful features, her steady standing posture, and her bright red hair were all evidence of Souma Takiko.
But she was different. There were things that were different from the Takiko of before. She couldn't say where, but her instinct warned her.
"It's been a while, huh. I haven't been able to see you for a long time. And...... I thought I wouldn't be able to see you again. I didn't think we'd be able to meet this soon, like Chief Kurahashi said. I'm so happy."
Something was still wrong......
...Calm down...... Suzuka breathed deeply, organizing the current situation. They had to escape, even if only Akino could make it. They couldn't let the Full Moon fall into enemy hands. ...Ha, it was like she wanted to play a hero. But the situation was urgent, and first off, they had to......
She stood in front of Akino and slowly moved her hand behind her.
"......What are you doing here?" She spoke to Takiko.
"The normal 'special training'. Didn't you know? It's close by."
"......Meaning that you've already dealt with the other business?"
"Hmph. I'm not with those annoyances today. I finally got to go out and walk around."
"By yourself?"
"Yeah."
Takiko affirmed naively and innocently. But Suzuka had a flash of inspiration.
'Those annoyances' couldn't refer to Onmyou Agency men, it had to be her defensive shikigami Yashamaru and Kumomaru. There wasn't any strange aura nearby, and although it was possible that they were stealthed, Takiko didn't lie.
...It could work.
She had already confirmed Takiko's power from her mock battle with Natsume in the Onmyou Academy. She didn't know how much it had risen after her 'special training', but she was confident that she could at least succeed in running away.
Hold on, this might be a big opportunity. If she was able to capture the Souma clan's shaman princess - no, that wouldn't do. If she captured her, 'they' would immediately notice--
Then, shouldn't she just kill her?
The thought that momentarily flashed through her made Suzuka uneasy.
Takiko letting the Raven's Wing go out of control had been the direct cause of Natsume's death. That gave Suzuka enough reason to make her decision here.
But......
...'I'm so happy'.
Suzuka knew that not one bit of her smile as she spoke those words had been false. Suzuka knew that she had been Takiko's only conversation partner during her two years of imprisoned life. Suzuka knew that Takiko was even worse at making jokes and even less worldly than her, and that she would keep at the card game she liked for entire nights. Suzuka knew all of that.
...Ugh......
'Affection'.
The word that Kumomaru had freely said before was now truly binding Suzuka. The second-class magic they had applied to Suzuka for a year and a half used the 'heart' rather than the 'mind'. It was now impeding Suzuka's actions.
"Those are pretty ears." Takiko's gaze moved away from Suzuka as she broke the silence.
Uh oh. She clearly felt panic from Akino's hand that she held on to. Akino's ears were still showing, and now she couldn't conceal them even if she hid them back away.
"Are you also from the Souma clan like Yashamaru said? Maybe we three Souma girls gathered here thanks to our ancestors' guidance. How nice."
That moment, Suzuka noticed exactly what she had been feeling strange about since before.
...This girl...... almost had no emotions!?
Takiko had originally been a plenty emotional girl, but the emotions of the Takiko in front of her now almost never changed. She had lost her 'pitiable' feeling too. Was it because of the 'god summoning'......!?
"Hey, Suzuka." She spoke in a voice that seemed to reverberate in her mind like a bell. "I don't really want to part with you...... Do you want to come back/ I like you. I won't force you to help us, just stay with me......"
Suzuka couldn't reply. The mysterious pressure behind Takiko's back pressed down on Suzuka and constantly increased her restlessness. Her mental state started becoming unstable.
Just then,
"We're Natsume's friends!"
Akino jumped out from behind her with a shout, then hid back behind Suzuka's back.
Suzuka's pressure from before vanished as if she had been smacked awake.
"Even I......" In contrast, Takiko's expression twisted when she heard those words. Anger, regret, and sadness. The expressions of the Takiko who Suzuka knew surfaced again.
On the other hand, Takiko's spiritual power that she could 'see' was swelling erratically.
That moment.
"Akino! Suzuka!"
A dragon and an oni. Voices came from the sky. She knew by sensing the spiritual power and didn't need to look.
"Natsume! Touji!"
Leaping past a stone wall, Touji jumped down carrying Natsume.
"Akino! Suzuka!"
They had just received the second message. As she dropped from the sky, Natsume saw Suzuka's phone in Akino's hand. Suzuka had probably secretly given Akino the phone behind her back while drawing Takiko into a conversation. Not only did the message say their location, but it had also told them that Takiko didn't have any shikigami with her right now.
"Here's our chance! Yashamaru and Kumomaru won't be able to do anything as long as we have control over their master!" Natsume jumped down from Touji's arms as she said this and surrounded Takiko with Suzuka and Touji.
"Order!"
The flame scattered by the fire-element charm surrounded Takiko instantly, and at the same time Touji rushed forward with a speed that broke apart the ground he stepped on. They would fight and win as quickly as possible!
But--
Touji's speed dropped and he kneeled onto the road, groaning. His seal had indeed been released, his horns and fangs were very visible, and there was no problem with the demonic aura that covered him in the form of samurai armor. It was the same living spirit form as always. But all Touji could do was crouch on the ground groaning. Natsume and Suzuka panicked when they saw this.
"How dangerous."
Despair instantly dyed her thoughts.
The figures of two shikigami appeared on the slope behind Natsume and the others. Yashamaru and Kumomaru.
"Ato Touji-kun? Did you forget what I said before? That you were the same kind as us? That you obtained the 'same kind of protection'?"
"You...... What are you saying......"
The Yase Doji laughed coldly. "Did you even forget how you became a living spirit? The oni in your body is none other than the one I summoned during the Great Hinamatsuri Purification four years ago. As for which one it is, you shouldn't need me to elaborate."
...How......
"You can't touch the princess with your strength."
"Damn...... What the hell......! Third seal, release!!"
Touji bellowed and demonic power spurted forth like a geyser, covering his entire body. Touji got up on one knee. He stood up with all the power in his body.
But that was it. Takiko looked somewhat sorrowfully down at Touji, who couldn't rise past supporting himself on one knee.
"Do you understand now?" Yashamaru laughed coldly. "Check."
They had been checked. As soon as these two shikigami returned, they no longer had any chance of winning. They couldn't even escape.
Checkmate.
Suzuka and Natsume could do nothing more than stand still dumbly.
"Okay!" Akino suddenly cried out. "Don't worry! Please start!"
Pale white light gathered by Akino's rabbit ears. "Touji, reseal right away! Natsume, Suzuka, stand together!"
Akino shouted. It was Akino's voice, yet wasn't Akino's voice.
Everyone present stared in surprise. Because everyone was familiar with that voice.
"Harutora-kun!?"
At the same time, Akino started stepping at high speed. A complicated and precise pattern of steps was instantly completed nine times with the speed of the moon rabbit.
Far Step.
"Kumomaru!" Yashamaru cried out and simultaneously shot his spiritual power into the ground.
Far Step, an instant movement method using the spirit flow. They couldn't let them escape like this!
But Akino's target wasn't Natsume and the others gathered here.
"...Damn!" The two shikigami hastily flew to their master. But Akino had grabbed Takiko a step before them.
"...Natsume, sorry."
Those last words were in Akino's voice.
Right as the words left their mouth, Akino, Takiko, Yashamaru, and Kumomaru were sucked into the spirit flow.
The moment the Full Moon entered the spirit flow, the connection with the Raven's Wing was cut off and Harutora's consciousness returned to his body.
He could only have sacrificed Akino. It pained him to give up the Full Moon he had finally managed to obtain, but the opponents also knew about this and wouldn't harm Akino.
But without the Full Moon, he would have no way of performing the Taizan Fukun Ritual again to call on 'him'. His clues for rescuing Natsume ended here.
And though he had disguised the spiritual power that he had provided for Far Step, the Onmyou Agency had probably noticed already. He would have to change locations again.
"Hishamaru, how is it?"
"It's already stabilized."
"Understood. I don't want to move, but we have no choice. Prepare the next hideout."
"Harutora." Kakugyouki called out from behind his master while Harutora suppressed his emotions.
There was no response. Harutora just gritted his teeth hard.
"At this point......" His voice was like a growl. "We've already used up all our strategies. So there's nothing left to be confused about - destroy the Souma, defeat the Onmyou Agency, rescue Akino, and save Natsume. I definitely won't give up."
His voice was flat, but his harsh, one-eyed gaze burned like magma, frightening those who saw it.
The sun had already set, and the flames of the few candles left in the room were all that provided illumination.
The flickering, dying firelight and the comparatively overwhelming darkness. The Onmyouji stared into nothingness as if begrudging himself.