Awareness

After being given the difficult task of searching for the Hourai Elixir, Kaguya and her companions realized that their information might have been partially exposed. After observing the other suitors, they determined that the Marriage Selection would never reach a conclusion. It was no longer possible to marry Princess Kaguya through normal means. After some consideration, Kaguya and the others decided to take a risk and spirit Princess Kaguya away from Heian-kyo, and they formulated a plan accordingly.

For now, their plan was a preliminary success. The butterfly dream fragrance had been successfully released. Everyone in the Asakura Residence and the surrounding area, including Princess Kaguya, had silently entered a dream state. Their physical bodies in reality were left at the mercy of others. Kaguya, within the dream, was satisfied with this result. However, what puzzled her was that Little Kaguya showed no signs of panic in the face of this situation.

"What is this? You are still so calm even now? Aren't you worried about the situation outside?" Kaguya asked bluntly, looking at the composed Little Kaguya sitting before her. Princess Kaguya merely smiled in response.

"I'm not worried. Because I know that even now, my body won't suffer any threat. There is a very strong spell protecting me."

"A strong spell? It's useless. Those human Onmyojutsu tricks are no match for Eirin... Speaking of which, I can ask her how things are going right now." As Kaguya spoke, she pulled a strange conch from her sleeve and directed her inquiry into it.

"Hello? Eirin? How is the situation on your end? You should have transported us out by now, right?"

Kaguya waited for an answer, but the conch did not respond immediately. After a burst of static, Eirin's voice finally sounded.

"...Ugh... Princess? I'm sorry... I've encountered unexpected trouble here. It won't be resolved quickly..."

"Huh? Unexpected trouble?"

...

In reality, at the Asakura Residence, every living being within the estate and the surrounding area had fallen into a deep slumber due to the butterfly dream fragrance. At the center of this field of sleep sat Kaguya and Little Kaguya in the courtyard, their heads bowed as they sat opposite each other. In the sky above the courtyard, a fierce battle was currently unfolding.

Boom!

A violent explosion thundered in the sky. From the smoke and dust, Eirin, with her long white braid and flowing robes, flew out. Her expression was solemn as she stared intently at the figure flying rapidly in the distance.

With short black hair and a white Kariginu, the girl dressed as an Onmyoji held a Jumonji Yari that seemed entirely out of place for her profession. Her indifferent eyes looked toward Eirin with cold disregard. Eirin knew the identity of the girl before her—she was Asakura Kaguya's adoptive mother and the Great Onmyoji of Heian-kyo, Asakura Hao.

"Oh dear... What a miscalculation. I didn't expect a human Onmyoji to have such strong drug resistance. To inhale the butterfly dream fragrance at point-blank range and remain completely unaffected—can she even be called human?" Eirin murmured to herself, recalling the moment the other woman had suddenly stepped out from behind a screen. That scene had been completely beyond Eirin's expectations. Logically, there shouldn't have been any mobile living creature left on the scene besides herself.

Although Hao's sudden appearance had disrupted Eirin's actions—and she truly didn't want any conflict to arise during this operation—there was no helping it now that things had reached this point.

After the first clash, Eirin drew the bow and arrows she always carried on her back. The moment she notched an arrow, a strange light radiated from her eyes. Everything in her field of vision was presented before her in the form of data, with the most intuitive numerical information displayed.

Asakura Hao's flight speed, her own speed, the wind speed between them, the estimated arrow speed, and the trajectory—all this information was visualized in Eirin's eyes and processed rapidly by her brain.

"Omoikane's Eye..."

Predicting Asakura Hao's flight path, Eirin fired several arrows in rapid succession. These arrows were shot at different angles and strengths, flying at varying speeds toward the positions Asakura Hao was about to move into and the evasion spots she might take. Although they were just a few unremarkable straight shots, they effectively sealed off the opponent's next moves! This was a predictive strike akin to hitting pressure points, achieved through immense calculation. If the opponent underestimated these plain shots that lacked any flashy effects, she would definitely be hit!

Facing Eirin's unremarkable volley, Asakura Hao's brow furrowed slightly. Instead of dodging, she threw out several talismans directly at the incoming arrows. The talismans exploded in mid-air, swallowing the arrows. This excessive method of resolution briefly surprised Eirin.

'What... could she have seen through the hidden complexity of those plain arrows? Is this a coincidence or intentional?'

As Eirin pondered this, her brow tightened. However, within her numerical vision, she detected several nearly imperceptible flying objects emerging from the smoke of the explosion, flying toward her from various directions.

Micro-Spirit Blast Paper Shikigami... Through her numerical vision, Eirin immediately identified these objects, which were nearly as small as mosquitoes and almost invisible. She popped a pill into her mouth and began firing at an incredible speed. Her body, enhanced by the medicine, unleashed a massive volley of arrows within seconds. Every single arrow accurately struck a mosquito-sized target dozens of meters away, wiping out all the Paper Shikigami within her field of vision in one go.

However, just as Eirin breathed a sigh of relief, a faint buzzing sounded in her ear. She turned her head and saw a tiny Paper Shikigami had somehow reached a spot just a few meters away from her.

'A blind spot outside my vision... It was sent on a detour while I was focused on the rapid fire... When did this happen?'

While Eirin was still processing the thought, a close-range explosion engulfed her. She used her spiritual power to deploy a barrier just in time to offset the impact. But as the shockwave passed, Asakura Hao, spear in hand, had already lunged right in front of her. This caused Eirin's heart to tighten.

'She specifically lunged while I was caught in the close-range explosion... she knew that charging at me directly would be met with my predictive shots... Could she be predicting my predictions?!'

Closing in on Eirin, Asakura Hao thrust her spear forward. Eirin's abdomen was pierced straight through by the spirit spear. Blood sprayed from Eirin's mouth, but she ignored the pain and grabbed Asakura Hao's hand. Immediately, the spiritual power around her condensed into a black mist.

"Life Game: Repayment..."

This was a life curse—a curse that returned the user's own injuries to the opponent. Eirin seized this close-quarters opportunity to transfer her wound to the Onmyoji. The thick black spiritual energy enveloped Asakura Hao, but it dissipated completely the moment it tried to intrude.

"Curse resistance..."

Seeing this, Eirin's eyes widened, and a wave of shock surged uncontrollably in her heart. For her, the person before her had displayed far too many phenomena beyond the reach of mortals. At that moment, a bold guess formed in her mind.

"Asakura Hao... could you be..."