"You're surprisingly confident," Kawashima Toya noted, his expression unreadable. "But boasting usually comes with a cost. Are you prepared to pay it?"
Even though Jashin-chan's transformation was striking, her actual power was still far from being a genuine threat.
Jashin-chan let out a sharp laugh. "No, no. You're the one who should be panicking, Toya! Can you feel this power? It's intoxicating. I'm certain I can end this with a single blow."
From across the room, Nyaruko watched with a look of pure boredom. "Please. You could have a hundred versions of yourself and you still wouldn't be a match for him."
While Nyaruko was surprised that the demon had managed to stabilize her leaking energy, that was the extent of her interest. Outer Gods and demons shared a certain lineage in the darker corners of the cosmos, so this wasn't exactly a miracle.
Toya let out a quiet sigh. "I really need to teach you a lesson."
The moment the words left his lips, he vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already at Jashin-chan's side. The cold blade of Murasame hummed as it cut through the air.
"Fast!"
Jashin-chan's eyes widened. She tried to retreat, but the silver flash had already descended.
Slash.
Her arm hit the floor. Because of the eldritch fusion, no blood sprayed from the wound; it remained clean and unsettling.
"Still not enough?"
Realizing the gap between them hadn't closed as much as she hoped, Jashin-chan snatched up her severed arm and bolted toward the central chamber of the shrine.
Toya stayed where he was, watching her retreat. Let's see what her original plan actually was.
The eldritch absorption had been an accident, but Jashin-chan clearly had a goal for this tomb. There was something here she valued.
"Darling, I had nothing to do with that!" Nyaruko hurried over, her hands raised. "I wasn't controlling that energy. Her absorbing it was entirely her own doing."
Toya nodded. "I know. I didn't expect you to be kind enough to help her."
Nyaruko was an avatar of chaos; she didn't care if the world burned, so why would she empower a minor demon?
"Hehe... Darling really does understand me."
"Don't change the subject. Just watch."
Toya turned to Hanazono Yurine. "Are you feeling better? Try sensing the area. Is the pressure still affecting you?"
"It's fine," Yurine replied cautiously. The whispers were still present, but they were manageable now.
"Good. Then keep your eyes open," Toya said. "Let's see what she has in store for us."
"Her plan?" Yurine looked around the hollow chamber. "Aside from the sarcophagus, there's nothing here."
Toya smirked. "Then it has to be the coffin."
.....
As he spoke, Jashin-chan reappeared, grunting as she pushed a heavy stone sarcophagus out of the inner sanctum.
Her severed arm had already reattached and healed. The dark, shadowy aura had faded, and she had returned to her usual appearance.
Having dragged the coffin into the open, she looked down at the group with a triumphant huff.
"Toya, you're far too arrogant. You gave me exactly the time I needed. You're going to regret this."
"I'm going to awaken the legendary Abe no Seimei. He will be the instrument of your destruction!"
Toya shook his head and glanced at Yurine. "Let her play it out. I want to see if she can actually manage a resurrection."
Yurine let out a weary sigh. "Do whatever you like."
"Go ahead, Jashin-chan," Toya called out. "Start your ritual. Hurry it up, though. We need to finish this and get back in time for lunch."
"By the way, what do you want to eat? We can order for you too."
"I want the all-meat set! Thank you!" The demon replied reflexively before snapping back into a rage. "You aren't going back! Abe no Seimei was the greatest Onmyoji of the Heian period. He'll slaughter you all!"
Jashin-chan's body erupted with a crimson glow, so intense it drowned out the flickering lamps of the cavern. The blood-red light surged forward, pouring into the sarcophagus.
As the energy took hold, the coffin began to vibrate. Something inside was stirring.
Jashin-chan watched with glee. "Awaken, Abe no Seimei! Rise and become my puppet! Slay these enemies who dare threaten your master!"
A blood-red Seiman manifested, enveloping the entire coffin.
Toya nudged Yurine. The greatest Onmyoji of a thousand years ago... I wonder how he compares to her. He suspected Yurine was actually stronger.
Eras change, and Yurine was an anomaly in her own right. In her own world, she had dismantled giant mechs with her bare hands and punched out demon lords.
Nyaruko blinked her eyes and muttered, "She really is an idiot. Darling is invincible. A thousand-year-old corpse isn't going to change that."
Nyaruko had crossed paths with Seimei centuries ago. Back then, he had been a cautious, timid man.
If it hadn't been for the fact that he couldn't escape the Outer Gods' invitations, he probably would have fled to the edge of the world.
Inside the cavern, the red light reached a fever pitch. A sinister, suffocating aura began to leak from the cracks in the stone.
Jashin-chan's expression shifted. She tried to pull her power back, but she found herself stuck. Her energy was being siphoned away by the coffin at an alarming rate, as if the occupant was trying to drain her dry.
"Stop! Let go!" Jashin-chan cried out, her face turning pale.
The coffin ignored her, continuing its relentless drain.
Toya's eyes narrowed. "Something's wrong."
"This is definitely not what she expected."
"I'd better step in. Wasting a good companion—or food—is a sin."
Toya gripped Murasame and lunged. He cleared the distance in a heartbeat, appearing before the terrified demon like a bolt of lightning.
"Toya..." Jashin-chan looked at him with watery eyes.
"Don't cry. Your plan failed, that's all. Better luck next time," Toya teased.
His eyes took on an azure glow as he locked onto the coffin's Point of Death and swung his blade.
Shring!
A flash of steel severed the connection between the demon and the sarcophagus. The draining stopped instantly.