Vol 12 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Chapter 4 - Name of the G.o.d Heralding Midwinter?

Part 1

Subsequently about ten minutes after contacting Yuri, G.o.dou got in touch

with a certain someone.

In fact, he notified her by saying 'Santa Clauses are being greyified once

again!'. He also wanted to utilize that familiar she used in the past to

search for the culprit.

However, he relinquished that idea after sensing there was some kind of

indescribable danger.

Viewing it from the perspective of a baseball team, expectations would

dictate Kusanagi G.o.dou to be either the fourth hitter or catcher. These

were the positions he was accustomed to ever since he was a child.

On offense, the pinch hitter was allowed to distance hit. On defense, the

pitcher and outfielders would be instructed to set up a containment. There

were no inconspicuous movements on his side.

However, the fourth hitter for some reason decided to bunt the ball.

The catcher, who was supposed to be like a calm and unwavering central

control tower, wanted to play in the outfield.

This type of vulgarness was comparable to the current situation.

Overextending oneself. The furthest thing from playing to one's talents.

Didn't Amakasu mention earlier? ”This is something that can be cleared up

as soon as we sent out Committee members to investigate.” G.o.dou had no

wish to trouble others even though the problem would be resolved without

him doing anything personally.

Why did they have to operate in this fas.h.i.+on? They were still far from

having the right person in the right place.

He felt profoundly dissatisfied .

This was why G.o.dou was determined to get in touch with that person.

During times like these, he no, she should be someone he could rely

on.

Presently on the 20th of December, two hours had pa.s.sed.

G.o.dou had avoided the gaze of s.h.i.+zuka and snuck out of the house.

He boarded Amakasu Touma's car on Kototoi Street and headed off

towards Area 3 of the Chiyoda ward. The setup of this ghost house-like

western-style mansion gave the impression that they wanted to silently

conceal themselves along this alleyway.

This place was where the person in charge of the Tokyo division of the

History Compilation Committee resided.

To say that she was a beautiful girl would be too neutral and her voice was

too thin to be considered a beautiful boy. Incidentally, this woman was very

adept at fooling around and among strategists, she was quite problematic

to deal with

”Thank you for being able to come my King. Today I, Sayanomiya Kaoru, a

person of humble talent, intend to use everything in my power to a.s.sist

Kusanagi G.o.dou.”

The person who greeted them at the front door was Kaoru who was

wearing a formal black butler's outfit.

She chose to speak in an incomparably exaggerated form, but the way she

conveyed it was very natural.

Her bout of courtesy was humorous but also very elegant. Chuckling,

Kaoru seemed to be completely at ease when she gave her witty greeting.

”I feel there is absolutely no need for this kind of flattery Why are you

dressed up?”

”Since Kusanagi-sama wanted to personally come for a visit, I wanted to

try and spruce up a bit for the occasion. Let's put this matter aside for now,

please enter. Yuri and Liliana-san have already arrived.”

Wearing a perfectly overdone men's outfit, this girl emitted a frivolous

expression towards G.o.dou.

After being invited inside her residence, two of his old acquaintances

reappeared in the lounge.

”G.o.dou-san, we were waiting for your arrival.”

”We heard that the phenomenon happened again.”

Seeing that this more or less turned into a formal mission for the

Committee members, Yuri wore her entire miko attire while Liliana was

dressed in a blue vest with black pants.

G.o.dou and the others entered the s.p.a.cious study together.

This area was actually Kaoru's office. It had also become the meeting

room to a.s.sess countermeasures against heretic G.o.ds many times in the

past. G.o.dou proceeded to sit down on the couch. Afterwards, Liliana also

sat down to his right.

She was completely oblivious, sitting down as if it was her established

spot.

Their line of sight crossed paths. Liliana flashed an eye signal and G.o.dou

responded by nodding his head. It was finally time to thoroughly

investigate the facts. The commencement of a critical juncture has

initiated.

”? What's the matter Mariya?”

G.o.dou inadvertently glanced at Yuri only to see she for some reason held

a very staunch expression while gazing at him and Liliana.

After questioning her, the hime-miko suddenly became fl.u.s.tered and sat

down towards G.o.dou's left.

”N-Nothing's wrong. Speaking of which G.o.dou-san, I'm not sure when it

began but the relations.h.i.+p between you and Liliana-san has become much

more intimate ”

”Intimate uh, well, compared to our relations.h.i.+p from before it has

improved slightly. Right Liliana?”

”Y-Yes I agree. Returning to that topic Kusanagi G.o.dou, since when did

your relations.h.i.+p with Mariya became much friendlier compared to before?

As expected, this is probably the reason why there were rumors about

you.”

”Eh?” G.o.dou was puzzled after hearing Liliana satirizing him.

”Yes, that must be it. Despite having additional vacant spots, Mariya Yuri

sat by your side without the slightest hesitation. This is something I never

would have imagined until this day.”

” ! ? T-This meeting is only to discuss matters regarding the

phenomenon in detail with G.o.dou-san.”

While replying, Yuri completely lost her composure due to fear from this

sudden criticism.

”Also, it was Liliana-san who started this.”

”1-1 had the position of a.s.sisting Kusanagi G.o.dou for this situation. Being

his consultant, I'm only sitting at my natural post. And furthermore, even

the way you address him has changed ”

The latter part of Liliana's words became a whining murmur that was

difficult to hear discernibly.

No matter how one looks at it, he was caught between the two girls. The

atmosphere became a tad awkward.

During this time, G.o.dou coincidentally remembered something. Being able

to strengthen his relations.h.i.+p with others was favorable. However, perhaps

their relations.h.i.+p was a bit more unrestrained in the past ?

”Hey. I see, so that was it.”

On the other side, the calmly awaiting Kaoru who dressed up like a butler

seemed to laugh out of amus.e.m.e.nt and nodded her head.

They appeared to be waiting and watching each other's responses. Just

exactly what did she realize? G.o.dou thought it was strange but also

expressed grat.i.tude towards Kaoru. All of the responsibilities for the

arrangement at this location fell onto her.

In this chaotic situation, there was Yuri's spirit vision and the mysterious

trump card Erica held. These matters should be quickly sorted out. Out of

everyone gathered here, the most suitable candidate to accomplish this

was none other than Kaoru.

Therefore, he used his cellphone to contact Kaoru. Within an hour he

received a return call from her. At that time Kaoru straightforwardly told him

”the location arrangements for the emergency meeting has been set,

please head over at this time. Erica-san will be there as well.”

Her ability and skill to get the job done were still as good as ever. If

Sayanomiya Kaoru was born in the right time period, she would have the

moral character of a 'feudal leader' or a 'bishop'. Who made such a remark

before?

”Looks like I made everyone wait.”

Moreover, this girl seemed to take the role of a person who enters the

stage last. Her attire consisted of a red overcoat along with tight black

pants, paying tribute by pairing up 'red and black' as usual.

”After being contacted by Kaoru, I told Arianna to find the appropriate item.

She went through the entire house, spending thirty minutes to find this. My

maid, who also acts as my a.s.sistant, is really quite capable isn't she?”

Upon entering the study, she spoke with a tone of brightness. She didn't

even do anything but it was like a shameless admission nevertheless. She

revealed a broad smile, as expected of Erica Blandelli's temperament.

Erica suddenly revealed her findings which was a plain wooden chest.

The size of the cover attached to the top could fit into a person's hand. It

was black in color and looked quite decrepit.

A click sound was made as Erica opened the lid. The contents inside were

merely two, three dried up pieces of fruit that were about the same size as

a ping pong ball.

It resembled nothing other than some sort of dried up fruit.

”Out of the magic related items I brought to j.a.pan, this was one that I

originally did not have on me at the time. It was not one of the items that

came from Milan either. However, why would something like this be mixed

in with the other stuff in my apartment? It is quite a peculiar predicament.”

Erica was smiling while looking around inside the wooden chest. She had

a brazen smile that was without fear, like a malevolent lion skulking around

to get in front of its prey.

”If you trust the note attached to the top of the chest, this box appears to

be from the past probably more than one hundred years ago. It was an

object brought to earth by a heretic G.o.d appearing in Turkey. Recently

there seems to have been various kinds of strange events occurring. In no

way can the name of this G.o.d be just a coincidental match to what has

occurred during these phenomenons.”

” Quit posturing. Hurry up and say the name of the G.o.d already.”

Liliana interrupted her.

”What's so awful about a climax of this degree, Lily? I will never flounder

the chance to be on center stage. This stunt is something everyone should

know about me, Erica Blandelli.”

After leisurely speaking, Erica suddenly announced:

”The name of the G.o.d is Saturnus. He was believed to be the G.o.d of

agriculture in the Ancient Roman Empire. He is an existence who gave the

populace crops and produce. Furthermore, he brought along the divine

festival that Christmas originated from.”

Liliana gently nodded. It looks like she recognized the name.

Saturnus, it should be the first time he heard that name right? G.o.dou felt

slightly ill at ease.

However, right now he had to ask about the doubts encountered from

before.

”The origins of Christmas?”

”During the end of the year in Ancient Rome, they would conduct a grand

festival for Saturnus every December. They dance, sing, drink wine, make

a racket, and heartily cheer with merriment.”

Erica spoke with her usual clear-cut tone.

”The t.i.tle of the G.o.d of agriculture originated from the appreciation of the

current year's harvest and the festival where prayers were held for a

bountiful harvest the following year. During this festival, there appears to

have been some sort of social custom where people present tree branches

and fruits as gifts to each other. After this social custom was popularized in

Christianity, remnants of it remained in various parts of Europe and

eventually transformed into a social custom where 'gifts were to be

exchanged during the festival hosted at the end of the year'.”

”A couple of days ago I mentioned that Saint Nicolas was a Saint who

brought the fruits of harvest. Saturnus was also a G.o.d of agriculture but he

dates back much farther in time compared to the Saint of Christianity.”

Liliana added on to that as if she was supplementing the explanation.

”By around the 11 th century, Christianity had extended throughout Europe.

During a time much prior to that, Europeans wors.h.i.+ped Cronus^, Freyr 2 ^,

Dagda^ and other indigenous G.o.ds of agriculture. Nevertheless, following

the popularization of Christianity, these ancient G.o.ds were replaced by

Saint Nicolas. The birth of Jesus Christ served as a form of replacement

for the social custom of the great winter festival.

”Using our modern calendar, the harvest festival is held around December.

This wasn't a rare occurrence for those who engaged within the the realms

of agriculture. This festival was even held in ancient Egypt.”

”Erica-san may I take a look at that thing?”

Yuri shyly asked Erica who was recounting unexpected information. Her

gaze was cast towards the contents from inside the chest that the blonde

beauty held in her hands.

”Of course, you didn't have to ask. Perhaps if we rely on Yuri's power we

can see something that evades us.”

Yuri walked towards Erica after leaving the couch.

She extended her hand to borrow the wooden chest of hers. Her pale

index finger and middle finger reached into the wooden chest, trembling

with fear as she touched the dried fruits dating over 100 years old.

Following that, Yuri's facial expression suddenly became very stiff. It

seemed like she had a pretty clear impression from her spirit vision.

However, instead of being jubilant, G.o.dou actually felt worried because

Yuri's expression became excessively rigid.

”Does this mean it was an ominous proclamation?”

Yuri then anxiously replied to the worried Liliana.

”Y-Yes. I'm afraid that the ma.s.sive power force I saw in connection to this

fruit was located somewhere in Tokyo Bay. Furthermore, this force exists

in close proximity to the city area.”

Part 2

After Yuri described the scene she saw from her spirit vision, Kaoru winked

discreetly.

The person who received this wink was none other than her trusty aide,

Amakasu.

Even if his working att.i.tude was extremely lackl.u.s.ter, it would still be

unthinkable for anyone to doubt the special personnel's abilities. He took

out a cellphone from his wrinkled suit and began negotiating with

someone. Shortly after, the conversation ended.

After thirty minutes had pa.s.sed, Kusanagi G.o.dou was sitting in isolation

aboard a speedboat along Tokyo Bay.

Who knows what sort of connections he had tapped into. The role of the

Official History Compilation Committee was to arrange a patrol boat from

the j.a.panese Coast Guard for Kusanagi G.o.dou to ride on.

”The ocean is still freezing at night ”

”Indeed ”

Yuri chimed in during G.o.dou's muttering.

Under these circ.u.mstances, it was inevitable that his body would be

exposed to the piercing ocean breeze on the deck of the boat. The howling

wind mercilessly s.n.a.t.c.hed his body temperature. Furthermore it was still

evening, which meant even the benefit of the sun was gone in this dark

period of time. This further sped up the decrease of temperature.

”Mariya, don't you feel cold wearing that ? Oh yeah, there is a spare

coat on the s.h.i.+p, you should probably borrow it. Just placing it over your

body will be fine.”

Yuri was wearing her usual attire which consisted of white robe plus a

hakama.

Wearing something as thin as this on dry land would still be chilly, but in

this case they were on a boat. In fact, Yuri's glamorous eyebrows which

were exposed to the ocean gust had already turned pale.

”No thanks. The clothing I wear can't be too thick, otherwise the sensing

will become slower. Even like this, there is no need to worry about me.”

Because of the freezing ocean winds during the night, a person's body

would definitely feel chilled to the bone.

Even under these conditions, Yuri did not withdraw due to the cold nor did

she blow warm air onto her hands to warm herself. Rather, she firmly

straightened her body and sternly stood there.

”Was the sensing you mentioned before referring to your spirit vision?”

”It does include that as well as the psychic sensing. Right now the sensing

power is being extended in all directions to probe for the G.o.d's aura.

Because there needs to be a slight adjustment in its strength, the cold

temperature actually makes it easier to accomplish.”

Right now the only people on the deck of the patrol boat were G.o.dou and

Yuri. The hime-miko utilized an uncommon ability of hers. She was

currently looking for the location that matched the scene from her recent

spirit vision.

”Ah so when it's cold it's somewhat easier to concentrate spiritually.”

G.o.dou utilized a sports mentality and nodded.

Morning exercises and martial arts activities during the winter time would

lead to a rush of adrenaline and an elevated mental concentration.

Perhaps those that loathe exercising were incapable of understanding the

appeal of this.

”Actually, within the religious practices of the hime-miko, one must bear

through winter's intense beatings.”

”Very impressive. It has a miko-sama feeling to it.”

”Yes, and with the other hime-mikos who were engaging in these religious

practice, we learned on the spot together. Everyone showed restraint in

spite of the adversity.”

”Showing restraint in adversity?”

”In short, something cold can still get colder.”

The hime-miko rarely joked like this. G.o.dou wryly smiled and Yuri also

revealed a smile that resembled a sakura wafting through the air. Normally

this playful smile was never seen so it felt very refres.h.i.+ng.

”Then are you forcefully bracing yourself right now?”

”Honestly speaking, I am. My fingertips are so cold that they are practically

numb.”

Yuri's smile felt like it was done in distress as she raised her white fingers.

Even as she did this, her finger remained firm. Her gentle expression and

manners were both peaceful as usual. The ability of this hime-miko to

show restraint under these conditions had already been practiced to the

point of perfection.

Although she said she didn't feel anything, G.o.dou was still concerned for

her.

”Really ? Ha ha, looks like it. At least it would do you some good to

warm up a little.”

G.o.dou muttered and unconsciously grabbed Yuri's hand.

It was as cold as ice. Only after he confirmed that her hand was colder

than ice did G.o.dou notice it. What am I doing? His and Yuri's line of sight

connected.

Until just now, the hime-miko was always trying her best to show restraint

under these rough conditions.

Her beautiful and composed facial expression in an instant turned

completely red as she lowered her head.

The reason was certainly because G.o.dou was holding her luxurious

hand .

”I-I'm sorry! I totally didn't mean to act so recklessly!”

G.o.dou immediately apologized. It was very unfathomable. He naturally

extended his hand as if he felt he already held hands with Yuri many times

before. This explains why he unconsciously stuck out his own hand

casually for confirmation .

Right now there should a scene where she would for sure say ”what are

you doing!?” in rage.

Antic.i.p.ating the hime-miko to be rightfully angry, G.o.dou was mentally

prepared to willingly withstand her vehemence.

However, Yuri instead lowered her head in embarra.s.sment and mumbled:

”l-l understand. My fingers have already warmed up a bit.”

Speaking of which, G.o.dou was still holding Yuri's hand.

To one's surprise, he had carelessly forgotten about releasing her hand.

But thanks to this, the temperature from G.o.dou's hand was able to be

transferred to Yuri's hand, which slightly added some heat.

Surely enough, the tips of the hand, foot and such were much more

susceptible to the cold for women compared to men.

G.o.dou, who had yet to release her ice cold hands, felt embarra.s.sed and

unwittingly said:

”l-lt should be fine after warming up for a bit longer right ?”

”Y-Yes, you're right. If it is too excessive then the sensing will become

slower. Just for a bit longer really one minute, no, even if it's just thirty

seconds then ”

In response to Yuri's reply, G.o.dou rubbed her hand.

Thirty seconds, no, a minute had quickly pa.s.sed. However, he still wanted

to warm her up a little and slowly continued rubbing.

Afterwards, Yuri and G.o.dou's line of sight matched up. The two of them

instantly lowered their gaze.

Yuri still hasn't said 'that should be good enough' to signal him to stop. As

a result, G.o.dou never had the time to say 'it should be about time to

separate our hands'.

”Something like this won't affect your probing right?”

A calm voice interrupted them. G.o.dou and Yuri released each other's hand

in panic and looked in the direction where the voice came from.

As it turns out, Liliana was currently walking in their direction with Erica

right behind her.

”I brewed some coffee even though we were in a rush. I thought that

Mariya Yuri would feel very cold in her mission to oversee the monitoring

so I felt very bad about this.

”O-Oh, I see! But it's nothing serious. Being slightly cold will allow the

sensing to become very sharp!”

Yuri involuntarily used a brisk manner of speaking in reply to Liliana who

was holding the thermos.

”Compared to this thermos, your body temperature seems to have

increased greatly it's the same for Kusanagi G.o.dou.”

Liliana commented using a ridiculing tone while staring at the blus.h.i.+ng

red-eared Yuri and G.o.dou.

Both of them had no way to retort what she said. They could only lower

their heads and look down enduring the embarra.s.sment.

”Well, isn't this the perfect time to take a break? Yuri, please take a break.

Letting someone with irreplaceable talent such as you have a rest is also

included within my duties.”

Erica seemed to find this amusing as she interrupted them.

Furthermore, she gracefully chuckled while saying to her old friend and

compet.i.tor:

”Even though I clearly understand Lily's resentment, you shouldn't be too

hard on Yuri. Delving into a woman's jealous state of mind doesn't suit you

at all.”

”J-Jealousy!?”

Erica's statement left Liliana staring tongue tied.

”Yes. Actually, I recently heard an uncanny rumor regarding you. Yet you

think it's some crazy fabricated statement. However, after you see it for

yourself you will understand that this rumor lived up to its word.”

”W-What kind of rumor did you hear Erica?”

G.o.dou inquired because he felt a troubling premonition.

Hence, the girl who had the alias of Diavolo Rosso raised her head of

golden hair which gave an impression of royalty and her pupils flashed with

a rebellious and judgmental intent towards the devil king.

”Of course I'm referring to the love triangle you three have!”

”What! ?” ”Eh! ?” ”Love triangle! ?”

G.o.dou, Yuri, and Liliana were all speechless. Moreover, Erica was getting

more and more enthusiastic as she spoke.

”Due to the inadequate relations.h.i.+p Kusanagi G.o.dou and Liliana Kranjcar

have, it appeared the two of them were recently going between each

other's houses frequently In addition, news of Kusanagi G.o.dou's

alternative lover was uncovered by Mariya Yuri. He even kneeled down for

forgiveness.”

”l-ls it like this Kusanagi G.o.dou! ?”

”So the rumors were true! ? Ugh, to think that I had been astutely deceived

by you before !”

Most of what Erica said was true, however she snuck in subtle facts that

would lead to misunderstandings.

Yuri s.h.i.+vered at this revelation and gazed at G.o.dou in shock.

As for Liliana, he was faced with a chiding look from her.

”With only the evidence from the situation, it seems that the referees' views

of you are quite unfavorable. However, there is something else I should

add. It's easy to believe that no matter what the circ.u.mstances were,

Kusanagi G.o.dou would never have this sort of ambition. Because Yuri and

Liliana are both intelligent girls, you two mustn't be fooled by men like him.”

Erica was nonchalantly judging G.o.dou as she spoke.

”However I'm still very naive. Yuri and Liliana's complexion completely

turned into that of a woman. Looks like you used some brilliant method to

deceive the two of them, right Kusanagi G.o.dou?”

”This is a misunderstanding! I haven't done anything to victimize them! You

two agree right?”

”Y-Yes. At the very least I haven't had this happen to me!”

”Exactly. At the very minimum he didn't do anything that resembled a

deceitful and spurious relations.h.i.+p to me!”

The dialogue of the two girls appeared to have some subtle implications in

response to G.o.dou's question.

Plus, Yuri's gaze still flickered between G.o.dou and Liliana while Liliana

utilized an investigative look at G.o.dou and Yuri. Both of them carried a

depressed expression on their face.

G.o.dou admitted defeat. He never thought it would turn out like this.

Nevertheless, Erica's arrival without a doubt strengthens the unity between

the girls.

Surely enough, when this girl arrived on stage the entirety of the situation

will be altered. Regardless if it was for better or worse, she always became

someone that people revolved around. Imposing her creative thinking

within a team, she would become the focal point.

While he was clarifying this point, G.o.dou and the others each drank a cup

of coffee to warm up their body.

After that, in order to once again raise her concentration, Yuri distanced

herself from G.o.dou and the others to be alone. She then closed her eyes.

Expanding her psychic sensing, she was probably probing the sea within

close proximity.

”How is Amakasu-san doing in chasing that spirit?”

”Well, he is only pursuing the prankster who covered Santa Clauses in

grey. I don't think anything out of the ordinary will happen ”

The red and blue knights were conversing while eyeing Yuri who was

currently concentrating on her psychic sensing.

Before setting out, Liliana had used the familiar from before to probe the

earth's aura.

Even though the matter with the most priority was the gate to Yuri's spirit

vision, that other aspect could not be ignored either. Hence, Amakasu

headed towards that location.

On the other side, G.o.dou actually savored some sort of strange feeling

and felt uneasy.

If it was during combat, his concentration would be raised to a high degree

at will, transforming into his most optimal state. If a heretic G.o.d was nearby

then a sense of elation along with a violent surge of power for battle would

occur within his body and mind.

This was the body of a G.o.dslaying Campione.

Right now those feelings were totally nonexistent. Their destination was of

course very treacherous.

Just when G.o.dou was pondering over this dilemma, Yuri finally opened her

eyes and returned.

There was actually nothing necessary to add regarding the struggle that

will happen afterwards. Because an intense battle did not come to fruition,

this subject was simply dropped.

Yuri's psychic sensing detected something on the waters of the Kasai

seacoast.

It was a large emblem made out of stone. A stone sculpture that seemed to

be carved out of a material like marble. The shape of a bird spreading

open its wings was visible.

What was bizarre about the sight was for a bird emblem to actually emerge

from the surface of the sea.

Moreover, it seemed like it was rooted there. Even though it was exposed

to the intense ocean waves it remained motionless. It was solidly

entrenched to the earth and fastened.

Liliana, who was looking at the emblem residing on the ocean surface from

the edge of the patrol boat, displayed an incomprehensible expression.

Her hand was holding onto the familiar a doll that had the shape of a

pig-

”What's wrong?”

”This child couldn't sense the aura of the earth. Even though the power

from the fruits of the trees was connected to Saturnus, I still think that it

must be related to the omens of earth's bountiful harvests ”

Considering the various circ.u.mstances to this situation, thinking in this way

was only natural.

G.o.dou could not help but look at Yuri. With her more efficacious spirit

vision powers compared to Liliana, she should be capable of discovering

something. G.o.dou figured it would be like this. Consequently, the

hime-miko had an apologetic expression and said:

”I'm very sorry. Even I can't see what kind of power is hidden. All I see is

some sort of grey mist surrounding that emblem.”

”Did you say mist?”

”Yes. To put it simply, it appears someone is hiding its true form.”

After Yuri quietly finished speaking, she once again gazed towards that

emblem.

”Right now that emblem is emitting a power that corresponds to a G.o.d of

earth. Just then sprouts were germinating. G.o.dou-san, if we get any closer

we might provoke it.”

”Is this the divinity of the land that was born from the unidentified

omens ?”

”It looks like using ordinary methods will not work on this opponent!”

Liliana muttered while Erica on the other hand blatantly cut her off.

The knights' lines of sight were also fixated on the emblem on the surface

of the ocean. Meanwhile, G.o.dou also noticed the enormous amount of

magical power being emitted in front of him.

As expected, this was the rejection between G.o.dslayers and G.o.dly

possessions.

The nerves will always tense up when there is a burst of increasing divine

energy.

A parasitic plant with a trunk, branches and dense flouris.h.i.+ng foliage

resembling that of an evergreen tree, was growing vigorously nonstop!

At first it was a small shrub. Then it turned into an enormous tree right

before their eyes. The tree even appeared to be hundreds of years in age.

Finally, within a very brief period, a parasitic-like tree emerged at the

center of Tokyo Bay. The height had to be above thirty meters. The tree's

const.i.tution was also proportional in magnificence to its height.

In terms of age, it certainly had the immense structure of a tree that was

over one-thousand years old.

His Campione instincts told him that it was not a heretic G.o.d. However, he

realized this existence was related to heretic G.o.ds since there was

definitely divine power lodged within the tree.

”Since this lesser G.o.d, a divine beast, had an organic form, this thing is

probably a divine plant or a divine tree.”

Erica spoke admirably.

On the other side, the divine plant that suddenly sprouted rustled as its

branches swayed. It began to emit a solemn incantation from its entire

body.

It was simply in a frenzy, on the verge of confrontation.

”What a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, this tree actually wants to fight me!”

The vindictive aura and desire to battle emitted by the divine tree was

definitely towards him, hence it came after G.o.dou.

Using his Campione battling intuition, he personally felt this was the case.

Even though it had the form of a tree, it was still an existence related to

G.o.ds. It appeared to show hostility towards the G.o.dslayer, but

Just a moment ago, Erica compared it to a divine beast. In short, its

strength should be quite unsubstantial.

If it were to face a Campione, it would clearly be considered a weak

opponent .

”G.o.dou-san!” ”Kusanagi G.o.dou, over there!”

At this moment, the hime-miko and witch coincidentally warned him at the

same time.

Did they acquire a spirit vision? They were pointing above a certain thick

tree branch on the divine tree in front of them. Quietly standing straight at

that place was the Grey One !

It had the same form as the one from a couple days ago with the sailcloth

covering its entire body.

During the follow-up at that time they found out that a few minutes prior,

Amakasu was within Tokyo near the Aoyama district and had encountered

the Grey One and pursued it. However, right at that moment was when the

Grey One appeared in front of G.o.dou as well. His pursued target had

suddenly disappeared.

”Did this guy get resurrected over this period of time? Or did another

similar guy appear? Which one is it ”

G.o.dou grumbled while investigating what its true ident.i.ty was.

The Grey One was walking on top of the branch while touching the divine