In the original story, the shrine maiden Miroku possessed a power far greater than any of her predecessors.
When facing the newly-freed Moryō, she sacrificed her life to seal his body and soul separately—one entombed within the shrine of the Land of Swamps, the other deep beneath the Land of Demons.
But now, with the timeline still early, Moryō had yet to break free. His body and soul remained as one, both sealed beneath the shrine's hidden catacombs.
After entrusting the Land of Demons to Yamanaka Shinno, Miroku led him into the shrine.
They passed through a secret door built into the cliff face behind the shrine...
And began their descent toward the underground palace.
This palace was once one of many underground sanctuaries Moryō constructed during his reign—a massive, sprawling domain.
They descended nearly a hundred meters before entering a cavern vast enough to be filled with the stench of sulfur and the glow of molten magma. Under the searing light, Shinno finally saw the true scale of the palace.
After all, Moryō had once been close to conquering the entire world.
Controlling legions of puppet soldiers like terracotta warriors, commanding tens of thousands of followers, Moryō had never been one to skimp on extravagance.
Now, the enormous underground city was littered with ruined buildings.
Though weathered and corroded by time, the carvings and decorations still hinted at the staggering manpower and resources once poured into them.
Rumble...
A deep tremor shook the ground beneath them, massive chunks of stone breaking free from the cavern ceiling, crashing into the magma below, sending plumes of molten fire spraying upward.
A haunting, feral roar echoed from the ruins of a grand hall deep within the cavern.
Brilliant golden seals, left behind by generations of shrine maidens, shimmered as they held back the raging Moryō, who struggled desperately to break free.
And when Moryō sensed Yamanaka Shinno's presence—
His frenzied attacks redoubled!
What had seemed like mere smoke—a swirling mass of dark purple-black energy—suddenly coalesced into solid form. Dozens of serpentine dragon heads, dark and menacing, smashed relentlessly against the barrier.
Miroku pressed her hands together, weaving strange hand signs.
A radiant golden light flared from the crown on her forehead, fighting back against the encroaching darkness and stabilizing the seals.
"Miroku! If I die, you'll die too! All the shrine maidens whose souls are fused with mine—they'll be dragged into eternal darkness with me! Your mother! Don't you want to hear her voice?! She misses you so much!"
Moryō's hoarse, near-hysterical screams echoed throughout the cavern, but Miroku didn't flinch or waver in the slightest.
If anything, she smiled faintly.
Moryō was afraid!
"For generations, even the shrine maidens themselves have lost track of how many lives were sacrificed... Let it end with me! The fate of the shrine maidens ends here! Moryō, let's vanish together!"
She walked slowly toward the seal, her eyes filled with unshakable resolve.
She brought her index and middle fingers together in front of her chest, her entire being blazing with energy as a purplish-red mask-like pattern appeared across her face.
...
Smack!
"What are you doing?"
Shinno, gathering spirit energy into his palm, used his Yin-Yang Release to deliver a clean slap to the back of Miroku's head.
The force immediately broke the shrine maiden's secret ritual.
"We're just weakening Moryō's strength, that's all," he said casually.
Miroku staggered, one hand clutching the golden crown that had nearly been knocked askew, as she turned to stare at Shinno in shock.
She didn't understand—why had she just been smacked?
And more importantly—
He hit her on the head?!
Did he think she was a kid or something?
"If you're feeling energetic, go over there and cheer instead. It's just a sentient mass of corrupted natural energy anyway."
Shinno pointed toward a nearby flat platform.
Having seen Moryō's true form, he already understood what this "monster" really was.
Essentially, Moryō was a collection of extreme malice and degraded natural energy, that had—by some strange chance—gained individual consciousness like a Tailed Beast.
Because it could absorb hatred and transform it into its own power, conventional attacks barely worked against it.
If they weakened it here, then his [Star Devourer] would have less energy to absorb later.
"Cheer... on?"
Miroku stared at him blankly, images of various cooking oils flashing through her mind.
...
"Just go."
Shinno flicked a snapshot of a cheer squad—pom-poms and all—into Miroku's mind using Yin-Yang Release.
Before she could react, he clapped his hands together.
Using a sealing technique he had learned from the Sage of Six Paths, he severed her spiritual connection to Moryō in an instant.
"Eh..."
Miroku felt the link snap and instinctively ran to the spot Shinno had indicated.
Was she... not going to die after all?
But—this dance he showed her—was it some kind of special sealing ritual?
...
"Do you seek the power of darkness?" Moryō shrieked. "It's the ultimate strength! Enough to rule the world! To overturn past and future alike—!"
Six Paths – Forbidden Seal!
Before Moryō could spew more nonsense, Shinno clapped his hands again, sending an ancient Six Paths level seal into the existing barrier.
The wretched creature opened his mouth to speak—
And nothing came out.
The cavern fell into blessed silence.
Shinno phased straight through the surface of the seal and entered the inner sanctum!
...
Faced with Shinno's approach, Moryō, sensing a mortal threat, instinctively tried to flee deeper underground.
But Shinno simply extended a hand.
[Star Devourer]—activate!
Buzz...
The entire seal trembled as the escaping Moryō twisted and shrieked. Streams of purple-black energy were sucked into Shinno's palm, utterly beyond the monster's control!
At the bottom of the seal, where masses of disgusting sludge-like matter writhed, hundreds of grotesque dragon heads formed and lunged at Shinno like barbed arrows.
But as soon as they came within ten meters of him—
Their energy dissolved into dust, vanishing into the air.
...
Over the course of a thousand years, Moryō had devoured the hatred and malice of countless humans, converting it into secondary natural energy.
And now, it took Shinno nearly an entire hour to absorb it all.
"0.4 planetary units of energy... Is this even scientific?! Everything on this damn planet is ridiculously overpowered!"
Shinno muttered as he finished.
He then absorbed the seals left behind by the shrine maidens, dismantling them entirely.
As the seal collapsed, the surrounding space shattered like broken glass—
And Shinno reappeared before Miroku.
...
"Cheer on~! (ノ°▽°)ノ Cheer on~! C—huh? It's over?"
Miroku, drenched in sweat after an entire hour of nonstop cheerleading and dancing, froze when she saw Shinno emerge from the ruins.
She could feel it—the monstrous aura of Moryō had vanished completely.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, she opened her mouth to speak—
But didn't know what to say.
...
"Nice dancing."
Shinno raised an eyebrow slightly.
He honestly hadn't expected Miroku to be so... sincere.
He told her to cheer, and she actually cheered!
And not only that...
As a shrine maiden who often performed sacred kagura dances for rituals and festivals—
Her dancing was better than any influencer's he'd ever seen in his past life.
Shrine maiden outfit plus cheerleading...
Yeah, this was a major W for shrine maidens!
...
"... wuwuwu..."
Finally, Miroku dropped to her knees, covering her face with trembling hands as she broke down in tears.
Life was beautiful.
And just being alive—
Was the most precious miracle of all.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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