Chapter 71: Tamamo-no-Mae’s Prayer
Ryūko Shrine.
Tamamo-no-Mae’s captivating, deep purple eyes narrowed slightly, exuding an air of languor.
She sat on a recliner made of white fur.
And this white fur was the accumulation of shed hair from Tamamo-no-Mae’s six fox tails.
She held up the blue eyeball, examining it closely.
“Indeed, this is undoubtedly a supernatural material from a killed supernatural being.”
“But…”
“Why was a supernatural being inside a human body?”
“How did the Blissful Truth religion manage to do that?”
Worried about this, and suspecting that there might be other such strange things lurking in the shrine, Tamamo-no-Mae had announced that the shrine would be temporarily closed for the day.
The surging crowds had all been turned away.
And at that moment…
A small brown fox darted in through the door. With a puff of white smoke, it transformed into a young woman with long brown hair and fox ears.
Dressed in a miko outfit, she knelt on the ground.
“Lady Tamamo-no-Mae.”
“A message from Lady Hime. The Blissful Truth religion has incited riots in several cities.”
“And in the city closest to us, the leader of the Blissful Truth religion is present. He is leading tens of thousands of followers, with over a thousand supernatural users among them, and they are heading towards us.”
Hime was the one who had appointed Tamamo-no-Mae as the head of the Saigū (Imperial Shrine), the daughter of the imperial family, her full name being Kamishiro Hime.
Then, the miko continued,
“And for some reason, even the ordinary followers are unusually strong, fearless of pain, and incredibly resilient.”
“They don’t fall even when attacked by bullets and supernatural users.”
“Like undead monsters. Lady Hime wishes for you to help.”
“According to her, the Blissful Truth religion seems to be after the title of state religion. You should participate in the battle.”
This made Tamamo-no-Mae frown.
She knew that being the head of a Saigū wasn’t so easy.
Her interests were now clearly tied to Kamishiro Hime’s.
But to enhance her “Fox Miko” abilities, the title of Saigū was necessary.
“I understand. You may leave.”
Tamamo-no-Mae said, pursing her pink lips.
The miko stood up, transformed back into a small brown fox, and darted out the door, disappearing from sight.
Tamamo-no-Mae gently waved her hand, and with her power, the door closed automatically, and she set up a barrier to prevent anyone else from entering.
Then, she slowly walked a few steps and looked ahead.
There, a life-sized statue of Natsuba Hanae stood, exquisitely beautiful and lifelike, containing a wisp of divinity, its aura vast and majestic.
If not for the wrong color, Tamamo-no-Mae would have thought it was a real person.
She faced the statue and pondered for a moment.
Tamamo-no-Mae felt that her Lady should know about all this.
And this statue now possessed divinity, which meant that her “Prayer” could truly connect with a “god” and activate its power.
Thinking of this, Tamamo-no-Mae closed her eyes and knelt before the statue.
An invisible, rhythmic energy began to gather around her, subtly changing the flow of the air. In this room, she became the absolute center.
She activated “Prayer.”
Power gathered in her eyes, and then she abruptly opened them.
And looked at the statue.
Her vision cleared.
Before her was not the inside of the shrine, but a purple space filled with floating pink bubbles.
She carefully examined the contents and names of each pink bubble.
…[Ebisu]…[Tsukuyomi]…[Izanami]…[Kagutsuchi]…[Susanoo]…
Tamamo-no-Mae instantly understood.
These were the names of gods. But she could only vaguely sense the names within the pink bubbles.
Their specific appearances and scenes were blurred and dark.
Then, she quickly remembered her purpose.
Her power was rapidly depleting. She shouldn’t be looking at these gods, but should be searching for her Lady.
Tamamo-no-Mae quickly scanned the other pink bubbles.
Finally, near [Susanoo], she found another, much smaller pink bubble.
Its name was—[Heavenly Emperor Girl]!
She knew, of course, that this was one of her Lady’s identities. And the wisp of divinity that had guided her here was faintly resonating with the Heavenly Emperor Girl.
With her power rapidly depleting, she didn’t hesitate, quickly walking towards the Heavenly Emperor Girl’s pink bubble.
And immersed herself in it.
Finally, she pushed through the hazy pink mist, and Natsuba Hanae’s figure appeared before her.
Although she was wearing a black bird mask, she had seen this appearance before.
“It’s my Lady!”
Tamamo-no-Mae’s eyes lit up, and a look of joy appeared on her face. After so many years, she had finally seen Natsuba Hanae’s form again.
Her heart overflowed with happiness, her fox ears standing straight up.
Beneath her miko skirt, her two smooth, shapely thighs rubbed together.
The six pink and white fox tails behind her poofed out and wagged happily up and down like a puppy’s.
Then, Tamamo-no-Mae quickly observed Natsuba Hanae’s current situation. She saw the gate plaque of the Natsuba main residence. It seemed she was at the Natsuba main residence.
And the surroundings were stained red, with numerous corpses of supernatural users.
And who was she talking to? Beside her stood a girl who looked almost identical to her Lady. She had some memory of her; it should be her Lady’s older sister, Natsuba Rinrei.
But why was Natsuba Rinrei with her Lady, who was now the Master of Summer Harvest Mountain?
And…
Vaguely, Tamamo-no-Mae sensed an unpleasant feeling, a feeling as if someone was trying to steal her Lady from her.
She thought of baring her teeth at Natsuba Rinrei.
But now was not the time for that. She had important matters to report to Natsuba Hanae.
She quickly channeled her power and called out again,
“My Lady!”
And this time, the Natsuba Hanae in the vision abruptly turned her head. Her red, glass-like eyes shone with a brilliant light, piercing through the illusion, reaching the truth.
She looked in Tamamo-no-Mae’s direction, but then looked away, continuing to talk to Natsuba Genryū.
Just as Tamamo-no-Mae thought she had failed…
The pink bubble rippled.
An ethereal, serene voice echoed in the space.
“Is that you, Tamamo-no-Mae?”
“It seems the divinity I sent through the Heavenly Emperor Girl’s eye can indeed allow you to use the power of ‘Prayer’.”
“But what is it that you need?”
“I can sense your urgency, and a bit of… a strange emotion.”
