Chapter 50: Tsuchimikado Harutora Abducted
The sudden upheaval turned Mitsuwa Town's annual festival into a nightmare.
Just moments ago, the streets had been packed with laughter, lantern light, and the scent of grilled food. Now they were a scene of supernatural chaos. Stalls had been overturned. Paper decorations lay trampled into the dirt. Blood stained the road where people had fallen in the panic and been stepped on by the terrified crowd behind them.
Hiss... hiss...
Evil Spirits drifted through the streets one after another, each cloaked in a foul, ominous aura. Their twisted faces were hideous beyond description, and their mouths released low, inhuman growls as they searched hungrily for the scent of the living.
Unlike the people outside Mitsuwa Town, who had long been forced to live under the shadow of the supernatural resurgence, the townsfolk here had always been protected by the Tsuchimikado barrier. They had never truly experienced this kind of terror with their own eyes.
That was why the impact was even worse.
Many people's mental defenses shattered on the spot.
Some fled into their homes and locked the doors with trembling hands. Others hid in alleyways, behind collapsed stalls, under carts, or in whatever narrow corner they could squeeze themselves into. There were even people who climbed into trash bins and curled up among the garbage, shaking uncontrollably as they prayed not to be found. Every one of them begged in their hearts for the Tsuchimikado Onmyoji to arrive quickly and wipe out these horrifying monsters.
In a dark little corner off the street, a young girl was crouched behind a trash bin, tears streaming down her face.
Not far ahead of her, an Evil Spirit was wandering aimlessly.
"Mama... where are you? I'm scared... I'm so scared..."
Her sobs were tiny, barely more than a whimper, yet in the unnatural silence of fear, they were enough.
The Evil Spirit, which had already begun drifting away, abruptly stopped.
Its empty eye sockets, devoid of pupils, turned toward the place where the girl was hiding. Then, with a jerky, dreadful motion, it started walking toward her.
The little girl went stiff with terror. She could not even cry properly anymore.
At that very moment, a clear voice rang out.
"God of the east sea, Amei. God of the west sea, Shukuryou. God of the south sea, Kyojou. God of the north sea, Gukyou. Gods of the seven seas, fend off a hundred demons and drive back the fierce disaster. — Order!"
[Hundred Demon Dissipation Spell]!
A burst of righteous power tore through the air.
The Evil Spirit did not even have time to scream. It shattered on the spot, dispersed by the force of the spell like rotten mist struck by a gale.
Tsuchimikado Natsume stepped out from the street beyond and entered the narrow alley.
The imperial style [Hundred Demon Dissipation Spell] had come from her hand.
She was still a student of the Onmyo Academy, still technically an apprentice Onmyoji. Yet her execution of that spell was already smooth and precise enough to rival many true professionals. In terms of actual combat ability, she was no weaker than an ordinary professional Onmyoji.
Natsume crouched down slightly and softened her voice.
"It's all right now. Come out."
The little girl looked up at her through tears, her whole body still shaking.
"The Evil Spirit is gone," Natsume said gently. "Big sister took care of it."
Only then did the girl dare crawl out from behind the trash bin.
Natsume pointed toward a safer stretch of road in the distance.
"Go that way. Your mother may already be looking for you over there."
The girl sniffled hard and nodded.
"Mm... thank you, big sister."
Natsume watched until the child had run off, then straightened slowly. Her expression hardened at once.
"Who would go this far..." she muttered. "And for what?"
Raised from childhood as the next head of the Tsuchimikado Clan, she was much more sensitive than ordinary people when it came to this sort of thing.
Hundreds of low grade Evil Spirits had suddenly appeared inside Mitsuwa Town, even though the barrier around the town remained intact.
This was not an accident.
It was deliberate.
Natsume exhaled softly, then tightened her grip on the talisman in her hand.
"No matter what their real goal is, these Evil Spirits have to be wiped out first."
If they were allowed to roam free, the residents of Mitsuwa Town would start dying one after another. At that point, the Tsuchimikado Clan would have failed in its duty.
And then, without meaning to, she thought of the person who had separated from her the instant the chaos began.
"I hope everything is going well on Mr. Gin's side too..."
A short while later, after eliminating five Evil Spirits in a row and saving several more residents, beads of sweat had already appeared along Natsume's pale forehead.
Ahead of her, three more Evil Spirits were drifting down the street.
"This art severs evil and purges misfortune. Swiftly, obey my command!"
[Demon Subduing Thunder Curse]!
Lightning crashed down from above.
The three Evil Spirits were annihilated in a single blow.
"Aunt Chizuru!"
Natsume turned at once.
The newcomer was Tsuchimikado Chizuru. Behind her came a large number of Tsuchimikado Onmyoji, all already in motion.
"Split up," Chizuru ordered immediately. "Saving people comes first. Eliminate every Evil Spirit in town as quickly as possible."
"Yes, Lady Chizuru!"
The Tsuchimikado Onmyoji scattered in all directions at once, each using their Spirit Insight to locate nearby Evil Spirits and purge them one by one.
Only after the immediate pressure eased did Chizuru glance toward Natsume.
"So it's you, little Natsume. Where is that little White Fox fellow who was with you?"
Chizuru's tone was casual, but her eyes were not.
Ever since receiving Yasuzumi's instructions, Gin Tsumugi had become a matter of special concern to the Tsuchimikado Clan.
Natsume answered honestly.
"You mean Mr. Gin? The moment the Evil Spirits appeared, he split off from me to deal with the ones in another part of town."
Chizuru nodded once.
"Then stay with me. We'll clean up the rest together."
"All right, Aunt Chizuru."
The aunt and niece moved together after that, eliminating every Evil Spirit they could detect within the range of their Ghost Seeing Power.
Half an hour later, under the leadership of Tsuchimikado Chizuru and Tsuchimikado Natsume, the hundreds of Evil Spirits that had suddenly appeared throughout Mitsuwa Town were all completely eradicated.
Only then did the residents hiding in homes, sheds, alleyways, and corners finally begin to emerge. Even so, their faces were still ghostly pale, their eyes full of lingering fear.
A Tsuchimikado Onmyoji hurried over and reported at once.
"Lady Chizuru, Lady Natsume, all Evil Spirits have been eliminated. The remaining Yin energy is being cleared now. As for the town barrier, men have already been sent to inspect it for traces of intrusion or sabotage. We should have results soon."
He paused, then continued.
"The residents of Mitsuwa Town have suffered some injuries from the panic. Mostly falls and trampling. There are also considerable property losses from the chaos."
Chizuru let out a low breath.
"Fortunately, they were only low grade Evil Spirits. If stronger monsters had been brought in, things would not have ended this simply."
Natsume, however, was looking around.
She still had not seen the familiar figure she had expected to find by now.
"Have you seen Mr. Gin?" she asked.
The Onmyoji she addressed blinked, then realized who she meant.
"Lady Natsume, you mean White Fox Gin Tsumugi? I'm sorry. Ever since we began exterminating the Evil Spirits, I have not seen him anywhere."
Natsume frowned slightly.
"Not seen him...?"
Could he have returned to the estate after noticing the Tsuchimikado Clan had already mobilized?
That did not sound like Gin Tsumugi at all.
Before she could think it through any further, the growl of engines rose from the road ahead.
Rumble... rumble... rumble...
Three black modified business vehicles came racing toward them, headlights blazing through the night. Their engines roared with the heavy sound unique to reinforced Onmyo Agency transport.
A few breaths later, all three vehicles braked hard and stopped directly in front of Natsume and Chizuru.
Chizuru's eyes narrowed.
"Those are Onmyo Agency modified vehicles. Since when did they become this efficient? The Evil Spirits barely appeared, and they're already here."
The reinforced door of the lead vehicle opened.
A middle aged man in an Onmyo Agency uniform stepped out, followed by several younger members.
"Excuse me," he said, "are you members of the Tsuchimikado Clan?"
"I am Tsuchimikado Chizuru," Chizuru replied evenly. "And this is Tsuchimikado Natsume. You should know who we are."
Recognition flashed across the man's face.
"Senior Chizuru. Student Natsume. Forgive our intrusion. We are from the Onmyo Agency's Magic Crime Investigation Department."
"The Magic Crime Investigation Department?"
Chizuru's eyes sharpened, but she understood almost immediately.
As the name suggested, that department specialized in investigating crimes involving Onmyoji and occult techniques. For them to appear now meant they had likely already grasped something about the source of this incident.
"You came fast," Chizuru said. "So what exactly has happened?"
The middle aged man hesitated only briefly before deciding not to conceal anything.
"Not long ago, one of the Twelve Divine Generals stationed at the Onmyo Agency, the Child Prodigy Dairenji Suzuka, defected. Before fleeing, she stole sealed yokai and several forbidden ritual tools from the Agency."
For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.
"One of the Twelve Divine Generals defected?" Natsume blurted out.
Even the Tsuchimikado Onmyoji nearby could not hide their shock.
Those were the Twelve Divine Generals.
National Level Onmyoji.
Figures that stood at the top of the entire field.
For someone like that to defect from the Agency was no small incident. It was a storm.
The man continued grimly,
"Dairenji Suzuka has always excelled in occult research while serving at the Agency. After she fled, our investigation uncovered a subject she had been pursuing in secret for years."
He paused.
"[Taizan Fukun Ritual]."
The effect of those words was immediate.
Chizuru's face changed. Natsume went rigid. The Tsuchimikado Onmyoji around them all stared in alarm.
That was no ordinary forbidden technique.
That was the taboo ritual that had nearly destroyed the Tsuchimikado Clan's standing in the world after Tsuchimikado Yakou's failed attempt.
Even Chizuru, usually unflappable, could not help muttering,
"The young ones these days really are growing more and more reckless..."
Natsume's mind moved quickly.
"So the forbidden ritual tool Dairenji Suzuka stole from the Onmyo Agency... it was what remained there after Tsuchimikado Yakou failed the [Taizan Fukun Ritual]."
"Yes," the man replied.
At that point, Chizuru and Natsume both understood.
On the back mountain of Mitsuwa Town stood the Sacred Mountain.
And on that mountain stood an altar once used by Abe no Seimei himself to perform the [Taizan Fukun Ritual].
It was one of the very few places in all of Japan still suitable for carrying out that ritual.
The reason Dairenji Suzuka had unleashed hundreds of Evil Spirits into Mitsuwa Town was now painfully clear. It was a diversion meant to drag away the Tsuchimikado defenders from the Sacred Mountain.
And if she had chosen that path, then she had almost certainly also prepared barriers and defensive measures of her own on the mountain.
Chizuru's expression settled into something cold and hard.
"If it is only Dairenji Suzuka, that is troublesome, but not impossible to handle."
The middle aged man looked at her and said quietly,
"It is not only Dairenji Suzuka."
Chizuru and Natsume both looked up.
"Before coming here, our department intercepted communication records from the last several days. We found that Dairenji Suzuka has been in extremely frequent contact with White Fox Gin Tsumugi."
He stopped there, but the implication was already more than enough.
Natsume reacted instantly.
"That's impossible!"
Her voice rose louder than she intended.
"How could Mr. Gin involve himself with a ritual as dangerous as the [Taizan Fukun Ritual]?"
The man did not argue with her emotion. He only stated the facts.
"White Fox Gin Tsumugi is highly proficient in ancient Onmyodo and old style spiritual talismans. Those are precisely the things Dairenji Suzuka is most lacking if she intends to perform the [Taizan Fukun Ritual]."
"Of course," he added, "we also hope this is only a coincidence."
But by then, even Natsume knew there was no point deceiving herself.
Her thoughts linked together all at once.
Gin Tsumugi coming to the Tsuchimikado Clan.
His strong interest in ancient texts.
The [Taizan Fukun Festival] materials he had been reading in the Library.
His understanding of taboo ritual arts.
His frequent contact with Dairenji Suzuka.
A chill ran down her spine.
He had not come to the Tsuchimikado estate for the [senji ryakketsu].
Or rather, that was not the real reason.
He had come to assist Dairenji Suzuka.
Chizuru, by contrast, became even calmer.
"Since this matter concerns the Tsuchimikado Clan, and it is happening on Tsuchimikado territory, there is no need for the Onmyo Agency to interfere further."
Her tone was polite, but absolute.
"We will handle it ourselves. You may all leave."
The middle aged man stiffened.
"Senior Chizuru... that may not be appropriate."
It was not that he feared the Tsuchimikado Clan would protect Dairenji Suzuka and Gin Tsumugi out of favoritism.
It was the opposite.
He was worried they would crush them.
After all, what the two of them were doing amounted to plucking whiskers from a tiger's mouth. The Magic Crime Investigation Department had not come here merely to arrest them. Their orders were also to ensure, if possible, that Dairenji Suzuka and Gin Tsumugi were brought back alive.
At that very moment, another voice sounded behind them.
"Just as Chizuru said."
Tsuchimikado Hirotaka had arrived.
He looked far healthier than he should have after exhausting himself earlier, but his presence remained heavy and authoritative.
"This matter will be handled by the Tsuchimikado Clan. The Onmyo Agency may return."
The middle aged man's face tightened.
"Lord Hirotaka..."
He dared not press the issue further.
Hirotaka's status within the Tsuchimikado Clan was far too high, and his words represented the clan's will.
In the end, the Magic Crime Investigation Department could only withdraw.
The three Agency vehicles left Mitsuwa Town as quickly as they had arrived.
Only after they were gone did Chizuru turn to Hirotaka, concern flashing across her face.
"Husband, how is your condition?"
The exhaustion from using [Gyo Ten Shin Gen] should never have faded so quickly.
That meant only one thing.
He had forced his body back into action through special means.
"There is no time to recover slowly now," Hirotaka said quietly.
His gaze was dark.
"If it were only Dairenji Suzuka, that would be one thing. But Gin Tsumugi is involved as well. That makes this far more troublesome."
Just then, a Tsuchimikado Onmyoji came running toward them, face pale.
"Lord Hirotaka, this is bad!"
"What happened?" Hirotaka asked at once.
The man swallowed hard and blurted out,
"Harutora is missing!"
Everything went still for a heartbeat.
"Harutora?!"
Both Hirotaka and Chizuru's expressions changed at once.
Then realization struck Hirotaka like a flash of cold lightning.
"He was taken to the Sacred Mountain."
His voice dropped, but the certainty in it was unmistakable.
"The altar there requires Tsuchimikado spiritual power to activate. That has to be why Dairenji Suzuka abducted him."
Natsume stared in confusion.
"But Harutora doesn't even have Spirit Insight. How could he possibly have spiritual power?"
For a moment, neither Hirotaka nor Chizuru answered.
Their silence itself was an answer.
Or rather, a revelation.
They could already sense it.
Harutora's true identity had likely been exposed.
And the one who had seen through it was probably not Dairenji Suzuka.
It was Gin Tsumugi.
The White Fox from Tokyo.
The youth they had never once been able to see through.
…..
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