After everything that had happened, Ren Kuroda finally began to realize that helping his mother, Amamiya Masami, become stronger was no longer something he could afford to delay.
Truth be told, he had been thinking about changing her situation for a long time.
No matter how many yokai protected her, in a world that was only growing more dangerous by the day, an ordinary human was still far too vulnerable.
His younger sister, Ruki, was a different story altogether. With her overwhelming natural talent, she had long since surpassed the stage of needing protection. In fact, her demonic power was already catching up to Tsuchigumo-hime and the others.
As for how to strengthen Masami, Ren had a plan.
He intended to contact the Special Countermeasure Unit and use his own blood to create a "yokai serum."
In the past, he had always found other yokai too weak to bother with—but now, he himself had reached the peak of transcendent-class power.
On top of that, he and Masami shared the same bloodline. The rejection effects of the serum should, in theory, be significantly lower than with anyone else.
And with the "serum suppressants" he had previously acquired from the underground black market, everything should work out—at least in theory.
Just as Ren pulled out his phone, hesitating over whether it was still appropriate for him to contact Kuka and the others given his current status—
The phone suddenly vibrated in his hand.
When he saw the name on the screen, his expression shifted in surprise.
Ever since his abnormal trips between worlds began, whether it was the Countermeasure Unit communicator or his personal phone, nine times out of ten, he couldn't get through at all.
So this time, what he received was a text message.
And the sender—
Was Yamato Kuka.
"Ren, something's gone wrong with our mission.
Senpai Kamishiro is about to die. Master Hakuba and I can barely hold on ourselves.
If I don't make it back this time… I hope you can look after my parents, if it's within your ability.
And… there's one more thing.
I've never cared about you being a half-demon. In fact, I've even imagined what kind of child we'd have if we were together.
I wonder… would I be able to become a good mother—like Auntie Amamiya Masami?"
That was the message.
For someone as cold and reserved as Yamato Kuka, being able to say something like this was practically a confession.
Under normal circumstances, she would never have written such words.
Which only proved just how dire their situation must be.
The moment Ren finished reading, he immediately called her.
To his surprise, the call connected almost instantly—likely because she had just finished typing that message and still had her phone in hand.
Seeing Ren's name flash on the screen, Kuka was clearly startled.
And then, remembering what she had just sent, her voice turned awkward.
"Ren… you actually replied so quickly this time. About that message just now, I—"
"Cut the nonsense," Ren snapped. "Where are you? Send me your location right now.
And listen carefully—
Don't you dare die before I get there."
The moment he received the coordinates, Ren vanished from the hot spring inn without hesitation, pouring demonic energy into his legs as he sped toward the destination at full force.
—
On Kuka's side, after ending the call, she looked down at Kamishiro Isshin, who lay unconscious on the ground beside her.
Gripping her blade, Onikiri, she charged once more at the black creature in front of her.
But this time, her state of mind was completely different from before.
Ren was coming.
Which meant—
They still had a chance to survive.
After all, that man… might be unreliable at times, but in her memory, he had always been someone who could do anything.
—
The location Yamato Kuka and the others were in was Nara.
And the creatures hunting them—driving them into a desperate corner—
Were neither yokai…
Nor gods.
According to legend, after Izanami gave birth to her final child—the fire god Kagutsuchi—and was burned to death in the process, she descended into the underworld, Yomi.
There, after consuming the food of Yomi, her body began to rot, becoming infested with maggots, transforming her into something grotesque and unrecognizable.
Izanagi, the so-called "faithless husband," had followed her into Yomi intending to bring her back.
But upon seeing what she had become…
He lost heart.
The vows they had once made were forgotten in an instant. All he wanted now was to escape that filthy, defiled land as quickly as possible.
Enraged by his betrayal, Izanami commanded the denizens of Yomi to hunt him down—
To drag him back and force him to remain with her forever.
And the beings Kuka and the others were facing now…
Were those very same creatures from legend.
The Yomi Hags.
They were neither yokai nor gods.
Their bodies were pitch-black, each bearing a grotesquely oversized mouth. They seemed to lack any real consciousness—no pain, no emotion—
Like mindless reapers sent from the underworld.
At first, Kuka and her team had only been dispatched to Nara to investigate.
But during the course of their investigation, they had accidentally triggered some kind of forbidden seal.
And that was when these creatures had appeared.
Individually, the Yomi Hags weren't particularly strong—roughly on par with A-rank yokai.
But that wasn't the problem.
There were too many of them.
They felt no fear.
And worst of all—they were incredibly difficult to kill.
Even when their jet-black bodies were sliced clean in half by Onikiri, they continued to move, undying.
Worse still, the more humans they devoured, the stronger they became.
When the exorcists and support staff had first arrived, there had been over a hundred people.
But after only half a day of being relentlessly hunted—
Fewer than twenty remained.
And the reason even those few were still alive…
Was because of Kamishiro Isshin.
According to legend, when Izanagi was fleeing from the Yomi creatures, he had first thrown down the vine from his hair, which transformed into a vineyard. The monsters stopped to devour the grapes.
When they caught up again, he threw down his comb, which became bamboo shoots—once again distracting them.
From the legend, it was clear—
These creatures were gluttons.
But ordinary food wasn't enough to lure them.
So Kamishiro Isshin had used talismans to convert half of his own life force and spiritual power into illusions of grapes and bamboo shoots.
That was what had drawn the creatures' attention—
And bought the others a fleeting chance to escape.
But the cost…
Was devastating.
Having burned through half his lifespan and all of his spiritual power, Kamishiro Isshin now lay unconscious on the ground.
Spiritual power could recover over time.
But the sudden loss of half his life force had completely drained him.
And even in the original legend, Izanagi had only escaped Yomi after repeatedly throwing down objects to delay his pursuers.
Relying on Kamishiro Isshin's sacrifice alone…
There was no way Kuka and the others could escape so easily.