Here is Kyoto.
Japan's spiritual land, point of origin of culture, and symbolic place of culture.
Historical heritage over thousands of years has made Kyoto City have extremely rich historical relics, such as: Kiyomizu-dera, Yasaka Shrine, Heian Jingū, Nijō Castle, Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi Inari-taisha...
Various temples scattered everywhere, and various scenic spots and historical sites brought very strong historical atmosphere.
Although not comparable to international metropolitan cities like Tokyo in terms of basic infrastructure, Kyoto also had great reputation in the world.
Throughout the year, countless tourists came here to travel, it could be said this city was always in a bustling phase. And now was the peak period of human flow.
However, this ancient Heian-kyō city that should have been filled with humans thousands of years ago was silent like a dead city, without a single person. One could glimpse from the still steaming coffee left on the café table, as if all people in entire Kyoto disappeared in an instant.
The actual situation was roughly like that.
Less than half an hour ago, entire Kyoto suddenly went dark, as if sunlight or other light had been completely erased by mysterious power, plunging this ancient city into pitch darkness so thick we couldn't see our own hands.
When sunlight once again shone on this city that had aged thousands of years, a terrifying scene occurred: all living beings, including birds, pets, and their human owners, all disappeared.
This was truly like a large-scale supernatural incident occurring.
*KĀCHĀ!*
Suddenly, a sound like breaking glass. Heard suddenly on the completely silent street without anyone, appeared very piercing to the ears and prominent.
"...Is this a space magic formation, or a barrier?!"
The ones stepping out from the shattered space were Hikaru and Vali. Vali stared at the surroundings with a shocked face.
"There's a barrier and also a space magic formation."
Hikaru extended his finger and slightly pointed to empty space. Instantly, the strong perception power that was a Transcendent's characteristic transformed into thousands of thin ripples like water waves, spreading in all directions, layers within the earth, empty space continuously analyzing and sensing everything.
After a few breaths, Hikaru's perception power touched a thin layer of Sub-space hidden in space. When passing through that thin layer, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people silent like statues were visible. They all floated in dark void, as if asleep and unconscious. These were the ordinary humans who disappeared from Kyoto.
"So it's Sub-space hidden in the space layer..."
The general situation was clear. Hikaru said to Vali.
"Rizevim utilized space development to create Sub-space similar to Kyoto. Now all ordinary humans and living beings in Kyoto are detained in it. He shouldn't be so kind-hearted to let humans take shelter in it. I'm worried it's to achieve a hidden purpose by sacrificing the lives of these ordinary people. The greatest possibility is sacrificing these humans."
That's right, sacrifice.
Who was the sacrifice target? Hikaru still didn't know. However, this was the most likely scenario currently.
"Damn! Have Rizevim and the Old Devil King Faction gone crazy?!"
Vali couldn't help but draw a cold breath.
It should be known that now was no longer ancient times. Sacrificing all humans in an entire city on such a large scale like this, regardless of whether humans would collapse or not, even the Gods definitely wouldn't allow something like this to happen.
"Crazy?!"
Hikaru shook his head slightly.
"That man is a madman from beginning to end. You should know this better than me."
"Besides, don't forget, both Rizevim and the Old Devil King Faction are now wanted by the Underworld. Perhaps in their hearts, being wanted by the Underworld or being wanted by the Gods is the same. At least Rizevim definitely thinks so..."
Vali fell silent.
Indeed, that man was truly a madman from beginning to end, an extreme madman.
"And this is only a space magic formation. There's also a barrier installed around Kyoto. The purpose of this barrier is to disturb the Gods' vision, so others cannot discover Kyoto's abnormalities in a short time."
"Also, to facilitate them uprooting Onmyōdō to its roots."
"Onmyōdō?!"
It was then that Vali used his perception power and discovered that in northwest Kyoto, there was a large number of Onmyōji hiding. They seemed to be imprisoned by a barrier.
What made it even harder for him to believe was, although these Onmyōji's strength varied, there was one thing he could be certain of, the number of these Onmyōji was almost equivalent to the total of all Japan's Onmyōdō organizations. In other words, Rizevim and the Old Devil King Faction were truly, as Emperor Shin said, preparing to uproot Onmyōdō, one of the rare strong supernatural heritages among humans, to its roots.
"...What exactly does Rizevim want to do?!"
Kyoto's situation was truly beyond Vali's expectations. He was now truly confused, completely unable to guess the madman Rizevim's intentions. It was impossible he was annihilating Onmyōdō just on a whim.
"What Rizevim wants to do, hasn't the answer already come to us."
Hikaru's eyes emitted slightly cold light.
Several figures appeared in both their perception ranges, ahead. The one fleeing in panic was an Onmyōji, and behind him were several Great Yōkai chasing with all their might.
Seen from the weak and chaotic aura of that fugitive, it could be judged that without outsider intervention, this fleeing Onmyōji would definitely be torn apart by several Great Yōkai behind him in a few minutes.