Supernatural/Anime Crossover: Where Did My Romantic Comedy Go?

Author's words

P.S.: Here's a little-known fact: Asatake Yoshino's character song is actually "Togoka," just a variation.

Volume 1: Chapter 194 (6K) The Dead Shrine

"The so-called present world is the world in which ordinary people live, while the eternal world... whether you call it the hidden world or the other shore, is the world inhabited by non-human beings."

Although the moon was not visible in the night sky, the road ahead was still barely discernible under the illumination of countless stars.

Kujo Toru and Asagi Yoshino walked side by side on the already somewhat dilapidated approach to the mountain, climbing step by step.

"Gods, monsters, vengeful spirits... all walk in the mortal world, and are inhabitants of the other side."

Asatake Yoshino recalled the knowledge she had learned at the shrine: "The present world and the ordinary world are two inseparable aspects of the same thing, separated by the boundary line."

"Yes, only at dusk, between the transition of day and night, when the boundary line weakens, can some unlucky people glimpse a corner of the mortal world, which is known as the moment of encounter with the demon."

Kujo Toru stepped over the completely broken stone steps and continued upwards, with Asagi Yoshino following beside him, listening attentively.

This is a lesson personally taught by a deity; it's a very rare opportunity.

In Asagi Yoshino's memory, her mother, who was the previous shrine maiden of Kenji Shrine, passed away a long time ago, and she had almost no special memories of her.

Therefore, she learned about Shintoism on her own by studying classical texts, and Lord Congyu couldn't offer much help.

After all, although she was the guardian spirit of the shrine, according to Lord Murakumo, she was only about ten years old when she was sacrificed in her previous life, during the Warring States period, and she couldn't read or write at all.

To put it somewhat disrespectfully, Lady Congyu is just a country bumpkin; asking her to read these Shinto books is a bit too much of a stretch.

"Only those who possess spiritual power can communicate between the two realms, understand changes, and naturally have all five elements in their hands."

"It sounds familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen it before."

Asagi Yoshino looked troubled, but Kujo Tetsu quickly offered her an explanation:

"This is a sentence written by Seimei in the 'Kin-Crow and Moon Rabbit Collection'. Although the original text has been lost, fragments of it were recorded in the 'Konjaku Monogatari Collection'."

"The so-called shrine maidens, onmyoji, and sorcerers, these people who possess spiritual power, all have the duty of maintaining the balance between the present world and the mortal world."

At this point, Kujo Toru took a deep breath and finally got to the main topic:

"But the underworld is different."

The atmosphere froze.

The mountains and forests were deathly silent; there were no birdsong, no insect chirps, and no breeze.

It was as if the entire mountain had died completely.

"Yomi, Youming, Tokoyami, and Youshi all refer to the same place, namely the so-called Yomi Hirasaka."

"No matter how you divide the present world and the mortal world, they are both worlds belonging to the living, and are completely different from the Netherworld, a kingdom of the dead."

Asahi Yoshino nodded, agreeing.

Shintoism has a rather counterintuitive concept: spirits are not actually considered the dead.

Whether they are benevolent or malevolent spirits, although they are all transformed after a person dies, the four souls are still in constant motion. They can only be considered as dead in the physical body, but in essence, they are still alive.

Therefore, in legends, many humans and yokai have died physically, but their spirits continue to haunt the dead instead of returning to the underworld, because they have not actually died.

Just like the Yato God who was sealed in this place.

Only after experiencing both physical and spiritual death will one be completely descended into the Netherworld.

Before they knew it, the two had arrived at a flat area halfway up the mountain, where the path to the temple had come to an end.

"This is... Kurokawa Shrine..."

Above the torii gate, where the vermilion lacquer has peeled off and turned somewhat black, hangs a wooden plaque bearing the name of the shrine.

The snow-white shimenawa rope rotted and broke over time, hanging at both ends of the pillar and swaying like a summoning banner.

However, the scene inside the shrine is completely different from the outside.

The majestic main hall stands tall in the square, with white walls and black tiles. A brand-new shimenawa (sacred rope) demarcates the sacred area, while a dark blue curtain, embroidered with magnificent red-gold flying bird patterns, obscures the view inside.

That was a divine crest, not a family emblem. It symbolized the Yatagarasu, the incarnation of Amaterasu Omikami, the ruler of Takamagahara, suppressing evil spirits.

This type of divine crest is generally used in exorcism ceremonies. It is rarely used in normal shrine architecture; instead, sakaki wood crests are more commonly used.

The reason for using it here is self-evident.

The two walked side by side through the last torii gate and entered the Kurokawa Shrine, which was completely far removed from the world.

The temperature dropped significantly, and even though she was wearing a summer school uniform, Yoshino Asagi still felt a chill creeping into her body.

Moreover, there was an indescribable aura surrounding me.

"It smells like the underworld; don't let yourself be tainted by it."

Kujo Toru's voice rang out beside him, and Asatake Yoshino snapped out of her daze, quickly drawing her divine sword, Murasame, from her waist.

The sound of a sharp blade being drawn was particularly clear in the silent shrine.

After Murasame was drawn, with the help of Murasame, who was a sword spirit, a faint spiritual light shone and enveloped the two of them.

It was only at this moment that Yoshino Asagi felt her body temperature begin to warm up.

"Lord Kujou..."

Subconsciously glancing at the deity beside her, Yoshino Asagi found him standing still, seemingly lost in thought.

Since arriving in Misaki Town, she has felt completely overwhelmed by everything, from the unusually large Tokoyo to the ferryman yokai Hone-onna, and even the fact that the entrance to the underworld is hidden beneath Kurokawa Shrine.

She only wanted to defeat Yato-gami, who was sealed by her ancestors, from the very beginning. Why did it turn out like this?

Asatake Yoshino didn't understand, but now that things had come to this, she could only follow closely in Kujo Toru's footsteps.

I felt somewhat relieved that I had listened to Lord Congyu and chosen to ask for help.

Otherwise, if she had come rashly on her own, she would probably have been completely doomed.

"Follow me, don't get lost."

Kujo Toru gave the girl some instructions, then walked inside.

The buildings, such as the shrine office and the purification room, passed by the two of them. Like the brand-new main hall, they showed no signs of decay or dilapidation, forming a stark contrast with the approach to the temple outside.

There weren't even any weeds inside the shrine, making it look like it had been abandoned for ten years, but rather like it had been cleaned and maintained all along.

However, Yoshino Asagi could not sense any life at all.

“This shrine is dead at its very core.”

Kujo Toru understood the reason for this unusual phenomenon.

If the entire shrine were considered as a living thing, then its life would have ended ten years ago with the burning of the mountain.

What remains now is merely an empty shell; even time cannot alter its appearance.

Because change is also a form of "living".

"Is it caused by the Underworld?"

"Yes, this place has been completely polluted by the aura of the underworld."

Just like the smooth, mirror-like lake water outside, it can already be considered inanimate.

Without external interference, even after thousands of years, it will remain in the same state as when it just died.

This is the Yellow Springs.

Even if the entrance hasn't been fully opened yet, just the faintest wisps of energy are enough to plunge everything into deathly silence.

Not to mention that the opening of the Underworld will break the boundary between the mortal world and the present world, causing a large accumulation of foul air, which will trigger the phenomenon of time-space transformation and lead to the emergence of the Black Tide of Yokai.

One can imagine the terrifying consequences that would have occurred if the wind caves had been allowed to erupt in the city during the training world.

At this point, a very important question arises.

Even in the world of Noragami, where there are true gods, the eruption of the wind tunnel is a terrifying danger, and even a slightly weaker god could perish.

In a real world where no gods have ever been seen, how exactly does Kurokawa Shrine suppress the entrance to the underworld?

Especially considering that Yatogami was also sealed away at the same time.

"Your Asabu family's shrine has always enshrined Muramasa, right?"

Kujo Toru suddenly turned to look at Asagi Yoshino and asked a question that they had already discussed.

Although she didn't understand, the girl still answered honestly:

"Yes, ever since our ancestor sealed the evil spirit with the help of Lord Murasame, he built a shrine to enshrine Murasame. Later, during the period of the overthrow of the shogunate, the Kurokawa family took the opportunity to launch a rebellion, and the then Asabu family fled to Hoori Town with Murasame and some books."

"In other words, Kurokawa Shrine not only does not have any gods enshrined, but it also does not have any Shinto secret techniques."

At this moment, Yoshino Asagi finally understood what Toru Kujo meant and also discovered the blind spot.

That's right! The Kurokawa family has nothing, so how did they manage to protect Daimiya Village for over a hundred years?!

At this moment, Kujo Toru had already walked to the very center of the shrine, directly facing the main gate.

A stone tablet stands quietly here, surrounded by a circle of snow-white shimenawa (sacred rope).

This is also what he cares about most.

In a normal shrine, this should be the location of a stone used to suppress the nearby mountains and rivers, preventing disasters such as earthquakes.

Unlike the new buildings around it, this stone tablet seems to have been around for many years when it "died," and the inscription on it is already mottled.

Kujo Toru could only barely recognize a few kanji:

"The Taisho... Nobleman... bestowed... and thus... a human pillar... in the rear palace... to forever guard peace."

Only the four characters in the last corner were relatively clear; the rest were large areas of blur.

Fortunately, based on these few words and the information we have gathered, we can roughly guess some of the clues.

"This Taisho should refer to the Taisho era name, which is right after Meiji. It was about 40 or 50 years after the Kurokawa family launched their rebellion, which is about a hundred years ago now."

Asatake Yoshino stood beside him, also trying to decipher the stone tablet.

It seems to be about someone the Kurokawa family met a hundred years ago who gave them something. As for the second half, although it is only a few words, Yoshino Asatake seems to smell the lingering stench of blood.

"The shrine's back hall was probably built using human pillars. As for eternal peace, we don't need to worry about that; it's just a simple prayer. If it really worked, Daimiya wouldn't have disappeared."

Kujo Tetsu finished her sentence.

The so-called "human sacrifice" is a widely circulated bloody folk custom that seems unbelievable to ordinary people today, but is actually despised in orthodox Shintoism.

Because this is a complete and utter evil art.

In order to pray for peace, human sacrifices were used when constructing buildings. The people were tied to pillars, driven into the foundation, and buried alive.

After such a brutal death, the sacrificial offering's resentment lingered, and because the body was trapped under the building, it could only remain as a bound spirit, unable to find release.

However, as the underworld corrupted the shrine, these earthbound spirits used as human sacrifices finally met their end.

For them, it might not be a bad thing.

"So, are we going to the back hall next?"

Asahi Yoshino tentatively inquired about Kujo Toru.

The fact that human pillars were used to build the rear shrine suggests that there must be something very important inside.

Their biggest problem right now is that they only know that the underworld is suppressed and the Yato God is sealed under the Kurokawa Shrine, but they have no idea about the specific location.

Unlike when we were on the other side of the lake, the Kurokawa Shrine was filled with a crimson aura that seemed to connect heaven and earth, making it impossible to locate anything by following the flow of the aura.

This is the only way we can gather intelligence.

"No, let's go to the main hall first."

Kujo Toru, however, gave a completely different answer and immediately walked over.

Asahi Yoshino immediately followed.

Behind the curtain, the main hall's doors were tightly shut, making it impossible to see what was happening inside. The girl immediately reached out to push the door open.

Then a luminous spiritual light suddenly shone from above, separating her hand from the door panel, preventing her from getting any closer.

"A barrier?!"

Kurokawa Shrine has been abandoned for ten years, yet its protective barrier is still functioning?