"By the way... Mr. Reeve, you couldn't understand the incantation I just said?"
The little girl was very polite, her wide eyes looking at Lucas Reeve a little cautiously.
Although Lucas Reeve was the Shikigami she had summoned, for some reason, the little girl felt uneasy.
Because this Shikigami named Lucas Reeve was really a bit... strange.
According to her father, Shikigami were nothing more than Yōkai that were difficult for the ordinary human eye to perceive. These beings usually lived in the Spirit World. These Yōkai, unable to maintain their form in the mortal world, would actively sign a contract with an Onmyōji when a formation was cast, or, with the blessing of the Onmyōji's power, gain the ability to freely travel between the mortal and Spirit Worlds.
And the so-called Spirit World was what Lucas Reeve called the world of souls.
This was also why Yōkai were rarely seen in Higashi. Only great Yōkai with immense power could possibly break through the barrier between the Spirit World and the mortal world.
Furthermore, to prevent a Shikigami from turning on its Onmyōji, as long as the Yōkai agreed during the summoning, a Shikigami contract would be automatically signed under the power of the barrier and the ritual, sharing power and life with the Onmyōji.
But... although Lisa could feel that she had indeed signed a Shikigami contract with him, this contract gave her no peace of mind at all.
Lisa scooted back towards the corner of the bed, slightly afraid.
Her jewel-like, brilliant eyes were filled with a pitiful look.
She asked tentatively.
"Uh... I really couldn't understand it."
Lucas Reeve told the truth.
And Lisa grew even more flustered. "But... my dad told me that this information would be injected into the Shikigami's mind through the contract.... How could you..."
"Shikigami contract?"
Lucas Reeve scratched his head.
"You mean this?"
He used his hand to pull a glittering, talisman-like object out of his spiritual body. The talisman had no physical form and was made entirely of energy.
"!!!"
Lisa's scalp tingled. She was even more frightened now.
Her small body trembled slightly.
She had just clearly sensed that when the talisman was taken out of his body, the Shikigami contract she could feel had vanished.
*Mmph!!*
This is!!!
A great Yōkai!!!
Lisa remembered her dad telling her before that, generally speaking, a Shikigami contract could control 99.9% of Yōkai. But if the power gap between the Yōkai and the Onmyōji was too large, the contract would be invalid. However, this situation rarely happened, as great Yōkai wouldn't bother with weak Onmyōji. And in Higashi, Onmyōji and Yōkai weren't strictly mortal enemies as depicted in novels, but rather partners. They had no fundamental grudge against each other.
"A great Yōkai?"
How did I suddenly become a Yōkai? I'm a god!
Lucas Reeve carefully observed the young girl before him.
She looked like a twelve or thirteen-year-old loli.
She had a head of brilliant golden short hair, and on both sides of her head were cute fox ears bigger than her face. Her features were very sweet and cute, with a bit of baby fat on her cheeks that made one want to pinch them.
Her figure was small and adorable. Due to her young age, she hadn't developed yet. The most eye-catching feature was her tails—a full nine golden fox tails, fluffy and... well, Lucas Reeve thought they looked quite hot. He wondered if little Lisa felt the heat in the summer.
However, the most radiant thing about her was her soul.
To be honest, Lucas Reeve had never seen a soul like this before.
He had seen flawless souls, but he had never seen a soul so pure and flawless that it seemed to have a faint glow deep within.
What an absolutely peerless, top-tier model student.
This child...
Her soul seemed to be glowing!
"Ahem, how should I put this, little girl? In fact, I'm not some Yōkai. I'm just an ordinary, unremarkable spirit. However, other people like to call me a god~"
In the past, Lucas Reeve didn't like to call himself a god.
He always felt that he was a person, a person of flesh and blood.
But as he absorbed more Prayer Power and the divine radiance within him grew brighter, for some reason, Lucas Reeve gradually got used to the title of god.
After all, the people around him, including the High Priest, Zumama, and even Flame Demon, regarded him as a god.
"A... god?!!"
Lisa was taken aback for a moment. Her eyes widened, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.
Disbelief... yet also belief.
Lisa didn't know what her state of mind should be right now.
"Lord God... why would you... answer my call and become my Shikigami...."
Lisa found it hard to believe.
Lucas Reeve pointed to the Omamori on her chest.
"My soul fragment was inside this."
"It was just in a dormant state. The power you input forcibly awakened my soul fragment, so I appeared. Since you awakened me ahead of schedule, you've helped me out, so I decided to go along with it and become your Shikigami. Otherwise, you don't really think this Shikigami contract could actually work on me, do you?"
"Oh~"
Lisa was in a bit of a daze.
Lucas Reeve didn't seem to be lying, and there was no need for him to lie. She was just an ordinary little girl; there was no benefit in lying to her.
"Is what you said true, Lord God?"
"True. More real than an XX-brand pearl."
Lisa: "?"
"You can make a wish. As a god, and since fate brought us together, I can grant you any wish for free, Miss Lisa."
Lisa was extremely nervous. Her soft little hands were clasped together, nervously fiddling with her fingers.
"Can... can I wish for anything?"
Lisa took him seriously.
After all, she was just a little girl, and she easily believed Lucas Reeve's words without a shred of doubt.
"Really."
Seeing Lucas Reeve's affirmative reply, Lisa took a deep breath, a glimmer of determination flashing in her eyes: "Lord God!! I want to become strong!! I want to become strong enough to protect my mom!!"
In fact, Lisa was full of regret today, especially when she saw on the screen that her mother had to face so many enemies alone because of her. Lisa regretted being so weak. If only she could be as strong as her father!! She could definitely protect her mother! But her father, due to his duties as a priest, had to stay at the shrine and could not leave without permission.
She didn't blame her mother for hiding the fact that she was an assassin.
On the contrary, Lisa was very sensible, more sensible than any of her peers.
She knew her mother hid it for her own good, to let her have a normal life. She also hated herself for being powerless and unable to share her mother's burdens.
Once, Lisa's dream was simply for her family of three to live happily together.
But now, after what had just happened, Lisa's dream had changed.
She!!
Wanted to protect her mother!! Protect her family!!
And she knew very well why her mother didn't dare to go to the hospital, and that the ones who kidnapped her were definitely traitors from her mother's side. In other words, not only did the enemy want her mother dead, but her own people might want her mother dead too!
Looking at Lisa's determined eyes, Lucas Reeve knew that she wasn't joking; it came from the bottom of her heart.
"Good!! That's an excellent wish, little girl~"
Lucas Reeve was very pleased.
This wish finally touched upon what Lucas Reeve was best at. Getting stronger?!
He had ten thousand ways to make Lisa stronger.
"But... those mafia members are very powerful. I'm afraid I...."
Lisa quickly became disheartened again. Even if she had a great desire, her own body was still too weak.
Lucas Reeve was taken aback.
"Powerful?"
"How many divisions does he have?"
Powerful?
Lucas Reeve didn't sense it.
After all, those few hundred mafia members and a group of carefully trained assassins weren't even enough to scratch the paint on his Titan.
Lisa: "Divisions?"
"Um, Mr. Reeve, do you have a way to make me strong? Lisa isn't afraid of hard work! And I'm not afraid of pain! As long as I can protect my mom, I don't want to see her get hurt anymore!!"
Lucas Reeve nodded confidently.
"I do!"
With that, Lucas Reeve directly asked Lisa for a pen and paper. Materializing his hands, he began to write and draw under Lisa's astonished gaze.
A spirit...
Can touch!!! Things in the material world!!!
This completely overturned Lisa's understanding of the world.
Mr. Reeve really is a god!!
Lucas Reeve wrote and drew for a while, designing several power-up plans for Lisa.
He wasn't the same as before. In the past, he had no choice but to act as a substitute to make Jessica stronger. But things were different now. Lucas Reeve was a master forger and a master mechanic. Why get his hands dirty when he could solve things with machinery?
"Miss Lisa, I've designed a suit of power armor for you. It has two Vulcan cannons on the shoulders, firing 1000 rounds per second. If you want, you can turn any mafia member into Swiss cheese in half an hour."
Lisa: "???"
"Second option, Titan Mecha Mark II. It's armed with a 60mm custom automatic rifle that can transform into a sniper rifle. It has numerous Originium missiles on its back, and six Vulcan cannons mounted on the back and shoulders, firing 2000 rounds per second. Even if your mafia has a whole division, they wouldn't last long. Just give the word, and you'll be the mafia's worst nightmare."
Lisa: "???"
"Not satisfied? We still have a third option. An improved drone. The surface of the drone is made of Nirvana Metal, and the propellers are made of D35 Alloy, so it's very sturdy. The drone is equipped with a large Vulcan cannon firing 3000 rounds per second. After we run out of ammo, we can self-destruct. The drone is loaded with a super-yield Originium bomb. One explosion and a whole village will be gone."
"However, the only drawback might be that the ammunition is too expensive...."
"No problem, we don't have to use Originium Rounds. We can just use steel pellets instead. The power isn't as great, but there's plenty of it."
After listening to Lucas Reeve's introduction, Lisa was completely speechless.
Lord God seemed to have misunderstood her.
What she meant was that she wanted to become a powerful Onmyōji... like her father...
"Lord... Lord God, actually, I'd rather have my own strength, not rely on external forces... I want to be like my father, to become a powerful Onmyōji."
Lisa was very careful when she said this.
She was afraid that her words might anger Lucas Reeve.
"Sure~"
Lucas Reeve nodded with a smile.
——————————
That night, another storm brewed within the Siracusa mafia. In a remote, abandoned square, piles of bodies were stacked up. Rumor had it that this was the work of Siracusa's legendary assassin.
The work of [Vulpisfoglia].
The atmosphere within the [Famiglia Venezia] mafia was a bit off.
Because [Vulpisfoglia] wasn't dead.
Over two hundred men couldn't take her down...
And despite a night-long search, there was no trace of [Vulpisfoglia] to be found.
At this moment, within the [Famiglia Venezia] mafia, Antonio, one of the biggest figures in the powerful mafia family, paced back and forth in his office. With the current mafia boss gravely ill and likely to kick the bucket at any moment, he, as a candidate for leadership, naturally wanted to eliminate his rival's assets as much as possible. And his rival, the other candidate Christian, had Siracusa's strongest assassin, Vulpisfoglia, under his command, who had become a major headache for Antonio.
Over the years, he had tried desperately to eliminate her.
As long as Vulpisfoglia was dead, Christian would pose no threat at all. He had even gone so far as to break the rules and kidnap Vulpisfoglia's daughter, sending over two hundred men to kill her.
But... but he had still failed!!
However, according to local surveillance, Vulpisfoglia was also very heavily injured before she left. She was probably hiding somewhere right now.
"Find her! Find Vulpisfoglia's whereabouts for me!! She must have been seriously injured. Without going to a hospital, it's impossible for her to recover quickly. Strike while the iron is hot!!"