Trapped

In the control hall of the space station, Miketsu frowned slightly as she gazed at the image before her, her expression as solemn as Eirin's.

"Why... why is the ley line flow in Shimosa Province so weak?" Eirin stared at the area of Shimosa Province, her voice low as she continued, "And it's progressively weakening, radiating outwards from a single source… Clearly, something is weakening the ley lines from a central point. What could it be?"

Eirin spoke with considerable confusion. As a researcher, she found such an abnormal situation with the ley lines utterly perplexing, yet it also piqued her curiosity.

"Heh, perhaps there's a worm there," Miketsu said with a cold laugh, looking at the map. She roughly understood what Tokoyo-no-Kami was doing: it was gnawing at the ley lines' energy to pupate!

"Gnawing at ley lines? What kind of worm could possibly gnaw at ley lines and cause such a massive disturbance?" Eirin exclaimed in disbelief. The ley lines in Shimosa Province were clearly weakened, a depletion that radiated in a net-like fashion to surrounding areas. The color at the very center had faded to its limit, indicating that the ley lines there were almost completely depleted.

What kind of worm could possess such ability? To cause such a significant impact, even a Yokai Lord of insect yokai wouldn't be capable of it. Moreover, there were no insect yokai among the Yokai Lords.

"Though its status might be a bit lower, if you imagine it as an existence similar to Chang'e, it won't be difficult to understand," Miketsu continued calmly. Eirin paused slightly upon hearing Miketsu's words, then let out a soft chuckle of realization.

"Heh… indeed. I had a suspicion in my previous research that there might be more than one ancient existence like Chang'e. It seems my guess was correct; countless unknown secrets are hidden across the vast land… Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto, won't you tell me more about this ancient worm that can gnaw at ley lines?" Eirin asked, looking at Miketsu with a thirst for knowledge.

"You can call it Tokoyo-no-Kami… or the Eternal Worm. In any case, it's an ancient insect that recently revived and is currently in a weakened state. I'll tell you the specifics later; for now, there are other important matters… Zoom in here, and show me the ground conditions at this location in detail."

As Miketsu spoke, she pointed to the center of the ley line anomaly on the map. A moon rabbit operator beside her immediately zoomed in on the indicated area. Instantly, the map before Miketsu rapidly enlarged from the entire Japanese archipelago to a specific region in Shimosa Province.

What appeared before Miketsu and the others was a continuous range of mountains, but these mountains were not green; they were vast expanses of grey and black. Looking closely, one could see that all the trees on the mountains had withered and died.

"The depletion of the ley lines has led to the decay of the plant life. That Tokoyo-no-Kami seems to be eating quite voraciously…" Eirin murmured, observing the scene. Miketsu couldn't help but frown, saying, "Judging from this, we haven't found any trace of that worm…"

"Of course not. If the Tokoyo-no-Kami you mentioned is truly gnawing at the ley lines, then it must be underground, at a depth of at least ten li or more. It certainly wouldn't be visible on the surface," Eirin continued. Hearing her words, Miketsu's heart sank.

Ten li… that's several thousand meters deep. If Tokoyo-no-Kami was indeed nesting and gnawing at the ley lines in such a place, then it would be troublesome. They would likely have to spend a great deal of time searching for the entrance to its lair and then navigating an extremely complex underground environment to find the path to Tokoyo-no-Kami.

Thinking about it, Kanako and Suwako were quite reckless to delve several thousand meters underground into an ancient god's territory to confront it. It would be a miracle if they didn't fail. Even if it was weak, it was still an ancient god.

After some thought, Miketsu finally decided to go there herself. Although it might be too late, she still needed to confirm Kanako and the others' current situation. Moreover, allowing Tokoyo-no-Kami to develop and pupate there was not an option.

To save time, Miketsu decided to ask Kaki for help. She would have Kaki fly to the center of the anomaly in Shimosa Province first, draw a coordinate array there, and then have Toyohime transport her over. After all, Mino Province was closer to Shimosa Province, and Kaki had mentioned in a previous letter that she was already heading towards Kanto due to her concern for Kanako and the others. She should be near Shimosa Province by now.

As Miketsu thought, she left the image table, found a seat, and began to unfold the paper and pen she had brought. After a moment of thought, she asked Eirin behind her, "Can you print me a copy of that map image on the table?"

...

Above the Kanto region, Kaki, the Miko of Moriya, was flying through the sky, commanding the wind. She clutched a little fox in her arms, her expression filled with worry.

"Lady Kanako… Lady Suwako… where are you? Please be safe…"

Just as Kaki was praying anxiously, the little fox, Harumutsu, in her arms suddenly cried out. Kaki's expression froze; she knew Miketsu had replied to her again.

Without delay, Kaki immediately landed, placed the little fox Harumutsu on the ground, and skillfully took out a specially treated white paper. Harumutsu held a breath of Foxfire and sprayed it onto the paper, whereupon an incredibly detailed map appeared.

"This… this is…" Kaki's mouth slightly agape as she looked at the map. It clearly depicted the entire Kanto region, with every river, settlement, and mountain range drawn with perfect clarity, devoid of the usual distorted and inconsistent feeling of ordinary maps. It was as if it had been drawn after overlooking the entire Kanto region from a sufficiently high altitude, but who could fly to such a height?

As the Miko of the God of Wind, Kaki could fly, and she naturally understood what the map meant. After a moment of awe at Inari Okami's immense divine power, she focused her gaze on a specifically marked point on the map.

'Go here… this is the message Inari Okami left for me…'

Taking a deep breath, Kaki confirmed her position and the target's direction, then put away the map. She picked up the little fox and flew again, rapidly approaching the target location. Kaki's original position wasn't far from there, so she would arrive quickly.

The trees below gradually withered and decayed, and the mountains before Kaki turned grey and black. Kaki, who was in mid-flight, suddenly stopped, hovering in the sky. She incredulously widened her eyes, looking at the mountain hollow below.

The mountain hollow looked as if it had been swept by a storm; large patches of dead trees were all blown down, and there were torn marks on the rock face, as if something had battled there.

"This is… Lady Kanako's divine power residue. They really were here!"

Feeling the divine power residue, Kaki immediately tried to pray and contact Kanako, and this time, she actually connected!

"Lady Kanako… is that you?" With immense joy, Kaki prayed happily, and a somewhat weak voice responded to her.

"It's… it's Kaki… you actually… found your way here?"

"Lady Kanako! Where exactly are you? How are you doing now?"

"We… we're underground now, trapped in that guy's nest."