Swoosh!
Akuto's figure suddenly flew out from the dust and smoke, landing in front of the shrine with a graceful backflip.
"Hey, big-chested girl, you're being very noisy."
Akuto picked at his ear and glanced at Hana.
"Miko... that's... so mean..."
Hana's eyes were red as she tightly hugged her own arms.
"Roar!!!"
At that moment, the Great Fox a kilometer away let out a roar, and the sound waves rippled out visibly to the naked eye.
Then, the Great Fox lunged fiercely toward Akuto.
"Forget it, I'm tired of playing with you."
Akuto made a strange hand gesture in front of his chest.
"Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine!"
Ding!
The sound of wind chimes rang out, and the Great Fox seemed frozen in mid-air, along with the two small foxes following behind it.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch...
Countless irregular slashes rained down; the Great Fox's body continuously split open and repaired itself.
The endless slashes made it impossible for the Great Fox to move at all.
Although its regenerative power was astonishing, repairing itself still took time.
The small foxes were even sliced into mincemeat.
Meanwhile, Akuto calmly walked toward the shrine.
"Roar!!!"
The Great Fox let out a terrified howl.
"Oh? Are you afraid?"
Akuto playfully kicked open the shrine doors. The inside was covered in Talismans, and on the central altar lay an object covered by a Talisman.
Akuto tossed the Talisman aside and picked it up to look at.
It was a human skull.
"A seal?"
Akuto walked out of the shrine holding the skull, looking at the Great Fox that was still being subjected to slashes, its eyes filled with a resentment so thick it was almost tangible.
"Oi."
"Goodbye." With a manic grin, he crushed the skull in his hand.
Crack!
Akuto applied force with his hand, and the skull instantly turned into powder, scattering in the wind.
"Roar!!!"
The Great Fox let out an unwilling howl as its body gradually collapsed.
Akuto deactivated his domain and watched as the Great Fox turned into burning ash and vanished.
Just then, a figure radiating golden light stepped out from the flames and bowed deeply to Akuto.
"Thank you."
Not far away, a Benevolent Spirit also emerged from one of the small foxes. It walked up to the first Benevolent Spirit and looked at Akuto.
"A powerful junior? I acknowledge you."
"You don't have a stage name, do you? In that case, let me, Okamoto-ko, give you one!"
"From now on, you shall be called the Holy Mother of Salvation!"
Several popping vein symbols appeared on Akuto's forehead.
"Old hag, what are you talking about to yourself! Don't go giving people nicknames without permission, or I'll kill you!"
"You don't like it?" Okamoto-ko scratched the back of her head. "I thought it sounded pretty good."
"Alright, junior. If you meet the Shitamachi Mother and Child Prodigy Romu, please tell them that I have left and not to worry."
"Thank you, Holy Mother of Salvation."
"Shut up! I already told you I'm not some bullshit Holy Mother!"
Akuto was about to launch a slash when he saw that the souls of Okamoto-ko and the young girl were slowly dissipating.
Okamoto-ko's eyes were full of gratification.
Akuto watched them dissipate in silence.
In the original story, Okamoto-ko was the master of the Shitamachi Mother—
That is, Granny Saegusa, who ran the 'Godmother' fortune-telling shop in Satake Shopping Street.
Granny Saegusa also had a disciple, who was Child Prodigy Romu.
Back then, Child Prodigy Romu had acted foolishly and snuck off to Sanko Valley Shrine alone, only to be targeted by the Great Fox.
In the end, Okamoto-ko sacrificed herself to save the Shitamachi Mother and her disciple.
Okamoto-ko's soul had been enslaved by the Great Fox for over a decade.
One could only say that the kid really deserved to die.
The pale yellow barrier in the sky began to slowly dissipate.
Seeing this, Miko breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that if she had encountered this situation herself, she would have definitely died without any chance of survival.
Boom!
Just then, a pillar of black smoke shooting into the sky told Miko that she had celebrated too early.
The barrier hadn't fully dissipated yet, and Hana also saw the towering black smoke rising from the mountain hollow in the distance.
A strong wind blew past, stinging their cheeks.
It felt as if some peerless, great horror was about to emerge.
Akuto returned control of the body to Miko.
"Leave this place, quickly."
"It seems we've released something incredible... is it something even you can't deal with?"
Miko's body was shaking like a leaf.
It wasn't just fear.
This was a complete suppression on a biological level, causing Miko to tremble involuntarily.
"My cursed technique is currently burnt out. Don't worry, that thing won't come out that quickly."
Only now did Akuto realize that this place was a massive seal.
The core of the seal was that girl's skull. She had once been forced into a sacrifice, and her skull was used as a suppression object to seal away a peerless Cursed Spirit.
Later, the human girl's soul, unwilling to be suppressed, kept calling out until she was heard by Child Prodigy Romu.
What followed was Okamoto-ko's sacrifice.
However, Akuto truly didn't understand how such a level of malice could have formed.
Akuto could feel a monster as massive as a mountain awakening beneath the ground.
By now, Miko had already pulled Hana toward the bottom of the mountain.
"Miko..."
Hana looked at Miko, hesitating to speak. Looking back now, the pillar of black smoke was no longer visible.
Miko knew she could no longer hide it, so she had to explain.
After explaining everything about her ability to see Cursed Spirits, Hana became completely paranoid.
"How scary!"
"Miko, are there Cursed Spirits around us right now... are there any in front of us? You have to protect me... I... I'll buy you lots of delicious food..."
Miko couldn't help but laugh.
"Hana, don't worry, I will definitely protect you."
"Besides, your constitution is very special; Cursed Spirits can't get close to you. Once a Cursed Spirit approaches, your life energy gets consumed."
"That's why you get hungry so quickly."
Hana tilted her head and thought for a long time, then suddenly punched one hand into her other palm.
"No wonder I was hungry today right after finishing breakfast!"
"So you don't need to be afraid. In a way, you just can't see Cursed Spirits, it's not that you can't harm them."
Hana stopped walking.
"What's wrong? Ha—"
Before Miko could finish, Hana gave her a bear hug.
"Miko... you must have been so lost..."
"In those days when you couldn't even tell your friends, Miko, you must have been so scared..."
"Miko is actually such a coward. I'm sorry I couldn't help you."
At this moment, Hana understood many things.
Those actions that seemed nonsensical to Hana, the sudden detours...
They were all proof of Miko taking Hana away from danger at the risk of being discovered by Cursed Spirits.
Drip...
Tears fell and shattered on the ground. Miko's body went limp as she hugged Hana and began to wail.
The two girls sat on the mountain steps, crying their hearts out.
At that moment, a pair of eyes suddenly opened on Miko's neck, their blood-red pupils coldly watching the nearby woods.
There, the figure of a Cursed Spirit wearing a suit was slowly vanishing.
The eyes on Miko's neck also slowly disappeared.
An hour later, Miko walked down the mountain path with red eyes, a smile back on her face.
"So, at the time, I really thought you'd gone crazy!"
"Hahahaha, it wasn't that exaggerated!"
While Miko was laughing, Hana seemed to hesitate again.
"You want to ask about that person from earlier, right?"
Seeing Hana remain silent, Miko took it upon herself to explain her connection with Akuto.
"Miko, I want to help you. Take me with you during summer break. Even if I can't see them, I'll protect you!"
Hana raised her chubby arm, making a strongman pose.