The Lunar Capital's barrier had shattered.
Under the impact of the Dragon of Britain, the veil that had guaranteed the Lunar Capital's deities their eternal stasis was torn apart with a resounding crack.
Before Lord Tsukuyomi's avatar could even form its anger, the Lunar Capital's formerly peaceful skies were instantly filled to the brim with pure, undiluted fury.
Unlike Lord Tsukuyomi's projection, just directly looking at this arriving silhouette made Shin feel his Soul Core quake.
The figure wore ancient Chinese court robes and a palace crown headdress, like a grand noblewoman of the Central Plains.
Even at this distance, he could feel, amid those swirling masses of souls, a force called "purification."
And before that force, even fully-released Lancelot — Albion — wore an expression of grave intensity.
[Warning! Pseudo-A-rank divine nature detected! Pseudo-A-rank divine nature detected!]
[Chat Group Notice: An entity beyond the established difficulty range of this mission has descended. It is uncertain whether hostile intent is present, but task executor is advised to evacuate from the core conflict zone immediately!]
The normally azure chat group interface had turned the colour of fresh blood, lines of urgent warning text flooding Shin's vision.
But none of it mattered anymore. Shin knew his plan had succeeded.
At the same moment, above the entire Lunar Capital, the void began to collapse — and a pillar of moonlight even brighter than the sun itself erupted from the far side of the Moon.
Lord Tsukuyomi's true body. The supreme sovereign, provoked to the point of no return, had finally fully manifested.
"I didn't know there was something out there stronger than even me as a dragon — this is quite—"
"Stop gawking, Melusine. Run!"
Shin didn't hesitate for a single instant. He grabbed Melusine — who was still calculating the odds of joining the battle — and turned and bolted.
Unlike Melusine, whose brain occasionally had its own priorities, Shin had a clear sense of where he stood. And he was beginning to understand the chat group's system for grading mission difficulty.
Melusine was roughly B++ in combat power. The B+++ ceiling of this mission probably corresponded to Lord Tsukuyomi. As for Junko…
This was like stumbling into a god-tier battle royale. If completing a Level 3-to-4 special mission was already this harrowing, Shin didn't want to think about what Level 5 would bring.
"…Fine. Extermination mission — revised to: evacuation mission — confirmed executing!"
Melusine's voice carried a faint resignation, but she was unbothered at heart.
Her assignment for this mission was to cooperate with the young man. Whatever he said, she'd do. No need to overthink it.
She opened her mind voluntarily, synchronising with him again.
She found herself quite liking the feeling, truthfully. It was something like what she'd witnessed the young man and the girl called Yachiyo doing last night—
The silver-haired dragon girl felt a faint flush cross her face. For some reason she couldn't quite name, she was enjoying this sensation, even knowing the young man belonged to someone else.
Shin — unaware of Melusine's private thoughts — activated [Soul Synchrony] and brought the two of them back into resonance.
The moment the Lunar Capital's barrier fully dissolved and the impurity of the void came rushing in, the two of them dove headlong through the Moon's atmosphere and plunged into the trajectory toward Earth.
Heian-kyo. The gold-and-silver pavilion.
When the young man and the Fairy Knight, still carrying the smoke and moonlight of the battle, landed once more on the top-floor terrace in their human forms, the solid weight of the ground beneath him made Shin let out a long, slow breath.
The night sky — which should have held a full moon — now shimmered in an eerie pale violet.
Silver cracks were spreading across the surface of the lunar disc, like someone had shattered an enormous porcelain plate and left it hanging in the sky.
"My dear, you're back."
Yachiyo was still sitting quietly on the divan, apparently unbothered by the battle raging above the Moon. Her bright eyes held only the young man's reflection.
She looked at the slightly road-worn Shin, and her expression carried nothing but the gentlest warmth.
"It seems my dear completed the objective without a hitch. Truly worthy of being mine — to think you'd face those tiresome deities all on your own~"
"Hardly on my own — without your help, I probably would have crashed out well before this."
Shin exhaled and straightened up. Yachiyo's contribution, even having remained in Heian-kyo throughout, had been indispensable.
At that moment, the chat group chimed again:
[Ding! Executor confirmed safe. Special Mission (Lore Type) — Non-Human Legend: "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" has achieved a Perfect Resolution!]
[Number of executors: 2. Mission rating assessed at A++. Additional rewards available.]
[Rating basis: The Lunar Capital's barrier has been destroyed. The causal link binding "Kaguya-hime" to the Lunar Capital has been severed. Executor count ≤ 2. Days taken ≤ 15.]
[Additional rewards are being tallied. They will be distributed to group members' accounts in seven days. Executor may choose to return at any time.]
Seeing the words "may choose to return at any time," the tension Shin had held in his chest all this time finally released.
The mission was done. There was no rush now.
"Come here, Yachiyo."
"My dear?"
"Let's enjoy the moon for a while. After everything we've been through, we can't not look at it properly."
Shin extended an invitation to the noble Moon Princess, and she made no move to decline — instead she nestled herself right into his arms and looked up at the vast night sky.
Melusine quietly came to stand nearby. Her gaze, however, was not on the sky but on the young man — though he didn't notice.
[Spreading Witch Factors (Great Witch)]: Shaya. Come back. Come back to me this instant.
[Spreading Witch Factors (Great Witch)]: @…
[Spreading Witch Factors (Great Witch)]: [Recalled a message]
[Spreading Witch Factors (Great Witch)]: I know you can see this, Shaya. Hmph. If you won't come back, then don't bother coming back at all.
Not everyone could rejoice at the mission's completion.
Take a certain Great Witch, for instance — clearly agitated, as if she wanted nothing more than to crawl through the signal and drag Shin home by the scruff of his neck.
But Shin was feeling a little rebellious for the moment.
He lifted his gaze to the moondisc above — gradually mottling with fractures.
The battle happening at that distance had exceeded the limits of human perception. Only an Ultimate Being's life-level could witness it at all.
He could see divine beings scattering through the sky like comets. And he could see that smear of red flame clinging to the Moon like a vine, relentless and unwilling to yield — driving straight for the one responsible for all of this.
The entire Moon appeared to be getting scoured by some unknown force.
The spectacle — the terrible, destruction-edged beauty of it — would have made any epic feel pallid by comparison.
"Beautiful," Shin murmured softly.
Yachiyo leaned her head against his shoulder, her gaze distant and quiet.
"It is, isn't it."
"It seems even though I've grown weary of the surface world, I have no home to return to now — my dear, will you take me in?"
"Of course. Goes without saying."
The young man answered without a moment's hesitation. He trusted that his Great Witch wouldn't mind one more person on the island — after all, hadn't she been talking about finding him a match this whole time?
"Heh. Then I'm relieved~"
The two of them — the two of them and one fairy, technically — sat quietly on the terrace, watching this tale's final curtain fall, amid the cool night wind of Heian-kyo.
…
Just as the battle above the Moon was beginning to settle, just as the atmosphere had grown so still that even the wind seemed to hold its breath—
An unfamiliar woman's voice sounded in the ears of all three, without any warning at all:
"Beautiful, you say?"
"Ha. What a coincidence — this mother feels the same."
To be continued…
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