"That strange feeling..."
Yukina seemed to recall Rozen's behavior from earlier that morning.
At the time, Rozen had indeed mentioned a peculiar sensation and asked her if she had noticed anything unusual.
But Yukina hadn't felt anything at all.
Not just Yukina—even Rozen himself found it strange. He had only sensed a slight dissonance in the atmosphere of Itogami Island, not any concrete signs of something amiss.
Despite possessing abilities like the Wise Eye and Mind's Eye, Rozen hadn't detected even the slightest abnormality. This might have suggested that his so-called "strange feeling" was merely a figment of his imagination.
Yet, there was no doubt that something unusual was happening on Itogami Island.
If that was the case, why hadn't his Wise Eye or Mind's Eye reacted at all?
The answer was actually quite simple.
"Because this is Itogami Island—an artificial island designed by the feng shui master Itogami Senra. It's a massive steel construct built atop a ley line, combining cutting-edge technology with feng shui and magecraft."
Rozen explained calmly.
"That feng shui master's skills were extraordinary. From the very beginning, he planned to divide Itogami Island into four artificial districts—east, west, south, and north—symbolizing the Four Celestial Guardians of feng shui. This design allows the island blocks to organically interconnect, controlling the ley lines and harnessing their power. Whether it's research on Demons or the occult, everything here receives a boost. It's practically a giant ritual site."
He had marveled at this even as a child.
Back then, Rozen had admired Itogami Senra's craftsmanship.
A ritual site of this scale and sophistication was beyond his own abilities at the time.
Now, he could easily create something like this, but back then? Impossible. He couldn't help but respect it.
However, admiration aside, Rozen had to admit that Itogami Senra's design had left the island with significant vulnerabilities.
Because—
"This ritual site is right here, and it's enormous. If a highly skilled individual were to come along, they could easily take control of it and do whatever they wanted."
Rozen's words sent a chill down Yukina's spine.
She had already realized what Rozen was implying.
Seeing her expression of sudden understanding, Rozen smiled approvingly.
"As a Sword Shaman, you should be well aware of the importance of the Three Great Secret Arts in jujutsu, right?"
Rozen continued his explanation.
"Kimon, Taiitsu, and Rokujin—these are the three pinnacle secret arts of jujutsu, collectively known as the Three Styles. Mastering even one of them would place a practitioner among the greatest spiritualists of the era."
Though the Three Saints of the Lion King Agency—renowned as some of the world's strongest Attack Mages—rely more on inherited powers to wield their immense power, someone who truly mastered any of the Three Styles could easily rival them.
"Among the Three Styles, Kimon is also known as feng shui divination. While it can be used for fortune-telling like Rokujin, its true essence lies in large-scale jujutsu."
"Barriers, formations—these are the core of Kimon Tonkō. Feng shui itself is a crucial component, as it is inherently tied to terrain and spiritual veins."
"Itogami Senra, as a feng shui master, must have been exceptionally skilled in the feng shui arts of Kimon."
Rozen looked at Yukina.
"Now, imagine if a feng shui master of comparable skill to Itogami Senra were to appear on this island. Wouldn't it be easy for them to use Itogami Island's ritual site for their own purposes?"
At this point, Yukina fully understood why Rozen was so certain this was a man-made setup.
Normally, attempting to target Itogami Island with such a large-scale spell—one that could interfere with external contact and isolate the island—would be nearly impossible, even for a master.
First, setting up a spell of this magnitude would require an enormous amount of time, effort, and resources. It couldn't possibly be done so stealthily.
Second, even if such a spell could be deployed, the amount of magical energy or spiritual power needed to sustain it would be unimaginably vast.
Because of this, Yukina had initially assumed this couldn't possibly be the work of an individual.
However, if the perpetrator didn't need to set up anything themselves and instead simply used Itogami Island's existing ritual site to manipulate the ley lines and activate their own spell, then achieving all of this quickly and undetected would be entirely possible.
In other words—
"The culprit is a feng shui master?"
Yukina finally grasped the truth.
"Exactly," Rozen nodded. "And not just any feng shui master—this person must be highly skilled, likely specializing in Hokimon."
————Hokimon.
This was a branch of Kimon developed primarily for military use, involving large-scale tactical spells that governed weather, battlefield conditions, and even the life and death of soldiers.
Because meteorological conditions, terrain, and troop morale were critical factors in warfare, Hokimon—which could manipulate these elements—was highly valued by nations worldwide. Even in the modern era, military organizations globally continued to research and develop Hokimon-based tactical spells.
If Rozen's guess was correct—
"The culprit used the ley lines flowing through the surrounding sea to envelop the entire island in a Bagua Formation."
Rozen stated matter-of-factly.
"Since they were using the existing ritual site and ley lines, even I couldn't detect any disturbances. The Management Cooperative's systems wouldn't have picked up any abnormal magical energy flow either, right?"
After all, the ritual site and ley lines were intrinsic to the artificial island. The magical energy fluctuations caused by their operation were already considered normal.
This was also why Rozen's Wise Eye and Mind's Eye hadn't detected anything—because the spell's activation and the flow of magical energy were things he had long since grown accustomed to "seeing."
Yet, Itogami Island had been exploited to deploy a large-scale tactical spell.
Thus, while Rozen hadn't noticed anything unusual, he had still sensed a strange dissonance in the island's atmosphere.
That was the whole story.
Now, the most important question remained—
"Setting aside who this feng shui master is, why would they isolate Itogami Island?"
Rozen spoke each word deliberately.
"Chances are… their intentions are far from benevolent."
This might very well be an act of magical terrorism targeting Itogami Island.
No—
To be more precise, it was likely a terrorist attack.