Dara-san of Reiwa (令和のダラさん)

They've been gone too long.

Someone should head to the shrine and see what is happening.

Hey, don't forget to close the door.

You people created it.

Gave rise to it.

It won't be long before Yamatagi-Madara overwhelms me.

When that happens, the village will be at its mercy

as it devours all it can in its rage.

I should have realized the risk this posed.

I've been far too shortsighted.

If this is how it must be...

then let my sins gather enough strength

that I'll be able to resist the serpent from within.

Ill will and murderous intent are the foundation of curses.

For all you have directed at me...

Your lives will be mine in turn.

At that moment, the entity birthed from the fusion of serpent and priestess,

the new Yamatagi-Madara... was born.

You must never approach those grounds.

A glimpse will sicken you; a touch will curse you.

Its name, passed down since ancient times, is Yamatagi-Madara.

Yamatagi-Madara

Yamatagi-Madara

Dara-san of the Reiwa Era

Dara-san of the Reiwa Era

Dara-san of the Reiwa Era

Dara-san of the Reiwa Era

Misogiya

Coming.

Oh, Saeko-chan.

I brought the merch from the event that you asked for.

UZ's homecoming concert is gonna slay again this year. I know it.

Right?

What's up?

Oh, forgive me.

Come on in.

Thank you.

When I enter a human's home,

it's temporarily overwritten by my own territory, and yet...

Hirahiro Shrine accepted my presence during the festival.

And now, my territory has admitted a priestess of that shrine in turn...

I think I need to pay a visit to the town shrine.

Sounds awesome!

We're coming, too!

In hindsight, maybe I should've simply departed without a word.

Hirahiro Shrine

Come to think of it, what manner of deity is enshrined here?

I think it was...

Languid Elf Knight MILF-no-Okami!

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Languid Elf Knight MILF-no-Okami

She's a big deal!

Could you not lie in a more respectful fashion?

I found a pamphlet.

Check out the big brain!

Amayatsu- Koharume

Tokanehiko

It says the primary divinity is the goddess Amayatsu-Koharume,

and it also enshrines a god called Tokanehiko.

Their domains are the mountain's peace and prosperity, and...

construction and houses, respectively.

Come to think of it, there's the ritual kagura we do around here

about slaying a giant serpent...

Maybe it's based on the one you killed originally?

Who can say?

These things get exaggerated or abbreviated

to the convenience of those who pass them down.

Did you get whatever you needed to come here for, Dara-san?

Huh? Well...

The story of Yamatagi-Madara that was passed down to modern times

is of the snake god consuming twin priestesses and becoming a tatarigami.

Which means this shrine should be dedicated

to the divinity that sealed Yamatagi-Madara away afterward.

But the truth—the fact that I continue to guard the serpent's seal—

seems to have been retained with the names changed, earning me some worship.

Which would explain why this holy ground doesn't reject me...

or so I'd imagine.

Should I be elected mayor of this town,

I will promote our town's goddesses as moe characters to increase tourism!

Between the enshrined goddess, the priestesses, and Dara-san,

you'll have plenty of ammo.

Though there's some overlap.

They're literally all me, so...

That might be a good idea.

It's the priestess lady.

You two are Chiyo-san's kids, right? Haven't seen you since the flea market.

G'day!

I guess we'll pay our respects and head home.

I can't deny that I remain puzzled, even after having come this far...

What exactly is the holy relic representing the enshrined deity here?

No words of exaltation, just a silent prayer...

That must be it!

I see. 'Tis a full moon tonight.

The moon's light has been believed to bear a purifying power since ancient times.

While the relic bathes in the moonlight, she'll be cleaning where it usually rests.

Some kind of... twisted rock?

It seems unlikely that it took this shape by natural means.

What is this?

Something about it feels... nostalgic.

A single clap of prayer was all it took to purify the interior of the temple.

It was strong enough that it disrupted the spell that kept my presence hidden.

This priestess known as Nagi...

might be quite gifted apart from her complete lack of perception?

While the truth remained unclear,

the thought that her legacy was not purely one of fear...

brought her some degree of joy.

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The members of UZ, pronounced "You's," all hail from Kaoru and Hinata's hometown of Ojin-cho. The band's name also comes from a statue at the local Jofuku temple of Yuzuson, the Buddha Ratnasambhava.

The morning after the storm,

Jurota returned to the eastern village on the shaky feet

of the nearly dead, when he saw...

a veritable mountain of corpses laid out in the village square,

and a group of officials exchanging information.

Jurota had no way of knowing that every last person

who had died overnight had been involved in the murder of the younger priestess.

They were those who, spurred on by falsehoods,

had directed their fearsome hate toward the eastern village...

only to have that wickedness, animosity, and bloodlust come home to roost.

And in the western village, those who survived told tales to one another...

of the screams that were loud enough to pierce the sound of the downpour,

and the fleeting sight of a snake-bodied, six-armed shadow

large enough to coil around their houses.

And how it was likely a new incarnation of Yamatagi-Madara

who had sought its revenge by consuming the priestess' family.

Jurota believed that, should the younger sister somehow still live,

she would attempt to fight any threat to the mountain.

And so, he looked through the belongings left in the temple

in hope of finding something that might aid her.

If... If I had only realized sooner...

And this nightmare was committed... by those she shared blood with?!

Ahem.

The time has come.

The secret origin of Yamatagi-Madara!!

I've been waiting for this!

Looking good, Dara-san!

It was a time when the nation's powers had grown weak and chaos was rising.

Older

Younger

Twin priestesses arrived at a certain village to slay a great yokai.

Now that's quality!

They beheaded the rampaging mountain god, Yamatagi-Madara,

and sealed its head and body separately.

In time, this spread a curse that caused illness on the mountain,

forcing the priestesses to seek a way to contain it.

'Twas then that the seal on Yamatagi-Madara's body...

became undone!

The trouble was rooted in the fact that I was the one maintaining the body's seal.

West

Older Sis

Bad Blood

East

Younger Sis

A group of villagers who had been led to believe that I was responsible for it all

waited until I'd exhausted myself in battle against the serpent's body

and cut off my arms and legs.

That's such bullshit!

Not only that, but the serpent's seal being broken

and the villagers being set against me...

were all part of my older sister's scheme.

For real?!

Sis, you don't plot against me, do you?

Only sometimes!

I had no way of knowing what she'd been after either.

And so, after I was stabbed to death by my sister...

That bitch was crazy.

At that point, put simply, the serpent and I were both righteously pissed off,

so with a fresh offering of severed limbs,

we sort of fusion-summoned into Yamatagi-Madara.

Feels like you kinda rushed through that part.

I know it took a while, but that's my backstory, as you requested.

If that colossal serpent's head is still out there and managed to free itself,

it could very well begin spreading its curse again.

If the presence that I've occasionally sensed lately

is a new threat posed by the old Yamatagi-Madara...

There may come a time when I will need to borrow the strength