The dim illumination of the cavern provided Nezuminosuke with cover and he circled around the group of men without them noticing. Meanwhile, the nure-onna charged in from the front. Her sudden appearance startled them and made them open fire.

"T-they're here! Shoot! Shoot!"

With her body brushing against the ground, the nure-onna slithered across the floor of the cavern at a blinding speed. With her low profile, the men were unable to hit her. When she got close to them, she danced around the group to bait them into shooting each other. Her plan succeeded and they ended up hitting some of their own.

"Aargh! S-stop shooting, you idiots!" One of the men who was shot in the thigh crawled past his companion whose head was blown off.

The men ceased firing and exchanged glances. They didn't have a clear shot of the nure-onna and risked hitting each other if they continued. The groans of their companions injured by them drove them further into indecision.

While the men hesitated on what to do, Adam and Nezuminosuke stealthily took them out one by one. Adam used silence talismans on the men and yanked them into the ground with Burrow. At the same time, Nezuminosuke approached them from the back and sliced their throats with his claws.

"Hey, look—" One of the men noticed Nezuminosuke and attempted to warn the others. However, before he could finish his words, the nure-onna wrapped herself around him and sank her fangs into his neck. He collapsed to the ground and her venom rapidly coursed through his veins, destroying his nervous system. Her sudden attack startled the rest of the men and made them steel their resolve.

"Keep firing! Don't stop! He's already dead!" The venom only affected the nervous system and the man was still alive but they had no way of knowing that. They aimed at the nure-onna and started shooting. In the process, stray bullets tore through the flesh of their companion and ended his life.

The men aimed for the nure-onna's head, thinking that was her weak point. The nure-onna was too slow in moving away and their bullets penetrated her head. Fortunately, when making her into a shikigami, Adam used her heart to craft the soul core because her brain was too damaged from their fight. She lunged at one of the men to use him as a shield against the hail of bullets.

"N-no, get away from me!" The man pointed a revolver at the nure-onna and desperately squeezed the trigger again and again. He didn't even notice when the cylinder was emptied and there was no longer any recoil. She darted behind him and his companions promptly filled him with lead.

The other men kept up their attack without noticing their group was rapidly losing numbers.

"Fuck, stop moving, you—" His words were cut off by sharp claws ripping out his throat.

"Look out, there's more—" Witnessing what befell his companion, one of the men tried to warn the others, only to realize he was the only one left. He immediately dropped his weapon and held his hands up. "D-don't kill me!"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Nezuminosuke grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air. "Tell us everything about Sadako and this place if you want to live."

Without any further prompting from Nezuminosuke, the man spilt the beans on everything he knew.

"This wasn't part of the deal." Adam looked toward Nezuminosuke.

"You! Are you sure?!" Nezuminosuke violently shook the man to the point where his bones creaked in protest.

"Y-yes, S-sadako-sama is a kami!"

A kami could be as weak as a gaki, the first creature he killed back in Onigashima, or powerful enough to destroy a country on its own. What made the situation tricky was that they were far more challenging to dispatch than a regular yōkai. Even the weakest kami would be unkillable if even a single worshipper and a shrine dedicated to them existed somewhere else. So, even if Adam succeeded in defeating Sadako here, she would remain alive and well.

"So? Would Kuzunoha-san make good on our deal if I demolish the shrine here?" Adam measured Nezuminosuke with his eyes. "Or shall we pack our bags and leave?"

"This was a mistake on our part. Kuzunoha-sama will honour her end of the deal."

"Are you sure you can make the decision for Kuzunoha-san?" Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Please believe me!" Nezuminosuke bowed at his waist.

"…Fine, I'll take your word for it." Adam rubbed his chin. "The easiest way of dealing with a kami would be defiling their shrine. That would weaken their influence in the area. In some cases, it could even completely cut off their connection to their shrine if they're weak enough. If I had known our enemy was a kami, I could have prepared rooster or dog blood."

"Are there any other methods?" Nezuminosuke scratched his head.

"Yes, if we can remove the shintai—the vessel that Sadako currently resides in—from the shrine, that should cut her off from the shrine."

"Can't we just destroy this vessel?" Nezuminosuke tugged on his whisker.

"Not while the shintai is still housed inside the shrine. They're practically indestructible within the confines of a shrine."

"Practically? So, there's a way?" Nezuminosuke's eyes lit up.

"Sure, it's possible if your attack is powerful enough to shatter the entire realm of the kami in a single strike." Adam rolled his eyes. "Look, if a kami is that easy to deal with, there—"

Just then, the entire cavern began shaking and dust and debris fell from the ceiling. At the same time, Adam sensed a powerful surge of yin energy from the depths of the cave and heard Izumi's thoughts through their telepathic bond.

"Adamu-sama, that Kuroda fellow is up to no good!"

Adam promptly used the bond between them to look through her eyes and a vortex of yin energy filled his entire vision. Right in the eye of the vortex, there was a hokora, a miniature Shinto shrine, placed on a raised platform. Kuroda was prostrating himself before the hokora and his feverish chanting echoed throughout the chamber.

"Stop him!"

Izumi nodded and tried to advance toward Kuroda. However, the vortex of yin energy prevented her from getting any closer and she was knocked backwards at every attempt.

"Adamu-sama, I can't get any closer!"

"I'll get there as soon as I can!" Adam turned toward Nezuminosuke and grabbed hold of him. "That Kuroda is performing a ritual to summon Sadako, we need to stop him immediately!"

After dismissing the nure-onna, Adam burrowed into the ground with Nezuminosuke and made a beeline for Izumi's location. Since he was bringing additional baggage with him, he was moving a lot slower than usual.

"W-what?! Why would she do that?!" Nezuminosuke's eyes widened. "Unless she's in dire straits, the loss of a shrine isn't worth the price of crossing the veil!"

"Not if that Kuroda is related to her. If she uses his body as a vessel for her avatar, he'll be paying the price for her." Adam let out a snort. "I knew there was something wrong. Why else would a kami choose a powerless human to be her kannushi? Hmph, from how he acted earlier, I bet she didn't tell him anything about the consequence—Get ready, we're almost there!"