However, what surprised Rowan was that Suguru Geto, despite being possessed by Kenjaku, was still the deputy leader of the Time Vessel Association. His position had not changed in the slightest.
This led Rowan to suspect that Kenjaku was also a subordinate of the Time Vessel Association's leader.
Or perhaps the two had been working together all along.
Another thing worth mentioning was that Rowan finally saw what the leader of the Time Vessel Association looked like in Number One's memories.
When he had previously examined Suguru Geto's memories, this section had been blurry. The leader of the Time Vessel Association had probably used some kind of technique to make people forget his face.
But that technique did not seem to work on cursed spirits.
Number One clearly remembered what the leader looked like.
He was a muscular man with golden hair.
This man looked exactly like the Nue born from Hagoromo-Gitsune in Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan—
Abe no Seimei.
That basically confirmed that the leader of the Time Vessel Association was Abe no Seimei.
Rowan's guess had been correct.
"Good. Very good."
Rowan became excited. He could finally drag this rat out of the sewer.
He immediately gathered Medea, Medusa, Heroic Spirit EMIYA, Cú Chulainn, King Hassan, Heracles, and Nero.
Then he brought them to the Nura Clan's headquarters once again.
The moment Nurarihyon saw Rowan, anger surged through him.
During their previous victory celebration, Nero's singing had nearly wiped out the entire Nura Clan. Yet Rowan had escaped halfway through.
Nurarihyon would remember that for the rest of his life.
Now that he had finally caught sight of Rowan again, Nurarihyon immediately began complaining.
"Listen, you—"
"I found Abe no Seimei. Are you coming?"
However, Rowan needed only one sentence to lodge all of Nurarihyon's complaints in his throat.
"I'm coming."
Nurarihyon agreed immediately without even thinking.
Ever since Hagoromo-Gitsune had been defeated and Nurarihyon learned that Abe no Seimei was the true mastermind behind everything, he had hated the man to the bone.
Not to mention that Abe no Seimei had also been responsible for the death of his son, Nura Rihan.
The hatred between them was already irreconcilable.
Now that he had an opportunity to join a group attack against Abe no Seimei, hesitating for even a second would have been irresponsible toward the Nura Clan.
"Excellent."
Rowan nodded in satisfaction.
Then, bringing Nurarihyon and the members of the Nura Clan with him, he visited Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School and found Gojo Satoru.
"It's you."
Seeing Rowan invade the school with a group of monsters and demons, Gojo Satoru's expression gradually became serious.
Could this guy be planning to destroy Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School?
With that thought, Gojo immediately removed his blindfold, preparing to strike first.
"I found Abe no Seimei. Want to come?"
Rowan gave him the same line.
Hearing this, Gojo Satoru immediately reacted.
"You were also the one who dealt with Hagoromo-Gitsune?"
"That's right."
Rowan nodded.
"No wonder."
Gojo Satoru suddenly understood why Hagoromo-Gitsune's entire faction had been uprooted overnight.
Someone capable of defeating him could naturally defeat Hagoromo-Gitsune as well.
"Alright."
Gojo Satoru immediately agreed.
As the current bearer of the Six Eyes, he was duty-bound to fight Abe no Seimei.
After all, the Six Eyes had originally emerged to oppose that man.
With the Nura Clan and Gojo Satoru joining them, Rowan felt that they now had enough manpower.
He waved his hand and led everyone toward Abe no Seimei's stronghold with overwhelming momentum.
The reason Japan's higher-ups had never been able to locate Abe no Seimei was not because they were incompetent.
It was because Abe no Seimei was far too formidable.
The man had actually hidden himself in another dimension completely separate from the human world.
No wonder Japan's higher-ups had searched for so long without finding him.
This alternate dimension was known as—
Aoi Spiral Castle.
It was a place Abe no Seimei had personally built through immense effort. Without his permission, no one could enter or leave.
Even Number One could not enter Aoi Spiral Castle without authorization.
But now—
after finding the castle's location within Number One's memories, Rowan could use the Door-Door Fruit to enter and leave freely.
He had no need for Abe no Seimei's consent.
At the same time,
inside Aoi Spiral Castle,
Abe no Seimei, who had been cultivating, abruptly opened his eyes.
Just now, he had felt the barriers within Spiral Castle being disturbed.
Someone had invaded.
This had never happened before.
Immediately afterward, an air door slowly opened before him, and a group of people walked directly through it.
Nurarihyon.
The current Six Eyes.
And the man who had killed Suguru Geto.
Abe no Seimei's gaze flickered.
He truly had not expected that one day, someone would come knocking directly at his door.
It was sudden.
Far too sudden.
He had not prepared himself. He had not even begun his plan, yet someone had suddenly broken into his stronghold.
This was simply outrageous.
Abe no Seimei's gaze fell on Number One.
"I am curious. Why did you betray me?"
Number One glanced at Rowan.
"I never betrayed you. I was my Master's creation from the beginning."
Abe no Seimei was somewhat surprised.
He had always believed Number One to be a naturally born cursed spirit. He had never expected her to be an artificial one.
The fact that he had failed to notice this demonstrated the level of her creator's skill.
Abe no Seimei's gaze shifted toward Rowan.
"I am curious. Who exactly are you?"
In Abe no Seimei's eyes, neither the current Six Eyes nor Nurarihyon was worth fearing.
Only Rowan remained unreadable.
This man had never appeared throughout all the years Abe no Seimei had lived.
He belonged neither to Abe no Seimei's era nor to the present one. It was as though he had suddenly emerged from a stone.
Not only had he casually killed Suguru Geto, but he had also defeated Abe no Seimei's mother, Hagoromo-Gitsune.
He had even led a group directly into Abe no Seimei's home.
Without question, Rowan was the greatest variable in the entire plan.
So Abe no Seimei genuinely wanted to know who he was.
Faced with his question, Rowan smiled faintly.
"I suppose I'm just a passerby."
He genuinely believed that.
If Abe no Seimei had not planned to destroy the world and involve the great eastern nation as well, Rowan would never have bothered with him.
He would have been perfectly content remaining an ordinary passerby.
But this answer did not convince Abe no Seimei.
Expressionlessly, he said, "Even if you refuse to say it, I can still guess your origins."
His gaze swept over Nero, Heracles, King Hassan, and the others.
Then he slowly said, "You are not from this world, are you?"
The statement shocked both Nurarihyon and Gojo Satoru.
The two simultaneously turned toward Rowan.
"Oh? Not bad. You actually figured it out."
Rowan did not deny it.
His identity was not some shameful secret.
If people learned about it, then so be it. It was no big deal.
In any case, there were few beings in this world capable of keeping Rowan from leaving.
After becoming stronger, Rowan possessed that confidence.
"Since you are from another world, why interfere in our affairs?"
Abe no Seimei frowned in confusion.
"Or are all outsiders as fond of meddling as you are?"
"Not necessarily."
Rowan waved his hand.
"To be honest, if your plan hadn't involved other humans, I wouldn't have cared what you did. You could do whatever you wanted. What would it have had to do with me?"
Abe no Seimei fell silent in thought.
"I see. Then there is nothing more to discuss."
He could not abandon his plan merely because of Rowan.
And judging from Rowan's aggressive arrival today, he would not simply retreat.
In the end, they still had to fight.
If Abe no Seimei won, he could sweep away every obstacle and continue advancing his plan.
If he lost, everything would end.
"Are you finished talking? If you are, can we start fighting now?"
At that moment, Gojo Satoru spoke lazily.
Abe no Seimei snorted and looked at him.
"The current Six Eyes, are you? Let me see how much of your ancestor's power you inherited."
The moment he finished speaking, Abe no Seimei formed a hand seal with a sweep of his sleeve.
Countless black feathers appeared from thin air throughout the hall. Sharp as blades, they swept in from every direction.
Their sole target—
Gojo Satoru.
Yet faced with such a murderous and overwhelming attack, Gojo's expression did not change in the slightest.
When the countless black feathers approached within a foot of his body, they were forcibly frozen in midair by an invisible barrier.
Limitless—
Stopping Power.
This force infinitely slowed the speed of anything approaching him, bringing hundreds upon thousands of attacks to a halt.
Abe no Seimei's expression remained unchanged as killing intent spread from him like a tangible substance.
He stepped forward, instantly closing the distance with Reverse Exorcism Footwork. His palm, wrapped in destructive black-purple yokai energy, struck toward Gojo Satoru at point-blank range.
"Close combat? I like it."
Rather than retreating, Gojo stepped forward.
Azure light gathered at his fingertips as the surrounding space rapidly collapsed toward him.
"Cursed Technique Lapse—
Blue."
The supreme talent he had possessed from birth erupted with full force.
Boom!
Invisible spatial distortion collided violently with a thousand years of pitch-black yokai energy.
In an instant, the shockwave tore the roof tiles from the uppermost level of Aoi Spiral Castle. Countless floor tiles were pulverized, and even the barriers reinforcing the castle's foundations shook violently.
The two figures slid back dozens of meters.
The sleeve of Abe no Seimei's onmyoji robe had been torn apart.
Gojo Satoru's face was pale.
"As expected of a great onmyoji who's lived for over a thousand years. You really are powerful."
Abe no Seimei calmly replied, "The current Six Eyes is not bad."
Seeing Abe no Seimei's calm expression, Gojo understood that ordinary techniques would not be enough to deal with this legendary great onmyoji.
In an instant, he unleashed his full power.
He raised one hand and slowly said,
"Domain Expansion—
Unlimited Void."
Time seemed to freeze.
The world was cut apart and reassembled as an immense torrent of knowledge poured down from the heavens, forcibly flooding into Abe no Seimei's mind.
~~~
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