The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

Then an unbearable, intense pain surged into his mind!

"boom!"

A silent hum resounded within Hachiman Hikigaya's body, followed by a massive vortex of spiritual energy appearing above the Isayama family's residence.

As the vortex spun faster and faster, all the remaining evil spirits around Hachiman Hikigaya were sucked into the vortex and then transformed into the purest energy, which was absorbed by the vortex.

Inside the vortex.

One by one, the Demon-Slaying Sword, the Sessho-seki (Killing Stone), the distant Utopia (ideal land), and other equipment belonging to Hachiman Hikigaya were stripped from his body.

A shockwave emanated from Hachiman Hikigaya's body.

Hachiman Hikigaya's clothes and hair all turned into powder and dissipated in the air.

Immediately, thick, slurry-like spiritual energy gathered on the surface of Hachiman Hikigaya, gradually covering his entire body.

Hachiman Hikigaya had completely lost consciousness due to the pain.

At this moment, he was like a small boat on a vast ocean, drifting aimlessly with the current...

Immersed in thick spiritual energy, Hachiman Hikigaya's solid body began to molecularize from the bottom up.

At the same time, on the outer edge of the spirit slurry, the previously separated Killing Stone was crushed into powder by an invisible force and mixed into the slurry.

However, this is not enough.

The system quickly focused its attention on the scabbard, which exuded a tranquil aura.

Unlike the previous violent disintegration, perhaps because it had already been given away by its master, the distant utopia obediently merged with the spiritual essence the moment it touched it.

Then, without waiting for system guidance, he eagerly plunged the demon-slaying sword into the slurry...

[The Demon-Slaying Blade has not been upgraded to the highest level. Initiating automatic upgrade by combining other items.]

While Hachiman Hikigaya was unconscious, the system began to automatically recycle his skills and items according to its own settings to convert them into enough spirit coins to upgrade the Demon Slayer Sword to the highest level.

Unfortunately, even though the system had recycled all of Hachiman's useless items, the Demon Slayer Sword still didn't reach the maximum level of red, but instead remained at the next level, orange.

【............】

Nothing could be found that could be used for the upgrade, and the rank-breaking ritual could not be stopped once it began.

The system instantly crashed.

"puff......."

Suddenly, a soft laugh came from the depths of the darkness.

The system, which had previously been frozen, then started working again.

In a drawer in Hikigaya's room in Chiba, the small bead given to him by the chief priestess suddenly rose into the air and appeared in front of Hikigaya Hachiman through a spatial jump.

In the Inari Shrine, the Inari deity, who had been asleep, suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with resentment.

"I knew none of you five were any good!"

In the silent, deserted space, Inari suddenly swore without any decorum. A struggle flashed across her face, and finally she sighed resignedly.

As Inari stopped resisting, the ninth tail, which had been sent back by Hachiman Hikigaya, suddenly emitted five different waves of energy.

The next second, the tail carrying five wisps of energy separated from the Inari God's main body and appeared before Hachiman Hikigaya. Using the small bead that had been fused into it earlier as a medium, it slowly merged into the now multicolored spiritual elixir...

The beam of light that shot into the sky instantly dispersed the surrounding vortex of spiritual energy, the silver barrier, and the black curtain that allowed the evil spirits to fully exert their combat power during the day.

Consciousness returns to the body.

Hachiman Hikigaya slowly opened his eyes, and the system's light screen automatically appeared in front of him.

Name: Hachiman Hikigaya (Rank cap exceeded)

Age: eighteen years old

Occupation: Exorcist

Level: Demigod (During the process of becoming a god, please replenish your life energy as soon as possible)

Spiritual power: ? ? ?

Ability: Manipulation of spiritual energy

Weapons: None

Spirit Coins: None

Current condition: As smooth as a baby's skin

........

"Eh?"

Looking at the bottom line of the screen, Hachiman Hikigaya blinked blankly.

Chapter 366 The Battle for the Puppet

As the breeze began to blow, Hachiman Hikigaya finally understood what the system meant by "silky smooth."

After subconsciously feeling that he needed a new set of clothes, Hachiman Hikigaya's spiritual energy automatically flowed out of his body, attaching itself to his body and transforming into his previous clothes.

"I hope no one saw what happened just now."

Once he was dressed, Hachiman Hikigaya finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he looked up in one direction.

"Is there another group of evil spirits?"

After breaking through the limit, Hachiman Hikigaya discovered that his perception and range had increased dozens of times.

Even though the evil spirits led by Mei Isayama were more than ten kilometers away from him, and had already begun to retreat because of the strange phenomenon when Hachiman Hikigaya ascended to power, they were still captured.

Suspended in mid-air.

The idea that he could fly arose in Hachiman Hikigaya's mind.

Leaning slightly forward, before Hachiman Hikigaya could even explore the specifics of flight, his spiritual energy began to circulate automatically, carrying him rapidly towards the location of Mei Isayama.

"What a strong aura!"

From afar, Mei Isayama, who was returning to the abandoned shrine, sensed an immense pressure approaching from behind him.

Her expression changed, and while informing the nine-tailed fox of this information, she jumped off the bird-shaped evil spirit and hid in the buildings below.

"You can't fool me with that."

When Hachiman Hikigaya arrived, Mei Isayama had already disappeared, and the once massive army of evil spirits, now without a leader, began to wander aimlessly.

However, faced with this chaotic scene, Hachiman Hikigaya simply shook his head and remained unperturbed.

Although Mei Isayama thought that using evil spirits to confuse people was a very good method, he had actually already locked onto her aura.

He descended directly into a small alley below, looking at the densely packed, maze-like streets around him, and followed the scent of Mei Isayama toward her hiding place.

"How is that possible? How did he know I was here?"

Adhering to the belief that the most dangerous place is the safest, Mei Isayama did not choose to escape after landing on the ground, but instead hid using the complex terrain around him.

However, to her utter surprise, Hachiman Hikigaya only glanced at the scattered evil spirits in the sky before landing directly on the ground and walking towards her.

Clearly, she has been discovered!

What a piece of trash!

The nine-tailed fox's cold snort echoed in Mei Isayama's mind.

Immediately, Mei Isayama's once clear eyes became empty, and then glowed red.

The surrounding spiritual energy began to gather towards 'Isayama Mei's' body, and the previously fragmented evil spirits were reunited and reappeared above the two of them.

"Is it you again, human?"

Standing not far from Hachiman Hikigaya, and looking at Hachiman Hikigaya who was clearly different from yesterday, Mei Isayama, controlled by the Nine-Tailed Fox, frowned.

In just one night, Hachiman Hikigaya's momentum had clearly increased several times over.

Hachiman Hikigaya's strength was already at the peak of the Emperor level; if he wanted to advance further...

"Your rank limit has actually been broken?"

'Isayama Mei's' tone was full of surprise and astonishment that Hachiman Hikigaya had succeeded.

Because it has lived for thousands of years, Hachiman Hikigaya is the first human to successfully break through the upper limit of rank in the native world.

"Does it have anything to do with you?"

Standing opposite 'Isayama Mei' and hearing that familiar tone of voice, Hachiman Hikigaya already knew that the person in front of him was not Isayama Mei, but the Nine-Tailed Fox.

With a thought, the Demon-Slaying Blade, which had become one with him, instantly appeared in his hand.

Unlike its previous design, this upgraded Demon Slayer Sword is covered in dark red blood patterns, which is enough to send chills down your spine just by looking at it.

"That knife is a bigger threat to me now..."

Despite having a different skin, the Nine-Tailed Fox recognized the Demon Slayer Sword at a glance.

Sensing the sharp aura emanating from the Demon-Slaying Blade, 'Isayama Mei's' expression turned terrifyingly grim.

She could no longer let Hachiman Hikigaya live.

The five exorcists from Japan were already enough to give the evil spirits a hard time. If they were to add Hachiman Hikigaya, who had broken through the limits and become a god, the evil spirits from Japan would have absolutely no chance to fight back!

As the nine-tailed fox resolved to kill them at all costs, the horde of evil spirits in the sky began to tremble uneasily.

A fair arm was raised high.

The horde of evil spirits had gone from unease to agitation. A few individual spirits, unable to bear their fear, even began to flee in all directions.

However, soon, a beam of evil light caught up with the fleeing evil spirit, and together with the remaining evil spirits, they gathered into a black bead the size of an infant's fist, which was then sucked into the mouth of 'Isayama Mei'.

"The main body will be here soon. Hopefully, this puppet can hold on."

After gathering the power of the entire evil spirit horde, the Nine-Tailed Fox controlled Meiji Isayama to launch an attack on Hachiman Hikigaya.

It was clear that if Hachiman Hikigaya attacked first, Mei Isayama, whose strength had been forcibly increased by her, would soon be defeated.

"This is difficult."