The girl who emerged looked no older than ten. Petite and doll-like, she had a sweet, childlike charm that could make even battle-hardened exorcists pause. Her long, obsidian-black hair was tied into a high ponytail that swayed gently with each movement. She wore a vibrant green kimono—its skirt short enough to reveal plump, porcelain-like legs. Her right leg was wrapped in a delicate vine, and her left was clad in a white thigh-high sock that ended just above her knee.
Her feet were adorned in soft, traditional sandals that exposed crystal-clear toes, almost translucent in their glow. The overall aesthetic? Delicately lewd, but somehow, on her, it radiated more moe than indecency.
The moment Hotarugusa appeared from the ink-black shadow, her eyes blinked slowly in confusion—until they landed on Akiyama Ren. A warmth spread across her face as she smiled.
"Master!" she cried joyfully and dove straight into Ren's arms like a puppy reunited with its owner.
Ren chuckled as he caught her, gently patting her head.
Meanwhile, Kurahashi Kyōko—who had been watching the whole scene unfold—looked as if someone had just pulled the spiritual equivalent of a rabbit out of a hat... no, out of a black hole.
"Th-this… How is this even possible!?" she stammered.
A fully-formed, sentient Shikigami, summoned without a charm, ritual, or incantation? And that summoning technique—it wasn't just Onmyōdō. That was clearly Jujutsu… specifically, the Zen'in Clan's legendary Ten Shadows Technique!
Kyōko's expression darkened, almost as if she suspected Ren of some kind of spiritual larceny.
But Ren, of course, had already noticed her growing suspicion.
"No need to look at me like I'm a curse user," Ren said with a calm smile. "My Innate Technique is called The Aplha-Omega Codex. It allows me to replicate and use any technique that exists in this world—including the Ten Shadows Technique."
Kyōko's eyes widened further, now trembling with disbelief. "Don't be ridiculous… There's no way such a broken Innate Technique exists. If that were true, not even Gojo Satoru could match you!"
"Hmph! Of course Master is stronger!" Hotarugusa puffed up proudly and crossed her tiny arms. "That white-haired clown wouldn't last a minute!"
Kyōko was speechless.
"It seems your grandmother didn't tell you much about me," Ren said, smirking slightly.
Instead of explaining further, he opted to demonstrate.
He raised his hand, then calmly sliced his palm open. Thick, radiant golden blood spilled out.
Kyōko took a step back, instincts kicking in. That blood radiated divinity.
Then, Ren activated another technique—this time from the Kamo Clan. Using Blood Manipulation, he spun that thread of golden blood into a thin, high-pressure stream that sliced through a fruit knife on the table as if it were paper.
Metal shattered like glass.
"Blood… Manipulation?" Kyōko gasped. "But… that's a Kamo technique. And your blood—it's golden?!"
Ren didn't reply. Instead, he moved to his next trick.
With a calm breath, he summoned a construct using Zen'in Mai's Construction Technique—a cursed technique allowing the creation of matter from nothing, at the cost of extreme Cursed Energy.
Except for Ren, that cost was meaningless.
His body—reforged by divinity—could endure absurd levels of energy usage without even blinking. And he didn't just have cursed energy. He wielded Divine Power, born from a trinity of monstrous sources:
The vast divine energy inherited after becoming a Godslayer.
The spiritual mass gained by devouring every major Curse Spirit in Shinjuku and Kyoto.
And lastly, the divine essence absorbed from analyzing ancient war gods like Mekal and Veleslana.
All of it had been absorbed, refined, and harmonized within Raphael, Lord of Wisdom, turning Ren's divine power into a bottomless sea—at least ten times greater than any known Godslayer before him.
He casually constructed object after object in midair: a replacement fruit knife, a delicate box of wagashi (Kyōko's favorite), a ceramic tea cup, and even a detailed replica of a Glock G17 pistol.
The pistol was cold, solid, and loaded.
"Do you believe me now?" Ren asked, twirling the weapon on his finger before storing it away into a shimmering storage glyph.
Kyōko stared at him for a long while in silence before finally uttering, "Are you… even human anymore?"
Ren gave a small, amused shrug. "I told you back on the shopping street, didn't I? I'm a God."
This time, Kurahashi Kyoko didn't argue back. Her mind kept returning to that strand of golden blood—unnatural, divine, overwhelming. Even now, it hovered in the air like a sacred relic, pulsing with pressure that weighed on her soul.
She glanced at Akiyama Ren's hand. The wound he'd sliced open moments ago had already vanished, the skin flawless, unmarred. No healing incantation. No hand seals. It was as if the injury had never existed.
Ren calmly constructed a sealed vial with a flick of his fingers—smooth, crystalline, sterile—and guided the golden blood into it before placing it into his personal storage space. Despite being able to purify and reintegrate the divine blood back into his system, he frowned at the thought.
"Even if you purify water from a toilet, who could actually drink it without flinching?" he muttered to himself, visibly grossed out.
Still, the value of divine blood was immense. Discarding it would be a waste. He could use it later to strengthen artifacts, empower Shikigami, or refine his arsenal. A mere drop could elevate an R-ranked spirit to SR, or an SR to SSR.
With that sorted, the atmosphere softened. Kurahashi Kyoko took on the role of teacher for the first time that evening, explaining the foundational theory of Onmyōdō and several common incantations of the Onmyoji arts. To her growing disbelief, Akiyama Ren absorbed everything instantly.
Whether it was spiritual alignment, summoning sigils, or the ancient yin-yang formations, Ren didn't just memorize it—he understood it. Perfect recall, flawless comprehension.
"A monster..." Kyoko whispered under her breath, stunned.
Even Tsuchimikado Yakou, the legendary Onmyoji prodigy of ancient days, hadn't shown talent this monstrous. If Yakou was a genius born once in a millennium, then what was this boy standing in front of her?
By the time the clock hit 10:30 PM, Ren stretched lightly and spoke up.
"That's enough for tonight. You should get some rest. Tomorrow, I'll teach you magic."
Kyoko blinked, then nodded, hiding her growing curiosity under a veneer of indifference. "Sure. Do whatever you want."
She retired to her room, while Ren turned his attention to the quiet little figure still sitting by his side—Hotarugusa, the girl-Shikigami with firefly eyes and a vine coiled around her leg like an accessory from a sacred scroll.
"…You're really Hotarugusa, huh?" Ren asked, eyes narrowing with curiosity.
"Mhm! Yes, Master, I'm Hotaru Gusa," she said with a bright nod, voice sweet and crisp like a bell chime.
"It really is the Shikigami from Onmyoji..." Ren muttered to himself, intrigued. He then formed the hand seals of the Ten Shadows Technique once more, intending to summon all nine of the remaining Shikigami.
But this time, something unexpected happened—the ritual failed.
Only Kyonshi Ani and Kyonshi Imouto emerged in a shimmer of shadows, their small forms fluttering into existence with soft, eerie grace. The other seven—Yuki Onna, Hakuro, Ubume, Shiro Mujou, Kuro Mujou, Demon Sword Princess, and Takiyasha hime—remained beyond reach.
Ren furrowed his brow. The feedback from the Ten Shadows Technique was clear: those seven hadn't been subjugated yet.
"Ah… just like Megumi Fushiguro's version of the Ten Shadows," Ren mused. "You start with the Divine Dogs, and the rest must be conquered one by one before they follow your command."
Subjugation, in this context, meant battle. You had to face the Shikigami in direct combat and defeat them before you could claim their loyalty.
For someone like Ren, though? That was just a fun little challenge.
He wasn't in a rush. Instead, he crouched down to examine the two he had summoned— Kyonshi Ani and Kyonshi Imouto. Their faces were vaguely human, cherubic even, but their limbs had morphed into delicate wings and talon-like claws, like some fusion of fae and beast.
"Cute," Ren smiled, eyes gleaming with interest. "But I wonder what you two can really do."
************
I'll make an extra chapter on Webnovel to avoid repeating this info:
Hotarugusa (蛍草) R Healer, plant-based
Kyonshi Ani (跳跳兄) R Male, childlike, solemn demeanor
Kyonshi Imouto (跳跳妹) R Petite undead girl, childlike and calm
Yuki Onna (雪女) SR Ice attacks, AoE freeze
Hakuro (白狼) SR Archer, high crit potential
Ubume (姑獲鳥) SR Winged ghost woman, protective skills
Ghost Messenger White Shiro Mujou (白無常) SR Soul collector, control unit
Ghost Messenger Black Kuro Mujou (黒無常) SR Soul collector, burst attacker
Demon Sword Princess Youtou Hime (妖刀姫) SR High single-target damage
Takiyashahime Takiyasha Hime (滝夜叉姫) SSR Sorceress princess, versatile DPS