“You seem to have forgotten something?” A mocking expression shifted to Hachishi’s face, and she started to move.
“The Heavenly Thunder only targets evil spirits… could it be?” A flash of realization crossed Kinzu’s mind, “You’ve mastered the power of the divine?”
The sky suddenly opened up with a downpour. Hachishi attacked Kinzu again. The heavy rain soaked through Kinzu’s clothes, dampening the talismans within. The ink on them started to blur.
Kinzu was grabbed by Hachishi’s shoulder, but she countered by grabbing her arm. The two entered a struggle. “You’re right, after all, I was always worshipped like a god by humans. I want to see how long you can hold out.”
Kinzu could feel her strength slowly slipping away. She took a sliding step and ducked, grabbed Hachishi's arm, and flung her back again.
“If that’s the case, let me show you! Rinze, backpack!” Kinzu’s voice was calm. Rinze handed her the backpack.
Kinzu took out a bright red longbow, aimed it at Hachishi who was charging towards her, and fired an arrow without aiming. The red arrow split into ten, then a hundred, and rained down on Hachishi.
Dong! Hachishi was nailed to a large tree. Kinzu didn’t stop. She slashed her finger with the Kusanagi sword and took out another golden bell, smeared it with her blood, and while chanting a spell, swung it toward Hachishi.
The heavy, overlapping bell sounds rang in Rinze’s ears, making him feel a headache. For Hachishi, directly targeted by Kinzu, it was like nails on a chalkboard. Black blood flowed from her seven orifices.
Hachishi had realized Kinzu had become stronger compared to the past, but she had no idea it would be to this extent. Kinzu’s smooth combo attacks were simply too much for her to handle.
The sound of a car came from a distance. She knew those exorcists were coming. The thought of being sealed away again for ten, a hundred years filled her with discontent.
Her eyes fell upon Rinze who was watching silently. Suddenly, she burst into a maniacal laugh at Kinzu. “I won’t die. You’ll die eventually. I’ll wait for that day. But before then! You seem to care about that person, don’t you? What will you do if I take control of him and make him commit suicide? Hahaha…”
Before Kinzu could respond, Hachishi’s body stopped moving. Rinze collapsed on the ground.
“… Briefly leaving her body to enter Rinze's consciousness, trying to possess him? Tsk… why would she do something so foolish?” Kinzu shook her head as she looked at Hachishi who was now just an empty shell. She called out to the spirit medium who had arrived and began setting up a barrier formation.
The monk from before hurried over, asking about the situation.
“The Jizo statue was useless against her. The Heavenly Thunder couldn't do anything to her. She has already mastered the power she gained from being worshipped as a god by humans in the past. Fortunately, it’s not too strong. It seems to be just a simple ability to manipulate weather and the environment in a limited area. The landslide was probably caused by this.”
The rain had stopped. Kinzu, unbothered, picked up Rinze who had fainted and called the car. It had already driven into the park. She gently placed Rinze in the car.
“Well, her body is still here. Her spiritual power is not that strong. To ensure that her revenge wouldn't be thwarted, she put her entire soul into this young man's consciousness.” Sitting in the passenger seat, Kinzu explained to the monk while looking at Rinze through the rearview mirror.
“Ah? Then quickly pull her out!” Upon hearing this, the monk was startled and wanted to go forward and perform a spell on Rinze.
“No need. Do you know why I was in such a hurry to get here? There’s something even more terrifying in his consciousness. Hachishi went in seeking revenge, but it’s a death wish. We don’t need to intervene. But we need to have a backup plan. Go set up the barrier formation.” Kinzu chased away the monk, locked the car door, raised the privacy windows and partition, glanced at Rinze who was still unconscious, took off her wet clothes, and changed into a dry set.
In the world of consciousness, Rinze couldn’t understand why Hachishi would do something so reckless. Before, he was worried about how to get her in, so he could have Kayako beat her up. But now she just barged in on her own initiative.
She was way too considerate! Rinze was not afraid at all. He even smiled and greeted her.
“Scared silly?” Hachishi was confused, but she felt like Rinze’s smile wasn’t good. “You’re just a normal person, and the exorcist outside couldn’t beat me. I can’t possibly lose to you?” In a fit of anger, Hachishi lunged at Rinze.
Rinze didn’t dodge, he just muttered three words, “Kayako.”
In an instant, Hachishi’s wrist was caught by hair. Rinze’s waist was also caught. They were both pulled into the shadows.
“Where is this place?” Hachishi looked around at the darkness and was confused. How did that hair drag her here?
“Rinze, did she bully you?”
“Hmm!”
“I’ll avenge you!”
The conversation reached her ears. Hachishi noticed the sound was coming from all directions. She tried to use her teleportation ability, but she couldn't use it.
She guessed this was a barrier-like place. Suddenly, a strange giggling sound echoed. Countless strands of hair appeared out of thin air and bound her in a star shape.
A woman with an eerie posture crawled out from the darkness. She emanated a terrifying aura of resentment and curses. Hachishi struggled wildly, but her immense strength had no effect. Countless curses clung to her body like parasites.
“I’m going to die!” For the first time in all her years, the word death entered Hachishi’s mind. She tried to use her weak divine power to illuminate the darkness, but the faint light died as soon as it appeared and was gradually swallowed up.
Rinze stood in the darkness, watching Kayako slowly climb onto Hachishi. The look of despair on Hachishi’s face made him feel amused. In fact, Hachishi was really pathetic. In the real world, she couldn't beat Kinzu. In the world of consciousness, she couldn’t beat Kayako. She was also a formidable being, but she ran into full-level bosses. Tsk tsk, three seconds of silence for her.
As Rinze said, Hachishi was truly pathetic. Kinzu was a cheat code in the human world, and Hachishi was completely outmatched. While Kayako wasn't on the level of the main body in the Ju-on franchise, she could still go toe-to-toe with Kinzu when she was giving it her all. This was Kayako’s world, filled with the aura of Ju-on. It was a total mismatch.
The curse drilled into Hachishi’s body, making her suffer excruciating pain. Rinze felt it was about time and appeared in the darkness.
“Hachishi-sama, how’s it going? Is the world of consciousness fun?”
“She… what kind of monster is she? What do you want?”
Rinze embraced Kayako and replied, “That’s so rude. How can you call our Kayako a monster? You should apologize.”
Kayako’s eyes were filled with a gloomy look. She undid Hachishi’s self-healing ability and then the hair pierced through her seven orifices, stirring wildly inside. Hachishi’s senses were amplified infinitely by Kayako. The unimaginable pain made her roll her eyes, almost passing out.
“I… am… sorry…” Hachishi managed to spit out these vague words. Two lines of humiliating tears flowed down her cheeks. For countless years, she had never truly been afraid. She could overcome anything, whether it was salt or spells, but this time she was truly afraid!