A shrine maiden is an existence that dedicates herself to gods and spirits.
From the time she was young, the core of the education Mizuki Mirei received from her late mother and her father was this single sentence.
Now, a true, living demon, one who left behind a fearsome reputation in myths and legends, was standing right in front of her.
As long as she signed a contract with her, all the difficulties currently facing Shifune Shrine, all the pressures that made it hard for her and her father to breathe, would naturally be resolved.
But…
what about the price?
Was the price required to make a deal with an evil demon really as simple as she imagined?
“To worship… to worship Lady Ibaraki…”
Mizuki Mirei’s lips trembled slightly; she felt her teeth chattering, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.
She mustered up the greatest courage of her life to ask the final question that had been haunting her heart, making her feel so terrified that she was chilled to the bone.
“Do you need… to use living humans for sacrifices?”
If worshiping this demon of Mount Ooe required using the lives of innocent people as sacrifices…
then she…
Thinking of this, Mizuki Mirei’s mind went completely blank.
Could she still make this decision?
To sacrifice others’ lives just to protect her own shrine?
Then what would be the difference between her and those bastards from the Miyuan Cult who treated human lives like grass?
“Huh? Are you looking down on me?”
The cruel confirmation she had expected did not appear; answering her was a childish voice filled with disdain and dissatisfaction.
Ibaraki Doji looked as if she had heard some terrible insult; her small face instantly fell, and she glared at her, puffed up with anger.
“I already told you, I am not that kind of low-level demon that cannot control its own desires!”
She placed her hands on her hips and retorted indignantly.
“The magical power needed for my activities, I will extract it myself from the spiritual veins beneath this mountain; there is no need for such trouble.”
“As a shrine maiden, all you need to do is offer enough fine wine and delicacies! Oh right… and those sweet snacks from earlier, those absolutely cannot be missing! The more, the better!”
When mentioning the snacks, Ibaraki Doji even subconsciously licked her lips, a glimmer named “desire” flickering in her golden slit pupils.
Watching this legendary demon loli, with her arms crossed over her chest, stomping her feet in anger, that spoiled and cute appearance stunned Mizuki Mirei, whose mind had already played out a hundred scenes of bloody sacrifices.
This…
is this the legendary demon of Mount Ooe that could stop children from crying?
The contrast is just too huge! Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“Just… just fine wine, delicacies, and snacks that ordinary people eat?”
Mizuki Mirei felt like her brain couldn’t keep up; she subconsciously repeated it, as if she couldn’t believe what she had heard.
“Of course!
What else did you think?!” Ibaraki Doji gave her a “you are so stupid” look.
“My requirements are just that simple!”
Simple?
This is more than just simple!
This is practically a pie falling from the sky, and it’s the kind of super luxurious pie with gold edges and embedded diamonds!
Mizuki Mirei’s heart, which had sunk to the bottom due to fear and despair, was suddenly thrown into the clouds by a huge wave of ecstasy at this moment!
She could no longer suppress the excitement in her heart; her beautiful eyes instantly widened, flashing with an unprecedented light.
“Lady Ibaraki Doji! Please, by all means, sign a contract with me!”
She practically lunged forward, clasping her hands to her chest, and said loudly in a tone of piety that was almost like an oath.
“From this day forward, Shifune Shrine will be your dojo!”
Are you kidding me!
With such generous conditions, being able to recruit a powerful demon with mythical strength as a backer—let alone her, Mizuki Mirei, any normal person would find it impossible to refuse such a great opportunity!
“Hmm, hmm, you are quite sensible after all.”
Seeing Mizuki Mirei being so cooperative, the formerly puffed-up cheeks of Ibaraki Doji immediately switched back to that iconic, slightly arrogant sneer.
“I was just thinking, if the owner of this shrine didn’t welcome a demon like me, I would just burn this place to the ground and then suck the spiritual veins beneath it dry before leaving.”
She said it nonchalantly, as if she were talking about the most ordinary little matter.
However, these words falling into Mizuki Mirei’s ears were like a bucket of ice water, instantly cooling her head, which had been heating up from ecstasy, to the core.
Her excited mood cooled down by eighty percent instantly.
That’s right…
she had almost forgotten.
The one before her, although appearing petite and cute, and even a bit gluttonous, was still, in her bones, that legendary, fearsome demon of Mount Ooe who killed without blinking.
Her kindness and malice were both terrifyingly pure.
When she likes you, she can give you supreme power and glory; but once you displease her, she will absolutely, without hesitation, destroy you along with everything you cherish.
Thinking of this, Mizuki Mirei immediately composed herself, suppressed all unnecessary emotions, and with a posture of utmost respect, slowly knelt to the ground, performing the most solemn bow of obeisance toward the demon before her.
The beautiful young girl wearing a red and white shrine maiden outfit, under the cold moonlight, offered all her loyalty and faith to the demon loli with horns on her forehead.
Behind them, that ancient and dilapidated shrine stood silently, appearing solemn and mysterious in the night, just like a god or Buddha sitting on the clouds, silently witnessing this contract that transcended races and eras.
“Very good, it seems you have already gotten into character.”
Ibaraki Doji felt very satisfied with Mizuki Mirei’s sensible attitude.
“This shrine, although a bit dilapidated, the spiritual veins beneath it can barely be of use; as a base for my Mount Ooe in the current world, it is just right.”
As she spoke, she reached out her hand and pulled the kneeling Mizuki Mirei up from the ground.
“I’m really looking forward to it; if my best friend Shuten could also return from that boring void realm sooner, and see this foundation I’ve established for Mount Ooe, she would definitely look at me with new eyes!”
Just as Ibaraki Doji was sighing to herself, Mizuki Mirei felt a sharp, burning pain on the back of her right hand, which was being held by her, as if it had been branded by a red-hot iron.
“Ah!”
She couldn’t help but cry out in pain, subconsciously trying to pull her hand back, but found that although Ibaraki Doji looked petite, her strength was astonishingly great, making it impossible for her to break free.
The sharp pain came quickly and went quickly.
In just a few seconds, that burning sensation vanished without a trace.
Mizuki Mirei hurriedly looked down and saw that on the back of her fair hand, at some point, three mysterious marks as bright red as blood had appeared.
The shape of the pattern was very strange, yet it carried a kind of bewitching beauty.
At a rough glance, it looked like three overlapping red lip prints of a beauty; but if one looked closely, one would discover that they were clearly three wide-open, fanged, bloody mouths, filled with an ominous and violent aura.
“This… what is this…?”
Mizuki Mirei covered the back of her hand with suspicion and uncertainty; this abnormal change that transcended common sense made her feel a bit afraid.
“This is a Command Spell, a crystallization of magical power.”
Ibaraki Doji let go of her hand, hopped over to the wooden veranda of the shrine, sat down cross-legged without a care, and swung her two little feet in the air.
“You are a shrine maiden serving the demon of my Mount Ooe, so naturally, I will grant you a corresponding gift.”
She said in a tone that took it for granted.
“As long as you use your consciousness to trigger it, you can communicate with me anytime, anywhere through the Command Spell. Of course, its greatest use is that by consuming one Command Spell, you can forcibly command me to do any one thing; there are a total of three chances.”
Ibaraki Doji spread her little hands, looked at Mizuki Mirei with a gaze like looking at a country bumpkin, and sighed.
“Sigh, the inheritance of Shintoism has really declined; a shrine maiden of the present world doesn’t even know these most basic knowledge of Onmyodo. Back in the Heian period, the Onmyoji under that guy Abe no Seimei, which one of them didn’t understand this stuff clearly?”
Hearing this, Mizuki Mirei’s cheeks couldn’t help but feel a bit hot.
From childhood to adulthood, she had been receiving the most orthodox shrine maiden training of the Mizuki Family, but neither her father nor the family’s classics had ever told her that those evil demons and Onmyodo from myths and legends were actually real!
This was simply beyond the scope of her knowledge.