The air, as if, solidified at this moment.
Kamiya Makoto's face, from flushed to ashen, and then from ashen, turned a bruised green, mixed with humiliation and anger.
A trophy?
He actually used such a word to describe a living person!
"You... you bastard!"
The boiling blood and sense of justice of the young man completely overwhelmed him; he clenched his fists, ready to charge forward.
However, Lu Cheng didn't even spare him another glance.
He gently stroked the pendant of the necklace on Ruzuki Rin's neck with his fingertip, his movements elegant, his eyes like he was admiring a newly completed work of art.
That complete and utter disregard was more lethal than any venomous curse.
"Enough, Makoto-kun."
A cold voice, like a bucket of cold water, poured over him.
It was Yukino Shita Chizuru.
"Don't make a fool of yourself anymore."
Kamiya Makoto's movements froze in place.
He turned back in disbelief, looking at the girl he had been longing for.
He thought she would be as angry as he was at such an atrocity.
But from her face, he only saw... annoyance.
"Chizuru... you..."
His voice was dry and hoarse.
Yukino Shita Chizuru's gaze, however, briefly met that of the demon-like man in the air.
The corner of Lu Cheng's mouth curved into an almost imperceptible arc.
As if saying: kindred spirit.
Yukino Shita Chizuru's heart gave a violent leap!
Could it be that he saw through her?
Did he see through the restless, bloodthirsty, and dominating Demon Blade Muramasa spirit beneath her human skin!
This momentary tremor nearly caused the demonic power within her to lose control.
"Let's go."
Lu Cheng withdrew his gaze, said a faint word to Ruzuki Rin behind him, and then turned to walk towards the door.
As he passed Kamiya Makoto, Lu Cheng's steps paused for half a second.
He didn't turn his head, only leaving a single sentence.
"Kid, anger is the last wail of the weak."
"When you learn to speak with power, not with your ridiculous principles, then come and roar at me."
After speaking, he left with the maid, disappearing through the doorway... Leaving the jewelry store and walking on the bustling streets of Ginza, there was a silence between Kamiya Makoto and Yukino Shita Chizuru.
"Chizuru, why?"
Finally, Kamiya Makoto spoke first, his voice tinged with confusion and hurt.
"Why did you stop me? That person... he..."
"What he does, what does it have to do with you and me?"
Yukino Shita Chizuru interrupted him, her voice still cold.
"You can't even afford to pay, so what right do you have to meddle in other people's affairs?"
These words precisely pierced Kamiya Makoto's most vulnerable spot.
His pride, his embarrassment, all his powerlessness, were laid bare by this single sentence.
"I..."
Kamiya Makoto opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.
"I'm tired today, I'm going home first."
Yukino Shita Chizuru didn't give him another chance to speak, hailed a taxi, and left directly.
Leaving Kamiya Makoto alone on the crowded street, like a clown abandoned by the whole world.
He walked aimlessly on his way home, the scenes from the jewelry store replaying repeatedly in his mind.
The man's domineering presence, the maid's obedience, and... Yukino Shita Chizuru's eyes.
A strong sense of powerlessness swept over his entire body.
[Ding! Detecting intense emotional fluctuations in the host, triggering a side quest!]
A cold system prompt sounded in his mind.
[Quest Name: Wail of the Vengeful Spirit]
[Quest Location: Third Floor of the Private Toyosaki High School Teaching Building]
[Quest Objective: Purify the vengeful spirit of the "Drowned Female Teacher" lingering in the music room.]
[Quest Reward: 200 Experience Points, Random Shikigami Fragment x1]
Looking at this familiar quest panel, Kamiya Makoto not only didn't feel excited but instead felt an unprecedented irritation.
Vengeful spirit?
Purify?
Compared to the black card that man casually pulled out, these were like children playing "hero games"!
A flame of unwillingness burned fiercely in his chest.
He wanted to become stronger!
He wanted to become stronger than anyone else!
He wanted that man to pay for his arrogance today!
He wanted Yukino Shita Chizuru to look at him directly!
...Meanwhile, inside a sprawling Japanese estate in Tokyo.
Yukino Shita Chizuru returned to her empty room.
"Click."
The moment the door closed, the disguise on her face instantly crumbled.
In its place was a pathological, fervent flush!
She leaned against the door, her body trembling slightly, breathing rapidly.
In her mind, Lu Cheng's figure kept flashing back: his god-like aura, his all-dominating gaze, his declaration of "trophy"... All of this was like the most potent aphrodisiac, completely awakening the suppressed ferocity of millennia deep within her soul!
"Ah... that's it..."
"That's that kind of look..."
She murmured to herself, her voice tearful yet filled with extreme pleasure.
She walked to the katana stand in the center of the room, where an ancient, unadorned katana sheath lay quietly.
Her fingers gently caressed the surface of the sheath, her eyes hazy.
"He saw it... he must have seen it..."
"He saw the Demon Blade Muramasa, craving blood and slaughter, beneath this skin!"
Yes, she was not human.
She was the human form taken by the spirit of the legendary Demon Blade, the one said to bring disaster and destruction to its wielder.
Within her lay a furious demonic power capable of destroying heaven and earth, which had to be suppressed and calmed by a "sheath," otherwise she would rampage... Kamiya Makoto, the young man with the Onmyoji bloodline, was her chosen "sheath" for the current stage.
A fragile, naive, and humble "sheath."
She enjoyed toying with him, watching him give his all for her, watching him display all sorts of ridiculous emotions for her... This greatly satisfied her desire for dominance as a "Demon Blade."
But today, Lu Cheng's appearance changed everything.
"Too weak..."
"Makoto-kun... he's really too weak, isn't he..."
Yukino Shita Chizuru's face showed an expression mixed with disappointment and disgust.
"My current toy is really too boring."
A crazy thought sprouted in her heart.
She wanted to accelerate!
She wanted to "train" Kamiya Makoto in a more intense way!
She wanted to make him stronger, make him more interesting... Yukino Shita Chizuru walked to the window, the cold moonlight casting an eerie red glow on her pale face.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The next second, a blood-tinged, dark red demonic aura slowly seeped from her body, silently blending into the Tokyo night.
This demonic aura had no effect on ordinary people.
But for the yokai and demons lurking in the city's shadows, it was nothing short of the highest-grade feast, a fatal lure capable of driving them into madness!
...Late at night, Kamiya Makoto lay on his small apartment bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
The humiliation of the day still lingered in his heart.
Just then.
"Buzz--"
The vibration of his phone broke the silence of the room.
He picked it up and his pupils suddenly contracted.
It was a message from Yukino Shita Chizuru.
This was the first time she had actively contacted him so late at night.
With a hint of apprehension, he opened the message.
"Toyosaki High School, rooftop. Come immediately."
Brief, cold, and brooking no refusal.
Kamiya Makoto's heart skipped a beat; he was about to reply and ask what had happened.
A second message followed closely.
"There's something here that needs you to kill."
"Don't be a coward, my... little Onmyoji."
That phrase "my" was like a whip, lashing fiercely at Kamiya Makoto's heart, bringing a stinging pain mixed with pathological excitement.
Before he could react.
[Warning! Detecting extremely high concentration of demonic power!]
[Emergency Quest Triggered: Gaze of the Abyss!]
The system in his mind let out a shrill alarm, unlike anything he had ever heard before!
[Quest Description: A powerful "Kai"-level demon is manifesting in your vicinity! Its emitted demonic aura has begun to warp reality!]
[Quest Reward: Unknown]
Kamiya Makoto's blood, in that instant, almost froze.
Kai... Kai-level demon?!
Up until now, the strongest he had ever dealt with was only a "You"-level vengeful spirit!
That was already a near-death experience!
Now, it had directly jumped to "Kai"-level?!
But... Chizuru was there!
Was she near that demon?
"Damn it!"
Kamiya Makoto leaped out of bed, his fear replaced by an even stronger emotion.
He couldn't let Chizuru get hurt!
He grabbed the ritual implement from beside his bed, not even bothering to put on a jacket, and rushed out of his home like a madman, running towards the night shrouded in the shadow of death.
The "mission" from the Demon Blade had been issued.
And he, this pathetic "sheath," had no choice but to offer his life.