"—!”

When the Head reached the room, the heavy scent of blood and thick miasma invaded his senses.

He covered his mouth with his sleeve, braving into the room.

He feared that Ryuuenjou Zantetsu might have did something unimaginable, but that did not explain the existence of the heavy miasma currently overflowing from the room.

The Head was met with an unexpected scene.

To his surprise, Airi was there. Lying in her husband's arm, eyes closed, a pool of blood forming underneath her.

What was more surprising was, that the source of the miasma had been the girl herself.

At the corner of the room, a holy barrier had been erected. The talismans used to erect the barrier had traces of being burnt, but ultimately, it was still standing strong.

Strangely, the barrier was empty. As if the thing it had been containing simply disappeared into thin air.

The Head quickly erected a barrier around the room, intending to contain the miasma. It would be bad if it spilled elsewhere; other spirits and demons might get attracted by it and gather at the manor.

The Head did not see Airi's wound until he approached the pair of lovers. 

"Maihime-sama!" He rushed to her side. But, just like Zantetsu, he was too late. Airi's body was already growing cold.

"You, what happened—" He was about to unleash his rage to the other man, but was abruptly stopped by the empty expression on Zantetsu's face.

It looked as if the man's heart had died alongside his wife.

The Head looked away, unable to watch it any longer.

He took out multiple charms and talismans, muttering incantations after incantations, trying to banish the miasma from Airi's body. But, it was too strong. No matter what he did, the miasma would not fade away.

If all else failed, then he had no choice but to burn her body.

He called for help.

Soon enough, the room was crowded by exorcists.

“Dispel!” The group collectively chanted. “Dispel! Dispel! Dispel!”

The Head summoned his familiar, fuelling his spells with the familiar’s power, “Oh water of the sacred spiritual spring, lend me your strength to purify this pitiful child of man!”

After countless hours of purifying the girl, they finally managed to contain the miasma so that it would not spread out from her corpse.

Once the miasma was cleared, the Head could finally relax.

“Maihime-sama—!” one of the assisting exorcists gasped in shock.

Slowly but surely, Airi’s corpse was turning into black; an obvious sign of miasma poisoning. Soon enough, the miasma would eat away her body until nothing but ashes remain.

“…!” The Head gritted his teeth, his eyes reddening. The girl was already dead. There was no way to stop the body from rotting away into nothingness. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, supressing his sorrow.

The star which had shone so brightly, has now faded.

Zantetsu’s eyes widened as his wife began to disintegrate. “W-what’s happening?! Airi?!” He hugged her body closer, his eyes full of panic. He wanted to do something to stop her from falling apart, but there was nothing he could do. Slowly, her body caved in until only a pile of ashes laid on the floor.

“Ah… ah—!” He made an incorrigible but sorrowful noise as he tried to gather the ashes into his arm.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Airi had once given him a protective charm that protected him from any spiritual harm which he always kept on his person, so the miasma did not affect him in the slightest. He was forced to watch as his wife faded from existence.

The Head fell down to the floor, his face pale. With Airi gone, that became a major loss to the exorcism world.

“Airi…!” He called her name mournfully. Putting formalities aside, he was still her uncle, the closest relative she had.

 However, none of them had any chance to grieve as the earth shook.

From the pile of ashes, a short sword, which had been used by Airi to commit suicide, shot out to the ceiling, creating a beam of dark aura.

“A curse!” Someone shouted out in alarm. “The Maihime has been cursed!”

The Head raised his head in surprise.

Suddenly, in unison, everyone in the room coughed out blood.

“Bloodline… bloodline curse?!” The Head muttered in shock. “What have you done, Airi?!”

The short sword which had been floating in the air suddenly began to crack. Then, a cackling that seemed to have come from the depth of hell began to resonate in their ears.

“Ahahahaha… Sinner… Heretic! AhahahaHAHAHA!”

“Wh-what was that?!”

“A demon?!”

“A strong demon is in our midst! Be careful!” The Head wiped away the trail of blood from the corner of his mouth, raising his guards. He pulled out a stack of talismans, throwing it haphazardly around the room.

“Weaklingsssss…” The dreadful voice whispered tauntingly before disappearing.

Once the short sword broke apart into a hundred pieces, they fell down lifelessly into the puddle of blood.

“Hurry, take the General outside! Everyone, get ready to cast more purification spells!” The Head ordered, gathering his bearings once more.

Several stronger men came over to drag Ryuuenjou Zantetsu out of harm’s way. With no more will to live, he did not fight back nor move as they pulled him out from the room.

After the man had been brought out, more sounds of chanting came out from within the room.