Chapter 162: Three Fox Valley Shrine!
They continued climbing along the stone steps through the mountain forest. The trees grew denser around them, and from the darkness where countless branches intertwined came malicious gazes watching from concealment.
Even though they were still in reality, the forest looked eerily similar to scenes Miko had encountered before, filling her with unease. She quietly moved closer to Luke.
"This mountain is a famous gathering place for evil spirits. As you can see, countless spirits wander around here," Kasumizuki explained, having gathered information during the night.
"The villagers who used to live around the mountain have all moved away, so this area has basically become abandoned. Nobody comes here anymore, except…"
"People who still remember the legend that 'any wish will come true if you pray to the Mountain God.'"
Yuria could not help asking, "Then what happens after they make a wish?"
Kasumizuki did not answer directly. Instead, she asked, "Do you really think something that convenient exists?"
"Probably… not."
"Exactly. Wishes require offerings in return. You two did well yesterday by refusing the bells and not entering the shrine."
Kasumizuki continued, "After investigating last night, I discovered that quite a few people entered this mountain and never returned."
Hearing that, Miko pulled her gaze away from an evil spirit hiding behind a tree.
"Um… do you really not need me as bait? Wouldn't it be safer for Sensei to attack after it comes after me?"
"I can help too!"
Yuria immediately raised her hand.
"No. You two just stay put and don't run around."
Luke rejected them without hesitation.
Normally, letting the girls get chased around by ordinary evil spirits was already enough training. There was absolutely no reason to make them take risks in something like this.
Kasumizuki explained, "Whether bait is useful depends on its value. Honestly, compared with spirit mediums who have Yin-Yang Eyes, your friend Hana and Luke are much more tempting because their life energy is abnormally strong."
"The Mountain God only has the power to interfere with reality inside its shrine barrier," Luke added. "The torii acts as the boundary separating the human realm from the god's domain."
"So all you two need to do is help us open that barrier."
"Mm."
The two girls nodded.
"Just like we discussed yesterday. Close your eyes and walk upward slowly while imagining the barrier you saw yesterday."
The shrine barrier had originally been opened by Hana's powerful life energy. Once the two spirit mediums with Yin-Yang Eyes stepped inside, a connection had formed between reality and the isolated space.
The boundary between the two had become blurred.
And Miko and Yuria, who now acted as anchors maintaining that connection, were the keys allowing everyone else to enter from outside.
The two girls closed their eyes and continued imagining the scene.
"It's here."
Luke looked toward the top of the stone steps, where a torii had suddenly appeared, then lightly tapped both girls.
"You can open your eyes."
Miko and Yuria slowly opened them.
The steps that had been completely empty moments earlier now held the torii they remembered all too clearly.
"Whoa…"
Miko held down her hair as the wind lifted it and stared with her mouth slightly open.
Something like this had actually appeared just because they imagined it.
The breeze carrying the scent of leaves felt completely different from before.
They had already stepped onto land separated from reality.
"Three Fox Valley Shrine."
Luke read the name written on the plaque above the torii.
"Heh. So it really does have something to do with foxes."
"Mm!"
Only then did Miko and Yuria notice the shrine's name.
They had been far too nervous yesterday to pay attention to it.
"All right. You two wait here."
Luke walked forward without hesitation.
"Good luck."
Neither girl knew what else to say, so they could only offer simple encouragement.
Kasumizuki, meanwhile, was still confused.
"What exactly did that guy prepare?"
...
Luke arrived beneath the torii and glanced around.
Three Fox Valley Shrine did not look particularly different from most ordinary shrines in the real world.
But the instant he stepped through the torii, he officially entered the territory of the Mountain God—or perhaps more accurately, the evil spirit.
Luke made no attempt to suppress his life energy.
As expected, he soon felt something strange appear behind him.
When he turned around, a beast-shaped mass covered in dark mist blocked his view of both the torii and the sky.
'Can't see it clearly?'
Luke was slightly surprised.
It had been a long time since that happened.
Unlike people with Yin-Yang Eyes, Luke only perceived evil spirits through an unusual method. Fundamentally, he was still no different from an ordinary person.
So the fact that he could not clearly see this spirit meant only one thing—
It was powerful.
Far stronger than the evil spirits he had encountered before.
"It really has been a while since I used these."
Luke put on the glasses he had once relied on to observe evil spirits.
"Not having Yin-Yang Eyes really is inconvenient."
Only then did the Mountain God's appearance become clear.
It looked almost identical to the photograph, except now he could see its complete foxlike body.
Though compared with a normal fox, its frame was absurdly large and muscular.
'If this were a real animal, the meat would probably be terrible.'
At the same moment, just as Miko had described, the evil spirit's foxlike face split apart like a flower blooming.
From top to bottom, its jaws opened wide and swallowed Luke's entire body in one bite.
The light disappeared instantly.
The surrounding scenery changed at once.
Enticing chimes echoed through complete darkness, while the shadows seemed to crawl over everything like parasites clinging to bone.
Luke's senses rapidly sank into darkness.
The space around him was narrow and cramped.
Just like the substitute rabbit doll Miko had thrown yesterday, Luke had been swallowed inside the Mountain God's flowerlike mouth.
'So this is inside its mouth?'
'Or maybe this is what exists beneath its disguise.'
Though one thing bothered him.
'Wasn't it supposed to offer me a bell first?'
'Why did it just swallow me immediately?'
Still, there did not seem to be any real danger.
No connection had been established between them, so as long as Luke treated it like something he could not perceive, it should not be able to harm him.
The only irritating part was the warning talisman against his body growing unbearably hot.
Rustle…
Luke's sharp hearing drew his gaze toward the deepest darkness.
A smooth arm resembling that of a young woman slowly emerged.
Its hand held a bell.
The sound coming from it immediately created an intense urge deep inside him to reach out and take it.
'Still pretty insincere.'
'You won't even come out and meet me yourself?'
Luke waited.
When it became clear he had no intention of taking the bell, the arm slowly withdrew back into the darkness.
Then another sound replaced it.
Scrape… scrape…
It sounded like human palms dragging across the ground as something crawled closer.
As if confirming Luke's suspicion, two arms resembling the first pressed against the floor and emerged from the darkness.
Countless more followed.
They intertwined and pulled against one another, forming a vast net of arms that carried an enormous number of bells into Luke's vision.
The continuous ringing filled the darkness.
But rather than focusing on the countless bells below, Luke raised his gaze upward.
Two enormous bells hung there like a pair of eyes staring down at him.
They slowly descended.
Only then did Luke finally see the creature's complete appearance.
Its outline resembled a fox's face, yet it possessed human facial features.
Two gigantic bells replaced its eyes, while rows upon rows of teeth spread across its sharp, stretched jaw.
The grotesque combination completely violated human ideas of beauty.
Dense malice radiated from every part of it.
No matter who looked at that hideous face—They would find it terrifying.
…
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