As we set foot on the mountain road, everyone felt that their vision had become dimmer.
This is a very obvious feeling. The interlacing of light and dark causes changes in the pupils, as if the eyes are covered with a thin veil.
Everyone's movements stopped for a moment, and a layer of goosebumps could be seen on the exposed arms.
The worry about the unknown is reflected in everyone.
Ryoma took a deep breath and continued to move upward. Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the somewhat dim sky, and for some reason...
I don't know why it feels familiar?
There is no time left for her to think now.
The communication connection with Chaldea has been disconnected. Under the leadership of Sakamoto Ryoma and three other priests, the group of people who invited the god and the group of people who protected the safety slowly walked upward.
My ears were quiet.
The sounds of the village behind me disappeared, and the bustling feeling disappeared.
The sound of the woods beside me disappeared, and the quiet and eerie feeling disappeared.
The sound of the howling wind in the sky also disappeared, and the feeling of loneliness and coldness disappeared.
The dragon and horse are walking.
Everyone behind him is walking.
Suddenly, Ryoma felt a certain gaze.
It seemed as if something was looking at him in the forest.
He didn't dare to look sideways.
But there is more than one look.
The second way, the third way.
Many eyes were directed towards him, towards them, watching them walk up.
"Let's walk."
The voice seemed to ring in everyone's ears. I couldn't tell the gender or the age. I just felt an unimaginable remoteness and fear.
"Life is the same, it's a seemingly endless climb."
The voice spoke, but no one responded.
Everyone fell into a state of sluggishness that seemed to have been arranged in advance. Only the body was still walking like a machine, continuing to walk upwards toward the shrine.
Sakamoto Ryoma suddenly woke up.
but--
What he was wearing was not the attire of a priest.
It was the black Wu uniform that I was used to wearing.
The place where he was was not a mountain road either.
But in a desolate space.
He saw himself walking.
Ahead, I am walking.
Behind him, he was also walking.
But no matter how we go, we can't close the distance.
Because...I am walking too.
"where is this place?"
Takasugi Shinsaku murmured to himself, with a drop of cold sweat on his cheeks.
Unfamiliar scenes flashed in his eyes, bloody battles, leading troops in battle...
"Where am I...?"
Souji, wearing a light green haori, looked around. This was a temple. She saw herself sitting on the temple, and she also saw herself leaving the temple.
Zuocun closed his eyes, but saw a bird flying gradually away along the sky.
"Mr. Zuomura..."
Ezuna saw Zuo Cun's back and subconsciously called out. She wanted to grab Zuo Cun's hand, but missed. Zuo Cun's figure was further away from her. She wanted to chase him but no matter what.
No matter what, I can't catch up.
"ah."
Fujimaru Ritsuka knew where his familiarity came from.
She raised her head and looked above herself.
The branches of the cherry blossom tree swayed gently above my head.
She was standing under the cherry blossom tree, surrounded by people walking around her.
You can see it yourself...
Mr. Samura, Ms. Souji, Ms. Soina, Ms. Yukina and Ms. Suori, Mr. Ryoma, Mr. Takasugi, Mr. Hijikata...
A lot of people.
Everyone.
They all walked by their side.
They all passed by themselves.
She raised her hand, caught a cherry blossom petal, and felt a trance.
When he came back to his senses, he found that the team had stopped.
Bewildered, then continue walking.
The torii gate is already in sight.
No one looks sideways.
Even though they knew there were many eyes looking at them from that side, no one looked sideways.
Maybe it's because they know...
Are they themselves the ones looking at them?
There is a person standing under the torii gate.
A shadow.
No one saw that shadow except Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Ryoma Sakamoto led the team through the shadow and entered the shrine.
Fujimaru Ritsuka also passed through the shadow, and then turned back to see that appearance.
She turned back, and her shadow turned back too.
Shadow and Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at each other, and for some reason they showed a smile, a gentle smile.
Fujimaru Ritsuka subconsciously nodded slightly to the shadow and nodded.
The veil in front of my eyes disappeared.
All the dimness and dullness in the sky disappeared, clarity was restored again, and everyone's eyes also showed a look of surprise.
Wow——
In the shrine, the miko shook the Kagura bell in her hand and started dancing.
Everyone, including the priest, sat on the ground and watched the three shrine maidens enter the territory and enter the imperial palace, waving the Kagura bells in their hands, dancing like light flying swallows.
The bell and the headdress kept colliding, making a crisp and sweet sound.
The sound attracts God's attention.
It also attracts malicious attention.
Zheng——
Saito Ichi's sword was the first to be pulled out of the scabbard.
His figure seemed to have turned into an illusion, passing by the shrine, and by the time his sword was sheathed, the demon had been split into two.
The ghost appears.
And for some reason, the ghost that appeared in the shrine was not the same weak one as it was during the day, but the ghost that appeared in the shrine looked the same as it did at night, looking like a giant.
Zheng——
Souji and Nagakura Shinpachi also stood up, drew their swords from their sheaths, and went to deal with those scoundrels.
The swordsmen's power has become stronger for some reason, as if... they have returned to what they were like when they were servants.
Others still made no move.
The witches were performing a ritual dance, and the swordsmen were killing the demons that were approaching them. They did not show even a trace of fear in the face of the threat and were still dancing.
Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly noticed a line of sight—not the line of sight projected from both sides of the road before, but from right in front—
She raised her head and looked across the shrine to the top of the mountain.
Hideo Kurokawa.
Hideo Kurokawa was on the top of the mountain, looking down.
Hideo Kurokawa is in the storm!
Why didn't you come out? Why didn't you come out and lead the demons to destroy the Mountain God Ritsu Festival?
Roar......
A low growl sounded in Mama Bear's throat. Apparently, not only Fujimaru Ritsuka, but Mama Bear and Yukina also felt that gaze, and knew who the owner of that gaze was.
"Don't be impatient, Miss Schnee."
Fujimaru Ritsuka whispered in Hoshikuma Yukina's ear.