Chapter 191: She Said Her Name Is Minamoto no Raikou
"He can actually do it!"
Upon hearing that this Mr. Blue Lancer could still find a hundred people with Magic Circuits in the outside world today, along with two other Magi proficient in Magecraft besides himself, Tamamo-no-Mae was quite pleasantly surprised!
She hadn't expected the other party to fulfill such demanding requirements. It seemed his status among the Magi of the outside world was not low!
That made sense.
It was precisely this kind of person who would want to enter the Heian Capital.
Thinking this, Tamamo-no-Mae seemed to understand why the other party was so interested in the Heian Capital.
If he was a Magus, and moreover a Magus proficient in Magecraft, then it would be strange if he weren't interested in a place like the Heian Capital.
It was just a pity that the Heian Capital was probably a completely different place from what he imagined...
At this thought, Tamamo-no-Mae sighed, then continued conversing with the other side through Little Kiara.
"Mr. Blue Lancer, what I mainly need is for you to lead these Magi to a designated location. Regarding the Heian Capital, I imagine that after learning of its existence, you must have already searched for its location, but you certainly couldn't find it."
"Because although the Heian Capital truly exists, there is a rather special Spell Formula around it—the Yata Heavenly Barrier."
"As long as control of the Great Bounded Field remains in the hands of that Heavenly Fox, outsiders will have no hope of finding the Heian Capital's location, let alone reaching it."
"So I'll be straightforward: I need you to lead these Magi to a specified location, coordinate with me, and together we will activate a Spell Formula to help me wrest control of the Great Yata Barrier from the Heavenly Fox. Once control of the Great Bounded Field is in my hands, if you wish to enter the Heian Capital, I can naturally open the gate for you."
"But before that, I must also warn you..."
Here, Tamamo-no-Mae hesitated.
She felt she shouldn't say what came next. It would be better to let the other party come with their illusions about the Heian Capital intact, so they would cooperate with her more seriously...
But after wavering for a while, Tamamo-no-Mae ultimately sighed and said what needed to be said.
"...The Heian Capital is probably not the Magus' holy land you imagine it to be. The situation here is quite complex, so you'd best be mentally prepared."
Because Tamamo-no-Mae was relaying the message through Little Kiara, she didn't reveal the true state of the Heian Capital.
She had no intention of shattering the world in Little Kiara's eyes.
She could only offer reminders and warnings. Feeling she had said enough, she closed her eyes and waited for the other party's reply.
If the other party agreed, then she would have no psychological burden.
If the other party changed their mind because of her warning, then at least she hadn't dragged anyone else into this.
That's how Tamamo-no-Mae consoled herself.
As for Noah, after seeing Tamamo-no-Mae convey so much information, he directly gave his response.
"My purpose for going to the Heian Capital is my own. No matter how complex the situation there, I must go. As for the specifics, you can tell me now—such as details about the Spell Formula, the location of the Great Bounded Field, and how we are to coordinate with you."
Noah responded to the other party in this way.
Then he saw the other party send over an approximate location and a considerable amount of information about spell formulas. Noah used the Third Magic to record all this information.
Although he possessed the power of the Star Performer, allowing him to discern through communication whether the other party was deceiving him, Noah still did not fully trust them.
Thus, by recording these spell formulas, his main intention was to have his own people study them.
After confirming the truth of the other party's claims, Noah planned to visit the location to investigate the Great Yata Barrier before making further plans.
So, once the other party had sent over everything they needed to, Noah intended to temporarily end the conversation. He would then take these spell formulas to Morgan and the others, and also have Mary study them.
However, the words the other party suddenly spoke at this moment made Noah take a few more glances.
'Ah, right. If you arrive at the location or have already begun your plan, remember to be a bit cautious—though the humans around there shouldn't pose any problem for you, in the interstice between the Great Yata Barrier and the real world, at the very edge of the Great Yata Barrier, that fox has imprisoned many evil spirits and sinners.'
'If you encounter those beings while making contact with the barrier, you must be careful.'
'Although they are also resisting, they are not good people—ghosts are creatures driven by strong hedonism. They are dissatisfied with their current situation and fight, but their true intentions are hard to say.'
'You especially need to be wary of three among these evil spirits. First are the ghosts named Shuten-douji and Ibaraki-douji. These two are the leaders of these ghosts, particularly the one named Shuten-douji. Though she is excessively indulgent in pleasure, she is incredibly strong.'
'And precisely because she is so indulgent in pleasure, she will stop at nothing to escape from that interstice.'
'There is another one. Though I don't know why she has mingled with those ghosts, if she is now siding with the evil spirits, she is also someone you must be cautious of.'
'Her name is Minamoto-no-Raikou, a remarkably powerful Martial King.'
'She possesses the power to confront them. From what I know, she should originally have been an enemy of those evil spirits, but now she stands alongside them—I don't know what happened in between, so you must be careful too. Don't be deceived by those evil spirits.'
Seeing the message sent by the other party, Noah was visibly taken aback...
Regarding the evil spirits, Shuten-douji, and Ibaraki-douji, he wasn't particularly surprised.
After all, in this era, even the Heian Capital exists, so it's no surprise that these ghosts are there too.
He was also not unfamiliar with Shuten and Ibaraki.
The only part of this message that truly surprised him was—Minamoto-no-Raikou actually joining forces with those ghosts!?
Noah's first reaction was disbelief.
Because Minamoto-no-Raikou was someone who would even seek to kill the demonic aspect of herself that she had separated, the incarnation known as Ushi Gozen. Her aversion to ghosts was no simple matter...
She despised ghosts so much that she even loathed her own demonic side!
Or perhaps it was precisely because of Ushi Gozen that Minamoto-no-Raikou developed an intense aversion to demons.
Would she cooperate with demons?
How could that be possible?
However, as he thought this far, Noah suddenly realized something.
Minamoto-no-Raikou should be similar to Little Kiara, right? Neither of them belongs to this era... If you say Shuten-douji and Ibaraki-douji already exist now, that wouldn't be too surprising, since they are demons.
But Minamoto-no-Raikou... she's different, isn't she?
In that case, when Mary and Manaka were sent here through Distortion, they were two people. Could it be that Minamoto-no-Raikou was sent here together with Little Kiara through Distortion?
If so, did she obtain something from Little Kiara during the Distortion that influenced her?
Or was this also due to that Heavenly Fox?
Considering these possibilities, Noah felt it wasn't entirely impossible for Minamoto-no-Raikou to stand alongside them.
However, just as he shook his head, responded to Little Kiara, and prepared to take the items to find Morgan and the others first, he saw Vivian push the door open and walk in.
"Master, someone is blocking the palace entrance, insisting on seeing you. Even the Enforcement Knights couldn't handle them. Since I sensed the person was no ordinary individual, I temporarily placated them and came to report to you."
Hmm?
Hearing Vivian say this, Noah temporarily set aside the information about the Spell Formula.
"If you say so, then bring them here... By the way, did they mention who they are or why they came to see me?"
When Noah asked this, Vivian shook her head.
"They didn't state their purpose, but I used prophecy to take a brief look. Although their future is unusually blurry for some reason—almost impossible to see clearly—and I could only faintly hear a few words, I could still determine that their purpose is likely to seek your aid.
"As for their name, they did report it honestly."
With that, Vivian uttered a name that left Noah momentarily stunned.
"She said her name is Minamoto-no-Raikou."