Chapter 137: Shōko's Warning
Crack!
A crisp sound rang through Kyoto's pitch-black night.
It was not loud, yet it reached everyone.
The ordinary people still struggling to survive in dark corners heard it.
The retreating Onmyoji heard it.
Gin Tsumugi, Kuroyukihime, Kurasaki Fuko, and Kasugano Sora heard it as well.
For a moment, it felt as though something had shattered right beside their ears.
"The final node of the Spiral Seal has been uprooted."
Gin looked toward the distant Nijō Castle and muttered softly.
That also meant the balance Kyoto had maintained for more than four hundred years had finally collapsed.
BOOM!
A tremor shook the heavens and earth.
The ground quaked, and the impact spread outward in waves. From the direction of Nijō Castle, a black tornado far larger than any of the Yin energy pillars released from the other seal nodes rose into the sky with terrifying force.
A violent gale swept across Kyoto.
It carried dense, heavy Yin energy, causing the already freezing temperature to drop another five or six degrees. Roof tiles were ripped from buildings and hurled into the darkness. Streets were left in shambles. The wind howled like countless ghosts and wolves crying together, a roar that seemed to drag the living toward death.
The Yokai wandering the streets and hunting humans all showed expressions of excitement.
The dense Yin energy made them feel indescribably comfortable.
It also strengthened them.
Their bloodlust became even more intense.
As for the few remaining residents hiding in corners and struggling to survive, they had no idea what had happened or what this abnormality meant.
But the unease in their hearts grew stronger.
Their fear deepened.
Their expressions became more desperate.
However, after the final Spiral Seal node at Nijō Castle was uprooted, the abnormality did not end.
It had only just begun.
With the enormous Yin energy tornado at Nijō Castle as the center, the tornadoes rising from Shōkoku-ji, Kinkaku-ji, and the other destroyed seal nodes began to converge.
No.
Rather than converging, it was more accurate to say that the tornado at Nijō Castle was devouring the others.
The first to be swallowed was the nearest Yin energy tornado from Shōkoku-ji.
It offered no resistance.
Like water flowing into water, it merged into the larger tornado without the slightest struggle, like a bird returning to its nest.
In exchange, the tornado at Nijō Castle expanded several times over.
In an instant, it enveloped the entirety of Nijō Castle and the surrounding moat. The Yin energy was so dense it tore through the clouds above, making the scene look terrifying even from far away.
A few breaths later, the Yin energy tornado at Kinkaku-ji was devoured as well.
The black pillar at Nijō Castle expanded again, pushing closer toward the villa district where Gin, Kuroyukihime, Kurasaki Fuko, and the others were staying.
Ten minutes later, another tornado disappeared.
Half an hour later, all the Yin energy tornadoes that had formed after the destruction of the Spiral Seal nodes had merged into one.
What remained was a supermassive Yin energy tornado centered on Nijō Castle, swallowing nearly a third of Kyoto.
Within it, new Yokai were continuously being born.
Densely packed blood-red eyes, filled with malice, seemed faintly imprinted across the surface of the colossal tornado. From a distance, it looked as though an enormous living thing had opened its gaze upon the city.
Inside the Keikain Clan's residence, the atmosphere was heavy.
"Sigh..."
The Thirteenth Generation Keikain Hidemoto looked beyond the Strategic Barrier at the pitch-black gale of Yin energy raging outside.
"The Spiral Seal I laid down has been completely destroyed after all."
His face carried a trace of loss and melancholy.
Outside the barrier, terrifying Yokai born from the dense Yin energy crawled across the boundary, clawing and writhing against the spiritual light.
The Keikain Clan residence had already been fully engulfed by the range of the massive Yin energy tornado.
The Spiral Seal had been the greatest masterpiece of his life.
It was also his pride.
Although he had long known that it was likely doomed this time, seeing its complete destruction with his own eyes still left a hollow sense of defeat in his heart.
"Even without this Kyoto Incident led by Hagoromo Gitsune, the destruction of the Spiral Seal was inevitable."
A beautiful figure appeared beside him.
It was Shōko.
"Four hundred years of division and suppression was already its limit."
"Lady Shōko."
The Thirteenth Generation Hidemoto bowed respectfully according to ancient etiquette used before the Imperial family.
Given the identity Shōko represented, even for him, the head of the Keikain Clan from four hundred years ago, such courtesy was only natural.
"There is no need for such tedious formalities."
Shōko's voice was cold.
She did not care about these rituals at all.
"Lady Shōko," Hidemoto said after straightening, "if we use your divine talismans together with the seals of the Keikain Clan, is it possible to seal Kyoto's source of Yin energy once more?"
Kyoto's source of Yin energy had now been fully released.
Even the Thirteenth Generation Hidemoto had never witnessed such a scene in his lifetime.
Four hundred years ago, many Onmyoji families had joined forces to suppress the source of Yin energy before it could be completely unleashed. Because of that, the scene before them had never truly occurred.
Now, even he had little confidence in using the Spiral Seal to repeat the old method of dividing and suppressing Kyoto's source of Yin energy.
"Sealing Kyoto's source of Yin energy is the final step."
Shōko glanced at him.
"It is too early to discuss that now."
Her gaze turned toward the darkness beyond the barrier.
"For the moment, you should worry more about how to deal with that fake, and the Great Yokai who were previously hiding in the shadows and may now enter the stage."
The Thirteenth Generation Hidemoto fell silent for a moment.
Then he hesitated and asked, "Lady Shōko, that lord... what exactly does he intend to do?"
"Isn't it already obvious?"
Shōko's eyes were cold and deep.
"He is waiting."
"Waiting for the birth of that fake, Nue."
"As for why he is doing this, I cannot guess."
Her voice remained calm, but a faint complexity passed through it.
"Since I first met him as a child, I have known him for a very long time. Even so, I have never once guessed his thoughts correctly."
A pause.
"That includes the massacre of the Imperial family."
The night wind pressed against the Strategic Barrier, making the light ripple.
"I told you before."
Shōko's figure began to fade.
"You had best not pin your hopes on him."
With those words, she disappeared.
The Thirteenth Generation Hidemoto looked at the place where Shōko had vanished and slowly shook his head.
Then he sighed.
"The situation is becoming more and more complicated."
His gaze turned toward the darkness swallowing Kyoto.
"Hagoromo Gitsune. Abe no Seimei. Shōko Saio…"
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