Chapter 28 - The Search.

"Clatter..."

With a crisp sound, the teacup in Kamo no Yasunori's hand fell to the ground and shattered. He stared in astonishment at the distant forest, at the raging tornado that rose to the sky. The rumbling roar from that direction echoed in his ears, and the slightly trembling ground told him what an astonishing amount of energy was erupting within the forest at this very moment.

"Lord... Lord Yasuharu, that is..." Kamo no Yasunori stammered, his expression frozen on his face. It was the first time in his life he had ever seen such a scene.

"This... this... how is this possible..." On the other side, Ono no Yasuharu, who had been eating a snack, was now also half-agape, staring dumbfounded at the sight on the horizon, a half-eaten snack still in his hand.

"This demonic aura... a yokai of this level... how could it appear here?" Feeling the powerful demonic aura rushing out from the forest, a cold sweat trickled down Ono no Yasuharu's forehead.

"That's a yokai... it's actually a yokai..." Hearing Ono no Yasuharu's words, Kamo no Yasunori opened his Spiritual Vision in disbelief. Instantly, he saw a surge of black miasma pouring out from the forest.

In this wave-like flow of demonic energy, Kamo no Yasunori's legs trembled slightly. Although he was a scion of the Kamo clan and had received intensive training and instruction in Onmyojutsu since childhood, having seen and exorcised many yokai and felt their auras, those auras were nothing compared to the one he was facing now.

This was a powerful yokai he had never encountered before. Although he didn't know why it had suddenly appeared in this forest, if such a yokai were to go out and attack humans, an entire town could be annihilated.

At this thought, Kamo no Yasunori bit his lip, glanced at the guards and onmyoji who were also frozen in place, and shouted loudly.

"Let's go! Follow me to exorcise the demon!"

"Wait!"

Just as Kamo no Yasunori was about to enter the forest, he was immediately stopped by a voice. Looking toward the sound, he saw it was Ono no Yasuharu.

"Lord Yasuharu!" Kamo no Yasunori looked at Ono no Yasuharu, his face filled with confusion and bewilderment.

"Are you planning to get yourself killed? This yokai is not something a Junior Assistant like you can handle. Even with a Senior Assistant like me, our chances of winning are slim." Ono no Yasuharu's expression was extremely serious. Being much older than Kamo no Yasunori, he had a wealth of experience and could better judge the terror of the yokai in the forest.

"Send a shikigami to contact Lord Tadayuki immediately! Inform him of the situation here and ask him to dispatch a Junior Secretary as soon as possible! We will monitor the yokai's movements from here. Do not act rashly!" Ono no Yasuharu said with a grave expression, knowing better how to handle the current situation.

After hearing Ono no Yasuharu's words, Kamo no Yasunori was silent for a moment. Then, still worried, he said.

"But... but all the participants in the selection are still inside. Shouldn't we at least go in and rescue them?"

"Hmph, why bother with those country folk? A few dozen worthless lives aren't worth taking such a huge risk to parade under that yokai's nose. If a few onmyoji died because of it, it would be a terrible loss." Ono no Yasuharu immediately refuted Kamo no Yasunori's words. Then he raised an eyebrow, looked at Kamo no Yasunori, and continued.

"Don't you also look down on those crude people with no manners? So there's no need to risk ourselves for them."

Hearing Ono no Yasuharu's words, Kamo no Yasunori fell into a gloomy silence, his fists clenching slightly.

"But... they are still people, just like us..."

At Kamo no Yasunori's words, a strange look flashed across Ono no Yasuharu's face, but it quickly returned to one of severity.

"Even so, it's not an option. If anything were to happen to you, how would this old man explain it to Lord Tadayuki? Yasunori, don't force me to confine you here."

"This junior has overstepped. Please forgive me, Lord Yasuharu."

Seeing Ono no Yasuharu's resolute attitude, Kamo no Yasunori could only let out a long sigh, apologize to him, and silently withdraw.

Seeing Kamo no Yasunori's reaction, Ono no Yasuharu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He then took a small bamboo tube from his sleeve, muttered something while holding it, then pulled out a paper doll. He threw it, and it burned, transforming into a strange bird half the size of a man.

The strange bird snatched the bamboo tube from Ono no Yasuharu's hand, then flapped its wings and took flight, heading straight for Heian-kyo.

...

Deep within the forest, the raging storm of demonic energy had now ceased. Large swathes of the forest had vanished, the once dense woods now a barren wasteland. The massive trees were shredded into tiny fragments, and the once-flat ground was now riddled with craters.

On the wasteland, the Demon-Faced Centipede had raised the front third of its body, surveying its surroundings. The sharp spikes that had covered its body were now all retracted. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

Perhaps because the eyes that Miketsu had damaged were still bleeding, the Demon-Faced Centipede was now using the two long antennae on its head to sense its surroundings, including scents.

"Alive... still alive... still alive... Why are they still alive!!"

A hoarse roar echoed across the wasteland. The Demon-Faced Centipede writhed its enormous body in fury. It had not expected that after expending so much effort to cause such a huge commotion, it had still failed to kill its targets.

Calming down again, the demon faces on the Demon-Faced Centipede's body opened their mouths once more. This time, however, they didn't spit out spikes, but rather a dense swarm of small centipedes crawled out. These numerous small centipedes scattered upon reaching the ground, crawling off in all directions.

"Just wait... I will find... you again..."

"None... of you... will live..."

...

In a part of the forest untouched by the Demon-Faced Centipede, Tanrou, treading on blue flames, was still running. However, its speed was slowing down. Finally, the blue flames on its feet flared up violently, engulfing Tanrou completely before quickly dissipating, along with Tanrou itself.

"Whoa!"

Startled, Miketsu suddenly felt the ground disappear from beneath her and fell to the ground. Fortunately, Tanrou had slowed down beforehand, so the fall wasn't too hard.

"The... the time limit is up... Tan... Tanrou can't be used for now..." Yura, who had also fallen, said as she got up. The weakness in her voice was severe. Her face was abnormally pale, and her body swayed as she stood, nearly falling over again.

"Are you okay?" Miketsu, having just stood up, immediately noticed Yura's condition. She hurried over to support her, her heart filled with questions.

What was wrong with Yura's body?

"D-don't worry about that now... Th-that thing might come after us again. Do you know how to set up a Concealment Formation?"

"Uh... no, I don't..." Miketsu paused, then said with some embarrassment.

Hearing this, Yura slowly took a scroll from her clothes and handed it to Miketsu.

"From the beginning, at the fourth-foot mark... f-follow the instructions on this... Hurry up and set up the formation..."