Anime Multiverse: Building a Pantheon from Scratch

Chapter 49: "49: You Are My Lucky Goddess"



"What are demonic incantations?" Luo Shu asked in a low voice, glancing toward Inoue Takina as Natsuki Minamiya and Kirika Tachibana stared each other down in silent tension.

Takina turned to look at him and thought for a moment before explaining, "Demonic incantations refer to special symbols or characters that appear on various objects. They're a type of script-based power used by demons and demon warlocks, and they're extremely dangerous."

"In most cases, any object inscribed with demonic script has a danger level of Grade 2 or higher."

After explaining, Takina suddenly remembered something and asked, "Wait—do you know about danger grades?"

"Natsuki-chan mentioned them to me on the way here," Luo Shu replied, finally understanding why she had taken the time to explain the classification system of Abyssal artifacts earlier.

Still, something felt off. The danger levels seemed a bit different from the system-defined rankings he was familiar with. For example, the Grade 2 Abyssal artifact "Heart of the Demon" was classified as an Elite-tier item by the system. That would mean Grade 1 artifacts must include both Normal and Excellent tiers?

As Luo Shu pondered how these ratings might correspond, Kirika Tachibana walked out carrying a tray of coffee and called to Mika behind the bar, "Mika, bring it out."

"Got it," the dark-skinned man behind the counter responded. He reached into a cabinet and pulled out several envelopes, which Kirika took with a smile.

"Why don't we take a seat over there?" she suggested cheerfully, waving the envelopes toward Natsuki.

Natsuki frowned at her but began walking toward a long table, muttering, "You're as troublesome as ever."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kirika replied, following after her. Then she looked back and called out to Luo Shu, Chisato, and Takina, "You three come along too."

Luo Shu and Takina exchanged a look and moved to follow. Meanwhile, Chisato casually folded her arms behind her head and sighed with practiced ease, "Looks like it's work time again."

"More accurately, a continuation of our last job," Kirika clarified as she set the envelopes on the table and took a seat. She looked toward Luo Shu as he sat down, then said with a smile, "By the way, the biggest credit for this one goes to you, Luo Shu."

"Me?" Luo Shu raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. But then Kirika elaborated, "Thanks to you killing that demon hunter's hound, I was able to extract some useful intel from its brain. That led us to the jewellery store clerk who had been hypnotized by the demon warlock."

At that, Luo Shu's memory clicked. Of course—it happened just yesterday, so it was still fresh in his mind. As he understood it, the whole incident began when a warlock from the secret organization True Celestial Astronomy illegally crossed borders, only to be ambushed by a Seven-Star Demon Hunter from the equally secretive Demon Hunters.

After a fierce clash, the warlock was fatally wounded. Before dying, he used the very "Heart of the Demon" now in Luo Shu's possession to hypnotize a jewellery store clerk and handed off all of his possessions to her. That clerk then sold the Heart of the Demon to the jewellery store owner, Mira Tsubakihara, who in turn became the target of the demon hunter's tracking hound.

Later, as Mira was returning home, she sought help from her neighbour—Luo Shu—which ultimately led to him killing the hound.

Now it all made sense. "So, among the items transferred by that clerk, one included demonic incantations?"

"Not just one. A whole bunch," Kirika said as she laid out the ten envelopes one by one on the table. Resting her chin on one hand, she looked toward Natsuki with a bright smile. "Each of these ten envelopes contains information on a separate location where one of the warlock's files was sent. And each could potentially hold demonic incantations."

"So then, Natsuki, which one do you want?"

"You're quite capable, Kirika," Natsuki said with arms folded, her face dark and unamused. "You beat the MPD and the Onmyoji Agency to the hypnotized store clerk, seized all the surveillance footage from the jewellery shop and the clerk's route, leaving my team with nothing—and now you want to trade with me using these?"

"You're as greedy as ever!"

So that's what happened… Luo Shu finally understood the reason behind Kirika's smug smile.

From what he could gather, the entire situation had been under the watch of the MPD from the beginning. Most likely, they had planned to use the Seven-Star Demon Hunter to eliminate the demon warlock and sweep up both parties in one go, like a mantis hunting the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

But the demon hunter had clearly sensed their intentions. Instead of finishing off the warlock, he merely crippled him—allowing the warlock to distribute his Abyssal artifacts before death and throw the MPD's plans into chaos.

Now the Police had to deal with both the hunter and the scattered artifacts, putting them under intense pressure.

Enter Kirika Tachibana. Capitalizing on Luo Shu's unexpected victory, and with the Police and the hunter deadlocked, she swooped in and nabbed the warlock's hidden stash of treasures. The classic oriole to the mantis and cicada.

Now, with Natsuki—who had gone to great lengths to personally deal with the demon hunter—standing right in front of her, Kirika divided the bounty (minus the Heart of the Demon) into ten shares and proposed a trade.

A brilliant move, no doubt.

Wait a second… last night when Kirika walked him home, she dropped her lucky wallet. Though she never retrieved it, it was Luo Shu who helped determine its location.

So… could this be another stroke of "luck" because of him?

That would explain why someone like Kirika kept stumbling into such prime opportunities. She had a cheat code—him.

"The clerk split the files containing demonic incantations into ten separate packages, sent them to different addresses, and then committed suicide," Kirika explained calmly. "But thankfully, we managed to recover all of them. And out of goodwill—"

"Natsuki, I'll do a 70-30 split with you."

She smiled warmly at the blank-faced Natsuki, as if she were being generous for an old friend's sake.

"You get 70 and I get 30?" Natsuki said sarcastically.

"If you insist, I'm willing to accept that," Kirika's smile only widened.

Natsuki narrowed her eyes. "Fifty-fifty."

"Sixty-forty, final offer. I'll take 40, but I get first pick," Kirika countered, her expression full of hidden meaning. "Even if we can't be sure which of the ten has the suspected Grade 3 artifact, you know better than anyone that our side is better suited to sealing Abyssal items than the Police."

Natsuki stared at her for a long moment, then finally relented. "Fine. But the addresses have to be chosen at random."

"Deal!"

Kirika agreed without hesitation. She gathered the ten envelopes and quickly shuffled them.

Then she turned to Luo Shu and said, "Luo Shu, you draw one."

His expression froze instantly.

But Kirika looked at him with complete trust. "Don't be nervous. Just pick whichever one feels right. After all, you are my lucky goddess."

I'm not nervous, Luo Shu grumbled internally. I'm just annoyed at how wicked this woman is. She knows I've got absurd luck and still asks me to draw…

But after a brief pause, he reached out toward the envelopes.


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