Following the chief priestess's explanation, Honma Meiko, who now understood her physical condition, felt a reminder coming from her diary.
It seemed to be reminding her that the commission to go to the drowning site and find out the truth about her body was now complete.
Under the gaze of the two, Honma Meiko did not answer, but first took out her diary to check it.
Sure enough, according to the diary's notation, she had already completed the previous commission, receiving a considerable reading value reward, and a follow-up commission task also appeared.
To be precise, it was a commission that she could freely choose.
The first option was to abandon her body and become the mountain god of this place in the normal way. Although she would be subject to certain restrictions, she only needed to consume reading value to retain all her emotions and memories under the influence of divinity, and she could also gradually grow into a more powerful god by continuously completing subsequent commissions.
[In the diary's notation, this was an A-rank commission. Besides a large number of points, she could also get an extra lottery chance.]
And after this choice, there was another line of notation in the diary, stating that due to her personal reasons, the actual difficulty of choosing this path would be greatly reduced. This basically confirmed what the chief priestess had said: as long as she died, she could immediately become the mountain god of this place, and then step by step, she could become the revered god of the entire Chichibu region.
However, the diary also noted that after becoming a god in this way, although she could obtain power above special-grade in a short time, her upper limit "would only be" at the level of a regional great god. Even with the diary's help, it would be difficult to develop further.
As for the latter, it was what the chief priestess had just said: continue to cultivate the physical body, with body and spirit advancing together, and finally achieve apotheosis in the flesh.
Doing so would allow her to retain her complete self and not be subject to any restrictions.
After becoming a god, her strength would be greater than that of ordinary gods, and she would still have the possibility of continuing to grow.
However, as she couldn't take a shortcut, this process would be more difficult and long, and she would definitely encounter many dangers.
[In the diary's judgment, this was naturally an S-rank commission.]
Although her two future choices were one A-rank and one S-rank, with this diary's reminder, Honma Meiko suddenly felt her mood lighten considerably.
Gods? Didn't I already obtain this even more magical diary a month ago?
In her eyes, the being that brought the mysterious person across worlds to here, and even created this diary, is more like a true god.
Look at the tone of this diary of mine.
I'm still just a sickly person who has practiced Hamon for a month and gets out of breath after walking a few steps.
And the result is that the diary is reminding me that after making a choice, my upper limit might 'only' be at the level of a regional great god.
So, since the being that created this diary can make me even stronger in the future, what level is that being?
The chief priestess felt that Honma Meiko would definitely not choose to give up her life, which is why she told her that she could still try to walk the path of apotheosis in the flesh, a path that no one had walked in a long time.
If it really didn't work out, it would be fine to return to the original path.
But in reality, looking at the two choices before her, Honma Meiko wasn't really thinking too much for herself at this moment.
After all, she didn't have any particular obsessions or desires right now.
If she died now under the effect of the contract, then with the diary's protection, she would only need to use some reading value to make her spirit appear no different from a normal human in the eyes of ordinary people. She would still be able to interact with people normally and eat and drink normally.
What I'm thinking now is, I can cultivate my body first. If the girls in the group or Miyauchi Hikage encounter any trouble that's hard to deal with, I can then give up my physical body to obtain greater power.
As for whether to join the shrine?
On this point, Honma Meiko had already made a choice when she was chatting with Miyauchi Hikage on the way here.
The chief priestess and the Kano-miko were both very good people, and she herself had no resistance to joining the shrine.
After joining the shrine, she could also use her relationship with these two shrine maidens to help everyone in the group and Miyauchi Hikage.
Therefore, after looking back at Miyauchi Hikage, Honma Meiko stated with a firm expression that she was willing to join the shrine, and called the chief priestess "Sensei."
Hearing Honma Meiko's answer, a smile also appeared on the chief priestess's face.
Accepting a girl who would most likely become a god in the future as a disciple... although it was only the first half of the year, her annual report would definitely shock a bunch of her colleagues.
And her future path to becoming a divine messenger had also become much smoother.
Watching the chief priestess, who was already starting to choose a suitable date for the apprenticeship ceremony, Miyauchi Hikage also felt that this matter had been resolved a bit too easily and simply.
Kanoe Yuuko's matter had caused quite a stir, and he had originally thought he would have to expose his abilities a little more for Honma Meiko's side.
He could only say that a special-grade was truly worthy of being the highest level of combat power on the surface in this world.
Putting aside "the strongest" Gojo Satoru, even this chief priestess, whom he had met for the first time, could give people a strong sense of security. In just a few moves, she had figured out the essence of Honma Meiko's weakness and proposed a solution.
Looking at Honma Meiko, who had made the decision to step onto the path of Shinto, what Miyauchi Hikage thought of now was the Honma Meiko from the original work who had turned into a ghost.
So, was that her final obsession as a human after becoming a god? After reconciling with her childhood friends, did she become the guardian deity of Chichibu City with tears of happiness?
Thinking of it this way, the story becomes a little less sad than the original.
But when it came down to it, he preferred Honma Meiko's current ending a little more.
After all, he himself had died once. It was precisely because he had died once that he cherished the feeling of being alive even more.
Miyauchi Hikage gave Honma Meiko an encouraging smile.
The matter here was pretty much resolved. With the chief priestess taking care of her, he could also go back to Tokyo for school with peace of mind.
This Golden Week holiday was also coming to an end. Thinking about how busy he had been this holiday, Miyauchi Hikage was indeed planning to go to a few concerts and watch some beautiful girls bicker to relax after returning to Tokyo.
Next, the chief priestess was going to take Honma Meiko to the ley line here to communicate with it, to let it see her current choice, and then have the ley line slow down the execution time of the contract.
Miyauchi Hikage felt that it didn't matter whether he participated in this kind of thing. Since it involved Shinto secret arts, it was naturally not suitable for him to watch from the side.
But Honma Meiko felt that she wanted Miyauchi Hikage, the boy who had saved her twice, to accompany her to the very end of this journey.
The chief priestess also thought that this pair of youth and maiden matched quite well. She could secretly help set them up, and perhaps even have a chance to pull Miyauchi Hikage over to the Shinto side. Therefore, she didn't mind him watching.
In short, after sealing up the cabin, and with the chief priestess preparing to deal with the problem of this node later, the three of them continued to walk up the mountain to the summit.
After finding the core of the ley line at the summit, the chief priestess had Honma Meiko stand directly above it, and then she manipulated the spiritual power in her body to begin a deep communication with the ley line.
This process went very smoothly.
The ley line indeed didn't have much intelligence. Although it might be a bit stubborn, its treatment of its own people was truly impeccable.
In Miyauchi Hikage's eyes, the thread connecting Honma Meiko to the ley line changed from its original extraction to a gentle infusion of pure spiritual power into her body after a while, helping her to recover her health as soon as possible.
Seeing that Honma Meiko seemed to be still in a daze, Miyauchi Hikage also reminded her to remember to maintain her breathing to speed up the circulation of spiritual power.
Hamon breathing had a kind of panacea-like effect.
Although the bonuses in all aspects were average, after integrating with various power systems, it could play a slight auxiliary role.
As long as the cultivation method was not related to breathing—for example, the meditation required for cultivating magic power did not have high requirements for breathing—Miyauchi Hikage could cultivate both powers at the same time.
Even if both powers required controlling the breathing rhythm, one could try to find a balance point, fine-tune the breathing rhythm, and generally speed things up a bit.
However, this required a full understanding of both Hamon breathing and the other power systems being cultivated.
But Honma Meiko hadn't mastered the spiritual power cultivation method yet, so just maintaining Hamon breathing was fine.
However, just as Honma Meiko had adjusted her breathing rhythm, a slight tremor interrupted her attempt.
Let alone Honma Meiko, even the chief priestess on the side opened her eyes, looking gravely at the distant mountain peak.
Honma Meiko didn't know what was happening over there, but Miyauchi Hikage knew.
That was the core location of the area where the spatial rift had recently appeared.
Don't be fooled by their current position on the edge; the straight-line distance to the center point was less than five kilometers.
"It's becoming unstable over there again... I wonder how long this spatial fluctuation will last before it stops," the chief priestess actually wanted to go and sort out the problems in the mountainous area.
After all, this kind of spatial fluctuation was quite dangerous. Not only was it dangerous to humans themselves, but it might even trigger a riot from the ley line.
But that area was not under her jurisdiction, and she herself didn't have any spatial abilities, nor could she solve the most critical problem. So she could only wait for the higher-ups to send someone who could handle this kind of thing.
But the place where the spatial fluctuation occurred was in a mountainous area with few people, and it hadn't caused any substantial damage yet.
If the spatial fluctuation had occurred in a bustling city area, the higher-ups would have naturally found various ways to resolve it at all costs long ago.
But the mountainous area didn't matter.
Anyway, space itself had a certain self-repair ability.
Just blockade that mountainous area for a period of time, have the surrounding supernatural beings keep a closer eye on it, make sure nothing unclean comes running out, and then wait until the space in that area returns to normal before opening it to the public again.
"Good thing this is the periphery. Generally speaking, it won't affect us here," the chief priestess briefly explained the unstable space in the mountains to the two, saying that this was a situation that had only occurred occasionally in the last two years.
The chief priestess tried to reassure the two not to worry so much. "But usually, this kind of unstable spatial fluctuation lasts for a month at most before it stops, and at most, only some low-to-mid-grade Cursed Spirits will pop out. It's relatively safe—"
Following her explanation, several thick bolts of lightning struck down from the sky with a loud crash. Even the mountaintop they were currently on was struck by one.
But today was a bright sunny day in and around Chichibu City. There was no rain in the weather forecast, let alone thunder.
And the sudden appearance of this lightning also seemed to be caused by the spatial fluctuation.
The chief priestess frowned.
Why do I feel a special aura in the lightning that just struck?
That was definitely not some ordinary, naturally formed lightning. On the contrary, it was like the supernatural power released by a supernatural being when fighting an enemy.
But among the supernatural beings currently living and active in and around Chichibu City and Asahigaoka, there was no one who specialized in lightning techniques.
So, a Cursed Spirit skilled in lightning techniques has appeared?
Feeling a wave of dissatisfaction from the ley line, the chief priestess knew what was going on.
The originally adjacent ley lines, under the extension of their meridians, had some connections and intertwinement. But now that the space was fluctuating, this ley line could clearly feel the chaotic environment of the fluctuating area. Even on the periphery, it would still have a considerable impact on the ley line.
Continuing to appease the ley line's emotions, the chief priestess also observed the situation in the distance, multitasking, wondering if she needed to have the Kano-miko and several other shrine maidens come over to set up some barriers in the vicinity as a precaution.
But while she was still thinking about these things, the lightning around them struck down continuously again!
Even more intense roaring sounds came from the core area. It was unknown if these roars would spread to Asahigaoka and Chichibu's urban area and start some new urban legends.
And then, Miyauchi Hikage could clearly feel an even stronger tremor coming from the ground beneath his feet again.
No, this is already an earthquake!
He looked at the chief priestess. It seemed today's ritual had to be interrupted.
"It seems this is as far as we can go," the chief priestess said to Honma Meiko. "Ley lines are like this. Although it promised not to forcibly execute the contract on you for the time being, it still feels unhappy. And with the spatial disturbance around, encountering too many unpleasant things at once, it will use this way to vent its dissatisfaction."
"But after grasping their temperament, dealing with ley lines is very simple. And you were originally the mountain god it chose, so you have a great advantage in this regard. With just a little practice, you should be able to make it listen to you, just like now..."
Following the chief priestess's use of a secret art to appease the ley line, just as her words fell, she immediately felt an even more violent spatial distortion erupt from the central region.
Not just the central location, even their current position on the edge was enveloped by this fluctuation!
When the chief priestess came back to her senses, she was stunned to find that Honma Meiko and Miyauchi Hikage had disappeared from before her eyes.
Where are they?!
Could they have been teleported away by the spatial fluctuation just now?
Just as this thought arose in her mind, a sense of unease welled up.
Oh no, the ley line that was just appeased—
In the very next moment, sensing the sudden disappearance of the contractor it had chosen, the ley line beneath her feet went completely berserk!
Along with the suddenly erupting spatial fluctuation, the two forces merged into one. A tremor far more intense than before not only swept through the entire mountain range, but also quickly spread towards the surrounding urban areas!