Chapter 43: Master
Boom! Boom!
The instant Zenki and Goki kicked off the ground, the earth split beneath their feet.
Cracks raced outward across the courtyard stones as the two demon gods shot forward like unleashed artillery. Their monstrous bodies tore through the air, wrapped in howling malice, heading straight for a single point within the Tsuchimikado estate.
Tsuchimikado Hirotaka's expression changed sharply.
"Activate the Tsuchimikado barrier! We cannot let Zenki and Goki leave this place."
His voice was low, but it carried absolute resolve.
"Yes!"
Natsume understood the severity of the situation at once.
If demon gods like Zenki and Goki broke free of the estate, the catastrophe they would bring upon Japan would be no less than the chaos that had engulfed Tokyo after Tsuchimikado Yakou's failed [Taizan Fukun Ritual]. In this era of supernatural resurgence, the consequences would only be worse.
Without hesitation, she flung a talisman skyward.
"Release!"
The talisman streaked into the heavens like a signal flare.
In the next moment, a vast barrier unfolded over the Tsuchimikado estate. A transparent dome descended from above, enveloping the entire ancestral grounds. It was the culmination of generations of refinement, the Tsuchimikado Clan's final line of defense. Even a Great Yokai would need time to break through it by force.
Even demon gods like Zenki and Goki would not leave easily.
Hirotaka looked at the completed barrier, then spoke in a voice that sounded more like a vow than a statement.
"The mistake Tsuchimikado Yakou made... our Tsuchimikado Clan must not repeat it."
Though he addressed Natsume, his gaze lingered most on Harutora.
Chizuru stepped up beside him and took his hand tightly.
"Husband..."
She understood him perfectly.
By having Natsume activate the barrier, Hirotaka had already made his choice. If the worst came to pass, he would turn the entire estate into a cage and bury Zenki and Goki here, no matter the cost. That would mean sacrificing a large portion of the Tsuchimikado Clan's heritage all over again.
And if it ended badly, the sin of that decision would fall on him alone.
Then Natsume's expression shifted.
"No, that's not right!"
She looked up, alarm flashing across her face.
"Zenki and Goki aren't heading for the barrier. Their direction is..."
Her pupils contracted.
"The Library? Mr. Gin Tsumugi?!"
A chill ran through her.
Without waiting another second, she summoned Yukikaze, the white horse shikigami passed down within the family, and vaulted onto its back.
"Yukikaze!"
The shikigami answered with a sharp cry and lunged forward.
"Natsume, don't!"
Harutora called after her, but she was already gone, rushing across the estate like a white arrow loosed from a bow.
He clenched his teeth in frustration.
"For that guy, she doesn't even care about her own safety..."
"Mr. Gin Tsumugi?" Chizuru repeated, startled. "That young White Fox from Tokyo? The junior Old Man Amami speaks so highly of?"
"That's him," Harutora said, unable to hide the irritation in his voice. "And lately Natsume has been protecting him at every turn."
Hirotaka's brows furrowed.
"So an outsider has been dragged into this."
Guilt flickered through his eyes, brief but real.
"Let's go. If possible, we save him first. We need to get everyone out before Zenki and Goki completely lose control."
The couple exchanged one look, then moved without further words. Several flying shikigami burst into motion beneath them as they took Harutora along and raced toward the Library.
"Faster, Yukikaze!"
Natsume urged, her voice taut with anxiety.
The closer she drew to the Library, the harder her heart pounded. By then she had completely forgotten that Gin Tsumugi was far stronger than she was. All she could think of was the image of those two demon gods reaching him first.
When she arrived above the Library courtyard, she leapt down from Yukikaze before it had even fully descended.
The moment her feet hit the ground, her face turned pale.
Zenki and Goki stood before the Library like two black iron towers. They were less than ten meters from the doors. Zenki's colossal axe hung at his side, but anyone could tell that a single swing would be enough to cleave the entire building in two.
"Mr. Gin Tsumugi, run!"
Natsume shouted before she could stop herself.
She no longer cared whether her voice would provoke them. She only wanted the man inside to hear her and escape before it was too late.
Behind her, Hirotaka and Chizuru arrived with Harutora close behind.
"Chizuru," Hirotaka said sharply.
That single word was enough.
Chizuru immediately began preparing an Onmyo Art, intending to seize whatever tiny opening might appear. Hirotaka took point, his attention fixed on Zenki and Goki, ready to intercept if they tried to disrupt her casting the way they had before.
Everyone's nerves tightened to the limit.
Then the Library doors creaked open from within.
Creak...
Natsume's face lost the last trace of color.
The doors slowly parted.
And then, under the eyes of everyone present, a tall figure stepped out from the dim interior.
Gin Tsumugi.
He looked no different than usual. His expression remained calm, almost unnervingly so, as though the two demon gods before him were nothing more than a slight interruption to his morning.
Harutora stared at him, then blurted out in disbelief and anger, "Is he trying to die? He actually dares walk out and face those two Kishin?"
The next instant, Natsume shot him a furious glare so sharp that even he shut his mouth at once.
Still, she was just as confused.
Mr. Gin Tsumugi did not seem like a reckless man. If anything, he was too composed. Too deliberate.
So why...?
Then it happened.
The scene before them overturned everything they thought they understood.
The moment Zenki and Goki laid eyes on Gin Tsumugi, the boundless hostility boiling off them vanished.
Not weakened.
Vanished.
The two demon gods who had moments ago shaken the entire estate with their malice reined in their aura at once. Their bodies lowered. Then, in front of the Library, before Natsume, Harutora, Hirotaka, and Chizuru, both demon gods dropped to one knee.
It was not an act of hesitation.
It was reverence.
Complete and undeniable.
Then Zenki's rough, thunderous voice rang out.
"Master...!"
Goki followed a beat later, his voice trembling with the same overwhelming intensity.
"Master has returned...!"
Silence fell over the courtyard.
Not one of the four Tsuchimikado Clan members could speak.
Their minds simply could not process what they were seeing.
The demon gods that the Tsuchimikado Clan had feared for centuries, the sealed Kishin that had just broken through an ancient barrier and nearly brought disaster upon Kyoto, now knelt before Gin Tsumugi like loyal retainers welcoming back the person they had waited for across a thousand years.
Natsume's lips parted soundlessly.
Harutora stood frozen where he was, as though struck by lightning.
Even Hirotaka and Chizuru, who had seen more than most Onmyoji ever would, felt their thoughts go blank for a moment.
Only Gin Tsumugi remained calm.
He looked down at the kneeling Zenki and Goki, and in those quiet eyes there was no surprise, only a deep stillness, as though this scene had been inevitable from the very beginning.
.....
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