That dawn at the Tombs of the Star.
Haguru, a sorcerer belonging to the Time Vessel Association, moved with heavy steps within the dark palace. Today, he had failed the mission entrusted to him by Tengen.
The Time Vessel Association housed quite a number of sorcerers. They were tasked with escorting Tengen, assisting him, monitoring and supporting the growth entities, and handling the affairs of the sorcerer world on behalf of Tengen, who seldom ventured outside the palace due to the dangers involved.
Haguru's mission this time was to deal with an affair of the sorcerer world. And he had failed it spectacularly.
Recalling the details of the mission, Haguru clenched his teeth.
"Higane, to think he would commit such an outrageous act!"
Higane had been a sorcerer at the Time Vessel Association for as long as Haguru. He was trusted by Tengen to a great extent, assigned with significantly important tasks, such as guarding the sword possessed by Tengen.
What the sword was or why Tengen kept it was unknown to Haguru. In fact, aside from a very few, no one knew that the object inside that enchanted box was a "sword."
The only person who knew the details about the sword was Tengen, yet no one dared to ask him what it was. It had always been kept in an enchanted box, sealed with a spell that prevented anyone other than Tengen and a person designated by him from opening it, undoubtedly signifying its value.
Haguru personally thought it must be a supreme spiritual tool endowed with tremendous spells.
"And to think he stole the sword and fled, even killing the sorcerers of the Time Vessel Association who were in pursuit?!"
When Haguru found Higane dead inside a sealed theater, he was furious to his core. If Higane had been alive, interrogation or something could have revealed where the sword had been taken, but a dead body couldn't speak.
Fuming, Haguru soon became despondent.
"It was a task directly ordered by Lord Tengen…"
He was terribly sorry to have disappointed him. Haguru trudged along. Even if it meant his death for this failure, he had to report back to Lord Tengen before dying.
The sorcerers standing in front of Tengen's room stepped aside as they saw Haguru. As he entered Tengen's room and the door closed behind him, Haguru immediately knelt down.
"There's no need for that."
A muffled voice was heard. Instead of rising, Haguru pressed his forehead even more to the ground.
"I have failed to execute Lord Tengen's command."
A long silence followed. Then, a sigh was heard above Haguru's head.
"Let's talk face to face."
Wouldn't it seem like my face is on the floor if I stayed like this?
Haguru could not ignore Tengen's words, spoken almost in jest, and lifted his head.
Tengen sat in front of Haguru with the face of a middle-aged woman, but faintly visible on her neck were wrinkles and a strange Kanji, signs that Tengen was gradually undergoing spirit transformation. The time for fusion was approaching.
"Have you not recovered the sword?"
Tengen asked calmly. Haguru bowed his head in shame.
"Yes. One of the sorcerers sent for the pursuit died, and Higane was already dead when I arrived. The sword you commanded to be retrieved has disappeared along with the enchanted box it was kept in."
"Was Higane the murderer who killed the sorcerer?"
"Yes. Despite thorough investigation of the scene, there were no traces of anyone else besides Higane and the dead sorcerer. The remaining traces belonged only to those two."
Even with the assistance of supernatural police, checking CCTV footage and fingerprint analysis yielded only their traces. The scene itself, a long-closed small cinema, had been turned into a mess by their fight, making it difficult to find any clues.
Tengen, with an inscrutable expression, said:
"Ensure the deceased sorcerer's family receives adequate compensation."
"…Understood."
"Do you have any leads on the whereabouts of the sword?"
"It is with great regret that I report… it seems Higane intended to sell it to the enemy faction."
For Haguru, this was shocking. To think of selling Tengen's item to the enemy faction? Tengen symbolizes Japan's sorcerers world and owns the barrier surrounding Japan.
If the sword inside that enchanted box played a crucial role in maintaining the barrier, and it had fallen into the hands of the enemy faction, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Was he attempting to sell it, or has it already been sold?"
"…I have not been able to find out. My apologies. However, it was mentioned that Higane priced it at 500 million yen, so there were hardly any buyers."
"There wouldn't be many instances of such a weapon appearing on the market at that price."
"It was claimed not to be a supreme spiritual tool. Apparently, they foolishly failed to recognize its spell."
Haguru had never imagined that the sword, kept in the Tombs of the Star for hundreds of years and placed inside the enchanted box, was not considered a supreme spiritual tool.
Tengen picked up a teacup after a moment of silence and said,
"It's not a supreme spiritual tool."
"Excuse me?"
"I said the sword is not a supreme spiritual tool."
Haguru's face froze for a moment, then his eyes rolled vividly, filled with clear confusion.
"Then why did you keep the sword so carefully?"
With a voice full of incomprehension, Tengen quietly said,
"Because it is not a supreme spiritual tool."
"...I don't understand what you mean..."
Tengen stood up, holding the teacup, and walked towards the window. He opened the window wide and looked out at the landscape beyond the Tombs of the Star.
"I don't even know what the sword is. Perhaps there's only one person in this world who does."
"Who might that be?"
"I do not know that either."
"There are things even Lord Tengen does not know?"
Haguru asked with a genuinely puzzled expression. Tengen smiled bitterly at that look.
"I am not a god. Just a slightly larger cog in the machine. Ignorance is natural."
"A cog?"
"Indeed."
A cog in the wheel called the world, or causality.
Tengen did not verbalize the latter part of his thought.
It was clear that the sorcerer before him, who believed Tengen to be the pinnacle of sorcerers and that sorcerers was everything, hence regarding Tengen as omniscient, would not understand.
Tengen did not blame him. Like Tengen, he was just a cog within this vast mechanism. It was not strange for such a small cog to be unable to see beyond the confines of the mechanism. Naturally.
...Though certainly not the owner of the sword.
Tengen leaned against the window frame.
"The curse cycles, Tengen. No matter how powerful a sorcerer is born, a spirit of equal might emerges. And vice versa. Breaking this cycle is something not even you can do. Nor can I. That's why I've summoned a being capable of breaking this wretched cycle. To finally be freed from this damned prison called causality, reincarnation, or fate."
The voice of an old friend, unforgettable even after nearly a thousand years, echoed in Tengen's ears. Tengen closed his eyes and called out his friend's name.
"Kannon."
"Are you referring to the Bodhisattva of Compassion?"
Tengen did not answer Haguru's question but instead said something else.
"It seems the time for assimilation is drawing near."
Surprise and tension spread across Haguru's face. Tengen's assimilation was a very important event that the Time Vessel Association devoted all its efforts to. Whether Tengen remained as a human or became a spirit depended solely on the assimilation.
"I will inform the growth entity and the owner of the six eyes."
"It's not time yet. I can hold on until the spring after next. The owner of the six eyes and the growth entity are still too young; let's wait a bit longer."
"So, the time for assimilation is... the summer after next year?"
"That's right."
It's November 2004 now. The summer after next year would be the summer of 2006.
"I will make all the necessary preparations."
Tengen did not respond to Haguru's bowed head. Whether preparations were hastily made or meticulously planned, the assimilation of the growth entity would proceed. The six eyes and the growth entity are strongly connected by the causality of powerful sorcerers.
If there's a sorcerer of the six eyes, in their hands it shall be; if not, a new owner of the six eyes will emerge and intervene, and the growth entity will ultimately assimilate.
...Even if the sorcerer of the six eyes, the growth entity, and Tengen all do not wish for assimilation.
Tengen, contemplating the being who might exist outside of this cycle and the vanished sword of that individual, muttered inwardly.
"Kannon, it seems the being you've summoned has finally set foot upon this land."
Whether that person possessed the power to intervene in the assimilation, and even if they did, whether they would choose to intervene or not, was unknown to Tengen.
Even if the being came from another place, that place would have its own cycles, and more importantly, by being born into this world, they might have become part of its cycles. They could change the cycle, but they might not realize it's a cycle and simply leave it be. The possibilities were endless.
For whatever reason, if that person does not intervene, the assimilation will inevitably occur, and no matter what kind of being they are, the cycle will not be broken.
If they do intervene…
"It will certainly become clear."
Whether they are just another cog, or…
A being capable of reversing the heavens, breaking all cycles.