In the early morning, Kael returned home, lay on his bed, and stared at the ceiling in deep thought. He felt something was wrong with himself.
Not long ago, he had lamented that he wasn't suited for demonic cultivation—killing even one person made him vomit for half a day. Even if the victim was evil, he still vomited, violently. But today? He killed more than ten people in one go, skinned them to refine the Hundred Ghost Banner, devoured their souls, and turned their flesh into Flesh Pills. From soul to body, he used everything perfectly.
At first, Kael thought he would vomit miserably. So before acting, he cast a spell to keep himself calm, emotionless. Yet when the spell wore off, he didn't vomit. He only felt slight discomfort.
That discomfort quickly turned into desire when Mrs. Yoshida undressed before him. He then did unspeakable things to her. When she begged for mercy, Kael became even more violent. If he hadn't healed her with mana afterward, she would have crawled out of the Akiyama group's den.
After she left, Kael used "Cleansing Technique" to scrub the place spotless. To outsiders, it looked as if the Akiyama group had vanished. No one would suspect foul play—there were no traces of battle, no blood. Even the best detective would find nothing.
And Kael remained calm. He didn't understand how he had changed so quickly. From vomiting at first, to now only mild discomfort—it was too fast, almost unbelievable. Was his demonic cultivation affecting him, making him cold and selfish?
But then, what about Mrs. Yoshida? The Soul-Devouring Art didn't cause lust. That was the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Demon Canon. But he hadn't practiced that.
Especially since she was Saki's mother—he knew this, yet still did it. That was hard to justify.
At that moment, Kael began daily self-reflection. He did this to maintain himself, not be consumed by demonic arts, not become a madman who slaughtered all life.
After careful analysis, Kael realized something. He was indeed influenced by the demonic art—but only slightly.
When he devoured the fox god's soul, he absorbed its memories. The fox god, to maintain faith, colluded with yokai, let them eat humans, controlled harvests, caused famines, and countless deaths. Yet it felt nothing. It saw humans as crops, harvested again and again. Humans were no longer lives, but tools for faith.
Kael gained immense power from its soul, rising from First Grade Lower to Second Grade Upper. But he was subtly influenced—his attitude toward humans changed.
When he killed Hirasaka Ryuji, he vomited miserably, feeling awful. But when he killed the Akiyama yakuza, deep down he no longer saw them as humans. He saw them as pigs, cattle, tools to grow stronger. So even after killing them, he only felt mild discomfort, not overwhelming nausea.
As for what he did to Mrs. Yoshida—
That had nothing to do with the demonic art or the fox god. He was simply lustful. Seeing a beautiful woman flatter him and offer herself, he couldn't resist. Even knowing her identity, he acted without hesitation.
It was the classic case of desire controlling reason. In short, he was just a lecher. Men, aside from a few good ones, weren't all the same? Seeing a beautiful woman, they fantasize. Even a certain unnamed writer once said: some men see thighs and think of bodies, see Yukiko and think of… more. It's instinct.
Even as a cultivator, Kael couldn't suppress his desire. Though he regretted afterward, it was useless—what was done was done.
That night, Kael deeply analyzed himself, confirmed he hadn't changed completely, and finally relaxed. He fell asleep in the latter half of the night.
…
The next day, Kael woke to a pleasant ringtone. His phone on the table was ringing. He reached out, and it flew into his hand. Swiping the screen, Marin's voice came through.
"Renjou-kun, I'm with Saki now. Where are you? We'll come find you."
He glanced at the time—11 a.m., nearly noon. No wonder she called.
"I'm home. Come over." He gave them his address.
After hanging up, Kael showered. Though his cultivation could cleanse him instantly, he enjoyed the feeling of bathing.
Half an hour later, he emerged in clean clothes.
Ding-dong! The doorbell rang. Wearing slippers, Kael opened the door. Marin and Saki stood there, one holding a plastic bag filled with food—beef, potatoes, vegetables, watermelon, seeds, peanuts, ham, tofu—everything. It seemed they planned to cook lunch at his place.
"Come in," Kael said, stepping aside to welcome them.