Part 4
Tsuchimikado Yakou's defensive shikigami.
The arms that assisted him.
Harutora secretly infiltrated the Exorcist Bureau headquarters along with the ones who had once been called his 'arms'.
He would probably be able to achieve his goal even if he entered straightforwardly. But extraneous fights would waste time. Harutora was wrapped in the Raven's Wing again and cast stealth on himself to infiltrate the headquarters with Hishamaru and Kakugyouki. No one noticed him as he entered the Spirit Calming Room.
An inorganic, cold, drab, and vast room. A bed was placed by the inner wall and was illuminated from above by a light.
And also - in front of it were guests who had arrived first.
"......You finally came."
The one who replied was Yashamaru, who had preemptively reached Natsume's side after being ordered by Kurahashi - or not.
It was Takiko.
By her two sides were Yashamaru, whose bitter face seemed partially ready to yield, and Kumomaru who was showing nervousness.
Takiko stepped forward slightly from behind the two Yase Doji.
After Takiko noticed the cloth covering Harutora's left eye, her expression stiffened. Then, although she met the gaze of his remaining right eye, she couldn't keep looking and lowered her gaze.
Then.
"......I heard about everything, Harutora...... or should I call you Yakou now?"
"Call me whatever you want."
Harutora coldly said the same thing as before. Though interest surfaced behind Yashamaru's monocle upon seeing his attitude, he didn't say anything at all.
"Then...... Harutora? I [29] ...... I won't apologize to you. I didn't intend for that to happen to Natsume. But that doesn't mean anything to you, right?"
"...Indeed."
Harutora replied completely flatly. The instant she heard Harutora's reply, Takiko's expression twisted as if her heart had been stabbed - the willpower she relied on instantly vanished.
If one observed carefully, they would notice that Takiko's eyes were reddened. They were swollen after crying and after trying to conceal that.
Takiko mustered her courage, looking up again and staring intently at Harutora.
Harutora looked back at Takiko with an indifferent right eye.
He could understand what Takiko wanted to convey. Harutora no longer held any hate towards her now. Including her straightforwardness and original liveliness, her sincere and honest nature, and her immaturity and what she had brought about through her recklessness didn't make him angry. In fact, he even felt a bit positive towards her.
But she 'couldn't be trusted'.
Kon's - Hishamaru's - advice was now imprinted in his heart. Being unable to trust her wasn't just about compromising. It was something he had decided that applied to most occasions.
The living were silent in the Spirit Calming Room that settled down the dead.
It was the one-armed oni who broke the silence.
"......So?"
Kakugyouki sarcastically repeated what he had said a bit earlier.
"What now?"
The air in the Spirit Calming Room tensed as if faint electricity had coursed through it.
Harutora, with Hishamaru and Kakugyouki to his left and right.
And Takiko, with Yashamaru and Kumomaru to her left and right.
Hishamaru's eyes held an intolerant killing intent, but there was enjoyable unrestraint in Kakugyouki's eyes. In comparison, there was a sharp light appraising Harutora in Yashamaru's eyes and Kumomaru's eyes were filled with tension, resolution, and an unyielding fighting spirit.
The Tsuchimikado and the Souma, who had once been allies.
These two factions were currently silently scattering sparks in the Spirit Calming Room housing Natsume's corpse. If the balance between the two sides collapsed and the curtain to battle was lifted... The Exorcist Bureau headquarters would definitely suffer a devastating blow no less than what the agency building had received.
But the two masters stopped their simmering shikigami at the same time. They faced each other while each raising an arm, stopping the shikigami waiting behind them.
"Harutora."
Takiko checked.
"Are you going to resurrect Natsume? Using the Taizan Fukun Ritual?"
Harutora didn't reply to Takiko's question. But not replying was an answer in this occasion.
"I'll leave Natsume to you."
Takiko slowly announced. Hishamaru revealed a surprised expression from beside Harutora.
On the other hand, Yashamaru said while maintaining his calm demeanor:
"......Princess?"
"Wait."
Takiko spoke coldly without even turning her head. After Yashamaru rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, he didn't open his mouth to speak again.
"......Of course, I don't think this will be able to make up for things. But......"
The pitch-black summer night brightened bit by bit, lighting up with color.
At the same time, the light of the stars blended into the sky, rapidly beginning to hide themselves.
Stars whose existence could only be learned of during the darkness of the night. But they didn't vanish, even during the dawn. They existed without changing in the sky, accompanied by the sun. Always waiting for the arrival of the next night.
The heat of the asphalt that was continuously baked by the sun during the day didn't reach the rooftop. On the other hand, the temperature was stolen away because of the constantly blowing wind.
Saotome sat lightly on the edge of the stone platform, looking up into the sky as her tense body trembled.
There were four torii around the stone platform. The north torii was black. The east was blue. The south was red. Finally, the west was white.
It was the Heavenly Altar on the roof of the Onmyou Academy building - the altar prepared for the Taizan Fukun Ritual. Saotome had ambushed Tenma by his house, and after weaving magic to send him to the Onmyou Agency like a shikigami [30] , she had waited here to witness the outcome.
The view from the academy building roof was very good. The night sky that slowly moved towards the dawn was almost gone. The sky welcomed the dawn bit by bit. Though it was a scene that repeated every day, even so, she was overwhelmed by its vastness upon seeing it again.
No matter what she thought, what she wished for, or how much strategy she hammered out, she was miniscule in the end. Also, even if she had continued to work hard for years and decades, instigating a large number of people, and doing various things, it didn't matter at all to the world as it solemnly continued spinning.
It would be dawn soon. The rotation of the planet was 'time'. The 'time' that continued to spin from day to night and from night to day for all of the organisms that lived on it. What a powerful and absolute motion.
But - there were cases. Extremely rare cases. People who leaped to oppose the absolute movements of 'time'. There were people who escaped its shackles.
For example......
Click. The sound of a door being opened. Saotome, who was looking up into the sky, turned her body and cast her gaze downwards.
The sound came from the entrance of the piping area below. It was from the door set in the entrance to the roof. Crunch, crunch. Then, the wire mesh laid at the bottom of the piping area was stepped on by someone.
Saotome stood up in front of the altar.
The wind blew.
There was about a three meter height difference between the raised area that the altar was on and the piping area. A black raven with giant wings spread open leaped over that distance.
The flying 'raven' elegantly flapped its black hem, scattering golden particles of light. When the feet of its master landed on the raised area, its hem lightly dropped as if it were folding its wings. Then, it fluttered freely in the wind gusting across the rooftop.
Two shikigami also appeared after their master.
One was an otherworldly beautiful woman. She had an animalistic pair of ears and a leaf-shaped tail, a 'fox spirit'. There were also people who called them 'atavistic' because of their origins. Her beautiful appearance was filled with inhuman charm, in contrast to her uncorrupted dedicated nature.
The other was an oni. An ancient, true oni whose left arm had been cut off above the elbow, the 'one-armed oni'. He had been known as the 'Rashomon oni' and the 'Ibaraki-doji' of legend in the past. Legends also said that he was a white-haired female oni [31] , but actually, he was a dangerous oni overflowing with a wild air who made onlookers' hearts throb with terror, not affection.
Also, the Onmyouji wrapped in the Raven's Wing who led the two shikigami.
A torn cloth seemed to be wrapped like a bandage over his left eye. But that cloth along with the left side of his face, neck, and shoulders were stained with quite a large amount of blood. He was seriously wounded. But his remaining right eye held a powerful light that made one unable to feel this.
He carried a girl with both arms.
The girl lying in his arms also had her chest stained with blood. Her long black hair fell to his feet, fluttering in the rooftop wind just like the Raven's Wing.
Saotome kept her emotionless expression, letting the scene before her be burned into her mind.
Tsuchimikado Harutora, wrapped in the pitch-black Raven's Wing and carrying a girl's corpse.
His defensive shikigami to the left and right, Hishamaru and Kakugyouki.
The people stepping across time that were gathered before her in the world that was about to welcome the dawn.
The curtain was pulled from a new night beneath the sky that regained its brightness.
"......I've been waiting."
Saotome spoke quietly, holding a multitude of thoughts.
Legend said that in ancient times, the Onmyouji Abe no Seimei used the 'Taizan Fukun method' to prolong the life of the Mii-dera monk Chikou, trading the life of one of his disciples for his. [32]
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