Chapter 60: Strategic Barrier
Night fell.
A sharp chill rode in with the changing weather, and the wind that slipped through the eaves already carried the bite of late autumn. Even indoors, it was no longer possible to lounge around in light shirts and short pants as one pleased. The air had turned cold enough that people instinctively reached for thicker layers.
"Mr. Gin Tsumugi, this path is a little difficult to walk. Please be careful."
Tsuchimikado Natsume led the way, a vintage kerosene lamp in hand. Its dim amber glow pushed back the darkness just enough to reveal the ground at their feet. Every few steps, she turned to remind him, her voice soft but attentive.
Gin followed a short distance behind, silently taking in his surroundings.
The path ahead was unlike any ordinary corridor or underground passage. Jagged rocks jutted from both sides in deliberately unnatural patterns, their arrangement subtle yet precise, clearly set according to the principles of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. At a glance, they looked like nothing more than weathered stone, but to anyone with even a little knowledge of Onmyodo, the truth was obvious.
This entire place was a formation.
A dangerous one.
If no one guided the way, most intruders would likely be trapped inside before they even realized what had happened. And once the formation was triggered, those harmless looking rocks would probably become blades, spears, or crushing weights in an instant. Even Gin, after scanning the layout from several angles, could not immediately determine how strong the formation truly was.
Still, considering what it guarded, weakness was impossible.
At the very least, it should be more than enough to hold off a National Level Onmyoji. Whether it could truly stop a Great Yokai was another matter.
After walking for some time, Natsume finally stopped in front of a gigantic boulder so large that even six people joining hands would not be able to encircle it.
She raised one finger and traced a spell seal into the center of the stone.
At first glance, it resembled the Tsuchimikado family crest. But the more closely one looked, the stranger it became. The lines overlapped in a way that made the seal feel like a fusion of the Tsuchimikado tradition and something older, something with a distinctly Shinto character.
Then Natsume began to chant.
"Ajamashidi Sohwaka..."
The incantation rolled from her tongue with steady clarity.
A low grinding sound answered her.
Click. Click. Click.
The enormous boulder, which must have weighed dozens of tons, began to shift aside under the push of some invisible force. Dust fell from its surface. Stone scraped against stone, heavy and slow, until a hidden entrance revealed itself.
Behind it lay a broad staircase descending into the earth, wide enough for three or four people to walk abreast.
Natsume lifted the lamp slightly and looked back.
"Mr. Gin Tsumugi, the Senji Ryakketsu is stored below."
With that, she stepped into the darkness first.
The moment Gin followed her down, he felt it.
A barrier.
A subtle but unmistakable pressure brushed across his body as he passed through it, like stepping through a membrane woven from spiritual power. Its strength was astonishing. It was not one bit weaker than the Strategic Barrier protecting the Tsuchimikado estate itself.
The boulder had not merely concealed a hidden entrance. It had also served as the outer gate to another sealed domain.
The stairs beyond were utterly dark at first, black enough that even Gin's eyesight could only reach so far. But Natsume pressed something into the wall as she descended, and one by one, muted yellow lights flickered to life along the passageway, lighting the stone steps in a dim, old fashioned glow.
Gin's gaze sharpened slightly.
This was what puzzled him.
There was already a lethal formation outside. There was already the estate's grand Strategic Barrier protecting the entire Tsuchimikado main house. Yet here was another barrier of equal grade layered over the Senji Ryakketsu itself.
Three defenses in total.
It almost felt excessive, to the point of absurdity.
Was the Tsuchimikado Clan really that protective of the Senji Ryakketsu?
Or was there some deeper reason?
As if sensing his doubts, Natsume spoke before he even asked.
"This barrier was not set up by the Tsuchimikado Clan."
Gin's eyes moved to her back.
Natsume continued while walking.
"You know what kind of burden a Strategic Barrier is. Setting one up already consumes enormous manpower and resources. Maintaining one over the long term is even worse. The clan can sustain the Strategic Barrier around the Tsuchimikado estate, but if we had to maintain another of the same level, even the Tsuchimikado could not bear that cost."
Her tone remained calm, but there was a trace of self mockery beneath it.
"Besides, the Tsuchimikado Clan of today is not the Tsuchimikado Clan of the past."
Gin gave a slight nod.
He understood.
There were all kinds of barriers in Onmyodo.
There were temporary barriers like the Seven Pointed Barrier, which a skilled Onmyoji could cast in the middle of combat. There were multi layered barriers meant for restraint, attack, confinement, or suppression. Yuge Mari, one of the Twelve Divine Generals known as the Barrier Princess, was especially famous for wielding such techniques to terrifying effect.
But Strategic Barriers were different.
They were long term installations, built to protect clans, offices, estates, and key territories. They consumed the most, demanded the most upkeep, and required the most terrifying investment in both resources and labor.
The Onmyo Agency had one.
The Onmyo Academy had one.
The Tsuchimikado estate had one.
Each of them was enough to withstand an assault from a Great Yokai for at least a short time.
To create a second one just for an archive chamber would be extravagant even for the old Tsuchimikado.
Still, that only deepened the mystery.
If the Tsuchimikado Clan had not made this barrier, then who had?
Gin's eyes narrowed slightly.
He had already guessed the answer a breath before Natsume spoke it.
"The source of this barrier," she said, "is the Senji Ryakketsu itself."
Gin stopped for the briefest moment.
"The Senji Ryakketsu condensed this Strategic Barrier on its own?"
"That is correct."
Natsume's lamp swayed gently as they descended farther underground.
"The outside world only knows the Senji Ryakketsu as a great text of Onmyodo, something that can grant insight or lead an Onmyoji into sudden enlightenment. But that is not all it is. This barrier is one of its powers."
Her voice echoed faintly against the stone walls.
"One of the reasons the Senji Ryakketsu cannot be moved is precisely because of this Strategic Barrier. To move the book is to move the barrier. The two are inseparable. As long as the Senji Ryakketsu remains sealed, the barrier remains."
Gin fell silent for a moment.
Then he gave a small, genuine smile.
"So it really is even more mysterious than I imagined."
That only made him want to see it more.
They continued downward.
The further they went, the quieter the world became. The wind vanished. The sounds of the estate above disappeared. Only the light footfalls of the two of them and the faint hiss of the kerosene flame remained.
At last, Natsume slowed.
"We're here, Mr. Gin Tsumugi."
The stairs ended.
And what opened before them was not a chamber, nor a vault, nor any ordinary underground archive.
It was a cavern.
A vast subterranean space spread out before them, large enough to fit three or four football fields within it. Strange plants that could thrive without sunlight clung to the cave walls, their leaves pale and waxy in the dim light. Somewhere deeper inside, an underground river flowed in a slow silver line, its quiet murmur threading through the stillness like the breath of the earth itself.
At the center of that immense space stood a circular altar.
And on top of that altar rested an ancient book bound in heavy chains.
The Senji Ryakketsu.
Even from a distance, it radiated an indescribable presence.
It did not look magnificent.
It did not shine brilliantly.
Yet the moment one laid eyes on it, it was impossible not to understand that it was something extraordinary, something that had endured through a thousand years without ever truly being touched by time.
But the book was not alone.
Standing beside the altar, clearly having waited there for some time, was Tsuchimikado Hirotaka.
The moment he saw them approach, he rose at once.
"Welcome, Mr. Gin Tsumugi."
His tone was respectful, almost excessively so.
"The Senji Ryakketsu is ready."
Gin looked at him, then at the chained book, then back again.
For a moment, even he felt slightly embarrassed by how warm the Tsuchimikado treatment had become.
"Senior Hirotaka," he said with a faint smile, "you are being far too courteous."
.....
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