With Master Enmi's attack and Kamo Yoshin's defense, Slippery Nura's ability failed. The three of them were suddenly exposed before the horde of yokai led by Sanmen-oni. In an instant, the demonic soldiers pointed their weapons at the uninvited guests.
"It's you! Kamo Yoshin... So you're not dead yet!" The moment he saw Kamo Yoshin, Sanmen-oni gritted his teeth and roared in fury. It was clear that Kamo Yoshin had crossed paths with the Lord of Nightless Island many times over the past few decades.
"I wouldn't dream of dying before you, Sanmen-oni. Today, Ali will be liberated from your hands," Kamo Yoshin said sternly, his hands forming a spell seal.
"Hmph. It was because you stirred Shiranui's heart fifty years ago that the disaster occurred. Do not think things will go the same way this time. Shiranui... shall fulfill her mission and offer the final Kagura to the great god!" Sanmen-oni spread his arms and shouted with fanatical zeal. Seeing this, Seimei frowned and asked in confusion.
"Kagura? Isn't Shiranui a songstress? Why would she offer a Kagura? Isn't that the duty of a miko?"
Hearing Seimei's words, Kamo Yoshin paused for a moment before speaking with a hint of uncertainty.
"That is likely because... Ali herself is the miko who serves Tokoyo-no-Kami..."
"What? A miko of Tokoyo-no-Kami?" Startled by this unexpected answer, Slippery Nura rubbed his ears, while Kamo Yoshin continued, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Fifty years ago, Ali defied the Lord of Nightless Island because of me. She died unexpectedly and transformed into a yokai at the same time, burning the island to the ground and becoming Shiranui, the yokai that appears on the sea once every decade. After that, I wondered how Ali, who should have been just an ordinary, beautiful girl, could possess such immense power after becoming a yokai. So, I investigated her background and made a startling discovery...
"Ali was originally a fisherwoman from the coast of Shimosa Province in the Eastern Provinces. She was bought by the Lord of Nightless Island and trained to be a songstress. However, when I investigated her original family, I found that they were survivors of the Priest Clan of Tokoyo-no-Kami, who were supposed to have been exterminated three hundred years ago. According to descriptions of her childhood from those around her, Ali was born with a strange magnetism and could trigger many bizarre phenomena... This is the sign of an innate spirit-wielder."
"An innate spirit-wielder..." Seimei repeated Kamo Yoshin's words in a low voice. In the knowledge of Onmyodo he still possessed, innate spirit-wielders had the perfect aptitude to become powerful practitioners like Onmyoji or miko. If not guided properly, they could easily transform into yokai, and such talent usually appeared only in special bloodlines.
Listening to Kamo Yoshin, Slippery Nura also began to ponder. He had once curiously looked into the history of the Hata Clan residence where he now lived—why such a prosperous lineage had suddenly vanished. Eventually, the mysterious masked girl living in the house had told him: 'That was the sin I committed when I was still human...'
"Hmph, indeed. Shiranui is the miko born from the bloodline of the Lord Deity's Priest Clan. From the very beginning, her dance was never meant to please mortals, but to be offered to the god. In the past, I did not know this; I simply treated Shiranui as a tool to extract profit. Until that night, when I forced Shiranui to serve Lord Ota. She resisted because of you and was ultimately shot and killed by Lord Ota in a fit of rage. This triggered the rampage of the massive spiritual power within her, transforming her into a fire-wielding yokai that burned the entire island... sparing only you." Recalling the past, Sanmen-oni's already hideous face became even more sinister and terrifying.
"In that great fire, I lost everything. I was burned to death, my body charred black upon the very foundation of my life's work. However, at the moment of my death, I heard the voice of the Lord Deity..."
"Lord Deity... you mean Tokoyo-no-Kami!?" Seimei blurted out. The other party continued to answer with a laugh.
"Of course. By the arrangement of fate, Shiranui's dance became a Kagura, awakening the consciousness of the Lord Deity that had been dormant beneath this island for thousands of years. The Lord Deity saved me at the critical moment, allowing my dead self to be reborn in this yokai body!"
"Sanmen-oni was actually transformed into a yokai by Tokoyo-no-Kami..." Kamo Yoshin murmured in shock. He had always wondered how the human Lord of Nightless Island had become the yokai Sanmen-oni; he hadn't expected that Tokoyo-no-Kami, having regained some consciousness, was behind it.
"Correct! Everything I am now was bestowed by the Lord Deity, and everything I do is to repay Him! I will make the Lord Deity awaken completely from His slumber, and now is the perfect time!" As he spoke, Sanmen-oni looked up at the Black Tortoise demonic power and the Yokai Lords floating in the sky.
"The Black Tortoise demonic power and the five great Yokai Lords! What immense power! This power is sufficient as a sacrifice to realize the Lord Deity's resurrection! Shiranui, go and dance! Begin the ritual, and use your divine power to offer the sacrifices to Tokoyo-no-Kami!" Spreading his arms, Sanmen-oni shouted with madness in his eyes. Following his command, the broken blade in the expressionless Ali's chest emitted a faint purple light. Driven by a sinister force, Ali slowly walked toward the altar in the center of the Main Sacrificial Altar.
"Don't even think about it..."
Seeing the enemy move, Slippery Nura gripped his blade and entered Shadow Evasion to strike at Ali. He recognized the broken blade in her chest and the power within it; thirteen years ago, he had frequently fought yokai controlled by this very power. He knew that if he destroyed that broken blade now, Ali might return to normal.
Seeing Slippery Nura vanish, Master Enmi's expression tightened. He struck out with another palm from a distance, sending a wave of spiritual power toward the hidden Nura. Nura was forced to block with his blade, and his Shadow Evasion was broken once again.
"Sir Slippery Nura, it would be best if you stopped playing these little tricks before this humble monk..." Master Enmi said calmly, his hands pressed together in prayer. Nura spat on the ground in disdain.
"Senior Yoshin, since things have come to this, let us fight together." Seimei spoke from the side, drawing two talismans. Kamo Yoshin nodded, his gaze still fixed on Ali.
"Hmph... I wouldn't dare provoke Tamamo-no-Mae or Yakumo Yukari, but do you think I'm afraid of a few bratty Onmyoji? I haven't ruled Nightless Island for over fifty years by luck alone. On this island, I can contend even with a Yokai Lord!" As Sanmen-oni spoke, he unfurled the paper umbrella he carried. Once opened, the paintings on the umbrella's surface were revealed.
They were beautiful women dressed in exquisite furisode, each with different expressions and poses, their every smile and glance radiating charm. These numerous portraits of women together formed a Scroll of a Hundred Beauties.
"Come... my meticulously cultivated works. Come, courtesans of Nightless Island... continue to serve me even after your deaths.
"Come forth, ghost spirit songstresses!"
Following his cry, thousands of piercing shrieks erupted from within the umbrella.
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