Yakumo Yukari awakened from her slumber.
A gap split open instantly beside her, and she stepped through it without hesitation, appearing directly before the Halloween Queen.
The Halloween Queen narrowed her eyes slightly the moment she saw the youkai.
"A boundary youkai?"
"How interesting."
Yukari also stared back at her with undisguised curiosity.
"You're not a youkai… yet you possess boundary powers."
"And from the looks of it, your authority over them is even greater than mine."
"So the question is—"
"Who exactly are you?"
The Halloween Queen smiled faintly.
"Me?"
"I am the Star Spirit of Gold and Boundaries."
"A being born from the boundary between life and death beneath the sun."
"The embodiment of the Halloween divinity."
"And one of the centers of the Celtic pantheon."
After hearing that absurdly luxurious self-introduction, Yukari fell silent.
Every title sounded overwhelmingly superior to her own existence.
The difference felt painfully obvious.
It was like comparing a noble young lady raised in aristocratic luxury to a stray child who survived in the slums.
Both possessed similar powers—
Yet their origins were worlds apart.
Instantly, Yukari became dissatisfied.
Then, under the stunned gazes of both the Halloween Queen and Shiroyasha, Yukari suddenly shouted toward empty space.
"Oi! You're watching this, aren't you?!"
"Hurry up and raise my status too!"
"In exchange, I'll wear whatever clothes you want and pose however you like!"
The Halloween Queen immediately froze.
Meanwhile, Shiroyasha's eyes lit up so brightly that she nearly started drooling.
As a proud connoisseur of beautiful girls, Shiroyasha found this development extremely appealing.
She coughed lightly before speaking.
"Ahem."
"I happen to possess an exceptionally powerful Divinity."
"Would you perhaps be interested?"
Shiroyasha sounded genuinely tempted.
After all, even though she herself was female, that certainly did not stop her from appreciating beautiful women.
Unfortunately, Yukari rejected her instantly.
"Go away."
"You shameless voyeur."
Yukari already knew exactly what kind of person Shiroyasha was.
This woman visited Gensokyo constantly and spent all day secretly observing girls everywhere.
There was no way Yukari would trust her.
Shiroyasha looked disappointed.
"What a shame…"
Still, she quickly regained her composure and looked at Yukari curiously.
"Are you really sure that guy will actually—"
Before she could finish speaking—
A brilliant spiritual essence suddenly descended from the void above.
Then it merged directly into Yukari's body.
Both Shiroyasha and the Halloween Queen widened their eyes in shock.
The aura contained within that spirit clearly carried solar authority.
Shiroyasha was stunned.
"That idiot actually gave you a Solar Spirit?"
Now even she was genuinely shocked.
Such a thing was incredibly precious.
Yukari herself looked surprised as well.
But she did not hesitate.
She immediately fused the spirit into her body.
After all, she had already named her conditions aloud.
And considering Izumi's personality, even if she tried refusing later, she would probably still end up being dragged into all kinds of strange situations anyway.
At that point, she might as well take the benefits first.
Yukari had already accepted reality.
As the spirit merged with her body, her youkai power began transforming rapidly into something far more exalted.
Her strength rose continuously.
The atmosphere around her changed completely.
When Shiroyasha and the Halloween Queen finally recovered from their shock, both wore extremely complicated expressions.
They had just witnessed an unbelievable transaction happen in real time.
And the most absurd part—
Izumi had actually agreed.
The two honestly did not know how to react anymore.
Meanwhile, after completely fusing with the spirit, Yukari nodded in great satisfaction.
"This feels wonderful."
Then she looked toward the Halloween Queen and smiled elegantly.
"You two, please come with me."
"Now we can properly talk."
At this moment, Yukari felt as though she had finally transformed from a "wild stray girl" into a genuine noble lady.
Naturally, she was rather pleased with herself.
The Halloween Queen did not refuse.
After all, beings possessing boundary powers were extraordinarily rare across the countless worlds.
Now that she had finally met someone similar to herself, she was genuinely interested.
Meanwhile, all of this naturally remained within Izumi's observation.
The reason he strengthened Yukari was simple.
The Solar Spirit currently had no better use.
Since that was the case, he might as well create another existence comparable to the Halloween Queen.
At present, Izumi possessed far too many Divinities and spiritual authorities anyway.
There were honestly more than he knew what to do with.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Izumi thought of another girl.
Yuyuko.
It was probably time for the ghost princess to obtain a proper physical body.
Though admittedly—
A soul body felt wonderfully cool to the touch.
Still, having an actual body might be even better.