Souma Takiko had fallen into the hands of Ato Touji.
Everyone present confirmed this fact, their gazes sharpening as they watched Touji, who was grinning menacingly while holding Takiko in his arms.
With this turn of events, the Kurahashi and Souma families, who had planned to summon a deity, would suffer a devastating blow.
The shrine maiden, the core of the divine descent ritual, had fallen into Harutora's hands. This could very well spell the complete collapse of their plans.
Realizing this, Kumomaru's face twisted in shock and anger.
Only Yashamaru, after his initial expression of rage, fixed his gaze firmly on Touji.
"This feeling… That ogre… could it be…"
Yashamaru seemed to have sensed something. Though his fury remained, a chilling smirk lingered on his face.
The others did not notice this, but Rozen, who had completely assumed the role of an observer, took in every change on the battlefield with perfect clarity and narrowed his eyes.
"It seems this won't be so simple."
As Rozen thought this—
Suddenly, a drastic change erupted.
"Guh…! Aaaaaaaaahhhh—!"
Touji, who had captured Takiko, suddenly lost control of his oni energy. His entire body convulsed violently, forcing him to his knees as he let out an agonized roar.
"Touji!"
Harutora's triumphant smile froze on his face as he cried out in shock.
Both Kakugyouki and Hishamaru were equally taken aback.
"Did the ogre inside him lose control?"
Kakugyouki instinctively thought so.
A Living Spirit could utilize the power of the spiritual entity sealed within them, but that entity was still foreign to their own being. It would gradually erode the host's mind and body, eventually transforming them into a Spiritual Disaster.
This was especially true for ogre, whose corruption of their hosts was particularly severe. Even unlocking just the first seal would cause significant erosion—let alone the third and final seal within Touji.
If he fully unleashed it, the likelihood of him degenerating into an uncontrollable, rampaging Spiritual Disaster was extraordinarily high.
Thus, Kakugyouki assumed that after Touji released his third seal, his ogre had gone berserk.
However—
"No, it shouldn't happen this fast. Even if he unlocked the third seal, with Touji's current strength, he should be able to maintain control for at least a few minutes. How could he lose control within mere seconds?"
Hishamaru immediately rejected this assumption.
In truth, both Natsume and Suzuka also thought that Touji's ogre had gone wild—until Rozen, possessing the Wise Eye, disproved it.
Through his Spirit Vision, Rozen could clearly "see" that the ogre inside Touji had not gone berserk. Rather, it had inexplicably lost its power.
No—rather than saying it lost its power, it was more accurate to say that the oni inside Touji was declaring submission.
Submission to whom?
The answer was simple.
To Souma Takiko, whom he held in his arms.
Rozen's thoughts, accelerated by Thought Acceleration and analyzed through Thought Partitioning, quickly unraveled the truth behind the phenomenon.
Thus, he abruptly asked Natsume a question.
"Natsume, when exactly was Touji possessed by an ogre and turned into a Living Spirit?"
The question came out of nowhere.
"Huh?"
Natsume was momentarily stunned but then hurriedly answered, still flustered.
"Tou… Touji was possessed by an ogre during the spiritual disaster terror attack four years ago. He originally lived in Tokyo, but after that incident, he was sent to the countryside for treatment. My father, an Onmyo Healer, became his attending doctor."
Upon hearing this, the first to react in shock was not Rozen but Suzuka.
"You're saying he became a Living Spirit due to the spiritual disaster terror attack four years ago?"
Suzuka's face instantly changed.
Did that not mean that the person responsible for turning Touji into a Living Spirit was none other than the mastermind behind that incident—Dairenji Shidou?
Harutora also realized this fact, his expression shifting dramatically.
"W-What… is going on?"
Only Natsume remained completely bewildered.
No—beside her, Kyouko also looked equally confused, unable to keep up with the situation.
Seeing this, Rozen finally provided an explanation.
"Both spiritual disasters were ultimately preparations for the Divine Descent Ritual."
This was something that had been mentioned before.
Four years ago, Dairenji Shidou orchestrated the Jou-i Daihara, bringing down a Spiritual Disaster upon himself, which led to his rampage and eventual death—only for him to reincarnate as Yashamaru.
Two years ago, Mutobe Chihiro triggered the Jou-i Saihara, similarly perishing in the process and being reborn as Kumomaru.
Both of them had caused devastating Spiritual Disasters and ultimately became the Shikigami of the shrine maiden at the heart of the Divine Descent Ritual.
Whether it was the Jou-i Daihara or the Jou-i Saihara, both were simply failed attempts at divine descent—just like how Rozen's own ritual, if unsuccessful, would have unleashed an unprecedentedly massive Spiritual Disaster. These two incidents were the result of similar failures.
As for which god Yashamaru and Kumomaru sought to descend—there was no need to state the obvious.
It was none other than the ancestral deity that the Souma family aimed to summon.
And now, that deity had connected with Souma Takiko, the shrine maiden, and entered the divine descent state.
More importantly, the ogre inside Touji had originated from that very spiritual disaster, which was caused by the descent of that very same deity.
In other words—
The ogre possessing Touji was a fragment of the god that Yashamaru had attempted to summon during the Jou-i Daihara.
With that being the case, Touji, who was using this power, attempting to attack Takiko—the direct descendant of that deity, and a shrine maiden already infused with divine energy and divinity—was simply impossible.
There was no question about it.
Touji's power came from the same god residing within Takiko.
That was why his body refused to allow him to harm her.
"Damn it…!"
As Harutora realized this, he immediately stirred the dark robe on his body, lunging toward Touji.
Kakugyouki and Hishamaru followed closely, unleashing their maximum spiritual energy and jutsuryoku.
But this time, the Yase Doji intercepted them.
"Too bad, you've lost."
"We won't let you lay a finger on the Princess."
With Yashamaru and Kumomaru's command, a vortex of miasma took form, violently surging toward Harutora's group.
Kakugyouki and Hishamaru immediately leaped forward, shielding Harutora from the miasma, allowing him to break through the vortex and rush toward Touji.
"Touji!"
Harutora shouted as he extended his hand.
"Harutora…!"
Touji gasped in pain, struggling to lift his own hand toward Harutora.
But then, he stopped.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhh—!"
Touji roared mindlessly, grabbed Takiko tightly, and—like a cannonball—launched himself into the sky, vanishing from the battlefield.
"Touji!"
Harutora tried to chase after him, but the swirling miasma surged forward, forcing him to halt.
"Kumomaru!"
Yashamaru smirked victoriously, leaping away.
"Understood, Chief!"
Kumomaru followed without hesitation.
The two Yase Doji dissolved their physical forms, vanishing as spiritual entities.
"Tch…!"
"They escaped again?"
Hishamaru and Kakugyouki clicked their tongues in frustration.
Harutora stood frozen, staring blankly at the direction Touji had disappeared.
Natsume, Suzuka, and Kyouko were equally stunned, unable to react.
"It's over."
As an observer, Rozen calmly declared the outcome.
The chaotic, turbulent battlefield had come to an end.