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BOOM!!!
With a deafening roar that shook the shrine, a massive form burst through the earth, instantly shattering the shrine's ceiling and sending the entire structure flying.
Dust and debris scattered everywhere.
Hmm...
Hagoromo-Gitsune remained calm and unhurried, keeping her arms folded across her chest as she waited for the dust to settle.
What appeared before her was a seemingly humanoid figure with four arms—a red-haired giant whose entire body was packed with rippling muscle. He wore a fierce yaksha mask on his face and sat cross-legged atop the shrine's ruins, two hands resting on his knees. One arm dangled lazily in front of him while another held a massive smoking pipe that matched his size, which he raised to his mouth for a deep, satisfied drag.
When he exhaled, the entire sky above Fushimi Inari Shrine seemed to burn with raging flames and fill with smoke.
"Haaah~ Finally got out. Four hundred whole years."
The four-armed, red-haired yaksha giant's voice erupted from his chest with earth-shaking force. He looked down at the high school girl below him—practically insignificant compared to his size—and let out a surprised sound.
"Hoh? I was wondering why this demonic power felt so familiar. So it's you, Hagoromo-Gitsune! You finally broke your seal too?"
"That's right. It's been four hundred years, Tsuchigumo."
Hagoromo-Gitsune's pale, almost translucent face remained expressionless.
"I didn't expect you'd been sealed here along with part of my power. But this isn't all of it. I've still got several other locations to hit. If everything goes according to plan, I'll have all my strength and my Hundred Demons back soon enough."
"Ohhh~ And then you can revive Nue, right?!"
At the mention of the seal, Tsuchigumo became noticeably excited.
"Once Nue's back, I'm gonna have another good brawl with him!"
Hagoromo-Gitsune maintained her faint smile.
"Seimei? Yes, exactly."
"Hmm... though now that you mention it, compared to four hundred years ago, Kyoto feels kind of different somehow."
As Tsuchigumo moved his body, his voice rumbled like thunder, tinged with confusion.
"And my power feels like it's being suppressed."
"Oh, that?"
Hagoromo-Gitsune seemed to have anticipated this, smiling as she shrugged.
"That's my sister's ability. She's soft-hearted, so when she learned about my plans, she blanketed the entire Kansai region with a barrier. Weaker demons probably can't even muster the will to attack anyone under my sister's barrier. But for you, Tsuchigumo, that level of suppression shouldn't be much of a problem."
"Well, yeah, I guess."
Tsuchigumo raised his pipe again for another deep drag.
"So you need my help? I'm not one of your Hundred Demons, but if it means getting to fight Nue sooner, I wouldn't mind helping you deal with the remaining seals."
"No need."
Hagoromo-Gitsune rejected him without hesitation.
"They're just Keikain branch families. Even though my current strength doesn't compare to what it was four hundred years ago, those Onmyōji still can't hold a candle to me."
"Fair enough. Then I won't get involved."
Tsuchigumo wasn't offended. He finished speaking, put away his pipe, stood up from the collapsed shrine ruins beneath him, and dusted off his pants.
"Anyway, I've been locked up for four hundred years. Time to go see what's changed. Catch you later."
With that, he crouched down, gathered his strength, and launched himself into the air. His mountain-sized form displayed agility and explosive power completely at odds with his massive appearance—like King Kong himself, shooting straight up into the sky.
The ground at Fushimi Inari Shrine where he'd pushed off looked like it had been struck by a small meteor. The entire area was covered in spiderweb cracks, sunken a full two meters deep.
The massive commotion kicked up another cloud of dust and debris.
When the dust settled once more, Hagoromo-Gitsune lowered the tail she'd held up to shield herself from the windblown sand, turned expressionlessly, and departed.
Next location, then.
Chūgū sounds good.
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Meanwhile, having spent the entire afternoon at her hotel until sunset, Saeko Busujima had also arrived at the entrance to Kiyomizu-dera Temple—the same place she'd visited that morning.
Perhaps because tourists had returned to their hotels for the evening, Kiyomizu-dera seemed somewhat less crowded compared to the sea of humanity from earlier.
Of course, "somewhat" was the operative word. It just wasn't as packed as during the day—not quite the shoulder-to-shoulder, wall-of-heads situation from before. But there were still plenty of tourists around.
Still, this was good enough.
For tonight's visit to Kiyomizu-dera, Saeko had specifically changed clothes. Instead of the casual, practical outfit from earlier, she'd switched to a deep blue yukata that matched her hair color. She still carried her sword bag containing her katana slung over one shoulder.
Ancient temple, yukata, sword—it all created the feeling of being transported back to the Edo period of wandering samurai.
And she, Saeko Busujima, was the daughter of a prestigious warrior family from the Edo era.
As a high school girl raised by a traditionally-minded father who'd groomed her into a proper yamato nadeshiko, Saeko actually quite enjoyed this aesthetic.
Plus, supposedly if you confessed your feelings on Kiyomizu Stage, you were guaranteed success.
Sure, that was probably exaggerated, but people always had a special fondness for romantic notions.
Saeko was no different. A major reason she'd chosen to visit Kiyomizu-dera first was precisely because of this Kiyomizu Stage.
Though Saeko herself didn't currently have anyone she wanted to confess to—or anyone she wanted a confession from—she was curious about what kind of experience standing on Kiyomizu Stage provided that supposedly boosted confession success rates.
But just like when Your Name had blown up in popularity, people didn't need a significant other to go see it, right?
With that thought, Saeko entered Kiyomizu-dera.
Ten minutes later, after climbing the steps to reach Kiyomizu Stage, the rectangular platform—which was less a "stage" and more like an elevated plaza—had very few people left.
That made sense, though. It was already dark now. Kiyomizu-dera sat in the mountains, so while during the day you could see brilliant mountain flowers in the distance, at night—aside from the temple's own lighting—the surrounding mountains were pitch black.
Not romantic at all. Just plain eerie!
Though she'd heard that the mountains around Kiyomizu-dera were planted full of maple trees. If she came in autumn, she could see endless red maples blanketing the mountainsides from Kiyomizu Stage.
Maybe I'll come back again in fall...
As Saeko thought this to herself, she closed her eyes against the mountain breeze, imagining the scene in her mind.
But just then, a sudden sound cutting through the air interrupted the swordswoman's daydream.
Sensing something wrong, Saeko's eyes snapped open. Acting purely on instinct, she immediately leaped several meters to the side.
The next second, a massive, mountain-sized figure came crashing down from above, landing heavily on Kiyomizu Stage. The wind pressure it kicked up carried the smell of burning tobacco. The sound thundered like a storm, and four giant arms swung outward toward the scattered tourists.
"Haaah~ Kyoto sure has changed a lot in four hundred years. At least the overall layout's still mostly the same, or I might've gotten lost. Anyway, time for a quick snack."
"..."
Saeko stared somewhat incredulously at the enormous demon that had suddenly appeared and started treating the tourist group like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Behind her, she could hear tourists screaming as they scattered and fled. She couldn't help shaking her head with mild exasperation.
"What is this... a knight in shining armor scenario? Not really my thing, and if you're going to play the prince, at least look in a mirror first and check what you're working with."
With that, she drew her katana from its bag—the blade gleaming cold and sharp despite being unsheathed for so long.
"Everyone evacuate immediately! Leave this to me!"
❁❁❁❁
At the same time, outside Kiyomizu-dera's entrance.
Having just finished dinner and arrived at their destination—each holding a stick of cotton candy, walking hand-in-hand—Bokue Keikain and Yura had barely made it through the shopping district when they heard screams erupting from inside the temple. Every tourist was fleeing outward like their lives depended on it.
The young man raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Hmm? What's going on in there?"
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