"Let me think... Got it!"
Gabriel rubbed her smooth chin in contemplation for a moment, and an idea immediately came to her.
She took out a Lily from her Inventory System and held it in her hand.
Pure white Angel Wings unfurled behind her back, and a golden, flawless Angelic Halo appeared along with them.
Miko Yotsuya's eyes uncontrollably flicked toward Gabriel's Halo. Seeing that the Filth she had seen previously was gone, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief in her heart.
Then, she stared intently at Gabriel's next movements, too nervous to even breathe loudly.
"Mhm... next I just need to channel... Seal... and apply specific Divine Arts... that should do it."
Gabriel held the Lily in her palms. With a thought, countless Light Particles emerged between her hands.
Clang!
The Heavenly Bells resounded abruptly from the void, and countless Light Particles frantically merged into the Lily.
The Lily then ignored gravity and slowly floated up, glowing with an unprecedented vitality as every petal was plated with an imperceptible layer of fluorescence.
At that moment, a beam of light projected from mid-air, shining down upon the bouquet.
Above the Lily, a mini rainbow emerged, accompanied by music from Heaven and the voices of little angels bestowing a Blessing.
Miko Yotsuya was dazed by the sight, deciding then and there to buy a copy of The Bible tomorrow.
She abandoned the native Eight Million Gods and decided to convert to God instead.
"It is done!"
Gabriel grabbed the Lily just as it was about to fall from the air. While retracting her Wings and Halo, she tossed the Lily—now imbued with three types of Divine Arts—to Miko Yotsuya, introducing it: "This is the Holy Cross I promised you earlier."
"This... this is really a Holy Cross?"
"If I say it is, it is!"
"...I understand. Thank you so much. With this, will I be unable to see those Evil Spirits anymore?"
Miko Yotsuya carefully cradled the 'Holy Cross' in her arms.
Although the shape looked nothing like a Cross, holding it in her hands caused a warm current to pass from her palms throughout her entire body. It was warm and very reassuring.
At the thought of not having to face those terrifying Ghosts anymore, Miko Yotsuya couldn't help but giggle foolishly.
"What are you thinking! You can even see through my Invisibility. Until I have absolute certainty, I won't lightly use Divine Arts to try and Seal your Yin-Yang Eyes. This is for your own safety."
Gabriel doused her with cold water on the spot.
Heavenly Divine Arts were nothing to play around with.
"How can this be... am I really that powerful?"
Miko Yotsuya's eyes instantly dimmed. She hadn't expected her eyes to be so formidable.
Should she be happy right now?
Miko Yotsuya was someone who had experienced some major storms, so she didn't scream or shout upon hearing this bad news.
"Those eyes of yours are definitely a unique existence in this world!"
"Sorry... I really can't bring myself to be happy..."
Miko Yotsuya wore a woeful expression; she wished her eyes were a bit more ordinary.
"Don't panic. Things are different now. You currently possess the means to deal with Ghosts. It's hard to say who the prey is now!"
Gabriel patted Miko Yotsuya on the shoulder and formally introduced the far-from-ordinary Lily to her: "This flower houses three specific Divine Arts I selected."
"One of them can help you drive away Ghosts. Since it's quite ordinary, I won't mention it for now, but the remaining two are the main point!"
Miko Yotsuya's expression turned serious. Her hands tightened around the 'Holy Cross' in her grasp, and she pricked up her ears for fear of missing a single word.
This was a major matter concerning her life; she couldn't afford to be careless.
Gabriel continued: "For one of them, as long as you shout 'Help me, Berserker!!!' at the top of your lungs, a powerful Angel will come to help you!"
"An Angel?! Is it a comrade of yours?"
Miko Yotsuya's hands shook with shock at this news.
"No, it's just a Projection of mine."
"That is also incredible!"
Miko Yotsuya grew to like the 'Holy Cross' in her hands more and more.
Being able to summon an Angel was simply too cool!
Soon, Miko Yotsuya caught a key point and asked uncertainly: "Um... do I really have to shout it out loud?"
Others couldn't see the Ghosts; if she suddenly started screaming like a crazy person, it would be so embarrassing!
"To prevent you from abusing it, there has to be some kind of safety measure. After all, even the strongest weapon requires Energy. Once you exhaust the Energy inside, you'll need to find me to recharge it... that kind of thing is a hassle!"
Gabriel added with a 'this is for your own good' look: "This is an Offensive Divine Art. To prevent you from 'slaughtering the innocent' in the future, please consider the consequences before deciding to use it."
In this world, ninety-nine percent of Spirits looked hideous, but there were still some Spirits that were beneficial to humans.
For example, that Large Dog at the Yotsuya Residence.
So she didn't want Miko Yotsuya to carry out indiscriminate attacks just because a Spirit looked too frightening.
Seeing Gabriel staring intently at her, Miko Yotsuya's excitement gradually cooled down. She slowly began to understand what kind of massive weapon against Ghosts this Lily in her hand truly was.
If she abused it... wouldn't she become a 'murderer' who kills on sight?
A drop of cold sweat rolled down Miko Yotsuya's forehead, and she felt the 'Holy Cross' in her hand become a bit heavier.
She took several deep breaths in a row. Once she had calmed down, she gave a solemn guarantee: "I promise you, I won't lightly use this kind of Divine Art unless it is absolutely necessary!"
Gabriel nodded slightly upon seeing this and finally introduced the last Divine Art: "The last Divine Art is for saving your life. It will release all the Energy at once, attacking the enemy while simultaneously sending a distress signal to me."
"Because this flower is too ordinary to contain too much of my power, it's inevitable that you might encounter a Ghost that the first, second, or even third Divine Art cannot handle."
"Now, I will tell you the Incantation to trigger the third Divine Art. Since it's for saving your life, the Incantation is very brief—just one word: Kill!"
...
Early the next morning.
Miko Yotsuya, wearing her School uniform, walked into the School. In her bag, besides her textbooks, were the bouquets she needed to sell after school today.
And most importantly.
Miko Yotsuya raised her right hand and looked at the Lily she had hidden in her sleeve. Her heart felt much more at ease.
"...Let... me... through..."
A raspy voice came from behind, and a sinister, cold wind blew past, making Miko Yotsuya unable to suppress a shiver.
But then, the waves of warmth coming from her right hand slowly suppressed the fear in her heart.
Behind her, a Ghost with severely twisted limbs lunged toward the Miko Yotsuya in front.
Flash!
The solemn Holy Light on Miko Yotsuya's body flashed for an instant, directly sending the Ghost that had lunged straight at her flying away. The speed was so fast it was staggering.
"Aaaaaah—!"
The scream grew further and further away until it vanished completely.
Miko Yotsuya: "?"
Did that Ghost behind her leave on its own?