This was no joke. Don't be fooled by the fact that Ren Kuroda now seemed to be standing alone—he already possessed several crucial advantages that many long-established exorcist families didn't even have.
First and foremost was fame. For any exorcist lineage to endure and pass down through generations, reputation was an indispensable foundation.
Second came power and connections. At a glance, Ren might appear sorely lacking in this department—but in reality, that wasn't the case at all.
To begin with, during this battle, many exorcists had survived specifically because of Ren. Combined with the many halos now surrounding him, there would naturally be no shortage of people willing to befriend him and stand on his side.
Next was the fact that Ren had the backing of the Non-Natural Countermeasures Division. While many orthodox exorcists looked down on this official organization, they couldn't deny one thing—it was supported by the state itself, and its foundations were anything but shallow.
Then there was Ren's close relationship with Yamato Kyoka. Through that connection alone, the Yamato family—and likely the Kūsuka family as well—would almost certainly provide him with assistance.
And finally, there was Atsuta Shrine, where the divine artifact Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi had long been enshrined. Now that the Kusanagi had acknowledged a master, Atsuta Shrine naturally declared that they would follow Ren's lead from this point onward. Their relationship with him would undoubtedly be far closer—and far more solid—than with any other faction.
The fact that the divine artifact Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi had chosen a master of its own accord had already shocked everyone present. Yet when the priests of Atsuta Shrine rushed over upon hearing the news and formally declared their willingness to serve Ren from now on, what Ren did next left people even more dumbfounded.
Ren looked at the representatives of Atsuta Shrine as they stepped forward and knelt on one knee before him. His expression remained calm and indifferent as he directly held out the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi in his right hand.
The priests, utterly confused, accepted the sword with blank expressions—only to hear Ren speak the next moment.
"Earlier, I only borrowed the power of the Kusanagi to drive back that powerful oni.But it isn't the weapon best suited to me. So it should continue to be enshrined where it was before.Perhaps one day, it will meet someone who is even more fitting as its wielder."
Those few casual words plunged the entire scene into dead silence.
The priest from Atsuta Shrine who was holding the Kusanagi suddenly felt as if the sword in his hands had become unbearably scorching hot.
As for everyone else, they were completely stunned.
A divine artifact… had just been rejected.
People who coveted divine artifacts were everywhere—everyone present had seen countless examples of that. But someone who actually refused a divine artifact? That was truly something they had never seen in their lives.
Something others could only dream of obtaining, this young man dismissed with a single line—"It's not suitable for me"—and returned without the slightest hesitation.
This was an object people would fight tooth and nail for… and he cast it aside as casually as worn shoes.
Comparisons really were deadly.
"Ren-sama… why?" one of the Atsuta Shrine priests asked in disbelief."The Kusanagi chose you. That means you are the one most suited to it.And this is the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi—one of the Three Sacred Treasures. Even among divine artifacts, it stands at the very pinnacle."
They truly couldn't understand. After the chaos began, countless exorcists had set foot in Atsuta Shrine, all hoping to obtain the Kusanagi—yet none had succeeded.
And now, this boy before them had become the first person in history to be chosen voluntarily by the Kusanagi itself… only to turn around and refuse it.
"I've already said it," Ren replied calmly. "It's not that the Kusanagi is inferior. It's just not the weapon that suits me best.I already have my own blade. Maybe right now, its power doesn't compare to that of a divine artifact—but it's the weapon that rose from nothing together with me. That's why it's the most suitable one."
As he spoke, Ren reached back and removed the long sword from his back, as if to prove the sincerity of his words.
Meanwhile, the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi—now back in the hands of Atsuta Shrine's priest—began to tremble violently, like a jilted girl who had just been cruelly abandoned.
The next instant, the sword flew up of its own accord and began circling Ren in midair.
The crowd was struck speechless yet again.
Before this, they had only heard about the Kusanagi choosing a master, and many had secretly suspected that Kamishiro Isshin and the others had exaggerated the story.
But now, it was clear that not only had they not exaggerated—it seemed they had actually underestimated just how fond the Kusanagi was of Ren Kuroda.
Divine artifacts were famously proud. Just look at how arrogantly they treated everyone else.
Yet the Kusanagi's attitude toward Ren defied all logic.
As a divine artifact, after being rejected, it should have cut ties in a blaze of pride. And yet here it was—clingy, persistent, outright refusing to let go.
Was this really the same divine artifact they knew?
Where was its dignity? Its lofty aloofness?
"Looks like you've really decided to stick with me," Ren said, watching the sword hover around him with a helpless expression."But you should know—I already have divine protection.If you don't mind serving the same master alongside other weapons… I don't really mind."
By the end of his sentence, Ren had even uttered something that sounded downright scummy.
In his view, divine artifacts possessed pride. Becoming a "side piece" was surely something it wouldn't agree to.
But to Ren's astonishment, after hearing his words, the Kusanagi suddenly stopped in midair, as if hesitating.
That hesitation lasted only a few seconds.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, the Kusanagi settled itself upright before Ren—and then leaned gently against his body.
One of the Three Sacred Treasures… actually agreed to such an unreasonable condition?
Whether it was the people from Atsuta Shrine or the surrounding exorcists, everyone was speechless. Then again, they were already used to it—far too many unbelievable things had happened today.
They never would have imagined that the spirit of the Kusanagi was actually… a tsundere.
As for Ren, looking down at the Kusanagi practically acting cute at his feet only left him even more at a loss.
He had genuinely been trying to make the sword back off.
Like everyone else, he never expected that a divine artifact could compromise to this extent.
At this point, returning it was clearly impossible. Doing so would completely offend Atsuta Shrine.
After all, they had worshiped the Kusanagi as a sacred relic for generations.
Refusing it once could be explained as incompatibility—but rejecting it again would just be courting resentment.
And so, with the advent of this chaotic age, the first divine-artifact wielder on the human side was born.
After turning the tide, driving back an S+-rank oni, saving the Tokyo district, and becoming the master of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, Ren Kuroda's fame reached an unprecedented peak.
As a result, in a single day, he gained more Human Reputation than he had accumulated in total before.
When combined with the Yokai Reputation he had harvested earlier under the alias Hyakki Yagyō, Ren's total reputation surpassed thirty thousand.
Of that, twenty thousand came from humans, and ten thousand from yokai—and that still wasn't the end. As time passed, reputation continued to flow in. The growth was slower than at the beginning, but it was steady.
Whether it was the Hyakki Yagyō persona or the Redeemer persona, this operation was a massive profit in more ways than one.
On the Hyakki Yagyō side, though Ren had suffered heavy injuries, he gained a large number of subordinates. While many A-rank great yokai had died, a few survived—and, moved by Ren's resolve and presence, became utterly loyal to him.
By integrating all the yokai forces in the Tokyo district—along with the Yuki-onna, the Spider Princess, and the others—plus Ren himself, this was now at least an SS-rank yokai faction.
Compared to the other top-tier yokai forces currently active, it was not inferior in the slightest.
What was truly astonishing was that such a yokai power had been assembled over the course of just a few nights. And because of the Tokyo battle, the cohesion and loyalty of these yokai were rock-solid.
After all, the troublemakers had all died during that battle. The ones left were those rescued by the Nekomata and the others—mostly harmless yokai who were relatively friendly toward humans.
Thus, the Hyakki Yagyō persona gained a massive following and a consolidated yokai force.
On the Redeemer side, Ren obtained the divine artifact Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. And thanks to his outstanding achievements, his ranking on the Exorcist Leaderboard rose once again.
This time, his position leapt directly from 135th to 25th.
On that leaderboard, Ren became the first exorcist with only B+ spiritual power to stand within the top hundred—and also the youngest among them.
The Exorcist Leaderboard wasn't ranked by raw spiritual power. After all, there were plenty of greenhouse flowers.
Instead, it ranked exorcists by actual combat ability and battle achievements. Ren's position owed much to the Kusanagi—after all, it was one of the Three Sacred Treasures, and its power was plain for all to see.
Though much of the spiritual energy stored within the Kusanagi had been expended after grievously injuring Hyakki Yagyō, once it had acknowledged a master, restoring its full power was only a matter of time.
As a result, in addition to the title "Redeemer," Ren gained another epithet on the leaderboard—
"Master of the Kusanagi."
Of course, in Ren's own view, the Kusanagi and the rise in ranking weren't gains at all—but trouble.
Fame was a good thing, since it brought reputation.
But being too famous was another matter entirely.
After all, this battle had affected such a wide area that both of Ren's personas—Redeemer and Hyakki Yagyō—had now drawn the attention of the true heavyweights from both the exorcist and yokai factions.