-572- [ Kinu ] and [ Gyokuto ]

Today is the last day of vacation at Onmyo Academy.

Tomorrow, the academy will reopen, marking the beginning of a new year.

By this time tomorrow, Rozen and Natsume will become second-year students at Onmyo Academy. New first-year students, if they pass the entrance exam, will join Onmyo Academy, just like Rozen and Natsume did last year.

After a month of repairs, it seems the academy's building is now ready.

So, Rozen, Natsume, and Suzuka find themselves in a rather remote location on the day before the school resumes.

They are on the top of a hill in the outskirts.

Here, an altar has been set up.

The altar is not overly complicated but is built quite logically. It features a platform surrounded by several bonfires, giving it a solemn and sacred ambiance.

At this moment, Rozen, Natsume, and Suzuka are here, looking at the altar. One of them appears satisfied, while the other two feel a mix of complicated and uneasy emotions.

Especially Suzuka, who recalls something similar from the past, and her young face is filled with anguish.

"I never thought I'd have to do something like this again," Suzuka said, feeling both unhappy and irritated.

And Suzuka is not the only one. Natsume is equally concerned.

"Are you really not considering it anymore?" Natsume asked with worry. "It's really dangerous, creating shikigami and all."

Yes.

Creating shikigami.

This time, what Rozen prepared for Suzuka is something for creating shikigami.

And, it's not just any ordinary shikigami.

Rozen had made a decision before, hadn't he?

"I want to create the second Raven's Wing," Rozen said.

However, right after, Rozen shook his head.

"No, what I want to create isn't just a Raven's Wing."

That's right.

In this ritual, Rozen is not only preparing to create the Raven's Wing but also another shikigami.

"In Onmyoudou, which places importance on astronomy, the three-legged crow symbolizes the sun. It's also known as the Golden Crow. The Raven's Wing, which once served as Yakou's shikigami and charm, was created in imitation of the Golden Crow. It's highly effective and powerful, mentioned in historical records, making it a renowned existence."

Rozen said this to Natsume and Suzuka.

"In this context, few people know that Yakou had another charm that pairs with the Raven's Wing."

This is truly an unheard-of thing, but it's also a matter of course.

Because all things have yin and yang; this is fundamental to Onmyoudou.

With this foundation, since the Golden Crow represents the sun, there naturally must be a counterpart representing the moon.

———"Jade Rabbit."

It's a legendary white hare said to reside on the moon.

In the Onmyoudou secret text left by Abe no Seimei, there is a renowned work called "Sangoku sōden on'yō kankatsu hoki naiden kin'u."

In it, the so-called "Golden Crow" and "Jade Rabbit" respectively symbolize the sun and the moon in Onmyoudou.

//// The text title does include the golden crow and Jade rabbit in the Chinese version.////

Given this, after creating the shikigami representing the sun, the Golden Crow, Yakou also created a shikigami representing the moon, the Jade Rabbit.

This is the charm that pairs with the Raven's Wing — "Moon Wheel".

While the Raven's Wing boasts flight capability, spontaneous spellcasting, physical attacks, automatic defense, counterattack capabilities, and enhanced assistance to magic power, an "external-facing" charm.

Moon Wheel takes pride in sensing abilities, mental interference, spiritual body protection, curse resistance, and autonomous rebound against illusions, an "internal-facing" charm.

Because the Raven's Wing's charm form is a black cloak with very noticeable effects, it's impossible to hide its presence, so almost no one in the spiritual industry is unaware of it.

On the other hand, Moon Wheel typically functions in the form of a ring and does not have a conspicuous appearance. It also lacks visible effects, so very few people know of its existence.

Even the Onmyou Agency has left hardly any concrete records, only knowing of its existence. This has led many to mistakenly believe that Moon Wheel was just a failed creation in Yakou's plan after the creation of the Raven's Wing.

Inheriting all of Yakou's knowledge of spells, Rozen knew that Moon Wheel was not a failed creation; its existence simply wasn't conspicuous, and hence, there were no specific records.

As for where Moon Wheel is now, perhaps only god would know.

Regardless of how Yakou's Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel were, Rozen wanted to create his own Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel now.

In this ritual, Rozen prepared to simultaneously create Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel, two shikigami that could transform into powerful charms, allowing him to further enhance his abilities.

Upon closer inspection, on the altar, a jet-black cloak and an exquisite ring lay there.

These were crafted by Suzuka, an expert specializing in Imperial-style.

According to records, Raven's Wing was made from crow feathers collected by Yakou, and Moon Wheel was made from rabbit claws.

Of course, these feathers and claws were not ordinary. Each feather and claw underwent specialized magical processing and, depending on the need, could have incantations inscribed on them to turn them into charms.

Suzuka did a perfect job, not only collecting crow feathers and rabbit claws for Rozen but also crafting them into shape. While Rozen had to inscribe the crucial incantations himself, Suzuka had done an impeccable job.

Although in terms of strength, Suzuka was weaker than the other "Twelve Divine Generals" due to her specialization in research, in the field of research, there was no one among the "Twelve Divine Generals" who could surpass her.

Initially, relying on her expertise, Suzuka single-handedly restored Tsuchigumo, which had been abandoned for half a century, to its original state.

Now, leveraging her abilities, Suzuka had created the basic forms of Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel and handed them to Rozen yesterday. After a day and a night of magical processing, Rozen inscribed plenty of incantations inside the cloak and ring. They had now become very powerful curse tool.

However, this way, they were still only two curse tool.

You see, Raven's Wing isn't just a curse tool but also a shikigami for control, and naturally, the same goes for the paired Moon Wheel.

The so-called "shikigami for control" refers to naturally occurring spiritual entities.

In other words, to materialize Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel, it's not just about preparing the corresponding tools; they also need to become vessels, gather spirituality, and become shikigami.

How to do it?

Very simple.

"We need to activate the spiritual veins, gather spiritual energy on the curse tools, use them as vessels, and form shikigami," Rozen explained this step.

This is how Yakou developed Raven's Wing and Moon Wheel—by artificially activating the spiritual veins, gathering spirituality, and ultimately making them spiritual entities, possessing the curse tools and thus becoming shikigami.

This is the reason why Suzuka said that what Rozen was about to do was almost akin to a crime.

"Just like how 'Jou-i Saihara' distorts spiritual veins to create spiritual disasters and launches terrifying attacks, you are now preparing to distort the spiritual veins. Doing this shortly after the recent events, both the Exorcism Division and the Mystical Investigation Department will not sit idly by," Suzuka issued this final warning.

And Natsume's concern was also in this.

"Are you really ready to do this?"

Natsume asked, deeply worried, for the last confirmation.

But Rozen had only one answer.

"Ready."

There was no hesitation.

//// About the Shikigami Rozen is going to create, they will accompany Rozen for the entire story if I remember correctly. I've done the research, both entity does exist in japanese mythology. The Golden crow or Yatagarasu got an official wiki name so I'll call it "Kinu". And the Jade rabbit, I'll call it "Gyokuto". This should be the most accurate translation....I think....////