Onimaru Kunitsuna, not having taken human form, naturally couldn't respond with words. Instead, the blade trembled, producing clear, resonant chimes.
Ye Xing looked up at the meteorite falling toward the ground and murmured to himself.
"With this volume plus the falling speed, even if it's just debris, it's enough to cause severe damage to the town. It might even affect me. To prevent any mishaps, I need a powerful technique that can completely pulverise it... Abilities like Asura Sword that enhance myself aren't quite sufficient."
"Indeed, that move is the most suitable."
Having reached this conclusion, Ye Xing had found his answer.
...
High in the sky, the guardian deity of Itomori Town, using all its power to block one meteorite's descent, suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation.
It looked down toward where Ye Xing stood on the ground and discovered that the black flames originally burning on his body and the blade had now completely withdrawn into Onimaru Kunitsuna's pitch-black blade.
After the flames vanished into it, Onimaru Kunitsuna's originally pitch-black blade now felt even more profound to the guardian deity of Itomori Town.
This wasn't a matter of colour - rather, all light within the area surrounding this blade seemed to dim significantly, as if unable to withstand this pure darkness.
"From all soldiers who perished on battlefields past and future, the sorrowful yet noble dreams they held at their final moments - such will deserves praise, such faith must be upheld. The ever-victorious king sings the true name of the miracle in his hand, that is..."
Ye Xing raised Onimaru Kunitsuna high above his head, the pitch-black blade resembling a new moon as he swung it toward the meteor in the sky with his declaration.
"Ex-calibur!"
A pitch-black sword beam surged forth like raging waves from the arc of Onimaru Kunitsuna's swing.
At this moment, even sound seemed to disappear.
Only when the pitch-black sword beam collided with the meteor falling toward the earth did a deafening roar erupt.
BOOM!!!
The impact between the two even caused the entire ground of Itomori Town to tremble.
The pitch-black sword beam flashed only briefly. When it vanished, the massive meteor crumbled as if rotting and decaying, shattering into powder nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Under the illumination of Itomori Town's remaining streetlights, this powder of unknown composition shimmered with strange radiance, drifting slowly to the ground like multicoloured rain.
[Su... succeeded?]
The guardian deity of Itomori Town promptly released its red threads, watching as the meteor it had been desperately blocking was seized by the massive, pitch-black ghost hand and burned to nothing by black flames.
[Did we... succeed?]
The guardian deity looked toward the sky, where its vision was filled with the breathtaking sight of dozens of comets flying into the distance, leaving behind multicoloured trails.
[Succeeded...]
Even at this moment, the guardian deity of Itomori Town still found it somewhat unbelievable.
Those were five meteors!
Any single one falling upon Itomori Town would have been enough to destroy the entire town - a veritable natural disaster.
And yet... they had actually managed to block them all?
"Cough cough..."
Hearing the coughing from below, the guardian deity started in alarm, its red threads immediately descending to form words full of concern before Ye Xing.
[Ye Xing-kun... are you alright? Are you injured?]
"I'm fine."
Ye Xing lowered the hand covering his mouth, the smear of blood in his palm appearing particularly striking.
Though his Soul Materialisation ability allowed him to freely employ various powers, he couldn't escape the limitations of his physical hardware.
Clearly, having used the ghost hand to destroy four meteors consecutively, plus employing a technique of Excalibur's calibre, had not only drained his spiritual power but placed an extremely severe burden on his body.
Even so, Ye Xing hadn't forgotten to complain.
"I suppose I understand now how Ohnoki felt facing Tengai Shinsei back then. Meteors... they're really something else."
Watching Ye Xing panting slightly, appearing somewhat exhausted with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, the guardian deity of Itomori Town felt a pang in their heart, as if it were being tightly clenched.
[Ye Xing... Please rest properly. I will handle what comes next.]
Just as the guardian deity of Itomori Town formed these words, Ye Xing saw a dark red vortex cloud streaked with golden threads suddenly emerge in the sky.
"The Gate..."
With just a glance, Ye Xing could confirm that the source of the black-red vortex cloud was less than a hundred metres away...
...
Miyamizu Shrine.
When Ye Xing and Itomori Town's guardian deity arrived at the entrance of Miyamizu Shrine, they saw that the shrine's Gate had already become worn and weathered. Through the gaps in the open Gate, black-red mist was pouring out.
[Ye Xing-kun...]
Itomori Town's guardian deity looked at the Gate emitting the black-red mist, slowly forming words.
[At this point, I won't hide anything from you anymore.]
[Five years ago, such a Gate appeared in Itomori Town. At that time, I was still in a dormant state. Although I knew what was happening in the outside world, I didn't have the ability to intervene.]
[My divine envoy, that is, Mitsuha and Yotsuha's mother, Futaba Miyamizu, who was born with powerful spiritual power, observed this peculiar Gate.]
[To prevent the disaster within from descending, she had been resisting it with her own spiritual power. This was also the reason her health kept deteriorating.]
[As time passed, Futaba found it increasingly difficult to suppress the disaster within the Gate. Eventually, she made a decision.]
[That Futaba Miyamizu herself would become the seal to suppress this Gate.]
At this point, Itomori Town's guardian deity paused slightly before continuing to form words.
[And Futaba's soul is now within this Gate, in the world known as the Ever-After.]
[Itomori Town's crisis has been resolved. My mission as guardian deity is complete, with only one final task remaining.]
[For me to replace Futaba and become the seal that locks this Gate.]
Seeing these words, Ye Xing simply nodded noncommittally and said softly.
"And what state is Futaba in after leaving?"
[A spiritual body, but... Yotsuha, Mitsuha, and Toshiki - these three who serve as my divine envoys, each possessing some spiritual power and sharing blood ties with Futaba - will undoubtedly be able to see her. As for Toshiki Miyamizu... if his longing for his wife is strong enough, and he can change his perspective to acknowledge the truths he previously turned a blind eye to, perhaps he too will be able to see her.]
After saying this, the red threads of Itomori Town's guardian deity formed a smiling face pattern, accompanied by words.
[Ye Xing-kun... it was a pleasure to meet you.]
...
Five minutes later, on the mountain path of Itomori Town.
"Huff... huff..."
Mitsuha Miyamizu was riding her bicycle, her forehead already covered in fine beads of sweat. Each breath made her feel as if her lungs were burning.
Thud.
A sudden slip caused the bicycle to slide down the hillside.
Fortunately, Mitsuha reacted quickly. Although she fell to the ground, with her hands and knees scraped, she didn't suffer any serious injuries.
"That hurts..."
Mitsuha gasped sharply, looking up at the road ahead before forcing herself to get up despite the pain.
She wanted to see Ye Xing.
She couldn't wait another minute. She just wanted to make sure right now that he was safe and sound.
For some reason, Mitsuha had a certain feeling deep within her.
Ye Xing was right at the entrance of his family's Miyamizu Shrine.
The battered and bruised Mitsuha Miyamizu, forcing her exhausted body to keep moving, ran towards the direction of Miyamizu Shrine.
When she reached the entrance of that familiar shrine, her eyes reflected a familiar figure.
"Ye Xing..."
Before Mitsuha could finish speaking, she suddenly noticed that the main gate of her family shrine had transformed into a dilapidated door emitting blackish-red mist, identical to the one she had seen that day in the office building.
"That's... the Gate!?"
Mitsuha's expression changed. She had just reached Ye Xing's side, not yet having time to speak, when she suddenly saw a familiar figure in a kimono slowly emerge from within the Gate.
When she clearly saw the other person's face, Mitsuha's pupils dilated in shock as she murmured.
"Mum... Mum?"
...
Meanwhile, the guardian deity of Itomori Town, currently inside the Gate, felt as if they had fallen into a freezing ice cave.
They could clearly feel their body... though they didn't truly possess a physical form in the conventional sense, they could still feel their body gradually freezing bit by bit.
'Is this... the end...'
The guardian deity of Itomori Town felt their consciousness becoming increasingly blurred. Time grew indistinct, as if they had only been here for a second, yet also as if they had been here for thousands of years. Many things were becoming difficult to remember.
During this time... what exactly had they been doing?
'I think... I knew someone...'
'Who was it exactly... the name is right on the tip of my tongue... but I can't remember.'
'Never mind, it probably doesn't matter anymore...'
The guardian deity of Itomori Town felt as if they were sinking into the ocean. As they descended deeper, the glimmer of light above the sea surface grew increasingly dim, until finally, all they could feel was the coldness of the seawater and the boundless darkness.
As their consciousness grew increasingly faint, red threads gradually wound around the Gate, pulling it inward.
Just as the door was about to close completely, a hand suddenly rested on the doorframe, forcibly reopening what had nearly shut.
The guardian deity's consciousness also completely regained clarity at this moment.
A familiar voice came from outside the door.
"I forgot to tell you."
"I'm also very happy to have met you."
"You saved Futaba, and now it's my turn to fulfil the pact, to save everything in Itomori Town, including you, this troublesome guardian deity."
The guardian deity gradually regained clarity, looking at that familiar face, wanting to say something, but ultimately only forming a few brief words with red threads.
[Your name is...]
"Whoa, bloody hell."
Seeing these words, Ye Xing, who had already stepped through the door, couldn't help but chuckle wryly as he complained.
"I thought Mitsuha was the female lead, but turns out it's you? The classic line has appeared."
The guardian deity paused for a moment, then quickly formed an urgent message with red threads.
[Please leave here quickly. The Gate contains all the time this place has experienced, including from twelve hundred years ago...]
"I know."
Ye Xing interrupted the guardian deity of Itomori Town, gazing calmly at the dense black phantoms emerging from the massive crater as he murmured softly to himself.
"The evil spirits born from the meteorite disaster twelve hundred years ago... they've all gathered within this Gate..."
[You... you...]
At that moment, the guardian deity of Itomori Town finally broke free from its previous state, recalling everything as she urgently cried out.
"Ye Xing-kun, get away quickly! There are too many evil spirits - you'll be in danger!"
Only after speaking did the guardian deity pause, belatedly realising they had actually spoken aloud.
They... or rather, she, now looked down to see herself wearing a voluminous Miko outfit. Though unable to see her full form clearly, she could sense that her physique was rather petite.
"Ye Xing-kun... I..."
The guardian deity noticed a red thread tied around her slender, pale wrist, connecting her to Ye Xing, who stood nearby.
"Truly a troublesome deity," Ye Xing remarked as he slowly closed the Gate behind him.
Approaching the newly human-formed guardian deity, he gently ruffled her hair with a light laugh.
"Leave it to me."
"Sealing this thing... isn't necessary at all..."
Ye Xing's gaze shifted toward the distant horde of evil spirits - an uncountable mass surging toward them like a black tidal wave. His pupils gradually transformed, forming a crimson pattern.
"If we eliminate all the evil within this Gate, no sealing will be required."
"Amaterasu."
As a trickle of blood flowed from Ye Xing's eyes, dark flames collided with the wave of black phantoms.
Listening to the distorted screams of the evil spirits consumed by flames, the guardian deity's heart didn't lighten; it grew increasingly heavy.
If Ye Xing were at full strength, she would believe in his victory.
But...
Having just destroyed five massive meteorites capable of wiping out an entire town, without any chance to recover, he now had to enter this Gate to confront all the evil spirits formed from Itomori Town's accumulated resentment over twelve hundred years since the meteorite fall...
How could he possibly win?
"Ye Xing-kun, stop this!"
The guardian deity saw the bloodshot eyes and the continuous stream of blood dripping from them to the ground as she rushed over in panic.
"Leave this place! Let me fulfil my duty! If this continues, you'll be in real danger!"
As if responding to her words, the horde of evil spirits, now less than fifty meters away, suddenly let out piercing shrieks. Their bodies rapidly merged, forming a grotesque entity over fifty meters tall, its surface studded with hundreds of human-sized heads, each emitting mournful wails that chilled the soul.
Not only that, the black-red swirling clouds that had originally floated in the air had now converged into an elongated shape, resembling an earthworm, only expanded to an unimaginably enormous size.
"Vermin Disaster... and... this thing looks too disgusting, can't be bothered to name it."
Though Ye Xing's tone still carried a hint of laughter, the mood of Itomori Town's guardian deity remained just as heavy.
Twelve hundred years - what an immensely long time it had been?
From the moment that meteor fell back then until this very day, all the resentment and suffering of those who died unjustly had converged into this monster, far surpassing any ordinary evil spirits.
"Ye Xing-kun..."
"We'll win."
Looking at the two monsters now approaching them, Ye Xing simply took the Itomori Town guardian deity's hand and spoke softly.
"I am the chosen sole protagonist, the strongest person embarking on the Fool's Journey."
As he said this, Ye Xing took a deep breath, and a shell of black spiritual power, resembling a skeleton, formed around him and the Itomori Town guardian deity.
This time, it wasn't just a skeleton - something resembling muscles began to cover the shell, and its form grew increasingly massive, swelling to nearly a hundred meters tall.
"Complete Body - Susanoo."
...
Meanwhile, Mitsuha Miyamizu, unable to comprehend why her mother had suddenly appeared, didn't have time to think too much about it. Seeing her mother standing before her, looking exactly as she remembered, she rushed forward and embraced her, two streams of tears running down her cheeks.
"Mother... you... how did you..."
"Mitsuha."
Futaba's voice was very gentle, clearly revealing her unhurried, gentle nature.
"All these years, though I haven't been by your and Yotsuha's side... I've always been watching over both of you. You've done very well, you've worked very hard."
"Mother..."
Mitsuha Miyamizu wiped the tears from her face and looked toward the Gate that, though closed, hadn't returned to its original form, her expression growing anxious.
"Ye Xing... and the deity-sama are both inside, they might be in danger..."
Seeing Mitsuha looking like she wanted to run over, push open the Gate and enter that world, Futaba Miyamizu directly grabbed her hand, shaking her head as she spoke softly.
"No... even if you go in, you won't be able to do anything. All we can do now is wait quietly."
Though Mitsuha felt anxious in her heart, she knew her mother spoke the truth.
In the waiting that felt like years passing by, a full quarter hour went by.
Just when Mitsuha Miyamizu could no longer bear it and wanted to enter the world beyond the Gate to see what was happening, the Gate before her suddenly began to slowly open.
A slender, small hand rested on the doorframe.
That wasn't Ye Xing's hand.
Just as Mitsuha Miyamizu's mind went blank, unsure what to do, she suddenly heard a slightly exasperated young girl's voice from inside the Gate.
"Hey, my two dear divine envoys, could you give me a hand? Asking a petite girl under 160cm to carry this guy who's over 180cm tall is really too much for a deity like me, isn't it?"