Chapter Summaries

Azer and Asatake Yoshino grew noticeably closer, and they agreed to keep spending time together instead of canceling their engagement. They settled on telling the town that they were dating to see if they were compatible before making the engagement official.

• At breakfast, Hitachi Mako and Muramasa questioned Azer and Asatake Yoshino about their suddenly close relationship, and Yoshino helped Azer when he choked on his soup.
• Asatake Yoshino said she and Azer planned to keep spending time together, while Asatake Anqing eagerly raised the prospect of marriage and Muramasa teased her.
• Azer apologized for previously wanting to cancel the engagement, and Asatake Anqing reassured Yoshino that her happiness mattered most to him.
• Asatake Anqing asked how they should answer people asking about the engagement, and Azer proposed describing them as a couple dating to see whether they were compatible.
• Asatake Yoshino and Hitachi Mako approved Azer's proposal, and Asatake Anqing agreed to announce it.

Asatake Anqing told Sui Zhi’s elders that Azer and Asatake Yoshino were only trying matchmaking, and the news spread through Umou Academy. Their classmates’ excitement soon shifted to new transfer student Rena Lichtnerova, who already knew Azer and worked at Shinato Inn.

• Asatake Anqing reassured the elders that Azer and Asatake Yoshino were trying to get along through matchmaking, and they accepted his explanation.
• Azer and Asatake Yoshino faced excited questions from their classmates, while Kurama Rentaro secretly envied their relationship and resolved to pursue foreign tourists.
• Nakajo Hinami introduced Rena Lichtnerova, a Northern European transfer student, to Azer’s class.
• Rena happily reunited with Azer and revealed that she worked at Shinato Inn, where Kurama Rentaro’s grandfather had warned her to be careful around him.
• The girls told Rena about Kurama Rentaro’s reputation, leaving him unable to approach her and prompting Azer and the boys to console him.

Rena quickly befriended her classmates, while Azer explained Asatake Yoshino’s status and reassured her that she could treat the Shrine Maiden normally. After school, Azer and Yoshino walked home together, but Yoshino’s animal ears appeared again, and they prepared to make another trip that night.

• Kurama Rentaro stopped flirting with Rena after Azer warned him that Kurama Genjurou might punish him for pursuing a Shinato Inn employee.
• Rena befriended Hitachi Mako and spoke politely with Asatake Yoshino before learning that Yoshino was called Princess Sui Zhi and that Azer was her arranged marriage partner.
• Rena left for work after school, while Hitachi Mako and Muramasa gave Azer and Asatake Yoshino time alone.
• Azer reflected on Muramasa’s isolation and decided he should talk with her, while Yoshino said she wished she were as outgoing as Rena.
• Asatake Yoshino’s animal ears appeared during her walk with Azer, and she agreed to make another trip that night so she could grow stronger and stop holding everyone back.

Azer led Asatake Yoshino, Hitachi Mako, and Murasame into the mountains to confront a Cursed God, while revealing his plan to capture it alive and study it. After the Cursed God attacked and the group fought it off, Azer took the secret weapon from his bag, leaving its identity unrevealed.

• Azer, Asatake Yoshino, Hitachi Mako, and Murasame searched the mountains for the Cursed God, and Azer carried a mysterious, full shoulder bag.
• Hitachi Mako sensed the Cursed God, which emerged from the bushes and lunged at Azer with unusual speed.
• Hitachi Mako and Asatake Yoshino fought the Cursed God while Azer knocked it back with his sheathed sword; Asatake Yoshino dodged its counterattack using what Azer had taught her.
• Azer told the others he intended to capture the Cursed God alive so he could study it and seek a lasting solution to the curse.
• Azer removed his shoulder bag and pulled out the secret weapon he had prepared.

Azer used Divine Power-infused Shimenawa, Hitachi Mako’s help, and Asatake Yoshino’s Hoko Bell to capture the Cursed God alive. The group headed down the mountain with the captive, hoping to study it and find a way to lift Yoshino’s curse before it worsened.

• Azer revealed that he had infused a Shimenawa with Divine Power so it could restrain the Cursed God.
• Azer and Hitachi Mako used the Shimenawa to bind the Cursed God, while Asatake Yoshino struck it with her Hoko Bell when it tried to escape.
• Azer used Muramasa to cut the Cursed God’s tentacles, then stuffed the bound creature into his shoulder bag and sealed it shut.
• Azer explained that the Shimenawa’s Divine Power was slowly grinding against the filth and that Yoshino’s curse would remain until the Cursed God was exorcised or purified.
• Muramasa warned Yoshino and Hitachi Mako to keep their distance from Azer and the captive, and the group set off down the mountain.

Asatake Anqing joined Azer, Yoshino, and Mako at Tatsumi Shrine, where they had captured a Cursed God for Komagawa Mitsuha to study in hopes of lifting the Asatake family curse. While Yoshino and Mako left to bathe and rest, Azer stayed behind, his expression turning serious.

• Anqing waited anxiously for Yoshino and Azer to return from the mountain, then followed Mako to Tatsumi Shrine when she asked him to come.
• Anqing discovered that Azer and Yoshino had captured the Cursed God inside a Binding Rope and thanked Azer for trying to help resolve the Asatake family curse.
• Anqing summoned Komagawa Mitsuha, whose family had expertise in Shinto, defilement, and curses, to examine the captive Cursed God.
• Mitsuha began investigating the Cursed God while Azer and Muramasa maintained the Binding Rope with Divine Power.
• Muramasa urged Azer, Yoshino, and Mako to bathe and rest, and Azer persuaded Yoshino and Mako to leave.
• Azer stayed behind instead of leaving with Yoshino and Mako, then looked at Muramasa with a serious expression.

Asatake Yoshino agreed to reveal the hidden history behind Sui Zhi’s curse and explained how an Asatake heir unleashed it and Muramasa became a Human Pillar. The tale ended with the curse still afflicting the Asatake family, leaving Azer to learn why it endured.

• Azer pressed Muramasa to disclose the full truth about the curse, arguing that secrecy would hinder research into the captured Cursed God.
• Asatake Yoshino and Hitachi Mako returned, and Yoshino agreed to tell Azer what had been concealed.
• After bathing, Azer visited Yoshino’s room, where she explained that Sui Zhi’s public legend had omitted important truths.
• Yoshino revealed that the elder Asatake brother rebelled against his younger brother, brought in a neighboring army, and sacrificed a Dog God through a forbidden ritual that unleashed the curse.
• Yoshino explained that Muramasa became a Human Pillar for the Divine Sword, enabling the younger brother to purify the defilement and defeat the invaders and his elder brother.
• Azer noted that the Asatake family’s curse had continued, and Yoshino confirmed it.

Asatake Yoshino revealed how the curse had afflicted her family for generations, and Azer reassured her that he would help investigate it. He told her she was not allowed to die before he had watched her dance again, then kissed her at the Asatake residence.

• Asatake Yoshino explained that the curse had caused her family to have only short-lived female heirs and that it would continue producing Cursed Gods from accumulated filth.
• Asatake Yoshino confessed that she had hidden the family’s history to avoid implicating Azer, then apologized for keeping him in the dark.
• Azer helped Asatake Yoshino up and said that knowing the curse’s origins would help his research, and that he wanted to help despite being an outsider.
• Azer reminded Asatake Yoshino that he was her fiancé and insisted that she live so he could watch her dance again.
• Asatake Yoshino blushed and thought about kissing, and Azer kissed her while they were alone in the house.

Azer and Asatake Yoshino woke together after spending the night in her room, accepted that their relationship had changed, and began calling each other by their first names. Muramasa interrupted them, then revealed she had been searching for her missing Master.

• Azer woke beside Yoshino and reassured her that he did not think badly of her for how their relationship had progressed.
• Yoshino agreed to call Azer by his name, and the two happily repeated each other's names as they acknowledged their closeness.
• Muramasa entered the room while Azer and Yoshino were under the covers, apologized for interrupting, and left them embarrassed.
• After Azer and Yoshino dressed, Muramasa teased them about their sudden relationship and said she had searched for Master because he was missing.
• Azer asked whether Muramasa had been anxious only because he was missing, and Muramasa remembered something and turned serious.

Muramasa and the others discovered a fragment of the Yorishiro inside the vanished Cursed God and realized it could be the source of the Asatake family's curse. After learning that gathering and purifying all the fragments might break the curse, Azer agreed to search the mountains using his ability to sense them.

• Muramasa led Azer and Asatake Yoshino to the Shrine, where they learned the Cursed God had vanished and left behind a pale fragment.
• Komagawa Mitsuha explained that the fragment was likely part of the Yorishiro that housed the Power of Resentment and gave birth to the Cursed God.
• Muramasa and Komagawa Mitsuha said that collecting the Yorishiro fragments, purifying the filth, and soothing the Dog God's soul could lift the curse.
• Asatake Yoshino leaned into Azer's embrace as she and Asatake Anqing struggled to contain their hope that the curse could be broken.
• Azer said he might be able to sense the fragments, accepted the Yorishiro fragment from Komagawa Mitsuha, and prepared to search the mountains.

Azer took Asatake Yoshino, Hitachi Mako, and Muramasa into the mountains to search for the Yorishiro fragments. By nightfall, they had recovered roughly one-fifth of the Yorishiro, and Azer agreed to resume searching during the day after the others urged him to rest.

• Azer headed into the mountains with Asatake Yoshino, Hitachi Mako, and Muramasa to search for the Yorishiro fragments.
• Azer used Divine Power and his connection to the fragment to sense a direction, then unearthed another piece of the Yorishiro.
• The two fragments fused, strengthening the Yorishiro and making it easier for Azer to sense more fragments.
• Azer spent the day finding and joining fragments scattered around the mountain, restoring roughly one-fifth or one-sixth of the Yorishiro.
• Azer proposed searching through the night, but Muramasa, Asatake Yoshino, and Hitachi Mako urged him to rest, so he agreed to return during the day.

Azer followed the controlled Asatake Yoshino into the mountain, where the Yorishiro fragment summoned a horde of Cursed Gods. After defeating the first one and recovering its fragment, Azer found himself surrounded and charged into the attackers to protect Yoshino and Hitachi Mako.

• The crimson Yorishiro fragment awakened during the night and controlled Asatake Yoshino, who carried it out of the residence.
• Azer, Hitachi Mako, and Muramasa followed Yoshino up the mountain as the fragment emitted a signal calling to other fragments.
• A Cursed God appeared and lunged for Yoshino, but Azer cut it down and caught the fragment it dropped.
• More Cursed Gods emerged from the surrounding forest and encircled the group while the Yorishiro continued to summon them.
• The Cursed Gods attacked with countless tentacles, and Azer shoved Hitachi Mako and Asatake Yoshino into the brush before charging the horde.

Azer fought the Cursed Gods attacking Asatake Yoshino and Hitachi Mako, then discovered the Yorishiro fragments were using Sui Zhi’s corruption to revive them. He began killing the Cursed Gods and recovering their fragments, but the remaining enemies suddenly merged into a single enormous beast.

• Azer slaughtered Cursed Gods while Hitachi Mako pulled Asatake Yoshino out of their path, and he drew the attackers away by taking Yoshino’s Yorishiro fragment.
• Muramasa realized the fragments were absorbing corruption from Sui Zhi to create new Cursed Gods whenever the old ones were purified.
• Azer concluded that recovered fragments would be protected by Divine Power, then charged the horde and merged fragments into the Yorishiro as he killed their Cursed God forms.
• The Cursed Gods stopped attacking, collapsed into black mud, and merged into a huge beast that roared through the forest.

Azer and Mako fought the Dog God, a powerful resentful spirit formed from the Cursed Gods. Azer unleashed his full Divine Power and cut the Dog God down, leaving a large crystal behind.

• The Cursed Gods merged into the Dog God, whose gaze fixed on Muramasa and the vessel fragments in Azer’s hands.
• The Dog God attacked Azer at high speed, striking him into a tree and forcing him to evade its relentless assaults.
• Yoshino sent Mako to help, but the Dog God knocked her away after she used a substitution technique to stab its eye.
• Azer severed the Dog God’s tail with a powerful slash, then increased his Divine Power and cut through its body with Muramasa.
• The Dog God froze and dissolved into the wind, leaving a large crystal stone on the ground.

After defeating the Dog God, Azer combined the Yorishiro fragments and searched Sui Zhi for the missing piece. He found it at Shinato Inn, where Rena’s ability to see Muramasa revealed that the fragment was connected to her.

• Azer checked that Muramasa, Hitachi Mako, and Asatake Yoshino were safe, then joined the Yorishiro fragments into a jewel that still had one piece missing.
• Azer expanded the Yorishiro’s signal across Sui Zhi and sensed the final fragment at the foot of the mountain.
• Azer led Muramasa, Asatake Yoshino, and Hitachi Mako to Shinato Inn and obtained permission to search inside.
• Azer and the others found Rena in a staff room, and she surprised them by seeing Muramasa.
• Azer realized the final fragment was on Rena and said they should talk.

Azer and his companions found the final Yorishiro fragment in Rena’s possession, and she gave it to them to help end the curse. They restored the Yorishiro and enshrined it at Tatsumi Shrine, where Asatake Anqing began the rites that would eventually calm the Dog God’s spirit and lift the curse.

• Azer identified Rena’s headaches and ringing ears as effects of the Yorishiro fragment she carried as a family heirloom.
• Asatake Yoshino explained the curse and the Yorishiro to Rena, who believed her friends and agreed to give them the fragment.
• Azer joined Rena’s fragment to the Yorishiro, completing it and ending her symptoms, while Muramasa explained that daily prayers and Dedication Dances were still needed to pacify the Dog God’s spirit.
• Azer and the others took the complete Yorishiro to Tatsumi Shrine, where Asatake Anqing enshrined it and promised to pray daily alongside Yoshino’s Dedication Dance.
• Muramasa said the rites would eventually end the curse, prevent new Cursed Gods from appearing, and turn the Yorishiro’s power into protection for Sui Zhi.

After the curse was lifted, Azer comforted Asatake Yoshino as she struggled to accept how quickly events had changed and feared he would return home. Yoshino admitted she wanted him to stay, and Azer carried her home together as dawn broke.

• After the ritual, Azer stayed behind at the Shrine and found Asatake Yoshino waiting for him.
• Yoshino said the curse's sudden resolution felt unreal, and Azer suggested that fate and her ancestors might have brought it about.
• Azer explained that he wanted to explore the world's mysteries, prompting Yoshino to ask whether he planned to return home now that Sui Zhi was safe.
• Yoshino confessed that she did not want Azer to leave because she would be lonely, and Azer said he would stay and take responsibility for their relationship.
• Azer carried Yoshino toward home as they laughed together in the morning light.