In Heian-kyo, within the underground treasury of the Fujiwara estate, the Fujiwara aristocrats huddled behind this final line of defense against their ancestral nemesis. They struggled to withstand the encroachment of Prince Nagaya's curse.
Prince Nagaya's curse possessed the ability to induce disease. Every member of the Fujiwara clan within the boundary was affected; the elderly suffered the most, while children were the least afflicted. Presently, the Fujiwara elders, including Fujiwara no Kanehira, had fallen into unconsciousness. Only the Kanpaku, Fujiwara no Tadahira, managed to remain marginally conscious under the most stringent protective measures.
A vengeful spirit's powerful obsession was, in itself, a curse difficult to unravel. This particular curse was precisely locked onto everything the spirit loathed. Someone was now exploiting Prince Nagaya's spirit, granting it immense power to specifically target the Fujiwara clan.
Miketsu did not spend much time wondering which faction was targeting the Fujiwara. As a vast and powerful noble house holding the office of Kanpaku, the Fujiwara had countless enemies, both in the light and in the shadows. Any one of them could have struck.
If Miketsu wanted to help the Fujiwara resolve the current crisis, the best method would be to use her trial-and-error Map Divination Technique to locate Prince Nagaya's spirit and destroy it directly. However, such a process would take time, and Miketsu feared the Fujiwara's barriers would collapse before she succeeded.
Therefore... she had to find a way to stabilize the situation here before hunting down Prince Nagaya. But what could she do to stop such a powerful curse from seeping in? She wasn't particularly skilled in this area; since she was naturally immune to debuffs, she had never focused much on improving her dispersion and purification abilities.
While pondering this, Miketsu scanned her surroundings. Her gaze was drawn to the various spirit tools the Fujiwara possessed, specifically a scroll flying in mid-air that continuously emitted the sound of chanting sutras.
Had the Fujiwara onmyoji used a treasure to channel Buddhist powers? It seemed Buddhism had a vast array of methods for expelling evil; practically every sutra had similar capabilities...
"Within the Asakura Style... is there a secret technique that can handle this situation?" Seeing Miketsu lost in thought, the increasingly sickly Fujiwara no Saneyori spoke with a glimmer of hope, though he didn't truly expect Miketsu—whom he believed specialized in destruction—to have a suitable countermeasure.
Miketsu did not answer Fujiwara no Saneyori directly but instead pointed at the spirit tools.
"Are these the Fujiwara's secret treasures?"
Fujiwara no Saneyori showed no offense at her redirection and answered plainly.
"These are collections of my Fujiwara family. Every useful artifact we have is currently in use; we are relying almost entirely on them to resist Prince Nagaya..." As he spoke, Fujiwara no Saneyori began to give Miketsu a brief introduction to the items.
"Then can you tell me what that scroll is?" Miketsu asked, her eyes fixed on the pale yellow, luxurious scroll that was automatically circling in the air. Countless Sanskrit characters swam across its surface, accompanied by a constant stream of chanting.
"That is the Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom... Legend says it was a dharma treasure used by Master Kukai to spread the teachings. It can automatically chant any sutra recorded into it and is said to have the ritual effect of dozens of monks chanting in unison. It is currently chanting an exorcism sutra we recorded earlier. It seems effective, but unfortunately, because we cannot find higher-level sutras, it cannot reach its full potential." Fujiwara no Saneyori explained. The composition of Onmyodo was eclectic, touching upon Buddhism but not deeply. As an onmyo clan, the Fujiwara could obtain some sutras, but none were of a high level, which invisibly limited the power of the Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom.
Kukai? So this thing belongs to the Shingon school? What a coincidence... After hearing Fujiwara no Saneyori's words, a realization dawned on Miketsu. She then asked,
"How are sutras recorded into this scroll? Do they need to be recited to it?"
"No. To record a sutra into the scroll, one must first transcribe the complete text onto another piece of paper, and then..."
Fujiwara no Saneyori continued his explanation, but at that moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred.
Outside the underground treasury, above the Fujiwara estate, several streaks of purple light suddenly emerged from the murky sky. Then, the already dark heavens grew even more oppressive, as if they were about to collapse entirely.
"Fuji... wara..."
Accompanied by a shrill roar from the sky, the thin wisps of dark purple demonic energy suddenly intensified. They transformed into a thick, dark purple fog that poured down from the sky toward the Fujiwara estate. Instantly, the entire residence and its surroundings were enveloped in dense, dark purple demonic energy. The samurai and onmyoji guarding the exterior were all caught within it. Anyone with even a trace of Fujiwara blood in their veins immediately collapsed, their bodies erupting with blisters and pustules. They rolled their eyes, foamed at the mouth, and died instantly.
The suddenly strengthened demonic mist seeped rapidly underground, bypassing thick rock walls to reach the treasury. In a flash, the entire underground space was filled with thick, dark purple fog.
The sudden surge in the curse's power rendered the Fujiwara's barriers temporarily useless. The thin strands of dark purple energy that had previously bypassed the barriers thickened immensely. The curse, which had been mitigated by treasure light, charms, arrays, and sutras, was now drastically amplified.
In the underground space, the Fujiwara nobles, already suffering from various illnesses, saw their conditions worsen sharply. Cries of agony rose from all sides as various symptoms manifested on their bodies. Everyone's life was now under direct threat.
"The curse... has strengthened... why... ugh..." Seeing this sudden scene, Fujiwara no Saneyori's expression darkened, turning even more ghastly. He spoke while enduring a sudden spike in physical discomfort.
Seeing the situation deteriorate so rapidly, Miketsu acted without hesitation. She immediately looked up and located the luxurious scroll flying above. The sudden increase in the curse's power seemed to have completely exhausted the scroll's energy; the text on it vanished, and it began to fall.
Empowering herself with Yaksha Power, Miketsu leaped from the ground into mid-air, catching the falling Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom with her hand and bringing it down with her.
"How do I use this?" Miketsu asked Fujiwara no Saneyori directly, holding the now blank and silent Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom.
"Burn... burn the Buddhist sutra... and scatter the ashes over its surface..." Fujiwara no Saneyori gasped out painfully. Though he didn't know what Miketsu intended, his only hope now lay in her being able to do something to salvage the situation.
Miketsu spread the Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom onto the floor. She then immediately pulled a piece of white paper covered in sutras from her sleeve and held it to a nearby torch, setting it ablaze.
Flames instantly consumed the sutra. As she held the burning paper over the blank scroll, the falling ashes merged into the surface. They reassembled into Sanskrit characters, swimming rapidly across the scroll like schools of fish. Simultaneously, the sounds of chanting rang out once more.
"I humbly invoke Dakini-ten, for protection and the expulsion of evil; the Esoteric Mantra of Evil Subjugation..."
Carrying the new sutra, the Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom flew up from the ground, its long body trailing as it circled around Miketsu. The overlapping Sanskrit chants rose in layers, opening a bridge to the gods and Buddhas. Then, in the name of Dakini-ten, Miketsu responded to the scroll's invocation and poured her power into it.
A brilliant radiance shone from the Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom. Countless spectral Sanskrit characters seemed to fly out from the scroll, forming streaks of golden light that shot toward the encroaching demonic energy. Like a meteor shower piercing through the darkness, they dispersed the evil mist entirely.
The sutra Miketsu had just burned was one of many Byakuren had given her before they parted. It was a high-level esoteric sutra of the Shingon school, specifically chosen by Byakuren because it allowed the user to borrow power from Dakini-ten.
Miketsu, who did not know Sanskrit, would normally have been unable to recite such a long sutra; she only knew what it did through the annotations. But now, she used the Fujiwara's secret treasure to achieve this, allowing the Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom to open a channel for summoning divine power.
The effect of the sutra Miketsu released through the Sacred Scroll of Manifest Wisdom was simple: to expel demons and suppress evil. Against an intangible curse, this was the most effective countermeasure.
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