You Think Too Highly of Yourself
Underground beneath the shrine, altar chamber.
By the time Luo Zhen and the others entered, the place had already transformed into another realm.
Spiritual Energy surged like waves.
Divine Aura churned like the sea.
It was as if this place alone had been drawn into another world. The atmosphere here differed vastly from the outside, seeming to have transformed into a divine temple—sacred and solemn.
At the very depths of this space, upon a familiar-looking altar, Takimiko stood enveloped in a layer of dazzling light, dressed in a black shrine maiden's robe.
All around them, the power of the Spirit Vein poured into the altar like veins of Spiritual Energy, converging upon Takimiko. The sleeves on both sides of her shrine maiden's robe bulged slightly, floating lightly in the air as her body rose as well, becoming the center of the Divine Aura and allowing endless Divine Aura to flow into her petite body.
Beside Takimiko, Yakushimaru and Kumomaru, her Servant Shikigami, formed hand seals and chanted incantations on either side of her. Their expressions were more solemn than ever.
The ritual was being conducted with these three at its center.
This was...
"Summoning the Divine..."
Kyoko murmured, the emotions surging within her going beyond shock and beyond agitation. She even felt a trace of emotion.
"Sure enough, this is the 'Tenso Chifuyu no Matsuri'?"
Natsume's expression darkened, her face tense.
"Yakushimaru..."
Dairenji Suzuka stared fixedly at Yakushimaru, the father who had once done something unimaginably cruel to her, killed the older brother she had depended on, and treated his own daughter as an experimental subject. Her small hands had long since clenched into fists.
As for Luo Zhen, his emotions fluctuated the least of everyone present.
"Looks like the ritual hasn't succeeded yet."