"Bound by Love" Memory Scrolls

* TW/JP Servers: July 22nd - August 11th 2020
* GL Server: July 22nd - August 11th 2020

This was the memory scroll event accompanying the release of the SP shikigami Bakkotsu Kiyohime.

### Rewards

When each part of the scroll is fixed, rewards will be distributed across server depending on participation. The participation value depends on the shards being given, and the more given the higher the value. Each portion of the scroll has a separate ranking for participation, and the ranking spans the entire server. Data is refreshed once every minute.

Personal Contribution Ranking Rewards

2

3

3

3

## Shikigami Story

* Scroll I
* Scroll II
* Scroll III
* Scroll IV
* Scroll V
* Scroll VI

### Ill Omen

﻿It was the middle of the night. A dead silence filled the air. The lights had dimmed in the village outside the city. A few stars could be seen flickering in the sky through the dim light.

Aobozu held his staff firmly in his hand as he rushed across the dry grass in his straw sandals.

A strong gust of wind blew, forcing him to hold his hat firmly down. He﻿ raised his head and looked toward the temple in the distance. His face turned grim as he saw a dark cloud hanging above it.

Suddenly, a loud crack shattered the stillness of the night. The monk gasped in shock as he saw a sudden blaze engulf the temple. The flames soon spread, turning the night as bright as day.

The air was soon filled with the chirping and﻿ howling of startled birds and animals, the barking of dogs, the weeping of children, and the shouting voices of men and women.

As Aobozu gazed into the dark cloud above the temple, a colossal monster began to emerge from it.

The creature's thundering howls rang out, echoing in the air, causing the crowd to flee in panic. Aobozu couldn't tell if the monster was crying or laughing.

"Doom has descended upon us..."

### Expected Outcome

﻿The little monk rushed out of Dojoji Temple, his kasaya aflame.

Behind him, the demon, giant as a temple bell, chased after him relentlessly.

The demon's skin had peeled away from the dotted marks on its head down to its lower jaw, revealing the bone underneath.

The little monk knew he mustn't look back, but he﻿ couldn't suppress his urge to do so. When he looked into the demon's empty eye sockets, he let out a scream and stumbled on a set of stone steps.

He thought he was certainly dead then, but then a gust of wind brushed past, and he saw a figure in green standing before him.

Golden rays of light radiated from the staff in its hand, dispelling the demon's evil energy and ﻿slowing its relentless advance.

"Foul monster... I won't allow you to wreak havoc in this Buddhist land."

Aobozu chanted a sutra, and spiritual energy began to coalesce at the tip of his staff. Suddenly, he saw something hanging from the demon's neck...

A small jade ornament.

It was a gift Aobozu had once given to his beloved student Anchin. Although Anchin had passed away, his soul was still consumed with lust. Alas, he was not a man who could truly understand the way of Buddhism. Aobozu had long known that his life would end badly, but he had never expected it to be this terrible.

"It was all my fault."

### Possessive

﻿Rain began to fall from the dark cloud, drenching Aobozu's hat.

Regret filled his heart. If he hadn't turned soft on Anchin and allowed him to seek a way to become a Buddha after death, Anchin would never have become a demon.

"This must end now. Your obsession with that lady... has to stop."

But just as Aobozu had finally made up his mind,﻿ a spirit appeared out of nowhere and stopped him from striking the lethal blow.

"Who are you?"

The spirit's hair was completely disheveled, as if she had rushed madly to get here. She kept her head down, preventing Aobozu from getting a clear look at her face in the rain.

However, he saw that she was laughing.﻿

She opened her mouth and disgorged a burst of toxic flame at him. As the two began to engage, Aobozu saw that the spirit looked familiar: she resembled a sallow, melancholy girl he had once known.

It was the girl his student had yearned for day and night, the girl who had caused his transformation into a monster.

"Did you become a monster as well?"﻿

The spirit didn't seem to recognize Aobozu. She stood in front of him, blocking his path, giving the demon a chance to escape. As the serpent

hissed at him, Aobozu raised his staff to defend himself.

The delirious spirit cried into the air,

"I'm the only one who may love this man... And I'm the only one who may kill him!"

### Backed Down

﻿The serpent's tail speared his stomach. Blood poured out of his mouth. He knelt on the ground, clutching his staff in a desperate attempt to stay upright. There was no fight left in him.

"Don't disturb me. Or I'll kill you as well."

Kiyohime lunged at the demon. In her eyes, it was no dreadful monster, but the monk Anchin, the love of her life.﻿

If she killed him, she would finally have what she wanted! All her pain and suffering would be gone. But something deep inside her trembled. A look of tenderness appeared on her face, a look she was powerless to conceal.

Illusions filled her mind, visions bathed in warm light, and in those illusions they were just as they had been when they first met.﻿

She was dancing beneath a blooming cherry tree, and he was standing near her, watching her with his hands crossed behind his back and a warm smile on his face.

As the sun set and the stars started to shimmer in the sky, they walked slowly under the moonlight, along the path that lead home.

It was as if she had never spent those bitter years waiting, as if he had﻿ never became a monk; it was as if no gulf of misunderstanding had

ever existed between them.

The serpent thrust her tail toward the face of the demon - then abruptly stopped, one inch away from shattering his skull. She could not go any further.

Kiyohime pulled back. She wanted to forgive him.

### Farewell

﻿Kiyohime repressed her urge to kill. The serpent coiled around her and lowered her to the ground. She reached out her pale white hand to the demon as she slowly, gracefully, walked toward him.

When the demon saw Kiyohime's face, he panicked and looked around desperately for a way to flee. Kiyohime was a little surprised.

"Anchin? Can't you see?﻿ It's me" she murmured cautiously.

Nearby, Aobozu sighed, clutching his bleeding wound.

"He can't recognize you as a monster. The woman he loves, the woman who was his downfall, couldn't possibly be a monster."

Kiyohime's tender expression vanished. A malevolent look appeared on her young face.﻿

"This was all because of you! I don't care if anyone else recognizes me or not! But you? No!"

There was a sound of bones cracking, and a loud scream shook the earth. The demon opened its jaws and bit, trying to tear apart the serpent that was strangling it.

Kiyohime smiled coldly. Even though she felt exactly what the serpent felt as blood poured from its body, she no longer cared.

"I won't let go. You're not running away this time."

### No Regrets

﻿The serpent coiled around the demon, enclosing him in a cocoon. A foul gas burst from the unfilled gaps in the cocoon, and Kiyohime absorbed it all. As the serpent tightened its coils, the demon shrank, until he was so small that Kiyohime could fit him in the palm of her hand.

Aobozu finally realized that Kiyohime was trying to take Anchin's soul and place it inside her heart. However, she was not﻿ strong enough to control the demon force. And if she tried to force it...

"Stop now! Or you will live in immense pain for all eternity!"

The rain was pouring in torrents now, mixing with the blood and turning it pale pink. Water was dripping from Aobozu's face.

"You thought your obsession was deep feeling. You thought your﻿ possessiveness was love. In this life and in all others, there will be no happy ending for the two of you."

There was a note of warning in his voice, but also a note of sympathy.

However, Kiyohime did not hesitate. Despite the excruciating pain, she still had a sweet smile on her face. She cupped the screaming, struggling skull in her delicate fingers.﻿

"I can't just let him go!"

Aobozu tried once more to dissuade her, though he already knew how she would respond.

"You will regret this."

The demon that Anchin had become was now just a tiny thing in Kiyohime's hands. She laughed harder, and a look of satisfaction appeared on her face.

"I never regret anything."

Aobozu turned around and walked away in the pouring rain.

This must be their fate, he thought.

Henceforth, they would be both together and apart.