Time on a boat is always boring, especially for Ioroi, this Tanuki who lived for thousands of years and was taking a boat for the first time. He naturally got seasick.
"Ugh~" Ioroi, in his true form, clung to the side of the boat, throwing up violently. This miserable sight could directly be used for a Skittles commercial.
"Uh... Is this Youkai Tanuki alright?" Inagi Hotomi's face was covered in sweat. It was her first time seeing someone get seasick so ridiculously.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine."
A lazy voice came, and Shiki was seen lying comfortably on a chair, leisurely basking in the sun. Doing something relaxing during such boring times was a good choice.
"Hey, I say, are we here to exorcise demons or to travel? The Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual is an important ceremony held only once every few hundred years. How can it be so relaxed for you two?"
Inagi Hotomi sighed as she spoke. She truly didn't understand why these two could be so carefree, like they were on vacation, while she had to worry about this and that.
"Inazuma Shrine Maiden, you need to learn to relax. The Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual is very important, that's true. But precisely because of that, we need to adjust our state during the journey, don't we?"
"Resting and recuperating allows one to calmly face everything." Shiki said, pulling down her parasol to shade her face. Sunbathing was nice, but getting her face tanned was out of the question.
Time flowed slowly. As evening approached, they finally saw the small island. But before that, they had to retrieve the ward.
After lowering a small boat, the group rowed to the shore, then climbed the small hill and used electro element to retrieve the ward.
Up to this point, it was all quite simple. But what came next was not easy. If Shiki remembered correctly, this underground ritual spot was filled with deadly Thunder calamity.
"Perhaps, Inazuma Shrine Maiden, you should stay up top..." Shiki said, looking at the dense Thunder calamity below.
Thunder calamity needed to be resisted with Electrograna, and only those who could use elemental power could grasp Electrograna. Inagi Hotomi, without a Vision, was clearly not among them.
But to her surprise, Inagi Hotomi shook her head.
"It's alright. We, at Grand Narukami Shrine, have a special method for dealing with this kind of Thunder calamity."
Inagi Hotomi took out a talisman, bit her finger to smear blood on it, and then chanted a spiritual incantation:
"Narukami's envoy, the Divine Sakura forever blooms, all evil be gone!"
"Rise!" Inagi Hotomi threw the blood-stained talisman down, and then a miraculous scene occurred: the Thunder calamity seemed to undergo a chemical reaction, instantly dissipating significantly.
"As expected, one isn't quite enough..." Seeing the remaining Thunder calamity in the cave, Inagi Hotomi repeated the process. This time, the Thunder calamity completely vanished.
"We must hurry. The Thunder calamity here is very dense, and these two talismans probably won't last long."
"I understand. Ioroi, buff up! Inazuma Shrine Maiden, the path ahead might be a bit bumpy."
With that, Shiki gave Inagi Hotomi no time to react. She princess-carried her and jumped directly down from the cave entrance.
"W-W-Wah!!!" Inagi Hotomi screamed. The rocks on both sides flashed past in her Vision. Why did they suddenly have to do such extreme off-roading?!
"Ioroi, place the ward!"
"Coming!" As her voice fell, Ioroi, like a rapidly spinning bowling ball, rushed to the forefront and inserted the key-shaped ward.
The pattern lit up. By this time, Inagi Hotomi had been set down by Shiki. She skillfully formed hand seals, making all the lanterns display their correct sequence.
As a place filled with Thunder calamity, two powerful Kairagi formed by the defilement appeared as well.
But what awaited them was the binding spell Ioroi had already prepared.
A wind vortex firmly sucked the two corrupted Kairagi into its center. Then, Shiki refocused her eyes, and lines representing death began to appear on the Kairagi' bodies.
Suddenly, lightning flashed, and Shiki vanished from her spot. Her blade sliced through the body of the first Sea Hound, then, close to the wall, she made a 180-degree turn and cut through the second Sea Hound.
"Hoo~" In Inagi Hotomi's eyes, she only saw two golden electro element flashes, followed by Shiki exhaling and sheathing her sword, and the slowly dissipating Kairagi.
"So, so powerful! I've never seen such a move!"
"It's just an iaijutsu strike using electro element. Nothing much."
On the very first day she gained the residual power of Raiden Makoto, Shiki developed this high-burst iaijutsu. Just now, she had performed two consecutive strikes.
"Does this move have a name? I heard that the styles and techniques practiced by swordsmen all have names."
"A name? Let's call it... Thunderclap and Flash. What I just did was Thunderclap and Flash: Double Strike." After a brief thought, Shiki decided to name this iaijutsu move after the alternate name for lightning, Thunderclap and Flash. In the eyes of ordinary people, she was like a flash of lightning, which felt quite fitting.
"As for my style, it's Mushin Style, certified master. And I'm also creating my own style. I've already thought of the name; it will be named after my surname."
"'Ryougi'"
"Alright, enough idle chatter. We should go up first." Shiki pointed to the electro element Divine Sakura roots, and Inagi Hotomi immediately understood.
"Thunder calamity!"
...
Under Shiki's ability to scale walls and roofs, Inagi Hotomi was safely carried up.
Such tunnels were nothing to Shiki; she could even run on vertical walls using electro element.
Compared to when she first started climbing the mountain, it was a world of difference. She had only gained the electro element a week ago, yet she could already easily defeat her former self.
They returned to Ritou by boat. By now, the sky had completely darkened; it took half a day to get there, so it naturally took the same amount of time to return.
After sending Ioroi back to Konda Village, Shiki then escorted Inagi Hotomi back to Grand Narukami Shrine. And now, for the main event.
"Hana Sanri, are you there?"
In the empty, abandoned shrine, Shiki called out Hana Sanri's name.
"I'm here. I've already cleansed four areas of defilement. Once the fifth is cleared, the final ritual can begin," Hana Sanri said, appearing from who-knows-where.
However, compared to before, her form was much more ethereal.
"Hana Sanri, if I separate your consciousness from the defilement, can you survive in this world?"
Shiki, with her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, stared intently at the spot behind Hana Sanri. She saw that line.
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