Haruhiko and Hoshino Hotaru actually meet often.
Since their birthday, their relationship has been extraordinary, and naturally it is impossible for them to bump into each other only once in a while like before.
However, given Hoshino Hotaru's character, not seeing him for a long time was like not seeing him for half a year.
Although she has no expression, her emotions are far more intense than ordinary people.
After a long time, the two people separated.
"Good morning."
Haruhiko said as he looked at her glossy soft lips.
"Good morning."
Hoshino Hotaru let out a breath and hugged his arm again, the two of them were very close.
"why you?"
Haruhiko asked casually, feeling the touch on his arm.
He had been in contact with Hoshino Rin before.
Now it is suddenly replaced by Hoshino Hotaru, there must be a reason.
However, he was also worried about whether doing so would lead to exposure.
Hoshino Hotaru.
how to say?
Haruhiko always felt that she was not afraid of exposure.
"The ruins of Takamagahara are more dangerous."
Hoshino Hotaru raised her head slightly, looked at him, and said, "Sister is the heir of Izumo Shrine, and she needs to prepare many things. If she is not free, please ask me to come and pick you up."
"I see."
Haruhiko pinched her little face.
The main reason is that she looks like a cat waiting to be fed.
Cute yet possessive.
Hoshino Rin and Hoshino Hotaru are both heirs of Izumo Shrine.
But the former is in the light and the latter is in the dark.
This means that Hoshino Rin will truly fulfill his duties as heir, and Hoshino Hotaru only needs to practice.
Haruhiko stepped forward and opened the door.
Because they were going to Izumo Shrine, neither of them took off their shoes.
They went upstairs to the teleportation array room.
With a flash of psychic energy, two people appeared at Izumo Shrine.
Haruhiko twitched his arm, but it was stuck.
He looked at Hoshino Hotaru and couldn't help but smile when he saw her reluctant eyes.
"firefly."
Haruhiko said.
Hoshino Hotaru stood on tiptoes and looked at her with a pout.
The meaning goes without saying.
Haruhiko lowered his head and pressed it twice.
Hoshino Hotaru was satisfied and let go of her hands.
The two men left the room.
The location at this time is the apse.
It was usually deserted, but at this moment there were seven people standing there.
According to the compromise between the Edo Archaeological Bureau and the Psychic Council, sixteen new exploration teams were established, each with a maximum of thirty people.
As far as Haruhiko knew, all sixteen factions were filled with thirty people, and nothing was wasted.
The reason there are only seven people here is because more people work at the Takamagahara ruins.
Their job is simple, to explore and discover new ruins.
Haruhiko was a little uncomfortable.
Because except for him, they are all women.
He's too conspicuous here.
"Haruhiko-kun."
Hoshino Rin stood in front of the crowd and waved to him.
Seeing this, Haruhiko and Hotaru Hoshino stepped forward.
"firefly."
Hoshino Rin smiled again and touched Hoshino Hotaru's hair.
The witches all turned their attention to the three of them.
Mainly Haruhiko.
One of them got to know him because of the last Kannazuki Festival.
But more people are seeing it for the first time.
Seeing a man at Izumo Shrine is as rare as encountering a giant panda in the wild.
Qingyan was sitting on pins and needles.
Various eyes looked back and forth.
Who can withstand this?
Fortunately, his ordeal ended quickly.
Hoshino Aoi appears.
A group of shrine maidens immediately stood up straight and stared intently.
This shows the majesty of Hoshino Aoi.
"Mother."
Hoshino Rin bowed slightly and said, "Everything is ready and you can go."
In front of outsiders, she would always call her "adult".
Generally speaking, this is a habit that has lasted for thousands of years in large families.
It is aristocratic etiquette left over from the past.
"Set off."
Hoshino Aoi said in a cold tone.
Like Hoshino Hotaru, she rarely changes her expression.
Haruhiko used to think that he was born with such a personality.
But after learning some truths from Hotaru Hoshino, he changed his mind.
After the age of twenty-five, the sisters would never see each other. It is reasonable to develop such a character.
Haruhiko doesn't want to see Hoshino Rin like this, so he has to keep working hard.
He glanced at Hoshino Aoi.
She had ignored him from the moment he appeared until now.
It was as if he really was the priest of Izumo Shrine.
But this is obviously unreasonable.
Judging from the reactions of other witches, they didn't know that an outsider would join.
Therefore, why did Aoi Hoshino agree to invite him to join the exploration of the ruins of Izumo Shrine?
Haruhiko couldn't understand.
The group left Izumo Shrine through the teleportation array.
When he appeared again, he was already back in Tokyo.
Although there are many entrances to the Takamagahara ruins, they are all concentrated in Tokyo.
In other places, it is naturally inaccessible.
Hoshino Aoi raised her hand and used a blindfold to hide everyone's whereabouts.
The main reason is that the appearance of so many witches will inevitably attract attention.
At this time, they were in the courtyard belonging to Izumo Shrine.
After making a good disguise, go to one of the designated entrances of the Royal Palace, which is the shopping building not far away.
After visiting the Takamagahara ruins several times, Haruhiko discovered that the Edo Archaeological Bureau liked to set up entrances in busy places.
Maybe this is what is called hiding in the city.
The more crowded the place, the more hidden it is and not easy to be discovered.
Seven people plus Haruhiko and Hoshino Aoi, a total of nine people entered the elevator together.
On the way, Haruhiko learned about the ruins he was going to today through Hoshino Rin.
Located on the fourth floor of the Takamagahara ruins.
After the Edo Archaeological Bureau agreed to add a new team, the formation of the sixteen forces was completed at a very fast speed.
Of course, the most unlucky one is Miyamoto.
Within a month, I lost my home.
The Imperial Palace did not care about the vacant places for the time being, so they were sent back to the ground.
Some were tempted to join other factions, while the rest followed Miyamoto Yushi and merged into the Utsunomiya clan.
Today's fifteen teams are concentrated on the fourth floor for exploration, and the results are quite good.
There have been seven newly discovered ruins.
Haruhiko naturally doesn't know the specific harvest.
But the number of people lost, he knew, was twenty-nine.
The minimum person who can join the exploration team is a third-level psyker.
From this we can see the danger of the Takamagahara ruins.
The ruins we visited today were the first ones discovered at Izumo Shrine.
Located in the southwest of the fourth floor, the entrance is a mountain.
Because of the restrictions, they have never entered until now.
This is why Hoshino Aoi ended up personally.
That restriction cannot be opened by fourth-level psykers.
The entrance alone is so troublesome, and the things inside must have a fifth level.
To be honest, the more Haruhiko listened, the more strange he felt.
He really shouldn't find an outsider to participate in such a relic.
Could it be that his relationship with Hoshino Hotaru has been noticed by Hoshino Aoi?
Is it just so peaceful?
Haruhiko has always believed that there are no men in Izumo Shrine, and Hoshino Aoi would object to him falling in love with Hoshino Rin or Hoshino Hotaru.
But that didn't happen.
So why were there no men before?
Or are you saying that you will be killed later?
"Haruhiko-kun."
Hoshino Rin's voice interrupted Haruhiko's random thoughts.
He raised his head and took the mask she gave him.
The fourth level of ruins is extraordinary, with so much psychic energy that you need to wear a special mask to breathe.
Although Haruhiko had a mask, he did not refuse Hoshino Rin's kindness.
Coming to the fourth floor again, it was the familiar gray weather again.
It is so deep down there that there is no sunlight.
It's not completely black, thanks to the magic of psychic energy.
Because there was too much spiritual energy in the air, there was a faint light.
Haruhiko followed Hoshino Aoi and did not chat with the Hoshino sisters.
The main reason is that the aura of this palace minister is too strong and indifferent.
Chatting just feels out of place.
After walking for ten minutes in a dim environment, a mountain peak came into view.
Haruhiko raised his head. The mountain was bare, without any vegetation, and even the mountain looked quite dead.
When he reached the mountainside, he found a newly opened mountain road.
Rough knife marks can still be clearly seen on the stone stairs.
Haruhiko walked up the mountain road.
The mountain peak was relatively steep, but fortunately, he now had the physique of a third-level demon, so he didn't feel tired.
He glanced at the Hoshino sisters, they were also quite relaxed.
When they reached the mountainside, Hoshino Aoi stopped.
"Lord Palace Secretary."
The witches who had been waiting here came forward and bowed in unison.
Haruhiko counted twenty-one, and adding the nine of them, there were exactly thirty people.
He was a little surprised that he was included in this?
No wonder no one from the Imperial Palace asked about him when they saw him before.
It turned out that he had already taken the spot.
As for who it is, the Imperial Palace doesn't care, it's up to Izumo Shrine to decide.
After all, theoretically, these sixteen forces are all their superiors.
I can't afford to offend him.
But the better Hoshino Aoi treats him, Haruhiko feels inexplicably frightened.
When something goes wrong, there must be a monster.
He believed in Hoshino Rin and Hoshino Hotaru, but Hoshino Aoi was not within the scope of his trust.
Fortunately, even if something happens, he has a way to escape.
"Where is the entrance?"
Hoshino Aoi asked after nodding.
"Master Palace Secretary, please come with us."
The leading middle-aged miko turned around and walked to the left.
At this time, there is a stone forest halfway up the mountain, which is intricate and intricate, like a maze.
Haruhiko feels more like a hedgehog.
They walked through it and soon reached the entrance.
A stone door embedded in the mountain wall.
If you don't look carefully, you won't even know it's a door.
Haruhiko secretly thought that he was lucky to have found this ruins.
"Lord Palace Secretary, we have tried various methods before, but they have never been effective."
The middle-aged witch guessed, "It should be that we haven't found the pattern, or we can't reach the strength to open the door."
The second half of the sentence is obviously talking about brute force cracking.
They tried to blast it away with fourth-level spells, but to no avail.
Not only was the door destroyed, it didn't even have any cracks.
Hoshino Aoi nodded slightly, and she took out a Kagura bell.
Overall golden, with three layers and pleasant ringtones.
Her lips were slightly parted as she chanted a spell, and the Kagura bell in her hand emitted a golden light.
Like ripples in water, they continue to spread outward.
After touching the stone door, subtle changes occurred.
There is a burning breath being generated.
Haruhiko raised his eyebrows.
He thought of Tsuchimikado Mari.
But there are differences.
Shiranui's fire gave him the feeling of destruction.
In addition to being hot, this breath is also full of life.
Haruhiko observed the stone gate in front of him.
After a few seconds, patterns appeared on the originally bare stone door.
It is a simple drawing of the sun.
There was a circle in the middle, with several balls of fire floating on all sides.
The spell stopped and the Kagura bell returned to normal.
Hoshino Aoi's indifferent expression showed a rare hint of solemnity.
When Haruhiko was confused, he heard Hoshino Rin say: "This is the symbol of Amaterasu Omikami."
Amaterasu?
He finally understood why.
In Japanese mythology, Amaterasu is the ruler of Takamagahara and one of the three main gods with extremely high status.
In addition, there are Tsukiyomi Ming and Susano'o.
"After so many years of development in the Takamagahara ruins, this is the first time that the symbol of Amaterasu Omikami has appeared."
Excitement and anticipation appeared on the middle-aged miko's face.
The ruins of Takamagahara have been identified as the tombs of gods.
But whose it is, it has not yet been determined.
The reason why the Psychic Council spent so much effort, in addition to the massive amount of psionic materials and spiritual tools, was to find the possibility of the sixth level.
Now that the standard of Amaterasu Omikami appears, it means there is such a possibility. It is no wonder that she cannot hide her emotions.
After the accident, Haruhiko felt it was reasonable again.
After all, this is the grave of Yamata no Orochi.
How did it die?
Mostly related to the gods of Takamagahara.
It is normal to find this.
"Mother, can you open it?"
Hoshino Rin asked calmly.
She often behaves like a girl in front of Haruhiko.
But now that he is the heir to Izumo Shrine, he cannot panic.
"I know a little bit about the spells at Amaterasu Shrine, so I can try them."
Hoshino Aoi looked at the pattern in front of her and said.
Amaterasu Shrine, of course, serves the god Amaterasu Omikami.
In terms of power, it is not much weaker than Izumo Shrine.
Hoshino Aoi started chanting the spell again.
Spiritual energy surged out and turned into flames, covering the stone door.
The sun symbol above immediately rotates.
Tens of seconds later, divine light overflowed.
The stone gate turned into a crystal gate, which was particularly dazzling.
"opened!"
The middle-aged miko said with excitement.
As the gate rises, what appears is not a tunnel but an abyss.
There is no doubt that one must jump.
Hoshino Aoi stepped forward and looked down, but she couldn't see the end.
Psychic waves flickered.
A ball of light condensed in her hand.
Hoshino Aoi threw it down casually.
But when it comes into contact with the abyss, it is immediately extinguished.
She frowned immediately.
"You guys wait for me here."
Hoshino Aoi thought for a while and said.
She jumped down.
Hoshino Rin and others had no time to stop them, so they could only wait with worries on their faces.
"Come down."
After a moment, her voice came back.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and jumped down one after another.
Haruhiko felt his eyes go dark, and three seconds later, it lit up slightly again.
He stood firm and was already in a dark cave.
The psychic light group thrown by Hoshino Aoi before was not far away, providing a faint light.
Is it an illusion?
Haruhiko had a flash of doubt.
Placing an abyss at the entrance that serves no purpose?
"let's go."
Hoshino Aoi said.
She walked in front, illuminating her surroundings with her psychic powers.
The cave seems to be formed naturally without any traces.
After walking for a few minutes, everyone stopped.
In front of them appeared a door and seven corpses.
The corpse was swaying here and there, the flesh and blood had disappeared, leaving only withered bones.
But the armor outside is lifelike and contains vague spiritual energy.
"Test the time of death."
Hoshino Aoi said.
(End of chapter)
