“You have already tried, and I have already experienced the agony of losing you because of it.
I refuse to endure that pain again, nor do I need to let the ‘you’ of four centuries later face such a risk once more.
As I said, my encountering you this time was solely a product of my own willfulness, nothing more.”
The young woman shook her head, exhaling a soft sigh.
“Me? But am I not perfectly fine right now?”
Shion’s voice carried a hint of bewilderment.
Tears still glistened at the corners of the young woman’s eyes as she spoke, “The ‘you’ who dutifully served the shrine departed a month ago, venturing to that battlefield.
They sought to quell the malevolent spirits lurking there, to grant peace and the cycle of reincarnation to the deceased.”
Shion’s heart gave a sudden tremor.
“Then… what happened next?”
“You never returned.
That was… our final meeting.”
The young woman’s heart seemed to bleed.
“I… perhaps I should have stopped them.
That was never truly the shrine’s duty.
Malevolent spirits of that magnitude, even I couldn’t suppress them.
And below, there were armies already consumed by a bloodthirsty frenzy…
There was no way you could have returned, yet I… I did nothing.”
The young woman fiercely pounded the ground, as if attempting to mend the gaping wound in her heart with the sheer force of pain.
Yet, those who are lost can never truly return.
The young woman understood this truth more acutely than anyone else.
No amount of tears could ever bring them back, and no amount of weeping would prove anything but futile.
Shion stepped forward, intending to offer her an embrace.
However, the embrace passed right through the young woman’s body.
“Still, I can’t be touched, can I?”
The young woman observed Shion’s futile attempts.
“I know, but… that Miko was incredibly important to you.
Still, I also want to tell you that you are not entirely alone.”
Shion offered in a soft, comforting tone.
The young woman lifted her head slightly.
“At least for now, I am by your side.
I cannot possibly replace the profound significance that Miko held in your heart, but… I hope my presence can bring you a measure of solace, even if it is only a tiny fraction.”
Shion made a gentle gesture as if to caress her, though, predictably, she still couldn’t make contact.
The young woman paused, momentarily stunned, as she gazed intently into Shion’s eyes.
“I… I will stay by your side,” Shion affirmed, her voice soft but unwavering.
The young woman gritted her teeth, and within her sorrow-filled eyes, a flicker of tranquil relief seemed to appear.
“Yes, seeing ‘you’ still so gentle after four hundred years, I think… I can still [wait] for ‘you’.”
The young woman smiled, and this time, her smile was breathtakingly beautiful, like the pure, serene light of the moon.
The aura of malevolent spirits grew increasingly potent.
Shion’s Spirit-Suppressing Constitution had already sounded countless alarms within her, indicating that thousands of malevolent spirits were drawing near.
“Sister,” the young woman spoke again.
This was the second time she had referred to Shion as her sister.
“Where did you learn your Kagura Dance?” the young woman inquired.
“Kagura Dance? I… I don’t remember.
I’ve known how to dance it since a very young age.”
Shion’s mind was a tangled mess.
And the Kagura Dance? Why would she speak of that now?
Malevolent spirits were already surrounding them from all directions.
Shion could distinctly feel that the girl before her also possessed a Spirit-Suppressing Constitution, and her very presence would inevitably attract a massive congregation of these malevolent entities.
The young woman smiled lightly.
“Our dances might be quite similar, you know.”
As she spoke, the young woman produced a fox mask, gently settling it over her face.
In her hand, a blade gleaming with a cold, ominous light silently slid from its sheath.
The fox mask from her dream, and the Spirit Cutter she herself enshrined at the shrine.
Shion wanted to cry out in alarm, but the surrounding malevolent spirits were already drawing ever closer.
“You came here in response to my impulsive prayer.
You cannot touch me, and by the same token, malevolent spirits cannot touch you either.”
With the fox mask now covering her face, the young woman’s expression was no longer visible.
“Then, then am I to leave you to fight alone?”
Shion struggled to break free from the paralyzing fear brought on by the encircling malevolent spirits, crying out with all her might.
“We will definitely meet again, I promise you.”
Though the young woman’s voice was soft, her words carried an undeniable, resolute conviction.
“So, this is my last wish as I am now.
Please… dance the Kagura Dance for me one last time!”
Malevolent spirits lunged fiercely at the young woman’s side.
Even if Shion wished to block them, she found herself utterly incapable.
The malevolent spirits effortlessly passed through her body, leaving Shion with no means whatsoever to impede their advance.
However, as the young woman wielded the Spirit Cutter, a violent white gale seemed to erupt from the blade.
Wherever this gale swept, malevolent spirits were instantly crushed into fine dust.
This was a power of a magnitude Shion had never dared to even imagine.
The young woman’s movements as she wielded the Spirit Cutter were exceptionally elegant.
Though her body was already covered in wounds, her actions still retained their innate grace and agility.
The swing of the Spirit Cutter, the dodging dance steps, it was as if…
It was like the Kagura Dance she herself had learned!
“I understand… Please, you absolutely must, must survive!”
Shion knelt down, forming a gesture of prayer before rising.
This was the opening stance of the Kagura Dance she had learned.
Beneath the fox mask, she seemed to perceive the young woman’s tear-filled smile.
“I promise you, we will meet again.”
A slight tremor, born of sheer exhaustion, laced the young woman’s voice.
“Then I accept your promise.
This Kagura Dance, I dedicate to you.”
Unbeknownst to her, a golden Kagura suzu appeared in Shion’s hand.
It was the very Kagura suzu she would only ever bring out for the most solemn and magnificent festivals in the town.
Shion swung the Kagura suzu, her right hand swaying gracefully.
Her white Miko attire danced in the wind, resembling a butterfly fluttering with the breeze.
The Kagura suzu emitted crisp, melodious chimes, as if yearning to pierce through the ominous black sky above.
The young woman’s Spirit Cutter never ceased its dance.
Black malevolent spirits surged like relentless waves; those already suppressed dissipated into the sky, only to be followed by a continuous, overwhelming tide of new attacks.
The ominous black sky, as if cleaved by the melodious chimes and the fierce gale of the Spirit Cutter, seemed to carve out a small, luminous layer.
A faint ray of sunlight pierced through that tiny fissure, falling gently upon the shrine.
Unbeknownst to them, the young woman’s movements and Shion’s had, unconsciously, begun to perfectly overlap.
Every swing of the blade, every leap the young woman made, Shion mirrored, the only difference being that Shion wielded a golden Kagura suzu.
“Farewell…”
In her final moments, Shion heard the young woman’s whispered farewell.
Shion felt her eyes grow moist.
For her final movement, she raised the Kagura suzu high, then gently lowered it.
She closed her eyes, and tears fell to the ground.
****
When she opened her eyes once more, a thunderous applause filled her ears.
She was still on the play’s stage, where the audience below incessantly applauded and cheered.
Kujou Sakuya even gave Shion a thumbs-up.
Ayane, hidden by the curtain in the waiting area, also clapped and cheered happily.
In Shion’s ears, only the narrator’s voice-over echoed:
“After the fires of war ceased, the Miko offered the most beautiful Kagura Dance to the divine, praying for lasting peace and tranquility to embrace the town.”