In the wasteland that is suspected to be the site of the former Tsuchigomon Mansion.

Kamiyagawa explored this barren land for a while, and found nothing extra. In this scorched land, he could indeed feel the presence of a transcendent aura, but it was very faint.

Faint enough that most soul hunters probably don't notice it.

"If you just look at it this way, there is nothing worth caring about in this place, except for being a little weird, and it is worth investigating in depth."

Kamiya stopped in the wasteland of the old site.

After thinking for a moment, he opened the [Mirage Cloth Bag] and took out all the items related to the fate god inside.

Including the ema of the gods, the red rope, and the small piece of bamboo slips.

With these three props in my hand, the first thing that changed was the bamboo slip.

It carbonizes quickly, drops rough debris, and quickly turns into tiny puffs of black ash in the palm of your hand.

At the same time, the wind was blowing in the scorched barren land.

The sound of the wind was terrible, like countless wails and shouts, echoing across this empty black land. The dead black sand grains were lifted by the strong wind, forming black swirls.

The whirlpools swirled and jumped, and the black particles that were carried into the air took shape in the wind.

The black wind and sand made people unable to open their eyes, but Kamiyagawa, who was in the middle of it, still saw it, and saw a cracked space crack suddenly bloom.

It was like a black eye opened, like a dark door opened, howling and roaring, attracting and engulfing everything around it.

The bamboo slips left by the god of fate seem to be the "key" to open here.

And Kamiyagawa, who holds the "key", as the key holder who opens this place, his sword-wielding figure is soon hidden by the black wind and sand in the sky.

And in this endless black that covers the sky and calls signs, there is a soft, inconspicuous red that flutters slightly.

The red rope that ties the gods.

This slender red rope moved on its own as if it were alive, and first passed through the [Ema of the Fate God] with one end.

Then the other end of the red rope lingered around Kamiyagawa's waist.

On Kamiya's waist, a small pentagonal ema has been hanging from a long time ago.

It's not the one who ties the gods.

The largest area on this Painted Horse Plaque is a hand-painted girl in a red and white colored witch costume, showing a smiling face and holding a chubby orange cat.

On the left side of Ema, it is written in upright and graceful handwriting: [Congratulations to the New Year]

On the right is a line of small print -

[Wish: Kamiyagawa will always be safe.] ]

This ema was consecrated by Juqiong Shrine and was given to Kamiyagawa by the Onizuka shrine maiden a long time ago.

After getting it, he used it as a talisman or decoration and carried it with him.

On the other side of the empty red rope of the god of fate, this New Year's ema is strung together.

In this way, the ema drawn by the gods and the ema drawn by the shrine maiden are connected by a long red thread.

After a while, the stormy sand on the old site of the wasteland finally subsided.

The flying mud and gravel fell back to the ground, and the figure of Kamiyagawa had disappeared from the charred land.

Everything just now is as if nothing had happened.

The former site of the Tsuchigomon Gate has been restored to its original dead silence.

……

Kanagawa Prefecture, Juqiong Shrine.

Hotaru Onizuka finished her training and returned to her room.

Juqiong Shenzi's mood is still not too good, and she is very worried about Granny Yu's recent physical condition.

"Sister Huali is still taking care of her mother-in-law, and I should go to my mother-in-law again in a while."

She thought to herself, and sat down in a chair in the room.

But in the next second, Onizuka sensed that something was wrong.

A strange aura suddenly diffused from the familiar room, the space began to turbulent, everything in the line of sight swayed, and all the furniture in the room began to blur and sway.

"What's going on?"

Although he didn't know what was going on, Onizuka, who had the expertise of a soul slayer, subconsciously quickly took out two talismans.

Miko's slender fingers tightened the yellow talisman.

In an instant, all the colors in the shaky space faded, like the scene of an old black and white television.

But in such a colorless black and white world, there is a bright and soft red drifting and spreading, lingering around Onizuka's side.

It seemed to be a thin red rope.

I don't know where the red rope is connected at one end, and at the other end is a small and delicate painted horse in the shape of a pentagon.

This ema is very familiar.

Onizuka Kirita saw her handwriting on it—

[Wish: Kamiyagawa will always be safe.] ]

"It's ...... I gave it to Achuan? ”

In the next second, Juqiong Shenzi's room stabilized and returned to its original state.

Strictly speaking, nothing has happened here that is worth caring about.

About ten minutes later.

The door to the room was pushed open from the outside.

"Hotaru-chan, mother-in-law's ......" Fuhuari, who was dressed in your uniform, walked in, "Huh? Isn't it? ”

Fu Youyi didn't see anything unusual about Onizuka Kirita's room.

"Strange, where did you go? Her phone was still on the table. ”

Tomi closed the door of his room again and went to look for the ghost mound in other parts of the shrine.

……

"This place ......"

Kamiyagawa, who was holding the boy Kirian Tsuna, looked around cautiously.

After the bamboo slip that served as the "key" was activated at the site of the Tsuchigomon Mansion, he seemed to be transported to a strange place.

It was dark, damp, and oppressive.

It's impossible to tell if it's underground or in a cavern.

"Little old man."

As is customary, exploring completely unfamiliar locations, Kamiya usually calls out scouts to work together.

But after the call, the familiar figure did not immediately appear.

"Huh?"

Realizing that something was wrong, Kamiya groped out the bronze match of the little old man's house, and looked at it seriously with his eyes.

You can clearly feel that the scout's body is in the copper match at this moment.

"He can't seem to get out."

Not quite right.

12 points out of 10 is wrong.

"Mary." "Prajna."

"Dog?" "Little tapir?"

"Turning Whale ......" and "Tengu ......"

Kamiyagawa began to call out to the gods, but still did not receive a response.

He could feel that the contract between the Shikikami and himself was still there, and he could feel that they were all around him.

However, they don't seem to be able to show up here.

"There's a force in this place that's restricting them from coming out. Is the power of Tiandian Maiden's life influencing here, or is it a matter of fate? Or both? ”

Kamiyagawa began to analyze the current situation.

The other Aragami aside, Mary, who has become a god, can't even appear here.

The place where the gods guided him seemed to be a little extraordinary.

The current situation is somewhat similar to the Jingu in Takamagahara.

On Takamagahara, only approved objects can appear in the event.

Because Kamiyagawa is the owner of that divine residence, and the Shikigami who have a contract with him can probably be regarded as his slaves. From this, they were free to move around the abode.

As for the other strange stories or gods, with the exception of Suzuhiko and Medicine Seller, who have a special connection to Takamagahara, they must hold a pass token to appear on Takamagahara.

And now the rules of this place seem to be even stricter than those in Takamagahara.

"Maybe it's not harsh...... I am the current master of Takamagahara, and I have the highest authority there, and even the gods who carry me can be associated with Takamagahara. But here I'm just an outsider, a credential that allows me to exist here...... This should be it, right? ”

Kamiyagawa looked at his left hand.

In the palm of his hand, he is holding the ema who is bound to be a god.

The effect of this thing is probably similar to that of the Takamagahara Pass Token.

"The way to call out the gods...... I don't have a clue yet. It seems that the difficulty of this place is a bit high. ”

The Shikigami can't get out for the time being, and Kamiyagawa can only rely on his own strength to explore this unknown area.

At one point, he was a little apprehensive.

I wonder if I have entered the eternal world.

You must know that ordinary people who enter the eternal world in the flesh will be hidden by God.

will be completely forgotten by the present world.

Although the definition of an ordinary person no longer applies to Kamiyagawa.

But he was still not sure if he was now able to travel freely through the world of the surface and inside like the strange talkers who had visited him, without being affected by the "divine hidden".

However, such concerns were only present for a short time.

"On the bamboo slips of the gods, it is clearly written 'outside the world'. All right...... His intentions are uncertain now. But in my own judgment, if you look closely, this place doesn't look like it's ordinary. ”

Because of his rich experience in the perennial world, Kamiyagawa is too familiar with the atmosphere of the inner world where monsters and ghosts exist.

The place I am in now is a little different from the usual world.

I can't say exactly what the difference is, but it's just different.

If I have to say, the feeling given to Kamiya River here seems to be more like the "Matsuzawa Village" that the deer fell into last year.

Matsuzawa is not very worldly, Kamiya and Kanoya have both entered it, but neither of them has been hidden by the gods.

Isn't there a "hidden area" in the everlasting world?

Like Fu Fu's hometown and the like.

Although it is a region of the inner world, it is not connected to any other area, and exists independently, and can only be accessed by special methods.

And before that, Matsuzawa was a bit like the "hidden area" in the present world.

"The Tsuchigomon Mansion I'm in now, let's just assume that it's the Tuyumon Mansion, and it's very likely to be similar in nature to Matsuzawa. And to open up such a special hidden area in reality, it has to be the influence of the special power of the gods, right? ”

"On the Matsuzawa side is the leech, and on the side of the Tuyumen Mansion is the Tiandian Maiden or the fate of the gods."

It seems to be more corresponding.

Kamiya tightened his grip on the ema in his hand and continued to look around.

Although it was dark all around, with his extremely keen and extraordinary vision, he could still see everything with a penetrating fire.

Walking forward for some distance, you can see a huge pentagram carved into the ground.

The traces of the intaglio are ancient and regular.

In the star array, the color was dark red, like blood stains that had dried up for an unknown amount of time.

"Blood? What ceremony should have been held here......"

Directly in front of the pentagram is a thick, damp rock wall.

Kamiyagawa saw what appeared to be the outline of a stone gate on it.

The stone door, which looked extremely heavy, was tightly closed. In the center of the stone gate, there is a circular groove with a diameter of about 20 cm.

There is an irregular fan-shaped copper mirror, embedded in it, flickering and reflecting a glimmer of light that comes from nowhere.

"This place should have a complete bronze mirror embedded in it?"

Kamiya raised his hand to touch the circular groove, and a rough, cold rock touch came from his fingertips.

He tried to push the stone gate, but couldn't.

The weight of this stone gate is one thing, and more importantly, there seems to be an invisible and irresistible force attached to it.

Retracting his hand, Kamiyagawa was thoughtful.

He took out the Celestial Tail Feather Zhang from the [Mirage Cloth Bag].

The hilt of the sword was held in his hand, and the three pieces of feather shards attracted each other, connecting them to form a broken sword.

Kamiyagawa wanted to see if he could break through the power attached to the stone gate through Habari.

Tentatively flick the knife.

Bang.

Not only the closed stone door, but also the entire space that he was in now trembled violently, and the ancient and mysterious spatial aura vibrated wildly.

"Nope."

Kamiyagawa stopped quickly.

After trying this knife, he almost judged it.

Relying on the tail feathers of the sky to exert force, it seems that this stone gate and even the space here can be broken strongly.

But the consequences can be very serious.

Probably, the entire Tsuchigomon Mansion will collapse, and you will probably be trapped here completely, or worse.

"I see...... The key to leaving the space of the Earth Palace Mansion seems to be on this broken bronze mirror. I'll have to try to piece it together to stabilize the power of the stone gate before I think about breaking the space open. ”

Kamiya put away the Celestial Tail Feather for the time being.

He now felt that he should be in a cavern, and that the rest of the broken bronze mirror might have to be looked for outside.

Just as Kamiyagawa turned around and was about to leave.

The knot god Ema in his hand suddenly moved, as if he had been pulled twice by a fairly gentle force.

When he looked at Ema again, he saw a slender red rope strung on it, looming over.

"The red thread that ties the gods?"

Although the red rope was wrapped around Eima, Kamiyagawa was not aware of its existence at all just now.

Now that it was visible, the red rope could be seen floating in the air, zigzagically connecting to the stone door, and going straight through the fragment of the bronze mirror in the groove.

Tightened, then loosened.

There was a slight and rapid tugging sensation on the thin red rope floating in the air again.

Kamiyagawa looked at the fragment of the bronze mirror on the stone door again, and his expression became stunned for a moment.

An inexplicable, but incomparably clear perception came to his mind.

He could feel what was on the end of the red rope, on the side that passed through the bronze mirror:

“…… Firefly? ”

"Hotaru is here, on the other side of the stone gate!?" (End of chapter)