After exchanging a glance, Miku Yamato and Saori Jingū quickly stood up and left, silently agreeing that neither of them would ever bring up what had just happened again.
The massive commotion, however, had already drawn the attention of the others on the other side—Hagoromo-gitsune and the rest. By the time they arrived, all they found was Ren Kuroda lying unconscious on the ground, nose bleeding profusely.
As for Miku Yamato and Saori Jingū, they had already made a swift exit.
Thus, no one present had the faintest idea what had actually happened.
Back at the hot spring inn, Ren was now sitting upright, enduring a full-force lecture from Masami Tennomiya.
"Ren, how could you appear in the hot spring like that? How is that any different from peeping?!At your age, I understand that… certain feelings are normal, but committing a crime is absolutely unacceptable! I certainly don't remember raising you to behave like that!"
That's right—being discovered unconscious in a hot spring with a nosebleed meant there was no escaping the situation.
After being carried back by Yukihime and the others, what awaited him was not sympathy, but the earnest discipline of a devoted mother.
"…I'm sorry."
There was really nothing else Ren could say. No matter how he tried to explain it, even if he jumped into the hot spring again, he wouldn't be able to wash this one clean.
"Lady Masami, we are all part of Lord Ren's Hyakki Yagyō. Honestly… we don't really mind something like this.If anything, if Lord Ren did have such thoughts about us… we'd actually be happy."
Seeing Masami sternly reprimanding him while Ren kept apologizing, Jorōgumo and Yukihime couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.
Everyone had misunderstood the situation. They assumed Ren's nosebleed and fainting were caused by accidentally seeing Yukihime and Hagoromo-gitsune naked.
After all, no matter how strong he was, in this world he was still a young man. Being overwhelmed by such stimulation and passing out wasn't exactly unbelievable.
And as yokai, Yukihime and the others weren't particularly bothered by such things in the first place.
Especially Jorōgumo and Yukihime—both of whom had long harbored feelings for Ren. If anything, his "behavior" made them happy, as it suggested he might see them that way too.
Naturally, they didn't want him to be punished over something like this.
"Jorōgumo, Yukihime—you spoil him too much. What Ren did was wrong.No matter if he's the Lord of the Hundred Demons or some prodigy exorcist, before all that, he is my child—Ren Tennomiya.When a child makes a mistake, it's a mother's duty to discipline him. No matter how powerful he is outside, wrong is still wrong. And as his mother, it's my responsibility to correct him."
When Masami was truly angry, she radiated the authority of a true head of the household. No one dared challenge her at that moment.
Even Jorōgumo and Yukihime, who had tried to plead for him, could only look at Ren kneeling on the ground with sympathy after sensing her fury.
Meanwhile, Hagoromo-gitsune was staring at Masami with sparkling admiration, furiously jotting notes into a small notebook.
If she had possessed even half of Masami's parenting skill and presence back then, perhaps Nue wouldn't have turned out the way he did…
Despite possessing overwhelming power, Ren remained humble and never bullied the weak like other yokai. A large part of that was undeniably thanks to Masami.
Though she was an ordinary human, she was, without question, an extraordinary mother.
It was no wonder both Ren and Ryuki were so attached to her.
After Masami's lengthy lecture, Ren had initially wanted to confess the truth—that the people he'd actually seen were Miku Yamato and the others, not Yukihime.
But for some reason, he suddenly felt two murderous glares stabbing into him from the side.
He gulped.
His instincts screamed that if he told the truth, his fate would be far worse.
And so, driven by pure survival instinct… Ren wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.
"Alright, Masami. Ren didn't mean to do it. If anything, I share part of the responsibility.The jade pendant I left him for targeting was originally one of my personal belongings. That's why his Phase Shift Spell brought him there.I didn't think it through—I forgot we were at a hot spring. And Ren's spiritual power is so precise that his targeting ended up too accurate… which led to this misunderstanding."
In the end, thanks to Miku Yamato stepping in, Ren's punishment was reduced to three days of solitary confinement—and no meals.
Masami had originally planned to discipline him with a rattan whip, but upon learning it was an accident caused by a spell, her anger subsided considerably.
Besides, her son had only just returned after being away for so long. She couldn't bring herself to beat him.
And asking Jorōgumo or the others to do it would likely result in them going easy on him anyway.
Thus, the matter was settled in this way.
This incident also made Miku Yamato and Saori Jingū realize just how important Masami was to Ren.
There was a reason the heads of the exorcist families wanted Masami to lead the alliance.
Even if she was just an ordinary human with no power, the sheer influence she had over Ren alone was enough to justify it.
Since Ren had returned safely, Masami could finally relax. So while Ren spent his days in confinement, the others thoroughly enjoyed their trip.
The hot spring inn was surrounded by vast forests. At night, they soaked in the baths; during the day, they went camping in the woods.
Under normal circumstances, no one would dare do such a thing—running into yokai was far too likely.
But for Masami's group, that wasn't a concern at all.
Every single one of them was at least an SS-class Yokai King or even SSS-class. Any ordinary yokai would flee the moment they sensed their presence.
"Lady Miku, instead of going camping with my mother and the others, why did you come here?If you're still bothered by what happened earlier, then I can only apologize—but it really was beyond my control."
Though Ren appeared to be facing the wall as punishment, he was actually organizing the gains he had obtained from the previous world—and spending accumulated reputation points on draws.
So when Miku Yamato entered, he noticed immediately.
"Forget about that incident—and don't bring it up again. Like I told Masami, I share some responsibility. I just didn't expect your spell's targeting to be accurate down to the meter."
Miku paused briefly, then continued:
"I came to ask you something else.What do you plan to do about your relationship with Kuka… and what are your thoughts on the coming descent of the gods?"
As Kuka Yamato's mother, Miku Yamato could clearly see that her daughter had developed genuine feelings for Ren.
In the past, his status as a half-yokai would have made any future between them nearly impossible.
But times had changed.
The world itself had changed.
"Since your battle with the Night Blade God, the barrier between the two realms has been steadily weakening.The increasing density of spiritual energy in the world is proof enough.
The famous gods still can't descend yet… but lesser, nameless ones have already begun appearing."
In a land said to house eight million gods, divinity itself wasn't rare.
Most of them were actually weaker than yokai.
After all, in ancient times, anything could become a god—trees, stones, even piles of earth—so long as they received human worship.
The difference between yokai and gods was simple: one fed on human fear, the other on faith and offerings.
Of course, this referred to minor spirits—true high-ranking gods were born divine.
According to Miku, many weak gods had already descended into the human world.
They weren't nearly as powerful as the Night Blade God, who had been a mid-tier deity and a combat-oriented one at that.
These new arrivals were things like the "God of Wooden Bridges" or the "God of Clay Pots"—odd, obscure entities that hadn't even had names before gaining worship.
Most of them were around S-rank.
Once, that level would have made them dominant forces.
But now, with spiritual energy surging, S-rank exorcists and yokai were no longer rare.
The real issue was that stronger gods—SS and even SSS class—also existed among them.
And more importantly… gods were cunning.
Instead of rampaging, they hid themselves, performing miracles for ordinary people and gathering faith.
Because a god's strength was directly tied to belief.
"They're not causing chaos. They're granting wishes.So naturally… the exorcists aren't exactly in a good position right now."
Ren immediately understood.
Public opinion had already begun to turn.
To ordinary people, yokai were chaos.Exorcists, once revered, now seemed arrogant and controlling.And the gods? They brought hope.
Faith spread. Power grew.
And the situation… was spiraling out of control.
After hearing everything, Ren finally understood why the Yamato family was considering expelling Kuka.
This wasn't just about tradition anymore.
It was about survival.
But just as Ren was about to respond—
His expression suddenly changed.
His body tensed, then he shot to his feet and rushed past Miku toward the door.
"Aunt Miku—we'll talk about the gods later.My mother and the others are in danger.
And the enemy… is one of those gods you mentioned."
Miku froze for a moment—then her face turned pale as she immediately followed him.
An hour earlier…
While Ren remained confined, Masami and the others had gone camping.
As Masami happily gathered firewood, even considering sneaking Ren out to join them—
Jorōgumo suddenly moved.
In an instant, she appeared in front of Masami, shielding her, eyes locked onto the forest.
A figure slowly staggered out from the trees.
Recognizing her, Jorōgumo's expression shifted to shock.
"…You? What are you doing here?"
The woman who emerged was elegant, dressed in a traditional kimono—yet carried an aura that felt utterly out of place in the modern era.
It was someone they knew.
A yokai they had met before.
"Futakuchi-onna… why are you here? And those injuries—what happened to you?At your level, there aren't many beings in this world who could wound you like that."
Once a powerful S+ class yokai capable of defeating Kuka, she now staggered forward, burned and barely standing.
Her kimono was scorched, revealing blistered skin beneath.
"Please… leave… now…"
Despite recognizing Jorōgumo, she urgently waved them away.
Her pursuer… was something far worse.
Flames suddenly erupted around them.
A blazing wall formed, trapping them inside.
And from the fire—
A small girl stepped out.
With flame-like hair and a burning wick atop her head.
A god.
"The God of Candlelight…"
A lower-tier deity—but among them, a notable one.
Born from the flames that once illuminated humanity's nights.
Now forgotten in the age of electricity.
And furious.
"Summon—Spider's Nest!"
Jorōgumo unleashed her full power.
A massive swarm of giant spiders poured from the earth—S-rank and A-rank monsters filling the forest.
They surged forward like a tidal wave.
But the Candlelight God only smiled.
"You're no ordinary Jorōgumo… but that changes nothing.Against me—your kind is simply… unlucky."
She raised her hand.
Sparks ignited.
Then—
A sweeping arc of blazing fire roared outward like a crescent moon—
Engulfing the entire spider army in an instant.