Interlude | The Realm of the Burning House

The morning of February 13th——.

The fierce Kurama Temple with its Niomon gate is embraced by the mist-shrouded sacred mountains. In the mountains wrapped in silence, it seemed as though the spirit of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who had trained in this land, still lingered.

Hidden quietly in these mountains was an old prefabricated building.

The Kurama Monitoring Station——this facility under the jurisdiction of the Ritual Agency was enveloped in an extraordinary tension. Numerous ritual officials operated various devices or entered the mountains carrying weapons.

First-Class Ritual Official——Kanmuri Takafumi stood at the building’s entrance, glaring at his tablet through silver-rimmed glasses.

“…Out of thirty people, three that the Ritual Agency has identified match the criteria. Indeed, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence… Probably, the common factor among the missing persons is their constitution——”

“——Squad Leader!” A young ritual official came running up to Kanmuri.

“Karasumaru-kun. How did it go?”

“Excellent, sir. For now, we can adequately deceive them in the city with the illusion lights, but we’ve prepared the white robes just in case. That monster hasn’t been confirmed in the urban areas yet, sir.”

“Understood,” Kanmuri nodded while turning his gaze to the sky.

In the crystal-clear blue sky, a red mirage shimmered and wavered. It looked like mountain shadows burning in the evening sun, or perhaps the shadows of buildings.

“…That’s definitely related to the ‘gap’ of that ghost town, right?”

“Yes. The boundary with the real world must be fluctuating. I’ve never seen fluctuations of this magnitude before. With this much wavering, I’m worried about the effects on the hidden world as well…”

“Ugh… Are our seniors going to be okay?”

“…At least, we’ve received reports confirming they’re alive. We’re exploring rescue methods, but infiltrating the ‘gap’ requires caution——let’s do what we can here.”

Snares resembling barbed wire sliced through the wind.

In a flash——Kanmuri cut down what was aimed at Karasumaru with a single stroke.

While protecting the young ritual official who hastily grabbed his warning staff, Kanmuri issued instructions into his communicator.

“All personnel assume concealment positions——eliminate before citizens can see.”

Spinning, spinning, spinning——.

Kiri Hitoe and Keihi endlessly circled through the mountains. When they finally emerged from the shadows, they had arrived.

“Well, this is quite bizarre…” Keihi exclaimed in amazement.

Several ruins were buried in the snow. It was a scene unthinkable for being near sacred grounds. Kiri Hitoe advanced through the gaps between broken concrete and rusted steel, his coat fluttering.

“Aniki”——the talisman on his left side lifted slightly, revealing a small fingertip.

Kiri Hitoe turned his gaze in that direction. An old sign was caught on the remains of a concrete block wall.

“Cherish the Flowers” “Sakaki Norihara New Town”

“…Sakaki Norihara?”

“Whoa… It’s a Chac Mool.”

Kiri Hitoe, whose eyes had widened slightly, turned around at Keihi’s absurd-sounding voice.

Keihi was kneeling in a pile of junk. Before her was a strange platform. It was designed to resemble a reclining human figure, with a plate placed on its stomach.

“What is that?”

“Ah, Kiri-san doesn’t know? It’s a stone statue used for offering sacrifices. I got a miniature of this as a souvenir once… They put offerings and such on here,” she said.

Pointing to the Chac Mool’s plate, Keihi crossed her arms with a troubled expression.

“Why on earth is something like this here…?”

“…This area seems to have had unstable boundaries until recently.”

Kiri Hitoe casually rubbed the scar on the back of his neck. On the left side of his face, talismans rustled as countless eyes continued searching for all kinds of traces——including things invisible to the naked eye.

“Probably… some kind of spiritual phenomenon repeatedly occurred on the other side of the ‘gap’ where the stray cat entered, causing the boundary to fluctuate. These ruins and junk probably spilled over from the other side.”

“…Are the boundaries still unstable?”

“No. Now the boundaries in this area are unnaturally stable… It seems they’ve sealed the tear from the other side. It would be difficult to enter from here.”

“Tch… What a waste of effort. That Kuro guy, always saying such random things——”

Keihi stopped moving. She narrowed her right eye, marked with scars, and glanced at Kiri Hitoe.

“…Kiri-san. They’re coming.”

“Excellent… I was just thinking I wanted to vent some frustration——don’t anyone interfere.”

Suddenly——the left side closed its eyes. Kiri Hitoe smiled slightly and looked toward the top of the ruins.

Against the backdrop of an eerie mirage, a grotesque shadow swayed.

[Rolling, rolling, rolling…]——Facing the two masks, Kiri Hitoe cracked the joints of his left hand.

“————The Way of Asura”