"Rustle~"
In the mountain forest, a gentle breeze blew, carrying a faint fishy smell, swaying the branches and making the leaves rustle.
"Hm?!"
Hearing the sound, Miko, who was holding Nakano Yu's hand, instinctively moved closer to the young man and cautiously looked in the direction the sound came from.
"Little Miko, don't be so nervous. This mountain is called Three Fox Valley Mountain, so it's probably just a fox."
Seeing Miko so nervous, Rom smiled and waved his hand. After saying that, he looked at the dark shadow hiding in the mountain forest.
Something was off. Since they started climbing the mountain, those spirits had been hiding from them, as if they were afraid—afraid of him? Or afraid of Takeda Mitsue?
No, that's impossible. Although Takeda Mitsue's spiritual power was strong, it wasn't at that level. The spirits here were not easy opponents.
But if that's the case, what were those spirits afraid of?
Could it be that they were afraid of that young man?
Narrowing his eyes, Rom's gaze landed on Nakano Yu, and with a smile, he addressed the young man:
"Hey, young man, are you Miko's boyfriend? Your relationship looks really close."
As he spoke, Rom's teasing gaze fell on Miko's hand holding Nakano Yu's hand.
"Thwack!"
Rom had just finished speaking when Takeda Mitsue, standing next to him, jumped and struck him hard on the head, creating a loud sound.
"Tsk~ old woman, what are you doing?!"
Holding his head, Rom naturally felt a bit annoyed after being suddenly hit. He turned to Takeda Mitsue and asked.
"Hmph, not everyone is someone you can tease."
Glancing at Rom, Takeda Mitsue just snorted and then moved forward.
"Huh? What are you talking about, old woman?"
Hearing that, Rom lifted the hat that Takeda Mitsue had knocked to the ground, put it back on his head, and quickly followed her.
Miko and Nakano Yu, who were behind them, watched the two silently and also quickly followed.
However, halfway, Nakano Yu suddenly stopped and looked at the mountain forest beside them, saying nothing.
"W-what's wrong? Nakano-kun."
Seeing Nakano Yu suddenly stop, the already nervous Miko became extremely anxious and asked.
"Nothing, I just saw something I expected."
Nakano Yu shook his head, then continued climbing the mountain together with Miko.
Miko, however, was confused. What was it that he expected? Had Nakano Yu already been on this mountain?
In reality, what Nakano Yu saw was a stone, or more precisely, a Suppression Stone!
Initially, Nakano Yu planned to use Gusting Wind and Raging Waves to directly lead the group to the mountain top, but he suddenly remembered the Suppression Stone that appeared in the manga. If he remembered correctly, it should be on the path up the mountain, which is why he was climbing together with the others.
Suppression stones are not rare in Japan. It can be said that every shrine or superstitious village places a suppression stone at the village entrance to prevent earthquakes.
But Nakano Yu knew very well that the Suppression Stone on Three Fox Valley Mountain wasn't used to prevent earthquakes, but to suppress the monster sealed beneath this mountain.
Nakano Yu didn't know what it was, but he would find out when he reached Three Fox Valley Shrine and dismantled the sacrificial ritual used for suppression.
"Hm? Isn't there a path forward?"
Soon, Nakano Yu and Miko caught up with Rom and Takeda Mitsue who were walking ahead.
However, after catching up, Miko noticed that the place where the shrine should have been was now empty. Forget the shrine, not even a shadow of a torii gate could be seen.
"That's a barrier. This shrine only allows people with strong life energy, or objects with strong life energy, to disturb the magnetic field of the barrier."
Seeing that Nakano Yu and Miko had finally caught up, Rom explained. As he spoke, he pulled out a ram doll from his sleeve that radiated abundant life energy.
"That is… Hana's ram doll?"
As a good friend of Yurikawa Hana, Miko immediately recognized the origin of the doll.
"I swapped it with little Hana. Now we'll use it to open the barrier. Of course, if little Hana were here, the effect would be even better."
Pressing the brim of his hat, Rom explained. While speaking, he began to direct his full spiritual power, preparing to use the life energy from the doll to open the barrier, but Takeda Mitsue interrupted him:
"No need to try so hard. With him here, there's no reason to worry."
Hearing this, Rom slightly frowned, wondering who Takeda Mitsue meant, when he noticed Nakano Yu stepping out behind him.
A few steps ahead of Rom, Nakano Yu looked at the "empty space" in front of him.
In his eyes, a row of stone steps still existed in front, and at the end of the steps stood a dilapidated, enormous torii gate.
Without a word, Nakano Yu released the aura characteristic of a God Slayer. In an instant, the space in front of the young man began to warp and continuously fracture. Moments later, the hidden part of the stone steps appeared before everyone.
"Let's go."
Slightly bowing his head, Nakano Yu said to the astonished Rom behind him.
At that moment, Rom looked at Nakano Yu, his face full of shock. What had just happened?
Why… why did he feel the urge to obey the young man in front of him at that moment?
"Hey, hurry and follow."
Seeing Rom still standing like a statue, Takeda Mitsue, who had already gone a little ahead, impatiently called him, finally bringing him back to reality.
Hearing this, Rom quickly put away the ram doll and followed the group toward the torii gate.
"It's still as deserted as ever."
Beneath the torii gate, Takeda Mitsue looked at the neglected shrine covered in moss and weeds and said.
How long had it been since she last came here? Over ten years, maybe?
The last time she came here, she had lost someone. Heh, if it weren't for that woman, she'd probably already be dead, and there would be no "godmother from downtown."
Thinking of that, a cold smile appeared on Takeda Mitsue's face.
For spiritualists like them, who were only slightly stronger than ordinary people, the so-called "mountain god" who resided here was invincible, a monster beyond human capability!
But today, they had an even more monstrous existence!
Looking at Nakano Yu, who casually walked through the shrine, Takeda Mitsue felt her confidence grow.
Is this the feeling of having a powerhouse leading the way? Incredibly exciting!
"Hey, Takeda-bāba, who is that young man? I was away from Tokyo for a little over seventeen years, so how did such a terrifying existence appear in Tokyo?"
Rom looked at Nakano Yu and curiously asked as he approached Takeda Mitsue.
He couldn't sense any traces of life energy from Nakano Yu, but he knew the young man definitely wasn't as simple as he appeared.
"Rom, you really have fallen behind during your years in Kyoto, you don't even recognize him. Didn't the Kyoto Onmyoji mention Yu to you?"
Takeda Mitsue glanced at Rom from the side, her tone fairly sarcastic.
"You mean… that one? So, his name is Nakano Yu."
Hearing this, Rom immediately understood, straightened up, looked at Nakano Yu, and dropped the tools he had been carrying to the ground.
"Hm? Rom, what are you doing?"
Seeing that Rom even discarded his exorcism tools, Takeda Mitsue asked in confusion.
"When a powerhouse leads the way, do I still need to act?"
Hearing this, Rom sat on his box with the tools and replied to Takeda Mitsue, then paused and added:
"Didn't you just leave all your protective beads at the shop too?"
"Ahem, ahem, this is trust in Yu."
Takeda Mitsue coughed twice and said that when she saw Nakano Yu, she had removed all the beads from her body, leaving only a few spiritual tools she always carried.
Although she never said it, Takeda Mitsue knew that her old life had saved Nakano Yu and Miko. After all, if Miko hadn't called Nakano Yu, it would probably have been difficult for them even to climb the mountain.
"By the way, aren't you going up to summon that mountain god?"
Takeda Mitsue looked at the empty shrine. They had already been there for a while, and the Great Ogre residing there had shown no signs of appearing.
"Miko-chan has already gone," Rom said with a slight smile. "I told her the exact way to make the wish."
She had already made a wish at this shrine once, so if he tried again, the Great Ogre would recognize him and not appear.
And Takeda Mitsue was even less eligible. Not just because of her spiritual perception, but also due to her age, she didn't meet the requirements. After all, this shrine sought a young soul with strong spiritual perception.
"You let Miko go? Really, you're something."
Hearing this, Takeda Mitsue's face darkened, but she said no more. After all, only Nakano Yu and Miko could summon that Great Ogre.
Neither she nor Rom had the courage to let Nakano Yu do it, so they could only let Miko.
Once summoned, it meant being bound to him; even if the wish was granted, the soul would also be taken.
But now that Nakano Yu was here, all of Takeda Mitsue's worries vanished. In front of absolute power, everything else was insignificant.
On Miko's side, she stood in front of the offering box, holding several coins, her hands trembling with nervousness.
She wasn't scared, but Rom had told her that wishes at this shrine truly had a chance to come true!
Thinking that her eyes, which could see, would return to their original state, and that she would return to her daily life, Miko's heart was filled with incomparable excitement.
"Come on, let's get this done quickly and finish the job."
Nakano Yu said, looking at Miko.
Hearing that, Miko no longer hesitated, threw the coins into the offering box, then pulled the rope, clapped her hands twice, closed her eyes, and began to state her wish:
"I want my eyes to return to how they were at the beginning. I don't want spiritual sight!"
Miko thought to herself, and suddenly, golden light flashed before her eyes.
Under the influence of the golden light, Miko slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself in a completely dark space.
And in front of her stood a huge beast over five meters tall, with two horns on its head, fox-like, and several fox tails, its entire body radiating a divine glow, like a god.
Looking at the enormous beast, Miko immediately realized that this was surely the Great Ogre Rom had told her about, the disguised god!
Thinking this, Miko's face froze. He hadn't told her she would face it head-on.
Just when Miko didn't know what to do, suddenly, two small girls in kimonos appeared in front of the enormous beast. Both had short hair and radiated a faint glow like a "mountain god."
However, they had fox heads and dark eye sockets, causing Miko to feel slight fear when she looked at them more carefully.
The two fox ogres looked at Miko, shaking their heads, and in the next moment, Miko felt dizzy before her eyes. When she opened them again, she found herself back in the shrine.
Turning her head, Miko then realized that the so-called mountain god and the two fox ogres were standing behind her, silently watching.
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