The dimly lit corridor was utterly silent, flanked by thick stone walls. For now, nothing seed out of the ordinary.
As they continued forward, the corridor grew darker and darker, until not even the faintest trace of light could reach them. It was like a moonless, starless night—pitch black and absolute.
"Snap!"
With a flick of her fingers, Yae Miko summoned several fox-shaped orbs of Electro light, illuminating the space ahead.
"You've never been here before?" Nolan naturally reached for her hand and gently squeezed it as he asked.
"Of course not. Back when Lady Saiguu was the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine, I was just a little girl. How could I have dared to enter such a terrifying place?"
A faint smile played at the corner of Yae Miko's lips. Then she added playfully, "So later on, you'll have to protect , okay~?"
As she said that, she clung to Nolan's arm, pressing the soft skin of her chest against him like a delicate, fragile woman.
"Of course!" Nolan patted his chest with confidence. "Leave it to ."
While the two chatted, they finally reached the end of the lightless corridor.
The floating fox-shaped Electro orbs drifted ahead, alongside the golden figure of the "Sword God."
Bathed in their glow, Nolan and Yae Miko could now clearly see the massive structure before them without needing to rely on spiritual sense.
They stepped out of the stone passage into a cylindrical tower. The structure was hollow in the center, with prison cells carved along the inner wall in multiple stacked levels.
Each level housed more than a dozen cells, and from what they could see, there were at least seven or eight levels in total.
A rough estimate suggested the "Demon Suppression Secret Domain" could hold around a hundred youkai.
That was likely sufficient. After all, not that many youkai committed cris severe enough to be imprisoned rather than executed.
"Hanachirusato said Kitsune Saiguu's spiritual will is sealed within the formation core of the domain. Think it's that thing?" Nolan pointed to a floating object in the air that resembled a bell.
Its ability to remain floating after hundreds of years indicated the formation was still functioning—a testant to the extraordinary skill of its creator.
Activating his golden "Eye of Judgent," Nolan noticed faint traces of youkai energy drifting from so cells and being drawn into the formation core.
"Huh… Using the energy of imprisoned youkai to sustain the formation. Honestly, that's a brilliant idea."
He couldn't help but be impressed. No wonder the formation had remained stable for so long—none of the youkai had managed to escape. Truly a remarkable feat.
"Mhm, it's probably that," Yae Miko said, lifting her chin slightly to get a better look. "But tampering with it recklessly could disable the entire formation. And if those youkai…"
Having been imprisoned for centuries, deprived of food and drink, and drained of energy—it was uncertain how many of them still survived.
But if any did, they might harbor deep resentnt toward Lady Saiguu. If they broke free, both the Grand Narukami Shrine and the people of Inazuma could be in danger.
Nolan understood what she ant. For safety's sake, it would be best to investigate the current status of the imprisoned youkai first.
He nodded. "Earlier, I saw faint traces of youkai energy being absorbed from so cells. That ans at least a few are still alive. Let's check them floor by floor."
Yae Miko had no objection.
Starting from the top level where they stood—the first tier—they began examining the cells from the right side.
First Cell:
As they approached, they found the iron bars etched with intricate runes—part of the formation to prevent escape.
But peering inside with their eyes and Nolan's Eye of Judgent, they saw no signs of life, no residual energy.
An empty cell.
Second Cell:
This one imdiately revealed a stark sight—non-human skeletal remains resting on a wooden bed.
This youkai clearly hadn't survived the centuries of starvation, slowly reduced to bones over ti.
One by one, they checked each cell on the first level. All were either empty or contained only decayed remains.
Normally, even lower-level youkai could live for centuries. Those that perished likely died from hunger or exhaustion—especially with their energy being drained.
Of course, there was little pity to be had. The ones imprisoned here had committed cris. Though not worthy of execution, dying from starvation while imprisoned was a cruel twist of fate—no one could've predicted the catastrophe that left them sealed away for so long.
Lady Kitsune Saiguu, tasked with protecting Inazuma's citizens, certainly had no ti to check in on dangerous youkai.
Finding no survivors on the first level, they moved to the second. It was much the sa—either empty or full of bones.
Third Level:
At last, a living youkai.
It was a dog-like youkai, lying motionless on the wooden bed, seemingly unconscious from extre weakness.
Nolan noticed it was level 83—a high rank. But even that wouldn't be enough to survive 500 years without sustenance, especially while being drained of energy.
Upon closer inspection, he realized this wasn't ordinary unconsciousness—it had used so secret technique to enter a kind of "hibernation."
In this state, the dog youkai's power was perfectly sealed within its body, preventing it from being drained by the formation. Energy consumption was also greatly reduced—it could likely stay in this dormant state for decades more.
"These old youkai… so crafty at surviving. But unfortunately for it, today will be its last day," Yae Miko said with a faint smirk in her violet eyes.
Even if so of these ancient criminals had survived, there was no way they could be released. Doing so would endanger all of Inazuma.
She wasn't about to bet that a five-century-old convict had suddenly developed a sense of morality.
"Let's not disturb them yet. We'll handle everything after the investigation," Nolan said, shaking his head.
He worried that killing the dog youkai now might alert others, triggering desperate retaliation. Better to deal with them all at once after gathering intel.
"You're right," Yae Miko agreed after a mont's thought.
"Let's keep moving."
They continued exploring the third level. Aside from the dog youkai, they found a black snake youkai and a toad youkai—both still alive.
The black serpent youkai was level 85. Like the others, it used a hibernation-like technique to drastically reduce the energy needed to sustain its body, allowing it to survive.
The toad youkai, however, was even more absurd. It had mastery over the Cryo elent and had frozen itself in a block of ice while simultaneously entering a hibernation state.
Using his Eye of Judgent, Nolan observed that the toad youkai had actually preserved the majority of its youkai power. He had no doubt that if it were to awaken, it could unleash at least 50–60% of its peak strength without issue.
As expected—regardless of species—creatures pushed to the brink could unleash astonishing potential. Nolan even started to wonder if these youkai had co to so sort of agreent, working together to develop this hibernation technique.
Otherwise, it made little sense. A serpent youkai knowing such a technique was one thing, but even a dog youkai had mastered it? That was pushing it.
If they had ford an alliance and shared this knowledge, then the threat level of these youkai had to be reassessed—they were even more dangerous than he initially thought.
Yae Miko had reached a similar conclusion, though she didn't appear particularly worried. After all, no matter what the youkai did, they had no way of escaping their cells.
Soon, they reached the fourth level. Nolan noticed that even more youkai were still alive here, and they were even stronger—averaging level 86.
All of them had used so variation of the hibernation thod to conserve energy and avoid having their power drained by the formation.
This only confird Nolan's theory: the youkai had clearly banded together to survive. There was no way so many of them coincidentally had the sa ability.
They proceeded through the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth levels. It took so ti, but they completed their investigation.
The results were alarming—most of the youkai were still alive, and all were above level 80.
The seventh and eighth levels even contained several youkai over level 90. The strongest of them was a jiao (flood dragon) youkai, appearing in the form of an elderly man with dragon scales on his face and arms, and a long jiao tail extending from his back.
Level: 93.
As soon as Nolan spotted it, the jiao youkai suddenly awoke from its slumber. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, it stared at him with blood-red vertical pupils, filled with a deep, venomous hatred.
Perhaps because it hadn't spoken in centuries, the jiao tried to say sothing but couldn't get the words out. Still, the seething hatred in its eyes was unmistakable. It likely assud they had been sent by Kitsune Saiguu.
Seeing this, Nolan didn't bother to engage. He and Yae Miko returned to the first level.
With the full status of the prison confird, it was ti to defeat the youkai and retrieve the formation core that held Kitsune Saiguu's lingering spirit.
"Eliminating them all at once won't be easy. Got a plan?" Yae Miko asked, curious.
"Not too hard. First, let's confirm whether Lady Saiguu's spirit is truly inside the formation core."
Nolan smiled, then flew with Yae Miko toward the floating golden bell-like object in the air.
"The Hakushin Phantom Bell... It's a sacred relic of our clan. I thought it was lost during the Khaenri'ah disaster, but so she used it to guard this place..." Yae Miko said, a bit surprised.
"Oh? If it can serve as the core for such a powerful formation, it must be quite the treasure," Nolan mused, already thinking about how to convince her to let him store it in his Wonderland.
"Lady Saiguu's spirit is indeed within the Hakushin Phantom Bell," Yae Miko confird. "But it's grown so weak that she's fallen into deep slumber. She can only operate the formation by instinct now."
As a fellow Hakushin fox spirit—and soone deeply familiar with Lady Saiguu—Yae Miko was certain of the aura inside the bell.
"Mm!"
Nolan could sense the spiritual presence as well, quietly rejoicing. This trip had definitely been worth it.
"She's just asleep. Once she's inside my Wonderland for a while, she'll recover," he said confidently.
As he spoke, he activated the Cloud-Gathering Banner Array, summoning a phantom banner to temporarily replace the bell as the formation core. Then he carefully retrieved the bell and handed it to Yae Miko.
"Oh?" Yae Miko cradled the bell, feeling the familiar presence within it. She couldn't help but smile with joy. "Lady Saiguu has truly been saved… Co on, let's go to your Wonderland!"
A wave of affection surged in her heart. For once, she even showed a rare trace of impatience.
[Yae Miko Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 420 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.10 (MAX)]
Just as Nolan was about to speak, a system prompt popped up on his character panel. Yae Miko's affection was now maxed out!
Excited, he saw another prompt appear:
[Through genuine intent and tireless effort, you've ford a deep connection with one whose fate was never ant to intersect with yours. From this day on, her guiding star shall shine alongside yours.]
[Obtained Skill: Prophet's Gift of the Fox Shrine Guuji.]
As expected—it was the affection skill he had hoped for!
The skill na clearly referenced Yae Miko as the Fox Shrine Guuji, but the word "Prophet" piqued his curiosity. Was it a foresight-type ability?
If so, it actually fit Yae Miko perfectly. She always gave the impression of being several steps ahead, prepared for anything.
She radiated a sense of trust and security.
No wonder she was known for both her beauty and intellect. That kind of wisdom truly did resemble a "prophet's foresight."
Intrigued, Nolan focused his thoughts to examine the skill details:
[Prophet's Gift of the Fox Shrine Guuji] : Use this skill on a target to obtain detailed information about any unknown entity. The completeness of the information is proportional to the combined level of Nolan and Yae Miko.
(End of Chapter)
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