episode_0060

As the alarm bell rang with my extra senses, I approached the place where the Somyo-level spirits were gathered.

And then we hear Mizuchi’s laughing words.

“This hunting competition will be held at a village on the border of the Iwapara Domain. It’s been a long time since you ate human flesh.”

“Kkakakakak. Monster meat isn’t bad, but sometimes I crave human flesh. That unique scent is a delicacy.”

“…!”

The signal he sent me, the border of Iwapara Domain, and the village.

I had a feeling that it was a village ruled by Inari.

“Hey, Yugen. It was quite painful back then? Can you give me that healing power too?”

When I heard the voice calling me, I looked to the side and saw Hidarugami with a sneer on his face.

It was this guy.

“Did you tease Mizuchi?”

“What? You acted as a guest god in the Burakumin village?”

“The cub that was crawling on the ground and running away…”

Regret that I should have killed him passed through me.

No, there is still a way.

“Hey, what are you talking about?”

Oogamanushi next to me was confused, but I didn’t even reply and approached Yamato Takeru no Mikoto.

“Please talk for a moment.”

“Hmm? Is it Hitokotonushi, the master god of words? Looks like all treatment has been completed.”

I led Yamato and entered the isolated room.

“Are you sure that the village you are hunting this time is ruled by the spirit Inari, a village just outside the border of Iwapara Domain?”

“Yes. But how do you know that?”

“That is where I am as a guest god. Mizuchi targeted me and designated that place as a hunting ground. We need to change the hunting ground quickly.”

“Hmm? ah! That’s why Mizuchi pushed for that place to be a hunting ground!”

Yamato nodded, muttering “Yes, that was it.”.

“But since everyone has already agreed, there is nothing I can do about it. In addition, the deity there, Inari, is the deity that the demon god Onigumakami has been searching for. I will find someone who will believe in you, so you too, give up.”

“Yes? What does that mean? Are you just passing on that adaptation? No, is it okay to capture and kill humans like that in the first place?”

Yamato actually looked at me as if I was strange.

As if what I said was wrong.

Why? Why are you looking at me like that…?

“Isn’t it just like burakumin? Is there any problem if I catch it and kill it?”

Gap in perception.

Even though this Yamato Takeru no Mikoto is also of human origin, he speaks as if it is natural for humans and burakumin to be ‘hunted’.

Human hunting?

I realized that the entities and gods of this world do not consider those below them as members of the same race.

“You may be angry when those who send their faith die. You may become angry at the actions of hostile factions. But you are a god. God must wield those under him, not be swayed by them.”

Yamato’s words of encouragement to me.

I calmed down my turbulent thoughts for a moment and spoke.

“In the first place, isn’t that the territory of the Iwapara Domain, not the Sukigawa Domain? Is it okay to cross the boundaries of other classes without permission?”

“Why are you worried about something like that? In the first place, most of the people in that village must have come from the Sukigawa clan. Moreover, the spirit that rules there, Inari, is clearly the spirit of our Sukigawa Domain. Governing the Burakumin means correcting wrongdoing.”

“…”

I can’t speak.

Is there really no way?

On the other hand, Yamato looked at my expression and indifferently offered an alternative.

“Since you’re doing this, I can’t help it. Just ten people. Since I have to go to the hunting competition anyway, I will let you protect the ten people in the village. Then isn’t that enough?”

I realized from his cold eyes that this was his final offer.

I nodded, pretending to accept it.

“Hehe… Thank you for listening to me, Yamato Takeru no Mikoto.”

“I will think of this as a debt, so there is nothing to be thankful for.”

I thought as I calmed down my rumbling stomach.

Is there no alternative?

Communicate with Inari to evacuate people first…

Or maybe I surprise the participants of the hunting competition…

My thoughts stopped after a while.

The number of spirits participating in the hunting competition is 62, excluding myself.

Among them, there were four shōmyo-level deities and the remaining 58 deities were Nanoshi-level deities.

‘no method.’

This divine army cannot be resisted.

If I were to face them, they would be torn apart in an instant.

So, for another alternative, I calculated the distance between this place and the village.

The prosperity of Sukigawa is a place slightly to the north from the east based on the forest where I was the leader.

Due to the distance, it takes two days to walk to the village…

“By the way, I have work to do in the village, so can I move quickly this time to hunt? If you have friends who are slow to move, I will help them.”

Mizuchi said that and laughed.

This sneaky snake…

The spirits agreed and began to speed up. Thanks to you, my family became a piece of tissue paper.

Now, there are not two days left, but about four hours…

I contacted Inari.

God’s name is not familiar with communication through wishes, so Babel connection was used to prevent any possible eavesdropping.

-Inari, what are you doing now?

–Looking around the villagers’ fields, master.

-Run away from the village right now. Yes, we can go north and hide deep in the mountains.

–What do you mean?

-The spirits are trying to ‘hunt’ the village.

I explained the situation to Inari. Mizuchi is targeting me, and even the Oniguma demon that you rejected has found out about you, and the village has become prey to the spirits.

–Then why not just lead the residents and run away?

-I don’t have time for that. At the speed of the spirits, it can be reached in 3 to 4 hours. All the residents must disperse and you must run away alone.

–That’s ridiculous! How can you tell us to abandon these believers and run away? Why do we have to run away?

-The law of the fittest, it’s natural since you have no strength. Even if you protect that place, nothing will change. That’s how the world works.

–…I will stay and stop the spirits. Then, at least one or two more people might be able to buy it.

-Inari! This is my order as your master! I will not receive any more objections. Right now, spread out the residents and run away, and hide yourself in the depths.

–Ugh… Ugh… Ugh… I understand… I understand.

I used Babel’s coercive power to make Inari follow my instructions.

Then I got lost in thought.

If all the residents spread out, how many would survive?

Since the number of gods is 60, if one god captures even five humans, they will be annihilated. At best, if 10 people live, you will have bought a lot.

If you’re unlucky, they all…

While my head was filled with confusion, a group of monsters who looked more like monsters than gods and wanted to hunt humans arrived in the village.

“Where did it go? Everyone ran away.”

“The furnace is still warm, so he wouldn’t have run far.”

“Tch, I wanted to quickly taste human flesh.”

“Someone must have leaked information to Inari.”

Mizuchi glanced at me and said those words.

Yamatotakeru no mikoto also frowned at me and then turned his head. I knew from that look that Yamato would no longer deal with me.

“It doesn’t matter. In fact, this is the only way to get the real taste of hunting.”

A spirit that looked similar to a dog sniffed the area while saying those words, and began to chase it.

“I guess I’ll have to destroy the whole village. There is a possibility that he has not escaped yet and remains.”

As the head spirit spoke, he began to destroy the building with a huge hammer.

Other spirits also searched the village or found traces left by humans outside the village and began tracking them.

“…”

I just watched it in silence.

A giant hammer swings and the well crashes.

It was a new lifeline for residents.

Originally, the residents drew water from a pond on the next mountain for drinking water, but as the pond became increasingly depleted, a problem arose. I remembered how the locals cheered with joy when I used magic to find a water vein that could be used as drinking water.

The flame rats roamed around and set the rice fields on fire.

It was a rice field that the residents worked hard to cultivate even during the spring hunger season.

I remembered that they were waiting for the grain to ripen.

While I was indulging in sentimentality, most of the town’s buildings were demolished, and even Inari’s shrine was damaged.

“I can’t believe you have such good fabric in such large quantities! You’re so arrogant on the topic of burakumin!”

That’s the cloth I distributed to the residents. This is something they brought directly to Earth due to their beggar behavior.

“Who owns this sermon? It’s unsightly!”

The head spirit swung a hammer and tried to demolish my shrine.

“No!”

A little boy jumped out from somewhere in the grass and tried to stop it.

You didn’t run away? No, I should have kept hiding instead!

“I finally caught one!”

The head spirit snatched the kid and held it in one hand.

“The plump one must be delicious!”

I checked the little child’s face.

That child was the one who brought me flowers and offered them to me every day.

Originally, he was starving because his parents died of illness and he had nothing to eat, but he said that thanks to me, he and his younger brother are eating well.

‘Should I just kill them all?’

I thought about pulling out my sword and slaughtering all of these god damn bastards.

However, it is impossible to fight against all of these spirits and win. The path to obtaining Shinto-ryu, the path to enlightenment, will disappear.

In the end, the child will die and nothing will change.

The head spirit brought the whole child to his mouth to chew and eat it, and I closed my eyes.

“No!”

Inari appears, intercepts the child, and scatters away like a ghost.

I’m sure they told me to run away from the village.

Because of Babel, you refused my mandatory command?

‘It is the last struggle left by the soul.’

My brainwashing had already settled into her soul smoothly, and she had let down her guard by obeying my commands, but this order seemed to have offended her.

‘Are you thinking about the villagers that much?’

However, Inari was surrounded by several spirits who remained in the village and was quickly outnumbered.

“Be careful! This fox is the woman that the demon god Onigumakami was looking for!”

And Inari is about to be captured alive.

In response to her crisis, villagers came rushing from somewhere in the shrine.

Instead of splitting up, the villagers chose to hide together using Inari’s genjutsu.

If the shrine had been demolished, the illusion would eventually have been discovered.

“You monster! Free Inari!”

“Aaaah! Taste my stick!”

“This is the sword my father gave me! I will not leave your head to my son!”

” Those insignificant burakumin…!”

The spiritual power of the head spirit pressed down on the surroundings.

The villagers are pinned down and subdued.

However, Eriko, the shrine maiden at the forefront, showed no trace of regret on her face.

He must know that the opponent is a spirit, and that he cannot be that opponent.

“Inari, it has been the honor of my life to serve you.”

I felt something stirring inside me.

The most cowardly person here… was me.

It was actually my fault that they were hunted like this.

If I hadn’t attracted the attention of Shinhoe by saying that I would learn Shinto-ryu, nothing would have happened.

Actually, I lied to Inari.

A diet of the fittest of the fittest, meaning that if you are weak you will eat and if you are strong you will eat.

It’s natural because there’s no power. That’s the way of the world.

Is it really so?

no.

That’s not it.

Since it wasn’t natural, I had to gather my strength to not just obey that logic.

The reason I pursue power is to do what I want.

To realize my will beyond the walls of reality and absurdity.

Suddenly, a memory from the past passed through my mind.

My parents were dispatched to work abroad.

However, there, a fusion of the two sides of the gate occurred and he became isolated.

My parents, who had been telling me through satellite calls that they were still alive and okay, were discovered by a monster, chased down, and died as time passed.

I definitely heard the critical news over the phone, but I could do nothing but stamp my feet.

Perhaps, if I had gone there at any cost at that time, I could have changed my parents’ deaths?

After that, I became interested in strength and superpowers, blaming my own weakness for not choosing anything.

What about now?

People who were neglected by me like back then.

I had the power and could change the situation.

If I had risked death and interfered with the movement of the spirits in the form of a guerrilla, I might have been able to save most of them.

No, if I used my strength right now, I could have saved them, those who believe in me, from certain death for just a few hours!

I wanted to draw my sword right away and move forward.

But at the same time, there was a voice within me that told me not to do that.

A voice coming from outside the paranormal spirit.

What is this that affects me?

Something that messes with my mind.

It was the divine name, Hitokotonushi.

What defines my existence.

It took shape and spoke as if it were confronting a demonic image in my soul.

What good do they do me?

At most, you can easily gather 300 believers, and in other universes, you can easily gather ten or a hundred times that number.

If I abandon them, I will still belong to the society of gods, receive their help, and learn Shinto-ryu, the spiritual path, and be able to create martial arts that will surpass all of heaven.

Besides, I know better that I can’t fight and win against all the spirits.

What this Hitokotonushi One God of Words says is clearly correct. That’s why I’ve been hesitating until now.

But it was only after hearing those words that my resolve became firmer.

The reason I seek power is for myself.

But that doesn’t mean I should act only for my own comfort.

If you want to do it, you have to do it.

If you can’t do it, even if you have power, it means nothing.

If you’re going to regret doing it, don’t do it!

If you don’t regret doing it, do it anyway!

What’s the point of strength and myself if I’m just going to become absorbed in gain, ignore my own feelings, and even despise myself?

Of course, this act may be suicidal. There is a high probability that they will die, and they may not be able to protect themselves in the end, and everything may be in vain.

Are you still going to do it? Are you going to draw your sword and move forward? Are you willing to risk death for others?

If you were to face more than 60 spirits, your chance of winning was less than 1%, let alone 100%!

Are you still going to come forward?

Hitokotonushi, the master god of words, whispered to me, making me dizzy.

However, between such agony and determination, I was able to feel my pure heart.

Purely, I wanted to do that.

I was greatly impressed by the heart that reflected me like a mirror, and, surrendering myself to the pure desire to do so, I let out a roar and ran to the spirit of Wudu.

Following desire, demonic energy deepens to the bone marrow.

The magical energy that sinks, sinks, sinks into me and reaches my soul becomes a line of thought that connects the source and the spirit.

Only when one throws everything away at the devil’s desires and reaches the extreme limit can the spirit and devil reach one’s soul.

That’s why the ultimate demon

Eventually, as my will pierced through my soul riding on the thought, I became a single sword and cut down the spirit of Wudu.

At the same time, my demonic image also becomes a sword and cuts down the divine name Hitokotonushi.

The pure wishes of people toward me that appeared when their spirits were destroyed.

Their wish was the longing for life and the pursuit of a new god for themselves who had been abandoned by god.

I decided to take on that wish.

According to my will, my blood demon energy, demonic energy, and magical power merged with my desire through my intention and created a new divine name.

Heavenly Demon