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It was with this kind of mood that she put on the shrine maiden costume.
Shimazu looked down the mountain helplessly. The moss-phoenix is indeed very beautiful. When it blooms all over the mountains, it is a magnificent sight that cannot be described in words. Even if it is not the first time to see it, every year at a similar time, I will feel shocked.
Of course, the years in her memory were pitifully short compared to the time scale of Mount Fuji.
She heard drums and a lion dance.
Dong Dong Qiang——
The one beating the drum was a boy, and the one dancing the lion was wearing a lion's headgear, so his appearance could not be seen clearly.
If it wasn't the first month of the year, would there be a lion dance team at the Shibazakura Festival? Shimazu wasn't sure, and he didn't take it too seriously.
Her eyes met with the lion dancer for a moment, then looked away.
The lion dancer did not move his eyes away, still looking at the shrine maiden standing among the cherry blossoms.
It is not looking at the miko herself.
The years are so long ago that they have no meaning as recorded time, hundreds, thousands, countless years ago.
Born in the wilderness, it had no concept of good and evil at first. It was its instinct to set the prairie on fire, and it did not intentionally kill or destroy anything. But it was still defined as an evil demon.
It doesn't care whether humans hate it or revere it. All the monks and priestesses who tried to defeat it have returned empty-handed.
Until you see Him.
It was also the early spring when the fields were full of moss pinks. She stood in the endless flower fields, with her hair in her hair and her skirt in her dress. Thus, all the moss pinks in the world were eclipsed.
Konohana no Sakuya-hime
He is the god of Mount Fuji, and is a deity who is revered even in Takama-ga-hara.
But what does it matter? He still cannot resist the passage of time or the laws of nature. He disappeared without a trace.
The shrine remains empty, but there are no gods to be worshipped there.
The drumming continued, and the lions performed a dance that was supposed to ward off evil spirits.
The dance was very good, with each swing in a neat rhythm. It was touching, as if it was in sync with the heartbeat, and even resonated with the entire mountain range.
Then the mountains began to shake.
"earthquake?"
When Shimazu realized this, his whole body lost balance.
The ground was shaking violently, like standing on a sampan on a bumpy sea. The amplitude was completely different from the previous one.
Even the TAC team sounded a shrill alarm.
"Captain! Mount Fuji earthquake, magnitude 7.3."
No need to report, in the base under the Five Lakes, they also felt a strong tremor. However, the TAC base headquarters had considered disaster prevention when it was first built. It was built according to the level of a nuclear shelter, and this magnitude would not have any impact on the structure of the building.
"No, Captain! Look at the top of Mount Fuji, it's emitting black smoke!" Noriko pointed at the scene just captured.
Mount Fuji is smoking?
The volcano is alive?!
Chapter 265 Mount Fuji Eruption
Black smoke began to appear in the sky above Mount Fuji, and volcanic smoke drifted to a height of thousands of meters, carrying a pungent smell of sulfur.
"Is Mount Fuji going to erupt? Isn't there any sign of this happening?" While ordering TAC to go out, Long contacted the Ministry of Disaster Prevention to urgently evacuate the surrounding residents.
"Why this time..." Yoshimura asked.
"What's wrong with this hour?"
"Now is the time of the Shibazakura Festival, and there will be a lot of tourists visiting Mount Fuji."
It will be very difficult to evacuate the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of tourists attracted by the beautiful moss pink flowers.
Moreover, if Mount Fuji really erupts, the lava flow will not only affect Mount Fuji itself, but also the surrounding Chiba Prefecture, Kanagawa, and even more than a dozen administrative counties and cities including the capital Tokyo.
The losses caused by the suspension of work and production due to the evacuation work itself are no less than those caused by a war.
Compared to this, attacks by super beasts and monsters are minor. The most terrifying disaster is always a natural disaster.
"What do the geologists say?"
As soon as Captain Long finished his question, Dr. Kiji, an expert in energy, weapons, biology, and geology, came forward to speak.
"Although we have always ignored it, Mount Fuji is indeed an active volcano. According to historical records, Mount Fuji erupts once every 120 years on average, and the last eruption was in 1707."
1707 was the end of the Edo period. The eruption brought an earthquake of magnitude 9 or above, and the tsunami it caused even affected China during the reign of Emperor Kangxi.
Since then, Mount Fuji has been dormant for more than 250 years, long enough to exceed the average dormancy period. It would not be surprising if it erupted at any time.
"In other words, there are no external factors involved?" Captain Long did not feel relieved, but rather a little disappointed. He would rather it was the aliens who were causing trouble.
If it was a conspiracy of aliens or super beasts, there was still hope of recovery as long as they were destroyed. But what about natural disasters? Even the TAC team, which was at the forefront of human technology, had no experience in fighting natural disasters.
"It's hard to say. The geological activity of Mount Fuji is due to the action of the Philippine Plate. For a long time, it has been subducting under the Eurasian continent. The geological activity is the compression of the plate. From the current data, the pressure has reached the megapascal level."
Megapascal, or one million Pascal, is a terrible pressure that humans cannot imagine. It is equivalent to a weight of 100 tons acting on one square meter. The pressure under Mount Fuji is so huge.
No one can tell where its critical point is. But now, the volcanic ash over Mount Fuji is the strongest sign.
"It seems that we can only pray to Asama-no-Okami," Yoshimura joked, "May the beautiful goddess of Mount Fuji calm down her anger and continue to sleep in peace."
Beidou and Yamanaka had arrived at the scene in the spacecraft and sent back first-hand information. At this time, Mount Fuji looked like a big chimney.
"By the way," Konno suddenly thought, "Should we evacuate as well?"
When Mount Fuji erupted, their TAC headquarters at the foot of Mount Fuji was the first to be hit. When the magma swept in, the headquarters, which was located under the Five Lakes and built in nuclear-level shelter conditions, might be spared, but all the buildings on the ground would be destroyed.
My house was robbed!
Tourists who were admiring the moss pinks on Mount Fuji hurried down the mountain.
The word "hasty" cannot accurately describe the complexity of the scene. To be more precise, it was a scene of pushing and shoving. If it weren't for the open space in the wilderness, there would have almost been a stampede.
That was a volcanic eruption, and it was Mount Fuji, the highest mountain on the island. The fear of earthquakes and volcanoes is ingrained in their bones.
But some people did not run.
Shimazu Miko is trying to evacuate tourists. Having lived here for more than ten years, she knows which mountain roads are easier to walk on and which are dangerous.
A calm and composed shrine maiden is indeed the best medicine to calm the people. Even Shimazu was scared to death.
God Asama!
She prayed in her heart, asking the goddess of Mount Fuji to calm her anger. Although this was probably useless, it was the only thing she could do.
"Aren't you going to run away?"
she heard a voice ask her.
It was the man who had danced the lion before. He was still wearing the lion head, and the child next to him was still beating the drum, dong dong qiang, dong dong qiang!
In this panic scene, the two people who were neither busy nor busy, and even indifferent, seemed a little abrupt.
Shimazu stared at the child for a while. For some reason, he felt that his eyes seemed a little empty.
"You are the ones! Let's go quickly, this place is too dangerous. Do you see that mountain road to the south? There is no steep slope there. Go straight to the place with the public toilet and then turn. The road there leads directly to the parking lot..."
Shimazu said this, but found that the other party was not listening seriously at all and was still standing there.
"Do you really believe that your prayers are effective? Praying to a god that no longer exists."
Shimazu felt she should be angry for questioning the non-existence of the deity enshrined in the shrine, but she wasn't.
Instead, she didn't know why, but she felt that the person in front of her was somewhat familiar.
It's like we've known each other for years.
"Gods, as long as you believe in them in your heart, they will exist. They live in people's hearts." Shimazu's answer was a bit cliché, like a charlatan, but she really thought so.
"Then you believe it?"
"Yes." Shimazu nodded seriously, "I am the shrine maiden of the great god Asama."
Then neither of them spoke and there was silence for a moment.
The wind blew and rolled up the petals of the moss phlox. Shimazu didn't know what kind of person was under the lion's head, she just had a strange feeling.
Maybe in the past, maybe in the future, she once stood in this field of shibazakura with someone, looking at the purple, white, and pink shibazakura.
A fleeting sense of déjà vu.
"Go down the mountain. Mount Fuji will not erupt today." The man's voice said, "Even for the only believer, it is worth waiting for one more day."
"Ah?" Shimazu didn't quite understand what the man said. She was about to ask, but before she could open her mouth.
But at this moment, another voice interrupted her.
"Stay away from it, Shimazu Saizu! It's not a human, it's a dangerous demon."
"Ah?" Shimazu didn't understand at first, but she recognized the voice and the person who was speaking.
"Master Kagura!"
Ise Grand Shrine and Sengen Taisha Shrine are both located in Shizuoka, so Shimazu is no stranger to Kagura. Apart from Saiou, who is of royal blood, the head of Ise Grand Shrine is probably the highest-ranking shrine maiden in the island country, as a shrine that has served the royal family for thousands of years.
A drizzle began to fall from the sky, and because of the volcanic ash, the falling raindrops were inky black and also had a pungent smell of sulfur.
It stained the clothes and spread out ink marks.
Kagura stared at the man wearing the lion head and did not act rashly. Her sixth sense was telling her of danger.
Of course she knew the danger. How could a dark demon who tried to disrupt the order of the world not be dangerous?
A few days ago, she was unable to put up any resistance and the other party stole the Yata Mirror. Of course, it was because she let her guard down, but even if she was fully prepared, she was not completely sure that she could defeat the other party.
Well, that's just flattery.
To be honest, she knew she couldn't win and had absolutely no chance at all.
Demons have never been something humans can deal with.
So Kagura understood that if she wanted to seal such a demon, she must abandon her human identity.
If humans can't beat them, then they won't be human! In this way, she is just the host of the Eight-foot Mirror. The Eight-foot Mirror is the incarnation of Amaterasu, and she is the vessel for Amaterasu to descend.
This is very dangerous. Humans and gods are completely different in terms of life level. It is never the best choice to contain the power of gods in a human body. There will always be a price to pay.