The Laws of the Heavenly Dao

"A day off?"

Hearing Miketsu's suggestion over the phone, Tsuruha could not help but ask in surprise. "But Lady Uka, while the visible threats have been cleared, an operation of this scale surely has remnants. Furthermore, the enemy leader, Hagoromo Gitsune, has yet to be captured. Letting our guard down now would be somewhat..."

Tsuruha's worried voice continued to drift through the phone. Listening to her concerns, Miketsu gave a small smile.

"It is fine. Everyone has worked hard today. Let them go back to rest tonight and enjoy the festival properly. Do not worry about anything else. If something happens, I will take responsibility."

Miketsu spoke to the Tsuruha on the other end with a smile. Tsuruha was stunned for a moment before responding solemnly.

"Understood. Since this is Lady Uka's wish..."

"Mm. You have worked hard," Miketsu replied with a nod. At that moment, Tsuruha seemed to sense another meaning in Miketsu's words and suddenly asked in a low voice.

"Lady Uka... do you intend to take action personally this time?"

"Take action personally? Why would I?" Miketsu continued to speak with a smile. "I am also a member enjoying the festival. There is no reason for me to work overtime alone. I was simply thinking about how to watch the play tonight."

"Watch... a play?" Tsuruha was utterly confused. For a moment, she could not understand what Miketsu meant by a "play."

"Do not worry too much, Tsuruha. Just get off work and rest well. Everyone will see what the good play is tonight."

Sensing Tsuruha's confusion, Miketsu continued to smile as she spoke. Tsuruha could only respond, "Lady Uka, just in case, I will remain on standby at all times."

After Tsuruha hung up, Miketsu tucked her phone away and looked forward with an unwavering smile. She watched the little foxes on the park grass being fed by many tourists. These foxes, originating from Mount Inari, were now common in various parks, shrines, and temples across Kyoto. Like the deer of Nara, they were famous tourist animals. Kyoto's foxes were different from those in other places; they were highly intelligent and sought food from tourists and pedestrians with polite, cute gestures. They even followed traffic rules, waiting for red lights before crossing in groups. Both locals and tourists adored these little creatures.

"Ah, little foxes! Little foxes!"

In Miketsu's line of sight, she saw Hayakawa Rin holding feed and anxiously trying to feed them. However, the foxes seemed to be repelled by the slight air of silliness in Rin's demeanor; even though she held food, they all avoided her. Unable to touch a single fox, Rin began to run around the grass in frustration.

Watching Rin from afar, Miketsu shook her head gently with a smile. Then, with a light flick of her finger, she caused the eraser amulet Rin carried to emit a trace of her own aura. Suddenly, all the little foxes on the grass froze. Their ears perked up simultaneously as their eyes locked onto Rin. This sudden change made Rin freeze in place.

"Eh... what is..."

In an instant, every fox on the scene began to sprint toward Rin at full speed. Seeing so many foxes charging at her, Rin was startled. She actually turned around, dropped the feed, and fled.

"Aaaah! There are too many! Don't come over here!"

Just like that, Rin was chased by the pack of foxes. Since the foxes were fast, she was quickly pounced upon and pinned to the grass. They began to lick her face and head enthusiastically. Rin was pinned down, begging for mercy. "Stop licking! It tickles! It tickles! Why did I suddenly become so popular? Stop licking me!"

Seeing that Rin had finally achieved her wish of being welcomed by the foxes, Miketsu nodded with a smile. Then, she raised her head and gazed at the sun disk as it gradually sank toward the west.

In the Underworld, deep within Hell. Above a vast expanse of lava, a purple-black five-pointed star array floated slowly. Two figures sat cross-legged, facing each other upon the array.

One wore a voluminous kariginu, with long purple-black hair and a deathly pale face. The other was a skeletal frame draped in a luxurious kimono. The skeleton's skull was missing its upper half; the entire cranium was gone, exposing a fresh, living brain pulsing within the lower part of the skull. They were the greatest remnant of Yamata no Orochi in this world, Dark Seimei, and the leader of the Edo Hyakumonogatari Group, Yamamoto Gorozaemon, who had been sent to Hell by the Second Head of the Nura Clan, Nura Rihan.

"It is time. This final moment has arrived," Dark Seimei spoke slowly. Yamamoto, sitting before him, spoke with concern.

"Hmph, do you even know what you are saying? Yamamoto, if you still lack confidence at this point, how can you face the long period of planning we have endured?" Looking at Yamamoto, Dark Seimei spoke in a slow, deep voice. However, Yamamoto remained extremely uneasy.

"But... but even now, I really cannot fathom how we can possibly defeat Inari in one go—an entity that has grown to such a massive scale and is backed by Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami. It is simply impossible," Yamamoto said slowly. Since his forces in the mortal world had been nearly wiped out, his fear of Inari was profound. "Although you said your power has successfully infiltrated Inari, what of it? Do you intend to secretly draw a large-scale destruction spell or plant those modern human bombs to blow up the Inari Honsha? Even if that succeeds, it would at most cause some losses. It cannot truly topple Inari, let alone Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami. She is an existence we cannot even touch!"

Yamamoto spoke loudly to Dark Seimei. Having observed the mortal world from Hell through Dark Seimei's means, and seeing Hagoromo Gitsune's massive secret operation dismantled so silently, Yamamoto truly could not imagine any way to defeat Inari.

However, Dark Seimei did not seem to share this view at all. On the contrary, he appeared confident that everything was still within his plan, which Yamamoto found incomprehensible. Facing the agitated Yamamoto, Dark Seimei remained unhurried, slowly waving his small bat-wing fan as he spoke.

"You think my infiltration of the Inari Honsha was merely to plant bombs? Hehe... such a shallow concept. What do you take me for?"

As he spoke, Dark Seimei's gaze turned cold. Swept by that sharp look, Yamamoto couldn't help but shudder and lowered his head without another word.

"Hmph, an ignorant fool after all. Even though I have acted so clearly before you, you still cannot see what I am doing. It is no wonder, I suppose. After all, the level of power involved in my plan far exceeds your range of understanding."

"Far exceeds my imagination... then may I ask, my lord, what exactly you intend to do?" Yamamoto asked inquiringly. Dark Seimei glanced at him, snapped his folding fan shut, and spoke.

"Very well. Since things have reached this point, I shall tell you. My infiltration of Inari was by no means for low-level methods like planting bombs. Rather, I intend to trigger a supreme power within the Inari Honsha."

"A supreme power!?" Hearing Dark Seimei's words, a look of shock and confusion appeared on Yamamoto's face. He had never heard of a supreme power capable of destroying a colossus like Inari in one stroke.

"Indeed. This is a power that ordinary mortals cannot sense—a power that even the gods of the Celestial Realm and the primeval demons cannot resist. Even the Inari you see as massive is like an ant before this power."

"Is... is there really such a power in this world?" Hearing this, Yamamoto swallowed hard. Even his skeletal face seemed to register a look of disbelief.

"Of course it exists. Moreover, this power is right beside billions of living beings, influencing the trajectory of this world every moment. It is an absolutely unsurpassable power."

Dark Seimei continued slowly, his words making Yamamoto even more astonished.

"Right beside billions of living beings... influencing every moment... and we have not noticed?"

"Yes. It can be said that almost all mortals below the divine rank are unable to perceive its existence. it is subtle and transformative, formless and colorless, ancient and profound, and utterly irreversible."

As he spoke, Dark Seimei's gaze became increasingly solemn. He pointed his folding fan toward the sky and spoke with focused intensity.

"This supreme power is generally known as the Heavenly Dao."

"The... the Heavenly Dao!?"

"Yes. The Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Mandate, the Heavenly Will... call it what you will. It is the most supreme and inscrutable power within our world. Even I spent a thousand years of research to barely confirm its existence and discover some of its laws."

"The... Heavenly Dao... the laws..."

"For example, the division of the Three Realms, the restrictions on the gods, the prosperity of mortals... behind all of this lies the shadow of the Heavenly Dao's influence. Although the rules established by the Heavenly Dao are hard to sense, they are omnipresent."

"Then... then how did you discover its existence?" Yamamoto continued to ask in confusion. What Dark Seimei had just said was too far-fetched; he still found it hard to believe even now.

Hearing Yamamoto's question, Dark Seimei paused briefly. Then, the expression in his eyes changed, as if he were reminiscing. "A thousand years ago, there was a great primeval being. No one could stop his rise, but in the end, he still fell. At that moment, I became certain that there was absolutely an ultimate power in this world that sat above even the gods of the Celestial Realm."

"A great primeval being..." Yamamoto murmured in confusion. However, Dark Seimei clearly had no intention of stopping to explain further who this primeval being was, and instead continued.

"To prove this, I began using various means from Hell to penetrate the mortal world, conducting various studies over a thousand years. After collecting several pieces of information, I finally confirmed the existence of the Heavenly Dao. I became convinced that if I could master its laws, I could use it to destroy my greatest enemy in reality—Inari."

"The Heavenly Dao... is it really such a powerful and supreme force? But how can such a thing be utilized?" Yamamoto asked, trembling slightly. Hearing his words, Dark Seimei gave a light chuckle and spoke.

"Hmph. Although the Heavenly Dao is supreme, according to my research, it does not possess sentience in essence. It is more like a machine running on a program, a cold law that treats all things as straw dogs. Since it is a machine and a law, as long as one clarifies its terms and masters its patterns, one can trigger its power. To put it simply, one must identify the prohibited matters of the Heavenly Dao and then violate them. As long as one can use Inari's power to commit an act of defying heaven within the Inari Honsha, the Heavenly Dao will respond immediately, completely annihilating them with a heavenly might that even the gods of the Celestial Realm cannot resist."