Chapter 66: Lost Contact
Five breaths.
In ordinary life, that span of time was nothing. A pause between words. A blink. A stray thought.
In battle, it was something else entirely.
A fight did not need five breaths to be decided. Sometimes one was enough. Even if it wasn't enough to determine victory or defeat outright, it was more than enough to drag someone into a disadvantage, strip away their initiative, and put their life in another man's hands.
As expected of the old man.
Spirit Word techniques were not rare. Almost any competent onmyoji could use them. But very few could wield them with Amami Daizen's level of precision, deception, and sheer malice. The force behind it was partly due to his status as a National Second-Class Onmyoji, yes—but the greater part almost certainly came from his Onmyodo Framework, Shingen.
"Brat, and you still dare let your mind wander?"
Amami barked the words out like a teacher scolding a careless student.
At the same time, Kinji and Ginji advanced.
The two guardian shikigami moved with crushing weight, their enormous frames radiating a suffocating pressure. Blades rose. Wind screamed. The ground shook beneath their steps. Then steel flashed, and the massive swords carved down through the air with a murderous chill.
Again?
Gin's mind jolted.
That earlier shout had not been a warning at all. It had been another strike—one aimed not at his body, but straight at his spirit. His thoughts skipped for half a beat, his focus scattering. His footing even faltered for an instant, as though he had been shoved sideways by a drunken wave.
To the average spectator, the scene was baffling.
Why was White Fox making so many mistakes?
He had done nothing when Amami first summoned his shikigami. Now the enemy was practically in his face, and he still looked distracted.
But to those with sharp eyes—and to anyone who understood Amami Daizen's Framework—things were not nearly so simple.
"Minister Amami has used those two tricks to arrest more dangerous onmyoji than I can count," Miyoshi Jugo said quietly. "Anyone who doesn't understand them will suffer badly. Even other members of the Twelve Divine Generals can be caught by them."
"Yeah." Suzuka kept her eyes fixed on the field, unblinking. "What I want to see is how White Fox gets out of it."
Then the blades came down.
Gin still did not draw a talisman.
He did not form a hand seal.
He did not begin a chant.
He simply lifted both hands.
The crowd erupted in disbelief.
"Don't tell me he's planning to block them barehanded?"
"He's been making mistakes this whole time, and now he's gone insane too. White Fox is about to become a joke."
"Maybe he's got some hidden trick—"
Not only the onlookers, but even Hirata Atsune, Suzuka, and Miyoshi Jugo frowned in confusion.
What is he doing?
Even Amami's brows drew together. But if he was puzzled, he gave no sign of relaxing.
The twin blades, thick with killing force, were about to cleave Gin in half.
Then—
Clang! Clang!
The two deafening impacts rang out through the hall like steel smashing into steel.
What had answered the swords was not flesh.
It was fire.
Two deep crimson walls had appeared out of nowhere on either side of Gin, exactly where the blades were descending. They burned with compressed, searing heat, like fire condensed into iron. The strikes of Kinji and Ginji stopped dead against them, unable to advance another inch.
And that was not all.
The temperature within those crimson walls was terrifying. The giant blades of the shikigami began to soften at the edges, then sag. Molten metal dripped down in glowing beads and splashed against the ground with hissing spits of steam and smoke.
The next moment, Gin moved his hand.
The fire walls collapsed into raw flame, twisted, and reformed.
Two flood dragons of crimson fire burst into being.
They were vivid enough to seem alive. Scale after scale was etched in flame, their bodies coiling through the air with savage grace. Wrapped in blazing heat and roaring like a furnace come to life, the two dragons lashed forward and wound themselves around Kinji and Ginji.
The giant shikigami staggered.
Molten iron ran down their armor in bright streams.
Gin clearly meant to refine them in one go.
No matter how the two constructs struggled, they could not shake free of the fire dragons binding their bodies.
A wave of shock swept through the hall.
"That was a Fire Boundary spell!"
"How is that possible? He didn't use a talisman, didn't chant, didn't even form a hand seal! How did he cast Fire Boundary out of thin air—and alter its form on top of that?"
"Maybe White Fox prepared some kind of spiritual talisman beforehand? I heard his attainments in talisman craft are absurd."
"You think all of us are blind? If he'd used one, we would've seen it."
"What in the world was that...?"
Hirata Atsune stared at the battlefield, unable to hide his astonishment. This was the first time he had seen an onmyoji cast a spell with no talisman, no incantation, and not even the courtesy of a proper seal.
If it had only been some simple, modernized technique, that would have been one thing.
Imperial-style spells did include optimized forms—shortened chants, simplified procedures, even near-instant activation in special cases. But even those still depended on talismans.
This was Fire Boundary.
An ancient spell formula.
An ancient fire art.
It belonged to an entirely different class.
"Lord Miyoshi," Hirata asked, unable to hold back, "what exactly are we looking at?"
His question pulled at the ears of everyone nearby. Suzuka glanced over as well, though her gaze quickly returned to the field. One of the Twelve Divine Generals, the "Divine Eye," possessed spirit-sight strong enough to perceive the structure of spells with terrifying clarity. If anyone could explain it, it would be Miyoshi Jugo.
Miyoshi watched in silence for another moment before speaking.
"It's Myriad Laws."
He paused, then continued, his voice grave.
"Instant casting. Form transformation. Those should both be functions of his Onmyodo Framework. The tradeoff is that the power drops to less than a third of the original."
A sharp breath swept through the listeners.
"To cast that fast and still reshape the spell... that's monstrous."
"Less than one-third? So what? Instant casting alone is enough to give White Fox total initiative. In a real duel, the other side could still be halfway through their chant while his spell was already hitting them in the face."
"It's powerful, sure, but calling it Myriad Laws still feels like too much."
"Yuge Mari's Framework, Gokai, can also freely transform barriers into defensive, binding, and offensive forms. She's one of the Twelve Divine Generals too. This isn't unheard of."
"Right. Exactly."
The crowd was impressed. No one could deny that.
But plenty of them still felt the name was too grand.
Suzuka, however, was unconvinced by their dismissal.
White Fox always keeps one more card hidden than people expect.
She said nothing, but the thought settled firmly in her mind.
On the field, Amami snapped his folding fan through the air and drew two pentagrams in one fluid motion, pressing them against Kinji and Ginji.
"Disperse."
The seals flashed.
The two fire dragons wrapped around the shikigami shuddered, broke apart, and scattered into drifting flame.
Amami looked at the damage done to Kinji and Ginji and felt a genuine stab of pain. Their armor had been half-melted, their swords ruined, and parts of their bodies had sagged grotesquely under the heat.
"Good grief..." he muttered. "Looks like this old man will have to take you seriously after all."
His expression hardened.
Then he flicked the folding fan in his hand up into the air.
In an instant, the fan multiplied into hundreds of copies that spread through the battlefield like a flock of silver-winged birds. Each one fixed itself into place around Gin, becoming a node. Silver lines began weaving between them in a dense geometric lattice.
A barrier took shape in the space of a breath, locking Gin inside.
Gin did not react immediately.
He did not strike the barrier or try to dodge at the last second.
He merely stood there and looked at it.
A faint, mysterious light flickered in his eyes, as though he were not trapped at all—but studying.
Amami, seeing the barrier close around him, pulled out two talismans and slapped them onto Kinji and Ginji. His chant followed at once.
"Namaḥ samanta-vajrāṇāṃ hāṃ... swiftly, as the laws and decrees command!"
"—Acala Mantra!"
A fierce, diamond-hard aura burst from Kinji's body. The melted armor repaired itself. The ruined blade in its hand returned to pristine form. Then the entire shikigami began to expand, its frame swelling to more than double its original size. The pressure pouring off it became overwhelming, vast and immovable, like a manifestation of Fudō Myō-ō itself descending into the mortal world.
But Amami's chant did not stop.
"Oṃ śūri māri mamari mari śūśūri svāhā... by the command of Shingen, swiftly, as the laws and decrees command!"
"—Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Mantra!"
A murky purifying flame ignited across Ginji's body.
Its spiritual pressure surged upward in violent waves, one layer after another, until it resembled a storm-tossed sea. A solemn divine image shimmered over its frame, vast and majestic, giving the silver guardian a terrifying aura of purification through burning.
Miyoshi Jugo's expression turned solemn.
"It's been a long time since I've seen Minister Amami use both the Acala Mantra and the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Mantra. Under the enhancement of Shingen, mantra-based spell formulas reach an absurd level of output."
The hall fell quiet.
The pressure radiating from the transformed shikigami was enough to make professional-grade onmyoji feel their hearts tighten. At that moment, many of them realized just how enormous the gap truly was.
Against monsters of that class, they probably would not survive even one exchange.
By then, Gin had finished observing.
For the first time since the fight began, he took out a talisman.
He pressed it against the barrier trapping him and uttered a single word.
"Break."
The barrier collapsed at once.
Not cracked.
Not weakened.
Collapsed.
It fell apart like a paper house in a storm, the entire structure disintegrating into scattered spiritual fragments before vanishing into the air.
Amami's eyes narrowed. "Spell Nullification. Didn't expect you to know that trick, brat."
"Old man," Gin said, lowering his hand, "it's a little more than just that."
Then he copied Amami's earlier motion.
Instead of a folding fan, he flicked a talisman forward.
The talisman split in midair.
Then split again.
And again.
A hundred became many hundreds, scattering around Amami, Kinji, and Ginji like a rain of paper flowers. Each talisman took a fixed point in space. Silver threads flashed between them. Lines interlocked.
A barrier formed.
The same style.
The same structure.
The same trapping geometry.
This time, it was Amami Daizen and his shikigami who found themselves sealed inside.
For the first time since the battle began, Amami's composure visibly cracked.
"How is that possible?"
The barrier technique before him was not some common school spell. It was his own creation, a personal variation he had built by merging other methods with the Seven-Point Barrier and refining it through long experience. Used in conjunction with his folding fan, it could be activated instantly without a chant.
It was one of his trump cards.
And he had never taught it to anyone.
Yet now this brat had reproduced it casually, as if he had owned it for years.
Amami forced down the shock clawing at him.
"Kinji. Break it."
Kinji, empowered by the Acala Mantra, swung.
The barrier did not collapse on the first hit—but neither did it last long. The second strike shattered it outright.
The moment it broke, Amami attacked again.
"Spirit Word Technique: Silence!"
This time he did not hide it inside casual speech. Gin was already wary now. The chance of catching him off guard twice had vanished.
Gin raised a hand and cut through the air.
"Did you really think I'd trip over the same stone twice?"
There was a dry pop.
Invisible forces collided and dispersed in the space between them.
Amami stared. "Spell Nullification again? Impossible. That Spirit Word was layered with Shingen. It shouldn't have been possible to erase."
Gin looked at him calmly.
"No matter how much weight you pile onto it, it's still a spell formula in the end. And your timing was perfect."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"I haven't used mantra techniques yet. Seems like a good time to try."
Before Amami could fully grasp what he meant, spiritual power surged from Gin's body.
Three talismans flew into the air.
"Fire Boundary."
"Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Mantra."
"Acala Mantra."
The spectators' disbelief exploded into silence.
Fire Boundary erupted first, but instead of walls, it became two crimson flood dragons, every scale vivid in the blaze. Then the mantra spells layered over them—one dragon wrapped in the crushing force of Acala, the other igniting with the purifying, violent flame of Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya.
It was Amami's own combination.
The same sequence.
The same internal structure.
The same circulation.
The only difference was one that now horrified everyone watching.
Gin had done it without chanting.
Miyoshi Jugo's spirit-sight had been fixed on the battlefield from the very beginning.
Now even he sounded shaken.
"It's not just the spell formulas," he said slowly. "The internal circulation. The pattern of spiritual energy. The mode of control. They're identical. A perfect imitation. The only reduction is the missing chant, which leaves it at roughly one-third output."
He let out a breath.
"I understand now. I finally understand what Myriad Laws really is. If that's the case... then the name fits."
Amami had understood too.
His voice dropped, heavier than before.
"Myriad Laws... to learn myriad laws and govern myriad paths. That's what it means, isn't it?"
He stared at Gin with a seriousness that had not been there even a moment ago.
"The waiting. The hesitation. Letting yourself get pressed at the start—it was all for this. You were using Myriad Laws to learn my spell formulas."
His gaze flicked toward the transformed dragons.
"The Acala Mantra. The Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Mantra. The barrier technique from before. You learned them all during the fight."
His tone deepened.
"That's why you can nullify spells. Why you can cast them instantly. Why you can change their form. It isn't random talent. It's because once Myriad Laws understands a technique, you grasp its mysteries completely."
Gin inclined his head.
"You old man has sharp eyes. That's exactly right."
After hearing the admission spoken plainly, Amami went silent.
The look in his eyes changed.
Shock was no longer enough to describe it.
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. His throat felt dry.
At last, he managed only one sentence.
"You really are a monster."
Then he recalled Kinji and Ginji.
The test was over.
More importantly, as a National Second-Class Onmyoji, he had already realized something he did not want to say aloud in front of this crowd: if the fight continued, he was no longer sure how he would win cleanly.
And if he couldn't win cleanly, then continuing would only cost him face.
The hall had gone dead silent.
Suzuka. Hirata. The gathered onmyoji. The staff. All of them stood frozen, staring at Gin Tsumugi in the center of the field.
No one here was stupid.
Amami's explanation had been perfectly clear.
To learn the opponent's spell formulas in the middle of a fight.
To reproduce them.
To cast them instantly.
To reshape them.
To nullify them.
What kind of outrageous Framework was that?
It meant that anyone fighting Gin faced a nightmare.
Whatever you knew, he could learn.
Whatever you could cast, he could cast too.
And after learning it, he could use it faster than you, twist it more freely than you, and potentially erase your own spell with it.
How was anyone supposed to fight something like that?
The only answer was to kill him before he could learn.
End the battle immediately. Leave him no time to observe, no time to analyze, no time to understand.
But unless the gap in strength was overwhelming, that was easier said than done.
Or perhaps multiple opponents could try to drag him into a drawn-out battle and exhaust his spiritual energy.
But that assumption would only exist in the minds of people who did not know he could be possessed by that thousand-year dragon and draw on its accumulated spiritual power. Anyone who knew that would never dare trust a war of attrition.
Miyoshi Jugo looked at the young man on the field and spoke in a voice that carried across the hall.
"Myriad Laws may still be immature. But one day... it will reach that level."
Then he turned and left.
Suzuka remained where she was, her eyes fixed on Gin. Something resolute formed quietly inside her chest.
White Fox. An Onmyodo Framework like that...
At the same time, Hirata Atsune stood lost in thought amid the shock.
First Yakou.
And now maybe White Fox as well.
Maybe he can help us too.
There was no doubt what would happen next.
The name White Fox Gin Tsumugi would spread through Tokyo once again.
And this time, the shock would be even greater.
Because now everyone had seen the Framework he had forged—
Myriad Laws.
Back in the director's office of the Magic Investigation Department, Amami Daizen let out a long breath and slumped slightly into his chair.
"Miscalculation. A complete miscalculation." He shook his head, though the amusement in his eyes never faded. "If I'd known your damned Framework was this abnormal, I wouldn't have gone looking for trouble."
Gin spread his hands. "Even if I'd told you, old man, you probably wouldn't have believed me."
"That much is true." Amami snorted. "Who'd believe a Framework could be this ridiculous?"
Then his eyes sharpened again.
"But if I'm not mistaken, Myriad Laws isn't without its limits."
Gin smiled. "As expected of you old man."
"Enough with the flattery."
Amami was clearly not buying it.
"There are two major restrictions," Gin said, holding up two fingers. "First, Myriad Laws doesn't self-expand. If I learn your Acala Mantra today and want to deepen my understanding of it later, I have to do that on my own. I can't learn the same spell again from someone else and stack further insight through the Framework."
Amami considered it for a moment.
"That's hardly a fatal flaw. It may reduce the precision of your spell nullification in some cases, but it doesn't change the overall picture."
Spell Nullification demanded deep comprehension. If the opponent's grasp of the spell exceeded yours, nullifying it would become difficult, or even impossible.
Still, compared to what Myriad Laws could already do, that restriction was minor.
"The second," Gin said, "is that it's very difficult to perfect."
"That makes more sense." Amami nodded. "Which means your future path won't be easy."
Gin returned the nod.
At present, Myriad Laws was only ten percent complete, and even that was thanks entirely to the Senji Ryakketsu. That text had given him an enormous push. But once he finished drawing from it, the rest of the road would be his alone.
Ten minutes later, Gin left the director's office.
Not long after he was gone, Miyoshi Jugo knocked and entered.
"He left."
Amami looked out the window at the high noon sun hanging over the Agency grounds.
"If I had my way," he said, "I'd keep him here in the Onmyo Agency."
Miyoshi was quiet for a beat before answering.
"He's not the sort who can live inside rules and walls. Letting him move freely outside is the better choice."
Then he hesitated, and added, "He's a seed of this era. The same kind of seed Abe no Seimei was a thousand years ago."
Amami looked at him in surprise.
"I didn't expect such high praise from you."
Miyoshi gave a faint, humorless smile.
"This time, Myriad Laws truly frightened me."
Amami's gaze returned to the bright sky beyond the window.
"Myriad Laws..." he murmured. "It really is worthy of that name."
And then—
A crane-shaped shikigami burst in through the open window.
It crossed the office in a flash, dropped a sealed letter onto the desk, and transformed back into a talisman in midair. The paper immediately ignited and burned to ash.
Amami and Miyoshi both froze.
"This is..." Amami's eyes sharpened. "A messenger from the Tsuchimikado family."
They looked outside at once.
There was more than one.
Four. Five. Maybe more.
Crane shikigami were cutting through the sky in different directions, each carrying a secret letter toward the Onmyo Academy and other major Onmyodo institutions.
A bad feeling rose in Amami's chest.
He tore open the letter on the desk.
The office fell silent.
A long moment passed.
Then Amami's expression changed.
His voice came out hard and low.
"The Agency Chief... and the others have lost contact?!"
.....
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