The witch of the Takehara family, Chikako Takehara.

At a very young age, Chikako was selected as a shrine maiden for the Amakdo Witch Festival, and although she was only a substitute, her treatment was no different from that of the preferred shrine maiden.

Chikako is enshrined in the village of Tsuchigomon, and has been living at the shrine of the Takehara family, living in a simple place.

The people of the village, including the main family of the Tuyumen clan, respect the shrine maiden very much.

Everyone respects Chikako Takehara, but they stay away from her.

Including her family, it's the same.

The villagers can't have much to do with the shrine maiden. Chikako Takehara was held to a high place by the village of Tsuchigomon, so high that she could only condescend, overlooking from afar those emotional exchanges that were ordinary for normal people, but she couldn't participate in them.

She was destined to not be able to live a normal life.

Miko maidens can't have too many emotions.

For these pure girls, once there is a concern and a memory, it is possible to get rid of the original intention of the witch.

The shrine maidens are willing to die for the Tendo witch sacrifice.

The shrine maidens selected by the witch festival are indoctrinated with ritual-related things from an early age.

Therefore, after the preferred shrine maiden died early due to illness, which caused the witch festival to fail to go smoothly the previous year, Chikako accepted her fate very calmly-

On the same day of the following year, Chikako Takehara will be offered at the witch festival.

For her, this kind of thing is nothing more than a little earlier and a little later.

Even if her previous shrine maiden hadn't died before the ceremony, even if the ritual had been successfully completed. A new substitute shrine maiden will still be elected in the village, and Chikako Takehara will be the first choice for the Tendo Witch Festival in five years' time.

"You were born to protect, you were born to die in rituals."

Chikako Takehara has always been taught by this concept and is convinced of it.

She was willing to die, and she was proud of it.

Originally, Chikako Takehara's short and blandly life should have come to an end like this.

Until that person arrives......

Shizuji Kanemaru, a teenager, a foreigner.

The first time I met Kanemaru was the day when the pair of folklorist teachers and students first came to Tsuchigomon Village.

At that time, Chikako Takehara stayed in the deep attic of Takehara's house, pushing open the window and looking out.

I saw the old and young foreigner, led by the villagers, walking in the direction of the Tuyumen Mansion.

Chikako Takehara watched from a distance from a high place, and her gaze lingered on Shizuji Kanemaru for a while.

Chikako didn't know why she looked at the boy a few more times.

Curiosity, perhaps, for outsiders.

After all, the village of Tsuchigomon had been closed for so long, and it was the first time that Chikako Takehara had seen outsiders.

Of course, it may also be because Shizuji Kanemaru was born handsome.

That.

Chikako Takehara didn't think about anything, just sat by the window of the pavilion, held her cheeks, and quietly watched the figure of Shizuji Kanemaru disappear into the distance of the street.

And in the afternoon of the next day, Chikako saw the young man from a foreign country again.

It's still in the high pavilion of the Takehara family.

As usual, the shrine maiden pushed open the window boredly to see what should have been the same outside.

Then, she saw Shizuji Kanemaru walking alone from a distance, observing the village of Tsuchigomon with great interest as she walked.

Chikako's attention was once again attracted by the other party.

In this village, where she has lived since she was a child and is very familiar, the figure of the young man strolling leisurely is the only erratic existence, full of unknowns.

He is different from the young people in the Tuyumen village, and he naturally has a vigorous and upward vitality on his body, and he is full of spirit.

And just when Chikako looked at the boy carefully, the other party also noticed her.

Shizuji Kanemaru stopped in the street and smiled and beckoned to her.

The moment the two sides looked at each other, the witch of the Takehara family was in a trance.

It's not the same......

In the past, when Chikako Takehara came into contact with other people in the village, even if the two sides stood together, they could feel the "looking" attitude of the villagers towards her, and they could feel the feeling of respect and alienation that the villagers treated the shrine maidens who were destined to be sacrificed.

Like a thin layer of ice, cold and hard.

But Shizuji Kanemaru, even if he was really looking up at himself. His smiling eyes were shining in the warm afternoon sun, but with a different kind of look.

His gaze was peaceful and kind.

It's obviously soft, but it seems to be able to pierce Chikako Takehara's chest again.

The witch who didn't know anything about the world actually panicked for a while, and hurriedly closed the window with a red face and hid back in the room.

She thought she was probably sick.

The cheeks are hot and the heart is beating fast.

Although she is a chosen shrine maiden, Chikako Takehara is occasionally allowed to go out and take a walk within a certain range.

So, on the fourth day when the folklore scholars and teachers entered the Tuyumen village.

She finally meets Shizuji Kanemaru outside.

Wandering around, Shizuji Kanemaru, who experienced the folk customs, saw the girl he had met walking along the stream outside the village alone, so he took the initiative to come up and talk.

The foreign teenager was cheerful and talkative, and the two of them talked a lot unconsciously.

Shizuji Kanemaru told Chikako a lot about outside things.

It was the first time that the shrine maiden of the Takehara family had spoken to outsiders, and it was also the first time that she had learned that the outside world was so vast.

"My teacher and I will stay in your village for a few more days, and will we see you again tomorrow?"

When parting, Shizuji Kanemaru asked Chikako Takehara like this.

The latter nodded in confusion.

At that time, Chikako Takehara was still unclear, and she didn't know that her state of mind at that time could be called "the love of a girl".

She's just happy and looking forward to seeing Shizuji Kanemaru again in the future.

……

The spiritual power wrapped around the carved hairpin slowly dissipated.

Onitsuka Kirita Hotaru uses psychic to gain some insights with Chikako Takehara at Takehara's house.

It only took a moment for her to accept this information, but unfortunately she didn't get any clues related to the Ato Bronze Mirror.

After that, Onizuka carefully and quickly explored the mansion.

Still nothing to gain.

"Not here...... If the last fragment of the bronze mirror was really in the village of Tuyumen, it must be in that place. ”

Onizuka decisively left the Takehara family and headed towards the center of the Tsuchigomon village.

She's going to the Tsuchigomon Mansion.

Whatever is over there now, it has to be over now.

Onizuka Kirita was anxious at the moment, because the contact on Kamiya's side was cut off again.

"The self-killed Tenden Woman's life, the Saruta Hiko who degenerated into an evil god, their power may still be entrenched in the Tianhu Rock, I have to hurry up."

In the process of rushing to the center of the village, the undead spirits lurking in the miasma finally appeared.

Layered on top of each other, the number is staggering, and it's unusually manic.

The raging necromancers twisted and twitched their bodies and struck at the running onizuka.

"Don't stop me!"

Rumble!

Several vibrating talismans burst open, and silver thunder rushed out.

In the light of the thunder, the red bow of the young lady appeared on the hands of the onizuka.

She skillfully pulled the bowstring, turning her spiritual power into demon-breaking arrows, knocking down several twisted necromancers in the distance.

While moving, he broke through and consumed the talisman he brought to the single digits, and finally rushed out, and then Onizuka finally saw the outline of a large mansion appear in the distance.

That should be the Tsuchigomon Mansion.

As we got closer, the necromantic aura around me seemed to lurk again.

"It's a strong breath...... There are very powerful spirits in this place, so powerful that ordinary necromancers dare not approach them. ”

Holding the red bow in his hand, Onizuka didn't hesitate too much, and stepped into the open gate of the Tsuchigomon Mansion without hesitation.

There was a dead silence in the huge house, and the miasma was pervasive.

Chikako Takehara's hairpin has no reaction here, and she can't get a psychic clue.

There is no way, Onizuka can only directly start the search.

……

Amando Grottoes.

Bang bang, bang bang!

The fingers of the Broken Gods shook the ground as they lingered beyond the boundaries of Mary's red mist.

And farther away, the decaying gods at the junction of heaven and earth are still stirring.

Kamiyagawa could already feel that the depraved and filthy aura that belonged to the Yellow Spring appeared.

"Could that thing be Sarutohiko? It felt like it wasn't too long before He woke up and came to me. At this point, I can't fight him. ”

Bang bang bang!

The movement made by the Broken Gods was a little bigger.

Finally, one of them burst into the boundary of the distinct gray-red mist, whistling in.

"Mom said to stand in front of Dad!"

The nine red spirits shouted for the first time.

Although these little guys belong to the hands of Kamiyagawa-style gods, there is still a layer of relationship between the two sides.

But there are things that are also true.

Moreover, Mary was only one step away from fully appearing, and under the intensification of the overwhelming red mist, the red spirits appeared extremely brave.

At the same time that they dragged the five fingers of the Broken Edge God with their hands and feet, Sen Leng and the bright two blades flashed out at the same time!

Kamiyagawa is already in combat mode, and he intends to fight to the death.

There is a broken edge god who breaks through the blockade of the red mist, and there will definitely be a second and a third next.

Take them down first!

As for the key to opening the Tianhu Stone Gate, the last fragment of the Tianhu Bronze Mirror......

"I can only pray it's on Hotaru's side."

……

"Not here."

"Not here......"

“……”

Onizuka walked quickly through the Tsuchigomon's mansion, exploring several rooms and passing through a courtyard corridor, her steps froze.

In the center of the courtyard, she saw a large wooden pavilion.

There is an indescribable sense of oppression in it.

From the experience and intuition of the soul slayer, this place is absolutely impossible to approach rashly.

But Onizuka Kirita has no choice now.

Because she could feel that the aura on the other side of the red rope on the other side of the Kamiya River had become chaotic again.

"In case the fragments of the bronze mirror are here."

Onitsuka gritted his teeth and stepped forward to push open the half-hidden door of the pavilion.

It was deep and cold, like a realm of death, filled with the smell of blood.

Smack.

Stepping over the threshold, Onizuka felt a sticky, slippery touch coming from the bottom of the foot bag.

“…… There is no dried blood. ”

The interior of this building, there are blood stains everywhere, and almost everything as far as the eye can see is stained red.

With each step, the planks under his feet rattled lightly, and bright red blood seeped out from the cracks in the floor. The wooden carvings on the walls were also smeared with blood, as if the distorted faces were smiling.

After searching the first floor to no avail, Onizuka stepped on the slippery wooden staircase and went up to the second floor.

The smell of blood here is even stronger.

"If all this blood was left by the deceased, how many people died in this building?"

And what did they die for?

Onizuka has already seen the dead spirits of many villagers in the Tsuchigomon village, and from the state of their spirits, it seems that they were killed by the "night carving" aura that rolled out from behind the Tendo stone gate after the failure of the Tendo Witch Festival.

It was not a bleeding wound.

Continuing his exploration with doubts, Onizuka enters a room that appears to be an ancestral hall.

There is a shrine on the east side of the room.

Inside the shrine, there is a wooden bracket that looks like a mirror.

And on that stand, Onizuka saw a faint flash of familiarity.

"The last fragment of the Tendo Bronze Mirror."

Onizuka stepped forward quickly and removed the lenses from the shrine.

As a result, the last piece of the Tendo Bronze Mirror has been pieced together, and the next thing to do is to return to the grotto where the Tendo Stone Gate is located.

The little witch put away the fragments of the bronze mirror, and as soon as she turned around, she froze in place.

In the corridor beyond the sliding door of the room, layers of figures appeared.

Those people were dressed in the costumes of the old Onmyoji and wore ceremonial crowns.

One by one, their faces were pale and hideous, and there was no sparkle in their empty eyes. On their necks, a shocking knife wound could be seen, and blood was still trickling.

The group of onmyoji's dead spirits stood like this, blocking the corridor.

"People from the Tsuchigomon family?"

Onizuka unconsciously took a small step back.

She saw a familiar figure in the group of necromancers.

It's an old man with a white beard. The old man was also bleeding from his neck, and he was holding a long sword in his hand, and viscous blood was still dripping from the blade, and it smashed on the red ground.

Onizuka had seen this old man in the psychic memory of the folklorist Mr. Sakai.

"Tsuchigomon Taifuku!?"

At the same time as he recognized the identity of the necromancer, the translucent figure of the other party disappeared from the door.

Then, it flickered in the room like a poorly touched TV image, and without saying a word, he raised his sword and slashed towards the onizuka.

Call!

The last talisman burst open, and the golden talisman lit up in front of the onitsuka like a shield.

The blade collided with the power of the talisman and easily tore it apart, and the unspeakable terrifying power struck.

Onitsuka couldn't resist at all, and was pushed by a blast-like wave of qi and slammed into the wall.

"Hmm......"

But she quickly rolled over and stood up.

With just one fight, Onizuka can be sure that he is not Taifuku Tsuchigomon's opponent at all.

The Necromancer of Chikako Takehara that I met before, I can probably fight if I still fight it, but this ......

It's impossible to win.

And the earth gate Taifu and those earth gate family onmyoji dead souls behind him don't know if they are one, Onizuka feels that their necromantic group combined, definitely has the strength of the Aragami. (End of chapter)