-503- Two candidates

"Thud..."

Bound by "Unmoving Golden Chains," Dairenji Suzuka was completely immobilized and fell to the ground.

"Ugh..."

Without any grace in her fall, Dairenji Suzuka made a stifled sound, her young cheeks now stained with dirt.

However, nothing could mask the emotions raging inside Dairenji Suzuka.

She had failed.

Failed.

She, had failed.

What this failure truly meant, only Dairenji Suzuka knew.

So, Dairenji Suzuka felt an uncontrollable surge of emotions, her brain struggling to react, leaving her expression blank and pitiful against the backdrop of the earth.

In this state, Rozen and Natsume, who had finished the battle, approached.

"Dairenji Suzuka..."

Looking at the youngest National Grade Onmyouji lying before her, Natsume's feelings were complicated.

Rozen also gazed at the young girl in front of him. While silent, he retracted the aura of jutsuryoku he had been emanating.

Even after such an intense battle, Rozen remained composed, not showing a hint of exhaustion, despite the substantial expenditure of jutsuryoku. This was a significant result brought about by Rozen's acquisition of "Mind's Eye," maximizing conservation, no longer depleting his magical energy entirely after a single burst, unlike before.

As for Rozen now, if he were to use "Summoning Jutsu" to summon Mid-tier familiars, he would definitely be able to summon an army of thousands.

This illustrated that Rozen had indeed progressed significantly compared to before, at least possessing the strength to rival the "Twelve Divine Generals."

Unfortunately, Dairenji Suzuka didn't push Rozen to unleash such a level of power.

In this battle, Rozen only used Hokuto and only employed Jujutsu.

Although he unavoidably used some of the essence of "Puppetry Arts" while manipulating Hokuto in battle, it could not be said to be used as a trump card or ace.

He didn't even use his specialty, "Summoning Arts," not to mention that Rozen didn't exert full support for Hokuto. He used only a few of the eight tiers of a magus' abilities, and it was unclear if he had utilized even half of his full strength.

This also proved that as the last seat among the "Twelve Divine Generals," Dairenji Suzuka had many areas to improve upon.

As for Rozen, at least now he had the strength to match the "Twelve Divine Generals."

So, Rozen didn't feel particularly triumphant about it.

At this moment, Rozen just wanted to know one thing.

"Why do you want to achieve the goal of the 'Taizan Fukun Ritual'?"

Rozen posed this question to Dairenji Suzuka.

"Don't tell me it's just for research." Rozen calmly said, "Your performance has told me that there must be other reasons."

This was Rozen's speculation, but it was a fairly certain one.

Unable to.

If Dairenji Suzuka was truly just someone willing to touch taboos for the sake of her research, she wouldn't have shown such a desperate expression when Rozen pointed out the biggest flaw in her theory.

Dairenji Suzuka's determination for the "Taizan Fukun Ritual" is not the frenzied pursuit of sacrificing everything for research. It's a desperate grasp at the last straw.

Rozen, who detested sacrificing everything for research, was sure of this.

Therefore, Rozen could assert.

"You want to achieve the 'Taizan Fukun Ritual' not for research, but to achieve your own goal," Rozen said in this manner. "Considering the effects of the 'Taizan Fukun Ritual,' I can guess some of your intentions."

The "Taizan Fukun Ritual" is a ceremony that manipulates souls.

Abe no Seimei once used it, exchanging the lives of two people.

Tsuchimikado Yakou once used it, seemingly transmigrating himself to a later era.

So, Dairenji Suzuka's objective using it was becoming clear.

"You're doing this to resurrect someone who is extremely important to you, aren't you?" Rozen's voice clearly reached Dairenji Suzuka's ears and even more distinctly into Natsume's ears.

"I can't believe it's for this reason..."

Natsume was stunned.

Dairenji Suzuka, on the other hand, raised her head, looked at Rozen, and revealed a mocking expression.

"It seems your brain is quite sharp," Dairenji Suzuka taunted. "Since you're so clever, why don't you guess who I want to resurrect?"

This question was somewhat challenging.

Who could guess who a person, they met for the first time, wants to touch taboos for?

However...

"I do have two candidates on my mind."

Rozen said this very directly.

"Huh?"

Dairenji Suzuka was suddenly dumbfounded.

He knew?

How did he know?

He wouldn't just be tricking me, would he?

Such thoughts crossed Dairenji Suzuka's mind.

But the term that came out of Rozen's mouth in the next second made her widen her eyes.

"You should know about the 'Jou-i Daihara,' right?"

Rozen's words made Dairenji Suzuka shiver, and they astonished Natsume as well.

———'Jou-i Daihara.'

This was a term known to everyone.

It had been mentioned before, two years ago, a notorious jujutsu criminal in Tokyo caused a spiritual disaster and ultimately turned it into a state of countless spirits roaming the night, causing great damage to Tokyo.

The so-called jujutsu criminal was actually an extremely famous figure in the jujutsu world.

He was once one of the "Twelve Divine Generals," known as the "Professor," and although he obtained the qualification of a National First-Class Onmyoji, he was not affiliated with the Onmyou Agency.

Broadly speaking, people generally assume that professional Onmyoji are employees of the Onmyou Agency.

However, in reality, there are many Onmyoji who are active in civilian activities, like Tsuchimikado Takahiro and Tsuchimikado Chizuru. Although they were affiliated with the Onmyou Agency in the past, they retired and became civilian Onmyoji.

Similarly, some Onmyoji do not join the Onmyou Agency but are employed by other organizations.

Among them, there is a department under the government assisting the royal family, specifically handling all affairs of royal members, controlling their communication with the outside world and holding the royal family's history—the "Goryo Bureau."

———The "Goryo Bureau."

This is a department that studies spiritual beings known as "Goryo" or "Eirei."

"Goryo" refers to deities from mythology.

"Eirei" refers to past heroes.

These deities and heroes are both spiritual entities, similar to Shikigami, but are the highest level of spiritual beings and cannot be touched even now.

The Goryo Bureau specializes in researching these supreme spiritual beings, that is, the organization that studies "gods."

Because the Goryo include past members of the royal family, for political considerations, this department was set up in the Imperial Household, not the Onmyou Agency.

The person known as the "Professor," one of the "Twelve Divine Generals," is affiliated with the Goryo Bureau in the Imperial Household, serving as its head and the foremost researcher of Goryo.

This person was the mastermind behind the terrifying spiritual disaster attack two years ago.

"That spiritual disaster incident was given a name due to its profound impact—'Jou-i Daihara.'" Rozen spoke word by word.

"And the mastermind behind 'Jou-i Daihara' is named Dairenji Shidou."

———Dairenji Shidou.

At the mention of this name, Dairenji Suzuka's pretty face turned pale.

In this moment, a variety of emotions surfaced on Dairenji Suzuka's face.

Among them were hatred, anger, resentment, repulsion, and finally, they all turned into fear.

Yes.

Dairenji Suzuka was afraid of this person.

Because...

"He is your father, isn't he?" Rozen finally revealed this truth.