Sugawara Kyoko stared at the arrow in front of her. She neither understood how the nearly burnt wood chip was embedded in the metal arrowhead, nor did she believe that it was once the property of the creator god Izanagi.
The doubts grew.
"It seems you can no longer shoot."
Zonggu took back the Demon-Breaking Arrow, turned it around in his hand, and waved it again.
"If you use it directly as a weapon, it's still a bit short..."
Kyoko immediately understood his plan, but her doubts were still lingering.
"If what Soya-san said is true, is it to use Izanagi-sama's divine power to destroy this evil spirit?"
"No."
Soya shook his head, "This comb tooth has no magical power, it just contains a lot of Izanagi's breath."
Although Asagiri Suzu gave it to him, the comb teeth could only come from Izanami. He told a little lie, "I picked it up when I was living in hell."
"Other than igniting fire, it has no other function, but the aura attached to it can make people who are close to Izanagi immediately think of him."
"For example, his..."
"--here we go."
Jingzi suddenly turned around and looked at the woods not far away.
The fluctuations over there instantly attracted the attention of all spiritual awakeners present except Zonggu, and he only delayed it for a second or two.
"bell."
"No."
After confirming that there was no danger around him, he took off his amulet and saw the shocking scene.
——Countless girls of the underworld floated in the air, converging into an airtight circular dome, covering the woods below, and slowly descending;
On the ground, a larger number of Huangquan troops gathered into a square formation and advanced ruthlessly towards the center of the forest.
The forest farm turned into a battlefield, and no one paid attention to Zonggu who suddenly "appeared". The faint aura of underworld on his body was not even worth a second glance at this moment.
The long halberds entered the forest, and many girls of the underworld, who seemed to be one body, also landed on the top of the forest and launched an offensive.
Thick dark clouds obscured the night sky, and the surrounding fields were dim but vaguely visible. At this time, cracks that became purer and darker suddenly appeared.
"..."
Zonggu held his breath and stared at the interior of the cracks that quickly connected under the Girl of the Underworld.
Just over two months ago, he was still eating tasteless food there, fearfully guarding and distinguishing every spirit he met, and imagining his first love that he might never see again.
"...Yellow Spring."
The hole in the other world opens and darkness falls.
...
Although he was driving, Noma Minami arrived at the gathering place for spiritual awakeners only ten minutes earlier than Soya and the others who were walking.
And Sugawara Kyoko, who was "abducted" halfway, had sent her a message before, saying that she wanted to act together with Soya.
This made her relieved and at the same time even more annoyed.
A mere ordinary high school student actually acted without authorization at such a time and abducted the eldest lady of the shrine.
This was back when she was the head of operations!
Stopping the car at the platform on the mountainside, Noma Minami looked back at the other shrine maidens at the same shrine.
"Anyway, the result is the same in the end. Just pretend that Jingzi ran away with that kid never happened - don't talk nonsense when you go back."
"...Anan." Someone was helpless.
"What if something happens?" Some people watched the fun and didn't think it was a big deal.
"People from Shiromaru Shrine came to say hello." Some people looked out of the car window, more concerned about the current matter.
Noma Minami quickly turned around and looked around, and spoke much faster, "Anyway, let's make this decision first, and then I'll settle the score with that kid."
"Yes yes..."
In this operation, Shiromaru Shrine, like Fuyun Shrine, was responsible for the aftermath.
"Toyosaki...what's going on with you?"
Noma Minami looked at the young miko who was approaching. Her upper body seemed to have become bloated overnight.
Toyosaki smiled slightly, raised his collar in an enchanting manner, and winked at her again.
"Anan, do you want to see the inside of me...ah!"
Several nearby priests followed the sound and quickly turned their heads. Noma Minami looked inside the opened miko uniform and sneered.
"With so many talisman stickers on it, can it be used as underwear?"
"...I wore it underneath!"
Toyosaki pulled up his clothes and moved away from her. The talisman paper covered in the miko's uniform made a rustling sound as it rubbed against her.
"Do you expect these talismans to withstand the shock wave?"
Noma Minami looked at her, "Can it be useful?"
"I don't know." Toyosaki straightened his clothes and puffed out his chest, "Even if it's a bulletproof vest, you won't know whether it's useful until you're shot."
"What a mess..."
"I don't want to experience the feeling of pain all over my body and being unable to move again like last time."
"It's better not to go up the mountain."
Noma Minami shook his head, "It's just a shudder if you stay far away."
"Speaking of which, why didn't you see Jingzi?"
"...It's really a bit cold in the early morning."
"Why did you change the subject?"
"Ah - it's so cold! It's so cold!"
Familiar shrine maidens were waiting on the mountainside platform, and people from other shrines arrived one after another.
Occasionally, people would come over to say hello and chat for a while, but most of the time, the spiritually aware people were looking at the sky.
"Are they planning to cover that forest?"
"It was like this last time at Lake Biwa."
"I wasn't there that time."
"I'm telling you..."
The young miko chatted freely and stayed very close to each other.
The faint fragrance from her body continued to float, Noma Minami listened absently, and suddenly said:
"Toyosaki is in third grade now, right?"
"..."
Toyosaki stopped abruptly, then nodded again, "Yes."
"Ah, by the way, Anan hasn't been to school yet this semester, right?"
"Too busy."
Noma Minami walked a few steps elsewhere, "But I can't ask for leave anymore, I have to at least show up."
Looking at the countless armors marching in the forest, she looked up at the slope not far away.
"Over there are the people from Chengnan Palace. They seem to be preparing some kind of prayer... praying to the gods..."
"A prayer for peace of mind."
She looked at Toyosaki who was following him. The miko uniform covered with talismans was ridiculously bloated, but her delicate face was still too cute.
"I said, Toyosaki..."
"Um?"
Noma Minami was interrupted before he could finish the rest of his sentence.
Above the woods, the circular dome composed of countless Daughters of the Underworld seemed to have opened a hole in the sky, revealing a darker part inside.
"This is the first time I have seen so many girls from the underworld opening the gate to the underworld at the same time..."
Toyosaki leaned closer to her, leaning on her shoulder, "It's a bit scary to say."
"Be prepared—"
Noma Minami looked at her, then turned back and shouted to his companions, "It's about to begin!"
Without her reminding, all the witches were in a state of preparedness.
The Girl of the Underworld floats in the sky, controlling the gaping dark mouth to slowly sink, as if she wants to swallow the entire forest into it;
Huang Quan's army gathered from all directions and blocked every direction leaving the woods.
At this moment, a small but conspicuous figure suddenly rose from the center of the woods, piercing the darkness above at an invisible speed, and hovering above the dome composed of the Daughters of the Underworld.
"The evil spirit has appeared."
Compared to the underworld ghosts below, the evil spirits floating in the air look no different from ordinary people and appear to be quite harmless.
However, this illusion only lasted for a moment. The majestic black flames that quickly rose from his body immediately broke the illusion of all those watching.
"What kind of monster is this..."
On the slope, the sound of prayers suddenly became louder.
The witches rang the bells and the priests raised the oak tablets and chanted majestic prayers that could be heard from here.
If the soft words of comfort just now made people feel calm without knowing it, now they are using strong pressure to make people unable to resist and forced to be at peace.
However, no matter how majestic the ceremony is, it has no effect on the evil spirits in the air.
The ferocious flames are raging into the sky, and the black mist is spreading its teeth and claws. Its appearance is ever-changing, and it is also growing continuously and is likely to become more and more intense.
The prayer ceremony did not stop.
Talisman paper, magic-breaking arrows, monks chanting Buddha's name in formation... All the attempts that were prepared from just now have been put to use.
A rain of arrows shot into the sky and were submerged in the black air. As a result, Noma Minami noticed the magic-breaking arrow formation on the high ground on the other side.
"The first round is over...there are two rounds left."
She happens to understand the arrangement there: fire three rounds of magic-breaking arrows, and retreat if they fail. After all, the range of the magic-breaking arrows is limited, and the closer they are, the greater the impact they will receive.
The next two rounds of arrow rain quickly shot into the sky, but they were the same as the first round, with no effect.
The mikos left one after another, and Noma Minami was about to look away when he suddenly saw a familiar miko standing in front.
Raising her bamboo bow, she aimed her arrow at the black shadow in the sky.
"...Kyoko?"
After recognizing her, Noma Minami was very surprised, but what surprised her even more was what happened later - someone stopped Kyoko.
"Soya!"
Suddenly, a creepy feeling enveloped her, and something seemed to ring in her ears;
Then, the world in front of me fluctuated.
"..."
Toyosaki fell on top of her without warning, and she couldn't even raise her hands to help him, so he also fell down.
"Ugh!"
"Anan..."
"I'm fine...ah, it hurts, it hurts."
Noma Minami grimaced in pain, finally feeling the filthy air of the underworld filling his body.
"This is too sudden..."
Looking up at the sky, she found that it was actually snowing on the April night.
"wrong."
Asking Toyosaki to move away from her, Noma Minami sat up with difficulty. Gray "snowflakes" fell on her hands and disappeared in an instant.
The Girl of the Underworld who was originally floating in the sky, as well as the Underworld army on the ground, all disappeared.
"It's really turned into ashes..."
The black flames shrouding the evil spirit's body also subsided, leaving only a solitary figure in the sky.
On the ground, the spiritual awakeners fell into one piece, helplessly facing the expected defeat.
Whoosh!
An arrow pierced the sky and landed on the evil spirit's body, right in the center.