Chapter Seventy-Seven: Lies and Rituals
The priest and DD-chan woke up from their dreams at the same time.
In the instant he opened his eyes, the scene that filled the priest’s vision was what he had longed for all his life.
The aftermath of the battle in the hall had shattered the walls of the backroom, and through the broken opening, he saw—
The purple-black star high in the night sky, mysterious and majestic.
Starlight cascaded like a waterfall, passing through the dilapidated walls of the church and casting a layer of purple-black brilliance over the ruined holy ground.
The purple-black beams of light outlined the interior of the church as they filtered through the cracked windows and fallen stone columns.
“Hahaha! It worked! The star has descended!” The priest was almost frenzied with excitement, laughing loudly, his whole body trembling.
His lifelong pursuit was finally realized at this moment.
He seemed to no longer care about the memories that had just been pried into by someone else.
In the hall, Alice and her team of psychics stared in confusion at the clones that had suddenly fallen to the ground in pain.
The purple-black star descended, continually drawing magic power and life force from their bodies.
Even their powers, derived from the “stars,” were completely ineffective beneath this purple-black starlight.
Though these young girls were “masterpieces” of cloning, their abilities were clearly inferior compared to the “masterpieces.”
They could only copy and use one ability at a time.
Thus, after Alice partially transformed into a dragon, the tide of battle quickly turned, and she easily gained the upper hand.
After all, the dragon’s abilities were not Alice’s powers but rather her innate gifts.
However, this battle came to an abrupt halt due to the sudden appearance of that star.
Alice had no time to ponder what was happening to the clones before her.
For she recognized that purple-black star and understood what it represented.
“Why… does it still appear…” Alice murmured, lifting her head.
Then her peripheral vision caught sight of the priest, who had just awakened.
Alice rushed to stand before him, her golden eyes staring directly into his, her tone cold and serious.
“What are you plotting? What is that star, and what is the meaning of these children!”
But the priest seemed not to hear, laughing maniacally, his eyes glinting with madness:
“Hohoho, it worked! It worked!”
Alice frowned tightly and turned to look at DD-chan, who stood nearby.
Since it had awakened, it must have found information from the priest’s memories.
But DD-chan remained frozen in place.
The information it had just gleaned was hard to accept.
—The Star Society’s plan is to resurrect “Light.”
—But “Light” is still alive, isn’t it?
Suddenly, an image of a suspected carbon-based life form in Kawano City floated into DD-chan’s mind.
—Is she the “vessel” created by the Star Society?
—But if that’s the case, why would the Star Society’s “masterpiece” be another childhood friend of Tsukimi Kanade, “Hinata Mana”?
Moreover, if that suspected carbon-based life form had indeed successfully been resurrected as a “vessel,” then what were the people of the Star Society still scheming?
What did this purple-black star, which strangely felt familiar, represent?
As DD-chan fell into a daze.
It instinctively responded to Alice’s question:
“Their goal, the Star Society’s purpose, is to—”
A gust of cold wind swept by, covering DD-chan’s voice.
But Alice’s hearing was far beyond the norm, and she heard it clearly.
And DD-chan’s answer left Alice stunned.
An incredulous expression appeared on her already partially dragonized face:
“No, it’s impossible… The Elemental Sovereign… I killed him with my own hands…”
At these words, the priest seemed to hear the greatest joke and turned his head in mockery: “Kill the Sovereign? With you?”
“But in the files from Special Phase SMEA and the academy—” Alice eagerly explained but was interrupted by the priest.
“—Special Phase SEMA? The academy? Think carefully, can they really be trusted?”
The priest burst into crazy laughter, his voice sharp and frenzied: “Puhahaha—! Lies, everything is a lie!”
He tilted his head, staring at Alice with an uncontrollable fervor:
“The peace of this world today is built on a tremendous lie!!!”
…
…
Nanase Island.
Under the purple-black star.
Kanade finally returned to the beach and, following his memories, found the place where the sacrificial ceremony was about to take place.
On the beach, those illuminated by the starlight lay silently on the sand, like marionettes with severed strings.
Even though they had lost consciousness, their faces still reflected expressions of pain.
Bodies lay scattered all over the sand in disarray.
Fortunately, they were still some distance from the coastline, not swept away by the waves.
Kanade couldn’t concern himself with the fallen people; he looked around and focused on a prominent altar.
The altar, shaped like a wave, was deep blue, adorned with a stone carving of a large white bird as its statue.
At a glance, he recognized that it was his target.
“Is that it?”
Kanade cautiously searched for a foothold among the unconscious crowd and made his way toward the altar with difficulty.
As he got closer, he discovered that the altar did not shine with the light as Mizuki had described.
Normally, as the site of the sacrificial ceremony, it should radiate with the glow of magical energy.
But now, the altar was dim, and even the statue lacked life.
—Could it be that this ritual altar is not set by the seaside but at the Habuhira Shrine?
Upon reaching this conclusion, Kanade felt slightly relieved.
After all, compared to an ordinary person like himself, Yusa would have a better chance of disrupting the ceremony with her abilities.
Just as Kanade was calming down, thinking about what to do next.
In the next moment, a dark shadow rolled in like a wave from the beach, carrying an endless chill and pressure.
Kanade vaguely recognized the magical reaction coming from this shadow—
He recognized this overwhelming darkness as stemming from that eerie man in a suit.
Kanade instinctively wanted to flee, but when he turned his back to that shadow.
The painful expressions and struggling postures of those people in front of him made him halt.
If he ran away now, those people would…
Kanade knew this thought was foolish; he couldn’t save everyone, just like last year.
If it hadn’t been for Mana last year…
Finally, through a wish made to the talisman…
A wish?
This thought made Kanade suddenly turn around and look at the altar.
Images of the Nanase Island Sea God Festival flashed in his mind:
“At sunset, the people of the island move the statue from the shrine to the seaside, offering sacrifices to the Sea God, summoning Him to descend upon the island, and then asking Him to return to the shrine to enjoy the night’s divine dance with them.”
As long as they offered sacrifices, they could summon the Sea God who protects the island?
If the Byakurei really exists, then the Sea God on this island might also—
Kanade’s body seemed to move on its own, rushing toward the altar.
In front of him, it was clear that the clergy had already prepared for the sacrifice.
The only thing left was to offer marine products to the statue of the Sea God and then return them to the ocean.
“What… is the sacrifice?” Kanade dashed up to the altar, looking around but found no sign of any marine products.
Plus, the black waves didn’t give him any time.
The dark shadow surged like thick black oil, transforming into a giant wave that swiftly rushed toward the altar, enveloping the urgent atmosphere around.
The black shadow approached slowly and inexorably, like a viscous liquid.
Half of Kanade’s body was already covered by the shadow.
In the instant the shadow made contact with his body.
He felt his strength being rapidly drained away.
His consciousness also began to grow hazy.
—Damn… was it really true that I can do nothing on my own?
Just as he was about to be completely swallowed by the shadow—
Kanade, in a dazed state, reached into his pocket to grab the bracelet that had always provided him with strength.
That was the only thing he could offer at the moment.
Just as Kanade was losing consciousness, he slammed it onto the statue—
In that instant, the star bracelet exploded with silver light—
A storm of wind swept through, enveloping the entire altar.
A gigantic figure suddenly emerged from the eye of the storm.
The tidal wave of shadow, made of darkness, was torn and whipped apart like fragile paper by the fierce wind.
It shattered into countless black fragments in the air and finally vanished without a trace.
“… Kanade?”
Garuda looked down in surprise at the black-haired boy lying beneath him, along with the star bracelet on his hand.
Then he raised his eyes to see Nanase Island, also enveloped in starlight.
He instantly understood what had happened here.
At the same time, he felt grateful to Kanade for bringing the star bracelet belonging to Nagi.
Because that bracelet contained the magical energy already infused by Nagi.
Sensing the summons, Garuda, at the moment he noticed the magic power coming from Nagi, hurriedly responded to the call.
As Garuda flapped his wings twice.
Heavy dark clouds spread out from the island, swirling rapidly and engulfing the night sky.
The roiling clouds swiftly devoured the purple-black starlight from above.
Garuda no longer cared whether his existence with Nagi would be exposed.
If he allowed this starlight to continue shining, the people on this island would eventually be drained.
And it was not certain that someone who knew him or Nagi was present on the island—
Habuhira Shrine.
Yusa suddenly collapsed to the ground, her face filled with terror as she stared at the dark clouds above her head and the roaring wind in her ears…
“Lies, lies?! Storm, storm?!”
