Chapter 18 Let’s Do Exorcism Together with the Evil Dragon!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Please—let me become Lady Sakuya’s shikigami!”
None of us expected Mizuki, the Water Serpent Princess, to kneel and surrender her soul so easily. We’d only explained the situation in broad strokes, yet she bowed low on the temple floor, voice steady, eyes full of resolve. She’d once been saved by Yaten a thousand years ago—today, she repaid that debt with absolute loyalty.
Sakuya and I froze. Yaten didn’t. She looked down on Mizuki with the regal disdain only an Evil Dragon could manage.
”You would serve my child, then your body, life, and soul must all be given. Is that clear?”
”Yes! Lady Yaten saved me, granted me the power to rise near divinity. To now devote my whole being to her daughter—this is my honor! Please, Lady Sakuya, use me as your shikigami!”
”Well said. Sakuya—come forward.”
The weight in Yaten’s tone made even her daughter flinch. This wasn’t a mother’s voice; this was the Evil Dragon’s decree. Sakuya stumbled forward, back straightening under her mother’s golden gaze. She was nervous, but her black eyes didn’t waver. She understood: this was a test.
Yaten’s hand flicked toward Mizuki, still kneeling. “Bind this serpent. Make her yours.”
”Yes, Mother… Exorcism!”
The ritual began.
The moment Sakuya invoked it, Mizuki’s body convulsed. Exorcism wasn’t gentle—it reshaped the soul itself into servitude. For a blank, newborn soul like Sakuya’s once was, it would be painless. For Mizuki, who had centuries of selfhood, it was agony.
Her cries shook the chamber. Sakuya’s lips trembled, eyes darting, but Yaten’s voice cut sharp:
”Do not look away. You are her master now. Witness her to the end.”
”Yes—Mother!”
I clenched my fists. Mizuki writhed, her soul tearing itself down under the ritual’s demand. She’d known this pain would come, but knowledge is nothing against reality. Still, she never begged for release. She endured, proving her will to submit.
And Sakuya… she wavered, torn between the cruel joy in her blood and the human kindness in her heart. Tears welled, but she refused to stop. Her training, her morality, outweighed the dragon inside her. She pushed harder, desperate to finish the binding quickly—to spare Mizuki.
At last, Mizuki collapsed, her soul reshaped, her life chained.
”Mother,” Sakuya gasped, face pale with exhaustion, “the exorcism is complete.”
Yaten’s expression softened at once, her terrifying aura melting into a proud smile. “Well done. To complete a soul-binding so swiftly… truly, you are my child.”
She brushed Sakuya’s hair, pride shimmering in her eyes. Yet beneath it, I saw something else: sorrow. Because Sakuya had chosen the human path—her father’s compassion—over the dragon instinct she’d inherited.
Yaten accepted it, but it still stung.
”Sakuya,” she said gently, “tend to your servant.”
”Yes, Mother!”
Sakuya hurried to Mizuki, who lay drained but alive, and began to help her sit. Already she was learning: a shikigami was not just a weapon, but a life to care for.
I moved to stand beside Yaten. “You’ve taught her well.”
”Of course. Who am I, if not the Evil Dragon who ends worlds?”
I gave her a look. She smirked.
Sakuya knelt, guiding Mizuki with careful hands. No one told her to; she did it because she understood. A parent doesn’t need to handhold forever—she was already growing on her own.
”Then Mizuki’s care will be Sakuya’s responsibility,” I said.
Yaten nodded. “Which leaves only one matter before us—my next child’s birth.”
Her hand touched her belly. Soon, Uigetsu would be born. Another piece of our strange, powerful family, waiting to step into this underground temple we now called home.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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