[Authority keyword triggered!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the golden keyword: Live or Die!]
[Life or Death]: The user can summon Eternal Spring and Infinite Winter!
Eternal Spring: grants the user the ability to share life force with all living things, healing injuries and illness.
Infinite Winter: by reversing the ability, the user may summon the divine northern wind to strike enemies, splitting the earth open and freezing even their bone marrow, creating a prison of the underworld to trap the target!
(TL: Asia (Campione) Authority that she gained by slaying Persephone. The names of the abilities are different from the original, which are Vitakinesis and Cyrokinesis. Also, the Authority Live or Die holds more than just these two abilities: Purification, Coldness immunity, and Underworld descend which are not included here.)
"This is… the Authority of Lady Aisha the Godslayer…"
A hint of surprise flashed in Kuzeha's eyes.
He hadn't expected that binding a fake god would trigger the acquisition of a godslayer's Authority.
And the fox spirits of the shrine could also be used for soul absorption—it was a total jackpot!
Kuzeha nodded in satisfaction.
This trip had definitely been worth it.
Only now did Granny Mitsue and Yotsuya Miko recover from the shock of what had just happened.
The so-called "god" of Sankokudani Shrine was defeated… just like that?
Granny Mitsue's cloudy eyes widened like copper bells.
Miko, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief, a light smile forming on her face.
She was no longer the confused girl from a few days ago who couldn't even gauge a spirit's strength.
She had clearly sensed the terrifying power of the spirit Granny Mitsue called a god.
It far surpassed any evil spirit she'd ever seen!
And yet, in front of Kuzeha, it was no different than that toilet-dwelling JK ghost—One wave of his hand, and it was forcibly bound!
"As expected of Master!"
At that moment, Kuzeha casually purified the remaining attendant spirits as well.
But once the golden light on one of the attendants faded and its true face appeared, Granny Mitsue suddenly gasped in disbelief.
"Towako?!"
She jumped down from Miko's back and stumbled forward, staring in shock at the spirit in front of her.
Looking closely, there was no doubt—it was her missing master, Towako Oka!
Now restored to her senses, Towako Oka gave Kuzeha a deep bow, then turned to Granny Mitsue with a warm smile.
"Mitsue… long time no see."
Kuzeha blinked in mild surprise.
But he didn't disturb the reunion of master and disciple.
He led Miko toward Yukinoshita and the others.
"Miko, why are you here?" Kuzeha asked casually.
Miko quickly explained how she had met Granny Mitsue and what had happened earlier.
"Master, can I take over the spirit contract with Granny Mitsue?" she asked a little shyly.
Kuzeha smiled and patted her head."Sure."
He brought Miko over to the Yukinoshita sisters and Hiratsuka, who had just recovered from their astonishment.
Even though Kuzeha had treated the so-called god with disdain, in their minds, something that lived in a shrine, had attendants, and controlled faith and offerings—what difference was there between that and a real deity?
And yet, such a being didn't last three seconds in front of Kuzeha.
"Hiratsuka-sensei!"
Miko greeted Shizuka Hiratsuka, while also quietly sizing up the Yukinoshita sisters.
Yukinoshita Yukino, the famously untouchable flower of Sobu High—of course Miko had heard of her.
If Granny Mitsue was right, then Master had come all this way to resolve her anomaly.
"Is she in the same class as Master?" Miko couldn't help but wonder.
Yukino, too, was examining the girl in the Sobu High uniform.
Her gaze especially lingered on Miko's hand that was still clutching Kuzeha's sleeve.
"She called him Master earlier, didn't she?" Yukino thought silently.
Her older sister Haruno, meanwhile, was focused entirely on her.
"Kuzeha-kun, can you remove the anomaly—the bakeneko—from Yukino now?" she asked eagerly.
Kuzeha glanced at her, then replied, "I can. But the bakeneko has essentially become Yukino's inner personality."
"Even if I remove it now, once Yukino accumulates enough pressure again, her alternate persona—Black Yukino—will reappear."
So the root of the problem was her living environment and the constant pressure it built up?
Haruno fell silent.
"Of course, there's another way!"
"If Yukino can learn to control this inner personality—the bakeneko—then the problem resolves itself."
Haruno's eyes widened.
"She can do that?"
Kuzeha's lips curved slightly as he rested a hand on Miko's head.
"Anomalies are still just spirits."
"If she learns the spirit-binding technique like Miko here, she'll be able to handle it."
"And since Miss Haruno paid so generously, if Yukino wants to learn spirit-binding, I don't mind."
Haruno bit her lip, understanding that this was Kuzeha reminding her of their agreement.
"If you can remove the anomaly from Yukino, I'll of course keep my promise."
After they finished speaking, both turned to look at Yukino.
The girl met Kuzeha's gaze, then glanced at Miko beside him.
"…I want to learn."
Yukino nodded.
Haruno finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had exchanged the entire Yukinoshita conglomerate for this opportunity.
She'd been afraid her stubborn and prideful sister would refuse to become someone's disciple at the last moment.
"Alright. I'll teach you the spirit-binding method now."
Kuzeha led Yukino and Miko to the side.
He summoned one of the recently bound attendant spirits.
Because Black Yukino had absorbed so much life energy recently, most of it had been fed back into Yukino's body.
So there was no need to strengthen her further—they could begin directly with spirit absorption.
Once her spiritual power increased and she grasped the basics of binding, she would naturally be able to control her inner self.
"Yukino, Miko will teach you the spirit-binding technique later. For now, I'll show you how to absorb a spirit."
"Just follow my instructions."
Yukino nodded nervously.
Especially when she saw Kuzeha's hand reach toward her forehead—her heart started pounding wildly.
Some strange impulse was rising inside her…
Kuzeha's fingertip lightly touched the center of her brow.
The sensation of skin-to-skin contact made Yukino's slender body tremble slightly.
A few breaths later, she suddenly felt her senses expand dramatically!
Everything around her became crystal clear.
Especially Kuzeha—his posture, his breath, his finger on her brow…
"Yukino, now focus on—"
Just as he was about to guide her through the next step, Kuzeha suddenly froze mid-sentence.
Because Yukino had stepped up on her toes and, like a cat, softly put his finger in her mouth.
Kuzeha could clearly feel the warmth of her tongue against his fingertip.
Miko, standing off to the side, opened her eyes wide in disbelief.
Wha—wha—what?! What's with this new junior?!
How could she jump ahead like that?!
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