Tokyo: I am the Lord of All Demons!

That's right, they came to kill us.

Akane was somewhat surprised by Ooi Yushin's actions; she hadn't expected that a divine messenger would dare to challenge her authority.

"boom!"

Qian did not defend herself, or rather, she simply formed an arc-shaped energy structure in front of her to deflect the enemy's longsword.

On the opposite side, seeing his longsword attack parried, Ooi Yutomi sheathed his sword and flew back.

Seeing this, Akane was about to give chase when Ooi Yutomi returned, his longsword now imbued with even more divine power.

Even so, Qian remained as steady as a rock, standing upright and relying on the arc-shaped energy body in front of her to defend against the attacks.

The next second—

"Boom—!!"

The collision of divine and demonic power generated a large amount of sparks and black smoke, instantly filling the entire sewer and making it as bright as day.

In the explosion, both Akane and Eri Kitamura were affected to varying degrees. Akane fared better because there was an arc-shaped energy body in front of her, so only her hair and skirt were gently blown by the shockwave of the explosion.

As for Kitamura Eri, because she was in a relatively far back position, the arc-shaped energy body could not completely protect her from the explosion, so she was blown away by the shockwave and tumbled backward several times.

A moment later, darkness returned to the sewers. Akane and Kitamura Eri quickly regained their composure, but the man had vanished without a trace. They didn't know if he had been blown away or pulverized.

However, after calming down a bit, Qian was surprised to find that the male messenger was not actually dead, but had deliberately created such a big explosion to cover up his intention to escape.

Qian looked up and saw that the man had already run to the ground, and he was moving at lightning speed, as if he was afraid that he would die if he was too slow to escape.

I never expected that person to be so afraid of death. Qian had thought he was such a manly man, ready to die for his cause!

In short, Akane regained her composure in front of the divine messenger and should be able to win over Kitamura Eri's heart.

Now that her goal had been achieved, Akane decided not to pursue Ooi Yushin anymore. Since he was so afraid of death, she would let him live a few more days.

Thinking about all this, Akane turned around and asked Kitamura Eri, "Are you alright?"

"...Huh?"

Kitamura Eri felt a little uncomfortable with Akane's warm concern. Didn't her friends always say that powerful spirits were untrustworthy? Why was this spirit girl being so gentle?

No, I have to stay vigilant! What if she has some ulterior motive? Like pretending to get close to me first, and then finding an opportunity to take down my family and friends all at once!

In short, Kitamura Eri doesn't believe Akane!

Kitamura Eri stood up, dusted herself off, and said with her head down, "I'm fine, thank you for your help."

Akane glanced at Kitamura Eri's reaction, then mentally considered how to react based on her experience.

Indeed, Akane herself is composed of many souls, possessing rich life experience, which enables her to formulate strategies.

After much deliberation, Akane did not respond to Kitamura Eri's gratitude and turned to leave the sewer.

Kitamura Eri asked the question almost reflexively: "Wait a minute, I don't know your name yet."

Akane turned her head and glanced at Kitamura Eri. "There's no need to ask my name. A name is just a code."

Then it disappeared.

After watching Akane leave, Kitamura Eri couldn't help but murmur, "Is this what they mean by leaving without a trace after accomplishing their task, concealing their merits and fame?"

Akane's mystery left Kitamura Eri wanting more. She had originally wanted to probe her intentions so she could report the current situation to her master, Fujita Mino.

However, even if Akane doesn't reveal her name, it doesn't affect Kitamura Eri's description of her as a very strong, ghostly girl.

Furthermore, it needs to be emphasized again that Kitamura Eri is unaware of Fujita Mino and the others' identities as divine messengers. Therefore, Fujita Mino needs to quickly return and report.

One of her tasks in coming here was to investigate that powerful ghost, but now there's a conclusion: the ghost she sensed in Kanto was actually "Akane".

Akane is not a single individual, but a ghost girl who combines many different ghosts. Although we do not know her name, as she said, a name is just a code.

Just as Kitamura Eri was thinking about these things and walked out of the sewer, a sudden inspiration flashed in her mind.

It's a very strange feeling.

Although she didn't ask the name of the ghostly girl, Kitamura Eri seemed to know in her heart that her name was "Akane".

What's happening here?

Could it be the residual demonic power at work? Kitamura Eri looked at her palm, and indeed there was still a trace of a stranger's demonic power in her hand.

Was it a message left by Qian?

If it was she who left it behind.

So it was intentional.

Or was it unintentional?

Kitamura Eri couldn't figure this out, so she could only follow the tree-lined path and quickly return to the villa area in Kanagawa, back to the villa where Fujita Mino lived, and float up to the second floor.

At this moment, Fujita Mino was still waiting for her on the second floor. When she saw that she had actually floated up to the second floor, she was almost startled.

"How did you float up here?" Fujita Mino couldn't help but blurt out what was on her mind.

"Have you forgotten? I'm actually a ghost girl, so it's normal for me to be able to float, isn't it?" Kitamura Eri said with a smile as she slowly landed in front of Fujita Mino.

"...No jokes." Fujita Mino's face turned serious. "Did you get any information during your investigation?"

“We got it. The ghost we sensed, her name is Akane.” Kitamura Eri said, walking into the house. It was quite sunny and hot in Yota, and she would feel a little uncomfortable staying there for a long time.

Seeing that Kitamura Eri seemed intent on building suspense, Fujita Mino urged impatiently, "What about the others?"

"Others?" Kitamura Eri shook her head, then walked into the living room, slumped down on one of the sofas, and continued, "You mean, you want to know specific information about Akane?"

“Yes, yes!” Fujita Mino quickly followed and walked in, sitting down opposite Kitamura Eri on the sofa.

She picked up the teapot, poured the prepared black tea into a teacup, and then pushed it in front of Kitamura Eri.

Kitamura Eri picked up the teacup, but the temperature of the teacup made her hesitate.

She shook her head and said, "It's too hot, I don't dare to drink it."

"Then... something chilled? But it's bottled!" Upon seeing this, Fujita Mino quickly went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of tea.

When Kitamura Eri received the tea, she finally felt better. As the tea went down her throat, she felt a little more energetic.

She cleared her throat. "Ahem, well, it's like this, a fierce battle broke out during the reconnaissance. I'm a little tired now, my shoulders are a bit sore, and I don't really feel like talking."

Fujita Mino instantly understood Kitamura Eri's intention, so she quickly came over and massaged her shoulders and arms with a fawning smile: "Oh, let me give you a massage!"

There's nothing wrong with doing this. Kitamura Eri, who went through all the hardships to obtain the information, is the "boss," while Fujita Mino, who would only wait at home for the information to come to her, has now become an obedient maid.

When you need someone's help, you can only be humble like this. It's not a difficult thing for Fujita Mino. She can bend and stretch!

Fujita Mino had massaged her father many times before, and was considered a close friend of the family, so this massage made Kitamura Eri feel very comfortable and relaxed.

Seeing Fujita Mino's humble yet diligent efforts, Kitamura Eri smiled with satisfaction. "Then I'll tell you. Actually, this female ghost named Akane seems a bit different from us. She appears to be a combination of several female ghosts who died tragically."

While massaging her, Fujita Mino looked up and asked, puzzled, "Why emphasize 'died a terrible death'?"

Kitamura Eri tilted her head, her face showing confusion: "Don't you know? Our ghost clan believes that the more tragically we die in life, the stronger we become after death."

Fujita Mino immediately rolled her eyes at her and said, "Good question. I'm not a ghost, how would I know that the more miserable you are, the stronger you become?"

However, as soon as she said that, Fujita Mino realized something. Kitamura Eri was right. Aren't the heroines in novels all beautiful, strong, and tragic?

The problem is...

Fujita Mino felt that she must be a pretty tragic person, after all, she lost both her older sister and her mother.

But why am I not strong enough?

Wait, that's not right either.

Compared to the other divine messengers, Fujita Mino's combat power is undoubtedly the strongest; she simply cannot defeat the Demon King.

In general.

The divine messenger was too weak.

It's not that Fujita Mino isn't strong enough!

In other words, if Fujita Mino wants to become stronger, then she can no longer be a divine messenger, unless...

Unless, of God.

The problem is that Fujita Mino is currently just a minor divine messenger under Lord Aragami, quite...

I'm afraid there's no way.

We can only accept our fate.

Fujita Mino frowned and continued to ask Kitamura Eri, "So, is there any other important information? Tell me everything?"

"Regarding Akane, didn't I just say that I discovered she was a combination of many female ghosts? So it seems that since her birth, she has been absorbing the ghost power of the female ghosts, but the absorption process is slower than I thought."

After speaking, Kitamura Eri thought for a moment and continued, "Right now, her strength should have reached the level of a so-called Demon King, right?"

Fujita Mino's pupils twitched slightly. "The strength of the Demon King? Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Kitamura Eri blinked and said confidently, "I'm sure. Hey, it's not like I haven't seen the Demon King before, is it?"

Indeed, although Kitamura Eri was just a kid, she was asked to search for the Demon King the first time she met Fujita Mino, so she naturally knew the Demon King's approximate strength.

“If that’s the case, then the situation is serious…” Fujita Mino frowned and muttered to herself.

Kitamura Eri interrupted Fujita Mino's thoughts, saying, "There's something even more serious! Her strength might not be just what it is; there's still room for improvement."

"What?! You mean she still has room for improvement?!" Fujita Mino's hands trembled involuntarily.

Fujita Mino said with a worried look, "That's it, if she's that strong, how are we going to defeat her..."

Kitamura Eri, however, was unconvinced: "Really? With so many divine messengers, you're afraid of a mere demon king?"

Fujita Mino shook her head, sighed, and said, "Of course I'm afraid. You don't know, last time we challenged the Demon King Hanako Sachiko, we lost a divine messenger. Although we announced our victory to the world, it was our biggest defeat to date."

Kitamura Eri thought for a moment and said, "Then you're lucky. You almost lost another divine messenger this afternoon."

Fujita Mino was stunned: "...Do you know what you're saying?"

However, Kitamura Eri said absentmindedly, "I know, isn't there a male divine messenger among you? He was almost killed by Akane."

Fujita Mino's expression immediately turned tense: "You mean, Ooi Yutomi was almost killed by Akane?"

Kitamura Eri blinked and said, "His name is Ooi Yutomi? He seems like a very ambitious young man."

“By the way…” Kitamura Eri continued, changing the subject, “Akane seemed to say something, that he killed all his reinforcements and told him not to expect any more. I did see a few ordinary people carrying magical artifacts come in through the sewer entrance and then die.”