The sudden, unfamiliar male voice that came from behind her made the Candleflame Goddess jump in shock.
Then, when she noticed the hand resting on her shoulder, she instinctively tried to pull away and put some distance between them.
But almost immediately, her expression turned to horror.
She realized that although she was trying to move, she simply couldn't!
The arm on her shoulder didn't look particularly strong, yet it felt like a steel shackle, locking her firmly in place. No matter how much strength she exerted, she couldn't break free.
Realizing she couldn't win in a contest of raw strength, the Candleflame Goddess erupted in blazing flames.
As the deity of candlelight, fire was one of her core powers. The divine flames igniting around her body weren't something ordinary yokai, humans—or even lesser gods—could withstand.
And yet, very quickly, she noticed something terrifying.
When her flames reached the man's arm, they were completely blocked—held back by an overwhelmingly powerful demonic aura.
Through that aura alone, the Candleflame Goddess came to a stunned realization.
This wasn't just any yokai.
This was a transcendent-class Great Yokai.
Her mind went blank.
She was the Candleflame Goddess, damn it—not some oracle god of prophecy!
She'd only been talking big earlier. She never expected that a transcendent-class Great Yokai would actually show up!
And more importantly—the barrier between the two realms hadn't even fully collapsed yet. How could such a powerful being already exist in the lower world?
From the sheer presence radiating off him, it was obvious he wasn't just any ordinary transcendent-class entity.
Most beings currently in the lower world weren't even as strong as her.
So with power like his… wouldn't he be able to slaughter everything here without restraint?
"W-Wait, this is all just a misunderstanding! Look—your family is fine, right? No one's hurt!
How about we just let this go? I may look like this, but I've got powerful backing, you know! And killing a god is a grave sin—young man, don't act rashly…"
Sensing the overwhelming, transcendent aura emanating from Ren Kuroda, the Candleflame Goddess completely dropped her earlier imposing demeanor.
Though she had the appearance of a young girl, she had previously carried herself with undeniable divine authority.
But now, under the looming threat of death, that fragile sense of dignity shattered instantly.
Survival came first.
"Slaying a god? I don't really care," Ren replied flatly. "We're bound to become enemies with the gods sooner or later anyway. Reducing the number of future enemies now doesn't sound like a bad deal.
Besides, I've already heard that the gods who descended into the lower world have been causing quite a bit of trouble."
Her divine power had already been significantly drained, and the danger radiating from Ren made her instincts scream.
She wanted to resist—wanted to fight back—but her intuition told her that doing so would only get her killed faster.
"Killing gods is wrong! You'll be targeted by the entire pantheon!
And I just descended recently—I haven't done anything bad at all!
Yokai and gods don't have to be enemies… The reason I attacked those yokai—attacked your family—was because they tried to harm my adorable followers!"
In her desperation to survive, the Candleflame Goddess spilled everything like beans from a broken jar, recounting the entire sequence of events without holding anything back.
There was no helping it—she had to read the situation.
Against someone like Tsuchigumo-hime and the others, she wouldn't have bothered explaining herself. As a god, she wouldn't lower herself to justify her actions to mere S-rank or SS-rank yokai.
If they dared harm her followers, then as a deity, it was only natural she would punish them.
But Ren was different.
He genuinely had the power to kill her.
Not explaining was simply not an option.
After hearing her explanation, Ren shifted his gaze to Tsuchigumo-hime, who in turn looked toward Futakuchi-onna.
"I don't know who she thinks her followers are," Futakuchi-onna said coldly, "but the humans I tried to kill were a group of traffickers.
They kidnapped those children—and they abused them. So they deserved to die."
Futakuchi-onna herself was a yokai born from the spirit of a child who had been abused to death by a cruel stepmother. She carried an endless hunger as a curse—and an intense hatred for anyone who harmed children.
What puzzled Ren, however, was how those traffickers could possibly be the Candleflame Goddess's "followers."
According to her, she had only descended into the lower world a few days ago. She hadn't even had time to perform miracles like other gods, let alone gather followers and harvest faith.
But soon enough, after listening to her full explanation, everyone present turned to look at the Candleflame Goddess… with unmistakable sympathy.
Using candlelight for illumination in the age of electricity… was that really "devout faith" in the Candleflame Goddess?
Those traffickers had only been using candles because they wanted to stay hidden—or because they were holed up deep in the mountains with limited access to proper lighting.
The little goddess in front of them not only looked a bit airheaded… she also seemed to lack even the most basic common sense.
Still, it wasn't entirely surprising.
Gods had long vanished from the lower world ages ago. Their understanding of "common sense" was likely frozen in a much older era.
And judging by her current behavior… this particular goddess wasn't exactly the sharpest.
"Divine Lady… those people weren't your followers," Amamiya Masami said gently, unable to bear it any longer as she stepped forward. "They were criminals—some of the worst kind among humans."
But the Candleflame Goddess flatly refused to believe her.
She insisted, with absolute conviction, that her followers had even made wishes to her by candlelight.
"Heh. Still don't believe my mother?" Ren scoffed. "Your so-called followers have probably already ditched you and run by now.
Those 'prayers' you're talking about? That's just what people do when they're about to die—hoping for salvation at the last moment.
Typical villain behavior. The more evil they've done, the more desperately they cling to redemption when death is staring them in the face."
It was clear the Candleflame Goddess genuinely cared about her followers.
Hearing Ren insult them like that, she—despite being terrified of him—suddenly lashed out.
With a wave of her hand, a fierce blaze surged forth, roaring straight toward Ren.
Unfortunately for her…
Ren casually reached out and clenched his hand.
The raging fire collapsed instantly, crushed into scattered sparks that faded into the air.
"Since you don't believe us," Ren said calmly, "then let's go to the place Futakuchi-onna mentioned.
We'll see whether your 'devout followers' are still kneeling before candlelight, praying sincerely for your triumphant return."
The result spoke for itself.
By the time Ren and the others brought the Candleflame Goddess back to the dilapidated house, the traffickers were long gone—vanished without a trace, taking the children with them.
The candle flames inside had long since gone out.
Even the oil lamps and candles had been discarded carelessly on the floor.
And when they arrived, the entire shack was already engulfed in flames.
The hopeful expression on the Candleflame Goddess's face froze… then crumbled into utter despair.
"Tsuchigumo-hime—can you track those traffickers?"
"No problem," she replied. "I still have plenty of my kin scattered throughout the forest."
"Good," Ren said, his voice turning cold. "Find them.
And wipe those pieces of trash off the face of the earth.
Just make sure the children aren't harmed."