The Shaman Desires Transcendence

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Rise was caught off guard as the man’s hand moved like a flash of lightning, gripping the air.

She felt as if her breath was being choked, even though they were at a distance, and she was dragged along the floor, leaving marks behind as if pulled by an invisible hand.

Creeeak.

As Rise was dragged, she instinctively brought her hands to her neck to try to remove whatever was strangling her, but nothing was there. All she could do was gasp for breath and helplessly look down at the floor as she was dragged along.

The only thing that caught Rise’s eye was the familiar floor of the shrine.
“Huh? Why is the pillar…?”

In the midst of being dragged, she witnessed something strange.
The ground beneath the shrine’s pillars was dug up.
Judging by the amount of damp soil spilling out, it seemed to reach down to the roots of the pillar.

But the man showed no intent of answering her questions as he continued on without slowing his pace, moving straight to the main hall.

Creeeak.

As they reached the main hall, the door swung open as if it had been waiting for them, and a figure hanging inside was revealed.

“Ri-Rise!”
It was Rise’s father, Saigo Kenji.

Bound to a rough-hewn log, Kenji shouted Rise’s name as if he were spitting blood, seeing her being dragged along like a dog. He glared at the man who was choking her.

“You demon! Let my daughter go at once!”
His shout was filled with anger.

But the man merely smiled, seemingly unfazed by the fury.

That smile appeared innocent at first glance, yet it held an ominous quality that gave him a bad feeling just from looking at it.

“I shall do so.”

The man said, dragging Rise right in front of Kenji before speaking those words.

“Are you toying with me right now?!”
But his attitude only served to agitate Kenji further. It felt as if he were making deceitful claims without even moistening his lips.

Yet the man held Kenji’s glare directly, as if to assure him of his sincerity, suggesting that there wasn’t a hint of falsehood in his words. His calm eyes seemed to challenge Kenji’s perception of his truth and purity.

“Both you and your daughter shall be freed.”
The man’s eyes remained unwavering.

“I have no intention of doing you any harm.”
They did not waver.

“On the contrary, this might actualize a blessing for you both.”
“My word….”
“Yes. I have come to bring you a blessing. Is that not quite admirable?”

Kenji realized that in the man’s deep, rock-like eyes, there resided only truth.
This man had approached him with an amicable face, choked him out cold, bound him to a log, and dragged his daughter by something he couldn’t even comprehend.
He instinctively felt that this man was only speaking the truth.

How could that be?
How could what this man said possibly be true?

The weight of the words imbued with Spirit-speech was immensely heavy and infinitely pure.
It was something that defied Kenji’s common sense.

“But indeed… Taking the shortcut is often faster and easier. Thus, I shall propose just once.”

The man muttered something incomprehensible while grabbing a bunch of Rise’s hair. Then he brought it right before Kenji’s eyes and spoke.

“Are you willing to tell me the true name of the Divine Body?”

The name of the Divine Body.
At that word, both Kenji and Rise’s faces turned rigid.

Names hold power.
It was no exception even for those known as Divine Bodies.
A Divine Object is filled with spirituality, while a Divine Spirit lacks wisdom. They exist isolated from external stimuli, and only the name of the Divine Body stands as the one and only passageway to interact with them.

Observation and interaction are closely linked.
Knowing the name of the Divine Body means being recognized by it, and their mutual recognition brings the ability to influence one another.
In metaphor, Divine Bodies are akin to an intranet, and knowing their names is like possessing a login ID.

“…What do you intend to do with that knowledge?”
Kenji managed to ask through heavy lips.

“What changes if I know it?”
But the man only playfully replied back, without a clear answer.

“…I cannot tell you.”
“I figured as much.”

With a smirk, he pulled out two items from his possession.

One was a bell. It was small, about the size of a fingernail, and appeared cheap, with a rough surface and dirtied with rust and grime. Particularly, there were blackened spots mixed with green clumps, suggesting it had been discarded in a neglected place for a long time.

The other was a tiny plastic bag. Inside, there were various substances. Some contained white powder, some resembled crushed herbs, and others had thin pieces of paper. The white powder brought to mind baking soda, translucent yet resembling shattered ice, forming sharp crystalline shapes. The herbs, on the other hand, looked like dried wormwood, clumped into uneven spherical forms.

The man shook the small plastic bag in front of Kenji with a mocking smile.
“Not a shaman, and yet you possess these? Were you aiming to enter a trance state and perform a ritual with this?”

“W-How do you know that…?”
“How could I not recognize the foul smell of these? They were easily discoverable.”

Kenji stared at his daughter Rise, whose face now turned pale. Rise pondered the man’s words, suddenly recalled something, and gasped.

“Father! Did you use drugs?!”
“R-Rise! No! That…”

Kenji seemed to fumble for an explanation but fell silent, averting his gaze from Rise. In an attempt to change the subject, he shouted at the man.

“You! Are you trying to threaten me?! I can’t tell you the name even under threat! Just kill me instead!”

The man’s chuckles pierced through Kenji’s furious outburst.
“Why do you think I would kill you? You need to live. I will ensure that.”

However, he needed to extract information, so this was prepared.
The man murmured as he shook the small bell.

Clink.

As it floated and quivered in the air, the bell emitted a pure sound, cleansing the heart, resonating throughout the entire building and spreading outside as if it were tolling.

Clang—
The sound of the bell echoed as if summoning someone.
Something that was swimming on the damp dirt began to stir.

It slithered forward like a snake, dragging its belly across the ground, occasionally standing on broken fingers as it performed handstands, its rigid limbs extended like tentacles, leaving muddy footprints everywhere.

“Uh, uh…”
A horrific sight that appeared as if it had been soaked in salt for a hundred years.
Despite being emaciated, its skin, which had barely covered the bones, lost elasticity, with blackened eyes oozing saline fluid. It crawled with a shriveled body, insufficient even to gauge its original size in life.

Even as it attempted to stand on broken arms, it writhed like a snake, leaving meaningless footprints on the walls and floors as it made its approach.

“I happened to notice a living person serving as a human sacrifice under the pillar. It’s rare to find such a human sacrifice in this day and age. Quite the stroke of luck, wouldn’t you say?”

Rise felt as if she were awake but paralyzed beneath a heavy weight.
“But it just so happens this human sacrifice is a child. Hence, I’ve shoved in the scattered souls to create Seitani. Perhaps due to the abundance of souls, it formed quite easily. How does it seem? Quite plausible, wouldn’t you agree?”

Human sacrifice?
Seitani?
She didn’t understand a single word.

‘S-Save me…’
She had no desire to comprehend.
‘The salty smell, the putrid stench…’
Rise fell into confusion as she observed the horrifying evil spirit approaching her. The air surrounding the gaping hole reminded her of dried salted fish, and as it loomed closer, the opening in its mouth exhaled an abominable decay.

The evil spirit’s mouth stretched wide, wider, and continued widening. And in that moment, it seemed as if it could tear apart her entire face…

‘Like a flower.’
She thought it resembled a flower.

“Rise!”

Right before the mouth of the evil spirit swallowed her whole,
that was the thought she had.

* * *

“Rise! Remember what I taught you!”
“Never, ever speak the name!”
“No matter what trickery ensues, you must never give in!!”

* * *

“Rise! Rise! Class is over!”

Rise felt someone shaking her body.
Forced to open her eyes and lift her head slightly, she saw Airi.

“Why are you so sleepy that you didn’t even eat?”

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