The Path of Pilgrimage (詣道 Keidō) is a passage created by the Crimson God of Creation, Snake of the Festival, using the Power of Existence of the oldest Flame Haze who were banished alongside him through the secret method Eternal Pitfall during the battle three thousands years ago. The Path of Pilgrimage connects this world to the Snake of the Festival's true body situated at the Sanctuary inside the Rift Between Both Worlds.
Background[]
The Divine Gate serves as the entrance to this path. Its appearance differs between the novel and anime adaptation.
The Path of Pilgrimage in the Novel[]
In the novel, the Path of Pilgrimage resembles an immense, winding tunnel; the entire inner surface is surrounded by solid ground and devoid of sky.[1] Its sheer scale is so great it left Alastor in shock. The Snake of the Festival views his magnificent creation as a "fragile path, both narrow and small" that leads to himself.[2]
Normally, the concept of distance does not exist in the Rift Between Both Worlds, making it impossible to approach the location where the Snake of the Festival rests. However, before falling into a slumber, the God of Creation manages to form the Path of Pilgrimage by forcibly manifesting hardships, tribulations, and impossibilities as tangible "conditions" to reach his whereabouts.[3]
The Path of Pilgrimage is made as a separate "world" that maintained an environment akin to this world. Because of this, no progress would have been done by merely proceeding along the Path of Pilgrimage. However, one could walk a definitive route toward their destination by relying on two things: the Banner (旗標 Hatajirushi) that physically connects to the Snake of the Festival's true body as a primary compass needle, and the Priestess, who can resonates with him, as the secondary compass needle.[3]
After entering, the landscape near the entrance is similar to a barren desert.[2] But as one progresses, solid structures begin to emerge.[4] This is because the areas near the entrance were the earliest to be made and are unstable. However, many areas of the midsection remain incomplete; the Path of Pilgrimage's materialization there is unstable and its separation from the Rift Between Both Worlds is imperfect. This causes the remnants of the oldest Flame Haze, who fell into the Rift Between Both Worlds along with the Snake of the Festival and were reduced to mere Colored Silhouettes, to appear from the Rift.[5]
The closer one gets to the Snake of the Festival's true body, the more refined and completed his creations are. As a result, the areas near the final destination achieve nearly perfect materialization and separation from the Rift. In this area, even the Colored Silhouettes cannot enter. There are countless skyscrapers piercing through the vast, tubular expanse of land, like an endless mass of concrete and glass. With neither clouds nor sky in the Path of Pilgrimage, this area resembles either a towering labyrinth, or the teeth of an enormous beast's closed jaws.
At the edge of the Path of Pilgrimage there is a wall; but rather than standing vertically to block off the land that curves gently upward, the space instead narrows rapidly, forming something similar to a circular lid. At the center of the wall, there is a broad, rectangular entrance, adorned with rugged yet relentless decorations. No stairs lead up from the surrounding ground; the only way to reach there is to fly.[6]
Beyond the entrance lies the massive Sanctuary[7]; this is where the Snake of the Festival, who had severed his power, remained dormant in the form of a snake skeleton.[8]
Since the Path of Pilgrimage is merely a provisional path created for the Snake of the Festival's resurrection, when the true body awakens and goes back to the Divine Gate, the path behind its journey begins to collapse and return to the Rift Between Both Worlds. Eventually, the Path of Pilgrimage was completely eliminated. This process of spatial contraction gives rise to a phenomenon later named by Dantalion as Faint Heaven Quake.[9]
The Path of Pilgrimage in the Anime[]
Unlike the novel, where the entire surroundings are solid ground, the anime depicted the Path of Pilgrimage as a series of small landmasses connected by bridges. The surrounding space appears as a mysterious void. The instability of the areas was represented visually by the disappearance of the islands after they were passed.
Although this mysterious void appeared distinct, it was still considered part of the Path of Pilgrimage and was explicitly separate from the Rift Between Both Worlds.
Gallery[]
    The Sanctuary at the end of the Path of Pilgrimage |
References[]
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 18 page 100
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 18 page 101
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 18 page 102
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 18 page 184
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 18 page 187
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 19 page 121
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 19 page 122
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 19 page 125
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume 19 page 221
[]
| Bal Masqué | ||
|---|---|---|
| Leaders | Snake of the Festival • Yūji Sakai | |
| The Trinity | Hecate • Sydonay • Bel-Peol | |
| Waches | Fecor • Purson • Vual | |
| Herolds | Decarabia • Gaap • Stolas | |
| Wanderers | Mammon • Orgon • Ribesal • Barma • Egyn • Orobas • Paimon • Phaleg • Bifrons | |
| Jaegers | Haborym • Ose • Leraje • Bufar • Pirsoyn • Bathin • Vine • Zarovee | |
| Army Commanders | Fecor • Decarabia • Haborym • Ribesal • Purson • Mammon • Orobas | |
| Allies | Dantalion • Domino • Sabrac • Rofocale • Lamies | |
| Conflicts | Battle of God-Slaying • Great War • Révolution War • Second Great War | |
| Related Articles | Divine Gate • Fumina Konoe • Grand Order • Heavenly Ladder • Path of Pilgrimage • Sanctuary • Seireiden • The Silver • Statue of Pride • Xanadu | |