【Good Leaf】Eclipse of the Crimson Moon

【Ma Cang Leaf King】

What happened after that was pretty much what I expected.Although it will greatly affect the official sacrifice, I have already realized it, so I am relieved.

Ye, who was unconscious, was found in the Forbidden Forest two days later. Before that, I had naturally erased all traces of what happened in that side hall.Even though the other four families still had great doubts about the Ma Cang family, they had no evidence and could not say anything more, so they sent heavy guards around the side hall where Ye was located under the pretext of "protection".

Nishikujo Masumi, who "miraculously woke up from a deep coma in the hospital", was taken back by his family and transferred to Tokyo under the arrangement of a doctor to continue his treatment and recuperation.All this is also fortunately that I have made complete preparations before. The technique of modifying memory is given long before the action. As long as the starting conditions are activated, it will be activated naturally. get in the way.

In fact, as I expected, the headwind reaction of the puppet technique is unusually strong.Although it didn't cause too much damage to the body, the effect erupted immediately when it ended.An uncontrollable enchantment was launched centered on itself, and it spread rapidly, and I was right in the middle of it.At that time, I immediately understood that from now on, I will never be able to step out of Tsukiyomi Shrine, and even the forbidden forest around the shrine has become a restricted area.

The price used to exchange Ye's soul is only this little, and I thank God from the bottom of my heart.

There are two types of sealing techniques applied to Ye Soul.The first is to block all the memories related to "Ma Cangye", so that he will no longer be bound by the past, and he will live his life with a new identity.This technique can even affect all people related to him. Once it touches the part related to Yu Ye, the technique's own defense system will be activated, blocking all memories that are contrary to the "facts" I created.Another seal was located deeper, in case Nishi Kujo died in an accident.If the medium that is the container of the soul dies, the soul will return to the body, and all efforts will be in vain.Although I don't know when this will happen, I must consider countermeasures to prevent Ye from confessing everything and being sentenced to death. After all, he is such a stubborn person who completely ignores his own safety.This re-seal will be activated when Masumi "death", the effect is to seal the part of Yeh's memory about me performing puppetry with him, even if I die, it will not be lifted.In case when that day comes, Yuejian remains unchanged as it is now, Ye must protect herself.

I can't make it too obvious, otherwise I will be suspected of manipulating his memory, but if it's just that, I can use the "influence of the forbidden technique" to confuse it.

Even if I can no longer leave here, what needs to be done is over, and the next thing I need to do is to meet the end that is destined to come.

"How will you know if you don't try it?"

Ye's words at that time echoed in my mind.

Even if my strength is limited, I will give it my all.Using these hands to cut off the curse that has bound Yuejian for nearly a thousand years, although my reason reminds me that it is just a foolish move, but as long as there is a glimmer of hope, I must try, this is also what Ye taught me.

Grandfather, mother, father, and many colleagues and the people of Yuejian, maybe I don’t care about all of them like Ye, and there are some people who I hate, but protecting all of them is still ours. duty of.To inherit the part of the mission that Ye shouldered and try my best to complete it, this is my only goal as the chief priest.

★★★

The main festival of the Siyue Festival, which has been held for seven years, will be held a few months later.

The cycle of the crimson moon's fullness has been shortened by nearly twice as much as before, which means that all the great priests present understand in their hearts.However, the mainstream opinion is still that "holding a successful ceremony will surely stabilize the seal again, so there is nothing to worry about."Once accepted the baptism of dogma that can make people feel at ease, people are no longer willing to face doom and disaster.

Ye collapsed before the ceremony, casting an even more ominous shadow over the ceremony.The panicked priests had no choice but to ask God's will again, but they still didn't get any useful hints.The gods that people believed in once again ignored the expectations of the believers. Perhaps "he" had already made up his mind to stand by and watch the play that lasted for thousands of years end.It was too late for a temporary replacement, and the final decision was for me to continue as the officiant and complete the official ceremony in the usual way.

However, I will no longer obey their arrangements, and I have no way out.Ye has worked hard to cut off the curse in his own way, and now I will continue.What needs to be done is not to sacrifice oneself, but to find out the spiritual way to completely seal Yuejian and remove the curse.

On the day of the ceremony, the townspeople will take refuge at home in accordance with the instructions of the priest.The Linge caused by the opening of the gate of the underworld can be clearly felt even in this world. The people have mastered the most basic prevention methods for many years, and it has been spread for a long time not to go out during the extremely dangerous "moment of eclipse" ancient teaching.

And then finally that time came.

There is almost no sense of time passing in the world of Evernight, and this moment is midnight in this world, when the moon's yin power is at its peak and the spirit is most active.Although most people don't feel too much strangeness, the spiritual pressure that has skyrocketed several times compared to the usual day makes the whole month experience immersed in a suffocating atmosphere, and anyone with a little inspiration can understand that "something ominous is about to happen" came into the world."Except for a small part of the priests of the five families who stayed in the town to guard the barrier, the rest gathered around the Tsukiyomi Shrine.Their task is only to be stationed at their respective positions according to the needs of the ceremony, and only the chief priest and a few high-level priests are allowed to enter the imperial garden where the ceremony is held.

I followed the queue to the palace, behind me were the great priests who were also in formal attire.The stone path guided by the stone lantern is the road leading to Qianyinshi that I have walked countless times. At this moment, it is illuminated by the extremely gorgeous and prosperous moonlight, and the disturbing red color fills the field of vision, just like when I was born. The dream I saw was ordinary: the crimson flames soared into the sky, covering the entire capital, which was the color of death.

After entering the inner courtyard, the garrison priests with flattened bodies are no longer visible on both sides of the road, and there is a barrier that cannot pass through except authorized personnel.

The imperial garden with a wide view is displayed in front of you, and the sounds of dozens of chief priests chanting prayers around the venue, as well as the crisp echo of Kagura Ling in the hands of the priestesses, are lingering in your ears. Apart from this, there is boundless silence.Even the branches and leaves in the surrounding Forbidden Forest stopped blowing, and the wind stopped blowing. Everything in the Moon World came to a standstill, tremblingly waiting for the moment of judgment.

The crimson full moon is shining on the thousand stones and torii gates in the center of the venue. The moonlight is dazzling, coquettish, and ominous that I have never seen before.

The moment my eyes met it, several inexplicable lights and shadows passed through my consciousness like lightning.My eyes widened in surprise.The moonlight is still there, but it is so close to me, so close that it is dazzling, so close that the mottled spots in the moon can be clearly seen, those shadowy scenes are so familiar——

It's finally here, and I've been waiting so long.

Shocked by the sudden sound, I couldn't control my body for a few seconds, and my whole body froze as if frozen.This is... I have been tricked by someone?Reflexively increased my spiritual power to search for the surrounding breath, but found nothing, but the weird sense of existence still lingered, no... this feeling... he didn't talk to me from the surroundings or from the underworld, this voice It's... from the depths of my own mind...

Who are you!

I questioned loudly in my heart, heading in a direction I didn't even know.After a long while, a frightening chuckle came from the darkness, with whispers interspersed, and it sounded like the wind, rising and falling, completely unable to distinguish the meaning.The voice gradually faded away, and I hurriedly took a step to find its whereabouts, but was interrupted by a soft shout from behind:

"What's wrong with you? Master Priest?"

When I came back to my senses, I realized that I was already standing next to the torii gate, and the ceremony was about to begin.Seeing that I was suddenly lost, the grandfather behind me reminded me in a low voice.

"It's okay... don't worry." I can only be thankful that the position I'm standing in is just against the light, probably no one can see the strange look on my face at this moment.Just falling into chaos for a moment made me feel a little weak, and now my legs are still trembling, am I so helpless...Damn it.

Grandpa had already said before the ceremony that this time the ceremony will be very difficult.For the fate that has gone off track, no one can predict its direction, but all sacrifices will not be meaningless.I bowed my head and remained silent.

After all, he is the one who has watched me and Ye grow up. He is not only the head of the Ma Cang family, but also a famous fortune teller.I don't know what he sensed, but no matter how much he expected it, he couldn't stop it.Even if the ceremony is known to be a failure, it must still be carried out according to the apocalypse.Perhaps, he has already made up his mind.

This is a major ceremony held every few years, and with the officiant of the Ma Cang family, almost all the high-ranking priests in the family are present.My father and mother were there, and I found myself avoiding their eyes.

I'm mentally prepared for the worst, and I'm conscious enough to carry out actions that only I know about.But just now, after hearing that inexplicable voice, I became timid.The unprecedented pressure imprisoned my body and mind like a curse, as if gradually sinking into a bottomless abyss... This feeling is very familiar to me, but it has been a long time since I was born... The nightmare that accompanies me is the shadow that reappears in the darkness repeatedly; the nightmare that makes me a different kind among the priests and is cut off from the world has changed the illusion of my life.Now, it is about to be presented in front of my eyes in its true form, and I can't help being moved by such a definite feeling in my heart!

I have been staring into the darkness, and the darkness is staring into me.

But now, it is slowly but surely approaching this world along the raging flames rising from the lake of fire and brimstone with the strong winds of hell.I can already feel that, across the thousand guide stones, there are violent turbulent fluctuations in the underworld, full of malice unimaginable by human beings, and they are attacking towards the door——

hum...

The sudden ringing in my ear pulled my confused thoughts back, it was the bell that rang in the ceremony.Glancing back, everyone was already prostrating towards the Sifang Torii in the center of the imperial garden, chanting prayer mantras continuously.The priestesses around me were about to finish the ritual dance, they were gathering towards me, then they stopped dancing, and bowed down to Senbishi in the most devout gesture, the Kagura Ling reverberating in the void stopped abruptly, only the priests remained their low incantations.

The hour has come.

I stepped across the torii gate facing Scarlet Moon, and the shimenawa rope in the middle has been removed.The seal becomes invalid when the crimson moon is full. To re-seal the seal, I have to complete the ceremony.When he was within walking distance of the Thousand Yin Stone, a strong spiritual pressure rushed towards his face, the wind from the underworld was already blowing up from below with a pungent breath, and the wide sleeves rubbed against each other, making a hunting sound.In a few minutes, the door will be fully open.

Outside the torii gate, the great priests have built a solid barrier, and then I will meet the call from the abyss alone.Abandoning oneself and sacrificing to the gods of another world has always been the content of the main sacrifice.After the body is torn apart by the miasma of the underworld, the blood of the Son of God will become a new seal.However, this time it was not possible to do so again.

I have broken the wheel of fortune that has been running for more than a thousand years, and my purpose is to make it completely change, and destroy the bondage that was imposed on Yuejian at an unknown time!At this moment——

Facing the surging flow of spiritual power, I quickly formed a curse seal, using the strongest magic-sealing spell I could think of, and exhausting all my spiritual power to make a desperate move!This is an advanced spell that would take dozens of seconds even if it was activated by me. It is the most powerful sealing method recorded in the book "Super Occupational Strategy". Yes, I can only do this...

end it!What an absurd fate!

As the spell I released hit the front of the Thousand Leading Stone, white light mixed with dark flashes blurred my vision, followed by a deafening roar.The body engulfed by the sea of ​​light couldn't move an inch, and all sensations were lost in an instant. I knew that the whiteness before my eyes was not my vision, but my consciousness.I couldn't think, let alone look back at the situation of the people behind me. The surrounding scenery was blurred, and the last thing that appeared in the trance was Ye Rourou's smile, which gradually disappeared in the whiteness.

★★★

I woke up in a layerless darkness, and immediately remembered everything that happened before I lost consciousness, and immediately realized that this place is neither Tsukiyomi Shrine nor this world, and this "I" at this moment is just an existence close to the soul That's all.

I suddenly looked around, but here is really a void space, there is no existence, and naturally there is no light, this is a completely dark dimension, a corner of the world made up of shadows, in other words, is this in the underworld?

Am I... dead?

In the end, did I still fail... But since my soul came to this place, it is possible that the ceremony succeeded by mistake?

Do you think that is possible?

The sudden sound in the darkness made me almost jump up on the spot, but at this time I also had no physical existence, just a subconscious reaction in my consciousness.

"Who are you?!"

I yelled into nothingness.

The voices around him did not answer, but let out a sinister laugh. Although it was full of malice, the voice was a very pleasant middle-aged male voice. It was not very clear but elegant, and it was not like that of ordinary adults. The kind of hoarseness, and when the voice is raised, it has the feeling of a teenager.This voice...although it is unfamiliar, but I have heard it many times...

Still so unreasonable.Hmph, but forget it, it's you after all, I've already expected this kind of reaction.

"...Who the hell are you! You are the one who has been talking in my mind!"

I looked around, but still couldn't see his figure, but the strong sense of coercion still existed.This annoying voice is still echoing in the place closest to me, to be precise, it seems to be coming from me.No... what the hell is this...

After a short period of silence, violent air waves surged without warning in the void of darkness, and the violent wind almost blew away my existence. I tried my best to concentrate and finally supported myself from the catastrophe like a storm.Before the wind had completely subsided, I heard the voice that was twisted by the air waves, playing like an organ in a church, loud, majestic, and shocking, lingering back and forth in the darkness...

My descendants, my name is King Ma Cang Ye, and I am the ancestor of the Ma Cang family.

Now that you have heard my real name, why don't you quickly express your reverence——!

"Ma Cang... Ye... Wang?"

Is this man telling the truth?I... have never heard about the ancestors of the Ma Cang family... No, even grandpa probably didn't know about it, because Yue Jian's history has long been untestable.So now what kind of...

Hi Asakura, what are you suspecting?

The voice narrowed slightly and returned to its original tone, and the grammar was replaced with an easier-to-understand modern language.But his question was like seeing through my heart, just like before...

"...Are you... a necromancer?"

"What is this place? Is it Huangquan? How is the ceremony?"

He sneered again, and just when I was about to despise this kind of laughter, I suddenly realized that this kind of laughter was also familiar to me...

None of that matters.how?Have you noticed?You are just like me.

……

I can't understand his words, but I always feel that his existence has an unusually familiar feeling, yes!It's that dream! The one I've been dreaming about since I was born!Could it be him?But... what does that have to do with me? ...

Do you remember even these?It really surprised me.

"...You!...Can you know my heart?..."

His laughter confirmed my doubts.

There is nothing to doubt now, this dead spirit who claims to be my "ancestor" is definitely not simple.He was able to talk to me without being summoned by the magician, which means that he has maintained his spiritual status for hundreds of years, and has neither become a wraith nor reincarnated...

Wraiths are so rude, they confuse me with such low-level things.Look around, don't you really understand where you are?Whether my existence is reality or not, just judge with your own mind.

He followed my heart again, but at this moment I had no time to mind his unscrupulous peeping behavior. I couldn't help but look around as he said, but there was no clue in this dead space. body cannot be seen.A world where nothing exists... This is not the underworld..., let alone the eternal life of the country of no worries, this is... a fake space... an existence similar to a sandwich world... Am I just falling into his tricks?

very true.

Tsukiyomi Shrine is a world I created a long time ago. As for the reason, I think you should be able to find out by yourself.

"Create? Impossible... to create a virtual space... that can only be done with power close to that of a god..."

Nothing is impossible, just like you cannot deny my existence now.

"...What exactly do you want?"

Good question, what I want...can you give it to me?I have waited too long...

"I give you?"

Correct.

But... now is not the time...

The voice suddenly stopped, but the spiritual pressure rose again, and I could feel that "he" was getting angry again...

not the right time yet!

I have been waiting for thousands of years!Don't care about waiting another four years!

But why?Why did this accident happen?My skills are obviously flawless!Hello Asakura!Aren't you already in front of me?Why is it still not working?

In the end is why!Should I continue to wait?

Tiny humans... I'm going to take all of you... all... let me take you... all...

His voice was gradually stretched into a sharp roar, and finally it was almost indistinguishable, leaving only a whistling like a gust of wind, which almost tore apart my non-existent form.I tried hard to close my hearing, but the violent noise kept echoing in my ears and went straight into my mind, making me have a splitting headache.Consciousness can no longer be maintained, and I feel myself gradually being submerged in that chaotic storm.

Ma Cang...Ye Wang...

Not just a necromancer, he has already surpassed the existence of ordinary human resentful spirits. After thousands of years, he has become a ghost demon god with power close to that of a god...

Is this... the "Knot of the Beginning" that bound Moonshine for a thousand years... I finally found it...

But... the price is too heavy...

I am doomed to pay for what I have done because it is my sin.