Chapter 75: The Fearful Her
Mount Fuji's catastrophic eruption did not subside until noon.
By then, the authorities had already launched a nationwide emergency response. Rescue teams, disaster relief units, Self-Defense Force personnel, and medical convoys were dispatched in every direction. Traditional news outlets and online platforms moved in lockstep, pushing out calming statements, official explanations, and carefully worded reassurances to contain the public's panic.
But some things could not be soothed with words.
The sight of Mount Fuji erupting like the end of the world had carved itself into people's hearts.
Even if the authorities insisted it was an accident, even if experts came forward to explain geological activity and volcanic pressure, the people who had heard that earth-shattering roar and seen the horizon burn could not simply relax.
Human beings only understood their own insignificance when nature opened its jaws.
Compared with ordinary citizens, who knew nothing of the truth, the onmyoji who had touched the secrets of Mount Fuji—and the directors of major supernatural investigation offices—felt a weight far heavier than fear.
They knew what had happened.
The front line of Onmyodo had collapsed.
The mythical Great Yokai, Yamata no Orochi, had revived.
And worse, nearly eighty percent of Japan's Onmyodo strength had been drawn into that crisis.
If things went badly, Onmyodo itself might be crippled here.
Extinguished.
In this age of the Supernatural Revival, that would mean humanity losing one of its few remaining pillars of hope.
So while the public panicked, those who knew the truth prayed in silence.
Let the losses at Mount Fuji be less severe than feared.
Let some of them survive.
Let there still be a future.
At the same time, inside a chat group named [Supernatural Exchange Group], discussions about the disaster were unfolding just as intensely.
[Manga Master: Does anyone know what happened? This can't be a simple eruption. I know Mount Fuji is technically active, but it's been quiet for years.]
[Loves Cats the Most: Are you stupid? This is clearly a problem with Yamata no Orochi's seal.]
[Water Lily: Judging from what happened, Yamata no Orochi's seal has most likely failed.]
[Manga Master: Failed...? But there were so many onmyoji there...]
[Wind Leaf: Exactly as Kou said. Yamata no Orochi has broken through the onmyoji's seal and is in the middle of a complete revival. On my side, the Onmyo Alliance and the Keikain Clan have already set out for Mount Fuji to support and rescue the onmyoji there. I hope they return safely.]
[Bad Girl: My office director also went to help with the rescue...]
After those words appeared, the active members of the group fell into a brief silence.
Return safely.
It was a wish.
Nothing more.
The eruption alone would have claimed countless lives. And beyond the eruption, there was an even deadlier existence waiting there—the Great Yokai from myth, Yamata no Orochi.
In a bedroom somewhere in Tokyo, a beautiful long-haired girl gripped a precious sword tightly. She stared toward the horizon, where the terrible red had finally begun to fade, and silently prayed.
Please let the director and the others return safely.
She was [Bad Girl] from the chat group.
[Sword Dancing Maiden: Yamata no Orochi... can humans really defeat something that terrifying?]
[Painter: Yamata no Orochi? Is that the world-destroying monster from manga?]
Two members who had been lurking finally spoke up.
From the second message, it was obvious that [Painter] knew very little about the deeper truths behind the Supernatural Revival.
[Loves Cats the Most: Well, this is rare. I didn't expect both of you to appear, especially Painter. Since Leader pulled you into the group, this might be the first time you've actually spoken.]
In a somewhat messy room, a delicate girl wearing a loose white coat sat in front of a drawing board. Her long golden hair was slightly disheveled, and her expressionless face carried the faintest trace of dissatisfaction as she looked down at the messages flashing across her phone.
The violent roar earlier had already interrupted her painting.
Now, just when inspiration was finally returning, the message notifications from the group kept disturbing her again.
If she had known it would be this troublesome, she would never have joined.
Still, the mention of Yamata no Orochi made a strange spark of inspiration flash through her small head.
[Sword Dancing Maiden: I've been dealing with family matters recently, so I haven't been online much. I didn't expect something like this to happen as soon as I came back. If Yamata no Orochi has really revived, can we humans hold on?]
Worry and unease filled her words.
That was understandable.
A mythical Great Yokai like Yamata no Orochi carried an impact no ordinary supernatural incident could compare to. In mythology, the one who slew it had been Susanoo-no-Mikoto, one of Japan's great deities.
And even in the myths, Susanoo had not fought it head-on.
He had used eight vats of strong sake to make the serpent drunk before killing it.
If even a god had relied on strategy rather than brute force, what could humans possibly do against such a monster?
The group sank into another heavy silence.
Fear was contagious.
Then, after a while, someone came online and broke it.
[Four Leaf Clover: Yamata no Orochi may indeed be powerful, but don't forget—the onmyoji fighting on the front lines at Mount Fuji haven't given up. We're the ones being protected. We shouldn't be saying such discouraging things.]
[Bad Girl: Exactly. I refuse to believe Yamata no Orochi is invincible. If it were truly invincible, how could it have been sealed at Mount Fuji in the first place?]
[Water Lily: Whether Yamata no Orochi was sealed at Mount Fuji or chose to sleep there as the eras changed has never been settled. Don't frighten people unnecessarily, and don't spread uncertain information.]
In two different locations in Tokyo, the expressions of two girls stiffened at the same time.
One was "frightening people."
The other was "spreading uncertain information."
In other words, spreading rumors.
It was embarrassing. Annoying too.
But neither of them had a good rebuttal, because Water Lily was not entirely wrong.
Just then, someone else stepped in and shifted the topic.
[Leader: @All Members. Does anyone have detailed information on Gin Tsumugi? The more detailed, the better.]
The entire group froze.
No one expected Leader to speak today and not mention the disaster at Mount Fuji, but instead bring up someone seemingly unrelated.
White Fox Gin Tsumugi.
The rare genius of Onmyodo.
The Director of Tokyo's famous White Fox Office.
Wasn't Leader the one who had known about him earliest and introduced his existence to them?
Besides, they had discussed Gin Tsumugi in the group countless times recently. Ever since [Shiro no Arashiha]'s cousin had been involved in a supernatural incident in Minato Ward, his name had appeared again and again.
Then came the Wedding Dress Tree incident in Shibuya Ward.
After that, everyone had occasionally talked about him out of curiosity.
By now, his name came up in the group almost every few days.
[Four Leaf Clover: Did something happen?]
In her bedroom, Shinomiya Kaguya frowned at the screen.
It had been a long time since Haruka Shizumiya had spoken in the group. Since the Wedding Dress Tree incident in Shibuya Ward, this was the first time she had appeared again—and the moment she did, she asked about Gin Tsumugi.
It had also been Haruka who told Kaguya to seek help from Gin before, saying that there might be a chance of survival there.
What was going on now?
[Leader: The situation is urgent. If anyone knows anything, please tell me truthfully.]
After a few seconds of silence—
[Shiro no Arashiha: Speaking of Mr. Gin, I only know his most recent news.]
[Leader: Please tell me in detail.]
Kaguya's frown deepened.
In the past few days, news of Gin Tsumugi had spread through nearly the entire Onmyodo world. How could Haruka Shizumiya not know?
Unless...
Kaguya thought of something, and her face turned slightly ugly.
She subconsciously placed a hand over the red oni-head brand on her arm.
Compared to when she had visited the White Fox Office, the mark had become brighter. Worse, it had begun spreading along her arm, extending across her snow-white skin like something alive, as if it intended to swallow her entire arm.
It looked terrifying.
And deeply wrong.
[Shiro no Arashiha: Mr. Gin and Dairenji Suzuka went to the Tsuchimikado family together and performed the Taizan Fukun Rite...]
[Shiro no Arashiha: After that, he successfully formed his Onmyodo Framework—Myriad Laws.]
[Shiro no Arashiha: "Learning myriad laws and governing all paths." It's an outrageous Framework.]
[Shiro no Arashiha: Myriad Laws has already been acknowledged by Amami Daizen and Miyoshi Jugo, two of the Twelve Divine Generals.]
[Shiro no Arashiha: ...]
Kurazaki Fuko summarized what had happened to Gin over the past few days in concise terms.
Inside the Imperial Palace, Haruka Shizumiya looked at the messages appearing on her screen and could not hide her shock.
He had performed the Taizan Fukun Rite with Dairenji Suzuka.
He had formed an Onmyodo Framework called Myriad Laws.
Each of those events was enough to overturn people's understanding and shake the Onmyodo world. Yet all of it had happened within only a few days.
He had touched the forbidden rite that reversed life and death.
And his growth speed...
Wasn't it too fast?
Gin Tsumugi and the prodigy Dairenji Suzuka were both rare geniuses of Onmyodo. But at Gin's current pace, even Suzuka's title as a National-level onmyoji would not keep her ahead for long.
Besides, Haruka knew perfectly well that Suzuka's National-level status was somewhat inflated.
It was not only Haruka who was shocked.
Everyone in the Supernatural Exchange Group who had just learned this news was stunned into a daze.
"Myriad Laws... learning myriad laws and governing all paths..."
Haruka frowned.
"It sounds familiar."
She searched her memory.
Somewhere in the Imperial Palace archives, she seemed to have seen a similar description in an ancient text.
She quietly noted the point down, then continued typing.
[Leader: Is there anything else? Anything at all is fine.]
The group went silent again.
Aside from the publicly known events, most of them truly knew very little.
If there was anyone in the group who had a personal connection to White Fox Gin Tsumugi, it would have to be [Bad Girl].
From the many dissatisfied remarks [Bad Girl] had made about Gin before, one could tell that the two of them were at least acquainted. The exact nature of their relationship was harder to judge.
In a young lady's room, the long-haired girl holding the precious sword hesitated.
But seeing how urgent Leader was, she eventually picked up her phone and began typing.
[Bad Girl: I haven't seen him in a long time. The last time we met was when his White Fox Office had just been established. If you want to know about his past, I don't mind talking about it.]
[Leader: Please.]
Haruka had finally found a sliver of hope to break the deadlock.
She would not let any information slip past her.
[Bad Girl: His father was a student of Amami Daizen, one of the Twelve Divine Generals of the Omnyo Agency. Unfortunately, his father has already passed away.]
[Bad Girl: I knew Gin because of our families. We've known each other since childhood.]
[Bad Girl: You could say our families were old acquaintances.]
[Bad Girl: ...]
Bad Girl described everything she knew bit by bit.
Apart from private matters she did not feel comfortable revealing, she hid nothing else.
After a moment, Haruka typed again.
[Leader: You said that at first, his spirit-sight and Onmyodo talent were not very good.]
[Bad Girl: Yes. But in recent years, his originally weak spirit-sight suddenly surged overnight. Lord Amami said at the time that it was an acquired second awakening, which is extremely rare.]
[Bad Girl: Afterward, with Lord Amami's permission, he established the current White Fox Office. You know most of what happened after that.]
[Leader: Thank you.]
[Bad Girl: You're welcome. If you really wanted to investigate these things, it wouldn't be impossible to find out with enough time.]
Looking at those words, Haruka smiled bitterly.
Time.
That was exactly what she lacked most.
Then—
Buzz. Buzz.
The phone vibrated in her hand.
Someone was calling.
The caller ID showed: Kaguya.
Haruka hesitated for a moment, then answered.
"What exactly happened on your side?"
Shinomiya Kaguya's cool voice came through the phone, edged with worry.
"And where have you been these past few days?"
Haruka closed her eyes for a moment.
"Kaguya," she said softly, "I may not be able to hold on much longer. It seems I won't be able to attend the gathering at the end of this month."
Silence fell on the other end of the line.
Kaguya understood what those words meant.
"Didn't she choose several vessels from the Imperial Family?"
"She did," Haruka said. "But I only learned a few days ago that those people are merely temporary bodies for her possession."
Her voice carried a faint despair.
"I am the true vessel."
The words seemed to drain the warmth from the room.
"My earlier thought that I might be able to linger on and survive was ridiculous. Perhaps from the moment she appeared in the Imperial Palace, she had already chosen me. At first, she may have feared I would resist too strongly, so she chose to erode me slowly."
Haruka's fingers tightened around the phone.
"But for some reason, a few days ago, she suddenly accelerated the process and directly suppressed my consciousness. If not for Takiko's intervention this time, I would not have awakened so easily."
After that, Haruka recounted everything that had happened recently.
Kaguya listened in silence.
Only after Haruka finished did she ask, "Then why were you asking about White Fox Gin Tsumugi in the group?"
That was what confused her most.
Haruka opened her eyes.
"Fear."
Kaguya paused.
"What?"
"I can feel her fear of Gin Tsumugi," Haruka said. "A fear that has sunk deep into her bones. It is being transmitted from her body into my consciousness."
Kaguya's disbelief was immediate.
"How is that possible? How could a being like that be afraid? And afraid of an onmyoji who only just formed his Onmyodo Framework?"
"But that is the truth."
Haruka's voice was quiet, but certain.
"That's why I'm thinking... Gin Tsumugi may be the hope I'm looking for."
She paused.
"And yours as well."
Kaguya fell silent again.
Haruka's situation was already extremely dangerous. She would not joke about something like this.
If that entity truly feared Gin Tsumugi so deeply, then there might really be a chance for reversal.
Besides, Kaguya had already planned to seek help from Gin. After hearing Haruka's words, that decision became even firmer.
"I'll go find White Fox Gin Tsumugi as soon as possible," Kaguya said. "If there's good news, I'll tell you."
"Thank you, Kaguya."
The call ended.
Haruka looked at the phone screen as it slowly dimmed, then let out a soft sigh.
She thought of herself.
Then of Shinomiya Kaguya.
The two of them truly were kindred spirits in misfortune.
Both born to prominent status.
Both raised with vast knowledge.
Both blessed with beauty.
And now, both targeted by Great Yokai from legend.
"I hope things go smoothly on your side, Kaguya."
After whispering that, Haruka returned the phone to its hiding place.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]