Transformed into the leader of an esoteric sect in Japan

"Kurosawa, I need to focus on gliding. You focus on defense. We're not looking to kill the enemy, we're just trying to protect ourselves!" Asakura Yuki's voice was somewhat muffled in the strong wind.

Kurosawa Shizuki could only hear the sharp howling of the wind on both sides and the approach of countless nightmarish shadows, as if she had fallen into a nightmare from which she could never wake up in the blink of an eye.

Without holding back, a massive surge of black matter poured out from behind Kurosawa Shizuki without restraint. Faced with such a swarm of insects, she dared not be careless.

First, there is solid black matter surrounding them, forming a semi-transparent black barrier. The outer layer is wrapped with black thorns, and the outermost layer consists of countless black blades that spin incessantly, like a hedgehog.

Just as Kurosawa Shizuki unleashed her dark essence, she was almost instantly struck head-on by winged creatures sweeping in from all directions.

This seemingly endless descent was met with an incredibly difficult and brutal battle from the very beginning. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, countless winged creatures fearlessly crashed into Kurosawa Shizuki's protective barrier, followed by a series of horrifying screams. They were then either crushed on the head, sliced ​​to pieces by black blades, or entangled and torn apart by black thorns.

However, Kurosawa Shizuki's defensive barrier eventually had its limits, and the winged creatures sweeping in from all directions seemed endless. As Kurosawa Shizuki continued to kill the winged creatures, even more winged creatures were attracted by the fresh flesh and blood of the dead creatures. It was an endless cycle of killing them. In less than ten seconds, dozens of Kurosawa Shizuki's black blades broke off, the black thorns were broken by the winged creatures, and the last black barrier was also on the verge of collapse, with cracks appearing.

Countless black claws scratched at the black barrier, sparking and making a chilling noise. Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki could see the monsters' bloodshot eyes so close to them, incredibly violent and cruel, devoid of any rationality of intelligent beings, only pure savagery. They were monsters born for destruction and slaughter.

As her melanin was constantly being depleted, Kurosawa Shizuki was forced to continuously devour dead winged creatures to replenish herself. However, the rate of absorption could never keep up with the speed of the insectoids' frenzied attacks. Kurosawa Shizuki was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain her protective barrier, and her face grew paler. Maintaining this intensity of combat for such a short period of time was becoming unbearable for her.

Just as Kurosawa Shizuki had devoured some insectoid creature, a system notification that had been silent for a long time suddenly sounded.

[Congratulations on completing the daily quest, "A Bite of Heijō 2": Find two high-ranking cultists who have formed a bond with the Age of Gods, and use your Dark Spirit to devour or corrupt them. You have received the reward of 3500 Nightmare Points, 2 Shadow Servant Strikers, and the skill "Heart's Inspiration (Green)".]

Could it be that one of these insectoids was actually transformed from the high priest of the Divine Era? The daily quest, which seemed impossible to complete, was finished without warning. Kurosawa Shizuki's Nightmare Points surged past 6,000, and she also gained two new Shadow Servants and a green skill whose purpose she hadn't even had time to examine.

Kurosawa Shizuki was pleasantly surprised to find that, seemingly because she was born in this world and should not have been able to contact the Shadow Servants in this world, she was actually able to sense the existence of the newly born Shadow Servants!

Both Strikers were blue Shadow Servants with third-tier power. They seemed to have been directly transformed from the two insectoids she had just devoured by the system. Kurosawa Shizuki, whose defenses could be breached at any moment, did not hesitate for a moment before summoning the two Strikers from the black matter. Regardless of their abilities, as long as they could give her even a second more breathing room under the swarm's onslaught, she would be willing to accept it.

Under Yuki Asakura's unexpected gaze, two creatures that seemed to have emerged from a nightmare appeared from the shadows.

Two beasts covered in blood-red fur, resembling both wolves and bears, dripped dark red liquid from their bodies. They had no limbs, their bodies were like long snakes, with black, bat-like wings growing from their backs, and strange metal structures resembling fork bells at the ends of their long snake tails.

Two slammers followed closely behind Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki, each twist of their bodies like a dance, never-ending yet carrying an unparalleled sense of power. As the fork bells at the end of their long tails played continuously, sharp hissing echoed through the night sky.

Many of the relatively weaker insectoids, upon hearing the music, began to rapidly swell and explode into clouds of blood mist. Others, bewitched by the attackers' performance, even stopped their attacks and began to dance comically. However, Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki remained completely unaffected by the music.

However, even with the help of additional fighters possessing third-tier power, such assistance was still insufficient against the endless siege of the insectoids. Only a few insectoids, unaffected by the music, managed to get close to Kurosawa Shizuki, but the cracks in the defensive barrier continued to spread, even affecting the fighters and causing them to sustain numerous wounds.

"You did a good job, you even managed to summon such cute little animals. Hang in there a little longer, we're almost there!" Asakura encouraged Kurosawa Shizuki, while also releasing Yangyan around them. The wisps of Yangyan seeped into the gaps in Kurosawa Shizuki's barrier, and in the blink of an eye, dozens more winged creatures were ignited out of thin air. The invisible fire formed by the Yangyan condensed around Kurosawa Shizuki's protective barrier, suddenly surged up, making the entire spherical protective barrier look like a falling fire meteor.

Countless winged creatures were burned to charcoal and fell helplessly, continuing to glide downwards. Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki were finally about to break through the dense swarm of insects. The two newly summoned Strikers hadn't even sung a few songs before they were torn apart by the frenzied insects during their escape. Kurosawa Shizuki would have to consume a lot of black matter to revive them.

However, among the winged creatures, there were several giant insectoids with purple wings who arrived late at the last moment, grinning as they blocked the last escape route that Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura had fought their way out. They were all at least at the third level, and it was likely that the winged creature from the beginning was among them.

"Damn it! Kurosawa, let's attack together!" Asakura grabbed Kurosawa Shizuki's left hand. "I'll count to three, and we'll simultaneously unleash our black blade forms and hand over control to me!"

Before Kurosawa Shizuki could respond, the two of them simultaneously raised their clasped hands above their heads. Kurosawa Shizuki felt Asakura's body become scorching hot, and blazing heat, like the sun, erupted from her body in an instant. At the same time, Asakura's palm was also relentlessly extracting black matter from Kurosawa Shizuki's body.

Kurosawa Shizuki knew that they were at a critical juncture between life and death. Even if they could be resurrected, Kurosawa Shizuki did not want to experience the feeling of being torn apart by countless winged creatures. Therefore, Kurosawa Shizuki could only cooperate with Asakura Yuki and encourage the black matter power in her body that had been almost completely consumed.

"Dream—Shadow—Cut!" As Asakura shouted, the black essence of the two condensed continuously in their clasped hands, and actually turned into a katana that was completely black. Compared to the katana that Kurosawa Shizuki had previously condensed at will with black essence, the katana that Asakura condensed with black essence seemed to be imitating a real blade that existed in reality. Holding it in her hand, she could clearly observe every inch of the blade's details.

The hilt is engraved with bird-shaped patterns, the tsuba (handguard) is shaped like a lotus flower, and the blade features elegant and timeless inscriptions.

"Dreams and shadows are shattered."

The moment it was raised high above her head, an incomparably dazzling flame of sunlight shot straight into the sky from the Dream Shadow Cutter that Asakura had temporarily conjured. Had Asakura been holding back her power and accumulating strength all along been preparing for this move? Had she anticipated this situation?

"Slash!" Asakura, holding Kurosawa Shizuki's arm, swung his sword forward with unstoppable force. The sword light was chaotic and dazzling, while the dazzling flames of the sun flew like the tail feathers of a phoenix.

With a single slash, several giant insectoids with purple wings that rushed towards them were all utterly and swiftly killed before they could even react. The blazing heat, hotter than the sun, distorted the very space it burned. Any insectoid killed by this slash, even if only touched by the aftershocks of the blazing heat, would inevitably turn into dust and collapse.

At least a hundred insectoids were killed by this one strike.

Ahead, a large vacuum finally appeared. Under the shock of this attack, even the irrational and completely frenzied insectoids finally felt a little fear and hesitated for a moment before continuing the attack.

However, Asakura and Kurosawa Shizuki's strength was almost completely exhausted, but Asakura was still able to flap her black wings. They staggered out of the encirclement and before being overtaken and surrounded again by the insectoids, they finally managed to slip into the shadows beneath the dark forest. The area below and above the forest seemed to be completely different ecosystems. After Asakura and Kurosawa Shizuki entered the dark forest where the vegetation was so dense that it blocked out the sun, all the insectoids, following an inexplicable tacit understanding, gave up their pursuit of them.

They were finally safe for the time being. Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura relaxed a little. They both regretted their rash intrusion into the Shindaikai's territory. None of them could have predicted that the forest territory managed by the Shindaikai would be so dangerous.

Returning to the tranquil Blackwood, as if the fierce battle had never happened, the winged creatures scattered once more, continuing to soar gracefully through the air with a leisurely and carefree air, their bodies shimmering with a faint glow, like a sky full of stars.

The giant music box at the very top is still spinning endlessly, continuing to hum that ancient song that seems to never stop...

P.S., I'll be on the train all day tomorrow, so I might have to stop updating. I just can't seem to get into the writing rhythm on the train...

Chapter 100, Section 100: The Girl, the Spider, and the Shadow

Kurosawa Shizuki felt the world spinning before her eyes, and she was falling again. Her body passed through layer after layer of dense branches and leaves, and the sharp branches and leaves cut countless wounds on her delicate skin. The robes of the Shadow Princess were also torn in many places. Although they were repairing themselves, the repair speed was extremely slow.

Although the final blow delivered by Asakura and Asakura killed countless winged creatures, Asakura was clearly at her limit. Spreading out those strange wings was also a heavy burden for Asakura. After burrowing into the forest, she hadn't flown far before Asakura's wings disintegrated and disappeared. The two of them continued to fall in the forest like kites with broken strings.

"I'll come find you. Try to live on, and even if you die, don't die too tragically~" Asakura even had the leisure to say goodbye to Kurosawa Shizuki with a smile as he fell.

Kurosawa Shizuki did not possess the skill of using black matter to condense wings and fly like Asakura. Her black matter was far heavier than Asakura's light and agile yang flames. Even if she condensed it into black matter, she would not be able to fly lightly at all. Moreover, after a series of intense battles, Kurosawa Shizuki had very little black matter left to mobilize. She could only barely use her hands to protect her head and other vital points, leaving her to fall freely by fate.

She estimated that she would surely die if she fell from that height. She hadn't even had time to study the effects of the two new Strikers she had just acquired before she was killed by the swarm of insects. Now that she was dead, she wasn't even sure if she could continue to summon Shadow Servants to prolong her life. She had already mentally prepared herself to travel to the Netherworld again.

"Holy crap—" But the surprise came too fast. Kurosawa Shizuki watched in horror as her body fell helplessly toward several spear-like sharp branches that grew upside down from a strange tree. There was no way to dodge. In the next instant, these branches pierced through her abdomen, piercing her heart with a sharp, stabbing pain.

Her body broke several tree branches as she continued to fall. The intense pain almost caused Kurosawa Shizuki to lose consciousness completely. However, the dark energy flowed within her body, urging her to continuously repair herself, preventing her from dying on the spot.

The experience of being unable to live or die brought Kurosawa Shizuki to the brink of collapse. She even had thoughts of just wanting a quick death. However, the surprises were not over yet.

Kurosawa Shizuki crashed heavily onto a giant white net woven by some unknown creature. The immense gravity pressed the net downwards, bending it deeply and snapping dozens of its threads. However, the net was incredibly sturdy, consisting of three layers, and it managed to hold Kurosawa Shizuki's body tightly to it. Blood continued to flow from Kurosawa Shizuki's wounds, trickling down the white threads.

Kurosawa Shizuki finally realized that she had landed on a spider web. In the forest of Kirisenko, a spider web could be spun to cover such a large area, and even tightly bind a human like her. So the "spider" that spun the web must not be an ordinary spider.

The entire spiderweb began to tremble on its own. Kurosawa Shizuki saw a huge shadow descend gracefully from the treetop via a single thread hanging in mid-air, landing silently on the web. It then slowly and steadily crawled toward Kurosawa Shizuki. Kurosawa Shizuki was certain that it was using the shaking of the web to determine its location. Kurosawa Shizuki thought that its size was probably at least the size of a large truck.

A giant black spider, its compound eyes flashing a cruel red light in the darkness. This spider even has the face of a woman who is constantly crying. The upper half of the face is human, while the lower half is the mouthparts of a spider. In addition to the spider's normal eight legs, dozens of twisting human arms have also grown on its back, which is enough to make one's scalp tingle.

The human-faced spider continuously spat out spiders as thick as fingers, binding Kurosawa Shizuki in circles. Kurosawa Shizuki tried to summon her Black Essence, but most of it had fallen into a deep sleep due to overuse, and the other Shadow Servants were completely unresponsive to her calls. Although Kurosawa Shizuki could sense that the connection with the Shadow Girl had not been severed in the forest, her remaining Black Essence was simply insufficient to support the Shadow Girl's full manifestation.

Kurosawa Shizuki wanted to use her Hollow Blade Style to cut through the spider silk, but she quickly realized that with her stamina constantly draining away, she didn't have much strength left. Even if she could cut through a few strands of silk, she would eventually be bound tightly by even more strands. With her strength still within the realm of humanity, she was absolutely no match for a monster of this caliber.

Kurosawa Shizuki realized that with her dwindling strength, she only had one chance to act. If she were to be swallowed and digested by the spider, even if she wanted to revive, she would likely have to pay a heavy price.

Kurosawa Shizuki, like a drowning person, searched for any possible lifeline, and then her gaze settled on the green skill "Heart's Inspiration" that she had just obtained.

[Inspired by our hearts, a green skill, rhythm is contagious, we will absolutely, absolutely, absolutely never stop dancing...]

You can select a specific creature to "inspire" it, forcing it to dance to your rhythm. The effect depends on its class, species, and your knowledge of the dance. If you have master-level or higher knowledge of certain dance types, successful inspiration will produce additional effects.

A strange skill has been added... What the hell is this bizarre skill? As the giant human-faced spider approaches, Shizuki Kurosawa inexplicably recalls another bizarre scene: in a lively disco, she stands on the stage, shouts into the microphone "Everyone, get hyped!" and snaps her fingers. Encouraged by her, the entire venue becomes even more heated, and everyone starts dancing awkwardly together.

And do you have master-level knowledge of certain specific types of dance? Does the second set of national primary and secondary school broadcast gymnastics count?

Kurosawa Shizuki couldn't think of what effect this strange green skill would have in the upcoming battle. Perhaps it could temporarily disrupt the enemy's attack rhythm?

From within the blackness of her left palm, Kurosawa Shizuki summoned the Falconer's Destiny Spear, the sharpest weapon she currently possessed. She concealed the spear beneath a spiderweb, awaiting the fleeting opportunity to strike.

Kurosawa Shizuki's body was almost completely wrapped in spider silk. Through the gaps in the web, she stared intently at the human-faced spider that was pulling her closer and closer with the silk. She was being hung upside down by the spider. The spider's human face showed a living person's greed and thirst. Its terrifying mouthparts dripped highly venomous mucus and kept opening and closing.

The fingertips of the numerous human arms behind the human-faced spider also control countless thin spider silks, enabling this terrifying creature to perform all sorts of unimaginable, subtle operations. Hundreds of spider silks rotated and wrapped around Kurosawa Shizuki in circles.

Kurosawa Shizuki was lured by the spider web all the way to the faceless spider. The spider's legs continued to weave a web around Kurosawa Shizuki, and soon Kurosawa Shizuki was completely wrapped in a cocoon made of white spider silk, and all her movements were tightly restricted.

The world spun around her, and Kurosawa Shizuki was almost dizzy from the trick the human-faced spider had played on her. The pain from the fatal wound left by the broken branch in her lower abdomen had almost numbed her nerves. She had bled almost all of her blood, and the red blood mixed with the white spider web was definitely a rare delicacy for the human-faced spider.

Kurosawa Shizuki's vision grew darker and darker. She felt the call of the Netherworld once again. She seemed to see the blood-red sun hanging high in the sky and countless blurry figures writhing in the dark ocean. Her consciousness began to leave her body again.

Kurosawa Shizuki realized that she had been too naive. In her current physical condition, there was no way she could possibly pierce the broken spear into the human-faced spider through the increasingly thick spider web. She simply didn't have enough strength, and even holding the broken spear in her hand was already a huge challenge for her.

A soft sigh came from behind.

The broken spear slipped from his hand and fell, but was caught steadily by another person. Kurosawa Shizuki felt a familiar presence once again.

"This is the second time, isn't it?" Kurosawa Shizuki heard the shadow girl sigh helplessly behind her. "Asakura is a headstrong brute, and you're following her around recklessly? You directly charged into Kirie's territory, are you two really not tired of living?"

“Perhaps I never really wanted to live…” Kurosawa Shizuki was well aware of the dangers she and Asakura might encounter when entering the molting club, but she still came. This shouldn’t have been her battle, and of course she couldn’t have been fully prepared.

“My strength is also running low. I can only deliver the first thrust. From now on, it’s all up to you,” the shadow girl said. “Although we were going to come here sooner or later, I didn’t expect to arrive so soon.”

"Don't be scared by anything here. Remember, this place is far from becoming Wuquanzi's divine kingdom. Right now, it's just some loveless little girl's absurd dream."

"All you have to do is wake that little girl up from this illusory dream."

The spider's cocoon was fully formed. It slowly lifted Kurosawa Shizuki's body into the air, elegantly raised its head, opened its mouthparts, and prepared to enjoy its feast.

The shadow girl's body transformed into an extremely faint mass of black matter, covering Kurosawa Shizuki's entire body. The shadow girl was controlling Kurosawa Shizuki's body, preparing to take action. Kurosawa Shizuki felt a tremendous power that did not belong to her accumulating.

"This move was taught to me by my father. Within the Liquidators, our adversaries call it the Ashes of Time."

Kurosawa Shizuki smelled a faint scent of ashes. She felt that something was indeed burning inside her body. She saw her left arm, with silvery-white threads wrapped around it as she gripped the broken spear. Her left hand was shimmering with a strange light, and the silvery-white threads were indeed writhing like snakes.

Kurosawa Shizuki understood that the shadow girl was burning away a period of time within her body, releasing an incomparably violent power within.

[Your Shadow Servant, Shadowman, has consumed three years of your time. Your remaining time is ███.]

Kurosawa Shizuki was taken aback. Why were there black bars in the system? Was there a bug?

Your remaining time is a hidden attribute and cannot be viewed until you awaken the relevant skills.

Before Kurosawa Shizuki could think any further, the shadow girl had already launched her next attack without hesitation.

The unyielding, fiery Destiny Spear became as hot as flames, and Kurosawa Shizuki felt it growing increasingly excited under the blood flowing from her body, trembling like a living thing.

Destiny Spear Breaker - End or Be Ended, activate!

The scorching broken spear, amplified by the passage of time, traced a trajectory as bright as stars.

The first stab pierced through the thick spider silk; the second strike tore the entire cocoon apart; and then came the third stab without reservation. It wasn't Kurosawa Shizuki actively launching the attack, but rather the shadow girl guiding the Destiny Spear. The burning time allowed the Destiny Spear to unleash its long-accumulated rage.

The spider-faced creature's countless legs, sharper than blades, pierced towards Kurosawa Shizuki's body without hesitation, but the shadow girl snapped her fingers first, unleashing the Heart's Encouragement!

With a crisp snap of its fingers, a fleeting daze appeared in the eyes of the spider-faced creature. Its limbs, which had been attacking Kurosawa Shizuki's body, began to wave wildly around it, and its body trembled to a strange rhythm, as if it were actually performing an incredibly comical dance.

The effect of Heart's Inspiration lasts for less than a second, but that's enough for Kurosawa Shizuki, or rather, the Shadow Girl.

The girl gripped the broken spear of destiny tightly in both hands, descended from the sky, and fiercely stabbed at the astonished face of the human-faced spider. With one strike, the spear pierced deep into the spider's head, entering from between the eyebrows and exiting from its mouthparts. The putrid spider blood splattered all over Kurosawa Shizuki's body.

However, the powerful vitality of the human-faced spider would not allow it to be killed so easily by Kurosawa Shizuki. The human-faced spider went berserk and swung its sharp spider legs at Kurosawa Shizuki. Several of its legs pierced into Kurosawa Shizuki's shoulder, chest and back. Kurosawa Shizuki, who was injured on top of her injuries, spat out a mouthful of blood, which landed right on the broken spear of destiny.

Kurosawa Shizuki was certain that she was going to die, and it would be an injustice if she didn't die again with such injuries.

However, the Broken Spear of Destiny would not stop its path of struggle just because its master was dying; it was only then that it unleashed its third strike.

What followed wasn't Kurosawa Shizuki using the Destiny Spear, but rather the Destiny Spear guiding her body to deliver the fourth, fifth, and subsequent strikes...

The fourth strike cleaved the spider's head in two. The fifth strike saw Kurosawa Shizuki, along with the broken spear, pierce the spider's warm body, shredding its internal structure.

Kurosawa Shizuki genuinely felt that the Shadow Girl was incredibly powerful. "If you're so strong, why did you need to summon me?" Kurosawa Shizuki felt that the Shadow Girl could single-handedly wipe out the Shedding Club!

This time, the spider-faced creature finally fell silent and died completely. Kurosawa Shizuki was finally spared the fateful broken spear from piercing her throat again after its seventh strike.