Why is the Demon King like this?

Because there was little traffic at midnight, the roads were clear.

Twenty minutes later, the group arrived near the Garden Shrine.

"Miss, we've arrived."

"understood."

Keisuke Aoki had already raised his eyes and looked out the car window, sensing an unfamiliar spirituality.

Chaotic spirituality danced wildly in the air, undisguised, like a roaring beast, ferocious and chilling.

These spiritual entities enveloped the entire building, concealing the true situation inside.

As I got off the bus, several people dressed in shrine uniforms walked quickly out of the building.

The head priest, Fujitajima Tsukasa, wore a black crown on his head, a hunting robe with a brown background and yellow rattan patterns, a rectangular scepter made of sacred wood in his hand, and shallow paulownia wood shoes on his feet.

He was handsome, but unfortunately his face was a little pale and he looked somewhat flustered.

One look was enough to tell that he was just trying to hide his panic.

Following behind him were two shrine maidens, one old and one young. The older one had a Japanese bow slung across her back, while the younger one held a porcelain bottle with a picture of rice paddies painted on it.

It refers to one of the main deities enshrined at Hanazono Shrine: Kurane no Tamaki.

That is, Uka no Mitama, the daughter of the famous Susanoo.

One of the Inari gods, in charge of grain cultivation, but can only be considered a minor, nameless god (there are many Inari gods in Japan).

Therefore, the predecessor of Hanazono Shrine was called "Hanazono Inari Shrine". As for why the name was changed, it involves the reason that Yui Kamabatake wanted to avoid using her name.

After getting off the vehicle, Qing Guijie focused his attention on the bow and arrow and the porcelain bottle, sensing a strong spiritual energy emanating from them.

"Miss Shenfan! I didn't expect you to be sent here. It's so kind of you to make this special trip!"

The young priest, Fujitajima Tsukasa, came over, showing no regard for his status as higher than that of Kamabatake Yui. He didn't even ask why she had only arrived now, but instead gave a closer look at the two people who had come with Kamabatake Yui.

A drunkard...?

There's also... an ordinary person?

Ok?

He frowned, hesitated, but ultimately held back: "Please come with me. I'll give you an update on the situation. These two..."

"They will be with me, you don't need to worry about these things, Master Fujita." Yui Kamabata nodded slightly.

"yes!"

Chizuru Shiraishi lay on top of Keisuke Ao. Luckily, she was petite and the Demon King's training efficiency was high, otherwise he really couldn't carry her.

However, now, feeling the aura of a mature woman, Aoki Keisuke is full of energy.

Ignoring the shrine maiden's discerning gaze behind him, he turned to observe his surroundings. The chilling spiritual influence had already spread through the floors, and in his blurred vision, the corridors and the ground had undergone strange changes.

Of course, this is just an illusion; the monster upstairs doesn't yet have the ability to affect reality by emitting its aura.

As for these officials from the mystical side, their spirituality is all between 200 and 300, nothing to be proud of.

Of course, if they, like Yui Kamibata, have restrained their spirituality, then that's another story.

On the contrary, the porcelain bottle held in the hands of the young witch had an astonishingly high spiritual index, which was a full four digits!

These clergy, possessing such equipment, still couldn't solve the problem?

Although I sensed something slightly off between the shrine maiden and the porcelain bottle, that shouldn't be a reason why the spirit couldn't be exorcised, right?

"In addition to the situation we reported before, the evil spirit upstairs exhibited another unusual behavior during the town lockdown."

At that time, the intensity of the entire "Mirage" decreased by nearly three times. I suspected that it was caused by the failure of the evil spirit's transformation, so I sent a priestess in. Unexpectedly, the Mirage returned to normal very quickly.

Two of the priestesses who entered are still not out.

"What's going on?" Shinbata Yui turned her head, glaring sternly. "The previous orders were very clear: you were ordered to cooperate with the police to evacuate the crowd and were prohibited from entering the Mirage Realm again!"

"I'm sorry... Ms. Shinban."

A bitter smile appeared on Fujitajima's face: "I just hope... to revive the Fujita family as soon as possible."

"If a person does not recognize their own limits and insists on going their own way, they will only commit more sins."

Shinbata Yui raised her hand, stopping Fujitajima Tsukasa from speaking further: "Since there are still people in the Mirage World, let's talk about the rest after we come out."

It turns out she even planned to come back tomorrow...

If they really manage to trick Keisuke into taking a nap, then they can come back tomorrow to collect the bodies of those two shrine maidens.

No...maybe even the corpses won't be left?

"Please!" Fujitajima Tsukasa pleaded earnestly, his previously forced composure crumbling.

"I will report this matter truthfully."

Kamihata Yui stopped looking at him and instead looked at Ao Keisuke with a probing gaze.

"In that case, let's go in."

The pleasure of hunting inherently includes all the uncertainties.

What an arrogant brat!

The three people from the Garden Shrine all looked at him—he was clearly just an ordinary person who hadn't even completed "spiritual awakening," yet he dared to speak to Shrine Maiden Kamibata Yui in such a tone!

Look, even the shrine maiden Shinbata Yui is trembling with anger!

The more they peeked at Shinbata Yui, the more the chief's body swayed, making it seem as if she was about to lose control of her anger at any moment.

The head priest, Fujita Shimaji, was even more terrified and kept silent. The Fujita family was going through a lot of troubles, so how could they dare to antagonize the chief priest of Meiji Shrine?

"You all wait here!" Yui Kamibata's voice suppressed a certain emotion: "Don't enter the Mirage Realm again."

"yes!"

"And that precious bottle, return it to its rightful place as soon as possible, otherwise your Fujita family..."

"yes!"

Once out of sight of the Shinto priest and the others, and up the stairs to the emergency exit, Kamibata Yui finally let out a long sigh of relief—the atmosphere of being misunderstood was truly captivating.

"Aokei-kun, are we really going to take Shiraishi-sensei up there?"

"It's okay, I'll protect her."

"In that case, please leave it to me."

Shinbata Yui smiled slightly, and two small white paper figures flew out from her sleeve. One was pasted on Shiraishi Chizuru's forehead, while the other was casually picked up by Ao Keisuke.

"Something like a one-time summon? That's interesting..."

He casually stuck the paper figure on Shiraishi Chizuru's face, then carried her on his back.

"Let's go, I can already smell the stench of our prey."

Next, you slowly savor the fear of your prey!

Yes~

Shinbata Yui led the way, saying, "The 'Mirage Realm' I just mentioned is actually this kind of automatically generated barrier. It got its name because of the various strange phenomena that exist within it."

The most powerful mirage realm is also known as the "Pure Realm." Depending on its characteristics, it is given different names. Each Pure Realm possesses the ability to reverse reality. If Qinggui-kun encounters one, he'd better be careful.

"Oh?" Qing Guijie kicked the mirage in front of him and laughed, "The more you say that, the more I look forward to it."

Visible deep purple spiritual energy surged and rushed out from the rift in the mirage. The bizarre and fantastical phenomena that flowed out were only a small amount, yet they made Shiraishi Chizuru subconsciously frown.

Shinban Yui immediately stepped forward, a white ribbon fluttering from her sleeve, easily separating the cold spiritual energy and opening a passage.

In Aokiji's perception, Shinbata Yui's spirituality continued to rise, and soon reached an unprecedented level.

The ribbon shimmered with a hazy white light, then shot directly towards the mirage.

"Sizzle—"

The evil spirits withered and died rapidly under the white light, utterly powerless to resist.

"Qinggui-kun, please come with me!"

With his divine banners and flowing robes, he hovered in mid-air, leading the way into the mirage.

Keisuke Ao lifted Chizuru Shiraishi off his back, and after receiving a disgruntled murmur of complaint from her, he chuckled and strode into the rift.

This female doctor should be starting to have nightmares by now, right?

Hopefully she can make it in time for the final exorcism...maybe.