"An A-rank yokai, huh? What kind of yokai is it exactly—and if I take it down, how much money do I get?"
"…I knew it—even you would—wait, hold on. What did you just say?"
Kamishiro Isshin had instinctively been about to comfort Ren, but only after fully processing Ren's words did he snap back to reality, staring at him in shock.
Ren hadn't said whether he was confident he could hold the enemy back.
He'd asked how much he'd get paid for defeating it.
Given Ren's well-known money-grubbing tendencies, the fact that he jumped straight to negotiating the price didn't surprise Kamishiro in the slightest.
What did shock him was the implication behind those words.
Ren was saying—calmly—that he could defeat an A-rank yokai.
After the recent celestial anomaly, when the spiritual vortex suddenly fed massive amounts of energy back into the world, it wasn't only yokai who benefited.
Exorcists—those who cultivated spiritual power—had gained enormously as well.
Before the anomaly, Kamishiro Isshin and Monk Hakuba had both reached the peak of C-rank, also known as C+.
Afterward, both of them broke through almost simultaneously, advancing into B-rank, reaching B−.
As for Yamato Kuuka, when she'd first met Ren, her spiritual power had only been at C-rank. By the time she fought the Futakuchi-onna, she'd already reached C+.
Following the celestial upheaval, her spiritual power had likewise advanced to B−, and judging by the sheer volume and stability of her aura, breaking through to full B-rank seemed only a matter of time.
Even now, with her spiritual power roughly on par with Kamishiro and Hakuba, her true combat strength far surpassed theirs thanks to the Genji-style sword arts and the cursed blade Onikiri.
To be honest, Kamishiro and Hakuba felt deeply conflicted about Kuuka's rate of growth.
When she first joined the Non-Natural Countermeasures Division, her spiritual power had only been C-rank, and her strength was at best comparable to theirs.
Yet in such a short span of time, she'd consecutively broken through C+ and B−, and would likely reach B-rank any day now.
Meanwhile, the two of them had been stuck at C+ for who knew how many years.
If not for the celestial anomaly, they might still have been unable to break through.
Her talent and potential had utterly crushed them—like being slapped flat against the shore by a rising tide.
They'd already thought Kuuka's growth rate was absurd.
But now, hearing Ren claim he could even defeat A-rank yokai, all they could do was force bitter smiles.
Back when Ren was still part of Squad Eight, he'd already been the strongest among them.
His spiritual power had also been naturally superior—two full tiers above Kuuka's at the time.
Now that Kuuka's spiritual power had reached B−, did that mean Ren's had already reached B+?
Or even A−?
"Ren," Kamishiro said gravely, "tell me honestly—what level is your strength at now?"
"This is extremely important. Those yokai are becoming more and more restless. Earlier, we had to sacrifice several exorcists just to drive that A-rank yokai away."
"If it launches a third attack, I'm worried our defensive line won't be able to hold."
The overall strength of the Non-Natural Countermeasures Division was already inferior to both the Onmyoryo and the Exorcist Association.
And the yokai they were facing was an A-rank Kamaitachi—a monster infamous for its terrifying speed.
As a result, the first two waves of attacks had left them with devastating casualties.
The Kamaitachi is a yokai from legends of Japan's Kōshinetsu region—a creature that appears as a raging whirlwind, slashing at its victims with scythe-like claws.
In some local myths, the Kamaitachi is said to be a trio of brothers.
The first knocks a person to the ground.
The second slices open their skin.
The third applies a medicinal paste to the wound—so the victim doesn't even feel pain.
In short, it's a yokai as swift as a gale.
Its scythe-like claws can even whip up violent storms.
An A-rank Kamaitachi is far more troublesome than most yokai of the same tier.
Its attack power isn't particularly high compared to other A-rank monsters—but it has one defining trait.
Speed.
When facing it, members of the Division often couldn't even track its silhouette.
Once it moved, the storms it generated would tear through their formation, mowing people down in swathes—like wheat before a scythe.
Even if its raw offensive power was weaker than that of other yokai, it was still an A-rank existence.
Against its razor-sharp claws, even the thick, bulletproof armor worn by logistics troops was useless—ripped apart as easily as paper.
During the first assault, several exorcists had resorted to extremely costly forbidden techniques just to barely drive it back.
In the second wave, Monk Hakuba had summoned a Guardian Vajra, then merged with it and tanked the attacks head-on.
Kamishiro Isshin used a variety of talismans to restrict the Kamaitachi's movement—intensifying gravity around it to suppress its speed.
Only then did Yamato Kuuka—fully buffed, and the fastest among them—charge in to engage it at close range.
Even so, no matter how weakened it was, an A-rank yokai was still at least A− in strength.
Kuuka could fight above her rank, yes.
With her current B− spiritual power, nearing B, she could defeat B-rank yokai with ease and even contend with B+ opponents.
But an A-rank enemy was far beyond her limits.
Most of the damage had been absorbed by Hakuba, yet even just keeping up with the Kamaitachi's speed had pushed Kuuka to her absolute limit—counterattacking was nearly impossible.
And Hakuba, sturdy as he was, wasn't made of iron.
If the Kamaitachi hadn't judged the three of them too troublesome and chosen to retreat temporarily, once Hakuba's Vajra body collapsed, all three of them would have been dead.
The only alternative would've been using forbidden techniques like the fallen exorcists before them—but the more powerful the forbidden art, the more irreversible its side effects.
Some even demanded the user's life as payment.
After the second assault, Hakuba's Guardian Vajra had been badly damaged—he wouldn't be able to fight again anytime soon.
Kamishiro had originally intended to ask whether Ren could at least hold the Kamaitachi back, buying time while he and Kuuka dealt with the lesser yokai.
Afterward, the three of them working together would have a high chance of successfully hunting it down.
What he hadn't expected was Ren's blunt, mercenary response—asking how much he'd earn for killing it.
This wasn't about confidence anymore.
It sounded as if an A-rank yokai was nothing more than a dish on a plate to him.
That was why Kamishiro was so desperate to know—
Just how strong had Ren become?
"In terms of spiritual power," Ren said after a moment's thought, "I'm roughly at A−."
"If I fully unleash my curse, my combat strength should be able to surge to A-rank for a short time. That shouldn't be a problem."
Ren was still holding back.
His yokai power truly was at A−, but if he went all out, his combat strength wouldn't stop at A-rank—it would jump straight to S−.
But he'd never used Half-Oni Transformation in front of Kamishiro and the others.
He had no intention of laying all his cards on the table.
Yokai power could be explained away as a curse.
But the full oni-like transformation?
That was far harder to justify.
Even so, despite Ren's deliberately conservative estimate, Kamishiro and the others were left staring at him, mouths hanging open.
"…The heavens really aren't fair," Kamishiro muttered. "We're all exorcists—so why is the difference in talent this outrageous?"
Once upon a time, Kamishiro Isshin had been considered one of the most outstanding members of his generation within his family.
He might not have been on Yamato Kuuka's level, but he'd still been the pride of the clan.
He'd always believed his talent as an exorcist was above average.
But standing before this anomaly of a young man, he genuinely felt as though the heavens had poured all their favor into Ren alone.
Great talent was one thing.
Being handsome too? Fine.
But absurd strength on top of that?
That was just cruel.
Still, while Ren's rapid growth shocked them, it wasn't so unbelievable that they couldn't accept it.
After all, following yesterday's celestial anomaly, spiritual power levels across the board had generally increased.
Ren had always been stronger than them.
Reaching A− after the anomaly didn't seem impossible.
What they didn't know was that while they envied Ren's astonishing talent and growth—
Ren was envying them just as much.
When it came to that celestial anomaly, Ren was downright green with jealousy.
He'd literally just left this world to travel to another one—
And the very next moment, this world handed out massive benefits.
Ren's yokai power had reached A− only because he'd gone all-in, burning resources and constantly consuming Low-Grade Yokai Power Crystals.
Meanwhile, Spider Princess, Yamato Kuuka, and the others had genuinely enjoyed a free wave of spiritual energy straight from the world itself.
Both spiritual power and yokai power could be enhanced by that vortex of energy.
Which meant—
If Ren, who possessed both, had been present?
He would've skyrocketed on the spot.
But that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had slipped right past him.
If only his cross-world trip had been delayed by a single day…
Once they learned that Ren possessed A-rank combat power, Kamishiro and the others finally felt a weight lift from their shoulders.
Having several B-rank fighters face an A-rank yokai had been pure agony.
Requesting reinforcements was essentially impossible.
Battles across the country were deadlocked—every region was in crisis, and no one could spare a hand to help them.
Even supplies were running dangerously low.
With the nation fully mobilized for war, exorcist resources were in severe shortage—
To the point that even the most basic holy water was now being sold at astronomical prices.