Back at home, after listening to Yamato Miku's explanation, Ren Kuroda no longer found it strange that the Yamato family had decided to expel Yamato Kyoka from their household.
With the foresight of people like the Yamato couple, it was only natural they had already realized that the exorcist faction was beginning to fall into a disadvantageous position. And as stronger and stronger gods descended into the world, that imbalance would only grow worse. The current fragile stalemate was destined to collapse sooner or later.
This wasn't a conflict where surrender was even an option. For the gods to establish their ideal world, the existence of exorcists themselves was considered unnecessary.
The honor of the Yamato family was important—but when it came to the survival of the clan, some things had to be abandoned.
Already, quite a few exorcist families had begun casting aside their old traditions, openly stating they were willing to cooperate with yokai—beings they had once treated as sworn enemies.
Because in the face of powerful gods, neither exorcists nor yokai could stand alone. Fundamentally, they were both enemies of the gods.
And as the saying went, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Even if their relationship had always been hostile, now that survival itself was at stake, two weakened factions had no choice but to band together if they wanted to endure.
In fact, the Exorcist Alliance had already reached out to the three great yokai factions—
No… it should now be called the four great yokai factions.
The Tengu clan remained as arrogant as ever, declaring that they were descendants of a powerful vengeful spirit of noble lineage, and would never stoop to cooperating with humans—even against the gods.
The faction led by Hannya neither agreed nor refused, remaining in a cautious wait-and-see stance.
As for the most powerful and warlike Oni faction, their leader, Ibaraki Dōji, had made his position clear:
"If my nephew, the 'Hyakki Yako,' chooses to cooperate with humans, then our Oni clan will follow."
And then there was the fourth faction—only recently recognized by the broader supernatural community.
Nominally, it was led by the Yuki-onna of Mount Daisetsu. But those in the know understood the truth: she was one of Hyakki Yako's core subordinates.
Which meant that this entire faction… belonged to Ren.
Back in Tokyo, the exorcist factions had been well aware of Ren's yokai forces. At the time, they were nothing more than a group of spirits he had gathered in the Tokyo district—hardly comparable to the other three great factions.
But when those same yokai reappeared recently, what stunned everyone was that their overall strength had increased by several levels across the board.
In an era where spiritual energy was rapidly growing, it wasn't unusual for yokai to become stronger.
But the shocking part was that Ren's faction—once clearly inferior—had now surpassed the other three in overall quality.
After all, most of the yokai under Ren's command weren't even the type that could easily gather "fear."
Zashiki-warashi? Mountain rabbits? Harmless spirits like those reaching S-rank?
Unbelievable.
The major factions were left reeling by the explosive growth of Ren's army…
But Ren himself found it completely natural.
Of course they got stronger.
He'd been pouring massive amounts of accumulated reputation into high-grade yokai energy crystals, then distributing them to Yuki, Tsuchigumo, and the others.
With that kind of resource investment, even a low-level spirit could skyrocket in power.
If his Hyakki hadn't surpassed the so-called three great factions under those conditions, that would have been the real joke.
And precisely because of this, the Exorcist Alliance's first choice for cooperation… was Ren Kuroda.
Partly because his forces were powerful.
Partly because of Ibaraki Dōji's stance—convince Ren, and you effectively secured half of all yokai.
And partly because…
They believed he was the most persuadable.
After all, judging from his other identity—the "Redeemer"—Ren's actions had consistently shown far more goodwill toward humans than any other yokai.
Miku's original mission had been to use her friendship with Amamiya Ayami to probe Ren's stance on the coming divine catastrophe.
But now that Ren had shown up in person, asking him directly was far simpler.
Still… Miku felt conflicted.
On one hand, she hoped Ren would agree. That might save both the Yamato family and the Amamiya line.
On the other hand… she feared what that would mean.
If Ren took the lead in opposing the gods as the head of a yokai faction, he would undoubtedly become a prime target.
And no matter how powerful he was, he was still—effectively—her future son-in-law.
If he chose to stay out of the larger conflict, protecting only Kyoka, Ayami, and a handful of others, then surviving the coming disaster might actually be feasible.
Just as Ren was about to respond after some thought—
His expression suddenly changed.
In an instant, it turned grave.
Without warning, he shot to his feet, brushing past Miku as he rushed out of the room.
"Aunt Miku—we'll talk about the gods later. My mother and the others are in danger."
"And the enemy… is exactly what you described. A god that's already descended."
Miku froze for a split second before her face tightened with alarm. She immediately followed after him.
When she had chosen this location, she had already arranged for people to sweep the area for threats.
So why… would a god appear here?
No—
If it was truly a god, then it wasn't strange that her people had failed to detect it.
Which meant the real question was:
Was this encounter a coincidence…?
Or had it been planned?
By now, the connection between Hyakki Yako and Amamiya Ayami was no longer a secret. If the gods had made even a modest effort to gather intelligence, they would have uncovered it.
And as the matriarch of the Yamato family, Miku herself was hardly an insignificant target.
If they had been marked…
Then perhaps this was inevitable.
—
An hour earlier.
While Ren remained confined to his punishment, Ayami and the others had gone out for a forest camping trip.
With Ren finally back home, Ayami was in high spirits. This kind of family outing was something she had never really experienced before.
As she gathered firewood, she even found herself wondering—
Maybe I should let Ren out for a day… let him join us.
After all, a family was happiest when everyone was together.
But just as she hesitated—
Tsuchigumo, acting as her guard, suddenly stiffened.
In a flash, she moved in front of Ayami, shielding her protectively. Her gaze locked onto a certain direction deep within the forest.
Moments later, a staggering figure slowly emerged from the trees.
The instant Tsuchigumo recognized them, her eyes widened in shock.
"…You? What are you doing here?"