The Holy Grail War Blessed by the Gods

Moreover, Manju didn't know what the setting black sun had brought him, and he also needed to be wary of the remaining half of the test that Tescatlipoca had mentioned.

This guy is really persistent, perhaps it's also a characteristic of the night wind.

After all, one of the Norse gods had a predetermined fate, but since Norse mythology ultimately fell into the hands of Christians, it's better to have a censored version than one that's written out of existence.

Having made up his mind, Manjusaka changed direction and strolled toward the location of Kanei-ji Temple.

Anyway, this is only the first day since I was summoned, so there's no need to be too anxious. Although the scene has a somewhat desolate feel, it is still a foreign landscape.

Manju would walk for a while before gradually losing interest in appreciating the scenery, but coincidentally, Kanei-ji Temple was built in Ueno, not far away.

Even if Manshu were to stroll, it would only take him a few tens of minutes to see the temple.

What comes into view are the Buddha sculptures displayed one after another on the stone wall, and the two stone lanterns in front of Kan'ei-ji Temple emit a soft blue light.

Behind the door were two stone lampstands, next to which were clusters of white candles, their flames glowing with a soft blue light, just like the light from the lampstands.

Is this peace, or death?

With great interest, Manshu walked over to the candlelight, squatted down, and reached out to touch the pale blue flame burning on the white candle.

"It's not what I thought, but the owner of this place should have noticed by now. Let's just take this as a notification."

Manshu, with a regretful expression, pulled his hand back. This temple was built to pray for peace in Edo and the stability of the shogunate.

Ueno was located at the location of the Demon Gate of Edo Castle, which is why this temple was built to suppress the Demon Gate and prevent evil spirits from being attracted there.

Thus, this temple was also designated as the Uji-ji (clan temple) of the Tokugawa family and was protected by the shogunate. However, it seems that no shogunate samurai can be seen in the vicinity today.

"Hmm? A guest has arrived, yet the owner of this place remains completely indifferent?"

Manju slowly withdrew his hand, stood up, and continued to admire the temple, but he did not feel any movement as he passed through the gate.

On the contrary, the barrier set up in the temple was still functioning as usual, with no sign of it being opened or any flow of magic.

"Was that too polite? Well, the premise of communication is indeed to treat each other as equals. It's true that you can't find polite people everywhere."

Uncle Man sighed regretfully and whistled.

A black steed arrived from the void, riding on lightning. Manju mounted the horse and urged it to gallop freely.

The deafening roar of lightning once again shook the land, waking the residents of Edo from their deep sleep.

"There seems to be a servant loitering at the temple gate. Aren't you going to pay any attention to him?"

Deep within Kan'ei-ji Temple, in the house at the far end of the temple grounds, one person stands and another sits cross-legged.

The one who spoke was a man standing on the ground, his face pale as a corpse, looking listless and seemingly indifferent to everything.

"Don't worry, this is the territory of the shogunate. If anyone dares to attack here, they will be cutting themselves off from Edo. Besides, we are the witnesses of the Moonlit Ceremony in public."

Before Longjun gathers all the information, there's no need to contact unknown factors whose situation is uncertain. Once he has all the information on the unclaimed heroic spirits and has the victory of the ritual firmly in his grasp, those guys will no longer be a concern.

"The revival of the Tsuchimikado family will definitely be accomplished under my supervision. When that time comes, Takatoshi will no longer need to worry about taking over the family."

The man sitting cross-legged on the ground speaking was named Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro. He was a descendant of Abe no Seimei and the current head of the Tsuchimikado family, the main branch of the Onmyoji (yin-yang master) family.

It is perfectly appropriate for him to be a witness to the Moonlit Ceremony in this capacity, and moreover, he is also the organizer of this ceremony.

However, if one were to look at the back of his hand, one would inevitably see the three bright red Command Seals.

He was not only the organizer and witness, but also a participant.

"I hope your plans won't go wrong, but this is exactly what I wanted, and I also hope that I won't need to make an appearance too early in any case."

"Continue with the preparations..."

Sitting cross-legged on the ground like an old pine tree, Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro was about to give an order, but his voice was shattered by a deafening roar of thunder as soon as it came out from under his youthful mask.

"How is this possible? They actually intend to force their way in? That's incredibly barbaric and foolish!"

Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro let out an angry sound, but before he could get up to do anything, fresh blood spurted from his mouth and stained his youthful face, while he fell backward.

This was the backlash of magic caused by the destruction of the barrier set up at Kokōji Temple. The effect of the barrier being completely destroyed in an instant directly caused severe damage to the already weakened Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro.

“It seems things are getting complicated. This thunder sounds similar to the one before. I’m afraid the one coming from outside is the unclaimed Rider that your brother reported before.”

The expressionless man didn't show much change in expression; he simply waved his hands and looked at Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro.

"Longjun! Is Longjun there?"

Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro propped himself up on the floor and called out towards the door.

"Yes, I'm here."

Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro's younger brother, Tsuchimikado Takatoshi, was standing outside the door. Upon hearing his brother's voice, he immediately knelt down on one knee to await orders.

“A guest has arrived, but I am feeling slightly unwell and cannot go out to greet him. Ryūjun, you will go and greet this guest. Since he is an unaffiliated servant from Ueno, treat him as a neighbor and be friendly to him.”

"I understand, brother, leave it to me."

Having received the order, Tsuchimikado Takatoshi immediately got up and rushed towards the direction from which the thunder came.

As Tsuchimikado Takatoshi walked outside, he was able to see with his own eyes the devastated state of Kankoji Temple.

At least a third of the temple was affected by lightning, and the building was reduced to charred ruins under the howling purple lightning.

Is this the immense power possessed by heroic spirits? With a mere roar, they bring destruction beyond human capability.

"Hey, finally someone knows to come out? Hmm... this Holy Grail War is called the Ritual of the Full Moon, right? Are you a witness to this ritual?"

Manju rode on the back of Busifalas, holding the reins in one hand and pointing at Tsuchimikado Takatoshi with the other.

"If they're insignificant, there's no need to say a word. Just step aside. I have no interest in taking the lives of insignificant people."

"Well……"

As soon as Tsuchimikado Takatoshi stepped out, he felt as if a ton of weight was pressing down on him. When he looked up, he saw only the blazing sun burning fiercely.

The sun was so bright, and the heat and waves it brought almost knocked me over.

Instinctively, Tsuchimikado Takatoshi almost knelt down, but the pain from the immense pressure brought him back to his senses.

"Yes...yes, my name is Tsuchimikado Takatoshi, and I am the younger brother of Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro, the elder brother who witnessed this Moon Ritual."

My elder brother is not in good health and is therefore unable to go out to greet guests, so he specially asked me to come down and greet them.

While there were extenuating circumstances, we have indeed neglected our guests, and we hope you can understand.

Seeing the temple in such a state of destruction might evoke anger, but at this moment, all that remains is the will to survive.

"Heh, that's quite a fragile fellow. With such physical condition, one should be careful not to die before the ceremony ends."

Upon hearing Tsuchimikado Takatoshi's words, Manju let out a sneer, but did not continue to make things difficult for the guy. (8)

"However, this temple is indeed quite large, and it's not very efficient for greeting guests. Consider this my way of helping you optimize things." (v)

"Thank you for your kind offer." (VII)

Tsuchimikado Takatoshi knew that his brother's reasoning was merely to maintain appearances, so he couldn't possibly refute Manshu's words. He could only bow respectfully repeatedly. (vi)

"I suppose you have just been summoned to this world, which is why we haven't had time to pay you a visit. May I ask what brings you to Kan'ei-ji Temple?" (vi)

Tsuchimikado Takatoshi quickly steered the conversation back on track, as continuing the previous exchange was putting too much pressure on him. (III)

"I'm just here to pay my respects to the witnesses of this Holy Grail War and to learn about the situation here." (iv)

Since your elder brother can't come forward, then you should too. Tell me about this so-called "Full Moon Ceremony." (iv)

Manju, controlling Busifaras, strolled to Tsuchimikado Takatoshi's side, looking down at the Onmyoji. (II)

"So that's what it is. As witnesses to the ceremony, the Tsuchimikado family is naturally happy to enlighten you."

Hearing this answer, Tsuchimikado Takatoshi breathed a sigh of relief and spoke in a more relaxed tone.

"You are a servant without a master, right? Normally, a servant without a master can only operate within the sacred grounds they occupy. If they stray from these sacred grounds and lose their connection to magical energy, they will lose their power. If you stray from Ueno, you should be unable to maintain your existence due to the loss of magical energy."

"I don't want to know these things. Tell me what you know about the Lord and the Servants in this Holy Grail War. As a witness, you should at least know some of it. Use this to buy your life and your brother's."

The information provided by Tsuchimikado Takatoshi was far from sufficient, which made Manshu have little patience to keep it.

He released a burst of magical power from his hand and threw it towards another wooden door in the distance.

The terrifying magic devoured the wooden door in an instant, and the several-meter-tall building was reduced to nothing but rubble in the blink of an eye.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think of these things at first, so I can only go through what comes to mind one by one. We currently know of four pairs of Masters and Servants. The summoning of Servants is not over yet, so we cannot determine the other Masters and Servants."

Sweating profusely, Tsuchimikado Takatoshi quickly said, weighing the options in his mind.

"Just say what you know. As long as you don't lie or anything, I don't plan to kill the witnesses right from the start."

Manshu bent down and patted Tsuchimikado Takatoshi on the shoulder.

"Yes, you should have already met Rider and her master, Yui Masayuki. She is a samurai from Shunga who now serves the shogunate and has quite a reputation in Edo."

(8) The remaining people were Chinese who lived in the Akasaka residence and were supported by the lord of the Iki Domain, Nanryu.

Recently, a foreign fleet arrived in Edo on a large ship, and its leader is named Dorothea Coyette.

⑦ And finally, there's Takao Tayu, one of the three great dayu of Yoshiwara; they are the only known participants in the Holy Grail War.

Rokutoshi Mikado honestly revealed the information he knew.

"Although the Tsuchimikado family was a witness to the Moon Ritual, they have now lost power, and the influence of the Onmyoji is waning. Most of the intelligence comes from the shogunate's spies. That's all I know."

Scattered Chapter 4 Route

(4) "Do you have any more detailed information about the Chinese people in Akasaka?"

④ Manshu picked out the parts that interested him and continued to ask questions.

2. "The residence in Akasaka was originally the place where Chinese people who came to Edo before the shogunate decided to close the country off from the world lived. The residence of Yoriyuki and the villa of the Kishu Tokugawa were also built there, which is why the residence was preserved."

That's not the case. How could the old residences of the Tang people be preserved near the Wu family's residence? They seem to have only recently arrived here, and it was through Lai Xuan Gong's introduction that they gained the qualification to participate in this ceremony.

Regarding the specifics, due to the influence of Lord Raiken, the shogunate's spies were not very able to intervene, so I don't know much about the situation either.

“Indeed, there was no lying. That’s enough to buy your brothers’ lives. See you next time, witness to this ceremony.”

Having confirmed that the other party truly knew nothing more, Manshu left without any hesitation.

All that remained was a relieved Tsuchimikado Takatoshi, whose back was soaked with sweat.

"What a terrifying Heroic Spirit. I hope it won't affect my brother's plans."

Tsuchimikado Takatoshi watched with deep concern as the figure on horseback rode away and disappeared from his sight.

The Tsuchimikado family has lost its glory, and even the position of head of the Onmyoji, who oversees all Onmyoji, has been taken over by the Kotokui family, who are also descendants of Abe no Seimei.