Chapter 511

Novia's eyebrows twitched slightly, his gaze never leaving the three gods enshrined at the Shrine.

"Was it because of Erice that we couldn't complete the Yomi Hirasaka...?"

"Yes."

Taira no Masakado answered very decisively.

"Speaking of Ushiwakamaru know about this?"

"No, that idiot doesn't know, but it's not her fault, because I only sensed it because I am the god guarding the Demon Gate."

The term "Demon Gate" in Japan actually has a different meaning than in China. Starting from the Heian Period, they referred to the area between the ox and the tiger as the "Demon Gate." Moreover, the "ghost" in Japan does not refer to the soul of the dead, but rather to a monster or yokai (supernatural being).

"However, even though Tokyo has been reduced to ruins, it is still the Underworld, isn't it?"

"It is the Underworld, but not the Yomi."

Taira no Masakado couldn't help but give a bitter smile. "Tokyo's Underworld is now a deeper and more evil Land of Roots. The concept of the Yomi was rewritten ten years ago when Tokyo was destroyed."

The Land of Roots the Underworld Realm controlled by Susa-no-O, one of the Three Noble Children. In the Kojiki, the entrance to the Land of Roots is Yomi Hirasaka, just like the Land of the Yomi. However, in the Great Purification Prayer at the end of June, the Land of Roots is described as a country located at the bottom of the sea or on the other side of the sea.

In the blessing, Evil is described as being pushed into the Land of Roots, where all Evil and filth are driven into the rivers and then into the sea. Therefore, it is regarded as the Root of Evil Spirit and demons. Some say that the "root" of the Land of Roots is the same as the "Dragon Palace" in the traditional Faith of Ryukyu. Etymologically speaking, the root is located underground and is connected to the "Dragon Palace" in the sea world Inheritance by Ryukyu.

The Land of Roots and the Land of the Yomi are usually considered to be the same world, but they are two completely different aspects.

"I implore you to assist my Master in holding the Kanda Festival and walking the Yomi Hirasaka, so that He may rest in peace."

It was an extremely harsh voice.

Novia did not turn around, continuing to gaze at the three gods.

Is that all?

"When I was first summoned, I sensed Fujiwara's presence and rushed here without delay. I wanted to have another fair and square duel with him, to let people know who the New Emperor is. The sky was exceptionally blue that day, and I was in a very good mood."

"Under the somber Shrine, "Taira no Masakado said.

Although the body was provided by Od, the heart seemed to still be in the scenery of a thousand years ago.

"As it turned out, I discovered it was just a child, merely possessing Fujiwara blood. Just as I was about to leave in disappointment, I learned from Kurō, who rushed over and brandished his sword at me, that the guy's bloodline had long since died out, so it couldn't be called a miracle."

Tawara Tōta, also known as Fujiwara no Hidesato, was the founder of Japan martial arts. His last descendant Fujiwara no Yasuhira, was a childhood friend of Minamoto no Minamoto no Yoshitsune. After a rift developed between Minamoto no Yoshitsune and his brother Minamoto no Yoritomo, Fujiwara no Hideaki took in Minamoto no Yoshitsune and his wife. At that time Fujiwara no Hidehira, the third leader of the Ōshū Fujiwara clan, was still alive. As the king of the north, he and Minamoto no Yoritomo no Yoritomo, the ruler of Kanto, were like the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger, facing each other with great difficulty.

However, at the critical moment, the ambitious Fujiwara no Hidehira fell ill and never recovered. Minamoto no Yoshitsune his deathbed, he appointed Minamoto no Yoshitsune as shogun, and the whole country obeyed his orders. He then appointed his eldest son, Fujiwara no Yasuhira, as the governor of Mutsu Province. He also made the two of them and their eldest son swear an oath of loyalty to each other, never to abandon each other, and to fight against foreign aggression together.

However, Fujiwara no Yasuhira were in a state of uncertainty. They were worried that Kamakura would take the opportunity to launch an attack, and that Minamoto no Minamoto no Yoshitsune would seize military power. In the end, he broke the oath he had made at his father's bedside, raised an army, attacked and killed Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and also killed Tadahira, who opposed his treacherous act.

Finally, Fujiwara no Yasuhira incurred the wrath of Minamoto no Yoritomo and was killed by his retainers, leading to the collapse and extinction of the Ōshū Fujiwara clan.

Therefore.

Ushiwakamaru should have felt the same displeasure or even disgust towards this descendant of Fujiwara Taira no Masakado, just as he did towards Fujiwara no Yasuhira. However, this is how Ushiwakamaru answered:

"Even after being betrayed so many times, I still hope to fight alongside others. Besides, there was no other way. When I was alive, I was too fixated on one goal. So many of my Fujiwara brothers admired and submitted to me. If I had said a few words to Taiheng back then, maybe things wouldn't have turned out that way."

"Alas, I am so ashamed that I failed to keep my promise to Lord Hidehira... If there were a hole in the ground, I would want to crawl into it..."

"In short, I will do my best this time. Speak frankly and assist our lord. That's what my intuition tells me, Lord Masakado."

As he said this, Taira no Masakado and murmured to himself.

"So, at that time, I unknowingly signed a contract. I felt that before I could defeat Fujiwara no Hidesato again, I should take care of him a little."

Those were words that Taira no Masakado had never spoken to Novia under the skill 'Dipankara's Illusion-Breaking,' which is why Novia turned to look at him this time.

Is there anything else?

That's all.

Taira no Masakado knelt and bowed deeply to Novia.

"I implore you to assist me in fulfilling this contract, my lord."

Chapter 525 The strongest hero in the Christ system.

The festival was held as scheduled.

The shopping district of Underworld Tokyo, reflected a dim light. The so-called Underworld was far removed from the clear sea and also far removed Yomi the dead.

It's more like a deserted little village.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Kanda Shrine was unusually quiet. To avoid affecting the Ritual, double Bounded Field were set up in the shopping area, and according to tradition, the environment had to be kept the same as usual in order to check the status of the Ritual... except for the girls dressed as Miko maidens.

The Kanda Festival requires people to carry the Phoenix Palanquin of three Deity, but currently there aren't enough people in Tokyo to gather a hundred, so everything has been simplified.

"Waaah, waaah... What is that... Please stop messing around..."

Overwhelmed by the sight before her, Otome, dressed in Tsutsumi-Shōzoku Erice required by the festival, couldn't help but kneel down.

Someone has already put on the Miko outfit—it's Manazuru Chitose.

An old woman holding a black umbrella, wearing Sun that slightly revealed her eyes, lay gracefully in Novia's arms. That was fine, but the problem was her Miko outfit that exposed her armpits and chest. Although the design had been modified to be somewhat Japanese-style, that wasn't the point right now.

Well...

Erice wouldn't ask Chitose not to wear similar swimsuits, after all, Chitose is quite popular, but Erice hopes that she really won't deliberately make her Miko outfit look so suggestive at this kind of festival, and make it so obvious.

You're really giving yourself a break... Chitose, you've done right by your grandfather. Oh, I almost forgot, I don't have a grandfather, and Chitose isn't married either. Sigh, Twilight romance...

"Eri, a good child shouldn't treat her Grandmother like that."

Tiamat, dressed as Miko maiden, crouched down and tugged at the hem of Erice's 'collapsed' clothes. Erice immediately hugged the clothes that were dragging on the ground.

"Waaaaah, I'm going to die, Mother, my head is hurting more and more..."

"Chitose Majesty is amazing! So it really is possible for someone to look even slimmer with clothes on! I thought it was just City legend."

"I just don't know if it's City legend or a ghost story..."

At the same time, two other Shrine Priest A Xiu dressed as Miko maidens, Oshu and Rushana, also came out.

The Kanda Festival originally required four Miko and four Otome (dressed in the Tsutsumi-Shōzoku noblewomen from the Heian Period), but as mentioned earlier, it's impossible to find enough people in Tokyo right now, and Erice can't find Euclid for the time being, so this is the only option.

Tiamat volunteered to wear Miko Ōkuninushi's outfit, since the former was, after all, the creator god.

Next up was Taira no Masakado's. Rushana said something like, "I am the light that shines everywhere, not much different from Protection," before putting it on.

As for the final Sukunahikona, Erice initially thought she could just get on herself, since she had obtained the Heavenly Raft of Rama by chance... However, she was put on by the suddenly visiting Manazuru Chitose, but Erice wasn't too upset about it.

If it's gone, it's gone. It doesn't matter anymore.

However, after thinking it over, Erice thought about how she would explain to Chitose if the Demon King possessed Novia.

Should I tell her, "Actually, the person I have feelings for has possessed your lover, who is a loner? So even if we're not really family, we are actually family?" Ugh, that's too twisted! It has the feel of Japan Mythology. No, no, I'd better find a better way to put it.

... It can't be that my mom really is Izanami, can it?

Just as Erice stood up with a worried expression, Rushana leaned close to her ear with great interest:

"Your Grandmother looks amazing, Eri! Did you teach her that? Should I come and learn from her? After all, why would Angel descend upon Shrine?! Could she be Succubus drains men's energy?"

"That's too much of a joke..."

"Oh dear, did it really turn out like this?"

Chitose sighed, tilting her head slightly towards Novia and gently tugging at the shoulder strap of her Miko outfit. "After we leave Tokyo, there won't be any clothes like this in Shinjuku anymore, so I'll have to modify it myself. What do you think?"

Novia remained unfazed by Chitose's words. "... What?"

"How could you not understand?"

Chitose straightened her back and glanced at the indignant Tiamat. "... Hmm, I think so too."

Novia was silent for a few seconds.

"... No, I understand, it must be about the direction of life."

"That's right, it's the responsibility of life."

To Erice, their interaction even seemed like that of perfect lovers. For some reason, she was inexplicably furious. Standing in front of Chitose, she defiantly lowered her head and said, "The Kanda Festival is about to begin, Sukunahikona. You'd better not talk about your Twilight romance now. Mind your image."

"This is Tokyo. As the victor of the Holy Grail War, I can wear whatever I want. Erice, as my granddaughter, aren't you being a bit too impulsive?"

Chitose's tone was tinged with amusement, while Erice's eyes were overly straightforward.

That cannot be refuted.

But Erice had a brilliant idea. She pulled the slightly embarrassed Tiamat over and pushed her directly into Novia's arms.

But Tiamat is Novia's Servant, Chitose you'd better watch yourself! Do you think you can compare your life to that of the Mesopotamia Primordial Mother Goddess? Impossible!

Feeling much better, Erice decided to go find Ushiwakamaru, the only Otome, to discuss the arrangements. However, before she could even leave the house, she was stopped by Rushana, the blue-haired girl who sighed dramatically, "Eri! You're such an excellent wingman, but it's such a shame it's not me and the Teacher."

"That's enough. You want to be a meal replacement, huh? You'd be better off going to find your real Teacher Kavia."

"Who said it's a meal replacement! You idiot, Eri!!"

"You're so noisy."

"Ah, no. I did consider it briefly, becoming lovers or something, but I'm a Buddha, so of course it's out of the question. Besides, I haven't found my heart and mind yet."

"It could cry! The Buddha that everyone in Nara prays to at the Longmen Grottoes looks like this! It really could cry!"

"You're so noisy, Eri! Didn't I say I was just considering it? Don't you understand what 'considering' means?!"

"Ah..."

After being refuted by Rushana, Erice didn't know how to respond.

Just before leaving, he glanced at the surprisingly harmonious Chitose and Tiamat.

Isn't that just using it as a meal replacement?... We can't have this kind of disgusting stuff.

In short, the Kanda Festival began, and the sound of drums could be heard outside the Shrine.

The thumping sound continued incessantly.

The moment she stepped out the door, Erice was stunned.

This wasn't the first time she'd heard such a sound, but seeing it in almost deserted Tokyo was truly astonishing—the stalls around the Shrine, which had previously been empty, were now crowded with people, and paper lanterns hung around the Shrine, emitting a pale red glow to illuminate the surroundings.

Many people strolled and chatted here; it was truly astonishing that such a large crowd had gathered in what had just been a deserted City.

"!"

However, when one of them looked up, Erice was startled.

The reason is simple: they don't look human, or rather, their faces are simply too terrifying.

"Would you like one, Utsumi?"

The ugly man who was staring at Erice shouted, which immediately made everyone present look up at Erice.

Only then did she realize that almost everyone had a 'terrifyingly ugly face'... Could they be some kind of Phantasmal Species? But the Wicked Spirit weren't reacting...

"Sorry, I'm already full. I'll eat again another time."

The Black-Haired Girl bowed her head in sincere gratitude, and then the group bowed their heads again.

Eri, Erice was about to tell the Shrine staff that something terrible had happened, turned around and saw three Phoenix Palanquin being carried out by a group of people who had somehow entered the shrine. At the same time, the three people who had just been dressed Miko sat on them, with the Shrine Priest A Xiu in front of them, just like Ritual in a festival.

"Oh, this..."

Erice's gaze darted back and forth between the Phoenix Palanquin and A Xiu, "What on earth is going on...?"

Wasn't it said that Tokyo was deserted? And indeed, there were hardly any people there the past few days...

"They are definitely not human."

Novia, Erice's confusion, offered an explanation.

"They are Yomi Ugly Woman."

The demon woman of the Land of the Yomi is a subordinate of Izanami the Yomi. She has an extremely terrifying face and can run at a speed of up to a thousand miles.

"I see."

Come to think of it, why are you acting like I'm the only one who doesn't know?

It seems that my mother's name, Nami, is really just a coincidence. Otherwise, if she really were Nami, how could I not know?

"Well."

After sighing, Erice obediently went to the Phoenix Palanquin and took on the role of Otome scattering flowers.

Novia was utterly puzzled by Erice's listless appearance and her inner thoughts.