"Master!"
"Master!"
"Master!"
As these calls echoed, Otakemaru, Momiji, Suzuhiko-hime, and others leaped back to Rozen's side, forming a triangular formation around him, shielding him as they warily stared at Takiko, who was floating mid-air.
The retreat of these powerful yokai also brought relief to Amami Daizen, Ohtomo Jin, Yamashiro Hayato, and the others, who instinctively backed away to maintain distance.
"Master!"
Even Ibaraki-doji turned around and, with a single leap, returned to Rozen's side to stand guard for him.
Both sides simultaneously ceased their attacks, maintaining a vigilant stance toward the evidently extraordinary situation.
"Don't think you can escape, Ibaraki-doji!"
Only Shaver, as if completely consumed by madness, ignored everything else and charged recklessly toward Ibaraki-dōji.
Unfortunately, before Shaver could get close, a terrifying wave of demonic energy struck him, blasting him away.
Shaver was sent crashing into an Exorcism Bureau transport vehicle, triggering an explosion that engulfed his tall and slender body in flames. His form continuously underwent core rupture phenomena.
"Did you really think I couldn't deal with you?"
Ibaraki-dōji snorted coldly, retracting his fist as he and Ōtakemaru remained on high alert toward Takiko in the sky.
Rozen paid no attention to these events, instead gazing intently at Takiko, who floated mid-air.
Takiko had stopped calling out. She appeared to have lost all consciousness, her limbs dangling like a puppet with severed strings, her eyes shut tight. Her crimson hair billowed wildly, causing the ten ornaments on her head to shake violently, nearly shattering.
Meanwhile, divine energy, as brilliant as the sun, endlessly surged outward from her body, as if the world itself had been torn open, allowing infinite power to flow in from another dimension.
However, this power did not remain within Takiko but continued to spill into the surroundings.
Rozen understood instantly.
"It didn't fully succeed?"
That's right.
It didn't fully succeed.
Although Takiko had summoned a deity, the god had not completely descended into her body—or rather, had not formally manifested.
This was only natural.
Despite Takiko possessing extraordinary spiritual aptitude as a shrine maiden capable of channeling divine spirits, the difference between temporary divine possession and full divine descent was immense.
Even summoning Heroic Spirits was an arduous process—let alone summoning a god.
Of course, summoning gods in this world was easier than in Chaldea's, or else Rozen would not have been able to directly summon Kinu and Gyokuto back then, nearly triggering a catastrophic spiritual disaster.
At that time, Rozen had only intended to summon Kinu and Gyokuto's avatars, but because he had underestimated how much easier divine descent was in this world compared to Chaldea, their true bodies had descended instead. This fortunate accident had ultimately granted him two immensely powerful familiars.
Rozen had been able to do this easily only because he possessed complete knowledge of Divine Spirit Summoning. In contrast, for others in this world, the difficulty was evident—just look at how the Kurahashi and Souma families had schemed for a thousand years yet still hadn't succeeded.
Thus, without fully prepared conditions or a complete ritual, Takiko's divine descent was merely the result of a shrine maiden's power going berserk.
Due to extreme emotional fluctuations and fragile mental resilience, shrine maidens with exceptional aptitude were often overwhelmed, leading to spiritual energy outbursts and disastrous consequences.
At this moment, Takiko was in exactly that state.
As the Kurahashi and Souma families had nearly completed their preparations for the divine descent ritual, Takiko, as the shrine maiden, had begun integrating her own spiritual essence with the god's divinity, gradually entering the descent state.
Because of this, Takiko's body now radiated divine energy, instilling dread in yokai, spirits, and supernatural beings alike.
But now, her excessive emotional agitation had caused the divine energy within her to spiral out of control.
The god had not yet fully descended, but its power was already flowing into this world through Takiko as a conduit, spilling into the surroundings.
This led to only one possible outcome.
The spiritual energy of all things was being affected, plunging into a state of distortion.
And what happens when the spiritual energy of all things becomes unstable?
The answer was simple.
A Spiritual Disaster was about to occur.
"Rumble..."
Suddenly, the earth trembled violently.
The immense spiritual energy spilling from Takiko's body seeped into the spiritual ley lines and the surrounding atmosphere, causing the very fabric of the spiritual plane to warp.
Immediately, the underground tremors intensified, shaking the earth and suppressing the sky. Spiritual energy fluctuated wildly, like an infernal feast, throwing the balance of yin and yang into chaos while the five elemental forces—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—erupted violently.
"Boom!"
At last, in a corner of Tokyo, a Spiritual Disaster broke out.
Pitch-black miasma erupted from the depths of the earth.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
Like a chain reaction, the ground across Tokyo—rivers, suburbs, highways—began to crack apart, spewing dark miasma into the air.
Some of the miasma merely writhed chaotically, while others violently distorted everything around them, shattering buildings and shaking the atmosphere. Others still began taking form, gradually materializing into bizarre spiritual entities.
Phase 3: Active Spiritual Disaster.
Countless spiritual disasters materialized and let out monstrous roars.
The Spiritual Disaster's Night Parade of a Hundred Demon had begun.
Tokyo was instantly consumed by the miasma and the howls of the rampaging spirits.
"Clatter..."
A handgun fell to the ground.
It slipped from the grasp of a Magic Crimes Investigation Department officer, who stood there frozen in shock, staring at the unfolding calamity.
He was not alone.
Many onmyoji also dropped their weapons, some even falling to their knees.
They all shared the same thought.
"It's over..."
Following the true Night Parade of a Hundred Demon, a Spiritual Disaster's Night Parade of a Hundred Demon had now emerged.
Despair filled the hearts of every onmyoji.
"This can't be real..."
Even Yamashiro Hayato's lips trembled, leaving him speechless.
"Chief Amami!"
Although Ohtomo Jin's pupils contracted in shock, his extensive experience with darkness and crises allowed him to regain composure despite the horror. He turned toward Amami Daizen and shouted.
Amami Daizen immediately understood Ohtomo Jin's intent.
"Retreat!"
After a long silence, Amami Daizen finally issued the command.
No one objected.
After all, under these circumstances, no one believed they could still resist.
Thus, the onmyoji, almost mechanically, rushed toward their vehicles, starting them up and driving away as fast as possible.
In an instant, the battlefield was left with only Rozen and Takiko's group.
At that moment, the Spiritual Disaster army began its assault.
However, the countless yokai, monsters, and demons also clashed with the rampaging spirits.
And so, an all-out battle among non-human entities erupted, filling the entire city with the fires of war.
As for Rozen, surrounded by powerful beings, he gazed at Takiko, his eyes gleaming.
"Clap!"
In the next moment, Rozen abruptly clapped his hands together.