Resistance

Under the rapid fire of the Inari Shikigami's rounds, the ghosts and evil spirits drawn by the divine blood of faith were pulverized at high speed. Amidst mournful wails, all the monsters and demons were swept away into fly ash by the 30mm autocannon; no cover or wall could save them.

The Pale God retaliated in fury, only to be resisted by the defensive spells inherent to the Inari Shikigami. Subsequently, Miketsu leisurely maneuvered the shikigami and fired a rocket in response, taking out the Pale God floating outside the building. Amidst the roar, a red lotus of flame bloomed in the pitch-black sky.

In an environment where bullets and rubble flew wildly, Keitaro and Yayoi lay flat on the ground. Keitaro, in particular, squeezed his eyes shut, not daring to look at anything. His ears were filled with the roar of the autocannon, the wails of evil spirits, and the sound of crushing rock... Driven by heart-stopping fear, he could only cover his ears and scream.

Finally, after a massive explosion, a heat wave washed over Keitaro's body and gradually subsided. Even so, Keitaro was still too terrified to stand up.

"Alright, it's over."

Just then, a familiar voice sounded in Keitaro's ear. Hearing it, the trembling Keitaro felt a wave of relief and slowly calmed down. He opened his eyes to find the purple-haired young girl, Hozuki Yayoi, standing before him.

"Is... is it over?" With a slight tremor, Keitaro began to look around blankly as he stood up. What met his eyes was a scene of utter devastation. Stone walls were riddled with holes, and deep bullet scars marked the pillars and beams. The ground was covered in dust and rubble; the evil spirits that had surrounded them were now completely gone.

"It's over... Both the avatar of that wicked god and those evil spirits have been entirely annihilated," Yayoi continued with a sigh, looking at the surroundings.

"I originally thought using guns to exorcise demons was creative enough, but I didn't expect to encounter an exorcism helicopter today... It seems there are still many things about this world I don't understand."

"Exorcism by... helicopter? This is getting more and more ridiculous..." Hearing Yayoi's words, a look of resignation appeared on Keitaro's face. Clearly, he still hadn't fully accepted the gun-toting miko from a few days ago, and now a helicopter capable of slaughtering evil spirits had suddenly appeared... His common sense was being severely challenged.

For a moment, Keitaro wondered if his elderly grandmother, who ran the family shrine, was seriously lagging behind the times. Thinking of the Goshinboku blade enshrined at home like a treasure, Keitaro didn't know what to say.

Just then, the sound of sirens suddenly drifted from the distance. Hearing this, Keitaro jumped.

"Oh no... the commotion was too big, it's drawn the police... We need to get downstairs and leave!" Keitaro said as he looked toward the nearby stairs, only to freeze. The stairs leading down appeared to have been hit by multiple autocannon rounds; they were pulverized and completely impassable.

'Damn, we can't get down!'

Just as Keitaro was panicking, the sound of rushing air echoed through the space again. A gust of wind pressure blew from the edge of the floor, kicking up dust. Keitaro and Yayoi shielded their eyes with their hands. Through their limited vision, they saw the massive attack helicopter hovering sideways outside their floor. Its menacing autocannon and weapon racks glinted coldly under the moonlight. A circular emblem on the fuselage was particularly striking.

It was an abstract fox head surrounded by a ring of five-pointed stars, with several simple capital letters printed beneath it.

"INARI... Inari?"

Seeing this mark, Yayoi nodded thoughtfully. On the other side, Keitaro stared in shock through the wind pressure at the cockpit. Inside, a young girl wearing a miko outfit and goggles smiled at them.

"The pilot... is also a miko?" Keitaro stammered. He felt his impression of the miko profession gradually collapsing.

Since when did miko not only fire guns and cannons but also fly attack helicopters?

Leaning gracefully in the weapons officer's seat, Miketsu pulled down her goggles. Looking at the two familiar faces on the floor, she gave a thumbs-up and pointed upward. Yayoi immediately understood her meaning.

"Keitaro, carry Ai on your back. We're going to the roof to board the helicopter..." Yayoi said as she picked up the doll from the floor and ran upward. After a brief daze, Keitaro quickly hoisted Ai onto his back and followed closely.

"Wait for me!"

The floor they were on was already high up, so it didn't take long to reach the rooftop. Gasping for breath, Keitaro saw the attack helicopter parked in the open space. The rear hatch was already open, and Miketsu was waiting for them there.

The rooftop was flat enough for the landing. Miko, who had never flown a helicopter before, had operated it perfectly under the absolute divine luck bestowed by Miketsu, landing it safely.

Exhausted, Keitaro placed the unconscious Ai into the helicopter, and he and Yayoi followed. Once the hatch closed, Miketsu spoke to Miko over the intercom.

"Take off, Miko. Divine realm stealth."

"Yes, Lord Inaba!" Miko nodded from the pilot's seat, operating the Inari Shikigami to take off entirely by intuition. At this moment, many police cars had already gathered at the base of the abandoned building.

After Miko flipped a switch, the entire helicopter vanished into the divine realm the moment it took flight. Its modern mechanical body became invisible to mortals like a phantom. Not a single policeman below could see the helicopter flying away over their heads.

Those without high spiritual vision could not see this attack helicopter; this was the modernized artificial shikigami modified by Inari Military Industry.

...

"Huff... huff..." Inside the cabin, Keitaro sat on the floor, panting. Beside him, Ai remained unconscious. Yayoi looked at the black-haired miko wearing goggles and asked, "Who are you?"

"Fushimi Inaba, just an ordinary Inari miko. Nice to meet you, little medium," Miketsu said with a smile as she removed her goggles. After sizing up Miketsu for a moment, Yayoi spoke plainly.

"An Inari miko... I see. Does the Inari Shrine possess the technology to modify modern weapons into demon-slaying tools? Is there a massive exorcism organization beneath the Inari shrines spread across the country?"

"Something like that... but it's much more than just that," Miketsu said, raising an eyebrow at the calm girl. Yayoi fell into thought upon hearing this.

"Much more than that..."

"Huff... huff... How did you know we were in danger here?" Keitaro asked with a hint of confusion after finally catching his breath. Miketsu answered easily.

"Just a bit of fate. One of my colleagues is in the same class as the unconscious girl there, so she noticed something unusual."

"Colleague..." Hearing Miketsu's words, Keitaro suddenly thought of the other gun-toting miko he had seen on the bus. Given the pattern, she was likely an Inari miko as well.

"Although we noticed the anomaly, we weren't entirely clear on the details of the incident. We only came because divination revealed Shindai Ai was in crisis. So... do you know the details of the secret hidden within Shindai Ai?" Miketsu asked in return. Yayoi paused, then pulled a white doll from her bag.

"We aren't entirely sure of the specifics either, but if we ask him, we should know everything..." As Yayoi spoke, she gave the doll a slight shake. A translucent, blurred, and distorted spirit crawled out, slowly condensing into an unstable humanoid form. He tried to stabilize himself, but his form kept drifting apart.

"This is bad... because he was tortured by that wicked god, he is extremely weak..."

Yayoi frowned. Seeing this, Miketsu reached out her hand, her fingertips emitting a soft, gentle golden light. Under this radiance, both Yayoi and Keitaro felt a wave of comfort wash through them. Keitaro's fatigue seemed to lighten significantly, and the disordered spirit quickly stabilized, finally condensing into a black-haired young man in a suit.

He was Shindai Ai's brother, Keisuke Shindai.

'Is this... divine arts? So an Inari miko doesn't just know how to fire guns; they can also pray for divine power... Is this the legendary power of Inari Okami?'

Yayoi couldn't help but wonder. Just then, Keisuke Shindai's spirit had fully stabilized. He looked at Miketsu and bowed his head respectfully.

"Thank you for saving Ai..." Keisuke's ethereal voice echoed in the cabin. Miketsu nodded slightly and said, "Tell me about you and that so-called god..."

"Yes..." Keisuke nodded heavily and began his tale.

...

Shindai Ai and Keisuke Shindai were both born in a remote mountain village. Located deep within the mountains, the village was extremely isolated, with poor transportation and rare communication with the outside world.

Because there were no major roads, the Shindai siblings' hometown was like an island in the midst of modern civilization. Its social structure was almost stuck in the Edo period—self-sufficient, ignorant, and backward.

That village collectively worshipped a god who had ruled through divine oracles for five hundred years. The Shindai family, to which the siblings belonged, was a lineage of Shinto priests serving this god, making them the overt rulers of the village.

The god's rule was tyrannical. Centuries ago, he issued an oracle to seal the village. He forbade anyone from leaving and allowed no outsiders to enter; violators were severely punished, and outsiders were killed on sight. Furthermore, the god demanded human pillar sacrifices at regular intervals. As the ritual family, the Shindai family had to offer a woman from every generation as the God's Bride. Any violation would result in a cruel divine punishment.

During this long reign of terror, the powerless villagers could only obey the oracles, offering faith and human sacrifices amidst boundless fear. This continued for hundreds of years. While the outside world underwent earth-shattering changes, the village lived in trembling submission. Eventually, this fear became a deep-seated tradition, and the offerings to the ancient god became an inviolable rule and common sense. By the time Keisuke and Ai were born, the entire village was in a state of numbness, and it seemed everything would continue this way forever.

The turning point came when a backpacker who enjoyed trekking in the deep mountains got lost and stumbled into this closed village. Although the intruder was quickly executed as a sacrifice according to tradition, his equipment was left behind and sealed within the Shindai residence. Out of curiosity, a young Keisuke secretly rummaged through these strange modern items. He found many books depicting things he had never imagined, and most importantly, he found a radio.

By chance, in a specific hidden corner, Keisuke discovered how to use the radio. Miraculously, he picked up a weak external signal and heard voices from another world. He began to encounter concepts that shouldn't have existed in that closed village—concepts like the sea and rivers... like siblings and family affection... like challenge and escape...

Eventually, he realized how abnormal, terrifying, and dangerous his environment was, and how innocent his sister was, who had been designated as the next God's Bride.

Why... do we have to spend our whole lives in such a terrifying place? Ai has done nothing wrong, so why must she die when she turns twenty? Why must she go to her death?

Keisuke began to question the ancient traditions the village had followed for generations.

All of this is wrong. We should have a better future...

"So... in the end, I used my status as the heir to the main house to figure out the route to the outside world. After long planning, I took some antiques from home and, under the cover of night, fled the village with Ai to escape that fate..." Lowering his head, Keisuke continued in his spiritual state.

"We fooled everyone. We crossed mountains and ridges, survived countless crises, and finally reached the outside world we dreamed of. I thought we could finally leave everything behind and start a new life. But who would have thought that the god's shadow would always loom over us?

"Not long ago, after I died in an accident and my soul left my body, the first thing I saw was him standing before me with a smug smile. At that moment, I realized... our every move had always been under his gaze. We... were always just his playthings... To save her from him, I even tried to kill Ai with my own hands so we could go to the Underworld together, to prevent her soul from being harvested by that god... But I failed, and in the end, I was still being toyed with in the palm of his hand..."

As Keisuke finished speaking, the cabin fell into silence. No one spoke for a long time until Keitaro finally stammered.

"Wh-what a terrifying god. Fortunately, fortunately, he was just destroyed..."

"No, he hasn't been destroyed yet..." The one who answered Keitaro was Miketsu. She spoke in a solemn tone, devoid of expression.

"What was just killed was only an avatar. That guy's true body is still out there..."