In the spacious underground chamber, on the platform at the top of the high altar, Fujiwara no Kanehira and Totosai stood. Fujiwara no Kanehira was seated on the ground, and before him was a massive bronze disc embedded in a stone slab. The edge of the disc was inscribed with a circle of golden ancient Chinese characters, while the center of the bronze disc depicted an abstract giant bird with wings spread, poised to fly.
Sitting before the disc, Fujiwara no Kanehira closed his eyes tightly, rapidly chanting incantations. As his chants echoed, the inscriptions on the bronze disc lit up one by one with a crimson glow. Then, a shimmering, illusory flame, overflowing with spiritual power, slowly rose from the disc, growing larger and higher, its scorching heat spreading and distorting the air.
“Phew… thankfully… thankfully, it barely ignited, barely moved…” Looking at the illusory fire rising before him, Fujiwara no Kanehira wearily wiped the sweat from his forehead. His aged face, covered in incantations, revealed an undisguised exhaustion.
“You must be exhausted. It seems it was quite difficult to draw out the spiritual power,” Totosai remarked, looking at Fujiwara no Kanehira with concern.
“Indeed… Theoretically, one without the Vermilion Bird Crest cannot activate the Vermilion Bird Seal. I, too, only managed to draw out the spiritual flame by having a small amount of residual Vermilion Bird spiritual power within me, allowing it to resonate with the Vermilion Bird Seal,” Fujiwara no Kanehira sighed, speaking slowly.
“Hmm… I have heard before that while the human Onmyoji’s Four Symbols Array is guarded by families, the authority to wield the divine seals within each family is actually concentrated in one person…” As he spoke, Totosai’s gaze slowly shifted to Fujiwara no Kanehira’s brow. At this moment, a faint, pale mark was visible there. Upon closer inspection, it was a blurry abstract flying bird, identical to the one on the bronze disc. If not for the faint glow it emitted now, it would be almost imperceptible on a normal day.
“I never imagined that I, an ordinary yokai, would become friends with the former Vermilion Bird Divine General. Heh heh, I am truly fortunate in this life…”
“Enough of that useless talk. The ‘Forge’ is ready; let us begin.” With a light chuckle, Fujiwara no Kanehira patted his clothes and stood up from the ground. As he spoke, he drew a long iron hammer from his sleeve, a size that no sleeve should be able to hold.
“Alrighty~” Responding to Fujiwara no Kanehira, Totosai hoisted the giant tusk he had placed aside earlier and walked towards the bronze disc, where the flames were burning.
During this time, he glanced at the entrance they had used. At this moment, the entire vast underground space contained only Fujiwara no Kanehira and Totosai; everyone else was gone.
“I hope they can hold the top and buy us more time.”
…
Above the underground space, on the rocky island in the center of Ogura Pond, Toga and Yura stood guard at the cave entrance. Their gaze was fixed on the distance, on Ogura Pond, now covered in a large expanse of ice, and the dense black dots surging across it.
Through spiritual vision, a vast black miasma spread.
“This, this demonic energy… it’s the Leopard Cat Lord’s Four Generals…” Yura said gravely, gripping her talismans tightly. Hailing from Harima, she was all too familiar with the demonic energy of the leopard cat yokai.
“Indeed, I never expected our enemies to be them,” Toga said in a deep voice, looking at the unfolding situation.
“Could it be them who overheard our conversation that day?” Yura continued, having pondered who had used the Seimogura to steal their information that day, but never imagining it would be this group of leopard cat yokai.
“No, the Leopard Cat Lord does not use Seimogura techniques. The one who gathered our intelligence must be someone else; this information was simply passed on to Torin and the others,” Toga, having fought the Leopard Cat Clan for a hundred years, naturally knew their methods well.
At this moment, both standing before the rock cave hailed from Harima and were old enemies of the leopard cat yokai.
Suddenly, a burst of demonic energy erupted from the dense forest at the foot of the rocky mountain. Then, a crimson fireball, trailing a long black smoke, shot out from the trees, flying rapidly towards Toga and Yura at the cave entrance. Seeing this, Toga’s expression hardened. His claws condensed demonic energy, forming a long, yellow glowing whip, which accurately struck the incoming fireball. A roaring explosion erupted in mid-air, and the surging air currents ruffled Yura’s and Toga’s clothes.
“This, this is…”
“They’re here…” Staring at the black smoke dissipating in mid-air, Toga was on full alert. Then, an agile figure broke through the black smoke, charging directly at Toga, whose claws were equally swift, striking at the incoming figure.
“Clang!”
Accompanied by a sound like clashing steel, the attacking figure was blocked in front of Toga, and Toga’s claws were also stopped.
At this moment, standing before Toga was a female leopard cat yokai with short chestnut hair and a red tight-fitting outfit. She held a glowing red short sword, fiercely slashing at Toga, whose hand was firmly gripping the scorching blade, showing no sign of being cut or burned.
“Hoh… long time no see, stray dog…” The leopard cat yokai smiled, her pupils contracting into slits, as she looked at the lord of the dog yokai.
“Kaen…”
Uttering the name of the leopard cat yokai before him, Toga frowned. Then, demonic power rapidly gathered in the claw gripping the blade. Sensing this, Kaen quickly released her short sword and performed a backflip, retreating frantically.
“Soul-Scattering Iron Claw!”
The condensed demonic power erupted in the form of claws, five blades of demonic energy radiating from his fingers, rushing forward like plows, grinding rocks and carving five long, deep furrows into the ground, extending to the end of the platform.
“Oh dear… that was close. I almost became a casualty under your claws.”
Standing between the two furrows in the ground, Kaen looked at Toga with an unchanged expression. Clearly, she had dodged Toga’s demonic claw attack. As she spoke, flames ignited beneath her feet, lifting her into the air.
“I’ll help you!”
“Wait!”
Seeing the situation, Yura drew out a white paper doll, ready to go help, but was directly stopped by Toga.
“Know your place. Follow the plan. She’s mine.” With that, Toga leaped into the air, meeting Kaen head-on.
Yura, left on the platform, was startled. She turned back just in time to see one ordinary leopard cat yokai after another leaping onto the platform with their excellent jumping ability. They all stared at Yura menacingly.
Seeing the large group of leopard cat yokai staring at her, Yura instinctively wanted to throw her white paper dolls, but she held back. She clutched the white paper dolls and instead took out several talismans.
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