Time passed like a flash, and three days had passed without realizing it.
Inside the Keikain Family enveloped by the barrier.
Feelings of anxiety, despair, and reluctance... enveloped all Onmyōji's hearts.
In a large meeting room converted from a training area, important figures in Onmyōdō gathered here, there were Super Disaster Countermeasures Division's Jingūji Ayame, Onmyō Agency Director Kurahashi Genji, Onmyō Academy Principal Kurahashi Miyo, Exorcists Group Commander-in-Chief Tsuchimikado Arima, Tsuchimikado Family Head Yasuzumi, Keikain Hidemoto, etc.
Each was a decision-making level figure in Onmyōdō.
Below them, there were still the Twelve Guardians, Twelve Divine Generals, Eriri Spencer Sawamura, Kasumigaoka Utaha, Isayama Yomi, Keikain Yura...
A series of names that previously appeared on the Dimensional List. However, at this moment, everyone's faces looked unwell. With spiritual power forcibly squeezed, they became very pale, and their entire bodies had no strength at all.
"It's been three days. If that little girl from the Tsuchimiya family escaped from Kyoto, help should have come long ago..."
Yasuzumi sighed and said. Soon, he began coughing violently. As time passed, everyone also knew that hope was getting smaller.
"Father!"
Natsume looked at her father anxiously, a slightly complicated expression flashing across her face.
After all, after Harutora's identity beside her was revealed, she also understood she wasn't Yasuzumi's biological daughter. However, the family affection over more than ten years couldn't be denied just by the simple two words 'blood relationship'.
"Uhuk uhuk uhuk... Natsume, Father is fine."
Yasuzumi waved his hand, with slight guilt and relief in his eyes when looking at Natsume.
"The spiritual power in our bodies has basically been squeezed dry. Next what will be squeezed should be our life energy."
Harutora, who had fully awakened Tsuchimikado Yakou's memories, said with slight sadness.
He never expected that in the modern era where he had fully awakened, before he achieved his goal of reviving Onmyōdō, he had been cruelly calculated by the ancestor who had given the highest glory to Tsuchimikado a thousand years ago. Moreover, his cold methods made his heart shudder.
Hearing this, many people present showed slight despair on their faces.
Meanwhile, Yomi showed slight worry for Kagura on her face. Besides that, she wasn't desperate like the others beside her.
"I don't believe that Hikaru wouldn't notice something wrong with Kyoto..."
At this moment, Arima still showed a cheerful smile on his face, and said.
"Originally everyone fantasized too well. We all sent that little girl from the Tsuchimiya family indeed wanting her to find help for us. However, so far, even if she truly escaped from Kyoto, to whom could she ask for help? You must know that Onmyōdō was truly annihilated!"
"Those Gods won't care about a little Onmyōji girl's plea. Besides, for her herself to escape was very difficult..."
Arima's words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back, making some people present truly desperate.
"Could it be, humanity's inheritance foundation—Onmyōdō will become extinct here?"
"Abe no Seimei..."
"Who would have thought, this Onmyōdō Founder could be so crazy..."
"Truly unworthy of being Onmyōdō's founder..."
"Damn man..."
"..."
Someone shook their head sadly, someone kept cursing, someone acted inappropriately because it was difficult to accept...
For a time, voices throughout the meeting room sounded alternately. Imprisonment during these days made them continuously tortured at the edge of life and death. If they were ordinary people, they would definitely have collapsed themselves long ago.
Compared to these inappropriate Onmyōji, Genji, Yasuzumi and the others who sat in the highest chairs were silent. They definitely wouldn't give up until the last moments. Moreover, what exactly did Arima, who was always careless, want to do by uttering morale-crushing words at this moment? Did he want Onmyōdō to collapse by itself?!
"Arima-sama, what exactly do you want to do?!" Mitejima Subaru couldn't help but ask.
"Ara ara... I'm just stating the dilemma we currently face."
Arima looked at the slightly chaotic meeting room like watching a drama, as if everything had nothing to do with him at all.
"Calculating something, or hiding something."
Amami Daizen, one of the Twelve Divine Generals, glanced at him.
The careless and uncaring appearance Arima always showed every time facing major crises, which brought despair to others, there must be a foundation he had in his heart to face this difficulty.
And Yasuzumi, Genji and the others, who were Arima's cousins, also noticed this. They frowned and stared at Arima, truly wanting to know what was in this person's mind.
"Calculation and concealment are preparations to anticipate the enemy. Unfortunately, this Abe no Seimei directly suppressed all of us at once."
Arima waved his hand casually, looking at the slightly calmed meeting room. His expression slowly became slightly serious, and he said: "The distance between Kyoto and Tokyo isn't far, especially in the eyes of strong individuals."
Daizen, Genji, Yasuzumi and the others were slightly confused.
Why did he suddenly talk about this issue again? Could there be strong individuals in Tokyo they didn't know about?!
Wait a minute. Speaking of strong individuals, wasn't that 'playboy' an existence that completely couldn't be estimated? According to information, his current residence was in Tokyo, the Shinomiya residence.
If he moved, perhaps there was hope.
God Slaughter, ranked first on the Divine Artifact List, was in his hands.
"You mean... that 'playboy'... no, Kanzaki Hikaru can see through Kyoto's disguise, and come to save us." Yasuzumi pondered.
"With that lord's power, seeing through Kyoto's disguise is a must. As for whether he will save us, that's two different things."
What did this mean?! What difference was there between saying this and not saying it!
And, 'That Person', the Exorcists Group Commander-in-Chief truly called him respectfully, and his words showed extraordinary respect, as if not just because of his power.
"But!" Suddenly, Arima's tone changed. He pointed at Utaha, Yomi, Eriri, Kazusa and the others, and said: "Some of his childhood friends, his female lovers... I don't believe he will choose to stand aside and do nothing."
Being pointed at publicly by Arima, even Yomi and the others couldn't help but blush slightly.
"Moreover, I used the last remaining spiritual power to install a life-sensing device on that little girl from the Tsuchimiya family. If she truly met with an accident, that sensing device would definitely break. But now that life-sensing device is intact."
"Most likely that lord has already come. Of course there may be other situations too."
Instantly, many people stared at Arima angrily.
They only realized for the first time how annoying this person was. He was the one who said there was no hope, and he was the one saying there was hope now. He spoke positive and negative words alone.
"Arima-sama, really..."
Subaru couldn't help but fan the folding fan in his hand.