Campione Lord of Realms Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Child of Fate, Taking Up the Sword

.

Part 1

Mononobe Yukino was a high school female student.

To describe her further, she had attractive face and figure, tidy and  sweet atmosphere, good grades, possessed both intelligence and beauty,  cheerful and openhearted, energetic and healthy, loved honor and  humanity, an avid watcher of Showa era yakuza movie who would clenched  her sweaty hands when watching such movie, but she also loved historical  period drama, hated seeing the weak getting bullied and would stop one  even if she had to punch the offender flying!

「Eh? It got strange from the middle?」

Her friend retorted at her when she was writing such self-introduction.

However, Yukino clenched her fist and passionately defended it.

「Well, even I am aware that I’m not like the so called 『normal high  schooler』. But you see, when I watched a manly old fashioned actor  showing over the top acting of swaggering with Hiroshima dialect saying  something like 『Pass on to the next worllldd!』, the gray matter inside  my head got crackling──」

「No. The strange part here is 『punch the offender flying』 you know, Yukino-chan.」

Her docile and gentle female classmate Fumi-chan pointed that out.

But Yukino objected in a flash.

「It’s not strange. It’s about 『Bullying, not cool』. I hate something  crooked. In life, honor and humanity and justice and friendship are the  number one most important things!」

「You are listing four things for your number one……」

「Ah, now that you mentioned it you’re right. I’ll be careful.」

She had a clear-cut and straightforward personality. She was a triple  threat of being a thoughtless, careless, and lighthearted person.

That paragraph served the purpose to concisely described the disposition of the person called Yukino.

By the way, she was magnificently popular. Because she never got  confessed by someone wh was her type, the length of her history without  boyfriend equaled her age but it was really the truth that she was  popular. It wasn’t just her self-assessment, she was a beautiful girl  who was genuinely talked about by people in the city, so there was no  denying it.

「Yukino-chan is really pretty!」

Yukino thought that Fumi-chan who was telling her that was also cute while replying back instantly.

「Yes. I also think so. You know, perhaps I’m a beauty at the level  that if I ride the train to school, the people who are in the same train  with me won’t be able to forget about me. Surely they will secretly  take my photo with their smartphone and spread my picture through SNS.  How depressing……」

「Yukino-chan, you seem like someone who will half kill a man if he try molesting you……」

「No way. I won’t let off that kind of trash with just being half dead. I’ll beat him until he is ninety percent dead♪」

Yes. Mononobe Yukino was also a shockingly beautiful girl.

If someone who met her for the first time sat in front of her, most  of the time they would go 『!?』 and gulped. Her slender and dainty face  possessed dignity and elegance.

Actually, she was born from an old family with an ancient and honorable origin.

Her ancestor was a samurai who descended from the ancient powerful Mononobe Clan.

Her long hair was tied into a ponytail and she walked dashingly when  in the city. She would become a center of attention just from that.  However, Yukino had no intention to boast about her own looks.

In the end this was just an advantage from her lineage. It wasn’t something that she obtained from her own effort.

Actually──even Yukino who wished to always be honest had a secret.

Mononobe Yukino, 16 years old. Amazingly, she was a 《god descendant》 who descended from the lineage of a god.

In most case, human who counted as the descendant of the gods would  either be extremely beautiful or possess extremely distinctive looks.

.

「There is already nothing else that I can teach to you──」

Her swordsmanship teacher and also her father, Mononobe Mikito said  that to her when she was twelve if her memory served her right.

It was at the summer holiday when Yukino was at the sixth grade of elementary school.

He wasn’t simply a father and a coach. He was also the twentieth head  of Ichinomiya Shin Ryuu, an ancient sword style that had been passed  down since ancient time at the east end of Ibaraki Prefecture, the land  of Kashima.

At that time, her father was 42 years old. Astonishingly he succeeded  the position of house head when he was still at the tender age of 24  years old.

It seemed there was none of his fellow student who complained about  that. Even the senior disciples declared that nobody other than her  father was worthy to be the head.

The reason was there was no expert more incredible than Yukino’s father.

──Naturally.

Mononobe clan was a lineage of god descendant. Furthermore the god in question was the god of military arts, Take Mikadzuchi.

There was also a view that god was an existence that was the  deification of 『sword』 itself. Her father and Yukino wasthe heaven-sent  children of sword so to speak.

But, here the student had become the master.

The blood of the sword god appeared to be thicker in the younger  generation Yukino rather than her father. There was a continuation to  the words that were told to her when she was twelve years old.

「Yukino. You are already standing far above me.」

This talk happened after she perfectly defeated her father with a single stroke of sword in a match using bamboo sword.

Since that day, her father kept demanding Yukino to quickly become the twenty first head.

「Well, but, we are in the 21st century now. Something like swordsmanship in this era is, you know?」

It was a composure born from being more masterful than anyone in swordsmanship.

Yukino held no pride in her ability, and she also almost never  displayed her skill in front of other people. However she also didn’t  try especially hard to hide her ability. She interacted with the 『sword』  in a relaxed and calm manner.

Perhaps that disposition too was due to her being a 『heaven-sent child』.

Even without desperately learning, training, or feeling anxious,  Mononobe Yukino was sword itself. She was conforming to the principle of  swordsmanship even from going through her daily life nonchalantly.

That Yukino also had a time when she demonstrated her “stances” on a whim.

Wearing a blue dougi(dojo uniform) and a hakama and holding an ebony wooden sword, she stood under the falling sakura petals.

She swung her wooden sword under the countless falling petals. The  way she moved her whole body leisurely resembled a performance in Noh  theater──the performance of a famous Noh performer at that.

However when a pink petal was touched by that leisurely moving sword tip, it would be bisected into two.

Of course, the wooden sword had no blade. It was only a wood stick that imitated the shape of katana.

And yet, the number of falling petals that were bisected by the edge  was increasing by double or triple the number of her swings.

It was truly a sword skill that reached the domain of super human.

There was also a time when Yukino had a spar against another  practitioner using wooden sword. The wooden sword that Yukino swung down  splendidly cut the opponent’s wooden sword. Cut, not breaking it.

The cut surface was smooth and straight. It was as though a hatchet had been used to cut it.

There was no way wood could cut wood──even such logic retreated before the divine technique of Mononobe Yukino.

Cutting something that shouldn’t be possible to cut. Piercing something that should be impossible to pierce.

Many sword practitioners would be able to cut using a blade. But  Yukino was different. She had deeply mastered sword art and its  principle had been deeply ingrained into her whole body as though it was  her own nerve cells.

That was why no matter what kind of tool she held, she would  sublimate her slash into a severing slash with her sword principle──.

To test it, she magnificently displayed how she cut a real sword, a  famous one at that into two with a wooden sword. She then performed  dogeza in panic at the speechless owner to apologize…….

Even so, just as she declared, the 21st century Japan was a constitutional state.

There was no way that a sword could be useful other than for  self-defense in emergency to discipline some “bully” a little──that  wasn’t wholly true.

After all Yukino and others god descendant shouldered the duty of enforcing fate.

.

「Say Roushiold priest/sage. Why do we have to hunt the 《distortion》?」

「Because even if the distortion is only small right now──if it is  left alone, one day it will become a distortion that threaten the whole  world. It might even become a heretic god. That will be something very  significant for us──it will become a cause that disturb the order of  absolute fate……」

At night at the bank of Kasumigaura──the second largest lake in Japan.

Yukino stared at the 『inland sea』 that was the pride of the local  people of Ibaraki prefecture while asking that question. The one she  asked was the leader of the 《Fate Executive Committee》 of eastern  Japan’s branch.

The young man with gentle and beautiful looks replied to Yukino’s question with a know-it-all airs.

Yukino had just killed a strange looking monster with her sword. It  was a boar densely covered with thick white fur. It was so tall she had  to look up to it. However, there was ugly and burbling lumps all over  its body.

It frequently appeared at the bank of Kasumigaura and it had been  devouring living creatures without regard whether they were human or  animal.

This was 《distortion. It was said that it was something that failed to become a god.

Even if JSDF’s tank corps was dispatched to oppose this calamity,  they would only get annihilated by this fierce beast. But Yukino cut it  down without even a twitch in her eyebrows. Furthermore she used wooden  sword.

That corpse melted like a mud before long and stained the ground.

One of the god descendants who watched it from start to finish, Ootomo Yahachirou nodded.

「Thus, the cursed beast that was cursed with the destiny of death now  die, and the outline of the fate is protected. Thank you Yukino, I’m  grateful for your contribution.」

He was the board chairman of the academy that Yukino enrolled to, and a descendant of the god of wisdom Omoikane.

In addition he was given the responsibility to act as Roushi at the Fate Executive Committee’s eastern Japan’s branch.

Such character had the appearance of a slender handsome youth wearing  a school uniform. He only looked like someone at his sixteen. But his  age had actually surpassed 300.

Because he had this kind of appearance, he screwed around by pretending to be a student.

Bizarrely long life on top of extremely slow aging. It wasn’t something particularly rare among god descendant.

At present, there were around 700 god descendant withing this 21st century Japan.

Yukino who was one of them tilted her head.

「Tonight is a boar, and before that was a cow, then bird, horse, and  also a distortion that looked like human. But none of them had anything  that felt divine from them. They were all absurdly ferocious and  savage.」

「You too will be considered fully fledged if you become able to discover the god within those Ara Mitamaraging soul.」

Old Priest Ootomo spoke with a disappointed tone.

「The “unruly spirits” that are born in the natural world might one  day assimilate with the myths that are passed down in the human world  and reach as far as the domain of god. But, the god that manifested on  this world──will begin to go mad from their very existence before long.  In the end they will be reduced into a divinity that is subtly different  from their myth. That is heretic god. An existence that even we god  descendant can’t possibly oppose……」

「Yes yes. We are hunting the distortions so that such monster won’t be born. Isn’t that right?」

「Well, if we look at the whole multiverse, there are a lot of  universe that doesn’t have protector like us. This space-time 966 is  fortunate.」

「Is that so?」

「Yeah. When an irregular at the level that can disturb the 『world’s  future』 as determined by fate appear, we will quickly remove and correct  it. That is what executing fate means. It’s one of the──noble duties  that is levied on us god descendant.」

Just like how Yukino was a sword, the god descendant of the god of wisdom also embodied 『wisdom』 itself.

He had a grasp of the structure and even the while picture of the multiverse.

While he was a residence of this universe, if he meditated deeply and  sharpened his heart, he was able to even send his spiritual sight to  look at the situation of the other worlds.

Yukino whose specialty was sword found it hard to understand something like that.

It was the field of god descendant who had god of wisdom or god of  magic as their ancestor. There were around 36 people in the whole  Universe 966 who knew about gods and worlds like that. Those people were  referred as 《The Thirty Six Sages》.

The sages not only keeping in contact with each other constantlyto  protect the order and fate of Universe 966, they were also observing the  movement of the multiverse in the whole.

Yes──. No matter how much of a prodigy god descendant Yukino was, her specialty was in swinging sword.

An overtly grand talk like multiverse and the like was a fairy tale that was completely unrelated with Mononobe Yukino. And yet.

The terrifying 《Sea of Chaos》 changed everything.

.

「What in the world……」

Yukio was walking through the street with despair battering her mind.

Ibaraki Prefecture, Kashima City. The name Kashima was written with  鹿島 in the past, but now the name had changed to be 鹿嶋. Both read as  Kashima. Yukino loved this land. There wasn’t any reason for this place  to be looked down at just because it was a provincial city. This place  had a lot of chain stores and it also had extremely strong team in J  League. It also had many fast busses to go to Tokyo with one hour trip.

The large shrine that Yukino had frequented since she was a child was also famous as the number one shrine of Hitachi Province.

From that home town that she loved──

Every human had vanished from it.

There wasn’t anybody no matter where she went. Whether she went to  the shopping district, or to the street that was usually bustling with  people, even when she broke into private house or mansion, there wasn’t a  single person who she could find.

Also, the buildings and ground all around were melting.

The buildings that should be there, the houses, the streets, forest,  power pole, electric line, car, etc, etc. All of them were losing their  original shape and melting like mud. Paste with marble pattern appeared  everywhere throughout Kashima City.

Yukino knew. This was the sign of the end.

Tokyo was also in this state. At first only human vanished. Then in  less than half a month, everything everywhere began to melt and now  almost everything inside the city──whether it was the 23 wards, or every  city around it, they had all changed into liquid of indeterminate  shape.

Yukino who was at the city center until just several hours ago had seen everything with her own eyes.

Furthermore, the same phenomenon was going on even now all over the world.

In the estimation of Old Priest Ootomo──the god descendant who was  well versed in wisdom more than anybody else, perhaps eighty percent of  the earth surface had been polluted by this muddy Sea of Chaos.

In addition.

99,9999% of mankind was annihilated.

The Sea of Chaos was absorbing and assimilating everything nearby. It  was also producing extremely thick miasma. The living creature that was  showered by the miasma would be “vaporized” and became new miasma that  was a part of the Sea of Chaos…….

Yukino was crying while walking through the empty Kashima City.

Rumi-chan who she was close with, her other classmates and  acquaintances. They too should have disappeared. The only safe human was  only god descendant with strong resistance toward curse like Yukino.

Yes. The 0,0001% remaining mankind on earth was only the god descendants.

(Yu……kino. Yuki……no)

「Otou-san!?」

The telepathy that reached her heart belonged to her father Mononobe Mikito.

Yukino immediately dashed. She was in front of a bus terminal just  now, but Mononobe Yukino’s figure instantly vanished from there──

*DOONN!*

She landed at the garden of a samurai residence that was near to Kashima Shrine with a thunderclap.

She could fly just by imagining it if her destination was a familiar  place for her. She transformed into a soaring lightning. This was a  spiritual ability that Yukino also possessed as a god descendant.

She didn’t head to the main building. She rushed toward the dojo that was built within the mansion’s ground.

Her father was there. Although he was 46 years old, he had a thin  body that was far from being overweighed. He had the look of a  refreshing handsome man. He was strict when it was time ot be strict,  but he always warmly watched over her. He was the father that Yukino was  really proud of and loved. However.

Her father that usually sat with upright seiza posture in the dojo was lying on the floor.

「Otou-san, are you alright!? Where is Okaa-san and Kento!?」

「They have gone ahead……. Tou-san is also going to reach my limit soon……」

「Why!? Everyone in our family is god’s descendant isn’t it!?」

Not to mention her little brother, her mother also came from a lineage of god descendant.

So that the divine lineages wouldn’t be extinguished, they passed  down the tradition through the generations to always marry fellow god  descendant. That too was a duty for those who were god descendant.

「The Chaos is already……spreading so much that even the people at our  level can’t survive it. Annihilation cannot be avoided anymore unless  they are a high ranked god descendant like you……」

Her father was extremely calm even when things had reached this point.

He was a martial artist and also a god descendant. Because of that  his expression was filled with enlightenment and resignation. He nodded  weakly at his beloved daughter who was at his side.

「Perhaps……you will become our last hope. ……’s sword, take it out.」

「Otou-san!」

Her father left those words behind before his whole body turned into muddy liquid.

The next moment, the liquid made *Juu* sound and turned into vapor.  The vapor assimilated with the chaos miasma that tormented her father  and vanished from this world.

Yukino finally sank down on the dojo’s floor and burst into tears.

To think, that she would face the end of the world in this kind of  shape──. Yukino who was always cheerful at any time was stricken with  despair.

「That’s right, the teachers!」

Yukino recalled her important people and flew away once more.

.

Part 2

Kasumigaura was the biggest lake at Ibaraki Prefecture.

Also, the vast lake that was generally thought as Kasumigaura was called as Nishiura to be more precise.

Kasumigaura was a name that referred to all the bodies of water in  the area, which also included the small lakes Kitaura, Sotonasakaura,  and others.

Stretching at the north of Kashima City was Kitaura──a part of Kasumigaura.

This area still hadn’t been seriously encroached by the Sea of Chaos.

Yukino transformed into lightning and landed on the lake shore.

There was a cottage nearby. It was built at the lake’s bank within a  grove of mixed trees. It was an elegant dwelling that was made from only  wood. Those people were living here──.

Yukino ran in full speed until the door and opened it with a bang without even knocking.

「Momotarou-sensei! Jirou-san!」

「Yaa. You finally came, Yukino.」

「I have been waiting all this time for your arrival together with Ani-ue.」

The two of them were safe. They were smiling gently at her.

Yukino was deeply moved and cried 「Aa!」 while shedding tears. She sank down on the floor at the entrance.

「I’m glad……I believed that if it’s you teachers than you are surely  all right but……but-. I was really, really anxious until I saw you  teachers with my own eyes──!」

「You must have it really hard with everything that is going on. Come in, rest for a bit.」

The long haired youth put his arm around Yukino’s shoulders and led her until the living room.

Godou Momotarou──.

He was a young man with prominent good looks, so much so that it  would make anyone wanted to describe his looks using word like  “absurdly” or “tremendously”. Furthermore, the nobility and virtue that  were radiated from his within were so sublime it surpassed his handsome  looks. Someone who met him for the first time would be shaking  emotionally just from facing him. Yukino wasn’t an exception.

He had deep chiseled features and white skin. His beautiful blue hair was growing until his back.

Blue. The hair was naturally glossy and didn’t look like it was dyed  at all despite the unusual color. It was terribly beautiful.

Also, even though he was wearing a sweater and chino pants that could  be found anywhere, the way he wore them made them looked like high  class one-of-a-kind item that was tailored especially for him.

Thank god. Momotarou-sense is just like usual, Yukino thought in relieve.

「I am aware of the situation in general. You don’t need to force yourself to talk about it. Drink this and take a breather.」

「T-thank you, Jirou-san.」

Yukino hiccupped tearfully while received the mug.

Godou Jirou──. The younger brother of Momotarou. He personally brewed  a hot cocoa for Yukino. Sweetness and kindness were seeping into her  body and heart.

Jirou-san is also like usual, just like his big brother. It made Yukino happy.

He was wearing casual outfit of a button down shirt and a slacks, but  his nobility, good looks, and dignity were radiating out that his  outfit looked like high class ready-made clothes that a model was  wearing.

He and his brother looked completely like two peas in a pod. The only  difference between he and his elder brother was his tanned skin and  silver hair.

Right after she met them, Yukino thought 『They have different race  even though they are twins!』 , but soon she paid no further attention to  that.

It was because of Yukino’s personality to not bother about small details and because of the charisma of the brothers.

These two introduced themselves with Japanese name and talked with  amazingly fluent Japanese, but their nationality and race weren’t clear  at all.

But, there was no doubt that they were extremely high ranked god descendant.

She met these brothers who lived quietly at Kasumigaura’s lake shore  two years ago. Since then, Yukino would come here three times a week at  minimum──.

「Ani-ue. It looks like the situation is really not good.」

「Indeed. For now let’s pray for all the lives that have been  swallowed by the Chaos. So that the day will come when this existence  that is made from myriad of beings will be separated once more into  individual lives.」

「…………Eh?」

Yukino couldn’t erase her sadness and despair and stayed in a daze for a while.

She listened to the conversation of the Godou siblings and interrupted them.

「The people who vanished, they can return back to normal!?」

「It’s not impossible. If things follow the outline that the fate has  determined, the destruction of this universe should be still far away  after all. If the secret power of fate correction and “that weapon” can  be obtained, then perhaps──」

「T-teach me how to do it! I’ll do it!」

The gaze of Yukino who was hanging her head down snapped into attention.

The beautiful face of the smiling Momotarou-sensei entered her eyes. Her teacher nodded with a gentle face.

「I thought that you will surely say that if it’s you. But, your heart  is still in disarray. ……Jirou, can you bring me my wooden sword?」

「Yes, Ani-ue.」

「The situation is like this but──let’s train, Yukino.」

Why now? Yukino was bewildered by what her teacher was suddenly saying.

.

Under the cloudy sky, they faced each other at the shore of Kasumigaura.

Yukino was wearing her high school sailor uniform and holding an  ebony wooden sword. Momotarou-sensei had changed into a dougi and a  hakama while holding a wooden sword that was made from loquad wood.

Sensei. Yes, Yukino had been taught martial arts from him since two years ago.

Mononobe Yukino was the heaven-sent child of sword god. Her father  who was also her master had told her 『You are far above me──』. But she  kneeled the instant she learned of Godou Momotarous’s skill.

『I beg you, please teach me a lot of things!』

Momotarou-sensei smiled at that time and said something mysterious.

『Aa, as I thought. The child of fate is here as I thought.』

Two years after that──.

The sensei who readily consented of her request to become his  disciple would sometimes display his own martial art as example, and  sometimes he would polish Yukino’s 『sword』 by having a spar with her.

In those days, she was able to feel keenly how she became even  sharper, how the pointless aspects of her were shaved off, and how she  was tempered in depth.

It was the first experience for Yukino who had interacted with swordsmanship only with relaxed manner until then.

Other than swinging sword, she was also taught the way to use every  kind of weapon likerod, spear, throwing star, rope, etc, etc, and even  martial arts like kenpo. And above all else was archery──.

『It’s my first time touching something like a bow. But it looked like I unexpectedly have talent with it.』

『I thought that this will be the case. After all your encounter with bow is also fate……』

The little brother Jirou-san also often became her sparring partner.

Like that two years passed. During that time, the two of them became irreplaceable people for Yukino. And then.

She faced her teacher with wooden sword in hand while the world was ending.

「Come.」

Momotarou-sensei took his usual stance. He held up his wooden sword high above his head with both hands.

「Let me tell you this beforehand. Come at me seriously. Do you understand?」

「Eh──?」

Yukino was trembling before the overhead stance of her teacher.

That stance was also called the Stance of Fire. It was a stance that threw away defense to attack with one’s life on the line.

But, Momotarou-sensei’s overhead stance wasn’t simply like that. His  stance displayed a 『Ruler’s Sword』. It was manly and majestic. It was a  stance to cut down the enemy while looking down at them from above.

His sword handling and his body handling too, everything was like the flow of a large river.

Flowing and grandeur. No matter what kind of formidable enemy was  standing on the way, no matter the situation, he would close the  distance without fear and unleashed a slash that was fierce like raging  fire and yet polished to perfection.

Just by facing this stance, any swordsman would feel 『outranked』.

Even Yukino felt so. Until now she never felt even once that she  managed to make Momotarou-sensei got serious when facing her. Besides,  the world was already over. She had also lost all her family and  friends.

What was the point having a spar with her teacher at this point──even though she was thinking like that.

By taking up her sword once more and facing this handsome swordsman  who was like a god of war, Yukino’s soul was naturally sharpening once  more.

She sublimated all of her feelings, to utterly become a 『sword』.

That was the only method that could enable this heaven-sent child of the sword god, Mononobe Yukino to face her teacher──.

Her body was already moving when she reached that enlightenment. A  cry of fighting spirit burst out from her mouth while she leaped  straight toward her teacher! A two-handed thrust!

「AAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!」

She leaped with her steps going through the shortest distance with  the fastest speed. She unleashed a straight thrust toward her teacher’s  throat.

Yukino radiated lightning from her whole body and transformed into 『lightning』 itself.

But that was only natural. She was the descendant of the sword god  Take Mikadzuchi. She had the god of war and martial arts who was also a  god of lightning as her ancestor──.

Her teacher also let out a cry of fighting spirit and met her attack.

「HA!」

What came out was naturally a stroke of downward swing.

The loquat wooden sword that her teacher swung down. The ebony wooden  sword that Yukino thrust out. The wooden edge and tip clashed, *PAAN!*  and a bursting sound echoed.

The two wooden swords were smashed into small pieces.

「The strike just now was great. It was truly a single stroke. And it looks like your heart has been put into order too Yukino.」

「This is……the first timeI manage to endure Momotarou-sensei’s overhead stance……」

「It’s an awakening that you find exactly because you took your swrod  when standing at the depth of despair. Yukino, if it’s the current you  then you have enough qualification to embark to your trip.」

Her teacher smiled. Yukino keenly felt her own growth. Jirou-san called out at the two of them.

The three of them stood in a circle at the shore of Kasumigaora.

It was then, someone teleported to right nearby. It was a spiritual  ability to cross space in the same way like how Yukino 『flew』.

A red face and a long nose like a tengu──he was one of the god descendants and an old acquaintance of Yukino.

「There is a summon. The surviving compatriots are to gather at the sacred mountain Fuji.」

The descendant of the god of travel and boundary Sarutahiko suddenly said that.

.

Part 3

The total number of god descendants who scattered all over the world seemed to be around 8000.

It was equivalent to 0,0001% of the world’s population. The number  that lived within Japan was around 700. And then tonight, all the god  descendants who were living in Japan were summoned.

「So there are only this many survivors……」

Yukino was muttering in a daze.

People with beautiful features or unique looks were meeting together  in one place. The scene resembled a convention of gods. But, the number  of people who attended didn’t even reach fifty.

The meeting place was the foot of Fuji Mountain.It was a holy ground  that was also called as the greatest shrine in Suruga province.

Inside the grounds of the spacious shrine, people with high rank even  among the god descendants living in Japan were all gathered.

A person who inherited the bloodline of dragon that was especially  noble even among the sacred beasts. Old Priest Ootomo or 『Roushi-sama』  who Yukino was also familiar with. A descendant of the demoness Ibaraki  Douji. The descendant of Amaterasu no Ookami. The descendant of Idzuna  Gongen who resembled Karasu Tengu with his expanding mouth that looked  like a beak. Descendant. Descendant. Descendant. Descendant.

It was a grand lineup. In other words, it was impossible to survive  in this world unless they were in the class of the people here──.

Surely their family in this whole world had perished. Just like her  family. Yukino spoke to Momotarou-sensei who was right at her side.

「Sensei. Please tell me about the talk that you mentioned before this already!」

「Wait. Right now a talk that is also related to that matter is going to start here.」

「Perhaps, it will be about “them”, our old acquaintances……」

「Yeah. Truly when it comes to them, they all are extraordinarily  remarkable characters without exception, heroic figures in a level that  there is nothing that can be done anymore except laughing……」

Jirou-san spoke in lamentation with a small voice. His elder brother was also in agreement.

This was the first time these siblings were talking about their past.  Yukino’s eyes widened. A petite old woman started speaking at that  timing.

「Let me ask one of the 36 Sages, the descendant of the god of wisdom  Omoikane. The turmoil this time doesn’t only happen at our Universe 966,  but also at Universe 967 and 957 that are adjacent to us. The three  space-time continuums collided, from there the joining and fusion of the  three progressed, and in the end the Sea of Chaos are currently  swallowing everything──」

The old woman was elegantly wearing a light green kimono──a  ceremonial kimono with her family crest embroidered along the bottom of  her skirt.

Her real name was unclear. Yukino and others were calling her as 『Oyakata-samahonorable noblewoman』.

She was the descendant of Karura Ten, the guardian of Buddhism. It  was said that she had the thickest blood among the god descendants in  Japan. It seemed that her age had surpassed 800 and her spiritual  ability was also extremely strong.

Furthermore she was said as the highest ranked god descendant in Japan both in name and reality.

「Several worlds that originally shouldn’t be fated to perish are  being cornered into destruction. There is a distortion that is  disturbing the law and order of the multiverse to this degree. Then  why──the power of fate correction isn’t working?」

At this time, a glance.

The Oyakata-sama was glancing at Yukino and her two teachers. It was just for a moment.

Momotarou-sensei nodded slightly. Yukino was staring blankly without understanding.

「The fate enforcement of this Universe 966 is certainly entrusted to  us, the descendants of the gods. However now that things has reached  this point, we need for “god themselves” to descend to take care of  this. That’s right. The descend of the war god who possess the sword of  salvation, the hero of devil king extermination, the warrior who  manifest in the end of this world!」

The voice of the Oyakata-sama was filled with adoration and longing toward that existence.

「The warrior who descend at the end of this world will correct the  world’s fate to progress just like the outline it ought to follow. Even  when those abominable 『beasts』 are born in the world, that warrior will  definitely exterminate them while leaving none alive. Our Universe 966  need that warrior right at this time!」

「Somehow this sounds like the talk of a hero that appears in game……」

Yukino whispered secretly.

And then Yukino’s acquaintance who was questioned by Oyakata-sama suddenly opened his mouth.

「Let me answer. Certainly in this situation it won’t be strange at  all for the warrior to descend in order to purify the Sea of Chaos.  However currently the power of fate correction isn’t functioning in the  whole multiverse that possess three thousand worlds.」

The god descendant of the god of wisdom Omoikane, Roushi-sama, Ootomo.

He had the appearance of a young man wearing a school uniform for  boy, but he was more than 300 years old and was one of the 36 Sages who  knew the underlying principle of the multiverse. He could also send his  spiritual sight to other universe with meditation──.

「The source of this is Universe 3092, the mythological world Hyperborea.」

Old Priest Ootomo spoke with gloomy tone.

「The world that is formed from extremely old mythology of  Indo-European languages──the mythology that was passed down among the  people who talked with Proto-Indo-European language, that is Hyperborea.  However, right now many godslayers are gathering in this sanctuary  right now.」

「Those abominable and terrifying godslaying beasts are……furthermore many of them!?」

Oyakata-sama shuddered. Old Priest Ootomo nodded.

「Yes. The devil kings who murdered the heretic gods and plundered  their divine authority. The monsters who far surpassed us god  descendants.」

Yukino gasped after hearing that conversation.

The heretic god that she had been taught about before. They  obliterated all the unruly distortions so that those distortions  wouldn’t reach the domain of heretic god.

However, there were existences in this multiverse who could kill those gods──?

Yukino felt dizzy at this inflation of power level that often happened in shounen manga.

「Right now, the way this world exist is being greatly altered in Hyperborea.」

Old Priest Ootomo must have observed with his spiritual sight.

He continued his report with a passionate tone.

「That sanctuary originally only had the civilization at the level of  stone tool or bronze ware, but the godslayers are imparting 『more  futuristic knowledge, concept, and technology』 there and developing the  civilization with terrifying speed. They are altering a mythological  world──in other words, they are altering a mythology.」

「Altering mythology……don’t tell me」

Oyakata-sama seemed to realize something. Old Priest Ootomo nodded at her.

「Yes. Hyperborea is a world where the most ancient mythology of  Indo-European languages took shape. If the most ancient mythology got  altered, it will also cause distortion to the mythologies that come  after it. The mythologies that received influence from this ancestry  were India mythology, Greek mythology, Roma mythology, Norse mythology,  Celt mythology, and even our Japanese mythology and Chinese mythology  although not directly. And then──gods are beings that are born from  mythologies.」

Yukino’s comprehension couldn’t keep up anymore at this point.

However, all the god descendants around her were listening with grave face.

(As expected from the high ranked people. They are knowledgeable about the god who became their root!)

Yukino was impressed. On the other hand, Old Priest Ootomo’s report was reaching the climax.

「The warrior of world salvation──the King of the End, many of them  are war god or chief god who appeared in the mythologies of  Indo-European languages. But because of the change in shape in the  oldest mythology, the tales that should give birth to their existence  are also distorted. It made the system of hero’s descend to stop  functioning.」

The report was over. Everyone present over here fell silent for a while.

But, before long they began speaking their opinion one after another.

「However. Thinking carefully, this Universe 966 has the 『heaven-sent child』.」

「Yes. The child that is the reincarnation of the sword of salvation itself.」

「What if……we send the child of sword god as the hero of devil king extermination to Hyperborea to subdue the godslayers?」

「I’ll try to see it with my spiritual sight.」

The one who received the questions was the descendant of the god of wisdom, Old Priest Ootomo.

He immediately closed his eyes and meditated. A little while later, he spoke solemnly.

「……The tide of anti fate will weaken and the multiverse’s order will be restored if it succeed.」

「But, it won’t be possible to match a godslayer unless one is an  extremely formidable fighter themselves. It will be a different story if  the child of sword god can control her own weapon──the divine sword of  salvation but……」

「Unfortunately, she still hasn’t obtained her true awakening……」

The people were having such conversation. All of them were looking her way.

In other words, Mononobe Yukino. They were watching her with a gaze that was filled with hope and anxiety.

「Y──you mean me?」

「Yukino. Reveal it to those who are in doubt. That you already have the qualification for that.」

Momotarou-sensei instructed his beloved disciple who was currently feeling greatly bewildered.

.

「Sensei is telling me that but, can I really do something like that……」

At the regional town that was close to the sacred mountain Fuji, Gotenba City.

More than half of the town area was encroached by the Sea of Chaos.  Yukino was standing right at the center of it. She was stepping on the  asphalt street that still hadn’t turned liquid.

But, it was unknown how long this state would last. Or rather──

A large shadow fell around Yukino.

She looked up to the sky. A huge flying creature was passing through above her head at that timing.

The sacred bird Garuda──the length of its wings was more than ten  meters. Its shape was similar to a heron, but it was wrapped in crimson  feathers. Its true identity was the Oyakata-sama. As someone who  descended from Karura Ten, she was a spiritualist who could transform  into the sacred bird that was connected to her ancestor.

And then, countless red drops were falling from the sky.

Oyakata-sama was disseminating her blood bit by bit to the ground.  Toward the land of Gotenba City where the Sea of Chaos was spreading.

She was the highest ranked god descendant. Therefore even a single drop of her blood contained immense spiritual ki.

Bathed in that, the Chaos in this land was drastically invigorated.

The muddily liquefying objects, the ground, the building, the plants,  everything was turning into liquid. It was the Sea of Chaos that  destroyed the world.

That sea surface was starting to boil and expanding further.

The Sea of Chaos was flowing to even the places that had avoided  being encroached until now like a lava flow. Everything on its path was  greedily devoured.

And then, the mud was also flowing to the location where Yukino was standing──

「KYAAAAAAAAH!」

Yukino’s whole body instantly sunk into the Sea of Chaos.

She lost her sense of balance inside the muddy grey liquid. She  didn’t know which way was up. Her eyes were turning around dizzily. Was  her body rotating?

Perhaps this was the sign of Yukino’s mind losing its sanity?

She was tormented by nausea and drunkenness while recalling what Old Priest Ootomo taught her.

『You are a descendant of sword god Take Mikadzuchi──but that’s not  all. It’s very very rare, but sometimes from among the god descendants,  someone who inherit the same soul with their god ancestor will be  reborn……』

『It’s not a talk about inheriting the ancestor’s blood thickly  anymore. After all their soul is the same with the god themselves.』

『Mononobe Yukino, you are the one and only reincarnation of Take Mikadzuchi.』

『This secret is actually an information that almost all of the high  ranked god descendant are aware of. You are famous among us. The  reincarnation of sword god who appeared in the land of the gods Japan.  Furthermore, it was said that god has a part in controlling the fate of  Universe 966──』

Yukino recalled the many words.

However, her consciousness was receding. She was starting to  assimilate with the Sea of Chaos. It might be alright if she was just  coming into contact with miasma, but as expected she couldn’t endure it  when sinking into the sea like this…….

「It’s not the time to think about that!」

Yukino fired up herself even while her mind was hazy.

That’s right. She had just heard it hadn’t she? The savior who  appeared at the end of this world, it was a role that was assigned to  that world’s war god or chief god.

And then, in this Universe 966──

「That is my ancestor Take Mikadzuchi! He is the god of martial arts  and also the very sword of world salvation itself! That’s why please,  you who sleep inside me……the divine sword of salvation Take Mikadzuchi!  Come out, help me!」

Momotarou-sensei had also told her. Surely the current Yukino would be able to pull it out.

The divine sword of salvation, take it into your hand. Only with  that weapon in hand, the hero will be supported by the fate corrective  force for the first time, he said.

Yukino sharpened her heart in the same way when she faced her teacher before this.

.

──Sublimate all your feelings, to completely become a『sword』.

.

The next instant, 『a sword handle』 came out from her left hand.

She immediately grabbed it. And pulled. From the palm of her left  hand, a beautiful blade slid out. It was a straight sword that was  shining platinum. How long this sword was?

10 cm, 20 cm, the blade was being pulled out bit by bit.

However, Yukino was dumbfounded when the sword had been pulled out at around 50 cm.

「Eh──!?」

She couldn’t pull it out any further. The blade wouldn’t even twitch no matter how much strength she used.

Was Yukino’s strength still incomplete? It seemed this was her limit. She couldn’t swing this sword at this state!

At the verge of despair, Yukino turned defiant.

「How can it not come out fully, I should be able to do it with the current me!」

That’s right. If it was Mononobe Yukino who was recognized by Momotarou-sensei and Jirou-san──.

The momentum of her current situation and her trust toward those  reliable brothers lit a fire into her fighting spirit. A loud scream  broke out from Yukino’s mouth.

「AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA──!」

Several streaks of lightning burst out from the pulled out blades.

They flew randomly to the front, back, left, right, above, and  bottom. The Sea of Chaos spreading around her got scorched and struck  severely. It was being pushed back.

Light and heat and shockwave surged out from the lightning. It surged. Surged!

Lightning strikes continued to surge out to such degree that they seemed limitless. Then.

The Sea of Chaos was receding from within the radius of 4, 5 kilometers with Yukino at the center like an ebbing tide.

There was already nothing more that existed around Yukino.

The asphalt street and the buildings too were all annihilated. There was only the laid bare ground spreading around her.

「Looks like……I did it.」

The divine sword of salvation that she couldn’t pull out already returned inside her left hand.

A feeling of exhaustion flooded her right after that. Yukino sank down on the spot.

.

Part 4

Yukino had proved that she could pull out the divine sword of salvation.

The god descendants returned once more to the large shrine at the  foot of Fuji Mountain where they gathered. But, it wasn’t for having a  talk anymore. It was to send out someone.

Also there was a need to teach various things before the departure.

「……And those are the special characteristic of the people who are called as the godslaying beast.」

Yukino listened to the summary of the enemies that she had to defeat from Old Priest Ootomo and sighed.

「Mere humans──humans who aren’t even god descendant defeated the  “heretic gods” that even us cannot hope to defeat and usurped god’s  authority……. What kind of nonsense is that!」

「Certainly there are also some universes where they worship the birthed godslayers as the protector of the world.」──────

Old Priest Ootomo spoke painfully.

「Because they are the only superhuman who can oppose the heretic  gods, the devil kings. But, I can only say that it’s a great mistake.  You see, the godslayers will definitely begin to run wild. They won’t  take any notice about the damage to the surrounding if it’s for the sake  of defeating god. They will also get into quarrel with their fellow  godslayer and kill each other. Their existence is none other than the  factor that will destroy the world before long.」

「It’s like the story of a medicine for killing cancer cell gnawing at the patient’s body instead……」

「It’s even worse than that. The godslayers are raging monsters who  can’t possibly be compared with vaccine to treat cancer after all. Even  though they are human, they don’t know their place and oppose the  gods──their starting point already display the irredeemable degree of  their folly.」

「And then my role is──」

Yukino nodded at her mentor who was making a fed up face.

「Exterminating all the godslayers in Hyperborea. Right!?」

「We are counting on you. Actually all of us also want to come along with you in order to assist you in this mission, but the Ame no Tori FuneHeaven Bird Ship can only bring one person to travel through the multiverse. This will surely become an outrageously severe journey for you.」

「Even so, this is something that can only be done by me right?」

「Yeah. If the fate corrective force come to dwell in the divine sword  of salvation, there is a big enough possibility that the Sea of Chaos  that is polluting our Universe 966 and the surrounding universes can be  separated from the lives it has swallowed. We want to bet on that  possibility in order to revive the world.」

「The divine sword of salvation is the sword just now right? But」

Yukino asked.

「I don’t really understand about this fate corrective force.」

「Remember about the “fate enforcements” that you have carried out  until now. It’s an act of destroying distortion each time one appear in  the world and plucking the bud of calamity. However」

Old Priest Ootomo spoke solemnly with his handsome youth figure.

「The warrior who take up the divine sword of salvation is given a far  more difficult mission. First is 『saving the world from destruction』.  And then 『devil king extermination』. In this case it means going through  the journey of tribulation to defeat all the godslaying devil kings who  appear in this world──」

「This isn’t at the level of our usual distortion elimination anymore huh……」

Yukino swallowed her saliva. Old Priest Ootomo nodded.

「Yeah. That’s why the hero of devil king extermination is supported  by “the great power”. That is the fate corrective force. The greater the  number of the enemy, which is the devil kings in this case, the more  explosively the power of the hero will increase. It’s said that it can  even “cancel” act of barbarity that might alter history.」

「That kind of power will help me!? Amazing!」

Yukino rejoiced. But the Roushi-sama smiled dejectedly.

「However, right now it’s unclear whether the fate corrective force  will function well at Hyperborea. Listen well Yukino, go search for the  《godslayer of anti fate》 when you arrive there.」

It was the word that she heard for the first time. Anti──fate.

Yukino was dumbfounded. Old Priest Ootomo continued his words toward her.

「It seems there is a godslayer who murdered a god of fate and usurped  their authority. Because of his existence, the momentum of anti fate is  strongly filling the heaven and earth of Hyperborea. He is a threat at  the level that can distort even the secret force of fate correction.」

Old Priest Ootomo was someone who even misused his handsome look to screw around pretending to be student.

However right now he was bowing to Yukino with a terribly serious face.

「Yukino. You are none other than the one who take up the sword of  salvation, the warrior who appear at the end of this world. Please, I  ask you to save our world. I beg you from the bottom of my heart.」

「Leave it to me, is what I want to say but I can’t give any guarantee. But I’ll give it my all!」

Yukino was affected by the old priest’s earnestness and replied instantly.

It would affect her dignity as woman to hesitate here. It was then  Momotarou-sense and Jirou-san came in front of their favorite pupil.

「Yukino. I’ll give this to you.」

Saying that, Momotarou-sensei held out his hand.

He pressed his index finger and middle finger on Yukino’s forehead and muttered solemnly.

「……O child of fate. I shall hand over several of my treasured weapons  to thee. When thy wish for this power, chant mine true name 『Rama』.」

「Eh──?」

Yukino was surprised.

She felt many immense powers dwelling within her body.

Images surfaced in her mind. Spear, axe, pole, rope, a chariot that  was pulled by horse, a lot of throwing weapons, a lot of arrows, and  then a heavy bow made from black steel──.

Momotarou-sensei grinned at the astonished Yukino.

「In the past, I too received several parting gifts when setting off on my journey. This is a part of those.」

「Those are marvelous bow and arrows that will work wonder. Work hard to be able to use them quickly.」

Jirou-san also spoke to her kindly.

Although she had wanted to ask a question all this time, she never  asked it because the two seemed to have their reasons. But now Yukino  finally asked it out loud.

「Momotarou-sensei and Jirou-san, just who in the world are you two?」

「This is a past story though. I too in the past──was called with  titles like hero of devil king extermination, war god of the steel, and  so on.」

「War god……sensei is a god!?」

The overly shocking confession made Yukino’s eyes widened.

The twin brothers were smiling with nonchalant air. The white skinned  elder brother and the tanned little brother. Certainly they had  handsome face and sublime atmosphere that could convince her if they  claimed to be god.

「We have most of our strength to be sealed so that we won’t turn  heretic though. I don’t know if we should be called as god even now.」

「Fufufufu. Right now both of us siblings are people in retirement.」

「We settled down in this land because we felt something that  attracted us terrible to here. And then we waited for our encounter with  you. It seems that the link between the guidance of fate and us cannot  be severed completely even after it was cut.」

「Haa……」

Yukino was dumbfounded from hearing such outrageous story at the very end.

And then it was finally time for her to depart.

Old Priest Ootomo handed a ball of light to Yukino. Then a lot of white light enveloped her whole body and she floated up.

The light that enveloped Yukino then immediately soared through the sky of twilight.

This shining flying object was none other than Ame no Tori Fune.

The sun had mostly set. The sky was bluish black with only a little  light remaining. It was truly a color that represented the demise of the  world.

Under the ominous sky, Ame no Tori Fune flew toward a certain spot in the Sea of Chaos.

It was an area where everything was muddily flowing. She was told  that the mythological world Hyperborea could be reached by breaking  through here. It seemed the ship knew about the direction.

Yukino who was enveloped by white light muttered softly.

「I only need to be carried like this for a while……oh?」

It looked like there was something that passed her by just now.

Something that seemed to be a flying object that was cigar shaped──it  looked similar like a submarine or an ark. Just what could it be?

But, Mononobe Yukino wasn’t someone who paid attention to little things.

She immediately forgot it and trembled in excitement when she thought  of the adventure waiting for her in Hyperborea that she hadn’t seen  yet.

.

The ark that passed by the child of fate just for a moment.

Inside that ship was the existence that one day ought to have a  showdown with that child, the 《Godslayer of Anti Fate》. But of course,  Yukino had no way of knowing that──.