"Per the Yashiro Commission magistrate's report, the ley lines are contaminated," Reisen Riou said.
"But it's subtle. Even I didn't sense it at first."
"For now, step up patrols. Ley line disturbances will spawn more fiends. We don't know if it'll hit the deeper ley lines."
"Start checking and reinforcing shrine barriers."
"If any barriers seal monsters or fiends, hand them to the Okuzumeshu. I'll handle unified sealing."
"Here's the plan! Okuzumeshu!"
"Yes!"
"Join the patrols. I'm not the General, so leave a skeleton crew at the Shogunate. The rest split into squads, maintain order across Inazuma, and await further orders."
"Also—" Reisen paused, thinking. "Notify all groups with One System, Ten Thousand Minds Machines to temporarily seal them. Ley line disturbances could affect these ley-line-powered devices. We'll talk reactivation once I develop a resistant version."
"Yes!"
Inazuma's war machine roared to life. Samurai donned armor for patrols, shrine maidens regulated ley lines, youkai sniped spawning fiends, and local spirits took their posts.
Then disaster struck.
No surprise where it hit first: Kujou Encampment. The samurai and shrine maidens there easily handled monsters surging from the depths.
Sacred Sakura trees glowed, aiding the fight against fiends.
"The ley lines are heavily contaminated. Good thing I prepared," Reisen said.
He pulled his testing-ground Serenitea Pot from the ley lines, relocating it to Tenshukaku to study the issue with his team.
Reisen had plenty of solidified ley line energy—hoarding paid off. He sent shrine maidens to set up arrays and barriers around Inazuma City and its outskirts, stabilizing ley lines and purging fiend pollution.
He also relocated nearby villagers to the city.
"Abyss contamination's a pain to track," Reisen muttered. For three days, he'd spent hours in the Serenitea Pot lab, searching for the pollution's source.
Weirdly, he could sense the ley lines were tainted but couldn't pinpoint where or how. Without that, they relied on traditional purification rituals—effective but a massive drain on manpower and resources, like bailing a sinking ship with a cup.
Reisen had pulled nearly every shrine maiden to keep Inazuma City's ley lines mostly clean.
Mostly, not completely.
The Abyss's pollution was relentless, defenses endless. Only constant purification held it back.
Yae Saiguu confirmed that when the filth hit a certain density, it birthed enhanced monsters.
These creatures varied wildly in strength, lacked reason, and were immune to lures or charms. Their wills seemed shattered, unified by a berserk force. Their vitality levels were boosted, and their coordination eerily tight.
"Lord Attendant!" an Okuzumeshu called as Reisen emerged from the Serenitea Pot.
"What's up?"
The man offered a sealed letter. An Okuzumeshu stepped to take it, but Reisen yanked him back.
The messenger, seeing his chance slip, lunged. One step in, Reisen's Bow Heart pinned him dead with an arrow.
"Looks like the system changes gave stragglers an opening," Reisen said, shaking his head.
To streamline for the crisis, he'd tweaked protocols like visitor and report systems for efficiency.
But this let Khaenri'ahn spies and assassins see a shot at him.
Hence this scene. Reisen rifled through the assassin's body, finding a report on a long list of beast attacks. He ordered the Okuzumeshu to handle it, then searched the corpse.
This assassin had been in Inazuma for years—his martial skills had rusted. He reeked of kitchen smoke, likely posing as a restaurant worker.
Reisen splashed water on the face, revealing a typical middle-aged Inazuman beneath the disguise. Over a decade undercover. Reisen shook his head—what drove these guys?
Soon, the Okuzumeshu reported: "Lord Attendant, the spy killed the courier and posed as him."
"Small fry. Don't sweat it."
…
Kagei Tengu and Yae Saiguu fought a Khaenri'ahn war machine in Araumi.
This wasn't a mass-produced model but a unique, cutting-edge prototype: Perpetual Mechanical Array.
"Didn't expect Khaenri'ah to hide such a terrifying war machine here," Kagei Tengu said, frowning as the Array deflected her full-force strike.
A samurai team had been clearing random mechanical monsters—tough ones, forcing all-out attacks.
Then they collapsed a patch of ground, revealing Araumi's underground ruins overrun by these machines.
The samurai were outmatched, retreated, and reported up the chain to Kagei Tengu and Saiguu, the zone's commanders.
They recognized these as Khaenri'ah's Soldier-series machines.
But something puzzled them: these machines and Tiller mechs were unmanned, and like the contaminated monsters, they'd gone berserk for no clear reason.
They'd been advancing smoothly until the Perpetual Mechanical Array ambushed them, costing several samurai and shrine maidens.
"No quick win here. Lure it to open ground and seal it," Saiguu said through gritted teeth.