Chapter 18 : Taizan Fukun Ritual

After leaving the house, Shiro returns to her spiritual form because using a physical form consumes her spiritual strength.

Knowing that her master needed her Spiritual Strength to use the Taizan Fukun Ritual, she didn't want to waste a single drop of her Spiritual Strength on something else.

After leaving the house, Arata summoned Yukikaze and mounted him, flying into the sky towards the Tsuchimikado family's altar.

As an ancient family, the Tsuchimikado family owned many shrines and altars scattered in many places in Japan to perform various rituals.

The Taizan Fukun Ritual was varied and different in the method of use, but all the elements needed to perform the Ritual were similar with a slight difference, such as the need for the user's life, sacrificing your spiritual power permanently, or returning to the beard as a spiritual life form...etc.

As for the Taizan Fukun Ritual that needed to sacrifice a user's life, it needed many items, but it was no different from the other Taizan Fukun Ritual.

These items are: Silver coins, white silk, a paper horse, a paper soldier, full armor, bow and arrows, a long sword, cloisonné enamel , gold, a koto, a lute. There were also many vessels made from paper that were carefully infused with magical energy by the one managing the platform. There were also ritual tools - a taiko drum, a conch, sleigh bells, a hei, incense, a hand bell, a vodoo doll and charms.

Arata soon reached the altar hidden in the mountains and saw Suzuka who was clearly waiting for him.

Seeing Suzuka, Yukikaze lunged at her and stopped beside her.

"Good morning," Arata said carefree and got off Yukikaze's back, returning him to his spirit form.

"It's already noon," Suzuka said, looking at Arata with obvious annoyance.

Suzuka had been waiting for Arata for more than 3 hours and she wanted to go to his house and drag him to us to help her but she was stopping at the end for some reason.

"I came, so time doesn't matter much," Arata said, not paying attention to Suzuka's annoyance.

"Well, it doesn't matter, I'm the one asking for your help," Suzuka said, letting go of Arata's blame.

"Then shall we begin?" - Suzuka said and took out the paper that wrote down the Incantation Taizan Fukun Ritual.

"Sure, but the one who will provide you with spiritual power is my Shikigami," said Arata, and Shiro appeared in her physical form next to him.

"Eh, why?" Suzuka asked, frankly wanting to obtain the spiritual power of someone from the main family and not someone from the sub-family who became a Shikigami.

"There are many reasons, but the most important reason is that my Spiritual Strength won't be useful," Arata said, without explaining further.

"As my master commands, I will provide you with the necessary spiritual strength to perform the Taizan Fukun Ritual," Shiro said, examining Suzuka clearly.

" God of the east sea, Amei. God of the west sea, Shukuryou. God of the south sea, Kyojou. God of the north sea, Gukyou. Gods of the seven seas, Use your divine power and create a steel barrier, Order ' " - exclaimed Arata Incantation Barrier which he made from Spell Anti-Hyakki Yagyou Pentagram.

The Anti-Hyakki Yagyou Pentagra Spell was one of the powerful spells that Ootomo Jin used against Ashiya Douman.

As soon as Arata finished the Incantation, an extremely powerful barrier spread out and surrounded the altar.

"..." - Suzuka stared at the barrier Arata had erected in amazement, doubting that she would be able to break through a barrier with such force.

"Is this your original spell?" - Suzuka asked without hiding the surprise on her face.

"That's right, it's a Barrier Spell I made from the Anti-Hyakki Yagyou Pentagram that borrows the power of Gods of the four directions," Arata said, not hiding anything because it's impossible to use a spell just from knowing this.

Although the Incantation is similar, the flow of spiritual power is different from the Anti-Hyakki Yagyou Pentagram Spell.

"We've been talking too much, let's start," Arata said, focusing his senses on feeling the movement inside the barrier.

"That's right" - Suzuka nodded, usually serious, and took out a piece of paper containing the Incantation Taizan Fukun Ritual, then looked at Shiro and spoke - "Let's go."

Shiro didn't say anything and followed Suzuka's back towards the altar where Suzuka's brother's body was wrapped in several Spells to keep the body from rotting and decomposing.

Soon, the altar area fell under the pressure of a huge spiritual force that was gushing out from Suzuka's body.

Suzuka has huge spiritual power or she wouldn't be one of the Twelve Divine Generals and even she is the youngest member among the members in history.

Despite the pressure, Arata and Shiro were unaffected because this level of strength was nothing in front of them.

Arata had a very strong spiritual power due to reincarnation, and after obtaining Benimaru's power, his spiritual power increased even more.

As for Shiro, she was born with great spiritual strength and was the highest level spiritual force in the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan throughout history.

Suzuka soon begins the Incantation Taizan Fukun Ritual under Arata's curious eyes.

Arata was curious about the result of this Taizan Fukun Ritual because this was the first time anyone had used it for real.

Although there were many Onmyouji who were willing to use the Taizan Fukun Ritual that required sacrificing a user, they lacked the spiritual strength needed to activate the Ritual.

Although the Onmyouji had enough spiritual power to activate the Ritual, they were unwilling to sacrifice their lives.

As such, this was the first time Arata had seen someone use the Taizan Fukun Ritual, which naturally required self-sacrifice.

Soon, Suzuka finished the Incantation Taizan Fukun Ritual and opened a huge gate in the sky.

"..." - Upon sensing the gate, Arata wanted to look at it out of curiosity, but when he tried to do so, he felt an instinctive fear that forced him to avert his gaze from the gate.

Arata knew from the anime that this gate had the ability to absorb the soul of the person who looked at it, but he didn't expect it to work on him either.

Arata didn't know that no matter how strong he was, he wouldn't be able to look into the gate unless he could deify his soul.

A divine soul was a prerequisite for looking at a world where deities lived. Although there were some exceptions that did not need a divine soul, though, they needed to overcome the instinctive fear in their souls first to look at a world where deities lived.

After opening the gate, Arata soon felt a spiritual pulse coming out of the gate and connecting with Suzuka's brother's body.

Feeling a spiritual pulsation, Shiro didn't hesitate and usually went to Arata's side because this pulsing was dark and frightening.

Arata and Shiro watched as Suzuka's supposedly dead brother's body started to move.

"Oni-chan!!" Suzuka exclaimed, tears of joy welling up in her eyes and without hesitation she pounced on her brother to hug him.

"…" - In contrast to the happy Suzuka, Arata furrowed his eyebrows and raised his guard as he felt that Suzuka's brother's body was devoid of a soul and that he was being controlled by the previous Spiritual Pulse.

"Not enough" Suzuka's brother murmured as a dark and sinister spiritual force surrounded him.

"Oni-chan?" Suzuka asked, frightened by the dark spiritual power surrounding her brother's body.

"It's not enough for Suzuka!!" - Suzuka's brother exclaimed and grabbed Suzuka's neck, aiming to take her life.

"Wait Oni-chan" - though to Suzuka's surprise she quickly knew what was going on.

She had to pay the price of reviving her brother by letting him kill her or he would return to the ranks of the dead.

Unlike the anime, there was no Harutora and Natsume to stop what was happening and Arata and Shiro were standing by watching the situation without any intention of interfering.

"Die die for me, Suzuka!!" - Suzuka's brother yelled evilly and smashed Suzuka's neck.

"..." Seeing this, Arata focused on Suzuka's brother's body to see what would happen to him.

But nothing happened except that the spiritual pulse that was connected to Suzuka's brother's body became stronger.

"You… who are you?" - Arata asked cautiously as he looked into Suzuka's brother's eyes, which were cold and evil.

Seeing Suzuka's brother looking at them, Shiro stood up and was ready to fight the moment Suzuka's brother did something suspicious.

"…" Suzuka's brother examined Arata, clear interest appeared in his sinister eyes and spoke, "Interesting. I didn't expect to see a soul that managed to cross the dimensional wall in this lower world."

"..." Hearing Suzuka's brother's words, Arata released his Spiritual Strength and looked at Suzuka's brother seriously.

"Who are you?" - Arata asked in a stern tone, caution evident in his eyes.

After living in this world for 16 years and coming into contact with many powerful existences, this was the first time anyone knew that they weren't from this world.

As Suzuka's brother continued to observe them, Shiro stood up, prepared to engage in a fight at the slightest hint of suspicious behavior.

Suzuka's brother examined Arata closely, a clear sense of interest reflecting in his sinister eyes. "Interesting. I didn't expect to encounter a soul that managed to traverse the dimensional barrier in this lower world," he remarked.

Arata, upon hearing Suzuka's brother's words, unleashed his Spiritual Strength, his gaze fixed intently on Suzuka's brother. His tone turned stern as he asked, "Who are you?" Caution permeated his eyes, hinting at the readiness to confront any threat.

Having lived in this world for sixteen years and encountered numerous formidable beings, it was the first time someone acknowledged that they were not from this world.

"I don't have a name," said Suzuka's brother with a hideous smile, apparently unaffected by the spiritual pressure, "but I am referred to as an evil god."

"Are you a god?" Arata asked with a raised eyebrow, not expecting that this person who was surrounded by an aura even more sinister than a Demon was a god.

"It's an evil god to be exact," said the evil deity who controls Suzuka's brother's body and seems to have some attachment to the evil god title.

"Can I find out why you appeared when the Taizan Fukun Ritual was used to revive the owner of the body you used?" Arata asked with undisguised curiosity.

"Taizan Fukun Ritual?" the evil god murmured bewilderedly, but quickly replied, "I don't know what this Taizan Fukun Ritual is, but this is a secret art that I used a long time ago to send a part of my soul into the human world."

Hearing the evil god's words, Arata was able to tell that this Taizan Fukun Ritual was actually a God Summoning like the one used by the people of the Souma clan.

But it seems that with the passage of time people have mistakenly considered God Summoning as the Taizan Fukun Ritual.

"By the way, why do you answer my questions so honestly?" - asked Arata, looking at the evil god strangely.

"It's simple," said the evil god, and an incomprehensible spiritual aura rose from his body. His evil smile widened and he disappeared from his place. "It doesn't matter what the dead person knew of things."

This was the last thing Arata heard before his vision went completely black.

"Arata-sama!!" - Shiro exclaimed with fear and horror upon seeing how Arata's head was separated from his body.

...

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