-2042- Kanda Myojin Shrine

Since the decision had already been made, Rozen and Harutora naturally needed to take action.

To do so, they first had to locate the Kurahashi and Souma families.

That wasn't difficult.

Although Tokyo had now become a ghostly domain, transformed into a den of demons filled with all kinds of yokai and spirits, making it extremely difficult to track others, Rozen's advantage lay in the fact that all the Hyakki were his shikigami. Thanks to his ability to share sensory perceptions with them, he had already gained near-complete knowledge of everyone's movements within Tokyo.

Thus, he instantly deduced the whereabouts of his enemies.

"This isn't hard to guess. Since they are preparing to conduct the Tenso Jifu Ritual, they need an altar large enough for the ritual—one even grander in scale than the heavenly altar required for the Taizan Fukun Ritual."

Even when Rozen had performed divine descent in the past, he needed to prepare an altar. The same applied to the Kurahashi and Souma families.

Of course, if it were now, Rozen wouldn't need one.

He had already mastered the Divine Summoning technique completely. Coupled with his near-infinite jutsuryoku, he could invoke divine descent at any time and place.

If not for the inherent uncertainty in this technique—similar to that of Heroic Spirit Summoning—he might have had more divine guardians than just Kinu and Gyokuto.

Between the unpredictable nature of Heroic Spirit Summoning and Divine Spirit Summoning, Rozen actually favored Shikigami Summoning more.

Although Shikigami Summoning also had its uncertainties—since he couldn't determine which shikigami would be summoned—the temperament of shikigami was much more predictable compared to the erratic nature of gods and the strong-willed personalities of heroic spirits.

For instance, within the Hyakki, although they were all yokai and spirits, far from benevolent beings, and even included notorious entities like Ootakemaru, Shuten Douji, and Tamamo-no-Mae—who had left their terrifying marks in history—yokai and spirits generally followed one principle: the supremacy of strength.

As long as one demonstrated overwhelming power, they would submit.

This was evident from how Ootakemaru's words were highly regarded by Shuten Douji and Tamamo-no-Mae, prompting them to restrain themselves accordingly.

Thus, if one's power surpassed them, most of the Hyakki would willingly follow, unless under special circumstances.

Conversely, if one failed to gain their recognition or was weaker, they might be abandoned—or worse, devoured outright.

This was a shared characteristic of all shikigami: if the practitioner was strong enough, they would serve loyally and unleash their full potential; but if the practitioner was insufficiently capable, even if rebellion or backlash didn't occur, the refusal to obey commands or accept control would become a frequent problem.

Of course, the Hyakki were Rozen's shikigami through an absolute contract, so they would never disobey or betray him. However, if they didn't acknowledge him, the same kind of frustrating scenarios as when summoning an incompatible Heroic Spirit could occur.

But with Rozen's power towering above them, such issues were nearly negligible.

Because of this, Rozen had used the Shikigami Summoning technique to summon the entire Hyakki, turning them into his shikigami.

With his immense strength, these defiant yokai and spirits had no choice but to recognize him. Coupled with the absolute contract, Rozen easily commanded them all.

Moreover, he wasn't lacking in divine and heroic guardians either, so for now, Rozen was quite satisfied.

In contrast, the Kurahashi and Souma families couldn't perform divine descent as freely as Rozen. Otherwise, Yakou wouldn't have failed half a century ago, nor would the Souma family have spent a thousand years unsuccessfully pursuing their goal.

Therefore, they had to undergo extensive preparations.

Rozen had already discerned several key aspects of their preparations.

"For instance, the two spiritual disaster terror attacks—both of those incidents resulted from failed divine descent, yet they weren't completely useless."

At the very least, those two major events had fully activated Tokyo's spiritual veins, even altering its spiritual structure and layers. Under such circumstances, attempting another divine descent ritual would be much easier.

"Additionally, the previous barrier formation clearly functioned by manipulating the spiritual veins through some means. That technique enabled them to control Tokyo's spiritual veins and use them to support the ritual."

If Rozen's guess was correct, this technique was likely connected to something Kurahashi Miyo had once mentioned to him back at the Onmyo Academy—the Onmyo Agency's Early Spiritual Disaster Detection Network.

This detection network had installed mechanical shikigami at key spiritual vein locations throughout Tokyo, operating 24/7 to monitor any anomalies.

If this network had been constructed for the sake of divine descent, then the mechanical shikigami stationed at Tokyo's spiritual nodes had likely been tampered with by the Kurahashi and Souma families.

Instead of being used to monitor spiritual veins and prevent spiritual disasters, its true purpose was to control the veins, allowing their power to be exploited.

Kurahashi Genji had handed over control of this network to Miyachi Iwao, enabling the Exorcism Bureau to utilize Tokyo's spiritual veins to activate the barrier formation.

If the Kurahashi and Souma families fully exploited this network to seize control of all of Tokyo's spiritual veins, the city itself could be transformed into an unprecedentedly massive altar, perfectly suited for conducting the Celestial and Netherworld Festival.

And the center of this altar was one specific location.

"Kanda Myojin Shrine—the shrine that enshrines Taira no Masakado and safeguards Edo—is the very heart of the Tenso Jifu Ritual altar, and the optimal location for Masakado's descent."

In conclusion, the Kurahashi and Souma families had undoubtedly retreated there to make their last stand.

To ensure the divine descent ritual succeeded, they couldn't afford to leave Tokyo, much less abandon that location. At this moment, they were undoubtedly entrenched in Kanda Myojin Shrine.

And indeed, this was the case.

"The remnants of the Onmyo Agency have all retreated to Kanda Myojin Shrine, where they've erected a powerful barrier, using it as a stronghold to fend off attacks from the Hyakki and the ongoing spiritual disasters."

Rozen stated this calmly.

"All of the Onmyo Agency's forces are gathered there. Not only are the Twelve Divine Generals present, but Souma Takiko is also there. Additionally, an unexpected acquaintance has gone there as well."

Therefore, in order to stop the divine descent ritual, they had to launch a direct assault on Kanda Myojin Shrine and completely annihilate the Onmyo Agency's forces.

To this…

"Is that all?"

"Those Onmyoji, no matter how many gather, are just a bunch of weak humans."

"Leave it to us, Master."

Led by Ootakemaru, Shuten Douji, and Tamamo-no-Mae, the shikigami all voiced their eagerness to fight, their bloodlust barely restrained.

The Hyakki had another common trait—most of them were highly combative. Aside from rare individuals like Suzuhiko-hime, who preferred peace, the majority craved battle.

And with the Hyakki assembled here, what threat could the Onmyo Agency possibly pose?

Before Rozen's Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, there were no longer any existences in this world capable of standing against him.

This made Harutora feel both reassured and uneasy.

With a serious tone, he warned Rozen privately,

"The Hyakki includes many dangerous entities. Be careful not to suffer any backlash."

Leaving behind this warning, Harutora stated that he needed to make some preparations and left.

Once dawn arrived, they would commence their attack on Kanda Myojin Shrine.

At that time, Rozen would personally lead the Hyakki into battle, while Harutora would remain in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.

And so, time passed slowly.

That night would be both fleeting and eternal.