Cherreads

Chapter 101 - Karmic Devil

— — — — — — — 

"YAAAAAA!"

A deafening roar erupted from the demon fox's massive, foul-smelling maw!

Isayama Yomi's gaze sharpened as she instinctively drew her treasured blade—Shishio.

"My spirit beast!"

"Ranguren (Nue)!"

With a sharp call, a colossal mythical beast materialized beside her—a fusion of various creatures, bearing the head of a lion, the face of a monkey, and tails of squirming snakes.

The next second, both master and spirit beast charged forward in unison!

BOOM!

A lightning slash struck the golden-glowing demon fox.

But the force of the impact sent a numbing shock through Yomi's hands.

She narrowed her eyes and looked closely—Shishio's blade had landed on the fox's body, yet there wasn't even a scratch!

Her heart immediately sank.

Ranguren lunged with its jaws wide open, clamping down on the demon fox, only to tear away mere wisps of golden light.

The massive demon fox looked down coldly at Yomi before suddenly lifting its front paw—

Boom!

Yomi reacted quickly, raising Shishio to block the strike.

Even so, the sheer force behind it sent her flying backward!

"Damn it!"

Yomi clicked her tongue in frustration.

She couldn't even put up a fight against this yokai.

The demon fox let out a disdainful snort. "Since you've come this far—"

"Prepare to become my sacrifice!"

Its piercing gaze locked onto Iwanaga Kotoko.

Huh?

Sacrifice?

Me? Why me???

Kotoko blinked in disbelief before immediately darting behind Lynn.

She clung to his back and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"D-Dear Devil, you'll protect me, right?" she asked in a soft, pitiful voice.

Lynn stroked his chin and narrowed his eyes. "Was that part of our contract?"

"C-Contract?"

Kotoko froze on the spot.

Wait a minute… did we even set any terms back then?!

Before she could protest further, the demon fox lunged, its massive maw descending right over Lynn's head.

"Yaaaa—"

"Tch… what a noisy pest."

Lynn's gaze turned ice-cold.

With a simple wave of his hand, a brilliant white slash shot forth!

The demon fox's screech was abruptly cut off.

Blood spilled from its neck as its severed head crashed onto the ground with a heavy thud!

Its enormous body slowly disintegrated into golden light, leaving behind only a single fox tail on the ground.

Lynn narrowed his eyes.

The tail twitched.

Then, as if realizing the danger, it suddenly escaped!

Lynn didn't even hesitate—dark chains of magic erupted from his hand, wrapping around the tail and yanking it back.

The tail trembled violently, struggling with all its might.

But Lynn remained unfazed. He simply tightened his grip—

"Hmm…?"

A phantom figure flickered into existence before him.

Their eyes met.

Lynn smirked slightly. "Well, well… Hagoromo Gitsune herself."

"Hmph."

Hagoromo let out a cold snort, seemingly realizing that retrieving her tail was impossible.

So, she left him with just one message: "Take good care of it."

Then, her spectral form shattered into nothingness.

Yomi, who had just managed to recover, nodded. "That confirms it. She's in Kyoto."

Lynn raised an eyebrow. "And what about the nine-tailed fox Yasaka? She is the leader of the Kyoto Yokai, right?"

Yomi hesitated. "The Countermeasure Bureau suspects that Hagoromo may be collaborating with the Alliance of Hell."

Lynn froze for a second.

"…Hell?"

"…Hades?"

Lynn: "..."

This Mashup anime world was way too complicated.

Even Hagoromo was working with Hades now?

Wait—did she even qualify for that?! That was Hades after all!!!

Shaking his head, he decided not to dwell on it.

Instead, he turned to Yomi. "Let's go. It's time for your reincarnation ritual."

Yomi fell silent for a moment.

But she didn't refuse.

Her lack of protest was answer enough.

Lynn then shifted his gaze toward Kotoko, a knowing smirk playing at his lips.

"Looks like you dodged a bullet this time."

"Ahaha…" Kotoko let out an awkward laugh.

Seeing Lynn and Yomi heading down the mountain, she quickly followed.

But before leaving, she stole one last glance at the now-empty shrine behind them.

— — —

At the Foot of the Mountain

Kotoko was still trailing behind Lynn and Yomi when she suddenly felt a gaze on her.

She stiffened.

Turning slightly, she saw Lynn looking at her with a rather amused expression.

Kotoko immediately put on her most innocent face and blinked.

"…Can I watch the reincarnation ritual?" she asked with feigned curiosity.

"No."

Lynn rejected her instantly.

Kotoko pouted. "Not even a little negotiation?"

Lynn raised an eyebrow, his smirk deepening. "There is."

"…Oh?" Kotoko perked up slightly.

"Become my Familia."

"…Yeah, no thanks." Kotoko rejected him just as quickly.

She then sighed dramatically. "Fine, I'll take my leave then."

But just as she was about to go, she suddenly grinned and pulled out her phone.

"Buuuut~ how about we exchange contacts?" She winked playfully.

Lynn didn't refuse.

She was, after all, a potential future Familia candidate.

---

Meanwhile

At the base of the mountain, a cheerful voice rang out.

"Yukino! There's a shrine here too!"

Lynn shifted his gaze.

Two familiar figures came into view.

Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui.

"Ah…! It's President Lynn!"

Yui gasped in surprise.

Hearing that, Yukino also turned to look—Only to see Lynn walking down from the shrine with two girls beside him.

For a moment, she stiffened.

Lynn merely nodded at them in greeting before continuing on his way with Yomi.

Standing still, Iwanaga Kotoko's eyes flickered with curiosity.

President Lynn...?

She had already learned his name when they exchanged contact information.

But...President, huh...

Is he the head of some club at Shuchiin Academy?

Kotoko leaned closer to Yuigahama Yui and suddenly asked, "Hey, do you know which club Lynn belongs to?"

"Wah!" Yui was startled by the sudden question, but after recognizing Kotoko as the girl who had been following Lynn earlier, she sighed in relief and patted her chest.

Kotoko, unfazed, repeated her question.

Yui blinked in confusion before answering, "Oh! He's the president of the Supernatural Research Club!"

Hearing that, Yukino's gaze also turned toward Kotoko, her expression slightly wary.

However, it wasn't really classified information.

Even if Kotoko hadn't asked Yui, she could've easily found out at school.

Asking Yui was simply the easiest route.

"Thanks."

With that, Kotoko turned and walked away.

---

"Hey, Yuki..." Yui suddenly poked Yukino's arm, her expression conflicted. "Should we really not join the Supernatural Research Club?"

She might have seemed carefree, but living day after day in fear of curse spirits and supernatural threats was exhausting.

If the Supernatural Research Club had the power to deal with those things, then... why not join?

Yui couldn't understand why they wouldn't.

Yukino opened her mouth but hesitated.

Hmph! Join... Lynn's harem?

IMPOSSIBLE!

Yui's voice lowered, filled with frustration. "Yuki... I really can't take this life anymore..."

Yukino felt a pang in her heart.

"I'm sorry, Yui!" she muttered.

Yui shook her head. "It's fine. As long as we join the Supernatural Research Club, we should be able to fix our problem."

She truly believed that.

Because she had seen Lynn fight with her own eyes.

"No!" Yukino suddenly raised her voice.

Yui flinched in surprise.

Whoa, Yuki got really serious all of a sudden...

Realizing her overreaction, Yukino looked down, apologetic. "Sorry, I got a little too worked up."

Then she looked up again, placing both hands firmly on Yui's shoulders, her eyes filled with determination.

"Don't worry, Yui. The consequences of what happened to you... I'll take responsibility for them."

She had made up her mind.

If becoming part of a harem is the price to gain power... Then at least, I will bear it alone.

She would gain that power—and use it to protect Yui for the rest of her life.

That was how she would atone for dragging Yui into this mess.

"Let's go."

With unwavering resolve, Yukino turned and walked away.

"Eh?" Yui blinked, then turned to look back toward the shrine. "Wait, aren't we gonna check it out?"

Yukino shook her head.

She had already made her decision.

No point in second-guessing it now.

Besides... A shrine that a Devil had visited... was it even sacred anymore?

She hadn't forgotten the Supernatural Research Club's exorcism requests.

There was a good chance that something... wicked was lurking there.

Given their current condition, it was best not to take unnecessary risks.

— — —

Lynn brought Isayama Yomi back to his apartment.

On the way, he gave her a rundown on the Familia system and the benefits that came with it.

Even someone as usually expressionless as Yomi had her eyes sparkling by the end of it.

An unlimited potential blessing system?

A whole new world?

It was like a door to an entirely different reality had just opened for her!

Taking a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself.

---

At the Apartment

"Welcome home, Master!" Fuse Midori greeted Lynn as he walked in, then turned to study the new guest—Yomi.

A new Familia recruit, huh?

That was the most likely explanation.

---

The Bedroom

"Alright, take it off."

Yomi shivered slightly but then, with slow and steady movements, removed her top.

Lynn pressed a Devil's Piece against her smooth back.

Suppressing the strange sensations coursing through her body, Yomi remained silent and still, waiting for the transformation to complete.

Behind her, her status information began to take form:

[Isayama Yomi]

→Rank:Mid-Class Devil

→Race: Devil

→Master: Lynn Valifer

→Stats:

 •Strength: I0

 •Agility: I0

 •Endurance: I0

 •Magic: I0

→Unique Skills:

•[Spirit Sense: Parade of a Hundred Demons]

•[Sword Heart: Sightless Reverse Flow]

•[Karmic Devil]

.

.

.

Yo~ your Coreal is here

Ahem, I made an auxiliary chapter to organize the Familia names and add their images. Hope you can check it out and add your own images if you have any!

Also, I posted six chapters today because I noticed people really love the story. As long as you're enjoying it, I'll do my best! Anyway, I'm also excited to see what happens in the upcoming worlds, hehe~

One last thing—if this fanfic gets deleted (since it seems someone has been spam-reporting books lately), I have been posting the same story on ScribbleHub under the same name, and I'll make the chapters free on my Patreon later.

Just a heads-up in case anything happens.

More Chapters