"I don't even know whether we should call ourselves lucky… or just absurdly unlucky. A Snow Woman that other people can search for their entire lives without ever finding actually took the initiative to show up right in front of us.
"They say Snow Women are yokai who seduce men on snowy mountains. Looks like my looks are just too outstanding—even a Snow Woman couldn't resist, so she tracked me all the way down to the foot of the mountain."
At this point, the members of the Countermeasures Team were already preparing to head back down the mountain. They had realized that the threat posed by the Snow Woman was far more dangerous than they had originally anticipated.
As for the Snow Woman's abnormal behavior in主动 approaching them, Kamishiro Isshin had mulled it over for a while. Since he couldn't figure out any logical explanation, he shamelessly concluded that it had to be because he was just too handsome—so handsome that even female yokai couldn't help but fall for him.
However, this time, even Hakuba—the monk who was usually labeled the "honest one"—couldn't stand Kamishiro Isshin's shamelessness.
"Based on the intelligence we gathered earlier, the Snow Woman's actions this time are indeed unusual. But there's no way I'd believe it was because she came for Isshin here—how absurd.
"Even if she really were a looks-obsessed yokai, the first one she'd be interested in would definitely be young Yuto, not you."
As longtime best friends, Hakuba and Kamishiro Isshin had always enjoyed taking jabs at each other, so Hakuba naturally wasn't going to miss this opportunity.
Between the lines, he even implied that with Kamishiro Isshin's appearance, among their group he'd barely rank third among the men.
Even if the Snow Woman had come for a handsome monk like himself, there was no way she'd set her sights on a sloppy middle-aged man like Kamishiro Isshin.
"Hey! You bald monk, you're the one being shameless here! I'll admit that Yuto might be just a tiny bit more handsome than me—but do you understand the charm of a mature man?
"That kind of allure is something that brat Yuto has? Maybe the Snow Woman just likes this type, huh?"
Watching the two of them bicker like they were about to start throwing punches, Kujō Hina—who was participating in an operation for the very first time—wore a completely stunned expression.
Back when she worked in the office, she had always believed that Master Hakuba and Kamishiro Isshin, the two most senior members of the team, were incredibly reliable.
So why did they look so unreliable now?
"Senpai, could you two please stop fooling around already? Honestly… if it weren't for Yuto's 『Mind's Eye』 being able to see through illusions, all of us would be buried under the snow by now.
"As our seniors, don't you think you should reflect on yourselves a little?"
When Yamato Kuka had first joined the Countermeasures Team, she had shown the same level of respect toward these two seniors as Kujō Hina did.
But as she got to know them better, she realized that these so-called "seniors" could sometimes be even more childish than actual kids.
And at moments like this, Yamato Kuka would immediately bring out the authority of an Onmyo Academy instructor and start lecturing them without mercy.
"Still… we underestimated Yuto's strength again, didn't we? You've gotten stronger recently, haven't you?
"Why is the gap between people so unfair? Back when I was young, I was called a genius too. But in front of you, you damn monster, I don't even qualify as mediocre.
"That was an A-rank Snow Woman, you know. And in a snowy mountain environment, no less—yet you still managed to force her to retreat."
Earlier, Kamishiro Isshin and the others had been trapped inside an illusion, playing mind games with a nonexistent Snow Woman and imaginary snow monsters.
By the time they regained consciousness, Yuto had already told them that the Snow Woman was gone.
When they woke up, all of them—without exception—felt deeply ashamed. Thick-skinned people like Kamishiro Isshin and Hakuba accepted reality fairly quickly.
But Yamato Kuka, whose pride was extremely strong, was filled with guilt after learning that she hadn't helped at all and had even held Yuto back.
Because of that, she had already decided that once they returned, she would head to Hokkaido to seek out her mentor and fully temper her 『Mind's Eye』.
There were plenty of yokai skilled in illusions and deception. If every time she encountered one with stronger yokai power than her own she ended up being toyed with, that would be unacceptable.
—
On the other side of the snow mountain, not long after clashing with Yuto, the Snow Woman was now panting heavily as she was surrounded by more than a dozen exorcists. Her condition looked extremely poor.
And this time, her weakness wasn't an act, nor was it some illusion created by the Killing Stone—she had truly been forced into a dangerously desperate situation.
"The Killing Stone has already been handed over as agreed. You can release the children now, can't you?"
Not long after Yuto and the others left, the Snow Woman sensed that the ice she had placed around her cave had been disturbed.
Unfortunately, even though she rushed back as fast as she could, the Snow Children who had been staying inside the cave were still captured by these humans.
What made things even more troublesome was that the two human factions she had previously considered the strongest were now working together.
Facing this many exorcists alone was already extremely taxing for her. Now that they had also taken the Snow Children hostage, she was completely constrained, forced into a purely defensive position.
Under their threats, she even had to hand over the Killing Stone she had barely had time to hold onto.
It wasn't that the Snow Woman was naïve—it was simply that she had no choice.
To her, the safety of the Snow Children was far more important than any so-called Killing Stone.
She knew very well that even if she handed it over, there was no guarantee they would release the children. But if she didn't let go, the Snow Children would be killed immediately.
"Second Elder, isn't this going too far? Ganging up on someone weaker is one thing—but now we're even using children to threaten a woman.
"I want to become a real 『exorcist』 someday, you know. Using methods like this to threaten yokai… it's just disgusting. We look more like monsters than she does."
Watching the Snow Woman trapped in the encirclement, Hikuma Yuuichi bluntly voiced his thoughts. The Hikuma clan elder beside him flushed red with embarrassment.
In truth, when the Onmyo Bureau had approached them for cooperation, the Hikuma family had agreed—but they hadn't expected the Bureau to resort to tactics like this.
Members of the Hikuma family were known for being hot-tempered and impulsive, but they generally preferred straightforward dealings and respected bold, honest people. They despised underhanded tricks.
In fact, it wasn't just Hikuma Yuuichi who found the Bureau's actions despicable—several others felt the same discomfort.
However, a contract had already been signed.
The Hikuma family was to help the Onmyo Bureau secure the Killing Stone and deal with the Snow Woman. In return, the Bureau would provide the Hikuma family with two items of value no less than that of the Killing Stone.
The Onmyo Bureau also understood that even though they had obtained the Killing Stone, leaving behind an A-rank yokai who bore a grudge was dangerous. Eliminating the root of the problem was the safest course.
But killing a Snow Woman who could freely manipulate ice and snow on her own mountain was no easy task.
That was precisely why they had sought out the Hikuma family, specialists in fire-based spells.
"…Enough. You can stand back and watch. Let an old man like me handle the shameful part."
Since the contract had already been made, the Hikuma family couldn't simply walk away. Looking at the Snow Woman with no path of retreat, the clan elder finally decided to act.
"Homage to all Tathāgatas, all faces, all gates, all places—Break obstacles, subdue evil, unleash great wrath.Crush all hindrances, ignite the seed of blazing flame—Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the law!"
The incantation chanted by the Hikuma elder was long, filled with Sanskrit phrases incomprehensible to ordinary people. Its general meaning was roughly as described.
As a family specializing in fire-based spells, the Hikuma clan naturally didn't use ordinary Fire Boundary techniques. The spell the elder was casting was known as the Fudō Myōō Fire Boundary Mantra.
Both the spiritual power required and the difficulty of this spell far surpassed those of a standard Fire Boundary spell.
Naturally, its destructive power was also on an entirely different level—especially when used by a Hikuma clan member.
And now, it was being cast by an exorcist whose spiritual power had reached A-rank.
Violent fire elements rapidly gathered in the surroundings, quickly forming a massive flaming serpent. Once it locked onto its target, it roared as it charged straight toward the surrounded Snow Woman.
In such a frigid environment, a heat source this overwhelming was impossible to miss.
But the Snow Woman was already struggling just to fend off the dozen-plus exorcists in front of her. She had no spare strength left to defend against such a powerful fire spell.
As the raging flame serpent drew closer and closer, what crossed her mind wasn't whether she would die—
—but what would happen to the Snow Children afterward.
Just as everyone believed that the colossal flame serpent was about to strike the Snow Woman, securing their final victory—
A torrential stream of water suddenly burst forth from another direction, slamming directly into the roaring serpent of fire.
Water and fire were inherently incompatible. The moment the rushing water column collided with the flame serpent, a violent reaction erupted.
With sharp hissss sounds echoing through the air, massive amounts of steam billowed outward.
As the exorcists stood frozen in shock at this sudden turn of events, silhouettes began to emerge behind the steam.
The Snow Woman could control ice and snow—but not flowing water. So whoever had intercepted the attack couldn't have been her.
As the steam rapidly condensed into frost and fell to the ground under the surrounding cold, the obstructing mist finally cleared.
The members of the Hikuma family and the Onmyo Bureau finally saw the true forms of the figures hidden behind it.
There were five of them.
One was a short figure who looked strikingly like a kappa, wearing a tattered monk's robe.
Another was a burly man with a ferocious face, dressed in rough hemp clothing.
There was a samurai clad in traditional armor, his feet missing as his body floated eerily above the ground.
And finally—
A girl with cat ears, a bifurcated tail swaying restlessly behind her.
..
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