[The colossal monster before you was so tall its head nearly scraped the Main Hall’s vaulted ceiling. Its body and limbs were terribly gaunt and elongated, with two desiccated arms that nearly trailed along the floor.]

[Its ankles were shackled with thick chains, each chain fastened to a pair of massive pillars within the hall.]

[The monster’s entire body was shrouded in black miasma, with jet-black markings spreading from its chest across its whole form.]

[Your gaze was involuntarily drawn to those markings. You had the vague sense you’d seen such patterns somewhere before.]

[You knew perfectly well that the ‘Chief Priest’ had locked you inside the Main Hall and departed because he was entirely confident that you would be killed here.]

[And the instrument of your destruction was precisely this twisted monster before you!]

[You possessed the shell of the Knowledge-Seeking President of the Direct Vision Association!]

[You chanted incantations, immediately raising a Knowledge Barrier to protect yourself.]

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes.

He was just about to activate Pleasure-Hazed Sight, to unleash a combo of control and damage.

[The monster suddenly lifted one withered, long arm and pointed a single finger at you. A stream of black miasma shot forth!]

[The black miasma did not seem material. It passed through your barrier without the slightest hindrance and wrapped around you.]

[A surging tide of malice flooded into your mind. Your thoughts were overwhelmed by an endless desire to kill. You brandished your staff, your frail figure charging forward, heedless, to engage the monster in melee…]

“Damn it!”

Lin Xun hurried to switch shells, only to discover that this scene was exactly like the first time he’d encountered the pitch-black Karmic Fire.

Under the monster’s control, the shell was completely unresponsive, only capable of basic attacks, unable to cast skills or swap shells.

It had been too long since he’d last dealt with malice-induced control, so he was completely unprepared.

[The monster’s withered, enormous hand seized you in its grasp. Lifting its arm, it slowly brought you toward its gaping, bloody maw…]

[Yet you paid it no heed, mindlessly battering its huge hand with your staff.]

“Shit! If I’d known, I should have switched into the little dragonkin shell as soon as I came in. Or at least brought the Valkyrie along.”

The little dragonkin shell had Dragon God’s Blessing, which could break free from the malice’s control.

The Valkyrie, after training, had become a self-awakening companion, able to instantly summon the weakest little demon to his side to soak damage and vent the malice whenever he was controlled.

But now it was far too late for regrets.

[Just as you reached the brink of despair, about to be tossed into the gaping maw…]

[A dazzling, icy blade flashed!]

[The blade swept across the monster’s wrist. It howled in pain, hand loosening its grip, and you plummeted to the floor.]

[A slender figure stood between you and the monster, blade held crosswise.]

[The woman wore a white robe with crimson hakama, wielding a long-handled naginata whose blade was longer than a guandao’s, its edge narrower and incredibly sharp, a battlefield weapon used by samurai: a great naginata!]

[She produced a golden Kagura bell and gently rang it. Instantly, the black miasma vanished from your body, the malice receding like a tide.]

[Without turning her head, she spoke softly, instructing you to hide in the far corner of the Main Hall, there, you would be safe.]

[You have discovered the Fire-Worshipping True Shrine Maiden of the No-Illusions Shrine – Tsukishiro Murasakiyo!]

“Senior Sister?”

Lin Xun was startled. At last he had run into the real one.

Only, this scene didn’t look like he had come to save Senior Sister, it looked more like she had come to save him…

[You glanced toward the corner she indicated. Behind a massive pillar, a shrine maiden lay unconscious and unmoving.]

[Do you wish to follow Tsukishiro Murasakiyo’s instructions and hide in the corner?]

[While you hesitated, the graceful figure before you began her fierce battle with the monster…]

[Black miasma shot out in rapid succession, but her movements were as swift and ghostly as a ninja’s, evading every strike.]

[Amid her evasions, blade arcs flashed brilliantly, slashing grievous wounds into the monster’s body.]

[The monster bellowed in pain again and again. Black miasma churned around its form, sealing its bleeding wounds in an instant.]

[Though the fight appeared to be in her favor, in truth it was not.]

[Tsukishiro Murasakiyo’s dodges were growing slower and slower. More than once she barely escaped being struck by the miasma. Meanwhile, the monster was growing ever fiercer, every time her blade cut it, the black miasma healed the damage immediately.]

Lin Xun didn’t press any choice yet. Instead, he activated the skill Pleasure-Hazed Sight!

[You opened a single pink eye…]

[Special Skill Pleasure-Hazed Sight activated!]

[The monster’s body froze rigid.]

[Seizing the moment, Tsukishiro Murasakiyo turned silently, flicking two shuriken from her hands. They shot toward the monster’s eyes, ]

[The shuriken drove straight into its eyes, exploding them in a burst of gore. In that instant, Tsukishiro Murasakiyo vanished from sight.]

[Just as you were about to chant again to continue attacking, you felt an invisible hand grab you, pulling you behind the great pillar in the corner.]

[Tsukishiro Murasakiyo reappeared, shaking her head lightly to explain, “It’s no use. No matter how you attack that thing, it will regenerate immediately.”]

[“Stay here for now, it’s safe. The chains restrain its legs, so it can’t come over. Behind the pillar, the monster’s malice can’t reach you.”]

[You noticed that the massive pillars supporting the Main Hall were carved all over with countless mysterious symbols, radiating some powerful force.]

[During the battle just now, none of the objects inside the hall had been damaged in the slightest, thanks to this protective power.]

[Besides you and Tsukishiro Murasakiyo, there was also an unconscious shrine maiden lying behind the pillar, her beautiful face streaked with tears, complexion deathly pale.]

[Yet compared to Tsukishiro Murasakiyo’s flawless beauty, this shrine maiden’s looks were rather plain.]

[The rumors of the third shrine maiden’s peerless beauty were no exaggeration, she was like a newly-bloomed cherry blossom, every glance radiant and breathtaking, too dazzling to look upon directly.]

[Behind the massive pillar came the sound of chains straining as the monster roared again and again, yet it could not break free to attack the corner of the Main Hall.]

[You could tell Tsukishiro Murasakiyo wished to ask something, so you began to explain your origins to her.]

[You were a foreign mage who had come to Sakura Falls to slay demons and monsters. By chance, you befriended a ninja…]

[…]

[…]

[Now, thanks to your persuasion, your close friend the ninja had already returned to Tisi Island. The Ninja Master was recovering from his wounds at the Kame-maru Inn at the foot of the mountain, ready to storm up here the moment you sent the signal.]

[You had expected Tsukishiro Murasakiyo to be delighted upon hearing this, but instead, she let out a long sigh, her face full of guilt as she declared that it was she who had implicated both you and your teacher.]

[As she slowly recounted everything, you finally understood how it had all begun…]

[Just as she had written in her letter to the Ninja Master, though she was not gifted in shrine maiden divine arts, she excelled at ninja killing techniques. For that reason, the Chief Priest had taken notice of her, favoring her over all the other maidens to make her one of the three True Shrine Maidens.]

[As a devout follower of Ancient Heavenly Enma, being chosen as a True Shrine Maiden was supposed to be the highest honor… but reality was very different.]

[The Chief Priest she had always respected had secretly betrayed Ancient Heavenly Enma, becoming a hound of the Evil God. In return, he was granted an incomparably powerful yokai true form.]

[If she hadn’t accidentally stumbled upon the Chief Priest revealing his true form, she would never have known that she was soon to be offered as a bride to the Evil God in the coming ritual.]

[In her desperation, she had sent the letter begging her master for help, but was immediately imprisoned in the Main Hall by the Chief Priest under the pretext that shrine maidens must fast and purify themselves before the rite. He had forced her to swallow a weakening drug so she would lose consciousness and be unable to escape.]

[Fortunately, she was not as frail as an ordinary shrine maiden. Years of ninja training had made her resistant to many poisons and drugs, which allowed her to awaken early.]

[But what she saw upon waking was the powerful monster the Chief Priest had created. Even dragging her weakened body, she had tried to fight, but she had never been able to defeat it. The monster’s uncanny power allowed it to regenerate endlessly.]

[She had also tried to escape, but the Main Hall’s doors, like everything else in this place, could neither be opened nor destroyed.]

[She knew… even if her master came, it would likely be futile.]

[A Chief Priest capable of creating such an abomination had to be even stronger himself, far beyond any ordinary human’s power to resist.]

[One letter had not only doomed her teacher, but had now also dragged you, the foreign mage, into disaster.]

[Tsukishiro Murasakiyo bit her lip hard as she finished speaking, tears shimmering in her eyes, her remorse overflowing beyond all concealment…]

Lin Xun’s mouth twitched slightly.

So that old Chief Priest was actually on the Evil God’s side? Didn’t that mean he was technically an ally?

If he used the little dragonkin shell to meet him, wouldn’t the boss simply become a friendly powerhouse?

As for the business of offering Tsukishiro Murasakiyo as the Evil God’s bride… wasn’t that old priest just trying to curry favor with the Chaotic Origin Dragon?

But now, since the Father God was too weak to act, as a dragon god’s descendant, it was only proper for him to ‘fulfill his parents’ wishes’ and step in, meaning he himself would have to marry Tsukishiro Murasakiyo.

That way, not only could she survive, fulfilling the Ninja Master’s last wish, but he would also get a powerful ally essentially for free.

And besides, the Calamity Mage was still severely injured, he urgently needed a stronger backer to serve as his hidden trump card.

“…This plot development is seriously unbelievable!”

Lin Xun’s eyes gleamed as he thought about it, feeling that his plan was absolutely perfect, killing two birds with one stone, achieving multiple goals all at once…

Just as he was sighing over how this infernal game could sometimes be so thoughtful, a sudden unease crept up in his heart.

“Wait, no!”

Lin Xun quickly scrolled back through the previous text.

When he’d first encountered that impostor Chief Priest, the game had never once displayed the message [You have discovered the Extreme Evil Chief Priest of the No-Illusions Shrine].

The monster in the Main Hall was the real Chief Priest, so who was the one outside, who had switched allegiance to the Evil God and pretended to be the Chief Priest?

Why was it that, even though he was supposedly a believer of the Chaotic Origin Dragon, he could transform the real Chief Priest into an ‘Extreme Evil’ monster?

Lin Xun felt a chill. The story was likely far more complicated than he had imagined.

[The two of you hid in the deepest corner of the Main Hall. Right behind you stood two massive statues of the deities.]

[Even at a glance, it was clear they represented a man and a woman. Yet their faces were blurred, making it impossible to see any features.]

[The surface paint on the statues of Takami-Musubi-no-Mikoto and Kami-Musubi-no-Mikoto had peeled away, revealing a sinister, bottomless black underneath.]

[Tsukishiro Murasakiyo wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, her expression turned resolute as she told you. Once the first shrine maiden finished her offering in the worship hall, she would be carried here in the palanquin.]

[Because there was an unspeakable monster hidden in the Main Hall, the Chief Priest would surely dismiss all others and escort the maiden in alone. When that happened, she would sacrifice herself in a desperate battle to create an opening for you to escape.]

[If all went well, you must explain everything to your master after escaping down the mountain, and then… never come back.]

[The woman gripped the great naginata in her hands, her eyes filled with unwavering determination.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep