"After the threat of the Bathysmal Vishap was gone, greed began to grow among some people. They guided the populace to regard a machine as a Archon and promoted a distorted system called the Sunchildren."
"Seven infants would be chosen from among the newborns. These seven infants would serve as the rulers of Enkanomiya, but how would children know how to govern? The true power holders were naturally those people behind the scenes."
Hmm, puppet emperors.
As a Chinese person from Earth, Shiki naturally knew what kind of trick this so-called Sunchildren was.
On the surface, they put forward a puppet, while they themselves were the ones truly giving orders.
As for the consequences of having children rule, just think about Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
"Then what happened?" Shiki asked, "Children will eventually grow up; they can't remain ignorant forever."
"Later… Heh heh, those people naturally thought of that, so they held the Rite of Returning to the Sun."
"Those ignorant Sunchildren, at a specific age, would wear splendid clothes and walk into the Mikoshi."
"Wouldn't that leave nothing but ashes?!" Shiki exclaimed in shock.
There was no need to elaborate on how high the temperature of the Mikoshi was. Even she wouldn't dare to cross the barrier and enter the core. The fate of those Sunchildren who entered was easily imaginable.
"That's right. Darkness breeds from light. That period was the darkest time in Enkanomiya. Those in power used the Sunchildren to plunder wealth unscrupulously. The entire Byakuyakoku suffered terribly, and Aberaku was imprisoned and died during this time under the charge of rebellion."
"Until the arrival of Watatsumi Omikami, He saved the people from tyranny. As for what happened afterward, I presume you already know."
Eboshi's words plunged Shiki into silence. She had still underestimated the depths of human depravity.
Although this was a fundamental flaw of humanity, still…
She really wanted to ask these people, what do you consider life to be?
Seven children, raised as puppets from birth, unable to do anything yet bearing the resentment of the populace, and finally, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, just as their thoughts were beginning to blossom, they were sent into the Mikoshi to be burned to ashes.
Is this something a human can do?
If she encountered such people, Shiki believed it necessary to let them experience the Ten Great Tortures of ancient Tianchao.
These dregs, which should have been discarded by time, were unexpectedly useful at times.
"Sigh… let's stop here for now." Shiki sighed softly.
"I've already obtained the bloodbranch coral, and I've learned about Enkanomiya's history. It's time for me to leave."
"Hmm, goodbye, Adventurer, or perhaps, never to meet again?"
"Farewell."
The meaning expressed by both was never to meet again, but what they thought in their hearts was completely different.
Eboshi believed that human life was only a short hundred years, and the next trial would be held hundreds of years later. She would still exist due to the ley lines, but the girl would not.
Shiki, on the other hand, was going to take the reins of resurrection and completely end the trial, so naturally, they wouldn't meet again.
As the sun-moon wheel was turned, the Mikoshi began to spin rapidly. Its core lit up, and terrifying high temperatures spewed forth from within, yet they were firmly contained by the barrier.
The artificial light illuminated the entire Enkanomiya as if it were Whitenight, and Eboshi's figure slowly faded from her sight.
Shiki used the light of the Mikoshi to find the floating island not marked on the map, and then took the Bathysmal Vishap's experimental records from it.
After ensuring that the heat haze barrier covering "before sun and moon" was still working, Shiki disappeared from Enkanomiya.
The light of the Mikoshi remained bright, but the deathly silence made one not want to stay for a moment longer.
The Azhdaha ran back into the darkness. Evernight only lasted for less than a day, and they were only excited for that short period before scuttling back.
The ability of the Bathysmal Vishap species is actually very simple: survival of the fittest.
They possess unparalleled evolutionary capabilities, requiring only two generations of reproduction to allow the entire tribe to perfectly adapt to their living environment.
Shiki saw from the experimental records that the Bathysmal Vishap could weave 'factors' into the embryos of the next generation, thereby allowing them to gain abilities that were even more adapted to the environment than themselves.
They weave 'factors' according to the environment, inherently possessing a weapon arsenal.
However, this terrifying evolutionary ability instead caused them to lose their original purity. The next Hydro Dragon will not appear in their tribe, but will be born in human form.
Although this is a prophecy, it's still better to pay attention to it.
Shiki returned home, picked up the backpack containing the bloodbranch coral, and came to Watatsumi Island. By this time, the sky was already dyed red by the evening glow. Hopefully, Sangonomiya Kokomi hadn't finished dinner yet.
Pacing into the Coral Palace, Shiki, dressed in a modified Oofurisode kimono, naturally stood out among the shrine maidens' robes and was quickly noticed.
"Hello, this is the Coral Palace. Visitors are not allowed inside."
"...Don't you know who I am?"
Shiki looked at the little shrine maiden, who was a head shorter than her, with a hint of amusement. Although they weren't from the same regime, it shouldn't be that she didn't even recognize someone whose authority was second only to a god, right?
"Uh… I, I don't know…"
The little shrine maiden, seeing the girl's extraordinary demeanor, lowered her head in a bit of a panic. She had only felt this kind of aura from Sangonomiya Kokomi, but this person's was even stronger.
As for the reason… it might be because Sangonomiya Kokomi looked soft and fluffy.
"You'll know soon enough. Where is Sangonomiya Kokomi? I have something to discuss with her."
"Sangonomiya-sama is in the study. I'll take you there now."
The little shrine maiden's thoughts immediately became active when she heard the girl directly call the current Human God Priestess by her name.
'So beautiful and calling Sangonomiya-sama by her name, could she be a high-ranking official from Inazuma?'
'I thought all the Shogunate's high-ranking officials were just a bunch of old geezers. Turns out there are some like Sangonomiya-sama.'
Shiki naturally didn't know what the little shrine maiden was thinking, and she didn't want to know.
Led by the other party, Shiki arrived at Sangonomiya Kokomi's study and saw Sangonomiya Kokomi writing and drawing on paper.
"Sangonomiya-sama, this elder sister has something to discuss with you."
"Ah? It's Miss Ryougi. Riko, you can go about your business. We indeed have something to talk about," Sangonomiya Kokomi said.
"Oh, oh, okay."
The little shrine maiden Riko nodded and left the study, but she always felt that the surname Ryougi sounded so familiar.
'Wait, isn't Ryougi the Sobayonin of the Raiden Shogun?! Why is she at the Coral Palace?'
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