Disintegration

In the sky, Miketsu pierced Eirin's abdomen with her spirit spear. As the inscriptions on the spear's shaft flared to life, a massive amount of spiritual power was funneled into Eirin's body, weaving together a powerful binding spell: the Spirit-Sealing Binding Curse.

Eirin's eyes widened. She stared at the blade in her gut and the torrent of spiritual power surging through it. Countless complex, glowing runes radiated from the wound in her abdomen, crawling rapidly across her entire body. She could clearly feel a powerful, restrictive force manifesting within her. Her movements grew sluggish, and her ability to use spiritual power was severely obstructed; she couldn't even call upon enough energy to maintain her flight technique.

"This is bad..."

Ultimately, deprived of the technique's support, Eirin plummeted from the sky. She crashed violently into the ground, gouging a large crater into the grass of the Asakura Residence's courtyard.

Watching Eirin fall, Miketsu flicked the blood from the tip of her spear and slowly descended to the ground. She stood before the dust-filled pit. As the haze cleared, she saw Eirin in a pathetic state—her clothes were tattered, and she was covered in grime. However, the massive puncture wound in her abdomen was already healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"My, my... it seems I've truly run into a tough nut to crack this time. The world is truly unpredictable... I never could have calculated that things would end up like this," Eirin said with a wry smile as she slowly stood up. Dense patterns of the spell covered her skin. This technique was one of the few Onmyojutsu Miketsu had found time to learn over the years; it was highly effective at sealing spiritual power. Without spiritual power, any technique was useless.

Looking at Eirin, Miketsu smiled as well, responding quite casually.

"To be honest, there's one good thing about dealing with immortals like you: I don't have to worry too much when I strike." Miketsu pointed her long spear at Eirin as she spoke. Although Eirin was theoretically covered in Spirit-Sealing Spells and posed no threat without her techniques, Miketsu did not lower her guard. Her causality vision showed multiple "possibilities" even in this situation, and there were areas within Eirin's body that the vision could not clearly penetrate.

'She has residual divinity... or she's carrying an item with divine properties...' This was Miketsu's assessment. When facing an enemy she could not fully control, it was not yet time to relax.

Seeing the gleaming spear tip before her, Eirin let out a soft sigh. Then, to Miketsu's surprise, she raised both hands and spoke with a calm expression.

"Alright, alright... I surrender. Can you put the weapon down? There's no point in continuing this fight."

"Surrender? You're giving up just like that? You should still have trump cards left..." Miketsu remarked, quite surprised by Eirin's actions. This woman shouldn't have reached her wit's end yet; she hadn't even exerted her full strength in the previous battle.

"Yes, I still have trump cards. But I don't believe that even if I revealed them all and fought you with everything I had, I would truly have a chance of winning..." Eirin said, eyeing Miketsu with a strange smile before continuing.

"No matter what wisdom or methods one possesses, the chasm between mortals and gods remains difficult to cross. Wouldn't you agree, Lady Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami?"

Hearing her true name spoken so directly, Miketsu felt a brief flash of shock. After a moment of focus, a smile appeared on her lips as she asked Eirin, "How did you see through me?"

"It was quite simple. You displayed qualities that mortals should not possess," Eirin said, closing one hand into a fist and then counting them off finger by finger.

"First, you were completely unaffected after inhaling the specially made butterfly dream fragrance. I was confident that fragrance could even daze a Yokai Lord; your level of resistance is simply absurd. Second, during our fight, your predictions completely suppressed me. It wasn't just prediction—it reached the level of prophecy. One can only achieve that by seeing through causality. Finally, the fact that my curses were entirely ineffective against you shows you have extreme curse resistance. I am confident in the power of my curses; even if an opponent prepared anti-curse techniques, they could at most weaken the effect, not achieve total immunity as you did. In summary, although you haven't used a shred of divine power, the abilities you've shown are beyond what a mortal can achieve through cultivation. prophetic causality and absurd resistance are traits of an orthodox god of the Celestial Realm. And in this Heian-kyo, there is only one active orthodox god: the God of Inari, Uka."

After listening to Eirin's analysis, Miketsu's mouth hung slightly open, a hint of astonishment in her eyes. Over the years, she had fought many enemies in the guises of Asakura Hao and Owl, but this was the first time someone had seen through her identity immediately after a clash. After a moment of surprise, Miketsu immediately realized that the person before her was extraordinary.

She was definitely not just a simple immortal like Mokou! She undoubtedly had a far more complex background.

"Who are you? You not only have an immortal body but also residual divinity. Beyond that, you have such a thorough understanding of orthodox gods. Could it be..." As she spoke, a bold thought suddenly occurred to Miketsu. This woman could see through her because she had a profound understanding of gods, and she herself possessed residual divinity.

"Could it be that you were once an orthodox god as well?"

Hearing Miketsu's words, a look of surprise flashed across Eirin's face, followed by a smile.

"I didn't expect you to be so sharp. Yes, as you've guessed, I was once an orthodox god..."

"Then what is your divine name? Why did you become like this? And what is your reason for wanting to take Kaguya?" Miketsu pressed. Eirin answered calmly.

"As for those questions... I'm afraid I cannot answer you for the time being, Lady Inari. It was an honor to cross blades with you here, but my time is up. I must go..."

As Eirin spoke, her body began to undergo a violent change. Her skin turned to ash, and her entire form began to collapse. The matter composing her body disintegrated at high speed, her entire being vanishing rapidly. In a few moments, she had dissipated into nothingness before Miketsu's eyes.

Self-Disintegration Medicine...

'Was it a medicine injected into her body beforehand, designed to trigger once it detected she could no longer move or use her power freely? Immortals are certainly convenient...'

Looking at the tattered clothes and the pile of unidentified medicines left behind, Miketsu shook her head, sighing inwardly at how these immortals were even more ruthless toward themselves than toward others.

Afterward, Miketsu went to the longhouse in the courtyard. She discovered that the Young Lord Yoru who had been sleeping there had also disintegrated, leaving behind only a pile of clothes and a single arrow.

Picking up the arrow, which was clearly coated in poison, Miketsu deduced that the pharmacist woman must have shot it downward during a gap in the aerial battle. Her goal was to disintegrate the sleeping Young Lord Yoru ahead of time. She must have shot the arrow from the very edge of Miketsu's causality vision to avoid detection.

'She truly is a god skilled in calculation...' Miketsu thought, already forming a guess regarding the other's former divine name.

'The God of Wisdom, Omoikane?'