I Save The World In A Doomsday Text Game

Chapter 227-2: Thousand Orchid City, Iya Palace’s Palace Master (2)

[The city before you was far more prosperous than Fukoka. Towering walls stood firm, and many samurai guarded the gates and ramparts.]

[People coming and going formed long queues, and entering the city required paying valuables or Spirit Essence. Depending on how much you carried, the entrance tax varied.]

[The Fire-Worshipping Senior Onmyoji urged his horse forward, leading you to the very front of the line under the envious gazes of the common folk.]

[The low-ranking samurai at the gate all lowered their heads respectfully. Ordinarily, your multi-eyed, bizarre appearance would surely have drawn questioning and harassment. If you couldn’t pay enough Spirit Essence, someone might even mistake you for a remnant of a demonic abomination…]

[But with an Onmyoji representing the Iya Palace as your guide, none of the gatekeepers dared speak out. They even made a point to memorize your features so they wouldn’t fail to recognize such a distinguished guest of the Iya Palace in the future and cause unnecessary trouble.]

[The Fire-Worshipping Senior Onmyoji brought you into Thousand Orchid City and began introducing this unfamiliar place to you in detail…]

[There were many interesting sites in the city, such as the only temple in Sakura Falls still preserved, Dharma-Aspect Temple, and the Five-Story Pagoda that had once been used to worship an evil god.]

[After the divine might of the Ancient Heavenly Enma spread through the land, hundreds and thousands of temples were torn down, and shrines devoted to the true god were built atop their ruins.]

[The sole surviving Dharma-Aspect Temple and Five-Story Pagoda had unique functions, which you would understand once you the foreign mage saw them firsthand.]

[Others included the city’s Great Shrine, the No-Illusions Shrine, and the Tenshukaku where the local daimyo resided…][Hearing the name No-Illusions Shrine, you were startled.]

[The No-Illusions Shrine you had been searching for so long was actually inside Thousand Orchid City!]

[You asked the Fire-Worshipping Onmyoji about the shrine, claiming that after traveling so long in a foreign land, you had not prayed before the statue of the Ancient Heavenly Enma in ages…]

[The Onmyoji laughed heartily and explained that though the No-Illusions Shrine was thronged with worshippers, it was still a step away from becoming a Great Shrine. It would probably be another year or two before it qualified to openly enshrine the statue of the Ancient Heavenly Enma…]

[You the foreign mage need not worry. While the shrine officially could not display the true god’s image, in private, secret worship of small statues was impossible to stamp out. He confided to you that even within Iya Palace itself, there was a statue of the Ancient Heavenly Enma.]

[It was only because the Shogun followed the old customs in matters of worship that all acts of devotion had to be performed in secret…]

[Hearing this, you frowned and asked why Sakura Falls divided the rites of worship so strictly. Would it not be better to let the god’s grace spread equally to all people?]

[The Fire-Worshipping Senior Onmyoji shook his head, saying that in ancient times it had indeed been as you described: worship without shrine hierarchies, with household altars and small statues in every home.]

[Later, for reasons unknown, the custom of ranked worship emerged. Privately enshrining divine statues at home became a grave crime, and to worship the Ancient Heavenly Enma, one had to go to a Great Shrine or Grand Temple…]

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes.

Recalling the true form of the Amateru Sakiina’s statue…

A chilling thought rose unbidden in his heart. Perhaps the true statue of the Ancient Heavenly Enma was the same as Amateru Sakiina’s, which was why the people were forbidden to enshrine it…

[Seeing that you remained preoccupied with thoughts of the No-Illusions Shrine, the Fire-Worshipping Senior Onmyoji simply told you its exact location…]

[You learned the precise location of the No-Illusions Shrine!]

[Patting his chest, he promised that since the mage was so interested in the shrine, once you were finished at Iya Palace, he would act as your guide and show you around the city, with all expenses for lodging, meals, and travel covered by Iya Palace…]

[…]

[Passing through bustling streets, you arrived at a small palace complex.]

[Outside the complex, many samurai stood guard. The passing townsfolk lowered their heads and hurried past without daring to look at the grand buildings.]

[The Fire-Worshipping Senior Onmyoji raised his chin proudly and introduced it as the true seat of power in Thousand Orchid City, the Iya Palace to which he belonged.]

[Passing through the strict security, you entered the palace. Within Iya Palace, countless grand halls and pavilions of all sizes stood in neat rows. Those coming and going were all Onmyoji dressed in hunting robes and wearing tall black caps.]

[You studied these Onmyoji closely and found that they, too, had ranks. The style of their robes signified their station and standing.]

[The passing Onmyoji were intrigued by your many-eyed appearance, but as their own rank was not high, they glanced at you briefly before quickly looking away…]

[The Fire-Worshipping Senior Onmyoji dismounted and led you forward, passing through layer upon layer of buildings and several guarded checkpoints before finally reaching the deepest part of the palace complex.]

[The grand palace before you rose high and imposing, the entire structure protected by a golden arched barrier.]

[On the outer surface of the golden barrier, tadpole-shaped runes flickered and shifted, runes you recognized as the Absolute Barrier of the Ten Directions.]

[Looking through the golden barrier, you saw two massive shikigami statues standing guard at the palace entrance.]

[The statue on the left was a demon shikigami with a green face and fangs, its form terrifying. The one on the right was a yokai shikigami shaped like an enormous hound with black wings sprouting from its back.]

[The Fire-Worshipping Senior Onmyoji petitioned the Onmyoji stationed outside the barrier, explaining your identity and purpose, requesting an audience with the Vice Palace Master…]

[The guarding Onmyoji stepped into the barrier and entered the palace to deliver the report…]

[You couldn’t help feeling puzzled. Why were you meeting the Vice Palace Master instead of the Palace Master, who held the highest authority in the Iya Palace?]

[Seeing your confusion, the Onmyoji explained that the Palace Master was already advanced in years and had not handled affairs for a long time. The one currently in charge of all matters in the palace was the Vice Palace Master.]

[As the messenger was gone for quite a while, the Onmyoji, worried you might grow impatient, took the initiative to tell you more…]

[The two shikigami statues at the entrance to the Iya Palace’s main hall were quite remarkable. The demon shikigami on the left was called Rasasha, while the yokai shikigami on the right was called Karasu Tengu.]

[Both were extremely powerful shikigami, unique to the Iya Palace.]

[If the Vice Palace Master took a liking to a particularly gifted Onmyoji, they would be granted one of the two shikigami to command.]

[This time, he had gone to Fukoka Castle because the Vice Palace Master’s blood kin had been slaughtered by a remnant demonic abomination.]

[Had he managed to capture that damned yokai, he would have received the Karasu Tengu shikigami as a reward.]

[The Vice Palace Master had placed a curse mark on that remnant, believing it certain they would be able to seize the yokai and bring it back to Iya Palace.]

[But when he and a company of Onmyoji arrived at the Otaki Estate, the token meant to display the mark’s location gave no signal at all…]

[Still, to have encountered a foreign mage and to exchange and compare incantation techniques was surely a merit in itself. The Vice Palace Master would not be stingy with rewards.]

[The Fire-Worshipping Senior Onmyoji subtly hinted that when you met the Vice Palace Master, you should not hold back your knowledge of incantations. If you shared them openly, the benefits would be considerable…]

[You were perplexed by this and asked why, if the Otaki Clan was the Vice Palace Master’s family, such a petty yokai had been allowed to run rampant.]

[The Onmyoji sighed deeply. “Normally, that little yokai would never have dared to act so brazenly. But in recent days, the Iya Palace had been hosting the Shikigami Ritual Assembly, and all the powerful Onmyoji who guarded the Otaki Clan had returned to the palace to attend, leaving the yokai an opportunity…”]

[You were about to ask what the Shikigami Ritual Assembly was when the messenger finally returned, handing you and the Onmyoji each a token engraved with countless incantations, signaling that the Vice Palace Master had granted an audience…]

[You obtained the Absolute Barrier Token (Key)!]

“This Vice Palace Master must be the great-grandmother of the Otaki Eldest Son, the one who placed the curse on me.”

“I wonder if the Vice Palace Master’s Shell is strong enough…”

[With tokens in hand, you and the Onmyoji passed through the Absolute Barrier of the Ten Directions and stepped side by side into the grand palace…]