Ousa could be said to have become overwhelmingly stronger, even though his body size had not changed at all. The dark aura he emitted was so intense that even an ordinary person could perceive it—and perhaps he had no intention of hiding it anyway.
But the human bodies he had absorbed began to shrivel at an alarming rate, reduced to nothing but skeletons still clothed.
Noticing this abnormality, Mina instinctively stepped back a little.
…But not out of fear.
She felt disgust.
She looked down at the skeleton that had been completely drained by that madman. Just minutes ago, that person had been her grandmother. Now, there was nothing left of her form. And yet, within Mina, not a trace of sorrow remained.
Her red pupils glowed faintly. Then she lifted her gaze to Ousa, her voice dripping with mockery.
"That's it?"
Ousa stiffened at her words, then slowly grinned.
"You're quite bold for someone about to die. Do you know what it feels like to have your soul devoured completely? Not just your flesh?"
Mina remained silent. Ousa continued,
"…I hadn't intended to eat you. He said you were special. That you could help fulfill the wish of controlling the 'child of destiny.'"
At that, Mina frowned slightly. She didn't understand what he was talking about. But when he mentioned the "child of destiny," a strange image suddenly flashed through her mind.
Her eyes sharpened, glowing crimson, yet radiating an icy aura that soared to the heavens.
"Are you done talking?"
Ousa froze mid-sentence, stunned. No one had ever spoken to him so bluntly, so disrespectfully. He was so shocked he couldn't even respond.
Had she changed after becoming a demon?
Or… had this always been her?
Ousa recalled what Nyoko and Tomi had told him about her—everything she had done. It proved that she truly carried his blood. A being of ambition. One who would trample others to achieve her goals. Even Ousa had felt a chill hearing it.
And yet—How unfortunate.
The two of them could no longer stand on the same side.
…Or could they? He needed to test her.
Ousa straightened his posture. The black aura around him dimmed slightly as he attempted to speak in a more composed, dignified tone.
"Kamakiri Mina, think carefully. Opposing your own family? You have no reason to do such a thing. It is no different from kicking away the throne that awaits you."
Mina frowned and let out an irritated sound.
"Huh?"
Even Shana, with her cold gaze, had already seen through what Ousa was trying to do. Ousa stepped closer to Mina, continuing to paint a future for her.
"You see, Mina. You've come so far to reach this point. Your husband and your sister died for you to get here. Just one more step, and you will stand above all. The entire wealth and power of the Kamakiri clan will be yours. Are you really going to throw it all away for something as fleeting as the friendship of these women? Is it worth it?"
"Kamakiri Ousa…"
Shana glared at him, her eyes filled with warning. But he showed no fear. Instead, he turned to her with a fake smile.
"No matter what, Mina and I share the same blood. And you—what are you to interfere?"
For some reason, Shana seemed genuinely angered. The way he spoke, as if everything he had done was justified, made her feel increasingly disgusted.
Ousa noticed that. But concepts like righteousness, morality, or humanity—He had long since lost them.
Slash!
A horrifying sound of piercing rang out.
Ousa flinched and looked down. A razor-sharp blade had extended from Mina's hand, piercing straight through his body. From the wound, a sizzling sound rose—as if flesh were burning.
Mina looked at him coldly, half-lidded.
It was unclear whether Ousa felt pain, but he was furious.
The festering wound spread from his neck, and from his arm, the damage began creeping across his face.
Mina frowned slightly. Could it be…His body was decomposing?
"DIE, YOU UNGRATEFUL WRETCH!"
Ousa roared, his arm wrapped in a raging black aura, striking toward Mina with lethal force. Even she was slightly startled. He launched a barrage of punches, relentless like a storm.
Mina snorted coldly, effortlessly dodging each attack with supernatural grace. It had to be admitted—his attacks were far sharper than before, and his speed was astonishing.
He had caught up to her pace. Mina could evade easily—But her hair could not.
Strands of her jet-black hair were sliced off, falling to the ground and sizzling as they burned.
Even so, her breathing remained completely steady.
She even had time to glance toward Shana and Duyen—especially Duyen.
Seeing the worry in Duyen's eyes caused a brief lapse in her focus. Ousa's punch grazed her left cheek, near her eye, leaving a long cut.
Instantly—A powerful surge of force erupted from Mina. Ousa was startled. Without understanding why, he leapt backward, retreating a full four meters away.
Mina said nothing. She simply ran her fingers lightly over the wound on her face. It sizzled as it burned across her beautiful skin. Yet it did not diminish her beauty in the slightest.
However, the cold click of her tongue told a different story. She muttered, her voice filled with venomous curses.
"…You dare damage my face… and do it in front of Duyen…"
"Huh?"
For some reason, Ousa felt a deep chill run through him. Mina's aura showed nothing overtly dangerous. Even her speed and strength, though terrifying, were still within comprehension.
But there was something—Something unseen lurking in the air. Something that couldn't be perceived directly.
It was strange. There was nothing… and yet something was there.
Mina gritted her teeth. At the same time, the long wound on her face began to close. The regeneration speed was unbelievable. Ousa couldn't comprehend it.
What… was she?
Mina slowly turned to look at him. He flinched. Her eyes were blood-red—But now they glowed with something else.
A faint golden-orange light. An aura completely different from any demon.
Amuro silently returned behind the group of women. Seeing Mina's abnormal change, he knew something was not simple. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see what would happen.
Mina… was angry.
Suddenly, she raised her right hand—And ripped off the command ring from her finger. This action confused Ousa even more.
But then—Something strange happened. When he looked upward—
"Oh… Goddess…"
It was ironic that a demon like Ousa would utter such words. What appeared before him—Was terrifying.
Even Duyen and Shana widened their eyes in shock. So that ring had been suppressing this all along?
Around Mina surged a massive, malevolent energy—so vast it could engulf the entire hall. Agonizing cries echoed as if from wandering souls. Skull-like shadows piled upon each other like mountains. Their sorrow and terror surrounded Mina, as if she were a true fortress of the damned.
It was so horrifying—
That even Ousa's legs trembled.
Of course, ordinary people could not see any of this. Miko could not understand why Ousa was reacting this way. But ever since Mina removed the ring, something had changed.
"This number of souls…" Ousa's lips trembled. "How many have you absorbed… what are you…"
He stammered like a broken man. Mina, however, paid him no mind. She didn't even seem to care about the terrifying aura surrounding her. With graceful elegance, she gently placed the ring onto the table with utmost care.
Then she turned to look at him. Ousa flinched again. Even the smallest movement from Mina filled him with fear. It was as if his very demonic instincts were trembling before her.
He had devoured countless innocent lives, cold and ruthless as he was.
And yet—Why was he afraid of her?
Amuro smiled faintly and whispered mockingly,
"It's only natural. Because what Lady Mina has absorbed… are not human souls."
He paused, then continued,
"What she has devoured… are countless demon lives."
Those wailing cries. Those twisted, terrifying faces before death—They were all demons she had consumed. Amuro spoke again, as if calmly commenting on an ordinary match,
"So you could say—even the demon race fears her. It is a signal… calling for submission."
Ousa definitely could not hear Amuro's murmured words. Ousa was not a true demon, but merely a human soul that had turned into a hungry ghost. Naturally, he could not possibly understand the hierarchical logic that Amuro had just mentioned.
As for Mina, her gaze remained cold and indifferent. Black streaks crept up across her cheeks like strange ancient markings. She simply stood there with her arms crossed, radiating an almost absolute pressure.
"Kneel…"
"Huh?"
Ousa almost didn't understand, so Mina repeated herself. Her voice seemed to echo violently inside his ears.
"I said, kneel…"
Ousa clenched his teeth. His legs trembled violently, as if they were about to betray him. As if they wanted to obey Mina's command and force him to kneel.
This made no sense!
Why should I kneel!?
Why should I kneel!?
Ousa clenched his fists and let out a sky-piercing roar. His determination to become the supreme ruler made him refuse to submit. His muscles felt like they were tearing themselves apart. His mouth cried out a name.
"Hanna… HANNA!!!!"
Instantly, the entire hall began to shake violently. Duyen and Shana could not even keep their balance. It was as if something was trying to crawl out of a cave. Duyen clung onto Shana while everything swayed, and then suddenly her instincts warned her of something.
When she lifted her gaze—Everyone froze in shock.
What stood before them was a gigantic female demon with gaunt, pitch-black skin and a grotesque face, crawling out from behind the red velvet curtain.
But perhaps the most horrifying part was—
…that the demon was pregnant.
A massive fetus, its face twisted into something utterly disgusting, writhed inside her almost exposed belly.
Hanna… That name sounded familiar. Shana immediately turned pale and exclaimed,
"I see… so that's it… Now I understand… That's why Kamakiri Castle was so prosperous back then. It's because Kamakiri Ousa refined his own wife and their firstborn child into a dark spirit—his guardian."
"WHAT!?"
Duyen, Dao, and Nayeon were all utterly shocked. They turned to Shana with disbelief. Even Yu, who was usually cold, frowned deeply. Mina's eyes trembled as she looked up.
"Then… this thing is…"
Shana's gaze hardened.
"The First Lady of the Kamakiri… Kamakiri Hanna…"
The monster—or rather, Hanna, who had become an immensely powerful dark spirit—let out a deafening roar. Her gigantic, skeletal hands began flailing wildly, as if she had gone mad.
Mina could easily evade them, but the force behind those swings was astonishing. Immediately, a pair of biological wings sprouted from Mina's back—membranes like stretched skin—and she shot upward into the air, dodging the attacks.
But where was Ousa?
In reality, the moment he summoned his first wife, he had already sneaked toward Miko—the one lying there, barely breathing. Realizing his intention, even in her weakened state, Miko forced herself to scream.
"MINA!"
Hearing her mother's desperate cry, Mina suddenly realized his position. She flew toward him frantically, but the monster kept trying to block her. Seeing that, the women of the Mist Village could no longer stand by. They charged forward from all sides.
"Sisters! Move!"
But suddenly, a golden-orange light enveloped Miko and began to shine brilliantly. That light was so miraculous that the moment Ousa touched it, he recoiled as if burned by a volcano.
"What the hell is this!?"
The radiance condensed into the shape of a man wearing a yukata. His entire body shimmered with that mystical golden light as he embraced and protected Miko. Miko could hardly believe her eyes. The person before her was—
"Hwang…?"
The handsome man heard her voice and turned to look at her. His gaze was gentle and warm like sunlight.
"Miko… I'm sorry… for making you wait so long…"
At that moment, Miko could no longer mistake him. This man was Hwang—the one she loved. She threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably, which made him chuckle softly.
"Miko, you're still the same… always so quick to cry."
And everyone—even mortals like Đào and Nayeon—could see him. Their reunion was astonishing.
Who exactly was he?
But Mina trembled. The iron shell she had earlier seemed to have completely shattered.
"Fa… father…?"
Hwang held Miko and comforted her, then turned to Mina with a gentle expression.
"Mina, my daughter…"
For the first time in her life, Mina experienced this feeling. She had never known what her father truly looked like. So this… was him.
A strange sense of familiarity filled her, even though they had only just met. She looked at her mother trembling in her father's embrace, and at last, she understood everything.
So her mother had a fragile side too.
But Ousa, seeing this scene, merely laughed scornfully.
"A family reunion, huh? I wondered why I couldn't find your soul back then. Turns out that ungrateful woman hid you away!"
Hwang only smiled faintly as he helped Miko to her feet. His voice remained gentle.
"It wasn't that Miko hid me. It was that I received protection from someone else."
"Protection?"
Ousa frowned, confused. Was there another figure behind all of this? Hwang looked at him and smiled lightly, but his tone carried something… unsettling.
"In any case, my lord… I'm not the only one who needs a family reunion."
The ring Mina had placed on the table suddenly emitted a brilliant golden-orange light. Mina rushed toward it and picked it up. A blinding radiance spread across the entire hall. Even the gigantic monster screamed in fear.
Another Mina—stood there, right beside her.
She shone in golden light, dressed in a noble kimono. Everyone stared in disbelief.
"Huh? Th-There are two Minas!?"
But Shana quickly refuted it.
"No… that's not Mina. She is—"
The woman smiled softly, her eyes glowing red-orange.
"I am Murasaki Kamakiri—the first head of the Kamakiri clan."
Her declaration stunned everyone into silence. Murasaki then turned to Mina.
"Kamakiri Mina… the inheritance ceremony truly begins now."