In Heian-kyo, at the Onmyoryo's council chamber, the doors had automatically sealed shut. The Minamoto Clan Head and the various elders were now trapped inside, their spiritual power greatly suppressed due to the poison, rendering them completely unable to resist.
Seimei now stood at the center of the council chamber, extending his hand towards the Minamoto Clan members who lay sprawled helplessly on the floor. Waves of spiritual power rippled outwards, enveloping the weakened elders. Using these ripples, Seimei was conducting a form of examination on the Minamoto Clan members. Since no one had willingly surrendered the White Tiger Seal, Seimei intended to forcibly retrieve it himself. These waves of spiritual power were precisely the Jutsu-shiki he used to examine the human body; the spiritual network structure within a person possessing the White Tiger Seal would undergo significant changes, making it detectable with this technique.
Seimei's initial examination targeted Minamoto no Yorimitsu, as he believed it was only natural for the current Minamoto Clan Head to possess the White Tiger Seal. However, to his surprise, the examination revealed that the White Tiger Seal was not on Minamoto no Yorimitsu. This caused the previously confident Seimei's expression to darken. He immediately proceeded to examine the other Minamoto Clan elders, but even then, he still found no trace of the White Tiger Seal.
“Lord Yorimitsu, can you tell me… where has your clan’s inherited White Tiger Seal gone?” After examining the last Minamoto Clan elder and still finding no results, Seimei slowly turned around. With a grim face, he coldly addressed Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who was seated by the main seat, his tone serious, slightly agitated, and tinged with impatience.
“Oh… the White Tiger Seal, you say? I apologize, but our clan lost that item thirteen years ago, and we haven’t recovered it since. It’s quite embarrassing to have caused Lord Seimei to waste so much effort for something that doesn’t exist…” Minamoto no Yorimitsu said, clutching his chest, his face pale, yet still managing a faint smile as he looked at Seimei.
“Impossible! The White Tiger Altar has been fully repaired and is functioning perfectly. The White Tiger Seal must have been inherited by someone; it cannot be vacant. Tell me, Lord Yorimitsu, where is the White Tiger Seal now? Otherwise, do not blame me for being unable to guarantee your safety.” Seimei threatened in a cold, raised voice. Minamoto no Yorimitsu, however, merely shook his head slightly, maintaining his unchanging smile as he replied.
“Who can say, Lord Seimei…?”
Seeing Minamoto no Yorimitsu’s demeanor, Seimei paused slightly, then a cold sneer twisted his lips.
“Hmph, truly worthy of an Onmyo Clan with a samurai tradition. I have witnessed Lord Yorimitsu’s integrity today. Very well… since you refuse to speak, I shall use other methods to make you talk. I wish to see if you can maintain such integrity in your soul form.”
As Seimei spoke, he drew a talisman. Just as he aimed to throw it at Minamoto no Yorimitsu, the sound of tearing metal suddenly echoed. Amidst several flashes of blades, the sealed doors of the council chamber, covered in enchantments, were sliced into countless pieces and shattered. The Minamoto Clan’s Shikigami, wielding swords in both hands, burst into the room, charging straight towards Seimei.
“Kotodama: Shield!”
Facing this sudden situation, Seimei cast a single Kotodama, and an invisible spiritual power shield instantly formed around him. Onikiri’s blades struck it, carving deep cracks into its surface.
“It’s not over yet…”
Onikiri switched to another blade in his other hand and continued his assault, instantly shattering Seimei’s barrier. He then continued to channel spiritual power, constructing more barriers consecutively in front of him.
“Kotodama: Triple Barrier Shield…”
Three new barriers formed before Seimei. Onikiri’s continuous slashes immediately shattered two of them. Just as he struck the last barrier, Seimei seized the opportunity to fire several talismans at him from within the barrier. Onikiri abandoned his attack, backflipping to dodge, and landed perfectly in front of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, shielding him.
“My Lord, your humble servant apologizes for arriving late to your rescue!”
“It’s alright, Onikiri, you arrived at just the right moment…” Minamoto no Yorimitsu said with a smile, looking at the Shikigami before him. His gaze then fixed on Seimei, whose expression had turned sinister on the other side.
“If you had arrived too early, how would we have learned Lord Seimei’s true intentions?”
“Minamoto Clan’s Shikigami… Onikiri, you were supposed to be waiting outside the Onmyoryo, unaware of the situation within. Who let you in?!” Seimei said coldly, looking at Onikiri. Just then, a familiar voice answered his question.
“That would be me…”
From outside the council chamber, Miketsu, clad in a pure white Kariginu, slowly stepped into the hall. Her expression was solemn as she observed everything before her, her gaze falling upon the faint purplish-red glow in Seimei’s eyes.
“Asakura… Hao… weren’t you out hunting yokai?” Seimei asked, a rare trace of anger in his voice as he watched Miketsu enter.
“If you only sent a clone, why would I need to go in person?” Miketsu replied calmly to Seimei’s question. Seeing Miketsu’s composure, Seimei paused, then shook his head with a cold laugh.
“Heh, it seems… you’ve seen through everything.”
“More or less. It wasn’t a particularly clever trick, Lord Seimei… or rather, Divine Messenger of Yamata no Orochi…” Miketsu said solemnly, looking at Seimei.
The series of man-eating yokai incidents in Heian-kyo had, from the very beginning, been a trap targeting both the Onmyoryo and the Minamoto Clan. The one who orchestrated it all was none other than the head of the Onmyoryo’s three Senior Secretaries, the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei.
Manipulating monsters to commit continuous crimes to attract the joint attention of the human realm and demon realm, constantly creating the illusion that the Minamoto Clan was the mastermind behind the scenes, and finally, before the other two Senior Secretaries, proposing a plan to invite the Minamoto Clan for talks while simultaneously going to exorcise the yokai. This was Seimei’s plan: to trick the three Senior Secretaries into signing off on a joint invitation to lure out the Minamoto Clan’s high-ranking members, then to send the other two Senior Secretaries into a trap.
Miketsu had been an arranged part of this scheme from the beginning. What made her realize something was amiss were the fragments of a Blue Fire Talisman and digging marks that Makoto found at the scene where the monster disappeared. All of this indicated that the monster was not a Shikigami at all; someone had merely used a Blue Fire Talisman to create the illusion of blue flames, making it seem like a Shikigami.
The reason the monster performed the trick of “a Shikigami disappearing in blue flames” in front of Makoto and Nura Rihyon was precisely because they were yokai, unfamiliar with human Onmyojutsu, and thus easily confused. If this trick were performed before an Onmyoji, there would be a risk of exposure. Therefore, Nura Rihyon and Makoto being able to track the monster via clues was also intentional, as Seimei knew that Owl, as the Lord of the demon realm, would certainly share information about her subordinates’ encounters with the Onmyoryo.
The fire talismans and digging marks only confirmed to Miketsu that the monster was not a Shikigami, and that someone might be intentionally framing the Minamoto Clan, but she couldn’t be sure who. What truly made Miketsu suspect Seimei was the letter she, as Owl, had written to him.
That afternoon, Makoto flew back early to inform Miketsu, in her persona as Owl, about the monster encounter she and Nura Rihyon had. Miketsu immediately had Konkiku write a letter, documenting that “the monster can conceal its demonic energy and disappears with blue flames, possibly a Shikigami.” After the letter was written, Nura Rihyon brought Enokoneko, from whom Miketsu obtained the intelligence that “the monster possesses spiritual vision-like abilities and can cross boundaries regardless of conditions.” Miketsu did not include this new information in the letter but had Makoto convey it orally, which Makoto indeed did.
However, the next day, when Miketsu attended the Onmyoryo meeting as Asakura Hao, she only saw her own letter. Seimei only mentioned the information contained within it, and did not bring up the orally conveyed intelligence. This aroused Miketsu’s suspicion, as Seimei was not someone lacking in meticulousness.
Therefore, Miketsu’s judgment was that Seimei only wanted her and Yura to know the contents of the letter—that the monster was suspected to be a Minamoto Clan Shikigami—and that any other information was deemed unnecessary.
It was precisely because Owl and Asakura Hao were both Miketsu’s aliases that she was able to fully grasp the information from both sides, thereby uncovering Seimei’s suspicious points.
Of course, at this point, Miketsu had only determined that Seimei was problematic, without fully understanding his objectives. However, after the monster reappeared in Heian-kyo and attacked people, Seimei presented more “clues” to prove the Minamoto Clan’s suspicious involvement, and in response, put forward his “plan.”
Upon hearing this “plan,” Miketsu broadly understood Seimei’s intentions. Consequently, Miketsu also devised a corresponding counter-strategy.
That was: to play along with the scheme.
Rate on N.U.
