"Eh? Th-that, that appeared…"
Looking at the mountain god and the two fox ogres that had appeared behind her, Miko gaped, took half a step back, and swallowed hard.
"Yes, it appeared."
Nakano Yu nodded, his gaze fixed on the so-called "mountain god." He couldn't feel any divine aura from that monster. It really was just a fake, but… it looked quite strong, perhaps with the combat power of a Great Knight?
Thinking of this, Nakano Yu waved his hand. Even though it was broad daylight, a beam of moonlight suddenly appeared, and then in front of Nakano Yu appeared the Giant of Moonstone.
"Go, deal with that thing. Oh, and leave the small one holding the bell; I have a use for it."
After summoning the Messenger of the Moon God, Nakano Yu pointed at the "mountain god." While speaking, he suddenly noticed the two fox ogres, who weren't even as tall as the leaves of the "mountain god."
If he remembered correctly, one of them was Takeda Mitsue's teacher, called… Okada Kazuko. Originally, that was supposed to be Rom in his youth who would turn into a fox ogre. After Rom made a wish at the Shrine of Three Fox Valleys, he quickly returned to the shrine.
The Great Ogre was supposed to immediately take Rom's soul. At the critical moment, Okada Kazuko took the bell given by the Great Ogre, saving Rom, while her own soul was devoured by the Great Ogre.
She was also a good person. Although Nakano Yu didn't have much compassion, it was only a matter of a word, so he still did it. After all, the Messenger of the Moon God was fighting, and he only needed to watch from the side.
"Na… Nakano-kun, th-that is…"
Standing beside Nakano Yu, Miko looked at the suddenly appeared stone giant, tugged at Nakano Yu's sleeve, and asked.
"An assistant I summoned."
After a brief thought, Nakano Yu gave an explanation that Miko could currently understand.
After all, if he directly told her that it was the Messenger of the Moon God, a power he obtained by killing the Moon God [Tsukuyomi], Miko probably wouldn't be able to accept it immediately.
"Oh, oh."
Hearing that, Miko nodded. She thought it was some other spirits or something causing trouble, but it turned out to be an assistant summoned by Nakano-kun.
Only… this doesn't look like a human.
"Hey, Takeda-bāba, look at that?!"
Rom also noticed the [Messenger of the Moon God] summoned by Nakano Yu, pointing at the Giant of Moonstone drawing its sword, and asked Takeda Mitsue beside him.
"How would I know? But it looks like something Yu summoned. We'll just watch the show here."
When asked by Rom, Takeda Mitsue replied irritably. This was her first time seeing something so strange. Maybe it was a shikigami of an onmyoji from Kyoto?
At this moment, the Messenger of the Moon God looked at the "mountain god," who was even taller than him. Composed of rock and earth, it had no emotions, let alone fear.
It only knew that it had received an order from its Master to kill the monster in front of it and the small monster at its feet. Oh, and it had to leave the one holding the bell.
Thinking of this, the figure of the Messenger of the Moon God flickered. Its heavy body made of Moonstone did not make it sluggish; on the contrary, it could unleash extremely terrifying speed, instantly reaching above the head of the "mountain god."
Gripping the blade, the Messenger of the Moon God used the momentum to swing, cutting off one claw of the "mountain god" that was used for defense with a single strike.
"Raaaar!!!!"
Wounded, the "mountain god" roared. In the next moment, the two fox ogres beside it flashed to both sides of the Messenger of the Moon God, their palms glowing golden as they prepared to attack.
However, facing such an attack, the Messenger of the Moon God casually swung its blade, cutting one fox ogre in half at the waist, while lightly knocking the other away, sending it flying backward where it rolled several times on the ground before finally stopping.
Seeing that the fox ogre showed no signs of getting up, the Messenger of the Moon God relaxed, raised the long blade in its hand to the side, and directly blocked the sudden attack of the "mountain god."
In the opinion of the Messenger of the Moon God, the monster in front of it was too stupid. Launching a silent sneak attack was indeed correct, but it had to be fast.
With a casual swing of its blade, the Messenger of the Moon God cut off the tail of the "mountain god," which it used for a surprise attack.
Seeing the severed tail, the "mountain god" ignored its wails, opened its four-part mouth and bit toward the Messenger of the Moon God, which responded with a fearless swing of its blade.
"Nakano-kun, that stone person is so amazing!"
Miko's eyes shone as she watched the "mountain god" have no advantage against the Messenger of the Moon God, and exclaimed.
"Alright. Come inside with me, I'll show you something."
After watching the battle between the Messenger of the Moon God and the "mountain god" for a while, Nakano Yu curled his lips and said.
He could tell that the "mountain god" did not possess strength at the level of a Great Knight; it was far from it!
Right now, the Messenger of the Moon God was just playing with it. When it finished playing, that would be the end of the "mountain god."
Ignoring what the Messenger of the Moon God would do next, Nakano Yu turned toward the shrine and waved for Miko to follow.
"Ah?! Oh! Coming."
Hearing that, Miko turned her head, only to see that Nakano Yu had already passed the offering box and was heading toward the shrine behind her. She responded and quickly caught up.
"Raaaar!!!"
Noticing Nakano Yu and Miko approaching the shrine, the "mountain god" suddenly let out an angry roar, and then its golden light disappeared and black smoke began to billow. The skin covering its body began to swell and peel off like blistered skin.
"What's happening?!"
Sensing the abnormality of the "mountain god," Takeda Mitsue quickly stood up, only to see its true form after it shed its skin.
Without the covering skin, the "mountain god" transformed from a sacred and solemn giant being into a monster!
A monster with a withered body, two bulging, bloodshot eyes like copper bells, its entire body covered in long, shaggy fur, and beneath its torso, numerous gray-white limbs, each tied with a worn copper bell.
Clearly, those were all the souls that had made wishes here and were ultimately devoured by the Great Ogre!
"So quickly forced into its true form?"
Seeing this, Rom smiled. Originally, he planned to fight the "mountain god" for a while, force it into its true form, and then use his trump card to die together. But he didn't expect that strange stone man to force it into its true form so easily.
The Great Ogre, in its true form, rolled its eyes, and quickly its gaze locked onto Nakano Yu and Miko at the entrance of the shrine.
"Hoo~"
The Great Ogre growled hoarsely and dragged its body toward Nakano Yu and Miko.
"Nakano-kun… behind you!"
Seeing this situation, Miko was so frightened that tears almost fell, pointing at the Great Ogre rushing toward her and Nakano Yu, her voice full of panic.
However, Nakano Yu was not disturbed at all. He opened the wooden door of the shrine and said:
"Don't worry, aside from being ugly, it's useless."
As soon as Nakano Yu finished speaking, the Messenger of the Moon God suddenly appeared, delivering a heavy blow to the Great Ogre and knocking it away.
Seeing this, Miko was speechless. What… what exactly is happening? According to the script, shouldn't the villain get a huge power boost when trying hard, and shouldn't the protagonist be able to defeat him?
How is it that… just now that stone giant treated the Great Ogre like a toy, and now the Great Ogre is trying with all its strength, but still isn't a match for the stone giant?
"Weakness is the original sin. Come."
Looking at Miko who was completely confused, Nakano Yu smiled slightly, then stepped into the shrine.
Coming back to her senses, Miko quickly followed him.
"Creak~"
As soon as the two entered the shrine, in the next moment, the dilapidated wooden door slowly closed.
Miko moved closer to Nakano Yu and then began observing the interior of the shrine.
The shrine was very small, unlike the shrines of other temples, it had no statues of gods.
Instead, there was a table, and on the table something covered with a white cloth, and countless white shimenawa ropes with talismans bound it.
"Wh-what… what is that thing?"
Looking at the object covered with a white cloth, Miko cautiously hid behind the young man and asked.
"A living sacrifice."
Nakano Yu's voice echoed, reaching Miko's ears, but froze her in place.
"From ancient times to the present, Japan has claimed the existence of eight million gods, but aside from those with mythological records, the gods worshipped as local deities, shrine gods, mountain gods and the like, are fundamentally different from gods of similar nature in other countries, because they are not gods at all! They are demons and ogres! They are monsters!"
"In order to suppress those monsters, humans chose a method—living sacrifice, to create controlled monsters through sacrifice, using monsters with the help of suppression stones and shimenawa ropes to suppress monsters, and this… is the true form of the Great Ogre outside."
Nakano Yu walked to the small table, explaining to Miko, and as he spoke, he lifted the object from the table.
Seeing this, Miko hurried after him, but just listening to his words, she felt a chill down her spine. That feeling reached its peak when she saw the true identity of the object covered with the white cloth in his hand!
"Na-Nakano-kun, is that… a human… human skull?!"
Pointing at the blackened skull in the young man's hand, Miko still couldn't believe it, her voice full of shock.
"Yes, and this is the true form of the Great Ogre outside. Her soul is bound here, suppressing some existence."
Nakano Yu nodded slightly, and as he spoke, he turned and handed the skull to Miko.
"Then… should we put this skull back? It wouldn't be good if we release what it's suppressing, right?"
Looking at the skull, Miko swallowed, asking in a trembling voice.
"Boom!"
As soon as Miko finished speaking, Nakano Yu threw the skull onto the ground.
In an instant, the entire shrine began to tremble.
Outside, the Great Ogre, which was currently being ridden like a pet by the Messenger of the Moon God, suddenly changed its expression. Immediately after that, white light appeared at the entrance of the shrine. That white light emitted a terrifying suction force, and before the Messenger of the Moon God could react, it sucked in the Great Ogre.
The white light then flashed and disappeared.
Seeing this scene, Rom and Takeda Mitsue were speechless, obviously still not understanding what had happened.
And Nakano Yu also walked out of the shrine with Miko.
Seeing the two of them, Rom smiled and waved:
"Hey! Come on, we're ready to go back!"
"Nakano-kun… everything is over now."
Miko also let out a deep sigh, looking at the young man beside her, and said softly.
However, Nakano Yu shook his head, speaking meaningfully:
"No, it's not over yet."
"Eh?"
Hearing that, Miko was startled.
At the same time, across the entire Three Fox Valley mountain, the suppression stones bound with shimenawa ropes and talismans suddenly cracked, some even exploded.
In the next moment, the earth trembled and the mountains shook, birds flew and beasts fled, as if some great terror was about to appear.
Nakano Yu raised his gaze toward the distant mountain peak, while Miko, holding onto him, could barely stand amid the violent tremors. She also raised her head, only to see a sight she would remember for the rest of her life.
From the distant enormous mountain, a monster, large enough to cover the sky and several times bigger than the entire Three Fox Valley mountain, stretched out its enormous claw and pulled itself out.
Looking at that monster, Miko's legs gave out, and she collapsed directly to the ground, her eyes trembling, shouting in her heart:
"What… what the hell is that?!!!!!"
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