Before anyone realized it, everything had settled.
Within the grounds of Kanda Myoujin Shrine, all battles had come to an end.
The Hyakki had successively defeated the onmyouji, leaving the shrine grounds littered with wounded or unconscious individuals.
Even the nation's top-tier onmyouji—Amami Daizen, Ohtomo Jin, Kogure Zenjirou, Yuge Mari, and Yamashiro Hayato—had been defeated one after another by several powerful youkai, collapsing to the ground.
Shigeoka Shunsuke, who had been hiding in the rear hall of the shrine, also succumbed to a spiritual affliction and collapsed. As for the non-combatants—Miyoshi Tougo and the Kadei sisters—they simply surrendered and were captured by powerful youkai, having completely lost the ability to resist.
The personnel of the Onmyo Agency had all fallen, bringing the battle within the shrine to a close.
Meanwhile, the battle underground came to an end as well.
Kurahashi Genji, Miyachi Iwao, and Kagami Reiji were all defeated.
Yashamaru and Kumomaru were slain on the spot.
Even Shaver couldn't escape death, his vessel destroyed, making resurrection impossible.
With that, all battles ended in this moment.
As for the ritual—it, too, was complete.
At this moment, Souma Takiko knelt on one knee before Rozen.
"Master."
Souma Takiko addressed Rozen with a tone filled with serenity laced with reverence, and reverence tinged with fanaticism, as she performed the formal obeisance of a subordinate.
Rozen withdrew Galatine and recalled Hokuto. He looked at the kneeling Takiko as he dispersed the High-Grade Mana in his body, reverting it to normal jutsuryoku, and asked indifferently:
"Are you Taira no Masakado now? Or are you still Souma Takiko?"
Rozen asked the question for the sake of clarity.
The girl before him immediately responded.
"I am Taira no Masakado. Master may also call me Souma Kojirou."
Souma Takiko—Taira no Masakado—thus respectfully answered Rozen's question.
In other words...
"The consciousness occupying that body now is Taira no Masakado, huh?"
Kakugyouki, carrying the unconscious Touji, walked up and looked at the kneeling Masakado with a low, heavy voice.
"A deity..."
Hishamaru also looked at Masakado, ripples stirring in her eyes.
Tsuchimikado Harutora, meanwhile, wore an especially complicated expression as he looked upon Masakado.
After all, the god before him was the one he once tried to summon through the Tensou Jifu Ritual, only for it to end in failure, resulting in decades of spiritual disaster in Tokyo—the very source of the catastrophe.
Yakou had borne tremendous pressure and responsibility to summon Masakado. Even his reincarnation through the Taizan Fukun Ritual had been for the sake of preventing the ritual from being performed again—to stop Masakado's descent. His entire life had been intertwined with this god.
Now, this god knelt before Rozen, and how could Harutora not feel conflicted?
Naturally, Harutora wasn't alone.
Natsume and Suzuka were equally complex in their emotions.
The two girls had resealed themselves, returning to their original forms. They looked exhausted and leaned on each other for support, standing beside Rozen and watching Masakado with wistful eyes.
They couldn't help it.
The Tsuchimikado family had fallen from its prestigious place as the head of Onmyoudou because of Yakou's failed Tensou Jifu Ritual. Their descendants had long been entangled with this god, and Natsume could not help but feel pensive.
The Dairenji family—or rather, the Souma branch—was even more deeply involved with Masakado. Suzuka's father, Dairenji Shidou, had gone mad for Masakado, leading to her own transformation and the death of her brother. Even though she had now slain Yashamaru and avenged her, Suzuka found herself unable to feel joy.
As a result, everyone fell into silence, simply staring at Masakado, unable to speak.
Only Rozen, as if unaffected by any of this, continued questioning.
"What about Souma Takiko?" Rozen asked, "Has her consciousness already been replaced?"
To this, Masakado shook his head.
"The miko's consciousness remains. She merely offered her body to me—more precisely, she gave it to me to use."
Masakado's words told Rozen everything about his current state.
In short, Masakado had indeed descended by possessing Takiko's body, but they now existed in a cohabiting state.
Takiko's consciousness hadn't disappeared. It still resided within the body, but control had shifted to Masakado—or rather, Masakado had taken control in order to speak with Rozen, with Takiko yielding it voluntarily.
Originally, Masakado's consciousness shouldn't have awakened so soon. Before descending, he had already merged with all spiritual energy as a universal consciousness, losing his sense of self. Even if he successfully descended, reclaiming his ego would take time. However, due to the curse of submission Rozen placed upon him, Masakado's consciousness had awakened prematurely, allowing him to offer his allegiance like this.
Understanding this situation, Rozen issued a command.
"From now on, the control of this body will remain with Souma Takiko. Unless necessary, you are not to appear."
That was because without such an order, Takiko would never be able to overpower a god's will and reassert her own.
"As you command."
Masakado obeyed without hesitation, even with a sense of contentment.
Then, he closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank into slumber.
And then—
"Akikan?"
With that timid voice, the girl opened her eyes again and looked at Rozen with a gaze full of fear and awe.
Clearly, Takiko had regained control over her body.
Yet even so, in her eyes shone a glint of worship and fanaticism toward Rozen.
Due to her merging with Masakado, and since Masakado had engraved within himself the curse of absolute obedience to Rozen, Takiko naturally couldn't remain unaffected.
So while Takiko was still herself, she now saw Rozen as someone to whom she must unconditionally submit—just like Masakado.
"Congratulations on your successful divine descent. You've fulfilled the long-cherished wish of the Souma family."
Rozen spoke with a half-smile.
"I..."
Takiko's expression grew conflicted.
Her mind was never fully mature to begin with, and although she had completed the Divine descent and fulfilled her family's thousand-year-long dream, given how things had turned out, she no longer knew what to do.
Rozen, however, simply tossed her a line.
"We'll deal with you later. For now, let's look over there."
With that, Rozen turned to the other side.
There, Kyouko was sitting on the ground, holding her father.
"Cough... cough..."
Kurahashi Genji coughed blood as he looked on, his expression dark, his eyes filled with bitterness.
"The divine descent succeeded," Genji muttered to himself, "but what comes next...?"
The man who had driven this entire incident forward and had sought the advancement of the jujutsu world now couldn't help but feel lost.
"Father..."
Kyouko looked heartbroken.
But seeing her, Genji's expression softened.
"That's right. What happens now is no longer my concern," he said with relief. "My mission is complete. The future belongs to you all."
At Genji's words, silence fell once more.
Rozen simply looked down upon the fallen onmyouji, unwilling to say more.
The long battle had ended.
But for the world of jujutsu, true change was only just beginning.