Morpheus pondered for a moment and decided to seek out Mother of Mifune to see if she had also glimpsed the same future.
He didn't know much about Mother of Mifune.
But he knew where to find her.
That evening, Morpheus arrived in Mifune City and located the so-called Mother of Mifune.
Mother of Mifune made her living as a fortune-teller, a middle-aged woman with an overly plump figure.
She was visibly shocked when Morpheus approached her.
In her visions of the future, she hadn't foreseen his arrival.
Or rather, she couldn't see him at all.
This made her realize Morpheus was no ordinary person. She perked up, smiling warmly. "Welcome, honored guest."
Morpheus didn't waste time with pleasantries, cutting straight to the point. "Did you see a strange future today?"
"A strange future?"
"One with black and white inverted, light and darkness unbalanced, a yokai parade roaming in daylight."
Mother of Mifune started, clearly rattled. She had indeed seen such a future today, but how did this stranger…
Morpheus read her expression and knew his guess was correct.
Whoever was blocking the future had caused ripples in time, allowing many to catch glimpses of this grim reality.
He pressed, "Do you know who's behind this? What did your vision show?"
Mother of Mifune shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir, my vision was too brief. I only saw hordes of yokai appearing in droves."
"That's all. I didn't see anything else."
"I don't know who the mastermind is."
Morpheus knew he was asking too much. Someone capable of blocking the future wasn't someone Mother of Mifune could easily perceive.
He thanked her and turned to leave.
As he stepped out of her divination shop, he paused.
A short-haired girl stood before him, smiling brightly.
"Hey there!"
The girl greeted him warmly, as if they were old friends.
But Morpheus had never seen her before.
Though, in his previous life, he recognized her—and even owned her figurine.
She wore a blue kimono, her neat short hair framing a pair of dark eyes. But when those eyes met Morpheus, they shifted into vibrant, spiraling irises of multicolored patterns.
This was the Nasuverse's most famous Mystic Eyes—the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
In the Nasuverse, only two people possessed these eyes.
One was Shiki Tohno, a male.
The other was the girl before him—Shiki Ryougi.
The moment he saw her, Morpheus recalled something from The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II.
A magus named Hephaestion had once said that the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were the ultimate future sight, "seeing the end and bringing it to the present," and the ultimate past sight, "seeing the origin and manifesting it in the present."
If that were true, Shiki Ryougi must have seen that grim future too.
"You were waiting for me, weren't you?" Morpheus said, stepping toward her, his dark eyes meeting her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
In the original story, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were hyped to mythical levels, with Shiki Ryougi's bold claim, "If it's alive, even a god, I'll kill it for you!" elevating them to a pinnacle.
But in reality, there were plenty of things the Mystic Eyes couldn't kill.
Like Magic Gods.
As a Magic God, Morpheus could conceal his lines of death, rendering the Mystic Eyes ineffective against him.
Many gods also possessed resurrection powers.
Killing them with just the Mystic Eyes was a pipe dream.
Take a simple example: when Shiki Tohno awakened his Mystic Eyes, he succumbed to an uncontrollable urge to kill and cut Arcueid Brunestud into seventeen pieces.
Yet Arcueid survived and pieced herself back together.
This proved the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception had limits.
So, Morpheus didn't fear them. Instead, he was intrigued by these eyes.
Despite his earlier dismissal, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were still among the highest-tier Mystic Eyes.
Their power was staggering.
They might not kill gods, but anything below a god was fair game, cut down with ruthless efficiency.
Few could withstand their power.
In response to Morpheus's question, Shiki Ryougi smiled faintly. "You're right. I was waiting for you—or rather, for whoever came to see Mother of Mifune tonight."
Morpheus nodded in realization. "So, you deduced my presence through Mother of Mifune? That's not something just anyone could do. You're Void Shiki, aren't you?"
Shiki Ryougi was a peculiar existence.
Born into the Ryougi family, one of the Four Demon Hunter Family, she was the second daughter, engineered with dual personalities. Her multiple personality traits were recognized, making her the designated heir to the Ryougi family.
Though female, she had a male personality—SHIKI Ryougi.
If Shiki Ryougi was the primary personality and SHIKI Ryougi the secondary, there was also an original personality.
The third personality: Void Shiki.
Connected to the Root, Void Shiki was the original personality of the body, "Shiki Ryougi," but lacked sentience.
When the Ryougi family created her multiple personalities, they granted sentience to Void Shiki, awakening her origin, [ ]. Using herself as a template, she created the personalities of "Shiki" and "SHIKI."
If Shiki and SHIKI represented the yin and yang of the Ryougi, their existence was like the circle encompassing both, making Void Shiki their essence. Neither Shiki nor SHIKI was aware of Void Shiki's existence.
Forced to face the outside world and finding it boring, Void Shiki relinquished control to "Shiki" and fell into a dormant state.
Connected to the Root, Void Shiki was nearly omnipotent.
But that was in the original story.
In this crossover world, even the power of Magic Gods was suppressed.
Void Shiki was no exception.
At least in the original story, she lacked the ability to destroy or remake worlds.
Even so, Void Shiki was astonishingly powerful. Her ability to track Morpheus through Mother of Mifune demonstrated her strength and cunning, surpassing many—even some gods.
"Correct. I am indeed Void Shiki. A pleasure to meet you, Lord Morpheus."
Void Shiki didn't deny his guess, openly admitting it.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (removespace)