Chapter 18: The Three Who Leave and Return

Chapter 18: The Three Who Leave and Return

Because Jusenkyo had been completely destroyed, Hikigaya was traveling in the direction he came from, bringing along Mariya Yuri and the little girl.

Along the way, it was an utterly horrific sight—evidently, Hou Yi had taken this same path.

Wherever He had passed, not a blade of grass remained, and all life had vanished.

This further confirmed the correctness of Hikigaya's earlier suspicions.

"Ah…" Mariya Yuri suddenly let out a gasp. She wore a dazed expression, and her eyes turned to a glassy color.

"What did you see?" Hikigaya asked. This girl was a character who had appeared in an anime, so he naturally understood what was happening with this kind of transformation.

Even though he felt that this ability was just barely better than nothing.

"The sun… is spreading death…" With her spiritual vision activated, Mariya Yuri spoke prophetic words. "The crops are all dead, and the people have lost their food…"

It all sounded very familiar.

"Oh." Hikigaya let out a cold chuckle. "Seems like the great god is going all out."

Scorched crops, dead plants, famine for the people—clearly, this was the phenomenon of "ten suns rising at once."

"Hikigaya-kun, aren't you worried? That god might really destroy civilization and bring terror to the world."

Mariya Yuri clearly didn't understand Hikigaya's calm demeanor.

"It's not that exaggerated. It's just a story," Hikigaya laughed and continued forward.

Hikigaya had naturally studied the legend of Hou Yi shooting down the suns.

The story of Hou Yi shooting down the suns was, in fact, a fragmented, historicized, and mythologized version of a cosmogonic tale from the Shang dynasty.

After all, Emperor Jun was the solar god of the Shang's celestial pantheon. The myth goes that although he created the ten suns, he also gave Hou Yi the bow and arrows to shoot down nine of them. That in itself was strange—rather than a tale of salvation, it seemed more like internal strife among the gods.

So among the many interpretations scholars had later developed, the one Hikigaya agreed with most was the ancient dispute between the lunar and solar calendars.

And seeing as the modern calendar is a twelve-month lunar calendar rather than a ten-day solar one, it's clear the lunar calendar prevailed—thus, the shooting of the suns symbolized unifying the ten suns into one, turning the annual solar cycle into a daily one.

It could be inferred that when all ten suns reappeared, it meant Emperor Jun's solar divinity had reached its peak. He represented the entire solar cycle, was the creator of the ten suns, which were once classified as the "Ten Heavenly Stems" in antiquity—each with a different name, role, and distinct godhood.

"If Hou Yi is killed, the ten suns can't be completed…" This was the conclusion Hikigaya reached as he finally walked out of the death zone Hou Yi had created.

Thanks to the power of authority, he had passed over the land at gale-like speed earlier.

Now, beneath the feet of the three was no longer parched earth but verdant meadow.

On the meadow, clumps of purple, yellow, and pink plants interwove. In the distance, herds of cattle and sheep wandered leisurely on the hillside.

But most abundant here were lakes—streams flowing everywhere had formed hundreds of lakes of various sizes and shapes. Under the sunlight, they shimmered like stars in the night sky—brilliant and dazzling.

"Looks like Hou Yi and I are no longer heading in the same direction…" Hikigaya muttered thoughtfully, looking toward where they had come from.

Life and death formed a stark boundary there.

The other party was devouring the earth's spiritual energy on such a massive scale—he had to speed up his actions too.

"Miss Mariya." Hikigaya suddenly called out.

It was the first time he had addressed Mariya Yuri so formally.

"Eh?"

"Sorry to ask this, but… could we kiss?"

"Eh—EHHHHH?!"

"Waaah! So you are a perv!"

Two different but equally shocked voices burst from the mouths of the older and younger girls.

"Be good now, children shouldn't interrupt." Hikigaya ruffled the little girl's head, ignoring her indignant "You're a perv!" and continued speaking to Mariya Yuri, "Because time is short, I want to borrow your ability."

"Ah, I see… but why… do that kind of thing?" Yukari blushed deeply and asked hesitantly.

"Because if you go alone, you might not be able to find it. I don't know magic, but I do know how to guide people. I once knew a martial artist who was also a shrine maiden—if I transmit magical energy to guide you, it should work."

After speaking, Hikigaya sighed inwardly. He realized his emotions were indeed becoming more and more numb.

Despite the fact that she was a girl, simply because he wasn't familiar with her, he could casually talk about kissing and even righteously say it was just for transmitting magic power.

It felt a little dangerous, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He'd worry about it later.

"Uh, this… this…" In front of Hikigaya, the young shrine maiden looked incredibly troubled—her eyes practically turning into spirals.

"Oh, it's fine if you can't do it. It's probably just faster this way." Hikigaya waved it off.

He just wanted to test whether he could use Mariya's spiritual vision to find something like the sacred peachwood from mythology.

But it wasn't necessary—brute force would work too.

In terms of martial artist types, back in the darker days, Hikigaya had been identified as an "aggressor type"—those who preferred to strike first and act with decisiveness.

Since becoming a godslayer, this tendency had only grown stronger.

Schemes and tactics had never been his forte.

He wouldn't claim "brute force solves all," but that feeling of head-on confrontation was just so exhilarating.

"This should be far enough." He stopped. Not far ahead, he saw tents.

Mariya Yuri indeed looked like someone who couldn't hurt a fly—but that was without counting magic.

Shrine maidens were adept at spells. For an ordinary person to harm one was basically unthinkable.

"Little girl, don't run around in the future." Finally, he patted the little girl's head. Waving goodbye to Yuri, and not waiting for her to respond, he leapt into the air and, surrounded by wind, flew off in the direction he came from.

Mariya Yuri's hand, just reaching out to grab the Hikigaya who had been standing before her, froze in place.

She opened her mouth slightly and stared at the white streak in the sky, a look of melancholy on her face.

"Is that your prince charming?" Suddenly, the little girl's voice came from her side.

The voice pulled Yuri from her daze. With reverence, she turned and prostrated herself before the girl, who was standing confidently with hands on hips.

Hikigaya hadn't noticed the little girl's true nature, but Yuri, who was highly attuned spiritually, couldn't possibly have missed it.

Though she didn't understand why this being had taken on such a form, its essence was undeniable.

"Hmph, looking at those books and still can't recognize me?" The little girl arrogantly raised her head. Despite wearing clothes clearly the wrong size, she exuded majesty.

"Yes, but I don't understand… why?" Yukari finally mustered the courage to ask.

Almost instantly, she felt the girl's inner fury.

"Hmph!" The girl snorted haughtily, lifting her head as if refusing to answer.

But then, her face brightened with joy.

Because white smoke was rising from her body.

In that moment, an overwhelming surge of magical power erupted from her.

The next instant, the little girl transformed into a stunningly beautiful young woman.

"Finally… I'm free," the girl sighed. Then her expression darkened, as if she recalled something.

Yuri, still kneeling, trembled—she felt as though she was suffocating.

But in the next moment, the pressure vanished, and she could breathe again.

"Oh shrine maiden, even if your sins warranted gouging your eyes and cutting off your ears, I can now overlook that. Do you know why?"

The girl's voice entered Yukari's ears—chilling to the bone.

"King…" Yukari pleaded, overwhelmed once more by the oppressive aura.

"To be turned into a child, body and soul, by that God-King… As expected. But your master also left a deep impression on me."

The girl's words, though calmly spoken, were shocking.

If Hikigaya were still here, his jaw would probably have dropped.

Her flowing Hanfu elegantly accentuated her figure, blending the majesty of a monarch with the grace of a maiden in perfect harmony.

"Even if it's a fellow 'King,' I will not forgive. Japanese shrine maiden, for your master's sake, just forget everything you saw and heard today."

"Thank you, King. But please allow me to say this: Hikigaya Hachiman absolutely did not intend any offense. He simply didn't know your identity."

"You're indeed bold, shrine maiden." Luo Hao cast her a cold glance, chilling her to the bone.

There was no magical power behind it—just pure, overwhelming pressure from her beauty and presence.

"I, Luo Hao, the supreme martial artist at the pinnacle of martial arts—do you think I can't see that?"

She didn't even look at Yukari, not out of arrogance but sheer disinterest.

"Shrine maiden, know your place. Restrain your urge to speak to me. From now on, unless I give you permission, you are not allowed to speak."

After saying this, she looked around, glanced at the sky, then walked off in a particular direction.

Or rather, she took a single step—and vanished from Mariya Yuri's sight.

Yukari, staring at the now-empty surroundings, collapsed to her knees in despair, then, as if having made a decision, pulled Hikigaya's jacket tight around her and began walking toward the land of death.