Capítulo 554: -547- Ashiya Douman
"Saotome Suzu?"
The name made Rozen furrow his brows again.
The reason was simple.
"I've never heard of this name. How dare you claim to be my senior?" Rozen sarcastically retorted.
This remark was met with the girl's calm demeanor.
"You might not know me, but there are people around you with connections to me. Ask them, and you'll find out."
Said Saotome Suzu, without revealing who these "people with connections" were, leaving this statement like she was wrapping up everything.
"Now that the introduction is over, I'll be on my way."
That extremely casual tone was almost as if saying she wanted to go home for dinner.
This almost caught Rozen off guard, and by the time he realized it, he already had a talisman in his hand.
"Do you think I'll let you just leave like this?"
Rozen raised the talisman, staring straight at Saotome Suzu.
Although there were many unknowns, one thing was certain: the girl had indeed interfered covertly, nearly allowing Raven's Wing to possess him.
Moreover, judging from her insistence on whether he was Yakou's reincarnation, even if she wasn't a follower of Yakou, she was undoubtedly a similar existence.
Perhaps she had some connection with Mutobe Chihiro who most likely led to the outbreak of the current spiritual disaster. They could even be allies.
Based on this alone, Rozen wouldn't easily let her leave.
Not to mention...
"You're the one who unsealed Raven's Wing, aren't you?"
Saying this, Rozen's tone turned cold.
"What did you do to Natsume and Kurahashi?"
Yes, compared to the aforementioned matters, this was the most critical to confirm at the moment.
After all, the sealed Raven's Wing was in the hands of Natsume and Kyouko. Now that Raven's Wing had been released, the two girls were completely missing. The possibility of falling victim to the machinations of the girl claiming to be Saotome Suzu was not out of the question.
Given this, Rozen would absolutely not let her leave easily.
However...
"Those two are fine; you don't need to worry," Saotome Suzu said expressionlessly.
"Moreover, you can't stop me," she added.
This wasn't mere confidence or empty bravado; it was a fact.
Because...
"That person has come to pick me up," Saotome Suzu stated.
At the next moment...
"To think you would casually using an old man like this. I'm unsure whether to call it bold or audacious."
When this unexpectedly youthful yet profoundly weathered and aged voice, carrying a sense of ancient history, made its eerie presence known, the space seemed to sink into a murky swamp, becoming both terrifying and viscous.
"!?"
Rozen's eyes widened, and he turned sharply to look behind Saotome Suzu.
There, an old man was slowly approaching.
"Are you the rumored Tsuchimikado Akikan?"
The old man asked while leaning on a cane. He walked towards Rozen, and the crimson lenses of his sunglasses gleamed with a chilling light, causing the old man to emit an eerie laugh.
"This is the first time this old man and thou have met face to face. Although I have been observing thee covertly, this is the first time we have met like this, and I must say, it is quite an experience. Indeed, thou art exceptional. Though thy spiritual energy is faint, thy spiritual power is astonishingly vast. Young in age yet possessing such understanding and talent, it's no wonder thou were suspected to be Yakou's reincarnation. My shikigami has taken this risk, inviting me to lend a hand during this chaos, to assist in infiltrating the Onmyou Academy, freeing Raven's Wing, and confirming thy identity. At last, I can somewhat understand."
The old man revealed the reason for their presence here without concealing anything and seemed quite satisfied with himself.
Simply put, at a glance, the other appeared to be a mischievous and somewhat peculiar old man, nothing out of the ordinary.
However, as Rozen looked at this old man, an instinctive alarm rang in his mind for the second time, the first being when he encountered Miyachi Iwao.
Moreover, this time, the warning exceeded the level of the one he felt during his encounter with Miyachi Iwao.
This prompted a term to surface in Rozen's mind involuntarily.
"Monster."
The old man before him was a genuine monster.
Just by perfectly controlling his spiritual energy without any leakage, appearing here silently, Rozen hadn't even noticed his approach. This alone could explain the extent of the other's capability.
Furthermore, even though the old man had controlled his spiritual energy well, Rozen's "Mind's Eye" still caught glimpses of phenomena.
It was as if a dark, massive, terrifying, and evil shadow was attached to the old man, roaring and snarling like a ferocious monster, just like an enraged ghost.
This made Rozen tense up all over, and he inwardly mocked himself.
(I thought the 'Fire Demon' I saw last time should be the only one in this world capable of making me feel danger.)
As it turned out, Rozen was still too naive.
Compared to Miyachi Iwao, the old man before him not only equaled him but possibly surpassed the "Fire Demon."
"The so-called strongest onmyoji of the modern era?" Rozen couldn't help but smile wryly.
"If the 'Fire Demon' were to see you, he would probably feel unworthy of that title, wouldn't he?"
Rozen said these words.
This piqued the old man's interest.
"You're referring to the 'Fire Demon'? I have heard of such an individual. It is said that he have attained the true essence of Fudou Myouou, the practitioner who has endured numerous trials to ultimately reach the pinnacle of Onmyoudou. If that is indeed the case, calling them the strongest in the current era would not be an exaggeration," the old man chuckled.
"After all, I am a spirit of the past, an outsider not belonging in this era. Even in my time, I couldn't be considered the strongest, as that child Abe always surpassed me," the old man's words made Rozen slightly stunned, and an absurd thought arose in his mind.
"A past spirit? That child Abe?" These two sentences compelled Rozen to entertain an extremely absurd possibility.
"Could it be..."
Rozen's gaze towards the old man changed.
It turned astonished.
In response, the old man finally burst into hearty laughter.
"Let me reveal my name to you here!"
"I am named Ashiya Douman!"
"Don't forget this name deeply ingrained in your family's history!"
After saying this, the old man, claiming to be Ashiya Douman, vigorously tapped his cane, causing a swirl of black wind to envelop himself and Saotome Suzu by his side.
Not long after, Ashiya Douman and Saotome Suzu simultaneously disappeared from the spot, carried away by the black wind.
Rozen didn't attempt to stop them again.
Although it was highly absurd, if what the old man said was true, then even if he tried to prevent them, Rozen didn't have the confidence of success.
"This joke had gone too far," Rozen was left with only this thought.
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