On the fifteenth day since arriving in this world, Cyr finally reached Heian-kyō.
Compared to the villages and towns they had passed through before, this place was indeed much more prosperous—densely populated, and most people on the streets were dressed relatively properly.
You could even spot nobles among the crowd. Nobles were easy to recognize—mainly because their clothing was… especially thick.
From a high vantage point overlooking Kyoto, the Six Eyes could clearly perceive the scene below.
The number of yōkai, ghosts, and cursed spirits in Kyoto… was far greater than anything he had encountered along the way.
But considering that most yōkai and cursed spirits are born from the human heart, it all made sense.
Only nobles with wealth and leisure had the time to overthink or fantasize. Illiterate commoners, on the other hand… spent their days either working or sleeping. Even if you asked them to imagine a yōkai, they probably couldn't picture one.
And Kyoto was full of nobles—especially here in Japan, where from ancient times, people had cherished mono no aware, the beauty of fleeting things, and were particularly prone to melancholy and sentimentality.
The energy signatures of onmyōji and jujutsu sorcerers were different, after all—one used spiritual power, the other used cursed energy. And cursed energy, born from negative emotions, often appeared ominous or sinister. As a result, those who used it often gave off an ambiguous impression—neither wholly good nor evil.
Spiritual power, by contrast, gave off a clear and pure aura.
There were quite a number of onmyōji and jujutsu sorcerers here—thousands, in fact.
And among them, the one with the most vigorous life force…
Cyr's gaze swept over mansion after mansion.
Excellent—they were in the noble district. So they were either nobles or officials.
Just then, he felt a sting in his eyes. Even the two smaller eyes beneath his main ones, which had remained shut, opened involuntarily.
Blood, bright red, began to seep from his eyes.
"Whoa, whoa… Are you serious…" he murmured, eyes bleeding yet more thrilled than alarmed, an uncontrollable excitement rising within him.
"There's actually another Six Eyes here?!"
"Where is it? Where is it?"
"Come out already."
"You can sense me too, can't you…"
"I know you can feel me."
His face lit up with an irrepressible smile, his eyes darting around as he searched for this era's wielder of the Six Eyes.
---
Inside the Gojō estate.
A man dressed in white robes was admiring the falling sakura petals beneath the eaves of the courtyard.
Suddenly, a bloody haze descended over his vision. He could see nothing.
Gojō Haru knew very well that with his strength, it was difficult—nearly impossible—for any human, yōkai, or cursed spirit in this world to injure him.
And yet… the problem lay with his eyes.
He reached up and touched them—his fingers came away soaked in blood.
"Lord Haru?! Your eyes… they're bleeding?!" The maid who had just delivered supplies knelt anxiously beside him. She reached out hesitantly, not knowing where to place her hands, her expression flustered.
"I'll go alert the others," she said, rising to leave.
"No need," Gojō Haru said, calmly pulling out a fan from beside him and speaking with a faint smile.
"You may go. Don't tell anyone about this." His tone left no room for argument.
"…Yes." The maid bowed deeply where she knelt, then slowly retreated, head still lowered.
Only once she had retreated a good distance did she rise and leave.
After she was gone, Gojō Haru's gaze fell on a corner of the courtyard—where a figure had suddenly appeared.
"And you—who are you?" Gojō Haru rose, step by step approaching the cherry blossom tree.
It was a tree he had transplanted to his estate years ago, on a whim of youthful impulse.
Now, beneath that cherry blossom tree stood a young man with white hair and red eyes, dressed in elegant black and red robes.
Different from most—he had four eyes.
Just like Gojō Haru, blood was constantly flowing from Cyr's eyes as well.
And yet, even so, he was still beautiful—if anything, the blood on his face only made his features appear even more striking.
A noble young lord, stunning in appearance. A figure born of noble lineage, marked with grace and splendor.
He looked like a yōkai or a ghost, rather than a human being.
"You're… from the Gojō family?" the white-haired, red-eyed youth looked at Gojō Haru, a smile spreading across his face—whether it was malicious or amused, it was hard to tell.
"And you, sir—are not human?" Gojō Haru opened his fan, hiding the lower half of his face, revealing only a pair of ice-blue eyes like the distant sky.
There could only be one Six Eyes per era.
The Six Eyes appeared only once every few hundred years.
The Six Eyes were blue, and white hair always accompanied them.
But what if… two sets of Six Eyes appeared in the same era?
The white-haired, red-eyed youth standing before him—his eyes were clearly red, and yet…
Why… why was there a resonance between their Six Eyes?
Even more so… it felt as if the worlds they saw were overlapping.
They could even perceive the world through each other's vision.
"…This is such a pain…" Cyr muttered, frowning as he closed his eyes.
And yet, he could still see himself—through the other Six Eyes across from him.
Seeing oneself through another's vision was a strange experience—especially when, through that pair of Six Eyes, his own form appeared as a thoroughly analyzed mass of energy.
Only then did Cyr understand why the Six Eyes of this era had said he wasn't human.
Because his energy body… was overwhelmingly powerful.
Palpably so—anyone could see it.
The result of mastering both Nen and Cursed Energy was that he had become absurdly powerful in every way imaginable.
Both physically and mentally.
If he were an NPC, he'd absolutely be a boss-tier, overlord-level unit.
"So I'm that strong, huh…" Cyr said with a calm, knowing tone.
Having faced the consciousness of worlds, crossed through two different universes, his strength by now was…
Not too outrageous, really. It was within expectations.
"…Has something gone wrong with Master Tengen?" Gojō Haru mused. "How could a second Six Eyes be born?"
"And what's more… it only appeared today." Gojō Haru continued watching the white-haired, red-eyed youth with a faint smile.
"You're not from this era, are you?" His tone was firm and certain.
He had seen through Cyr's situation the moment they met.
After all, he had the Six Eyes. That's what the Six Eyes were for.
There could only be one Six Eyes in a generation. If there were two, then given this young man's age, Gojō Haru would've sensed his birth more than a decade ago.
But the fact was—he had only sensed him today.
Which meant… the boy had arrived today.
No—wait.
"Come to think of it, the eye fatigue I've been experiencing these past few days… that must've been your doing as well," Gojō Haru recalled, shaking his head.
°°°
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