Nearly crying out from the scalding heat, Mei gritted her teeth and endured the searing heat that almost burned her feet as she slowly slid into the hot spring pool, where Lucian and Himiko soaked, letting the hot water envelop her entire body.
In no time, her fair skin was visibly flushed with a tempting pink hue.
"Hahaha! Not bad, Mei!"
Himiko, noticing someone had entered the pool, opened her eyes and caught sight of Mei.
"Good, that's more like it!" Himiko said while deliberately splashing a large wave of water that hit Mei's face. "Why do you always soak in cold water? What's the point? A hot spring should be hot."
"Y-Yeah, it's not bad to try something new once in a while..."
Mei replied with a forced smile as she wiped her face, then carefully moved toward Lucian, trying to distance herself from Himiko, who was the source of the heat.
"If you're not comfortable, you can move to the edge over there, y'know."
Casually leaning against the pool's edge, Lucian spoke with concern as he watched Mei struggling to endure the heat.
"I'm... I'm fine. I can handle it."
Mei refused stubbornly, inching closer to Lucian until her skin nearly brushed against his strong arm, which caused her already flushed face to burn even more.
Himiko, seeing their exchange, casually leaned a little closer as well, with the water tracing her full curves in an almost breathtaking way.
"Boss, I've been having nightmares lately," Himiko said thoughtfully with her chin in her hand, her eyes fixed on Lucian. "Did you curse me? I swear, I haven't thought or said anything bad about you, so hurry up and lift whatever curse you've put on me."
"Curse my ass. You're overthinking it," Lucian replied while rolling his eyes at her. "I don't curse anyone on purpose. It's triggered passively—if someone harbors ill intentions about me, that's when the curse activates. Since you don't have such intentions, it has nothing to do with me."
"Hmm, then that's strange..." Himiko muttered with a frown. "Maybe it's just stress getting me?"
A moment later, she ultimately gave up thinking about it, leaned back, and then stretched her body, which showed her stunning curves barely concealed by the rising steam, exuding a wild, magnetic charm.
"But seriously, Boss, your body is really well-built and strong—I like it!"
As Himiko suddenly and unabashedly praised Lucian, Mei, who quietly listened to her words and watched her unguarded posture, felt a little sour, an uneasy feeling beginning to bubble up inside her as she could sense that Lucian's gaze, which was filled with pure appreciation, occasionally shifted toward Himiko because of it.
In the next moment, summoning all her courage, Mei pretended to casually turn to the side, subtly adjusting her position in the water and ensuring that her body's curves were more clearly outlined under Lucian's gaze.
Lucian, feeling the soft touch of her movements against his arm, smiled faintly and shifted his gaze from Himiko back to the diligent 'wife' sitting on his other side, subtly 'making her presence known.'
In that instant, he saw Mei's long, black hair clinging to her slender neck and collarbones, and water droplets slid slowly down her smooth skin. As she lowered her eyelids, the small water droplets on her long lashes made her appear even more delicate in this misty air.
Seeing such a beautiful scene, Lucian raised his arm naturally and draped it over the edge of the pool, pulling Mei slightly closer within his embrace.
Although it was merely a small gesture, it made Mei's heart race and flutter uncontrollably.
Her body tensed instantly, yet she didn't dare move, only lowering her head and pretending to focus on the rippling water as she felt the warmth from Lucian's arm behind her neck, making her face feel hot even more than the hot spring itself.
"Boss, when Izumo gets rich, take us to other planets to soak in their hot springs!" Himiko continued talking, not noticing Mei's gesture at all. "I heard some planets have milk-scented hot springs! Others even have rainbow bubbles!"
"Sure, sure," Lucian replied with a chuckle, amused by Himiko's childlike enthusiasm. "If we get the chance, I'll take you all."
"Again! I'll definitely last longer than you this time!"
Just as Lucian's words ended, the loud noise and laughter from the neighboring pool suddenly reached them, and they could faintly hear Senti shouting in defiance.
"You've already lost three times."
Sakura's voice, slightly seductive yet tinged with helplessness, echoed.
"Senti, admit defeat already~"
Xuanyuan spoke teasingly, then giggled with a hint of mischief.
Lucian, hearing the ruckus from the next pool, feeling Mei lean closer to him, and watching Himiko's carefree and energetic presence, sighed in satisfaction, relishing this rare moment of relaxation.
"Well, I'm gonna go grab some drinks. Soaking in a hot spring without drinking just feels kinda incomplete."
Lucian spoke while gently patting Mei's shoulder, then got out of the water and left the pool chamber.
*Clack—*
As soon as the sliding door closed, Mei stiffened before hurriedly stepping out of the pool, seeking cooler water to pour over herself.
"Hahaha! Can't take it anymore, Mei?"
Himiko teased the fleeing Mei with a boisterous laugh, but Mei, facing away from Himiko, did not respond to her teasing and ignored her.
Now that Lucian was gone, there was no need to pretend anymore.
"You know, Mei, you should—"
Just as Himiko started speaking, her words were abruptly cut off, as though someone had strangled her.
In the next moment, her whole body convulsed violently before her figure began to morph at a visibly rapid speed!
"Ugh... AAAHHH—!!!"
A painful scream suddenly tore from Himiko's throat as her once-healthy skin gradually turned greyish and withered, black, twisted lines emerging across her body.
Her lively eyes were instantly clouded, turning into a murky, blood-red hue filled with cruelty and bloodlust. Her once-impressive figure was now distorted and elongated, her nails turning pitch black and sharp like a beast's claws. Her fiery crimson hair turned into black, thrashing tendrils, and her horns grew longer and more menacing.
"Himiko?!"
Mei, who had turned around as soon as she heard Himiko's scream, saw her transformation clearly, her eyes widening in pure shock.
Himiko's current appearance—she knew it all too well.
Before meeting Lucian, besides dealing with the kami every day, she had also dealt with the corrupted, transformed humans known as 'Oni.'
Oni.
They were corrupted humans of Izumo who transformed into kami-like demonic beasts after drawing power from the kami of Takamagahara for prolonged periods of time. Horns of the guardians, Kyuushou reptile-like eyes, or Sakura's fox-like ears were signs that they had been corrupted by the power of the kami that came from using Sentinels, marking them as half-oni.
However, to say it was because of drawing power from the kami of Takamagahara was not quite right.
In times past, it was said that Takamagahara was as endless as Izumo, for it was a paradise, perfect in its own place, which indicated that Takamagahara's inhabitants, the kami, were once just ordinary beasts or perhaps even humans like them.
Many, particularly Izumo's inhabitants who had come from outside and were more knowledgeable than the natives, speculated that the Shadow of IX, which was the black sun that shone on Izumo and Takamagahara, was the cause of the kami's emergence, spreading the curses of Nihility to Takamagahara's inhabitants and transforming them into beings that Izumo's inhabitants now called kami.
In other words, even if the kami had not come to Izumo, as long as its inhabitants were exposed to the black sun, they would still become oni sooner or later.
Fortunately, Lucian had already moved Izumo away from the black sun, which caused every inhabitant's accumulated curses from it to halt. Except for the twelve guardians, who still wielded Sentinels, the rest of the inhabitants should now at least have a lower risk of becoming oni.
Nevertheless, seeing that the same companion who had just laughed boisterously moments ago had turned into a complete, true oni made Mei devastated.
"ARGHHH—!"
Himiko, now fully corrupted, had completely lost her sanity and let out a beastly roar filled with a powerful, bloody stench.
*Swish!*
In the next instant, Himiko leapt at Mei with claws extended—her speed was several times faster than when she was still half-oni!
Acting on her warrior instincts, Mei reacted immediately, grabbing Howl from the poolside and unsheathing it in an instant.
*Biribiribiri—*
Purple lightning crackled as Mei, instead of swinging Howl to slash, used the flat side of its blade in a forceful swipe!
*BOOM!*
A muffled, thunderous sound echoed as Howl and Himiko's claws clashed.
In the end, no matter how many kami or oni she had killed, Mei, already mellowed out after Lucian had brought peace into her life, couldn't bring herself to kill Himiko and could only attempt to suppress her instead.
Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.
"AAAH!"
"ARGH!"
"Kill..."
To Mei's horror, pitiful screams and beastly roars echoed one after another from the neighboring hot spring pool!
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[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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