"Tonight's moon is suppressed."
Holding a bowl of sake, Nura Rikuo looked up at the bright full moon and said.
Hearing this, Nakano Yu remained silent, waiting for Nura Rikuo to continue.
He knew that Nura Rikuo was a yokai who relied on the moonlight; due to his special nature, he could only transform into his yokai form at night, when the moonlight was strong.
Although this weakness could be overcome with later training, it was undeniable that Nura Rikuo had a much stronger perception of the moonlight than he did.
Nakano Yu guessed that the suppressed moon Nura Rikuo mentioned was most likely the result of the sudden appearance of the Sun God from some unknown pantheon.
The descent of the Gods of Rebellion always brought disasters, just as the descent of a sea god would cause a tsunami, or multi-moon continuous rains would flood cities.
And the current situation perfectly matched the descent of the Heretic God: abnormally high temperatures and the suppressed moon Nura Rikuo mentioned.
However, what Nakano Yu didn't understand was that if the Sun God was truly descending, shouldn't there be no night at all now?
Could it be that the Heretic God had not fully descended yet?
Before Nakano Yu could think more deeply, Nura Rikuo somehow took out a large sake gourd and an empty bowl, poured sake into it, and handed it to the young man:
"Do you want some?"
Seeing this, Nakano Yu took the bowl and drank a large gulp.
The sweet sake slid down his throat, and at the same time a cold sensation spread from Nakano Yu's mouth to his limbs, even significantly easing the scorching heat in the air.
"Is this the sake that yokai drink? It's really strange."
Nakano Yu looked at the sake in the bowl, swirled it, and said.
Sake at room temperature usually warms you more as you drink, but Nura Rikuo's sake, on the contrary, felt cold when drunk, which was a new experience. If there was a chance, he might take some back for Ichika and the others to try.
"Yokai wine is not the same as what humans make, but now is not the time to talk about that. The moon is crying. I don't know what happened, nor does Nurarihyon, so I came to find you."
Nura Rikuo drank the wine from his bowl to the last drop, then suddenly changed the topic.
"Why did you come to me specifically?"
Hearing this, Nakano Yu raised an eyebrow. He thought he had just run into Nura Rikuo by chance, but he didn't expect that Nura Rikuo came intentionally to find him.
And what does "the moon is crying" even mean?
"The moon is being suppressed by some existence. The moon cries because that existence is too violent and begs it to be gentler."
Nura Rikuo spoke extremely seriously, but his words sounded a little strange to Nakano Yu's ears. The moon is suppressed… and crying because of excessive violence, asking for it to be eased?
No, no, he must have misunderstood. Surely he did.
It's just… even this moon itself looked a little strange.
Taking a deep breath, Nakano Yu said:
"Nura, do you believe that Gods exist in this world?"
"Gods have always existed in this world."
Nura Rikuo said seriously, as if stating a fact he had already long confirmed.
And it was indeed so. In the earliest days, the Nura clan could protect themselves and allow Nurarihyon to roam freely relying only on the power of the local gods of the land.
"I'm not talking about land gods, those yokai and spirits that humans worship, but about… Gods from myths who can cause natural disasters with a single wave of their hand, like the God from the New Testament, the Creator who made everything."
Unexpectedly, Nakano Yu shook his head, his gaze fixed on the night sky. His purple eyes reflected the full moon, as if trying to see which existence Nura Rikuo claimed was suppressing the moon.
"Impossible."
This time, Nura Rikuo's answer was direct again, immediately denying the existence of such Gods.
The Nura clan had existed in Japan for a full thousand years. They were yokai, appearing on this island even earlier than humans.
But in that thousand years, no yokai had ever seen the so-called God, not a single one!
Moreover, what Nakano Yu said was too exaggerated. The God of the New Testament—Nura Rikuo was not familiar with the content of the New Testament, but he generally knew the concept of God. It would not be an exaggeration to say that God's words are law, representing omniscience and omnipotence.
What Nakano Yu said really sounded exaggerated, but that did not mean a God could not appear in this world as a Heretic God. Perhaps one day in the future Nakano Yu would face an all-knowing and omnipotent [Lord], bearing the curses and blessings of many pantheons.
"Nothing is impossible. Existence is reasonable."
After saying this with a double meaning, Nakano Yu stood up, finished the yokai wine, and returned the bowl to Nura Rikuo:
"I'll handle this matter. Just leave it to me. After drinking, I should also return."
"Hm, if it really is a God as you say, for us yokai from the darkness… only you can resolve it."
Taking the bowl, Nura Rikuo smirked mockingly. As his voice faded, the bowl of wine turned into black mist that enveloped Nura Rikuo.
When the black mist dispersed, Nura Rikuo's figure disappeared from the place where he had been.
"So, only I can do it."
Muttering, the young man's figure flashed and vanished, carried away by the scorching warm wind.
"Ah~ How hot! What is this strange, messed-up weather today? When I woke up, the light almost blinded me!"
During breakfast, Yotsuba complained, sprawled across the table.
Today was really too hot. If the air conditioner at home wasn't on, Yotsuba would probably have already fainted from the heat and been lying on the floor.
"Today is really a bit hot. How about we take a day off and not go to school?"
Nakano Yu also nodded, placed a small portion of cold noodles on the table, and said.
He didn't want the Five Sisters going out these days, at least not before dealing with that unknown Sun God.
"That's not possible. Yesterday we already asked the teachers for leave, but the school is acting abnormally and won't allow it."
Ichika, dressed in a light sleeveless shirt and denim shorts, slurped cold noodles and added.
Hearing that, Nakano Yu frowned, clearly dissatisfied.
After all Five Sisters sat down and began breakfast, Nakano Yu went upstairs, found the phone number of the principal of Sobu Middle School, and called him. Within just a few minutes, Ichika's joyful scream was heard from the ground floor:
"Yay! The teacher said health is important and told us to stay home!"
Hearing that, Nakano Yu left the room and went down the stairs. Before he could say anything, Ichika suddenly threw herself at him, hugged the young man's head, and pressed it into her chest:
"Yu! How lucky! Today we don't have to go to school!"
"Wait, wait, Ichika, you…"
Although Nakano Yu told her to stop, his body showed no resistance.
While playing with Ichika, suddenly a scorching, holy aura violently entered Nakano Yu's perception.
The aura was holy, blazing, representing light, representing… the sun!!
Hurriedly pulling away from Ichika's hug, Nakano Yu carefully sensed the direction from which the aura came.
This time, it was not transient like last night, but appeared on this land without restraint, even extremely arrogantly.
As soon as the aura appeared, the temperature suddenly rose! The blazing sun high in the sky burned even more fiercely, to the point that just looking at it could burn the eyes!
All of this strongly indicated that something was wrong with the world, that something was affecting the sun!
There was no need for further thought to know that it was the Heretic God, the Sun God!
And Nakano Yu had already figured out the place where this Heretic God had descended.
That direction… was Sobu Middle School!
"Did it really descend into Sobu Middle School? But why is the temperature in Sobu Middle School so low?"
At the entrance of Sobu Middle School, Nakano Yu had already arrived. He could feel the aura of the Sun God within the school campus, but the young man, who was supposed to immediately go and kill the God and end this divine disaster, stopped.
Nakano Yu began to doubt, because the temperature around Sobu Middle School was too low. Compared to the outside heat, the temperature in Sobu Middle School was like early spring, warm and not scorching at all.
"Seems like an interesting God has appeared."
Narrowing his eyes, Nakano Yu nevertheless decided to enter and take a look.
Guided by his perception of the Heretic God, Nakano Yu headed straight for the roof.
When the young man arrived on the roof, he saw a small loli girl sitting on the edge.
The small loli wore a white-red kimono, with a sun-shaped ornament in her cherry-pink long hair, and watched the city with her bare, delicate feet dangling in the air.
Around the small loli, a dazzling light enveloped her, and circles of light ignited behind her head, then gradually extinguished, repeating in a cycle, like the rising and setting of the sun.
As soon as he saw her clothes, Nakano Yu confirmed that the other side was a God from the Shinto pantheon, meaning it was an indigenous Japanese God.
And in Japan, there was only one God associated with the sun!
It was Amaterasu, one of the Three Noble Children of Takama-ga-hara, who rules Takama-ga-hara, revered as the Great Sun Goddess!
Nakano Yu was a little surprised that the first God he encountered was an existence equivalent to the supreme deity of a pantheon, but his fighting spirit suddenly rose.
Although the other side looked like a quiet, innocent little loli, Nakano Yu decided to seize her authority. After all, the Heretic God does not truly die after being killed.
"Hm?"
As if sensing Nakano Yu's aura, the small loli turned her head, and a slightly childish but ethereal voice entered the young man's ears:
"Are you the one who summoned me into this world?"
Hearing this, Nakano Yu frowned. Summoned? According to Amaterasu, did she not actively descend into this world, but was passively summoned?
Besides him, did anyone else in this world know about the existence of the Heretic God?
No, something was not right.
If she was truly summoned by a human, then where is the person who summoned her? If it was a devoted follower of Amaterasu, they would never leave their Goddess here.
Even less likely that it was summoned by another God Slayer. The system also said he would be the only God Slayer in this world. Moreover, if she was really summoned by a God Slayer, how could they leave such a soft and fragrant Sun Goddess here?
"Man, I ask you."
Seeing Nakano Yu delay his response, Amaterasu felt a surge of dissatisfaction. That ethereal voice sounded again, but this time with coldness. If Nakano Yu didn't answer and continued to ignore her, Amaterasu guaranteed that in the next moment the sun's flames would melt this rude man!
"I'm sorry, I don't know who summoned you, and I don't want to know."
Regaining his composure, Nakano Yu smiled and said to Amaterasu.
Seeing that, Amaterasu frowned, as if sensing something. Just as she wanted to speak, Nakano Yu interrupted her:
"Well, I came to send you back."
"You have a very irritating aura, but also very familiar, like… a God."
Amaterasu's deep blue eyes calmly gazed at Nakano Yu, her lips slightly moved, and her voice echoed in Nakano Yu's ears.
"You don't have to worry about it. You just need to know that I'm here to kill you… no, to send you home! Lost little loli, let big brother send you home!"
Nakano Yu lightly shook his head. At the moment his voice faded, the golden sword appeared in his hand. It was the holy sword Joyeuse, which contained a fragment of the Spear of Longinus!
As the holy sword appeared in his hand, Nakano Yu no longer restrained his strength. The God Slayer aura exploded, pressing against Amaterasu like a tsunami.
Feeling the aura radiating from Nakano Yu, Amaterasu's small face showed surprise.
She could clearly feel that the guy in front of her was just a human, a human who would have knelt before her a million years ago, begging her to bring light to the earth!
But what about this power so similar to the Sun God and this courage to swing a sword at a God?!
For a moment, Amaterasu's heart was filled with dissatisfaction and anger.
She was displeased that an ordinary ant dared to challenge her. She was furious that the ant dared to claim it would kill her!
She was the sun! The Great Sun Goddess who never sets!
As she pondered, the temperature around Amaterasu suddenly dropped, as if it would reach the freezing point.
Seeing this, Nakano Yu was confused. This was a Sun God. If she got angry, the temperature should rise sharply, so why is it decreasing now?
"Ant! By provoking the wrath of a God, you will face my wrath, the wrath of Amaterasu!"
"I will take back the light I gave to this land! I will no longer bring even a shred of warmth! I will let the cold return to this land!"
While the young man still wondered, Amaterasu's chuunibyou-like declaration echoed.
As the ethereal female voice resounded between heaven and earth, the dazzling light around Amaterasu intensified. The light circle behind her burned and extinguished faster and faster, until it finally reached a critical point and abruptly went out.
At the moment the light circle went out, in the sky above, the blazing sun suddenly darkened, the sunlight vanished, and extreme cold descended upon Japan!
"Ah, Miko, I tell you, the forest school building was really fun! We even met a really interesting pair, or maybe a brother and sister? They both had the surname Nakano, so they should be siblings, right? They were the only ones I managed to scare while pretending to be a ghost!"
"Oh? Is that so? Hana, seems like you had a really good time."
In classroom D of Sobu Middle School, Yotsuya Miko said this, looking at the cheerful, lively girl with orange hair and ample chest in front of her.
The orange-haired girl in front of Yotsuya Miko was named Yurikawa Hana. If her name was just mentioned, they might not recognize her, but if Nino or Nakano Yu were there, they would surely recognize her as the girl who acted as a ghost during the bravery test.
"That's right, but it's a pity that Miko didn't go. Oh! And something big happened! Something really, really big!"
Nodding, Yurikawa Hana's ample chest also rose and fell, attracting considerable attention.
"Is it related to those three boys? That's really true, sounds really scary."
Miko pretended she had already heard about it, saying so, and her gaze turned to the three evil spirits huddled in the corner.
"Mhm mhm! It was really scary! Anyway, let's not talk about it anymore. Huh? Miko, what are you looking at?"
Yurikawa Hana saw that Miko was uninterested, waved her hand, and was about to change the topic, but then noticed Miko staring out the window with a shocked expression on her face.
The look in her eyes was as if she had seen something that completely shattered her view of the world.
Confused, Yurikawa Hana also looked out the window, and that one glance left her frozen in place!
She saw a black dot appear on the blazing sun high in the sky. The black dot kept growing until it completely covered the sun.
The light was exposed!
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