That night, countless adorable rabbits, invisible to ordinary people, hid in the shadows all over Sendai.
In particular, the areas near major fried chicken shops were crawling with them.
This was because, according to police reports, half of the sightings of Takako came from fried chicken shop employees.
Eichi had also picked a vantage point and concealed himself.
He was deeply concerned about Takako's reappearance.
After all, when Takako originally appeared, it was during the Culling Game.
And just how absurd was the Culling Game?
Ten Barriers.
One thousand Players.
Ten million Cursed Spirits.
That's right, ten million.
On average, each Barrier housed one hundred Players and one million Cursed Spirits.
That was an utterly terrifying number.
To put it in perspective, the total number of Cursed Spirits born in a year across Japan might not even reach that figure.
Yet, even under normal circumstances, Cursed Spirit disasters in Japan still caused the deaths of more than ten thousand civilians every year.
If the worst-case scenario happened—if the Players and Cursed Spirits from the Sendai Barrier were released early by Tamamo-no-Mae—it would be a massive disaster.
Eichi took this matter extremely seriously.
Thousands of rabbits darted through every corner of the city, ready to signal Eichi at the slightest anomaly.
He would then immediately check the area through the shadows.
However, because Eichi had instructed the rabbits to look for a woman with no clothing, most of the intel from Rabbit Escape was just... young couples exploring the mysteries of life in back alleys.
Soon, another rabbit sent a signal.
"It can't be... well, let's just check."
Eichi immersed his consciousness into the shadow.
And then Takako appeared in view, dragging a young couple.
Is this it?
Finally. That took long enough.
The next second, Eichi retracted his gaze.
"Hmm?"
Takako glanced suspiciously at the shadow-covered corner behind her.
Her intuition told her someone had just been watching.
"Just my imagination?"
She muttered.
Then, carrying the two unconscious people, she flew into the sky.
Eichi, nearly discovered, immediately shifted his perspective to a more distant shadow.
"She's leaving? Heading north."
Takako hovered mid-air for a moment.
After confirming there were no other suitable targets, she flew north.
Eichi quietly followed, maintaining a distance of more than one kilometer.
He had already canceled the summoning of Rabbit Escape.
After all, a swarm of Cursed Energy-infused rabbits darting around would quickly attract Takako's attention.
Eventually, Takako vanished near a coastal area.
"She disappeared?"
Eichi carefully observed the area where she vanished.
One by one, the rabbits reappeared and began searching the surrounding zone.
Soon, an old man also carrying people came into view.
Eichi and Rabbit Escape hid within the shadows.
Then he saw the old man suddenly disappear as well.
'What's in that location?'
Roughly ten minutes after the old man disappeared, Eichi cautiously directed the shadow to reach the place where the man vanished.
'A Barrier?'
The moment the shadow touched the location, Eichi got his answer.
The shadow continued moving forward, slipping inside the Barrier.
After confirming the entrance was safe, Eichi submerged himself into the shadow and entered as well.
A massive exhibition hall unfolded before his eyes.
'So many Cursed Objects. How many years would it take me to collect this much?'
Eichi's shadow slithered forward, merging with the shadows beneath a display case.
There, he stayed hidden, silently observing the activity inside the Barrier.
"The quality has dropped this time, Dhruv."
A sultry voice rang out.
"It's good enough, Tamamo-no-Mae."
This voice sounded older.
"The vessels with high Aptitude in this area have mostly been taken. If you want more, we'll have to search elsewhere."
'Tamamo-no-Mae. Dhruv?'
Eichi's mind snapped to attention, not missing a single word of their conversation.
"That would take too much time. I'll just make do."
With that, Tamamo-no-Mae selected a few Cursed Objects.
She stuffed them into the mouths of several unconscious vessels lying on the floor.
With a series of painful screams, the bodies and appearances of the young men began to undergo immense changes.
"A woman and an old man... isn't he the one whose head just makes you want to split it open?"
A burly bald man showed displeasure.
"I was really looking forward to pulling every strand out of that freak's head when I saw him again. What a pity."
He looked around at the others nearby.
Then, his gaze locked onto Tamamo-no-Mae and lit up.
"Hey, woman, what's your name?"
Tamamo-no-Mae's expression turned icy. Whatever words she had planned to say vanished.
"Dhruv, these people are yours."
With that, she turned around and resumed controlling the Cursed Spirits.
"Hey, woman, get back here... ah!"
The bald man's outstretched hand was bitten off by a Shikigami that appeared out of nowhere.
"You bastard!"
Just as he prepared to retaliate, another Shikigami pierced his vital point.
"Gah!"
He coughed up blood and quickly fell still.
"Annoying pest is gone. Now, let me ask you something."
"Do any of you want to join us?"
As soon as Dhruv spoke, vicious Shikigami materialized around them.
"Hmm?" x2
Dhruv frowned. One of his Shikigami was out of position.
Eichi cursed under his breath.
He finally remembered who the old man was.
Dhruv.
One of the Four Heavenly Kings of Sendai, who had been pierced by Yuta.
A formidable figure, so powerful that even the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Kuroi Bokusatsu was afraid to show his face around him.
Dhruv commanded two independent Shikigami, and used their trajectory to form his Domain.
In other words, Eichi was now inside Dhruv's Domain.
Which meant he had been captured within the Shikigami's trajectory.
So when Dhruv ordered his Shikigami to intimidate the others, the one Eichi was hiding near targeted him too.
"Who's there!"
Dhruv shouted. The Shikigami's movement trajectory shifted.
"Fallen Blossom Emotion."
The Shikigami's guaranteed-hit attack plunged into the shadow, striking Eichi.
However, before the Shikigami could do any damage, it was intercepted by Fallen Blossom Emotion's automatic counterattack.
Eichi's figure leapt out from the shadow.
The next moment, the shadow churned and surged like black waves, attempting to flood the entire exhibition hall.
The tide of shadow surged toward Dhruv.
Any Cursed Object touched along the way was swallowed into the shadow.
"Shadows, huh? A mere parlor trick."
Dhruv's Shikigami quickly countered the attacking waves of shadow.
'Should I use my Domain? I should be able to completely suppress his with mine.'
Eichi immediately dismissed the idea.
There wasn't just one enemy here. At minimum, Takako and Tamamo-no-Mae were present.
If he got ambushed after suffering from Cursed Technique Burnout due to Domain Expansion…
"Mahoraga, destroy this place!"
From within the raging shadows, a terrifying figure stepped out.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)