Part 3
Kagami had started to carry out 'exchanges' with Amami and Touji last fall. It just happened to be slightly after the time when Kogure transferred from the Exorcist Bureau to the Mystical Investigators.
At the time, the Mystical Investigators had major issues. Tsuchimikado Harutora, who was viewed as the reincarnation of Tsuchimikado Yakou, along with the 'Shadow' of the Twelve Divine Generals, Ohtomo Jin. The two were to be arrested. But that wasn't anything simple. That was because both were powerful Onmyouji, and they led multiple powerful shikigami on the level of spiritual disasters. Even if their locations were found, teams of Mystical Investigators would have an extremely hard time capturing them. That was clear in the eyes of the higher-ups alongside the reports regarding them that were submitted regarding from the frontlines.
So, the Onmyou Agency higher-ups decided to give that mission to powerful Onmyouji who could oppose them. They decided to place an Independent Exorcist of the Exorcist bureau in the Mystical Investigators.
At that time, Kagami had raised his hand first.
Kagami had quite a few connections with Harutora and Ohtomo. He craved a clear conclusion with the two of them. To Kagami, the mission of capturing Harutora and Ohtomo was a wish come true.
Also, Kagami predicted two reasons for why he could be chosen.
One was that Kagami had done Mystical Investigator work.
Though it had been for a short period of time, Kagami had belonged to the Mystical Investigators when he had first entered the Onmyou Agency. He had worked under none other than Ohtomo. Because of that, he understood the basics of the Mystical Investigators and more or less had an understanding of the target of arrest Ohtomo.
That ought to be quite a big advantage for his mission as a Mystical Investigator.
But the most important factor was that 'there was no one else'.
In the end, since the Onmyou Agency's reason for existence was the purification of spiritual disasters, Independent Exorcists whose power was renowned for being able to purify spiritual disasters alone were the aces of the business. Retiring these Independent Officers from the frontlines of spiritual disaster purification during this year when they had an increasing trend was a bold - or rather, quite a 'reckless' decision.
But on that point, Kagami was the 'backup' of the Exorcist Bureau. After all, Kagami's daily work attitude was very poor. He basically acted alone, and never mind helping out on site, he even frequently refused the orders of the Exorcist Command Room. The reason Kagami was still able to be an Independent Exorcist was because of his outstanding power and the Exorcist Bureau's insufficient fighting power. Hence, the Exorcist Bureau could only treat Kagami like a reserve force in order to utilize his capricious self.
In other words, Kagami was the best candidate for 'it's not a big problem even if we lose him'.
He ought to be the most suitable person if one Independent Officer were transferred to the Mystical Investigators. Or rather, if an Independent Officer other than himself were moved, then negative effects that couldn't be ignored would appear in the originally-complete spiritual disaster purifications. Because he understood that, Kagami had believed undoubtedly that he would be chosen when he had announced his desire to transfer.
However, before he knew it, Kogure was the one who had been moved to the Mystical Investigators.
It seemed that Kogure was the same as Kagami in that he had also desired to transfer to the Mystical Investigators. Even so, Kogure was a pure exorcist. He didn't have any experience as a Mystical Investigator, and more importantly, Kogure's place on the frontlines of spiritual disaster purification was incomparably larger than Kagami's. Actually, Kogure was undoubtedly at the forefront of the struggle of spiritual disaster purification.
Even if the person himself wanted it, the person asserted by many to be the Exorcist Bureau's young trump card couldn't be removed at the present. It wasn't just Kagami who believed this, anyone in the Exorcist Bureau did too. Even so, the higher-ups had chosen Kogure.
The biggest reason was - Needless to say, the reason Kogure's transfer had become 'realistically possible' was the return of an Independent Exorcist to the frontlines.
National First-Class Onmyouji, Shigeoka Shunsuke.
One of the only five people appointed as Independent Exorcists.
Shigeoka had temporarily left the frontlines slightly before the 'Great Hinamatsuri Purification' spiritual disaster terrorist attack happened the year before. Since then, the Exorcist Bureau had carried out spiritual disaster purifications with the system of four Independent Officers Miyachi Iwao, Yuge Mari, Kogure Zenjirou, and Kagami Reiji. In the end, although the burdens on each Independent Officer had increased, they had managed to maintain their normal business.
But now that the fifth Independent Officer was returning, they calculated that they would still be able to manage their business with a four-person system even if they took one away. Room to choose had appeared. With that, even taking the lack of Mystical Investigator experience into consideration, the 'intensely passionate about completing his mission' Kogure was more suited than the 'it's not a big problem even if we lose him' Kagami. That was what the higher-ups thought. Kagami's usual work attitude became a stumbling block. To Kagami, it was truly hateful.
Once the person was decided, it was irreversible even if Kagami opposed it vehemently. Kagami was extremely displeased.
Hence, at the same time as he carried out his Independent Officer mission, he started searching for Harutora's and Ohtomo's whereabouts on his own.
Of course, it was an action that wasn't thought out. Maybe he could manage with Harutora, but Ohtomo was a former Mystical Investigator. Moreover, his power was first-class. If he seriously hid underground, then Kagami definitely wouldn't be able to find him alone. He hurried over every time they sparked incidents, then swallowed his irritation in the empty vacated area. And so on.
There was no one around Kagami that he could rely on to search, nor did he have any channels open to request that. Even his own information network wasn't worth mentioning. No matter how excellent an exorcist he was, in the end he was an outcast lone wolf. From society's point of view, he was just an approximately twenty-year-old 'youngster'.
Kagami himself poured his heart into training his own strength, but he had never once thought of acquiring means to rely on others. Because of that, when he faced something that he couldn't deal with using magic, he became more and more conscious that he had no chance.
Kagami's irritation and depression accumulated every day.
Then, Amami's secret communication happened to come at this time.
"Rin, hyo, toh, sha, kai, jin--"
"...Slow as hell."
Kagami mercilessly unleashed a water-element charm at Touji as he chanted the kuji-in. The magic torrent of water engulfed Touji, and the armor covering his body flashed with lag.
"The hell are you lounging around for. You should have gotten nine syllables minimum in that kind of time."
A leisurely charm magic with no formal chanted incantation whose spell was close to the default specification. Even so, it could be surprisingly effective as long as a practitioner of Kagami's level infused enough magical energy. In this situation, speed was the greatest strength.
The speed of the battle in a magic battle against a high-level practitioner was decisively different from the speed of a battle against an ordinary practitioner. No matter how 'outstanding' a magic was controlled, it was meaningless if the practitioner was beaten before he used it.
At the same time as he casually pointed out his slow reaction, Kagami quickly readied the next charm in his hand. A wood-element charm. Seeing this, Touji allowed his armor to lag while leaving the flow of water. He changed to a hand seal. A basic seal. Kagami snickered slightly, flicking out the wood-element charm with his finger like before.
"?? ?? ?????? ??--!"
Touji chanted Acala's Fire Realm magic. His thinking was extremely clear. He had seen Kagami take out a wood-element charm after a water-element charm and surmised that his intent was water generates wood of the Five Elements Mutual Generation. Water aura generated wood aura and grew into tendrils of vines. He planned on using the flame of the Fire Realm magic to counter it.
His judgment wasn't bad, and his immediate and decisive actions also passed.
But that was just a textbook [26] level of skill.
"...Order."
Kagami poured magical energy into the magic of the wood-element charm that left his fingers. Sparks flew from the wood-element charm with a crackle. Noticing this, Touji stopped his incantation in surprise, but at that time the wood-element charm had already burst into sparks of electricity and spurted forth electricity. Also, it used the prior water as a medium. The water aura generated wood aura that assaulted Touji in the blink of an eye.
"Gaah!"
The dark stadium lit up with flashes. Touji yelled and was knocked away by the impact.
He dropped to the ground with a loud sound. Then, his limbs were momentarily paralyzed and unable to move. The armor wrapping his body lagged intensely and half had already disappeared.
Amami, who observed in a corner of the stadium, moved instantly. But Kagami stuck his hands into the pockets of his jacket with an uncaring look.
"......Wood-element charms are surprisingly convenient. Outside of lightning, wood aura has very good characteristics of 'wind', much like metal aura. In the sense that it conquers earth aura, it's also connected to 'earthquakes'. It has a very wide range of use. Of course, you have to watch out for the balance in water generates wood of Five Elements Mutual Generation."
"......Really, thanks a lot......"
Touji gritted his teeth, forcing the words out in a groan. Then, he put his hands against the ground and staggered up.
Never mind the toughness at being okay after being unilaterally beaten down like that, it was incredible that his eyes still hadn't lost their fighting spirit. But if he wavered at this level, this kind of exchange wouldn't have any value at all. It had already been more than a whole year since he was requested to train Touji. The results of that showed clearly - at a pace slightly surpassing Kagami's expectations. Honestly, he was quite outstanding.
Kagami cast a gaze in Amami's direction.
The lights weren't on as usual, and hence the stadium was dark. Amami sat on the wheelchair on the other side of the darkness enclosing the vast space, gazing over at them.
He wasn't 'seeing', he was purely 'looking' [27] . But even so, Kagami had no intent of looking down on him. There wasn't a single fool in the Twelve Divine Generals who would look down on the man Amami Daizen no matter what kind of condition he was in.
Kagami indifferently recalled when he had first received Amami's communication.
He had been thoroughly shocked at the time. He hadn't been able to believe it immediately. After all, Amami had suddenly vanished without a trace after the Twin-Horned Syndicate sweeping operation had happened last summer, and his whereabouts had been unclear since then. Amami had been the Chief of the Mystical Investigators at the time and had been essentially the second-in-command of the Onmyou Agency. It was a huge incident for that kind of VIP to suddenly vanish. Actually, a search led by the Mystical Investigators was still continuing.
But it was a fact that the tremors within the agency had been minimized since Chief Kurahashi had managed the Mystical Investigators directly. Then there had been the overlapping incidents around Tsuchimikado Harutora and the movements of the Onmyou legal reform, and Amami's disappearance had slowly vanished from the memories of the Onmyou Agency employees. Amami had come in contact at that kind of time.
A sudden contact in the silence five months after he vanished. Moreover, he had contacted Kagami. It was totally natural for Kagami to feel shocked and doubtful.
But on the other hand, the instinct 'that's why it must be the genuine article' flashed by. That method of bluntly bypassing the surroundings evoked Amami's feel in Kagami.
Kagami had directly met Amami afterwards through a number of stages. At that time, he also realized that Touji, whose whereabouts had become unclear after Harutora's incident, had also been moving with Amami.
Also, he learned the reason for their hiding.
'......So that's it? The mastermind behind the Twin-Horned Syndicate was none other than the top of the Onmyou Agency, Kurahashi Genji?'
Amami had affirmed Kagami's confirmation with a serious look.
He understood that it wasn't a simple lie or joke by seeing the magical mark carved into Amami's forehead. Because the same mark had been carved into Kagami's forehead. A seal laid by Kurahashi Genji. Also, Amami's completely cut off his magical energy. Since that kind of thing was on his forehead, then it was certain that at the least, Amami and Kurahashi were hostile.
But if this wasn't a lie or a joke, then Amami's words were a truth that would shock the Onmyou Agency and the magic community. No, it wasn't just the magic community that would be shaken. The Twin-Horned Syndicate had led to two spiritual disaster terrorist attacks in the past and had brought many deaths and heavy damage to Tokyo.
Amami also spoke of the connection between the Kurahashi family and the Souma clan.
According to Amami's words, it seemed that the Kurahashi family and Souma family were old allies who had assisted Yakou together in the Pacific War era. That incident - the series of incidents where Harutora awoke as Tsuchimikado Yakou - was a plan of the Kurahashi and Souma to resurrect Yakou, but they had failed and ended up with Yakou opposing them. That wasn't just unrelated business to Kagami. After all, Kagami had confronted and fought Harutora before he vanished. He had witnessed the two shikigami gathering by Harutora's side - the scene of Hishamaru and Kakugyouki.
The link between the Onmyou Agency Chief and a fanatic terrorist group. Also, that link stemmed from a connection even before the war. This was no longer something at the level of a scandal. It was an incredible bomb that could blow the entire Onmyou Agency away.
However, Kagami was more interested in the intent of Amami for disclosing this to him than that problem.
"......What's your goal? Don't tell me you want me to tell the police and expose Kurahashi Genji's crimes...... You're not thinking that, right?"
Since the incident had developed this large, even Kagami couldn't act recklessly.
Most importantly, he had no interest.
Even if what Amami said wasn't a lie or a joke, Kagami wouldn't take it as one hundred percent true. Because he had no actual evidence. But verifying its authenticity would take quite some work, and would be extremely dangerous, and there would be no benefit. Even more importantly, he didn't have the enthusiasm.
If he opposed Kurahashi Genji and fought with him and the Souma clan - to be honest, he did think 'I want to try'. Targeting worthy enemies was the meaning of Kagami's life as well as the source of his strength. The stronger the enemy was, the more there was 'value in acting'.
However, even so, Ohtomo was first, and then was Harutora. To the Kagami back then - no, it still hadn't changed now - coming to a conclusion with the two of them was the top priority. He had no thoughts of deliberately getting involved in the conspiracy within the Onmyou Agency.
But it seemed that Amami had already realized Kagami's attitude. So, Amami brought an 'exchange' for Kagami.
That was to 'train Touji'.
It seemed that Amami had fled the Onmyou Agency - rather, Kurahashi Genji's eyes and ears - with Touji and hid underground to pursue traces of Harutora and Ohtomo. In other words, he had the same goal as Kagami in 'finding the two'. But in the end, he was the former Chief of the Mystical Investigators, so even if his magic was completely sealed, Amami was still better than Kagami in the field of pursuing fugitives.
Then, Amami offered to inform Kagami of the information the two of them obtained in their search.
Amami and Touji would inform Kagami of their information as they pursued Harutora and Ohtomo.
In return, Kagami would train Touji each time.
That was the 'exchange' that Kagami established with Amami and Touji.
"......Ah, I can't find any motivation......"
Right now, Touji was on alert for the next attack while watching for openings in front of Kagami.
To be honest, Touji was 'pretty good'. The special training Kagami was carrying out now was like actual battle, even a professional exorcist wouldn't be able to keep up quickly. Even given that Touji was a living spirit, he had merit.
But even so, that wasn't a reason for Kagami to help him.
No matter how much of an exchange this was, Kagami couldn't confirm how much Amami was giving him of the information he obtained. Amami also ought to know that Kagami was searching for Harutora and Ohtomo in order to defeat them. Then he couldn't possibly straightforwardly give them all the information. Though he certainly didn't have any other sources of information, that wasn't to say that he would help Touji with special training for some unclear information. From Kagami's point of view, this wasn't worthwhile.
However, that said, Kagami had agreed to the exchange and was teaching seriously. This was because of a certain 'condition' that Kagami had added on to the exchange.
Also, there was another reason.
That was that Ohtomo had once been a teacher.
"......Then."
Kagami muttered quietly.
Touji had already released his own seal and wielded the strength of a living spirit. The armor covering his body was proof of that.
In other words, he didn't need to worry that he would die easily.
"I'm starting."
Right as the words left his mouth, Kagami released consecutive magic.
Unmoving Golden Chains. Charm magic. Various magical walls. First-Class Spirit Language. And Fire Realm magic. Touji desperately fought back against all of it.
But it wasn't enough. Because Kagami was regulating himself - that said, even though he was throwing things out casually and although their magical energy outputs were balanced, Touji couldn't keep up in speed.
"Hey. How many times do I have to say it before you understand. It won't possibly be of any use if you refine your magical energy after you finish selecting your incantation. Think while running, seeing, and continuously refining your magical energy. Ready enough for the next go when you're using your magic."
As he said that, he also unleased Unmoving Golden Chains without an incantation or hand seal.
When playing around with an excellent student from an academy, the most effective method was to use 'mixed' magic.
That wasn't limited to the Onmyou Academy. The growing newcomers who weren't yet serious practitioners would always use magic 'carefully'. But that was natural, as if they made a mistake and let first-class magic lose control, the practitioner as well as the surroundings could easily be harmed. Hence, when mastering magic, one had to get used to being careful and attentive before a magic had been completely formed. That was common instruction.
But in a magical 'battle', that carefulness would often become shackles.
Even if 'accuracy' - or 'safety' - was the basic of the basics when using magic, a magic battle was only a magic battle with an opponent. If in the time that one readied an 'accurate' and 'safe' magic the opponent attacked with 'quick', 'imprecise', and 'dangerous' means, they would be the one to lose. At most they could only pray that the opponent's magic would lose control.
One could only act crudely in order to win against such an opponent. You would have to use magic even at the cost of safety. Of course, at the same time, you would have to stay above the bottom line of not going out of control - or, even if control was lost, it had to be within an acceptable range.
For a comparison, it was a technique like arriving at the destination without getting in a crash or letting the engine overheat. In the professional world, everyone was equipped with a high-performance engine. Given that, how could one win even a bit more speed than the opponent? 'Imprecise' yet 'quick' magic was the answer.
Also--
"...Order."
Kagami released a fire-element charm. Touji immediately pulled out a water-element charm to try to suppress it.
However, the magic of the first-element charm that Kagami released didn't activate, it just floated to the ground. "Wha?" As Touji's eyes widened, the Unmoving Golden Chains that had been released without a sound caught the living spirit and sealed his movements.
"Shit!" Touji struggled with all his might, exhausting his demonic aura to forcefully shake off the Golden Chains. During that, Kagami looked at Touji with a wicked smile.
"You were slow this time. Reacting and using all your power wasn't bad, but you're done if you expose yourself like that, Touji."
Honestly, he had just used a fire-element charm and chanted an incantation, but hadn't sent it any magical energy and had simultaneously thrown out a soundlessly-released Unmoving Golden Chains. In other words, it was just a simple diversion. But it was significantly effective against a newcomer rashly trying to keep up with the speed of the magic battle.
Also, he did things like use fire aura instead of water aura to block fire aura. Or deliberately making a mistake in his Unmoving Golden Chains and diverting that spell onto wood-aura vines and such.
'Unconventional' tactics, and undoubtedly tricks. But tricks had limited methods of use depending on the time and occasion. Things like conventions were only effective in a battle of similarly-skilled people. If the opponent changed their fighting style, then the balance would instantly change. That was the concept of yin and yang that comprised the Five Elements.
"How is it? It's tough to keep up your pace against a high-level opponent, huh? But you won't be able to win against anyone stronger than you right now as long as you can't do that."
"............"
"Ha. You finally don't have any of that frivolous talk you're so good at anymore, huh? Your friend's gonna lose his other eye if you're slow, you know."
An intense fighting spirit ignited in Touji's eyes again when he heard that.
Kagami had fought Harutora and cut his left eye with his blade 'Higekiri'. He had already told Touji about that - or rather, he had actually been lured by Amami's wordplay and inadvertently gave it voice. After Touji learned of that incident, he had buried their past relationship in his heart and had asked Kagami to teach him.
But it seemed that his anger at a friend being wounded still hadn't vanished. That unconcealed anger reached him from Touji as he started to attack again. Kagami dodged while continuing to speak.
"Listen, Touji. You're basically the power-hitter type. I said before to always keep refining magical energy. Just like breathing. It should be natural, not conscious."
Kagami frankly taught Touji everything he thought of without any modification. Though he didn't know whether it was the correct answer, he was instructing him extremely seriously.
Kagami thought this way. He knew that Ohtomo had been a Mystical Investigator. But after Ohtomo resigned from the Mystical Investigator, he had become a teacher at the Onmyou Academy.
Then what exactly had that person been thinking while he had been teaching students as a teacher? That kind of things had he been thinking about? What had the man who had climbed into the Twelve Divine Generals been pondering as he taught immature students about magic?
Maybe that was completely useless thinking for the purpose of defeating Ohtomo.
However, it was worth a try.
It wasn't all because of Touji. He had to try everything in order to win against a high-level opponent.
And as for the other reason Kagami accepted the exchange.
"......Well. It's about time. That's enough warm-up."
After he said that, Kagami stopped the battle and slowly moved away from the area in front of Touji.
He moved to the wall of the arena and took off and tossed aside the down jacket he wore.
He stretched his neck, returned to the center, and said:
"You've piled up quite a bit of resentment, right? Let me help you vent that."
"......Thanks a ton. Putting aside getting hurt, try not to die, alright?"
Touji was still short of breath as he waited for Kagami. But a dazzling thirst burned in the eyes glaring at Kagami.
Anger and irritation at himself were held in Touji's eyes. Along with a crude destructive impulse. The strength of the 'oni' eagerly awaiting release.
Kagami confronted Touji again, making the many rings on his fingers hit each other to make a jangling sound.
His eyes sharpened, and he announced in a voice colder than ice.
"......Come. Let me teach you."
Kagami had added a 'condition' to the exchange.
That was that if Touji fell, Kagami would take his oni as a shikigami.
Touji gritted his teeth so tightly that his fangs ground.
The horns extending from his forehead grew even longer and wider.
Then, Touji chanted an incantation.
"Second seal, purge!"
That was something that had happened the first time Touji received Kagami's special training. [28]
The dead of night. This was the location, the stadium of the old Onmyou Academy's training area.
"In any case, the current you isn't worth mentioning. But one trick is better than nothing. Let your oni out."
Back then, Kagami had abruptly opened his mouth with an undisguised attitude of evaluation.
Touji couldn't possibly have any objections either. He felt a quiet tension in his heart while wordlessly taking off the bandanna wrapped around his forehead.
In a position farther away from the two of them was Amami sitting on his wheelchair along with Suisen who pushed the wheelchair. Though Amami never showed it on his expression, his mood was probably very complex. That was also because it was actually Touji who had proposed this exchange, not Amami.
I have to train myself. Touji had told Amami this when he had mentioned hiding underground with him. Of course, those were his true feelings. Poignantly true feelings.
The night Natsume died. Touji had done almost nothing at all. If someone else heard this, they might hastily deny it, but Touji himself had said with sincere feeling that he had just frantically run around. He hadn't been able to intervene at all.
Useless. His anxiety depressed him.
If things were like that back on that evening, then it didn't even need to be said that even more difficult situations waited ahead in the future. Becoming strong was Touji's priority. He had no room to choose for this.
The Divine General Kagami Reiji's nickname was 'Ogre Eater'. That stemmed from the strength from a captured oni that Kagami used. He had heard that once before from Principal Kurahashi. But according to Amami's words, Kagami had was only called that because he had purified several oni up to now. In any case, Kagami was used to oni - or more accurately, used to 'Type-Ogres'.
Touji had been possessed by an oni because of the first spiritual disaster terrorist attack in history, the 'Great Hinamatsuri Purification'. Since he was a living spirit possessed by an oni, he was close to a 'Type-Ogre'.
The oni had brought Touji spiritual encumbrance, but now it was a valuable 'strength'. Kagami didn't need to describe it as his 'one trick'. Touji definitely had no way to immediately increase his strength other than by using the oni inside his body.
The most effective way to learn how methods of using an oni was by learning from someone familiar with oni. Even if that person was a senior who ought to be spat on for many reasons.
"...First seal, purge."
That incantation was the keyword that lifted the seal cast on Touji's body.
Immediately, Touji's oni who had been firmly suppressed by the seal slowly moved and awoke. Demonic aura mixed with his entire body's aura spurted forth, and the density grew and then took form.
A pair of lagging yet ominously-flashing horns extended from his forehead. Inauspicious, sharp fangs appeared between his lips.
At the same time, ancient-looking armor [29] appeared. Also, a helmet symbolizing the oni. This armor wasn't completely materialized; instead, it was flashing and half-transparent as it covered Touji's body.
An ancient samurai flashing with crackling lag overlapped with Touji. It was a form like an undead fallen warrior.
This was Touji's 'oni'.
This ought to be the first time Amami directly saw this form. Maybe he didn't have any spirit-seeing ability at the moment, but he understood that feeling of pressure and danger and the solemnity of his expression increased. Suisen also seemed openly surprised from behind him.
But the composure of Kagami who stood in front of him was calm.
He endured the demonic aura gusting from Touji's body as if it were a breeze, looking over expressionlessly.
Then, his face staying expressionless, he spoke.
"......You can still keep going."
It wasn't doubtful, nor was it confirmation. It was a tone of 'certainty'. The corner of Touji's eye twitched.
Touji accurately understood the meaning in Kagami's words.
The one who had placed the seal on Touji was his primary physician and Harutora's father, Tsuchimikado Takahiro. In the first place, a seal had been placed on Touji's oni because Touji would have been consumed by the oni if it hadn't been suppressed. The oni would instantly gnaw away at Touji when the seal binding it vanished. Then, it would appear as a Phase Three spiritual disaster using his body as a vessel. The so-called 'Type-Ogres' referred to mobile spiritual disasters that materialized with humans as vessels.
Hence, Takahiro had overlapped several heavy seals in order to keep Touji from becoming a spiritual disaster. Right now, Touji was in a state where one of those was released. In other words, he was extracting strength from the oni inside through a gap in the seals covering it.
Also, Kagami had said 'you can still keep going' at a glance after 'seeing' this state.
Great. A daring smile emerged on Touji's face.
"......Second seal, purge!"
Touji chanted an incantation again. With that as the trigger, the second seal was released.
The change was rapid.
The spiritual pressure over his body instantly grew, and more and denser demonic aura poured forth. The armor that had continued lagging before settled down and more than half-materialized. In addition, there was the illusion that Touji's body itself grew larger. His internal pressure swelled, seeming about to burst.
Also, the presence of the oni in Touji's body suddenly swelled greatly.
It touched the freedom it had been separated from for a long time and howled in dreadful happiness. It tried to immediately engulf its host and seize control, extending its ominous fangs towards Touji.
A violent and ferocious destructive impulse slowly tainted his mind. At the same time as it desired everything, it tried to abandon everything. An intense thirst for that kind of hedonic destruction. He hadn't experienced 'this' since the Nue. Touji intently maintained his own consciousness, resisting the rising oni with all his spirit.
But as he desperately resisted the oni, he noticed it. He noticed the 'strength' that constantly poured forth. Completely incomparable to the state when he had released the first seal. A far, far stronger spiritual power.
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