[Part 2/3]
"...What the hell is that?"
From deep within the territory's mountains, thick columns of black smoke coiled into the sky.
* * *
The true and secret stronghold of the Juuyaku family.
The fire that erupted within was no ordinary accident—it was a simultaneous outbreak.
The inexplicable speed of the flas turned a minor spark into a raging inferno before anyone could react.
"Damn it! The Number 3 specin room and the ground-level laboratory are on fire too!!"
"If you're heading toward the herb fields at the back, be careful! The uprooted man-eating plants are screaming like crazy!! You'll rupture your eardrums!!"
"Damn it! Those grass dolls are running around like fireballs! They're scattering embers everywhere, making the blaze uncontrollable!!"
"Bring more water! Hurry up!! Where's the sprayer!?"
The Servants, led by the head of the Research division stationed in the stronghold, were in utter chaos.
Fire was nothing new to them. There had been training. There were counterasures.
Fire was a tool, often used in experints.
This should have been just another controlled hazard.
And yet—
"What the hell is going on...?"
The older man from the Research division, commanding the grass dolls to douse the flas, was utterly bewildered.
The hellfire raging through the underground passage was sothing else entirely.
The grass dolls worked tirelessly, hauling bucket after bucket from the well, spraying water directly where needed.
Their efforts were ten tis that of the nearby laborers.
And still—the flas only grew stronger.
It was abnormal.
"This isn't just a fire...?"
Had sothing caught fire? Chemicals? Fuel?
Anxiety gnawed at the man from the Research division.
If this wasn't stopped soon... it wouldn't just end here.
No, it could escalate—
The worst-case scenario could be—an explosion.
He thought back—wasn't there an explosives storehouse near the room where the firefighting was taking place...?
"!!?"
Before the flas even reached it—
A massive explosion erupted.
The shockwave sent the man from the Research division flying.
His consciousness faded.
And with him—the firefighting efforts lost their leader.
Chaos deepened.
"......"
Amidst the shouts and disorder, a lone shadow moved forward.
Clad in black, a figure from the Research division strode against the tide of frantic personnel.
No Concealnt Technique. Just a bucket of water in hand.
Step by step, they advanced deeper into the fortress.
Through corridors, turning at multiple junctions, passing door after door—until they arrived.
The aquaculture area.
Deep pits stretched before them, their design reminiscent of shouji paper doors.
Spirit stones lined the pits, their sturdy walls offering no easy foothold. Climbing out unaided was nearly impossible.
"This place too, huh?"
The figure from the Research division gauged the situation.
Using the narrow thresholds between pits as footholds, they moved gracefully across.
Below, sothing stirred in the darkness.
A deep, guttural roar echoed upward.
It sensed them.
Perhaps it thought food was coming.
Or perhaps—it saw the intruder as prey.
The figure from the Research division said nothing.
They reached into their pocket—
And pulled out a conch shell.
Not just any shell—
A Tengu's conch shell.
It had been left untouched since its acquisition. Cursed.
Reserved for later analysis in the workshop.
Those who were not its rightful owners—any who dared use it—would be punished.
Juuyaku, the master of curse-tools, had been the first to try.
He was now bedridden.
The figure flipped the conch.
Sothing began to flow out.
It poured endlessly, far exceeding the shell's size.
One pit after another, the substance spread.
Again. And again.
"What are you doing?"
A cold voice cut through the silence.
The figure from the Research division turned.
A small shadowy silhouette.
Juuyaku's daughter.
Scowling.
An invisible staff in hand.
"..."
"I will ask you once more. What are you doing?"
"This is not feeding ti. Focus on putting out the fire."
Her gaze bore into him.
A farce.
A third-rate act.
Both knew the truth.
"...Hey. Let hear you."
A beat of silence.
Then—
From beneath the mask, the disguised figure from the Research division finally spoke.
"Why are you loyal to this house? Are you bound? Don't you need help? Don't you want freedom? Trust , you value my power, right?"
"I warn you. Surrender all weapons and raise your hands. I don't want to hurt you if I can help it."
In response to the call, her answer was a stance with the staff raised.
There was not a hint of wavering against the man's sweet words.
It was truly a will of steel.
"...You think you can underestimate ? I've toyed with that staff more tis than you can count, haven't I?"
"Five, I will count. Surrender by then. Four."
The countdown began, completely ignored by the man.
With a strong anger, his voice resonated.
Ready to release the staff.
At the sa ti, he was preparing to do sothing.
"Hey, hey, aren't you skipping 5?"
"Three..."
"Ignoring , huh? That must be lonely, right?"
"Two..."
"...I see. Stubborn, are you? Then I have my own tricks, you know?"
"One...!!"
"Hey!! It's common sense in Oceania to co from behind!!"
The countdown ended.
Just before that, the man had deliberately taken the invisible staff to be blown away from the spot.
And in that instant, he caught sight of it.
The figure of Juuyaku Kaya, who was about to leap down from the ceiling behind him.
In mid-air, the girl turned back with a grimace, facing this direction.
Their distances crossed, fading in a fleeting mont....
"Sorry, but I won't hold back, okay?"
And without rcy, the man, dressed like a plague doctor, aid a conch shell at her.
And then, the splashes scattered.
It transford into a raging fire that engulfed the entire room monts later....
* * *
To put it simply, this was a trivial matter, sothing far too easy to predict.
What was being poured into the hole was, in essence, 'burning water.'
Fuel.
Nanban fire.
Napalm.
The sa substance the imperial court's Research Division had once used during the Kappa incident.
The flathrower and its fuel, stored deep within the Juuyaku family's warehouse, rivaled what the imperial court possessed in sheer quantity—and perhaps even surpassed it in quality. ṝ𝙖ꞐȪΒĘṥ
Exorcists were forbidden by law to have such weapons.
The official reasoning was sound enough. Relying too much on tools would dull an exorcist’s skills. Not to ntion, this fuel was an incredibly dangerous poison. For safety, the imperial court strictly controlled its distribution... or so they claid.
But the Juuyaku family never followed the rules. They had been conducting forbidden research for generations. And given their need to incinerate all manner of things, it was only natural that they would stockpile it. Perhaps their supply was a little excessive, but—
I wasn’t going to complain.
In the mountains of Anma, the Tengu's conch shell had the power of containnt, as though it could pour forth a raging flood of boiling water. It devoured the stored fuel and spread it everywhere.
Once ignited, there would be no stopping it.
Arson.
If caught, it ant death by fire.
...Well, I just had to light it before getting burned myself.
"So, I'm going to make you fall!!"
'(: ω: ´) Fall, Dragonfly!'
"What!? Kaya, run!!"
Flas erupted, swallowing the room in an instant. I leaped onto my invisible staff and shot forward, montum carrying through the inferno. From the outside, it must have looked like I was running on air. In reality, it was a high-stakes tightrope act, requiring superhuman senses—and maybe a sixth sense as well.
Hana must have sensed my move because she swung her staff wildly, trying to shake off—but she was already too late.
"Do you enjoy bondage gas...!?"
"Nya-ha, more like playing with fire... ngh!?"
From the cuffs of my black outfit, a rope lashed out, wrapping around Kaya.
It pulled her in, spun her around, tossed her aside.
She struggled, but bound hand and foot, she plumted into one of the holes.
Crimson flas roared below.
The monster’s screams echoed from the depths....
"You!!"
'Σ(´д｀ノ)ノﾞ VIOLENCE IS UNACCEPTABLE!!'
"Are we thinking the sa thing!!?"
Then, I noticed Hana pointing sothing at .
A small flathrower.
A disposable one, hidden under her clothes.
She pulled the trigger.
"Chii...!!?"
'(>ω
"Of course it is!"
I dodged the direct blast, sparks licking at my Research Division uniform. The flas clung stubbornly, refusing to die. Even the foolish spider tucked inside my outfit squird in protest.
I rolled, using my rope as a lifeline to keep from falling into the abyss. Clambering back up, I lifted my head—just in ti to see Hana approaching, dual daggers gleaming in her hands.
I reached for my cherry blossom dagger and shouted:
"There's no ti for this! Deal with this one instead!!"
"What!!?"
Just before our blades t, sothing crawled up.
A six-eyed youkai tiger, half-cooked from the napalm, dragging itself up the rope I had left behind.
And because I had crouched, its first target was Hana.
The footing was treacherous. Too fragile.
The impact sent all of us sliding down into the burning pit below....
"Hah... hah... hah..."
'(＾ω＾)IT WAS FUN WRESTLING!'
"Wrestling, huh...? Hah, hah... I can’t deny that."
I smirked at the foolish spider’s nonsense, catching my breath. I brushed off the embers still clinging to my uniform.
The Research Division’s attire was made of youkai-treated spiritual threads—waterproof, fla-resistant, resistant to heat and blades. The falling embers posed no threat.
The real problem was my plague doctor-like mask.
It functioned similarly to a gas mask, but it couldn’t filter out heat.
Breathing was becoming unbearable.
I needed to get out of this place—fast.
Dragging my body forward, I pressed on through the narrow walkway.
Black flas blurred my vision.
The crackling fire, the raging screams of the Mōryō echoing endlessly from the pit below—it made my eardrums tremble with an unbearable resonance.
I had to escape this nightmare.
I pushed towards the door at the back—
"...A makeover? You have no sense of style, do you?"
"Nya ha ha ha. I don’t really get it, but you understand what I an, right? Please don’t point it out, okay? I *know* I’m not cute!"
The voice ca from behind.
Kaya had climbed out of the pit, her long, segnted limbs stretching grotesquely from her waist and back.
Through the smoky lens of my plague doctor mask, I looked up at her.
Most of her outfit had burned away, leaving her exposed. Her flesh and fat had lted, revealing charred, skeletal limbs beneath. Her once-malevolent jaw had split apart, her mouth a grotesque wound.
And her eyes—
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