"Begone," I hissed, the word slipping past my lips like a and. It felt right, as if the universe itself was responding to my will. And with that, I smmed the talisman down onto the roof.

  As soon as the talisman made tact with the roof, a brilliant light engulfed me. The energy surged through my body, warm aless, as if something deep within me had been awakehen, I felt it, my clothes shifting.

  My usual dark and pink dress, which perfectly matched my white hair tinged with soft pink, began to ge. The fabric shimmered, dissolving into golden particles before ref into somethihe weight of my attire felt different, lighter, more refined.

  I gnced down, my eyes widening.

  A traditional shrine maiden outfit had repced my dress—a flowing white haori adorned with intricate red patterns along the sleeves, paired with a crimson hakama that swayed gently around my legs. The ribbons that once decorated my hair had transformed into delicate ors resembling tiny golden butterflies.

  “Whoa…” I breathed, running my fingers over the smooth fabric.

  From below, Yuzu let out aed squeal. “Mashiro! Mashiro so cute! So bery shrine! So divine!” She practically sparkled as she jumped up and dowail wagging furiously.

  Catherine, oher hand, facepalmed. “Oh great. She’s evolving.”

  Before I could process their reas, a notification flickered in front of me.

  [Css Obtained: Shrine Maiden of Fortune][Effect: +20% effectiveo purification abilities. Shrine-based Gacha rolls now avaible.]

  A wave of energy erupted from the charm, the force of it vibrating through the air. A brilliant fsh of light shot out in all dires, and for a split sed, everything around me was bathed in a pure, blinding radiahe cockroaches froze in midair, their erratients halted as if caught in the force of the talisman’s power. A deep, resonating hum filled the air, and the moment, the cockroaches were flyiically.

  I stared at the cockroaches, a wave of disbelief washing over me as the energy from the talisman slowly faded into the air. The brilliant light that had engulfed the area now dissipated, leaving only the lingering hum of the charm’s power. My grip oalisman tightened instinctively, my heart still pounding with the residual adrenaline.

  The cockroaches, once buzziically, now hovered uainty in the air, their movements sluggish and uncoordihey looked... different. The aura of mehat had once surrouhem seemed to evaporate, leaving them looking almost... normal? But still repulsive. The disgusting twitg of their legs and their grotesque, glossy wings hadn’t ged. They were still cockroaches. Huge ones. But something was different—something had shifted.

  << Gokibura (Lv. 3) >>Health Points: 35/264 [13.25%]Attack: 4Category: Monsters

  Description: Evil spirits exorcised, now they're Just regur big sized cockroaches. STILL THEY”RE COCKROACHES, KILL IT NOW!

  I blinked, my mouth falling open slightly in surprise. The talisman’s effect had purged whatever supernatural aura had been driving them, stripping away their terrifying powers. But it hadn’t made them any less disgusting. They were still cockroaches, and the idea of them buzzing around my head made my skin crawl all ain.

  My heart skipped a beat as the snowy ailed fox slipped from my grip, darting forward with incredible speed. For a moment, all I could do was wat stunned silence as she leapt through the air, her graceful form cutting through the space like a streak of white lightning. Without hesitation, she nded squarely on one of the cockroaches, sinkieeth into its hard exoskeleton with surprising strength. The cockroach gave a loud, disgusting screech, its wings fluttering wildly as the fox tossed it effortlessly toward me.

  "Wha–!" My body reacted on instinct, my sword raised just in time to intercept the ining cockroach. The bde sliced through the air with a sharp whoosh, cleaving through the cockroach’s body as it flew at me. But that wasn’t all—the moment the cockroach made tact with the edge of my sword, a butterfly spawned behind me.

  The butterfly’s ethereal form shimmered as it desded upon the cockroach with a flurry of graceful, yet deadly, attacks. Its wings beat in rapid succession, and flew towards the cockroad disied the i entirely.

  I stood frozen for a split sed, watg as the glowing energy from the butterfly flickered and faded. The only thi in the air was the faint st of ozone, alongside a familiar gem it dropped in which I immediately took before it fell down onto my feet.

  [+45 EXP][+20 on EXP ][+4 Luminous Gem]

  The remaining two cockroaches, now visibly shaken, buzzed in the air, clearly more cautious than before. But they weren’t going down that easily.

  I breathed, still trying to process what had just happened. "That was… impressive," I murmured, turning to the ailed silver fox that had just nded gracefully beside me on the roof.

  She shook her fur lightly, her ails flig behind her in a rhythmic sway, as if leaping straight into a cockroach mid-air had been nothing more than a casual pastime for her. Despite her small frame, barely the size of a housecat, she had just proven herself more capable than I could have ever expected. And more importantly… She could fly?!

  I stared at her, my ears twitg. "How… how did you even do that?"

  The fox simply tilted her head at me, her deep eyes shining with somethiween mischief and wisdom. Then, without answering, she sat down primly, as if expeg me to figure it out myself.

  Catherine’s voice echoed up from below, her toh relieved and slightly incredulous. "Well, I guess that's one way to deal with them."

  I quickly shifted my attention back to the remaining cockroaches, fog once more oask at hand. I wasn’t out of danger yet, and with their newfound resolve, I khe fight was far from over.

  "Alright, let’s finish this," I muttered, tightening my grip on my sword once more.

  Yuzu’s excited voice rang out from below, filled with enthusiasm. “Yuzu ready to help! Let’s make them squish!”

  I shook my head, my grip tightening around my sword. “It’s okay! I’ll ha alone!” I called back. There was something about this moment—the rush of battle, the talisman’s lingering warmth in my hand, and the ued power I had just gaihat made me want to see this through by myself.

  Taking a deep breath, I steadied my stan the rooftop. My wings had stopped fluttering wildly, and I noticed something peculiar, my stamina had fully recovered. A quice at my status firmed it.

  << Mashiro’s Wings Lv. 1 >>Stamina: 100/100 [100%]

  It seemed that as long as I wasn’t actively flying, my stamina would regee on its own. ve… It was the kind of game meic you’d expect from a gacha system.

  I didn't waste time thinking—I simply moved. With a quick flutter, my butterfly wings spread wide, catg the sunlight as I propelled myself upward. The weight of my new shrine maiden attire barely registered as I swung my sword through the air, aiming for the remaining two flying cockroaches.

  The sun was shining directly oheir glossy bck shells refleg the light in an uling way. My first strike—missed. They were fast, darting uably iic zigzags. I ched my teeth, adjusting my grip before twisting midair and sshing again.

  This time, my bde ected. A sharp crackle rang out as I nded a solid hit, dealing 15 damage to both of them. Almost instantly, the golden swallowtail butterfly h near me fluttered forward, shing out with a shimmering wing strike. A soft pulse of light followed as it dealt an additional 2 damage to each cockroach.

  I exhaled, feeling a strange sense of ease. After being struck by my talisman, the cockroaches had lost their bizarre immunity, weakened signifitly now that they had shifted from the NONO category intur monsters.

  They were still disgusting, still fast—but now, they could be dealt with.

  Taking advantage of their sluggish movements, I struck again, my bde slig ly through the air. Another direct hit. The cockroaches twitched violently, their wings faltering as their HP dwindled further.

  Out of the er of my eye, a sudden blur of white caught my attention. The ail fox had leapt into a.

  With a, almost effortless motion, she soared through the air, her fluffy tails trailing behind her like wisps of cloud. Her small yet sharp fangs tched onto one of the remaining cockroaches mid-flight, sinking in before she whipped her head around and flung it toward me.

  My eyes widened. "Wha—?!"

  No time to think. Instinct kicked in. I raised my sword just as the airborne cockroach hurtled toward me. With a swift downward ssh, I struck it midair, the impact sending it crashing toward the shrine’s roof.

  The swallowtail butterfly followed up with another precise attack, striking the now-grounded i with a final, glimmering blow.

  [+45 EXP][+20 on EXP ]

  One down, as it turned into a luminous gem. O remaining.

  I steadied my breath, my grip tightening around my sword. The st cockroach was still buzzing freely, its erratic flight pattern making it hard to predict. It twitched, jaw clig as it zeroed in on me.

  But before it could make its move, the ail fox’s eyes gleamed. She coiled her body midair, her paws barely toug the shrine’s rooftop as she unched herself once more, her movements swift, graceful—predatory. Her arget was clear.

  The final cockroach had o run.