Part 3
Of course, Kurahashi and the others had their reasons for not killing Amami immediately. Because they were on guard for curses.
It was natural for a practitioner of Amami's level to have woven curses of revenge that sacrificed his life in case he was killed - at least it felt that way to Amami and Kurahashi's generation. As a result, how they should deal with him became a problem, and they were limited to guaranteeing the practitioner's life. They were people who had lived in that kind of era.
Hence, since the truth was concealed from Kurahashi and he understood that he wouldn't be able to get any help out of Amami anymore, he decided not to kill him immediately. He decided to spend some time slowly whittling away at Amami's spiritual power and vitality. That was so that even when the curse activated, its power would be weakened. That was also the natural method of response for those of Kurahashi's generation, and actually, there were several examples of this kind of 'resolution' in records that the Onmyou Agency couldn't make public.
But even if he 'let him live for now', he obviously wouldn't leave him alone. He cast the same 'magical energy suppression seal' that was on Kagami Reiji and Dairenji Suzuka, but rather than to 'limit', it was to 'erase' - He cast it so that he would be unable to control any magical energy, and even his spirit-sensing ability of sensing aura was sealed. He also burned his throat with magic to block him from chanting incantations, and cut the tendons of his hands to make him unable to form seals. Then, he stole his consciousness and locked him in the underground hell, casting an ancient magic that would kill him after ten days. In some sense, it could be called a ruthless disposal with less regard for human dignity than 'simple killing'.
Amami ought to have no way at all of turning the tables after being sealed so tightly. And Kurahashi wouldn't have permitted it.
But......
There was also someone who couldn't agree with Kurahashi's position. Miyachi. Though he was unable to ask for help, he hesitated to take Amami's life. He decided afterwards to release the forbidden magic killing Amami on his own and replaced it with a different forbidden magic that 'froze' the subject. He thought that he would awaken Amami when all obstacles had vanished after months or even years and have him live the rest of his life with the identity of an old man, and not as a practitioner.
But Miyachi didn't know.
The barrier guarding the underground prison was just something with the goal of keeping the inside locked down. It was hard to call it foolproof from outside contact.
Also, when he had learned the true identities of Kurahashi and the others and learned that his life was at risk, Amami had immediately left behind a fan as if grasping for straws.
That fan's name was Oboro. A high-level mechanical shikigami that Amami had made through devoted effort. Its strength wasn't great, but it possessed a personality mimicking its master's - making it almost as capable as Amami. It was a personality that could act as his proxy and make similar judgments.
After its master's consciousness broke off and it learned that he was still alive, Oboro tried to contact its master with all its power. Then, even thought it was unable to release the forbidden magic from its master's body, it succeeded in coming in contact with its master's consciousness across the barrier.
Needless to say, the prison's barrier was sturdy, and Amami couldn't control it even if he had regained his consciousness. But Oboro brought up several options to its master while speculating what kind of choices its master would make, thus finally receiving instructions from its master.
Also, if Oboro was the one who substituted for Amami's mental activity, the one who substituted for Amami's eyes and activity was the purchase he had found interesting before, the 'Trick Spider' manmade shikigami that he had released within the agency building.
The Trick Spider had two strengths. One was that it could act autonomously semi-permanently. The second was that after its initial setting up was completed, even ordinary people without spirit-sensing ability - of course, along with Onmyouji whose spirit-sensing ability had been sealed - could control it. Needless to say, Amami had already completed the Trick Spider's setup when he released it into the agency building.
The half-dead yet newly conscious Amami controlled the Trick Spider with Oboro as an intermediary, desperately focusing on exploring a chance to counterattack. He waited for an unexpected miracle, waited for a coincidental convergence, spreading a web for 'that time'. That was willpower as well as obsession. There was nothing else at all. It was absolutely no overstatement to say that the possibility that he was rewarded was miniscule.
But that door was opened. Via Harutora. Via Ohtomo. Via Touji, Kyouko, and Suzuka. Also, via Tenma.
And at the end it was Doman. After Ohtomo left the agency building, Doman reluctantly ended his magical battle with Miyachi and pulled back. But he laughed loudly when he saw Amami whom his shikigami had brought along.
Needless to say, this still wasn't Amami's victory. Amami had only crawled back out of hell. The battle started now. And the chance of winning that battle was even lower than of his survival earlier.
But it seemed that his 'fortune' had not yet withered. Amami evaluated that of himself.
"Ah, I'm not too sure about the details of the situation, but this guy was definitely locked in the underground prison. As for the rest...... you can probably imagine, seeing him 'like this'."
Doman looked back after he said this, looking at Amami who leaned on the shikigami.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login