give it all to miss machima

Um! ?

Machima looked at the cocoon, or rather the veil, where the two voices overlapped, and then glanced at the evil spirit in priest's robes.

"So, you're the head of the Kurosawa family?"

She grinned.

"How does it feel to let your own daughter kill another daughter with her own hands for the sake of a so-called ritual?"

But the other party ignored him, just waved his hand, and then the evil spirits on both sides carried Machima and walked into the village.

Machima was too lazy to resist; she really wanted to see what kind of trouble these evil spirits could cause her.

The group of evil spirits before them were clearly elite monsters from the entire Minakami Village—basically divided into two types: those dressed in priestly robes and wielding scepters—except for the head of the Kurosawa family, the rest of these people had strange characters engraved on their faces and talismans pasted on their foreheads, making them look like Japanese zombies.

And what remained were those strange people, dressed in rags, whose eyes were inexplicably sewn shut.

A group of people escorted Machima and Cocoon back to the Kurosawa family mansion. After navigating a complex network of roads and traps, they finally arrived at an underground space—a complex network of interconnected caverns with torii-like structures along the main passageways.

Finally, they arrived at an exceptionally spacious cave—the ground had been leveled, and several large braziers were lit around it, illuminating the space.

Overall, Makima felt that if this place were a Souls-like game, there would definitely be a huge boss waiting for her.

Of course, with her arrival, there was no fog gate around, nor did any symphonic music representing battle sound. In the open space in front of her, there was only a dark pit and a large rock in front of the pit.

Machima was very curious: "Is that the Gate to the Underworld?"

The surrounding priests stepped to either side, and the head of the Kurosawa family solemnly shouted, "The body-shaving ceremony begins!"

Several strange men with slit eyes walked towards Machima, carrying various instruments of torture, seemingly intending to replicate the fate of Makabe Seijiro on her.

"I said, don't be so ridiculous..."

Now that we're here, Machima doesn't want to act anymore—let's just get straight to the point!

She didn't even bother to form a seal; with a flick of her finger, several strands of hair pierced through the surrounding evil spirits. Then, flames followed the strands of hair, instantly clinging to the evil spirits like a malignant tumor, burning them to ashes amidst their wails.

At the same time, her wounds instantly healed, and the blood that had fallen to the ground burst into flames, like several golden, fleeting, beautiful flowers blooming.

Seeing this, the surrounding evil spirits, including the head of the Kurosawa family, roared and launched an attack on Machima. The head of the Kurosawa family even transformed into a demon in an instant, floating in mid-air as he attacked Machima.

However, Machima's demonic fire was extremely harmful to them. When faced with the fire snakes surrounding her, all the evil spirits that were touched were dissolved as if they had encountered aqua regia. The remaining ones, including the head of the Kurosawa family, dared not make any more rash moves.

It seems that high-level evil spirits still retain some of their consciousness.

Machima didn't attack the head of the Kurosawa family first, because she still had many questions to ask:

"Tell me, what exactly is this so-called Gate of the Underworld, and the void within it? Why is it that only such a cruel ritual can seal it away?"

The head of the Kurosawa family hesitated, looking at Machima, and said in a hoarse voice:

"You... are not human..."

"..."

Machima never imagined that one day she would be told she wasn't human by a ghost.

The other party then let out a strange laugh and pointed to the deep pit:

"Why don't you...go and see for yourself?"

"..."

Machima raised an eyebrow, slowly walked towards the edge of the pit, and looked down.

But there was nothing there except for the bottomless darkness.

Just as she was hesitating whether to throw a stone down to hear the sound, she felt something wriggling in the deep darkness.

Machima squinted her eyes.

It looked like... a white, blurry thing...

She wanted to see more clearly, so she slightly constricted her pupils and used mimicry to brighten the visual effect again.

Soon, Machima saw what it was—it was countless, densely packed, huddled together humans…or rather, things that resembled humans.

Each of them had a pale body and a hideous face like a demon, like countless maggots, huddled together, writhing and struggling as if trying to climb up.

The instant Machima saw them clearly and realized what she was staring at, a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand... countless faces all raised their heads, staring straight at Machima, then opened their mouths wide and roared silently.

Machima felt them rapidly magnifying in her field of vision; almost in the blink of an eye, ten thousand faces appeared before her, as if crowding into her eyes.

This shocking scene made her momentarily lose consciousness. The next second, everything went black before her eyes, and she could see nothing at all.

That is... the void? The Yellow Springs?

Are those people the sacrificial offerings thrown down from ancient times to the present?

And also, am I... going blind?

Machima touched her eyes in surprise and found that they were still in perfect condition, but she had lost her sight.

There was no other way but to gouge out her two eyeballs, and then a new pair grew back.

When her vision returned, Machima looked down again, but all she saw was a bottomless darkness, as if what she had just seen was just her imagination.

Staring directly into the void will lead to blindness. If she weren't in control of demons, her mind might even be affected. No wonder those people's eyes were sewn shut.

Machima turned around and looked at the completely stunned Kurosawa family head and Kurosawa Sashige, the two bloody eyeballs in her hand turning into a ball of flame.

"This is the void? Or rather, the underworld? It doesn't seem like much."

The head of the Kurosawa family stared at Machima in disbelief—even though it was now a hideous evil spirit, he could not hide the shock on his face.

"No...it's impossible. Anyone, even just a glance at Xu Li, would immediately go mad and die...Why, why are you unaffected!?"

Too lazy to waste words with this idiot, Machima beckoned with her hand, using a strand of her hair to hook the cocoon, or rather, the gauze, around. She pulled the other person into her arms, looking at them curiously:

“I’m curious, if those below are the souls of the sacrifices from past generations, and if you really are Sashige, then your body should have been thrown down there decades ago… But why is your spirit still here instead of going down to join them? After all, it was Yae who escaped successfully, and she didn’t return to this village…”

Before the other person could answer, Machima recalled the various details she had noticed along the way, and suddenly seemed to be deep in thought:

"So that's how it is. Two becoming one, never to be separated... Is it your longing and obsession with Yae? That night, your sister Yae escaped, but you were still caught and forced to undergo the ritual. However... although your body was thrown down, you remained here, wanting to wait for her to return... So... your soul did not go down, it was not devoured by the Hollow..."

"Those Hollows who did not receive the offerings became completely agitated... and so, the Great Sacrifice occurred, and the resurrected Makabe Seijiro transformed into a vengeful spirit, killing everyone in Minakami Village..."

Machima gripped the other's trembling shoulders tightly, preventing her from escaping, while her golden eyes stared intently at her.

"The sacrifices made by Minakami Village over the centuries, the tragic fates of countless twins, have ultimately failed because of you, simply because of your lingering affection for your sister... Heh... Am I right? Theoretically, you killed the entire village, and even Itsuki's... Miss Kurosawa Sae?"

Chapter 160 Forbidden Sisters

Rules are meant to be broken; even if you seal them, there will inevitably come a day when they can no longer be sealed.

"Regardless of how sinister this ritual is, you all belong to the God Village, and it seems you've never considered what would happen if the ritual failed. Don't you find it ridiculous to gamble with the lives of the entire village?"

Kurosawa Sashige remained hidden inside the cocoon, silent and still, while the head of the Kurosawa family shouted angrily in a voice that didn't sound human:

"You simply don't understand the sacrifices that Minakami Village has made to survive until now! If we don't perform the ritual, the darkness in the Hollow will overflow and devour the village. Not only Minakami Village, but the entire world will be destroyed! It is the sacrifices that Minakami Village has made from ancient times to the present that have suppressed the Hollow's restlessness!"

Machima's only reaction was to burst out laughing.

"Please, stop making fun of me. The whole world? Don't you think what you're saying is ridiculous? If the world is so easy to destroy, then let it be destroyed."

She stretched out her hand and pointed around:

"No matter how you deny it, the truth is that your ridiculous ritual failed. So what? In reality, the only thing that was swallowed up was Minakami Village. Everything outside remained the same. In other words, if you had ignored the ritual and the Hollow and simply moved the entire village away, nothing would have happened."

Machima looked at the other person with a cold smile.

"But you didn't do that. You just presumptuously carried out your ritual, throwing one tormented and angry soul after another into the Void—I saw it with my own eyes, what lies hidden in the darkness beneath the Gates of the Underworld... Your ritual seemed to soothe the Void's restlessness, but in reality, it was constantly amplifying it... In other words, you were sitting on a pile of firewood destined to be ignited, and you kept adding fuel to it... Of course..."

Machima shrugged.

"Even with the countless lives sacrificed in the Crimson Sacrifice and the Yin Sacrifice throughout the ages, the accumulated darkness has ultimately dragged Minakami Village into this... underworld... It can only be said that this is Minakami Village's retribution... You were willing to sacrifice your daughter's life, and all you got in return was a pathetic joke..."

"you you!!"

The more the Kurosawa family head listened, the angrier he became. He roared and attacked Machima, only to be instantly pierced by her burning hair. He howled and turned into a cloud of smoke before completely dissipating.

"A boring reaction..."

"Well then, it's your turn next..."

Machima looked down at Kurosawa Sashige in her arms.

"If I'm not mistaken... the Amakura sisters must be the reincarnations of you and Yae, right? In the custom of Minakami Village, the one born later is the elder sister, so in both of your lives, you were Mio, or rather, Yae's younger sister..."

Although it seems incredible, after considering Kikyo and Kagome, this guess is actually quite reasonable.

Machima gently smoothed the other person's hair.

"Because a part of you remained here, clinging to your promise to your sister—to stay together forever and never be separated. Therefore, as your reincarnation, Amagura Mayu was born with such feelings, which is why they were mistakenly brought to Minakami Village... Of course, unfortunately, you encountered someone who would cause trouble—me."

As if afraid of her, Kurosawa Sage's phantom completely hid inside the cocoon.

“Running away won’t solve the problem; you should know that.”

"...I...I don't know..."

Cocoon regained consciousness, looked at Machima with some fear, and shook its head.

"She...it seems she's already left..."

“No, I’m not talking about Saege, I’m talking about you, Ms. Amakura Mayu.”

Machima smiled and leaned closer, staring intently into her eyes.

"I wasn't wrong just now, was I? You... have a different kind of relationship with your sister, Amakura Mayu, that goes beyond sisterly ethics, right?"

Although it was a question, Machima's tone when she said it was undoubtedly an affirmative statement.

"..."

Tell me, what is it that you want?

"..."

After a long silence, Amakura Cocoon replied:

"I want... my sister to always be by my side, and never be able to leave me..."

"But that's impossible. No matter how close you sisters are, you'll grow up, live your own lives, meet someone you like, get married and have children, and eventually..."

"--don't want!"

Tenkura Cocoon interrupted Machima in fear.

"That kind of thing...no! Mio finding someone else to love and abandoning me...it can't be! I want her to be with me forever! If...if it can't be like that, I'd rather die here! Die at my sister's hands! To be with her forever in another way!"

What a yandere older sister, but...

Suppressing her inner joy, Machima said to her:

"You know that's impossible. I will get you out of here safely, and then... I will help you return to a normal life as much as possible..."

Seeing the fear on Tenkura's face, Machima became even more satisfied. She smiled slightly and changed the subject:

"But... actually, if you want your sister to stay with you forever, there is a way..."

She gently leaned close to Tenkura's ear and whispered:

"As long as you... stop seeing Mio as your younger sister, that will be fine..."

"Cocoon... wait for me!"

With slightly trembling hands, Mio gripped the camera tightly as she walked quickly through the Kurosawa family mansion.

After seeing her sister and Miss Machima being taken away by evil spirits from afar, she cleverly turned back from the shrine and picked up the camera again.

Seemingly knowing that the ritual was about to begin, the evil spirits all hid, leaving Mio with only two choices.

Either break into the Kurosawa mansion to find your sister and Miss Machima, or take this opportunity to find the four keys and escape alone.

Without hesitation, Mio chose to turn back.

Although Miss Machima wasn't there this time, she still managed to fend off the evil spirits along the way with her camera and then ventured deeper underground.

Is Miss Machima still alive?

And my older sister... she must be so scared right now...

Although she is the younger sister, sometimes Mio actually treats Mayu as her younger sister.

Perhaps because the two lacked parental love from a young age, Mayu always relied on her. As the younger sister, Mio did not resent this dependence, but... she felt a little afraid.

—Cocoon's leg was injured during an accidental fall while the two were playing in the forest. Even after it recovered, Cocoon could no longer run.