Chapter 153: The Conclusion of the Kyoto Incident
"You have grown even stronger, Seimei."
A man's voice rang in everyone's ears.
Clear, elegant, and calm.
In an instant, everyone, including Hagoromo Gitsune and Shōko, was startled.
Their gazes lifted toward the place where the incomplete Daitengu had just been purified.
At some point, a phantom had appeared there.
He stood within the golden pillar of light released by the Great Victorious Virtue Rite, yet he seemed completely unaffected by its terrifying purification power.
The phantom looked very similar to the Daitengu who had just vanished.
But the crimson demon mask was gone.
In its place was the face of an extraordinarily handsome young man.
His appearance was youthful, yet his eyes carried the weight of countless years. The vicissitudes within them made it impossible to associate him with the word "young."
"Compared to a thousand years ago, your miracles, your opportunities, even the karma surrounding you... all of it has grown stronger."
The phantom's voice carried melancholy and emotion.
"In this life, perhaps you will climb even higher than before."
His gaze rested on Gin Tsumugi.
"An existence like yours is still difficult for me to understand."
"...Daitengu."
Gin looked at the phantom.
"As Onmyōdō weakened, you also began to slowly resurrect."
The moment those words fell, everyone was shocked.
Daitengu was resurrecting?
Clearly, there were still many hidden truths they did not know.
Moreover, judging from the way Gin and Daitengu faced one another, the two of them were not strangers.
They seemed familiar.
Perhaps even close.
"Seimei."
Daitengu bowed slightly.
"I apologize for the recklessness of my subordinate this time. My sincerity will be delivered later."
His voice remained elegant.
"I only hope that in the great changes to come, we will not repeat the mistakes of the past."
After saying that, Daitengu's phantom began to fade.
Perhaps he chose to leave.
Perhaps his time had simply run out.
Soon, he disappeared completely.
"That guy really hasn't changed at all."
Gin watched the spot where Daitengu had vanished and sighed.
"He always decides what he believes is correct on his own, without even asking whether I, the victim, agree."
He recalled the scene from the thousand-year dream, when he had met Daitengu in the Imperial Palace.
Thinking back on the karma between "him" and Daitengu now, even Gin could not help feeling somewhat emotional.
"However, if he truly resurrects, that would be a good thing."
Gin's gaze lowered slightly.
"Especially for humans."
"With him around, the Great Yokai under his command should be properly restrained."
Unlike other Great Yokai, Daitengu's stance leaned more toward humanity.
He could be considered one of the few relatively "harmless" Great Yokai.
Of course, that harmlessness was only relative.
But from the perspective of the larger situation, it was indeed true.
If truly enraged, however, Daitengu had never known mercy when killing.
Not long after Daitengu's phantom disappeared, Nue returned from the direction he had fled.
More accurately, he was forcibly escorted back.
Ryōyū, who was possessing Shiina Mashiro's body, brought him over.
The familiar presence that Shōko and Hagoromo Gitsune had sensed earlier was precisely Ryōyū.
If Nue had still been in his prime, possessing the strength of a Great Onmyoji, then even Ryōyū and Shōko together would only barely be able to contend with him.
A thousand years ago, the two of them had relied on special methods to control Nue, not pure strength.
But now, after being beaten half to death by Gin and purified until his body had become almost ethereal, Nue might not even be a match for any random Great Yokai.
Let alone Ryōyū.
After seeing Ryōyū, then looking again at Gin, Shōko knew that the Kyoto Incident had truly reached its conclusion.
There were some things she still did not know how to face.
Especially seeing Ryōyū together with Gin.
So she quietly withdrew.
"Damn it, let me go, Ryōyū!"
Nue's power had been sealed as he was dragged over.
He looked at Ryōyū with furious eyes, as if staring at a traitor.
"Do not look at me like that, Nue."
Ryōyū's expression remained calm.
"Your current ending is of your own making."
Her eyes lowered slightly.
"Besides, it is time for you to return to where you originally belong."
Ryōyū noticed Shōko leaving, but did not call out to stop her.
Some knots could only be untied slowly.
"Gin, I'll leave him to you."
"No... no..."
Seeing Gin walking toward him step by step, Nue's expression finally twisted with despair.
"Ryōyū, you can't do this!"
His voice trembled.
"Abe no Seimei, I am your derivative! I am part of you! You can't do this to me!"
Gin's expression did not change.
He simply took out a talisman and pressed it directly onto Nue's forehead.
"Transform."
In an instant, the talisman turned into white flames filled with purifying power.
The flames bloomed across Nue's body, continuously refining him, attempting to purify him back to his most primitive state and strip away the darkness that had tainted him.
"No!"
Nue screamed.
"I don't want this ending!"
"This isn't what I wanted! None of this should have happened!"
His voice became sharp and frantic.
"Mother! Mother, save me!"
No one moved.
"No... Lord Seimei, please spare me. I beg you..."
His exhausted pleas and cries for mercy continuously struck everyone's ears.
But whether it was Hagoromo Gitsune, Ryōyū, or the Onmyoji below, all of them watched him with icy indifference.
No one stepped forward.
No one pleaded for the culprit who had thrown Kyoto into chaos.
As Nue's cries grew weaker and weaker, his current form became a fragile, ethereal phantom.
A few breaths later, Nue vanished completely.
Only a few soul fragments remained in Gin's palm.
The moment they appeared, Gin's soul instinctively stirred with the urge to devour them.
This was his goal.
The greatest harvest of this entire incident.
Gin immediately put the soul fragments away.
Now was not the time to devour them.
And...
"This place needs to be dealt with as well."
Gin lowered his gaze toward the ruins of Nijō Castle.
As the Great Victorious Virtue Rite dissipated, the seemingly endless source of Yin energy beneath the castle erupted once more.
It turned back into a massive Yin energy tornado, rising into the sky and enveloping the area again.
Pairs of bloodthirsty eyes appeared within the tornado.
New Yokai were beginning to gestate inside it.
"I have to say, some things really do pay attention to karma."
Gin looked at the roaring source of Yin energy.
"It is indeed time for it to play its original role."
He paused.
"The only pity is that the Myriad Dharma Supernatural Department is going to lose a strategic resource."
With that, Gin waved his hand.
In his mind, the text of the Senji Ryakketsu flew out like birds breaking free from a cage.
Countless characters danced through the air like streaks of silk.
In an instant, a mysterious and profound aura surged outward, as if the deepest truths of Onmyōdō were about to unfold before everyone's eyes.
Countless Onmyoji were captivated by the sight.
"That is the Senji Ryakketsu!"
"What does that lord intend to do?"
"I don't know. Just watch quietly."
"The Senji Ryakketsu... the treasure of Onmyōdō..."
The Senji Ryakketsu once kept by the Tsuchimikado Clan had cultivated countless talents for Onmyōdō.
Naturally, the vast majority of those present recognized it.
What they could not understand was why this lord had brought out the Senji Ryakketsu now.
"Seal."
Under countless astonished gazes, the flying characters wove together in the air, forming an enormous sealing talisman.
Mystery and profundity coexisted within it.
Then it flew directly toward the source of Yin energy.
Under the effect of the Senji Ryakketsu, the source of Yin energy was sealed almost instantly.
The characters of the Senji Ryakketsu continuously shuttled through the ruins of Nijō Castle and sank beneath the earth, suppressing and locking down the source.
"To think the Senji Ryakketsu could be used to seal the source of Yin energy..."
The Thirteenth Generation Keikain Hidemoto was shocked.
He could see it clearly.
Using the Senji Ryakketsu to seal the source did not require dividing it apart or using Great Yokai as foundation stones like the Spiral Seal.
Although the method looked somewhat crude, its effect was far more stable than the Spiral Seal.
And not just him.
National Level Onmyoji such as Miyoshi Tōgo, Amami Daizen, Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi, Kurahashi Genji, and Tsuchimikado Arima could all see it as well.
Perhaps the true reason the Senji Ryakketsu had been woven and created was not for that lord to record his insights and understanding of Onmyōdō for future generations.
Rather, it was originally meant to be a sealing measure for Kyoto's source of Yin energy.
Perhaps some accident occurred during the process, preventing it from being used to seal the source.
Because of that, it remained with the Tsuchimikado Clan until four hundred years ago, when the Thirteenth Generation Keikain Hidemoto used his own talent to create the Spiral Seal, dividing and suppressing the Yin energy source.
"However, with the Senji Ryakketsu reinforcing these ruins, Nijō Castle will likely become a sacred site for Onmyōdō before long."
The Thirteenth Generation Keikain Hidemoto looked at the ground with emotion.
Although the Senji Ryakketsu had sealed the source of Yin energy at the cost of itself, traces of its mystery and profundity would inevitably spread through the earth.
Those traces would greatly assist Onmyoji in their comprehension.
Especially weak apprentice Onmyoji.
For them, these mysteries could help lay a solid foundation at the very beginning of their path in Onmyōdō.
And that would be extremely beneficial for their future growth.
....
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