A contract…
With an Oni God?
To become her Master?
When those words left Ibaraki-Douji’s mouth and reached Mizuki Mirei’s ears, her heart skipped without warning.
Then it began to pound.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
In the moonlit silence of Shihou Shrine, that heartbeat sounded painfully clear, as if it might break through her chest.
She, Mizuki Mirei, a shrine maiden on the verge of losing her home, her faith, and everything her family had protected for generations, had suddenly been struck by something that seemed far too absurd to be called fortune.
No.
Fortune was the wrong word.
This was not some blessing falling from the sky.
It was a poisoned trap wrapped in honey.
A contract with an oni?
Wasn’t that the same as selling one’s soul to a devil?
In Mizuki’s mind, countless old warnings from myths, legends, and shrine teachings flashed past at once.
Mortals who made bargains with monsters.
Humans who accepted gifts from demons.
Fools who reached for forbidden power and paid for it with their lives, their souls, or something even worse.
Her reason screamed at her.
Refuse.
Run.
Get away from this dangerous being before it is too late.
But…
Her lips moved.
The word no would not come out.
Because another voice was screaming inside her too.
Agree.
Agree to her.
This is Ibaraki-Douji.
The legendary Oni King of Mount Ooe.
If you obtain her power, then what is one Meiyuan Church worth?
The shrine.
Your home.
Your dignity.
Everything you are about to lose.
With this power, you might be able to take it all back.
Fear and desire clashed violently inside her.
Mizuki’s body trembled.
Half from terror.
Half from an excitement she could not suppress.
“What?”
Ibaraki-Douji’s brows rose slightly when the shrine maiden failed to answer.
“Are you unwilling?”
A dangerous edge slipped into her childish voice.
“That is true, I suppose.
I am an oni, after all.
For a shrine maiden who serves the gods, associating with an oni must be terribly difficult.”
She gave a careless shrug.
“In that case, forget it.
I cannot be bothered to force anyone.”
With that, she began to withdraw the small hand she had extended.
“Wait!”
The word burst from Mizuki’s mouth before she could stop herself.
She did not know where the courage came from.
By the time she realized what she had done, her hands had already closed around Ibaraki-Douji’s left hand.
It looked fair and delicate.
A child’s hand.
Yet Mizuki knew very well that this hand belonged to a monster whose power could crush human life like dry leaves.
“I…”
Her voice was hoarse from tension.
“I have a question I would like to ask, Lady Ibaraki-Douji.”
“Oh?”
Ibaraki-Douji stopped.
Her golden eyes turned toward Mizuki with renewed interest.
“Then ask.”
Mizuki inhaled slowly.
She tried to force her chaotic thoughts into order.
This might be the only negotiation of her life.
The most important one.
If she was going to step into the abyss, then she had to obtain something from it.
Not only for herself, but for the entire Mizuki family.
“If…”
Her fingers tightened unconsciously.
“If I agree to become your Master and form a contract with you…”
Mizuki raised her head.
For the first time, she looked directly into Ibaraki-Douji’s golden slit pupils with a seriousness that did not waver.
“Then what can I gain from this contract?”
A brief pause.
“What can the Mizuki family gain?”
“Gain?”
Ibaraki-Douji stared at her.
Then she burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
Her bright, childish laughter echoed through the empty shrine courtyard.
She laughed so hard her shoulders shook, as if Mizuki had told the funniest joke in the world.
“Little human girl, have you misunderstood something?”
Her laughter stopped.
The smile vanished from her face.
What replaced it was the cold, arrogant disdain of a being looking down from a height far beyond human reach.
“Do you think this is a fair trade?”
The air changed.
“To become the shrine maiden of Ibaraki-Douji, to stand at the side of an Oni King of Mount Ooe, is already the greatest honor I can bestow upon a mortal.”
Her voice lowered.
“And you dare negotiate terms with me?”
A terrifying demonic aura erupted from Ibaraki-Douji’s small body.
It swept through the entire shrine courtyard like a storm.
The trees groaned.
Loose leaves scattered across the stone path.
The old shrine buildings creaked under the pressure, and the moonlight itself seemed to dim.
Mizuki felt something slam directly into her soul.
Her vision went black at the edges.
For one terrible moment, she thought she might faint.
It was too much.
The pressure was too great.
She was a tiny boat in a raging sea, and the petite oni girl before her was the merciless god commanding the storm.
The gap between them was beyond words.
“However…”
Just as Mizuki felt her will beginning to crack, the demonic aura receded.
Instantly.
Like a tide pulled back into the sea.
Ibaraki-Douji looked down at the shrine maiden before her.
Mizuki was trembling.
Her face was pale.
Her breathing was unsteady.
But her hands were still gripping Ibaraki-Douji’s hand.
She had not let go.
A faint trace of approval flickered through Ibaraki-Douji’s golden eyes.
“Since you do possess a little courage, I will make an exception and answer.”
She cleared her throat and resumed a posture that looked deliberately grand and mysterious.
“What you can gain by forming a contract with me is very simple.”
Her lips curved.
“Power.”
The word fell into the courtyard like a spark into dry grass.
“Power enough to change your own destiny.”
Ibaraki-Douji slowly raised her black oni claw.
“And perhaps even change this world.”
She closed her claw around empty air.
A cluster of dark-red flames ignited in her palm.
The fire was thick and ominous, burning like boiling blood.
It gave off a dreadful presence, filled with destruction, resentment, and ill omen.
Just looking at it made Mizuki feel as if her soul were being scorched.
“Do you see this?”
Ibaraki-Douji’s voice became low and bewitching.
“This is my power.”
The flames pulsed.
“Karmic hellfire.”
Mizuki could not look away.
“As long as you become my Master, my power will naturally answer your command.”
The fire in Ibaraki-Douji’s claw twisted, casting crimson shadows across her innocent face.
“When that time comes, forget the Meiyuan Church.
Even the monsters hiding behind the curtain, plotting to stretch their hands toward your shrine, can be burned to ash.”
Her smile deepened.
“The flames of revenge.”
“The pleasure of reducing everything to nothing.”
She leaned closer.
“How about it?”
The oni’s whisper curled around Mizuki’s ear like a devil’s temptation.
“Isn’t it enticing?”
The dark-red flames burned silently beneath the moon, inviting Mizuki Mirei to fall into the abyss called power.