s.h.i.+gure made his decision.He didn"t have to think hard about it… In fact, he barely thought at all before he came to a decision. He would trust Seiji Haruta!
Even s.h.i.+gure himself found it strange how easily he came to such a decision.
Why was it that rather than his own family, he far more trusted this "mortal enemy" to save him?
s.h.i.+gure was rather confused about his own feelings. He didn"t know the answer, but he also didn"t have any doubts about Seiji. This seemed quite strange.
After some momentary confusion, he decided to give up on this seemingly unsolvable problem.
s.h.i.+gure told Seiji his answer. Seiji said that he needed to return to the real world first, but that he would return again. He then led s.h.i.+gure into the shrine.
A white-clad miko (Chiaki) who wore a mask was quietly waiting for him in the shrine.
"She"s my companion. She"ll be communicating with a G.o.ddess and casting a spell on you that will allow the G.o.ddess to locate your body," Seiji explained. "The Evil G.o.ddess might be able to detect this and cause harm or even death upon your body. Of course, I"m happy that you chose to trust in me. But, I still have to ask one more time. Are you really sure?"
"You can still back out now if you want"—Seiji was expressing that.
s.h.i.+gure silently mulled it over. He felt like he wouldn"t regret this. "I believe you," he stated.
"I shall do my very best," Seiji replied seriously as he could feel s.h.i.+gure"s trust in him.
He then had s.h.i.+gure sit down in the middle of the shrine, and indicated Chiaki to begin her spell.
The miko started singing and dancing, causing cherry blossoms to materialize in midair. A white mist that contained divine power poured out and swiftly filled the entire shrine.
Seiji sat down in the white mist. Some time later, he heard the White Sakura G.o.ddess"s voice and received her information.
The next moment, he exited the dream world and returned to the real world. Seiji looked all around at his companions who were all prepared.
"We"re heading out!"
...
"Do you think that your younger brother will be able to save my younger brother?" Raizen asked Yui.
Raizen had already learned from Yui that his brother s.h.i.+gure was still alive, along with Yui"s plan to have Seiji rescue s.h.i.+gure.
"I don"t know… but since he agreed, he must have some confidence," Yui replied.
"He might also make the situation even worse," Raizen spoke in a low voice.
"Indeed. But no matter what he does, it wouldn"t be worse than what a certain older brother did to his younger brother, am I right?"
Raizen fell silent.
"I"m not trying to make a sarcastic jab at you. I"m simply stating the facts," Yui stated calmly. "What happened to s.h.i.+gure Tendo was an unexpected accident. However, it can"t be denied that he"s now in danger because you used him for the investigation. It"s already fortunate enough in this misfortune that he"s still alive. Seiji was the one who brought this fortunate news… I think that there"s nothing wrong with giving him the mission to save s.h.i.+gure."
"You"re not worried that you"ll also lose your own younger brother?"
"I believe that he will know what he can and can"t handle. It was his choice to accept this mission. He"ll accept the corresponding responsibility. And if the situation becomes too dangerous, he"ll probably decide to give up if necessary. After all, there won"t be any punishment even if he fails this mission. Not only that, he"ll be saving someone that appears to be his "mortal enemy"."
"Unexpected events will always happen."
"Even if something happens, aren"t younger brothers to be used and taken advantage of?" Yui replied by using words that Raizen had previously told her.
Raizen was rendered speechless.
Was she really not trying to make sarcastic jabs at him?
Raizen subtly felt like he was being slapped in the face, but he was unsure.
"Are you trying to brag that your younger brother is more outstanding than my younger brother?" Raizen tried asking such a question.
"Nope," Yui spoke in a light tone while averting her gaze.
...
Seiji and his friends were now progressing through the Realm of Cherry Blossoms.
Kazuko opened up a portal to the Realm of Cherry Blossoms, close to where s.h.i.+gure"s physical body was, by using the coordinates that Seiji gave her. Everyone began progressing through the Realm of Cherry Blossoms as if they were normally training in the Domain.
At first, it wasn"t very difficult. But after progressing for a while, a Samurai Demon suddenly jumped out!
It really jumped out of nowhere. This giant "vicious demon" level monster just magically appeared in the middle of a group of Sakura samurai. The Samurai Demon immediately slashed viciously at Seiji"s party!
Everyone was highly on guard, so n.o.body was injured. Seiji and Natsuya immediately teamed up to deal with it. s.h.i.+ka and Hitaka protected their respective Yin Yang Masters. Everyone else focused on speedily cleaning up the small fries.
After dealing with this Samurai Demon, a second one soon appeared together with even more weak mobs.
Seiji felt that things would only become worse. He was soon proved right.
Before he and Natsuya could defeat the second Samurai Demon, a third one appeared. This third Samurai Demon immediately jumped over Seiji and Natsuya and directly attacked Hos.h.i.+ and the others!
The group was prepared for such unexpected situations. However, plans were only plans. No matter how good a plan seemed, carrying it out during actual combat would always be different.
*Bam!!!* A certain person was directly sliced by the Samurai Demon. This person was sent flying limply backwards by the Samurai Demon"s giant greatsword.
This person was Hisas.h.i.+!
Seiji"s heart clenched from seeing this scene. He immediately roared in anger and explosively used his most powerful attacks, using [White Calamity] to immediately kill both Samurai Demons and all the mob monsters!!
Hisas.h.i.+ was severely injured and bleeding all over.
Seiji unhesitatingly loaded.
He repeated this battle. Since he was now on guard beforehand, Hisas.h.i.+ and the others all remained uninjured. These two Samurai Demons were successfully dealt with.
As everyone kept progressing, the number of small fry mob monsters kept increasing more and more. The mob monsters" power level was also evidently increasing. Two more Samurai Demons also suddenly appeared together with a Snake Demon!
The Samurai Demons attacked in unison, while the Snake Demon, which was several dozen meters long, opened its mouth to shoot a tremendous wave of Mana Bullets. That was when Seiji loaded for the second time today.
After successfully going through this battle with zero injuries, Seiji had everyone stop.
"We"ve barely started progressing through here, but we"ve already met three waves of Samurai Demons already. There will likely be only more and more as we go on. It will become too risky for everyone to keep going as a group," Seiji told everyone.
It was too risky, so everyone else would have to retreat… apart from Seiji and Kazuko.
This was Seiji"s backup plan that he established before taking everyone into the Realm of Cherry Blossoms. If it became too dangerous, he would give up on having everyone come together with him, and he would do all the fighting by himself!
Kazuko needed to stay with him as she was the only one who could open the portal between the Realm of Cherry Blossoms and the real world. There was no need for Seiji to kill every spiritual monster that he met here. He could simply try to break through and reach s.h.i.+gure"s body all by himself.
Of course, this would also be highly dangerous. It was also possible that Seiji would have to fight some sort of boss monster upon reaching s.h.i.+gure"s body. Kazuko didn"t know whether this would be the case.
Yukari and the others objected to having them go back. They felt that they could continue onward. However, Seiji adamantly refused. s.h.i.+ka wanted to stay behind with him, but Seiji also persuaded her otherwise.
Seiji didn"t want to see his companions being hurt anymore.
If he was the only one he needed to worry about, it didn"t matter how many times or how severely he was injured. He could cure any injuries to his physical body by loading as long as he didn"t die instantly!
"You have to be careful, Seiji." Natsuya took a long look at her boyfriend.
"I will be." Seiji smiled. "Relax. I definitely won"t die."
As long as he had the time to load, he was confident that he wouldn"t die.
Kazuko opened a portal for Natsuya and the others to leave.
Seiji cast the most powerful buff spells possible on himself along with the most powerful barrier. After finis.h.i.+ng these preparations, he rushed forward at high speed towards the group of monsters that appeared.
This was unmistakably a dangerous run.
Seiji ran through all the mob monsters and dodged most of their attacks while taking a few attacks. He did his best to avoid all Samurai Demons and Snake Demons… It was as if he was playing an extremely difficult action game while trying to do a speedrun. However, there were no places where he could rest in this level.
Run! Run! Run! Run off into the distance, young man!
The Samurai Demons and Snake Demons became ever more numerous along the way. With all their combined powerful attacks, dodging eventually became impossible.
*Bam!!!* Seiji was knocked into the air by a snake tail swipe.
All around him, numerous Samurai Demons raised their swords in unison. The Snake Demons in the air also prepared their Mana Bullets, aiming directly at Seiji. Kazuko screamed in terror at seeing this…
...
Seiji"s knight order was now completely silent.
Their leader was fighting his hardest by himself. Yet, they could all only wait back in the real world on the sidelines for him. This made everyone feel somewhat dissatisfied.
They all trusted Seiji"s judgement as well as his abilities. However… this still didn"t feel right.
Everyone could only handle their dissatisfaction in their own ways.
As they digested these emotions, they waited.
Perhaps the very next instant, Seiji would have Kazuko open a portal and summon them to help him in battle. That was why they needed to be constantly prepared for battle!