Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Just over a month later, Mount Fuji experienced its most powerful eruption on record, known as the Hoei Eruption.

Billions of tons of volcanic ash blanketed the land, causing crop failures in the Kanto region and exacerbating the already dire famine situation in Japan.

Before the arrival of the supernatural, all of this could be explained, such as ancient fault lines and periods of volcanic activity. But now it seems that at least 70% of the blame lies with Doman Hikmei's mother.

"I have a guess." ×2

Muramasa Taki and Uesugi Hitomi spoke in unison.

"You go first," Taki said.

Uesugi recalled the current clues and organized his thoughts: "The so-called terrifying existence that is currently pointing to Mount Fuji is the first head of the Doman family, Doman Hikimyou's mother."

"But this mother is too strange. My initial impression was that she seemed to know a lot of things, and the information she revealed was a bit suspicious."

"She claimed that Doman Himei was a bloodline arranged by Ashiya Doman, but it is clear that Doman Himei only had his talent activated, and there was almost no memory of his ancestors."

“But Huiming’s mother spoke with absolute certainty, as if she had heard this information from Ashiya Dōman herself.”

"According to her, Ashiya Dōman died long ago. It's impossible for him to have told her personally, so either it was something passed down from someone before, or she awakened her memories."

"If you're just passing on the message, aren't you afraid that the family members will feel resentful and the records will be lost? And if you're awakening memories, it means Ashiya Doman has this ability, so why not just use it on the most crucial Doman Hikaki?"

“Furthermore,” Uesugi continued, “if I were Ashiya Dōman, I couldn’t possibly be unaware of the fragility of such a lineage. Since the plan was started while he was still alive, why not just choose a descendant to carry on the Dōman family tradition? Why choose a bloodline from a hundred years in the future? Isn’t time just too much to waste?”

Hayato couldn't help but interject, "Could it be some kind of Yin-Yang technique that requires a period of time to accumulate and be passed down?"

"I can only say that it's possible." Uesugi didn't immediately deny it. "But if we accumulate for a hundred years, will every generation after that produce offspring with decent talent? Have you noticed that the earlier the generation, the more determined they are to rebuild the Yellow Springs?"

"But around the time of Dōman Shigemitsu, the family began to waver and a rebellion broke out. I think Dōman Ashiya's influence was nearing its limit, which is why an even more rebellious Dōman Akatsuki emerged."

"Based on the clues, it is clear that Daoman Xiaoche was influenced by the ideology of rebels when he was a child, which is why he became this kind of person."

"And Dōman Akatsuki's talent didn't come for nothing. Perhaps in Ashiya Dōman's plan, he was the designated last person."

"At the beginning of the game, before Domitsu Shigemitsu died, he mentioned that Domitsu Akatsuki's child had no talent and that he should have another one."

Uesugi sighed: "Takii, you probably think the same way I do."

“Hmm.” Takii responded, “In the timeline of 1220, Huiming’s mother said, ‘Your talent is excellent, you are indeed my child,’ and she called herself a god. I think those two sentences were her true feelings.”

"The former is a condescending evaluation, carrying a sense of scrutiny. The latter is her self-positioning."

"Ha, someone who can be so arrogant as to call himself a god and is extremely confident in himself." Upon hearing Takii's words, Uesugi knew that they had the same guess.

The answer is already coming.

"Ashiya Doman."

"The mother of Dōman Kōmyō was Ashiya Dōman himself."

Uesugi didn't mention one more thing: in the game "Escape from the Other Shore," at the end, the Onmyoji's tone was extremely smug.

"He somehow managed to live to be two hundred years old, and even turned into a woman and gave birth to a child."

"If that's the case, then everything makes sense. After all, he's his own child, and he personally taught him, which certainly allows the plan to have a perfect start."

"What nonsense about rebuilding the Yellow Springs! He keeps saying it's for the sake of the world, but in reality, he just wants to use it to take control of the Yellow Springs, pursue true immortality, and become a god."

The reason he had his descendants collect monsters was probably because these monsters were useful to him, for example, as part of his backup plan.

In any case, as they neared the end of the game, they finally managed to deduce the identity of the final boss.

This information seems to be of little use to the game.

"If games are useless, what about reality?" Uesugi first thought of Abe no Seimei, the legendary nemesis of Ashiya Dōman.

If anyone could deal with Ashiya Dōman, it would probably be Abe no Seimei.

"The Tsuchimikado and Kamo families lost their lineage as early as the Meiji period."

Muramasa dashed Uesugi's hopes, and the fact that the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department's data was open internally suggests that they had indeed found nothing useful.

"The authorities have already conducted a thorough investigation and screening. The descendants of these families, including the Fujita clan who later regained control of Tsuchimikado Shinto, are not extraordinary. A great deal of information has been lost, making it impossible to fully reconstruct the data."

"But we're still here!" Hayato's spirits lifted, his voice booming. "Once I gain superhuman power, I'll fight tooth and nail to become stronger! Then Ashiya Doman... we'll see what I do then!"

He was launching into a long, ambitious speech, and Taki and Uesugi had already started sending him private messages.

"Should we reconsider bringing him into the Players Association? I think he's the kind of person who can't keep secrets, so we should let him know as little as possible."

"."

The old saying is indeed true: one should not fear even a god-like opponent.

They had naturally asked Hayato to keep the game a secret, but other players wouldn't need to emphasize it so much; most people would already know.

Hayato readily agreed, but judging from the other party's personality, he couldn't offer much hope.

However, this is inevitable. As the number of players increases, more and more uncontrollable players will appear, and the game will be exposed sooner or later.

It's more accurate to say that it's quite remarkable that they've managed to hold on until now.

In the game, after Daoman Xiaoche set up the Nine Star Earthly Treasury Formation, he found a place at the foot of the mountain, built a house, and settled down. As the days passed, the final battle finally arrived.

Boom—Crack!

The summit of Mount Fuji, at the edge of the crater.

The rock suddenly cracked open, and a river of water, seemingly from nowhere, rushed out, winding its way down the mountain. Wherever it passed, countless spider lilies sprouted from the soil and bloomed proudly.

Blood-red flowers, vibrant and alluring, carpeted the riverbank, swaying gracefully and creating an extremely eerie scene.

In the sky, the golden clouds of dusk retreated, revealing two cracks.

In the center of that rift, there was not sunlight, but a pair of enormous, suffocatingly bright red eyes. However, only the person targeted could see these eyes.

It was like a god descending from the heavens, coldly looking down at the tiny figures below the mountain.

His eyes alone brought him immense pressure.

"Daoman Xiaoche, you have disappointed me greatly."

An irresistible demonic sound resounded directly from the depths of his soul, echoing and reverberating.

Just hearing that sound felt like countless filths were tearing at reason.

The player's perspective suddenly narrowed, with a red border around the black border, and countless eyes appeared and blinked almost imperceptibly, creating a mental pollution effect.

"You have no idea how many more lonely ghosts will be added to this world because of your ridiculous mercy. Are you happy about that?"

His voice seemed calm on the surface, but one could hear the deep-seated resentment within it.

"Reincarnation?" Daoman Xiaoche leaned on the crimson sword of the Demon Slayer, looked up and stared directly at the red eyes in the sky, his voice hoarse, piercing through the interference of demonic sounds.

"How many people are toiled like cattle in this life? Are they destined to become kings and nobles in the next? For them, one journey through this world is enough. No matter how many reincarnations they undergo, they will only serve as firewood. Only a being like you, who transcends all living beings, would be so greedy for this world and unwilling to leave."

He strode forward, stepping on the alluring spider lilies, heading towards the mountain peak.

"The collapse of the Yellow Springs affects not only reincarnation, but also spiritual energy and the good and evil in people's hearts. Rebuilding the Yellow Springs can not only grant me and the Dao Man family immortality, but also save the world. Why not do it?"

"I still stand by what I said: the world doesn't need you or me to save it. Nor does it need any savior."

"Dao Man Xiao Che!" The crimson eyes finally lost their composure, and the rage almost materialized into a raging inferno. "Do you really think you can deal with me now? Your power comes from my bloodline! I can give it, and I can take it away!"

"Even if I cannot become the Lord of the Underworld for humans, at the very least, I can become the Underworld for all the demons in the world!"

In an instant.

A terrifying sense of being stripped away, originating from the very source of his bloodline, descended upon Dao Manxiaoche's entire body.

The surging Onmyoji spiritual power around him evaporated rapidly like water, almost to the point of being visible to the naked eye, and disintegrated at an alarming rate.

The contractual bond with the shikigami instantly became precarious.

puff!

He Ye, protected by the spirit mirror, was suddenly ejected and crashed heavily to the ground.

It sensed the terrifying aura of a demon king emanating from Mount Fuji, far exceeding its imagination, and was terrified.

Under such absolute power, loyalty and contracts are utter nonsense!

He Ye's body instantly shrank into a trembling ball, and with all his might, he frantically rammed his head against Akame's head at the top of the mountain, in an extremely humble posture.

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!!" Its mental fluctuations were filled with fear and obsequiousness. "I was forced into this damned situation by no means of my own choosing! If I had any other choice, I would not dare to oppose Your Majesty even if I had ten thousand snake galls! I beg Your Majesty for mercy. I am willing to turn over a new leaf and serve Your Majesty faithfully from now on! I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is so scarce now that it's struggling to even exist, how could it possibly give birth to a monster of this caliber?! Even if it's a fusion, there has to be a proper method!

Takii forgot about this guy for a moment.

So that's when it turned against us, but given its past behavior, it's not surprising at all.

Since they were all forcibly subdued, talking about loyalty, bonds, or friendship would be too much like a JRPG.

Daoman Xiaoche didn't care about He Ye's rebellion, didn't even glance at it, and continued to head up the mountain.

He Ye's eyes darted around. Since the demon king of Mount Fuji hadn't given any orders, it was happy to relax. After all, Xiao Che still possessed its true name artifact, so if they really fought, he wouldn't gain any advantage.

At this moment, Mount Fuji was already rumbling and shaking, black smoke was rising from its summit, and layers of snow were rolling down.

From the hillside, a series of thuds came as the mountainside split open, debris flew everywhere, and strange monsters with their lower bodies connected to a giant tentacle appeared, roaring at Xiao Che.

The screen jolted, and the final battle began.

"All the Onmyoji skills are gone!! How are we supposed to fight this?!" Uesugi looked at the grayed-out Onmyoji skill list and felt utterly helpless and frustrated.

Because Daoman Xiaoche's talent as an Onmyoji was so exceptional, he learned this skill with twice the efficiency. Therefore, during his seclusion, besides learning the necessary Jizo Nine Formations, he spent the most time on Onmyoji techniques.

Simply put, it's about maximizing profits.

Now it's all gone!

What kind of return is that? All the principal is gone!

All that's left is Buddhism.

However, because he lacked aptitude for Buddhism, he didn't benefit as much from learning Yin-Yang techniques. So, after a few rounds of confirmation during his seclusion, he stopped practicing.

If this kind of plot development happened in a real game, the entire game company would be bombed.

Muramasa Taki sighed: "Actually, the plot provides a hint. If we really put ourselves in Doman Akatsuki's shoes, even if we understand that power is neither right nor wrong, we should still be more resistant to Onmyōdō and thus focus on studying Buddhism."

"There's no use talking about this now. I see there's an extra array ability. Let's try it out and see what effect it has."

The Yin-Yang technique is gone, but a new formation skill has been added.

After clicking on it, I found that it was the power entrusted to the Nine Star Earth Treasury Formation. There were a total of ten skills, five of which were grayed out, indicating that the formation's power was insufficient.

Each of the five usable ones can only be used once.

One of them is the ultimate skill: Nine Star Seal.

This can only be activated when the boss's health is below 50%.

Therefore, the goal of this final boss battle should simply be to reduce the boss's health to less than half.

But looking at the pitiful few skills of the Buddha, and then at the four or five monsters that had already appeared on the other side, they had no sense of martial ethics and attacked together.

Chapter 239: Hamasaki Yui

"We'll be fine."

"Every mountain has its share of smoke, doesn't it?"

As the black smoke from Mount Fuji grew thicker, Tokyo residents consoled themselves with this thought.

On the last day of June, the clouds still hung low.

While the Uesugi squad was still struggling in the final boss battle of "The Promise of the Underworld," Tokyo was experiencing constant aftershocks. The goods in the shop windows swayed slightly, and the water in the cup at home rippled.

On the southwestern horizon, the black smoke rising from Mount Fuji resembles a brush connecting heaven and earth. Under the overcast and rainy weather, everything seems to be placed within a landscape painting.

In fact, Mount Fuji has been active for the past few decades and has always been at risk of erupting. It emits smoke every now and then, so the self-comforting words of the Tokyo residents earlier were not unfounded.

Historically, even the most intense Hoei eruption on record could not reach Tokyo, a hundred kilometers away, with lava flows and direct impacts. The real threat lay in the subsequent massive volcanic ash that blotted out the sky.

Given the size and importance of Tokyo, a large-scale evacuation is impossible. This is completely beyond the official capacity or the cost they are willing to bear; it's like stopping a person's heart from beating.

Furthermore, Mount Fuji is only 100 kilometers from Tokyo and has a large number of troops stationed there, so it shouldn't really suffer any catastrophic disaster.

Well, of course, the rich and powerful have already gone on vacation.

Anyone with a little money has chosen to leave Tokyo for a while, just in case.

Overall, however, Tokyo's population has not decreased but rather increased.