"Three, two, one. Smile." One click captured the smiles of a group of young students.
"Congratulations on your graduation and passing the university entrance exam, Sister." Said a child who was entering adolescence.
"Thank you, Hino." Akari smiled and gently caressed his hair.
"Akari, Hino. Let's go." Akari looked at her mother and nodded, walking toward her.
"Where are we going to celebrate?" Hino asked.
"You say it as if it were your graduation." Her mother scolded him.
Akari laughed.
"Okay, okay, I got it. Let's go to your sister's favorite restaurant." Hino agreed. He also liked the food at that place.
Akari smiled and watched the buildings go by as they rode in the car. At that moment, she thought that time had flown by so quickly. In the blink of an eye, two years had already passed.
During these two years, she had lived as a normal girl, focused on her studies. She had even found something she was passionate about doing. She loved painting and taking photographs, so she decided to study art at university. Her mother had no objections. Her only regret was that the university was in another city. But her mother also knew that Akari loved to travel, so she just told her to come back often.
After releasing herself from the control of the world's consciousness. Akari visited many places and left the city often, this time with a different mindset. During that time, she felt happy and at ease from the bottom of her heart. She finally found the freedom she desired, and thanks to that, she found her true passion.
Of course, she hadn't neglected the supervision of this world. However, her style was clearly different from that of the world's consciousness. She didn't observe everyone and everything to make sure things turned out the way she wanted. She simply kept an eye on those places with slight evil energies and those demons who knew about her bloodline.
In fact, she was surprised when she realized they were still people with demonic blood, even though those who knew their true origins were few. The remaining demonic blood was minimal, with no possibility of causing major problems. Most of them didn't even have anything special. Only a few were stronger or faster than ordinary humans, but that was all.
Because of this, Akari really didn't have much work. She was alert for strange incidents, but until now, she had lived normally.
Her college was located in the north, so Akari went shopping with her mother so that she wouldn't need to buy many things when she arrived. She left by train and arrived the next day. The university had a beautiful campus and accommodations. Akari registered and entered her room, where she met her three roommates.
Two girls who studied languages and another who studied literature. Of the three, the one who talked the most was Suzume, who studied literature. She had a simple and cheerful personality, so they quickly got along well. Although they weren't in the same program, their class schedules coincided, so they talked quite often. One day, Suzume told Akari.
"I heard that your class will go to camp." Akari nodded.
"Yes, it is to clear your mind and connect better with nature in order to better capture the landscapes when painting." Suzume gave her a mischievous smile.
"What happened?" Akari asked.
"You don't know? The place where you're going—it's a haunted place." Akari laughed and said.
"Again with your paranormal stories." Akari shook her head, amused. She didn't know why but Suzume had a fascination for horror and paranormal stories and could turn any news story into something paranormal.
Sometimes, Akari was almost tricked by her; she would check those places to see if they were real demons, but there was nothing there. Most of it was just rumors.
"This time it's true." Suzume said, annoyed, showing her computer to Akari.
"Look, the police reported a series of disappearances over the last two years in the mountains near where you'll be staying. This time, I'm not making it up." Akari read the news, and her smile disappeared.
They were real reports, and the police had already cordoned off the area, saying that the terrain was dangerous. The area was very foggy both day and night, so people were prohibited from climbing the mountain.
"I've visited forums, and some curious people who wanted to find out if there was a pervert hiding there never returned. Some even call it the man-eating mountain." This time Akari couldn't laugh. She felt that there was something strange about that mountain. For a priestess like her, even with most of her power sealed away, a bad feeling could not be ignored.
"What happened? Why do you have such a scary face?" Akari snapped out of her thoughts and scolded her.
"Don't say nonsense, Suzume. Isn't it your fault for scaring me?" Suzume pouted indignantly, but she didn't answer because Akari was right.
"Give me all the information you have about this." Suzume heard Akari and smiled.
"Really?" Akari nodded and said.
"Yeah, give me everything." Suzume happily sent all the information.
Akari reviewed it all that same night and realized the situation was worse than she expected. It had started with a few disappearances every so often—climbers or people from the surrounding area, but she read rumors that the number of victims was increasing because there was something calling them from the mountain.
That mountain definitely had a problem, and she needed to check it out before camp. So, on Friday after class, she simply sent a message to her mother saying that she would not be returning that weekend, and she left for the location.
The mountain was not very far from the college, only two hours away. Akari ran toward the mountain. It had been a while since she did that but she wasn't out of shape at all. Despite the fact that she was now living in peace. She had promised to return if something went wrong with Inuyasha and the others. If she left her training and returned weaker than before, she would surely die.
So to be prepared, Akari had never quit her training. Also, she felt more secure and relaxed while training. Thanks to that, after she left the city without many security cameras it was easier to move because there were only forests and mountains in the surrounding area. It was just nature that's why she chose her college in the first place.
The moment Akari arrived at the mountain, her face turned serious. She felt a faint demonic energy covering the whole mountain.It was almost dawn. Akari silently put her hand on her sword and climbed the mountain. Then she entered the darkness of the mountain.