"Today's guard duty runs all the way until eight tonight. Damn those monsters…"
"Tell me about it. My family's stuck in a shelter in another district right now. I still don't even know if they're safe."
At a large air-raid bunker somewhere in the Tokyo district, two fully armed soldiers stood at the entrance, chatting idly to pass the time.
But when movement suddenly appeared in the distance, both of them snapped to attention. They immediately grabbed the rifles slung across their chests, their relaxed expressions vanishing as vigilance flooded back in. Their fingers hovered near the triggers, ready to sound the alarm at the slightest sign of danger.
Since yokai had begun rampaging through cities across the country, many of the old air-raid shelters had been hastily converted into emergency refuges, offering fleeing civilians a temporary place to hide from the chaos.
This country, after all, was an island nation plagued by frequent earthquakes. Every region already had a considerable number of disaster shelters in place. When catastrophe struck, these locations naturally became the first places people thought of when seeking refuge.
Local governments had dispatched substantial armed forces to these areas, and even sought assistance from exorcist organizations. Each shelter zone was assigned several capable exorcists, all with the sole purpose of protecting ordinary civilians as much as possible.
The two soldiers on guard, hearing the disturbance ahead, initially assumed another monster attack was underway. Their nerves stayed taut as bowstrings—until they saw what was actually approaching.
It wasn't yokai.
It was a large group of civilians, each carrying bags and bundles, stumbling forward in exhaustion.
The tension drained from the soldiers almost instantly.
"I'm Ren Kuroda from the Non-Natural Countermeasures Division, Team Eight. Here are my credentials," the black-haired少年 said calmly as he stepped forward, handing over an identification card."The people behind me are survivors I encountered while passing through nearby towns. This shelter still has room, right?"
The soldiers accepted the credentials with utmost respect. After hearing Ren's words, they straightened their backs unconsciously, their gazes filled with admiration and awe.
"Yes, Mr. Kuroda! The shelter's supplies are still quite sufficient, and there are plenty of unused tents inside."
Truth be told, even without seeing the ID, the two soldiers found Ren's face extremely familiar.
In fact, there were probably very few people in this shelter who didn't recognize him.
Judging by his age alone, Ren looked no older than a high school student. Yet no one here dared underestimate him. From top-ranking officials to innocent children, almost everyone regarded the少年 Ren Kuroda with deep respect and admiration.
After Ren led the survivors into the shelter, the two guards resumed their conversation, their voices brimming with excitement.
"That guy just now… that was the famous 'Redeemer,' Ren Kuroda, right?I can't believe I actually saw him in person while on duty today. I must've done something right in my past life!"
One of the soldiers stared at Ren's retreating figure, his expression no different from a diehard fan—excited, thrilled, almost giddy.
"Has to be him. You saw his face—and his credentials too.Man… when we were his age, we were probably busy with our chuunibyou phases. And here he is, already a well-known powerhouse in the Tokyo district.I even heard higher-ups are planning to award him an official commendation medal."
Several days earlier, Ren had rescued a brother and sister, then gone on to escort all the survivors from that devastated town to this very shelter.
Afterward, he returned home briefly to ensure his family was safe. Then, using Low-Grade Yokai Power Crystals, he successfully pushed Spider Princess's yokai power to the B+ rank.
Because Amamiya Ayame was too soft-hearted, those high-born ladies who had shamelessly refused to leave her house were ultimately brought to the shelter by Ren as well.
Ren wasn't like Ayame.
He didn't drive those shameless noble ladies to their deaths, but he also wasn't indulgent. Instead, he gave them two choices.
The first: continue clinging stubbornly to the house—and be forcibly thrown out by Ren himself.
The second: Ren would escort them to a nearby shelter, where there was sufficient armed protection to ensure their safety.
Anyone with half a brain knew which option to choose. And judging by Ren's expression, he clearly wasn't joking. In the end, they all chose the second option without exception.
On the way to the shelter with those ladies, Ren happened to pass through another heavily devastated town.
With the mindset of "saving one sheep is saving, saving a flock is also saving," Ren rescued the survivors there as well.
But after escorting this new group into yet another shelter, Ren noticed something strange.
Back in the Nurarihyon World, his prestige points should've been completely depleted. He'd used them all on gacha pulls and exchanging Low-Grade Yokai Power Crystals.
Yet just now, notifications began popping up one after another:
"XXXX feels gratitude and admiration toward you. Gained 1 Human Prestige.""XXXX feels gratitude and admiration toward you. Gained 1 Human Prestige."
At first glance, it didn't seem like much—but when Ren opened the system interface, he nearly jumped in shock.
The screen was flooded with notification windows. Almost all of them were messages about people developing gratitude and admiration for him, granting him human prestige points.
The prestige counter—previously empty—began skyrocketing upward at an astonishing pace.
And the source of it all was obvious.
The survivors Ren had rescued.
What had started as an unintentional act was now yielding rewards beyond his wildest imagination.
This time, instead of using the massive influx of prestige for gacha pulls, Ren exchanged it for large quantities of Yokai Aura Talismans and Low-Grade Yokai Power Crystals.
No matter what, the safety of his mother and younger sister always came first.
The world had changed beyond recognition, and Ren couldn't stay by their side every moment. The only solution was to reinforce the defenses of their home.
The crude onmyoji barrier he'd learned earlier had already been strengthened further. He even incorporated a high-grade Yokai Aura Talisman—worth a full one hundred prestige points—directly into the formation.
This talisman-based barrier technique was something Ren had learned from Kamishiro Isshin. When the barrier was attacked, the activated Yokai Aura Talismans would not only drastically increase its defensive power but also retaliate against the attacker.
Of course, due to the talismans' compact nature, each one only provided a one-minute boost.
But with enough of them stacked together, even in dire situations, Ren would have enough time to rush home.
As for the Low-Grade Yokai Power Crystals, most of the ones Ren exchanged now were meant for himself and Spider Princess.
Given their current strength, even if creatures like Nurikabe became stronger, they still wouldn't be enough to handle the present situation.
But Ren and Spider Princess were different.
Both of them were already at B+ rank. Once they broke through from B to A, the change could only be described as a true metamorphosis.
At B+ in his normal state, Ren could already fight an S− rank hidden god like Xingbu Tanuki at full power. If his yokai power reached A rank, could he even contend with S-rank beings head-on?
Moreover, one of the conditions for the second stage of his "Become the Lord of Yokai" quest required his base yokai power to reach at least A rank.
Completing that stage would bring another massive prestige payout. No matter how he looked at it, improving his yokai power was far more cost-effective than rolling for new skills.
Ren already had plenty of abilities. Skills like Chaotic Divine Strength and Demon King's Pact weren't even fully mastered yet. Efficient use of limited resources was crucial.
As for why Spider Princess was also one of the main recipients of the *Low-Grade Yokai Power Crystals—
On one hand, even with talisman-enhanced barriers, Ren still didn't feel completely secure. Strengthening the protection around his family was essential.
And Spider Princess—loyal, powerful, intelligent, and ruthless when it mattered—was undoubtedly the best choice.
There was another reason, too.
Ren had analyzed Spider Princess's skill "Familiar Summoning" and discovered it was a growth-type ability—just like his own Demon King's Pact.
Their growth paths differed. Ren's skill increased the number of summons, while Spider Princess's increased their strength.
When Spider Princess was at B rank, the spider swarm she summoned ranged roughly from D to C rank.
After consuming the Low-Grade Yokai Power Crystals and advancing to B+ rank, the same summoned swarm jumped to D+–C+ rank.
This clearly showed that the strength of her familiars was directly tied to her own power.
At their peak, her summons were likely only one major rank weaker than herself.
Even so, the ability was absurdly powerful.
To put it bluntly—if Spider Princess became strong enough, she alone would be a walking Hyakki Yagyō.
After careful consideration, nearly half of the Low-Grade Yokai Power Crystals Ren exchanged ended up in Spider Princess's stomach.
After tasting the "sweetness" of rescuing people, Ren now spent his days tirelessly traveling between towns, searching for survivors and escorting them to nearby shelters.
Though the righteousness behind his actions had undeniably become tainted by personal motives, Ren didn't care.
Yes, he was chasing benefits—but those people were saved because of it, weren't they?
The outcome was good. That was all that mattered.
Frequently appearing at shelters across different regions, repeatedly saving large groups of survivors, Ren quickly built a formidable reputation.
The survivors he rescued, out of gratitude, spread word of his deeds throughout the various shelters.
And it was precisely because of this that Ren Kuroda earned his current title—
"The Redeemer."