Transformed into the leader of an esoteric sect in Japan

P.S., I'm about to write the first battle of this book. The battle scenes will be greatly simplified in this book, and I'll make sure that all the fights are resolved within two chapters.

Section 16, Chapter Sixteen: Everything Was for the Sake of Getting the Manuscript Done

Shinji Sakata is the editor-in-chief of Misra Publishing House and the highest-ranking official in the Heikyo Fukakusa Diocese.

Although he is tall and strong, and his face gives a fierce first impression, you will find that he is a very easy person to get along with once you get to know him better. He speaks politely, has kind eyes, and is strict with himself but lenient with others.

The premise is that you haven't touched his sore spot.

Shinji Sakata hated two kinds of people the most in his life: the first was those who hurt his most precious daughter, Matsuko Sakata; the second was those who missed deadlines.

When encountering either of these two types of people, Shinji Sakata will shed his polite facade and transform into a fierce man with eyes like a lion!

Leading his men, he surrounded the destination in advance and ordered them to guard all the exits. This time, Shinji Sakata planned to act alone.

He believed that, having recently reached the third stage thanks to the blessings of the Saintess Kurosawa, he was capable of handling most situations on his own.

Using a grappling hook, Shinji Sakata climbed to the top of an abandoned seafood factory, dressed in a sharp special operations uniform, with the lion head he loved to wear when he was active as a cultist still on his head.

He carried a submachine gun, a pump-action shotgun, and a crossbow on his back, and a military knife, a pistol, and a signal gun at his waist. His eyes were fierce, and he was armed to the teeth from head to toe.

The Black Sun Cult also has a deep connection with the Heijing Yakuza, and this set of equipment was all obtained through shady underground black market channels.

Shinji Sakata crouched on a rectangular reinforced glass panel, wearing night vision goggles, observing the scene below through the glass.

Six esoteric practitioners, five of whom are novice followers and one a seasoned master of the art of invisibility, are all identified by the spiritual energy fluctuations within them as belonging to the Jienjindaikai, the largest esoteric sect in Heijing. They are currently performing an ancient sacrificial dance around the altar, chanting ancient Japanese songs.

The alliance with the Divine Society makes them, besides the Anti-Suppression Bureau, the Black Sun Cult's biggest competitor in Heijing.

They worship an evil god named Wuquanzi, believing that by sacrificing human lives and extracting the "karma" hidden deep within human souls to please the ancient god, they can awaken Wuquanzi from his ancient slumber, recreate the age of gods, and drag the entire world into Wuquanzi's eternal nightmare.

The followers of the Divine Alliance have a particular fondness for capturing inspired individuals as sacrifices. These individuals are often painters, writers, musicians, sculptors, and so on. In other words, they frequently capture potential members of the Black Sun Cult as sacrifices. Moreover, the followers of the Divine Alliance especially enjoy capturing Black Sun Cult members whose inspiration far surpasses that of ordinary people.

The reason Shinji Sakata was here was simple: he was there to urge the author to finish his manuscript.

He, the editor, is the author of a bestselling book, Mr. Kawamura, who has been kidnapped by cultists! And the deadline is the day after tomorrow!

Truly powerful editors will go through fire and water, even fight with cultists, to get their manuscripts published!

After confirming the number and position of the enemy, Shinji Sakata smashed the glass with the butt of his rifle and threw in a smoke grenade. The smoke grenade landed and exploded, and everyone coughed incessantly in the smoke.

Shinji Sakata jumped from the shattered window, and while in mid-air, he raised his submachine gun and fired a burst of shots according to the direction he remembered.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Five gunshots rang out, and five cultists, unaware of what was happening, had five bullet holes between their eyebrows, all of them blown off their heads.

"Pfft—" Shinji Sakata heard the sound of flesh tearing from the direction of the last remaining senior believer. He was unfolding a strange posture. This level of cultists could no longer be dealt with by ordinary firearms. The "genesis state" of the Divine Generation Cultists was almost immune to most physical attacks at the level of mortals.

However, Shinji Sakata, who was prepared, rolled to dissipate the force the moment he landed, and charged at the cultist like a cheetah. The black matter wrapped around his left hand began to grow wildly, turning into a black fist that was five or six meters long.

Dark matter, second state, Shadow Hand! A powerful punch was thrown from a distance, accurately hitting the cultist who was halfway through his transformation and whose body was shrouded in blood mist.

With a single punch, the cultist's entire upper body was smashed into a bloody pulp, with blood and flesh flowing everywhere. It was incredibly brutal, and one could vaguely see disgusting, pale worms writhing in the pool of blood.

Just then, the smoke from the smoke bomb dissipated, and Shinji Sakata walked through the pool of blood. The worms on the ground were now ablaze with black flames, emitting a foul stench.

In less than half a minute, all the cultists were dealt with. Shinji Sakata walked towards the wooden altar in the very center of the abandoned factory without even breaking a sweat.

Beneath the wooden statue of Mizukiko, which resembles a moth drawn to a flame, are intricate forbidden incantations. Hanging by ropes are more than a dozen captured believers, including Sakata Shinji's target for this trip: Kawamura Kai, the author of "I Became the Dungeon Lord in Another World"!

"You are actually... Editor-in-Chief?" Kawamura Kai-sensei asked incredulously.

"Kawamura, it's time to submit your manuscript." The muzzle of the submachine gun gleamed coldly.

"Editor, who are you? Who are you?!" Kawamura Kai never imagined that such a development would occur in reality. The editor, who had always been elegant and refined, would suddenly transform into a special forces soldier to rescue a light novel author who had been kidnapped by cultists.

Shinji Sakata gave a mysterious smile: "Good question."

"Then, my dear friend, would you be willing to learn about the mysterious faith that has been passed down through generations since the ancient Assyrian Empire, our supreme, holy, and powerful savior, His Majesty Mithra the Black Sun?"

————————————————————————————————————————

"The Gourmet Association is a bizarre organization in the shadows of Heijing. Its leader is the 'Overlord,' a monster classified as a natural disaster by the Anti-Extermination Bureau. Most of its members are non-human monsters called ghouls." Knowing that her sister had lost her memory, Kurosawa Ai still patiently explained the relevant background to Kurosawa Shizuki.

"Ghouls are creatures that can only survive by eating human flesh, and in order to disguise themselves as humans, they must parasitize human corpses to move freely. Some of their abilities when in human form are similar to those of vampires in the human imagination, such as the ability to vaporize, superhuman regenerative abilities, and a certain degree of hypnotic ability. However, they are not afraid of sunlight, garlic, or crosses, and can also display an incredibly powerful superhuman biological form, transforming into abnormal monsters with various scythes and tentacles. Once in monster form, being approached by a ghoul is extremely dangerous; a slight mistake can result in being torn to pieces."

"But for you, sister, it's all easy to solve. As long as you control your black matter and expand your domain, you can restrict their misting and launch surprise attacks from the shadows. You can easily break through even the defenses of their superhuman forms. The human bodies they parasitize are their weaknesses. As long as you break through the vital parts of the human body, such as the heart, you can easily kill them."

"Thank you, Ai. You explained it very clearly. I understand it roughly now." Kurosawa Shizuki nodded. Although she understood it cognitively, she wasn't sure if her body would truly "understand" it during actual combat.

Kurosawa Shizuki stood at the alley entrance and saw Kurosawa Ai take a waterproof bag out of her schoolbag and open it.

He handed Kurosawa Shizuki a pale yellow onesie raincoat and a plastic mask that looked like it had been bought from an amusement park.

"Put this on. This outfit is to conceal your identity, sister."

"Why a rabbit?" Kurosawa Shizuki took the ridiculous cartoon rabbit mask. It was Bugs Bunny? My youth has returned.

"How would I know? You chose this yourself, sister. Maybe you used to really like rabbits?" Kurosawa Ai urged. "Sister, hurry up and put it on. Miss Ayako inside doesn't have much time left."

Kurosawa Shizuki put on the slightly youthful pale yellow raincoat, pulled the hood over her head, and finally put on the Bugs Bunny mask. Half of her sailor skirt was still showing from under the raincoat. She thought her current look must be hilarious.

"Hurry up and go in, let's get this over with quickly," Kurosawa Ai said, standing at the crossroads with her cane, showing no intention of going in with Kurosawa Shizuki. "I'll keep watch here for you."

"Thank you, I'll do it as soon as possible." Kurosawa Shizuki suppressed her anxiety and walked alone into the dark and dirty alley.

P.S. Actually, the main character's appearance is based on the Minions, the female protagonist of "Little Nightmares".

Section 17, Chapter Seventeen: The Phantom Blade Style

The stench of decay and rot in the air grew stronger, and the eerie laughter of the two beings, whom the sister called "ghouls," could be faintly heard, sending chills down one's spine.

According to Ai Kurosawa, she used to use her precognitive abilities to locate the strange creatures running rampant in Heikyo. Once a target was identified, Shizuki Kurosawa would hunt it down. Because Shizuki Kurosawa possessed a dark spirit, hunting and devouring strange creatures was very beneficial to the growth of her dark spirit, so it was necessary to keep hunting like this.

Logically speaking, the original owner of this body was only at the third stage of the Black Matter realm, and under her sister's guidance, she had already hunted down more than ten strange creatures without a single failure. Now that she has reached the fourth stage, she is definitely not weaker than before. The ghost infant that died inexplicably at the hands of her shadow not long ago also proves that there is indeed a very powerful being hidden in her shadow now.

But it was her shadow that was powerful, not her! Kurosawa Shizuki, who had never experienced any real combat, suddenly had to face two ghouls that she had only heard of in legends in her previous life. How could she not be flustered at all?

Although her three-dimensional attribute panel is superior to that of a normal person in every aspect, and her inspiration is an explosive 100 points or more, attributes are attributes, and her heart is still that of a high school student who had no combat experience.

Just as Kurosawa Shizuki was getting closer and closer to the location of the two ghouls, her heart pounding in her chest, six system notifications suddenly rang in her ears.

[Your fanatic Shinji Sakata killed Masahiro Oda, a mere follower of the Cult of Bonds. You have gained 31 Nightmare Points.]

[Your fanatic Shinji Sakata killed Seiya Machida, a mere follower of the Enmusubi Cult. You have gained 28 Nightmare Points.]

……

[Your fanatic Shinji Sakata killed a senior follower of the Cult of Bondage, and Masaki Onoue is spawning on the way. You have gained 68 Nightmare Points.]

What the heck? What's going on? So even my cult members get Nightmare Points for killing people?

And is our Shinji Sakata really that good? He got a six-kill streak right off the bat? That certainly fits his character as a Blue Cultist.

But the surprises weren't over yet:

[Your fanatic Shinji Sakata has recruited the green-quality cultist Kai Kawamura. Congratulations, you have gained 103 Nightmare Points.]

Shinji Sakata, thank you so much! I'll definitely give you a promotion and a raise next time we meet!

Kurosawa Shizuki's Nightmare Points have directly broken through the 2500-point mark!

I thought I'd have to wait until tomorrow to redeem the skill card, but I can get it right now! All set! Those two ghouls will be taken care of soon.

Kurosawa Shizuki brought up the shop interface without hesitation:

System, redeem the blue skill card "Phantom Blade Style"!

[Congratulations! You have mastered the blue skill system "Phantom Blade Style" in the beginner stage!] Kurosawa Shizuki felt an indescribable power being poured into her body, followed by a series of initial skill mastery prompts.

[You have mastered the first move of the Phantom Blade Style, "Lily of the Valley"!]

[You have mastered the second technique of the Phantom Blade Style, "Narcissus"!]

[You have mastered the seventh form of the Kyoto-ryu style, "Asagao"!]

……

[You have mastered the first secret technique of the Phantom Blade Style, "Mirror Flower, Water Moon"!]

Kurosawa Shizuki seemed to see many figures flashing past her eyes.

She saw a calm man, alone in the Warring States period, facing thousands of troops with his bare hands, yet he pressed forward without hesitation, tearing apart the army of hundreds.

She saw a tall, bewildered young man fighting against a number of swordsmen wielding strange blades, while behind him stood a petite, silver-haired girl with a cross-shaped pupil in her left eye.

She saw a frail girl, her face numb yet as delicate as a broken object, casually weaving through countless swordsmen, her blade flashing as she reaped wheat, beheading countless people...

She could indeed sense that strange and eerie power flowing through her body, silently changing her body and mind.

The body became more flexible and resilient, and could perform many postures and movements that were previously unthinkable. When the five fingers were put together, the back of the hand actually gleamed with a cold, blade-like light.

In this state of swordsmanship, one's mind becomes incredibly calm and composed, looking down upon all living beings with an almost emotionless indifference, as if nothing is worth caring about and anything can be used as a tool.

Even if his physical body is nothing more than a knife, he can accept and do whatever it takes to use it in order to win.

Using oneself as a sword, and fighting against weapons with one's own flesh, a swordsman without a blade can even defeat a swordsman with a blade using this magical style, which is called the "Virtual Blade Style".

At present, Kurosawa Shizuki has only mastered a few of the most basic sword forms of the Kyoto-ryu. Of the nine secret techniques of the Kyoto-ryu, she has only mastered the first one, "Kyoka Suigetsu". Kurosawa Shizuki vaguely remembers that this seems to be the fastest secret technique, but its power can only be described as average.

The only option is to launch a surprise attack to achieve a quick victory; if it gets bogged down in a protracted war, it will likely be very disadvantageous.

As Kurosawa Shizuki mastered the beginner-level Phantom Blade Style, it also increased her Physique by 5 points and her Intelligence by 3 points, giving her 21 points of Intelligence, 113 points of Spirit, and 18 points of Physique.

After casually brandishing her hand chop a few times, Kurosawa Shizuki knew there was no time left for her to familiarize herself with the Phantom Blade Style. She began to smell a faint scent of blood in the air.

They quickly sped up and sprinted into the depths of the alley.

Soon, they arrived at the end of the alley and saw blood flowing all over the ground.

Fortunately, Miss Ayako, who had been bewitched by the two ghouls, was still alive. She was struggling to support herself against the wall and was staggering toward Kurosawa Shizuki.

Now her entire body is covered in wounds. Her bright red dress is now full of holes, revealing her private parts, and her black stockings are also torn with holes. Due to excessive blood loss, she is obviously unconscious and is only holding on by her last breath and willpower.

"Hahahaha! Miss Ayako, keep struggling a little longer and give us more fun!" A red mist flashed by and condensed into a grinning yellow-haired man. He casually swung his left claw, and Ayako staggered forward again. This claw left a shocking scratch on Ayako's back.

Just like a cat toying with its prey before eating a mouse, these two ghouls seemed to enjoy toying with Ayako. They kept inflicting various wounds on her. Although each attack did not leave deep wounds, the dozens of shallow wounds left on her body eventually drove her to die in despair.

The man with the slicked-back hair grabbed Ayako by the throat and slammed the wailing Ayako behind him, throwing her onto the ground covered in garbage, sewage, and Ayako's blood. He looked coldly at Kurosawa Shizuki: "Looks like we have another uninvited guest."