Evil Retribution

"You... you didn't pass the exam, did you?"

As soon as Miketsu spoke those words, the pale face hovering in mid-air twisted. The surrounding space suddenly fell into a deathly silence, so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop. Yayoi, Keitaro, Miko, and the others stood frozen in shock, their mouths hanging slightly open.

"Do... do gods need to take exams?" Yayoi, the purple-haired young medium, was the first to speak. Even she, who usually remained exceptionally calm regardless of the crisis, was shaken after hearing Miketsu's words and seeing the pale god's reaction.

No matter how one looked at it, the words 'god' and 'exam' felt completely mismatched when put together. Did gods really need to take exams? Like mortal students? That felt incredibly cheap...

And if they failed, it seemed even cheaper.

"Mhm. In the past, if wild gods wanted to become an Inari god, they had to pass the qualification exam at the Inari Honsha. Many wild gods applied to secure a stable source of faith. If they passed and met the regulations, they could use the Inari name and become a new Inari god. That's why there are Inari shrines all over the country now," Miketsu explained to Yayoi while sipping her coffee, then glanced over at the pale face in the air, which was currently gnashing its teeth.

"According to that spirit named Keisuke Shindai, you started sealing the village four hundred years ago. So it must have been around then that you realized you couldn't integrate into the Inari system. To maintain your status as a wild god, you chose to isolate yourself and hide from the outside world. I heard from the Inari gods back home that the questions four hundred years ago were roughly at the level of a modern middle schooler. And seeing your cultivation, you should be about six hundred years old..."

Miketsu's eyes narrowed as she spoke. After another sip of coffee, a mocking smile curled her lips.

"No way... there couldn't really be some two-hundred-year-old geezer who can't even handle middle school questions, right? No way? No way?"

As Miketsu said this, the pale face hovering in the air twisted even further and began to swell, a faint green hue surfacing on its ghastly white cheeks.

Nearby, Miko and Keitaro's mouths hung even wider. They stood there, speechless. As a high schooler and a college student, hearing that a powerful god who had lived for over six hundred years might have an education level lower than their own left them at a loss for words. Meanwhile, Yayoi puffed out her cheeks and couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"Pfft... Keitaro, I think you were born in the wrong era. If you were born four hundred years ago, with your rank as the top freshman at Reidai, couldn't you have taken the exam to become a god?" Yayoi joked to Keitaro. Keitaro could only scratch his head and let out a nervous laugh. Hearing him, Miko also couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle.

In that moment, Miko realized that while she could endure extreme fear and terror, she actually couldn't hold back her laughter.

Amidst the laughter, the originally terrifying and solemn atmosphere in the room suddenly became cheerful and relaxed. Miketsu, who had achieved this effect with just a few sentences, took another leisurely sip of her coffee.

On the other side, the pale face had now swollen to two or three times its original size. A very obvious green tint washed over its extremely distorted features, and words of intense hatred squeezed through its gnashing teeth.

"Inari miko... do not push me too far... Do not think that just because you have the protection of that Inari god, I wouldn't dare touch you! Pay the price for your arrogance!!"

The pale face of the boy, now green with rage, roared in mid-air. Immediately, the floor beneath Miketsu's feet turned into a circle of pitch-black swamp. Countless illusory, twisted white hands reached out from within, grabbing and wrapping around Miketsu's body to drag her down.

'Is this... a sacrificial passage?' Miketsu thought as she looked into the darkness below. Seeing this, the god on the other side began to snicker.

"Heeheehee... You're finished..."

Seeing the Inari miko who had nearly infuriated him to death successfully captured by his power, a wild grin appeared on the god's swollen, green face. The other three, who had been giggling moments ago, now felt the situation take a sudden turn for the worse. Miko shouted in a panic.

"Lady Inaba—"

Before Inaba could say anything else, Miketsu suddenly turned her hand and handed the hot coffee to the rushing Miko. Ignoring the girl's stunned expression, she spoke calmly.

"Hold this for me..."

"Eh..." Miko froze, looking at the hot coffee thrust in front of her. She instinctively took it. Immediately after, Miketsu was dragged into the pitch-black swamp by the countless illusory, twisted white hands.

"Heeheehee..."

Amidst the snickering of the pale god, the darkness on the floor and the face in the air gradually dissipated into nothingness. Only an eerie, childish laughter echoed through the space.

"Where... where was she taken?" Keitaro asked, swallowing hard. Yayoi answered slowly.

"She was probably taken to that guy's true body..."

This was a pitch-black space. An endless darkness filled every corner, devoid of any sound or movement. A deathly silence pervaded the area.

A girl with short black hair, wearing a red and white miko outfit, stood in the darkness. She gazed calmly forward, where the only light in this void illuminated a horrific scene.

A pale boy in white clothing sat in the dark void, an exaggerated and terrifying grin on his face. His eye sockets were pits of pure black.

Hovering above the pale boy was a female body suspended by ropes that extended into the darkness. She was draped in a pure white shiromuku, her face covered by a talisman. Large patches of skin were exposed, and her entire lower body was missing. Blood dripped, drop by drop, from the severed torso at her abdomen.

"Heehee... I thought you were so capable, but I didn't expect you to be pulled into the sacrifice so easily. No protection at all. It seems the Inari god isn't protecting you in the slightest..."

The pale god sat in the void, chewing on something unknown. Bright red blood leaked from the corners of his mouth.

It wasn't hard to guess that the person behind the pale god... was the previous 'bride' married to him. She was the future that Ai was meant to become.

"Heehee... I originally only wanted to take your soul, but I didn't expect your physical body to come along too, and so quickly. It seems my power has grown to another level. To think a long-distance sacrifice could arrive in an instant... Perhaps those high-ranking Inari are no longer a match for me, don't you think... Inari miko?"

With a mouth full of blood, the pale god spread his arms and spoke to the black-haired girl, his face twisted in a predatory smile.

Facing this scene, Miketsu's expression remained unchanged. She spoke in a low voice.

"You... are being a bit excessive, aren't you?"

"Excessive? You call this excessive? Heeheehee..." the pale god giggled. As he laughed, countless objects emerged from the darkness.

They were the heads of women wearing shiromuku veils. They surrounded Miketsu, their eyes and mouths wide open as if wailing, yet they could make no sound. These were all the former 'brides'.

"Instead of worrying about them, you should worry about yourself! Soon, you'll be one of them. Their current state is your future! This is the consequence of daring to humiliate me!

"Heeheehee... Pray all you want, Inari miko! In this space, no one can hear your prayers. No Inari god can save you. You are already mine... I will devour you slowly..."

The pale god threw his arms wide and shouted arrogantly. Miketsu, standing her ground, remained calm.

"Sorry, I'm not much for praying... Generally speaking, I prefer to solve problems myself."

"A miko who doesn't pray... Hmph, then what's the point? Now... I'll teach you how to properly revere a god!" As the pale god spoke, he violently swung his arm.

Suddenly, it felt as if thousands of things were squirming within the pitch-black space.

"First, I'll make you regret ever being born! Heehee..."

The pale god's power activated. A crisis lunged from the darkness toward the black-haired miko at high speed. But just as the tragedy was about to unfold... nothing happened.

"..."

For a moment, the dark space remained as silent as ever. The pale god stood frozen in mid-swing, his arrogant expression hardening on his face.

"What's wrong? Weren't you going to show me your power? Where is it?" Miketsu asked slowly, looking at the frozen god.

"Hee... don't get cocky... it was just a minor glitch. Next, I'll show you true terror!"

The pale god swung his hand again and shouted, preparing once more to release his power against Miketsu.

At that exact moment, he froze... The pale god's posture and movements were locked in time. His arrogant, twisted expression was petrified on his face, looking utterly ridiculous.

Miketsu had stopped his time.

Looking at the stagnant pale god, Miketsu pulled a white paper figure from her sleeve and tossed it into the air. It burst into flames. When the fire faded, a shotgun had appeared in Miketsu's hands.

Walking slowly up to the pale god, Miketsu pumped the slide, aimed at the arrogant god's abdomen, and fired once. After stepping back two paces, she shouldered the shotgun and allowed the pale god's time to resume.

Bang!

"Gwah!!"

A massive impact struck the pale god's abdomen. He was sent flying backward, his small frame blasted a great distance by the weapon's power until he collapsed on the ground.

"Cough! Ah... what... happened..."

The pale god trembled, coughing up blood as he clutched his mangled abdomen and struggled to stand. His face was filled with unbelievable shock.

"What happened... why so suddenly... suddenly..."

Fear and confusion flooded the pale god's mind. He clearly remembered that he was about to use his power to attack the Inari miko, but why was he suddenly blown away? There had been no sign at all!

How... how was I attacked?

Lifting his head, the pale god looked at the miko shouldering the shotgun and reached out a blood-stained hand.

"No matter what trick you played... now, give—"

Bang!

Just as the pale god prepared to attack again, the miko in front of him vanished. Before he could even process his surprise, another thunderous blast echoed. The pale god's left side erupted in sharp pain as a powerful impact sent him rolling across the ground.

By now, the pale god was completely drenched in his own blood. Mangled and broken, he struggled to rise. His earlier arrogance was gone, replaced by terror and bewilderment.

"What... exactly... did you... do...!?"

Bleeding from his eye sockets, the pale god murmured in agony to Miketsu, who held the shotgun. He still couldn't understand what had happened.

"What did I do? A fool with less than a middle school education wouldn't understand..." Miketsu said dismissively. Her words provoked the pale god once more, driving him to use his final strength in a fit of rage.

"Damn you... you bastard... I'll take you down with—urgh!"

Before the pale god could finish, a searing, burning pain pierced his neck. When he looked down, he saw a golden arrow impaling his throat.

A power radiated from the arrow, causing extreme pain to his nerves. A massive suppression force spread through him, preventing him from using even a shred of his power.

"This is... Inari's... Demon-Slaying Power?!" His eyes wide, clutching his neck, the pale boy looked at the miko in red and white with despair.

"You... you're from the Inari Honsha? Are you... a high miko directly under Uka?!"

Looking down at the miserable pale god, Miketsu spoke coldly.

"So you recognize the Demon-Slaying Power... If this power works on you, how do you dare call yourself a god?"

Hearing Miketsu's words, the pale boy shivered in pain. He opened his mouth and struggled to speak, his voice filled with desperation.

"I... I am not a god... please... spare me... spare me..."

"Spare you? You should ask them first..." Miketsu said calmly, her gaze shifting slightly. Two pale-gold soul foxes emerged beside her. They leaped forward, automatically untying the ropes that bound the half-female body. They then brought the ropes down and bound the broken pale god. The god was hoisted up, suspended in mid-air in the exact same position as the brides he had devoured. Impaled by the golden arrow, he could no longer use any power; he had no means to resist.

"Don't do this... let me go... let me go!" Realizing what was about to happen, the pale god struggled with all his might, but it was futile. Finally, a hand reached up from below and grabbed his ankle. The pale god looked down to see the 'bride' in the shiromuku, her body half-gone, gripping his leg tightly. Beneath the talisman covering her face, her mouth opened wide and bit upward.

Immediately, shrill screams echoed through the dark space. The countless 'brides' who were only heads began to float toward the suspended god. They opened their mouths and joined the feast of revenge.