Chapter 85

So Ashiya Dōman stopped asking, knowing that the answer must be related to the ultimate secret, and even closely related to the lost Secret History Principle.

Soon, the spells he planted in the Forest of Yokai took effect.

This spell will cause the barrier to slowly decay over hundreds of years, at which point Ashiya Dōman will come again in person to cause it to completely shatter and collapse in the future.

The second stage of the Onmyoji's journey is to find Otogiyama.

He couldn't find it.

Ashiya Dōman was not discouraged. He deduced several areas where Otogiyama might appear and buried talismans there.

If we compare the present world and the wasteland to two continents, then the border is like a small island adrift in the sea of dreams, destined to return to the present world eventually. These talismans can destabilize the structure of Otogiyama, causing it to approach the present world more frequently.

His third stop was Mount Kurama.

Ashiya Dōman felt confident that he could deceive Tōrō, but he dared not use tricks on the Ōtengu of Kurama Mountain, so he only silently encouraged the yokai to take revenge.

While the Great Tengu of Kurama was not paying attention, he took out the military treatise "Six Secret Teachings and Three Strategies" from its cave and deliberately placed it in a conspicuous place so that the vengeful Ushiwakamaru could see it.

Sure enough, Ushiwakamaru couldn't resist the temptation of the secret military strategy and secretly read Tengu's secret teachings.

The tengu, enraged, drove him down the mountain. Ushiwakamaru then reverted to his original Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and began his conquest.

Ashiya Dōman was unaware of Hebe's plans for Seiwa Genji. In his view, Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a potential pawn in Hebe's later moves, so he had to use this method to kill her.

For decades after that, Ashiya Dōman made no move, patiently waiting like a venomous snake, until Kurama Ōtengu drew his sword and soared into the sky, his secret sword tearing through the clouds and nearly splitting the sky in two.

Ashiya Dōman laughed heartily, "Wonderful! How wonderful! The Great Tengu is dead!"

Although he looked down on swordsmanship, since Hebe had openly used swordsmanship as a backup plan, Ashiya Dōman had to do the opposite.

The Onmyoji entered the Great Tengu's cave and completely altered the Tengu swordsmanship recorded in the "Kurama Yanagi-ryū" manual.

Ashiya Dōman did not destroy it, but instead added some mystical concepts such as "yin and yang", "five elements" and "eight trigrams" to it, turning solid swordsmanship into a mystical and esoteric art.

If one is not an extremely talented apprentice, one will only fall into the trap set by Ashiya Dōman, wasting time and returning empty-handed.

If an apprentice's talent is sufficient to cross the threshold, what he will ultimately see is not the Great Tengu's swordsmanship, but Eris, who awaits in chaos and silence.

These two hurdles are enough to stop everyone. Enough to destroy the legacy of swordsmanship.

Ashiya Dōman burst into a smug laugh and headed for his next target.

As time silently progressed, Ashiya Dōman maneuver dwindled, but he still had the energy to do one more thing.

"After all, I am still too isolated and helpless." Ashiya Dōman realized, "Tamamo-no-Mae was able to contend with me in history, so she must have at least one ruler supporting her!"

"Since Tamamo-no-Mae mentions 'well-organized'... the one who most admires stability and order is naturally the February Archon Scar Father."

"The regime opposed to Scar Father is Crippled Wolf. And the destruction of violence is always inextricably linked to the illusion of freedom. In this light, 'I' could very well become allies with Crippled Wolf and seize ample benefits during the future world war..."

Ashiya Dōman stood on the beach, a dark color gradually creeping over his clothes.

With a flick of his wrist, the talisman in his hand transformed into a silver cross entwined with a snake.

The Onmyoji's expression was compassionate. "This is merely an experiment. I will, in the guise of a priest, establish a church that outwardly worships the Messiah, but in reality targets the Remnant Wolf. If this church is successfully established, it will prove that 'I' have formed an alliance with the Remnant Wolf..."

This is the Shimabara Domain, and hundreds of years later, a great fire will break out in Shimabara Castle, burning 30,000 believers who thought they were Orthodox Church Christians to ashes.

Amakusa Shirō Tokisada was born here.

Ashiya Dōman had foreseen all of this, but he had no time to make any further arrangements.

He had to go and meet the general to proceed with the Ritual of the Full Moon.

As the time drew closer, Ashiya Dōman emerged from the castle tower. He could not truly enter the Flower Palace, but as the soul severed by the shogun, he had already infected the entire inner city of Kyoto.

He wandered the streets, gradually approaching Hebe and "Daoman" who were facing off.

When he returns to his original form, it will mean that all the plans laid out in the past will be realized at that time.

How can Tamamo-no-Mae beat me now?

Ashiya Dōman thought smugly.

131 Correcting the Past, Returning to the Future

Hebe watched Ashiya Dōman walk away from her side, his figure gradually disappearing from sight.

She couldn't personally travel to those historical sites, but that doesn't mean she couldn't interfere with history.

Tamamo-no-Mae's "death," the general bestowed upon her the Uka-no-Mitama and Inari Daimyōjin; Saga then built hundreds of golden statues of Tamamo-no-Mae.

Through these subtle connections, Hebe is still able to move into the next era, and the one after that. However, her form is not continuous, flickering intermittently like an old-fashioned television screen, rapidly leaping between multiple eras.

If Ashiya Dōman is a flowing river, then Hebe is a series of small pools of water spaced close together.

The downside of doing this is that it's not smooth, but the advantage is that she's faster than Ashiya Dōman.

After all, her backup plans don't stop there.

Years ago in Heian-kyō, Hebe Ashiya Dōman once.

At that time, Ashiya Dōman had not yet been assimilated by "Eris," and she retained a trace of Ashiya Dōman's aura.

At this moment, this wisp of energy is helping Hebe to continuously lock onto Ashiya Dōman's traces in history.

Forest of Yokai.

The monk, dressed in gray robes, hung the amulets on the treetops.

Hebe stood quietly in the rain, letting the misty rain soak her hair and clothes, waiting silently.

Until Hebe saw Ashiya Dōman the stream, and saw how he buried the talisman under the tree, he left muttering to himself.

After he left, Hebe added a few more strokes to the talisman.

The Forest of Yokai was instead hidden away and completely disappeared.

At the Otogiyama, Hebe indeed found the talisman buried by Ashiya Dōman.

She didn't make many changes, just turned the talisman around.

In the Mount Kurama.

The Great Tengu, who was about to fly into a rage, suddenly remembered what Hebe had said to him when they first met.

Those long-forgotten memories were suddenly blown aloft by a strong wind. The Great Tengu smiled, wondering when he had forgotten them.

Didn't she promise that fox that she would pass on the military treatise to more people, so that everyone in the world could learn this valuable knowledge?

Young Ushiwakamaru sensed the approaching shadow and turned to run in fright, but the Great Tengu was faster and easily pinned Ushiwakamaru down on the shoulder.

"Master, I was wrong, please don't kill me!"

Ushiwakamaru was so frightened that he closed his eyes.

But the Great Tengu simply patted her head lightly. "What did you do? Would I, your master, really kill my disciple for such a reason?"

Kishibō Hōgen shook his head. "I'm angry only because you haven't understood military strategy at all—come here, and I'll start teaching you swordsmanship and military strategy from today."

Tengu's Victory is almost finished honing his sword. Once it's complete, he will draw it against the general.

After that, Mount Kurama will be handed over to Ushiwakamaru.

Shimabara Castle, Hebe looked calmly at the missionaries.

She also remembered that in the future, she met Amakusa Shirō Tokisada, whose faith was in the "Orthodox Church" that had been disguised as a religion.

It wasn't that Hebe didn't trust Canlang, but rather that this "rebirth through borrowed skin" operation didn't seem like Canlang's style. After Eris's identity was exposed, Hebe could basically conclude that it was Eris who did it.

Eris is also colluding with the wolves... Hebe rubbed his temples, but the corners of his mouth gradually curved into an excited smile.

"Found you, you termite of history."

She turned and walked toward Amakusa Shirō Tokisada. At this time, the young Amakusa Shirō had not yet been elevated to a divine status and revered as a "saint".

Ashiya Dōman did not make many changes to the Orthodox Church. The only change he made was reducing the three ruling powers of Messiah, the Holy Grail, and the Pearl to one.

Hebe found Amakusa Shirō Tokisada and fixed the loophole.

After Amakusa Shirō awoke, he displayed various miracles, and thereafter everything unfolded according to the predetermined course of history.

As Shimabara Castle burned to the ground, Amakusa Shirō Tokisada prayed on the stake.

The three leaders then brought down a torrential downpour, extinguishing the flames completely.

History moves forward silently.

After Ashiya Dōman the truth about "Tamamo-no-Mae's death", Miss A-Long fell into a state of inexplicable rage.

The dragon shook the mountains with its tail, angrily destroying the forests. Its tail swept across the mountains, causing rivers to change course and turning the snow that had covered the mountaintops for thousands of years into terrible avalanches— Ashiya Dōman simply watched this scene with a smile.

"If you don't believe me, Dragon God, you can go and see Lady Tamamo-no-Mae, who's nailed to the cliff now." The Onmyoji smiled cruelly. "If she were still alive, she should be able to answer your question, wouldn't she?"

Miss A-Long didn't answer; she simply rushed to Hebe's side.

Ashiya Dōman enjoying the spectacle.

Even though he had seen it more than once, he still wanted to see A-Long fall into despair and pain again.

—So sweet.

He saw a pale-faced fox spirit with its eyes closed on a cliff face hidden by red maple leaves and cherry blossoms.

Ashiya Dōman's smile grew increasingly exaggerated.

"Hehe, don't laugh, don't laugh... hehe, hehehehe—"

Just as he was about to burst into laughter, Miss A-Long's joyful voice suddenly came from afar. "Fox, you're awake!"

Ashiya Dōman's grin suddenly froze.

"Ah?"

The Onmyoji almost thought it was his imagination. He rubbed his eyes and looked in Hebe's direction.

The fox spirit, whose heart had been pierced, slowly opened her eyes, with faint traces of blood still on the corners of her mouth.

"How could she possibly wake up at this time—how could she still be alive?!"

Ashiya Dōman pale with fright, unable to tell for a moment whether he or Hebe looked more like a dead man.

But then the fox demon slowly extended its finger and uttered a single word from between its lips.

"Kill."

The enormous dragon Dragon Tail crashed down from the sky.

"No!!!" Ashiya Dōman anguish.

He wasn't worried about his own life or death, but rather realized that Hebe could also trace his origins back to the previous era.

What methods did she use? What did she do in history? How many of her plans were discovered by her?

Ashiya Dōman was unaware of this.

The version of herself with the ability to travel back in time has already left, and Hebe has now locked onto him.

He could neither escape the past, nor send messages to the future, nor report to Eris —the ruling power behind Hebe was not Scar Father.

It's the even more terrifying Celestial Flint, and the Holy Grail!

Ashiya Michiman was smashed into a pulp by Miss A-Long in despair.

He died in a way completely unbecoming of his status, his face covered in dust and grime.

Without even glancing at A-Long Ashiya Dōman immediately went to Hebe's side.