Guardians of the Shrine

Rei’s blood now soaked the bases of the Inari statues.

Something pulsed beneath his fingers—a vibration ancient and deep, like a heart waking after centuries of sleep. But he had no time to think about it.

The onigami was advancing.

“The master wants your head, little fox.” Its composite voice echoed through the shrine. “Just your head. The girl, he gives to me. I’ll have fun with her afterward…”

Rei forced himself to stand, ignoring the agony radiating from his shattered ribs. His flames flickered weakly around his fists—he had almost nothing left.

A guttural laugh shook the creature.

“You still want to play the hero?” All three of its arms rose at once. “Pathetic.”

The first blow smashed into Rei’s chest, hurling him backward.
The second caught him mid-air and flung him the other way.
The third crushed him into the ground with a force that made the shrine itself tremble.

Rei spat blood. His vision blurred.

Through the fog of pain, he heard Hikari’s voice—distant, trembling, stripped of all its playfulness.

“Rei-kun… permadeath is coming…”

The onigami planted a massive foot on Rei’s chest, driving him into the soft earth.

“The master warned me,” it said mockingly. “‘Rei is sentimental. He’ll fight to the end to protect his little human.’” Its six eyes gleamed with cruel amusement.

The pressure increased. Rei felt another rib crack.

“REI!”

An explosion of golden light slammed into the onigami’s side. The creature staggered back—just one step—but enough to release the pressure.

Aoi stood there, her hands glowing with unstable light, her face twisted by terror and determination.

“Leave him alone!”

The onigami turned toward her, more amused than angry.

“Oh? You want to play with me? The fox is going to get jealous…”

It lazily swept one arm through the air. The shockwave struck Aoi head-on, throwing her against the owl statues. She collapsed at their feet, gasping for breath.

The Resonance screamed between them—shared pain, shared fear, shared despair.

Rei tried to crawl toward her. His arms shook too much. His body refused to obey.

The onigami looked from one to the other, savoring their helplessness.

“How romantic.” It approached Aoi and crouched before her, its three jaws stretching into a horrific grin. “I’m going to break you slowly. Your boyfriend will have to watch.”

Rei felt his blood turn to ice.

Aoi closed her eyes.

And something rose within her. Something ancient, etched into her blood for generations. Words she had never learned, yet knew as intimately as her own heartbeat.

A prayer.

She whispered the syllables without understanding their meaning, her voice barely audible.

But the shrine heard.

Rei felt his own blood—the blood that had touched the bases of the Inari statues—begin to burn.

Silence fell over the shrine.

Then the owls’ eyes lit up.

The onigami froze.

“What is—”

The stone statues trembled. Golden cracks spread across their surface, like glowing lava searching for a way out.

The two owls awakened.

Stone became flesh. Stillness became movement.

Their eyes shone with pure gold, identical to Aoi’s light. Their wings unfolded with a deep, heavy crack. Each was nearly a meter tall—far larger than their stone forms had suggested.

One turned its head toward Aoi. When it spoke, it was directly into her mind.

Your blood prayed. We answered its call.

Aoi opened her eyes, stunned.

On the other side of the shrine, another miracle was unfolding.

The two Inari fox statues were trembling. Rei’s blood on their bases steamed, evaporating into silver spirals. The pedestals glowed, pulsing to the rhythm of an invisible heart.

The foxes awakened.

They were magnificent—and terrifying. Their stone fur transformed into spectral flames, white and silver, dancing around their slender forms. Their eyes shone like lanterns, and when they opened their mouths, fangs of pure light appeared.

The larger of the two approached Rei, who still lay on the ground.

Brother of blood. You bleed on our land.

Rei looked up, incredulous.

“How…?”

Your bond with the human has awakened something older.
The spectral fox tilted its head. This shrine has slept for centuries. You have awakened it.

The onigami stepped back—for the first time in the battle, something like uncertainty crossed its six eyes.

“Guardians?” Its composite voice wavered slightly. “That’s impossible—”

The first owl dove.

Silent as death itself, it struck the onigami with a speed stone should never have known. Its talons—golden, luminous, razor-sharp—ripped through one of the creature’s arms.

The onigami screamed.

Not ordinary pain. The guardians’ claws did not just wound flesh—they tore at the very essence that held the onigami’s pieces together.

The second owl attacked from the other side. Then the foxes charged, their spectral flames carving burning trails through the air.

From the fallen smartphone, Hikari’s voice rose—this time stunned into near silence.

“…Okay. We just unlocked UR-tier features.”

Rei forced himself to stand, strength returning in waves. The spectral foxes circled him, their flames warming him, partially healing him.

Fight with us, brother, said the larger one. Show this abomination what a true kitsune is.

Across the battlefield, Aoi was also rising. The owls glided around her, their golden eyes feeding her information she should never have been able to perceive.

We are your eyes, they whispered in her mind. See through us.

Suddenly, Aoi understood.

She saw the shrine from every angle at once—a full 360-degree vision that let her anticipate every movement.

“Rei!” she shouted. “To your left!”

He dodged without looking, trusting her warning. The onigami’s fist passed centimeters from his head.

The foxes counterattacked instantly, their light-fangs tearing through the circuit-tattoos that bound the creature’s parts together.

The onigami roared in rage and pain.

“You filthy… parasites!” Its six eyes blazed with intense red light. “You think a few dusty statues can defeat me?!”

It unleashed a massive shockwave—black, corrupted energy that swept across the shrine.

The guardians were thrown back. So were Rei and Aoi.

But this time, they did not fall.

The owls had formed a barrier around Aoi.
The foxes had absorbed part of the impact for Rei.

The onigami charged again.

Rei and Aoi exchanged a look through the chaos. The Resonance pulsed between them—not just their bond, but something greater now. The guardians were connected to it as well.

They understood at the same time.

Rei leapt to the right, the two foxes at his sides.
Aoi moved to the left, the owls guiding her.
They surrounded the onigami, forming a triangle of light and flame.

“LEGENDARY SUMMON UNLOCKED!” Hikari’s voice had regained its excitement. “This is endgame content!”

The onigami turned, unsure which threat to face first.

That hesitation was fatal.

Rei attacked first—not alone, but in coordination with the guardians. They struck three different points at once, silver flames eating through the necromantic bonds that held the creature together.

The onigami countered—but Aoi was already there. Her owls had warned her of the angle. She raised a barrier exactly where needed, deflecting the blow into the ground.

And while the creature was off-balance, the guardians struck together.

Owls diving from the sky, golden talons shredding its shoulders.
Foxes leaping from the ground, flame-fangs tearing off its legs.
Rei at the center, his silver flames condensed into a spear of pure light that pierced its composite torso.

Aoi sealed it—her golden light wrapping around the wounds, preventing regeneration, purifying the corruption.

The onigami screamed.

A sound that was at once a beast’s roar and the cries of dozens of yōkai whose bodies had been stolen to create this abomination.

Then it collapsed.

Its body broke apart into dark fragments that melted into shadow, returning to the nothingness from which Kageyama had torn them.

Silence fell over the shrine.

The remaining shikigami scattered when the onigami—the captain of this punitive expedition—fell.

Rei dropped to his knees, exhausted beyond measure. The spectral foxes moved to either side of him, their flames gently warming him.

Aoi approached, supported by the currents of air stirred by the owls’ silent wings.

They looked at each other—wounded, exhausted, but alive.

The guardians were already beginning to fade. The magic that had awakened them was slowly dispersing.

The larger fox turned to Rei one last time.

Then the guardians returned to their places. They became statues once more.

But something had changed.

Their eyes, once empty, now seemed to watch. To wait.

Rei dragged himself to the fox statues and bowed deeply, ignoring the pain in his ribs.

Aoi did the same before the owls, a silent tear sliding down her cheek.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

From the phone—now in Aoi’s hand—Hikari’s voice rose, unusually gentle:

“…GG. Kageyama’s gonna be salty.”

Rei stood with difficulty, leaning on Aoi as she leaned on him. They formed a fragile balance—two broken beings keeping each other standing.

They left the shrine in silence, passing beneath the gray torii that marked the border between worlds.

Returning to ordinary Tokyo—noisy, bright, unaware of the miracle that had just taken place a few meters from its bustling streets.