Chapter Seventy-Three: The King Comes from the Sky
At dusk.
Qianhua forgot where she had heard it.
This is the moment of transition between yin and yang.
In this instant, the boundaries between life and death become blurred.
Dressed in pure white, Qianhua walked on the wooden floor, guided by two white spirit priestesses beside her, into the main hall of the shrine.
Having been to the White Spirit Shrine, Qianhua was very surprised by the identical interior structure before her.
She turned to look outside the shrine.
It was the setting sun, the twilight.
Time in this world seems to be frozen at this moment.
Frozen at the—a moment where the living and the dead can coexist.
From the afterglow of the sunset, Qianhua felt “loneliness” and “sorrow.”
If this was done by the White Spirit.
Then what was its purpose—
For whom did it stop the world at “this moment”?
Unable to come up with an answer, Qianhua was brought into the inner hall of the shrine.
There, the figure of Mana, dressed in pure white and with vacant eyes, stood.
“Yokohara-chan—” Qianhua couldn’t help but speak upon seeing her.
But she was quickly restrained by the two priestesses beside her.
Then she was moved to stand beside Mana.
Another priestess brought over a wooden tray.
On the tray lay two exquisite fox masks.
In that moment, Qianhua understood that once she put on this mask, she and Mana would truly become “the White Spirit’s priestesses.”
“Your mother has been waiting in the inner hall for a long time,” the White Spirit priestess holding the mask said softly.
—No, even if only Yokohara-chan escapes here…
Qianhua gathered her courage, moving the hands bound behind her with red ribbons.
Just for an instant would be enough, just to break free from these ribbons…
The red light in Qianhua’s eyes grew ever brighter.
—even if she became a true monster…
“Report—” A voice suddenly came from the doorway of the inner hall, interrupting Qianhua’s thoughts.
“One groom is still not ready—”
A tall White Spirit priestess entered as she spoke.
Behind her followed a black-haired boy, catching the attention of the other priestesses present.
She moved past the other priestesses, coming to stand beside Qianhua and Mana, while the other priestesses slowly approached the boy.
“Tsukimi-san!?” Qianhua exclaimed in panic.
—What to do? I didn’t expect even Tsukimi-san would…
Qianhua’s gaze met with Kanade’s, who was gradually lifting his head.
Unexpectedly, his eyes held no despair or panic.
In the next moment.
The priestess who came to Qianhua’s side suddenly turned around, launching wind blades at the White Spirit priestesses who had turned their backs to her.
The wind blades accurately hit the unprepared White Spirit priestesses in the back.
Meanwhile, a flash of golden light appeared in Kanade’s eyes, and the bracelet on his right wrist transformed into a silver blade.
He swung it in a horizontal slash at the White Spirit priestesses who hadn’t reacted yet.
“Eh!?” Qianhua was stunned by the scene before her.
Until the priestess in front of her removed her mask, revealing her true face beneath.
“Senpai!?”
“Yo, long time no see, Qianhua-chan.”
Kuzukawa showed a teasing smile as she used her claws to cut the ribbons binding Qianhua and Mana’s hands.
“Quick, now’s the time—!” DD-chan’s figure also appeared in the air, shouting loudly.
Kuzukawa immediately wrapped one arm around the vacant-eyed, doll-like Mana.
With her other hand, she shot wind blades at the other priestesses who were rushing over to investigate the commotion.
“Amamiya-senpai, over here—” Kanade also extended a hand to Qianhua.
…..
…..
Qianhua and the others ran madly through the shrine’s corridors.
With Kuzukawa clearing the path with wind blades and Kanade blocking attacks from behind with his silver blade.
Each time Kanade played “rock-paper-scissors,” he was able to slice apart the wind blades coming toward them with his sharp blade.
At this moment, they all had one thought.
They needed to escape the shrine before the White Spirit discovered them.
For Qianhua, who was usually not good at sports, she felt her body was lighter than ever, her eyes even sharp enough to catch wind blades coming at her.
“Watch out—”
Qianhua’s body moved faster than her brain.
She flashed to Kuzukawa’s side with an unimaginable speed, using her right hand to block a wind blade coming from a blind spot.
Though the wind blade sliced through her pure white garment, it did not harm her skin in the slightest.
“Thank you, Qianhua-chan…” Kuzukawa was clearly taken aback.
“No need to thank me…..” Qianhua was a bit shocked by her own actions.
Only DD-chan did not forget to remind her: “Let’s talk after we’re safe—”
With Qianhua’s unexpected combat power added, they all ran unimpeded out of the shrine’s main hall and came to the shrine’s plaza.
The forest surrounding the shrine was shrouded in thick white mist under the orange-yellow sunset.
The stone stairs at the end of the plaza gradually revealed themselves in the fog.
As long as they went down the stairs, they could leave the shrine.
“Great—”
Kuzukawa said joyously, and just as she prepared to rush toward the stone stairs—
A foreboding image flashed through Kanade’s mind, pulling Kuzukawa back.
In the next moment.
A gigantic creature descended from the sky.
It slammed brutally between the group and the stairs, the impact knocking everyone to the ground.
The earth shook violently, kicking up clouds of dust and enveloping everything in a haze.
If Kuzukawa hadn’t been pulled back just now, she would have been flattened along with Mana, who was slung over her waist.
In the dust and mist, the enormous creature revealed a silhouette that resembled both a fox and a wolf.
“Mother… no, the White Spirit…” DD-chan’s voice trembled uncontrollably.
The other White Spirit priestesses who should have been pursuing them also stopped in unison at that moment.
As the dust slowly cleared away.
Before them stood an unbelievably massive magic creature.
Its height when standing on four legs was even greater than the shrine behind Kanade and the others.
Its once golden and shining fur was now grayish-white, like withered vegetation, lacking vitality.
Its eyes burned like red gemstones, emitting a scorching light that made it hard to gaze upon.
The fantasy monster: the White Spirit.
The White Spirit’s huge body loomed like a small mountain, blocking the way of Kanade and the others.
“Step back—” Kuzukawa protected the group in front of her, exposing her claws.
But in the next moment, Kanade stepped past her arms, standing between her and the White Spirit, raising his blade high.
“No, Kuzukawa-senpai, take Mana and Amamiya-senpai away…”
“Kanade, you’re crazy! This is not an opponent you can defeat!” DD-chan shouted anxiously.
“I know that too—” Kanade shouted to bolster his own courage.
But if he retreated here—
Black flames flickered in Kanade’s heart.
As if tempting him to make a choice.
If he could not overcome it here, everyone would die, so—
“Step back.” A cold voice accompanied a dazzling burst of fire descending from the sky.
A searing fireball struck the massive body of the White Spirit.
The contact triggered a violent explosion, instantly evaporating everything around it.
But before that.
A petite figure shielded Kanade from the fireball, crimson blood forming a sphere that enveloped everyone present.
The mighty shockwave dispersed the surrounding mist, and the devastated shrine and forest at the center of the explosion vanished in the high temperature.
After the explosion ended.
The blood barrier shattered.
Alice, sporting long wings, appeared before Kanade and the others.
“Alice-san—!”
Kanade sighed in relief as he recognized Alice with her golden hair.
“Tsukimi-san, and everyone, are you okay—” Alice slightly turned her head.
Her golden dragon-like eyes swept over the crowd with authority and majesty.
Though she paused slightly upon seeing Kuzukawa and Qianhua, she did not say much.
“A-Alice-san, your eyes…” Qianhua couldn’t help but speak up.
“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Alice replied blandly.
“Is that the one who is Yokohara-san?”
“Y-yes…”
“Very good, Tsukimi-san, take them down the mountain from behind; I have opened a ‘door’ on the street where I fought before, and you can leave this world through there.” Alice said, turning her back to Kanade and the others.
“What are you talking about? We should go together—” Kanade was halfway through when he noticed something unusual.
The priestesses who should have been evaporated gradually reappeared under the twilight.
Even the White Spirit, which was like a small mountain, did as well.
At the same time, the charred remains enveloping the fireball that Alice had just cast were also slowly changing shape, ultimately morphing into a distorted man.
That was Tomita Ichiro, who had already been turned into a fantasy monster.
The power of twilight.
No one would die under this twilight.
“Run, before I lose my sanity—”
The dragon blood surged within Alice’s petite frame.
The golden dragon eyes erupted with unprecedented brilliance.
As she spoke, she infused her magic into the bracelet on her wrist.
—Fantasy spiritual equipment, deploy.
The bracelet transformed into particles of light and formed a rectangular metal box behind Alice.
The crimson exterior of the box stood twice as tall as Alice.
Accompanied by a deep click from the sides of the metal box, white steam spewed from the gaps on both sides.
The sides of the box spread like a peacock’s tail—
Countless swords were embedded in the sides of the box.
Alice casually drew two swords, the boiling dragon blood spreading from the handle to the blades.
