Campione 07

by Great Sage Equaling Heaven

  "A thousand swords standing upon the earth, used as city walls to defend against the enemies..."

  ...Well said, you can just call me 'partner.' Hearing the whispers coming from the depths of his right arm, Godou nodded. This form of address blurred the distinction between the two identities, and was not a bad name.

  "So, let's go, partner — Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, unsheathe!"

  Neither an ability nor a possession, it was the summoning of a companion.

  Responding gallantly was the cooperative companion who might one day decline to help on whim.

  'Here! Namely, the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi! The steel that breaks a thousand blades!'

  The divine sword Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi was finally unsheathed from its scabbard!

  The silver-white light concentrated on the right arm raised towards the heavens, for the sword that stole and assimilated rebellious barbaric might, imitating what was used against the [Dragon's Roar and Tiger's Howl] in Luo Cuilian's battle, was going to be used for the decisive strike.

  In that case, the target this time was of course the power of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong — the authority of steel!

  The silver-white light materialized above Godou's head, forming a silver-white metallic ring.

  This iron ring was made of the same steel as the Great Sage... If one were to give it a name, of course it would be most fitting to call it the [Constricting Circlet], right? That was the Buddhist treasure that Avalokitasvara bestowed upon the Monk Sanzang to keep the unruly Sun Wukong in line.

  'Now is the time for annihilating barbarians coming from all directions! Outsiders be vanquished!'

  "I know, go forth, Ama no Murakumo!"

  Godou swung his right arm, causing the silver-white circlet to fly towards the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.

  Like the Ruyi Staff whose length could extend and retract at will, the dimensions of this ring could also be controlled freely. Like the Great Sage himself, this ring could also create clones of itself, and Godou split it into three giant rings in an instant.

  The three rings struck the three-in-one Great Sage Equaling Heaven who was battling intensely with the two Benevolent Kings.

  At the same time as the rings hit, the Benevolent Kings vanished. Mission accomplished, Luo Cuilian dispelled them.

  'Ugh!' 'So this was the ominous premonition I felt earlier!?' 'Calm down, Big Bro, Middle Bro!'

  The three rings respectively struck right on target the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the wild boar and the dragon wrapped around the Great Sage's body, restraining their bodies like handcuffs.

  Like Sun Wukong's Constricting Circlet, the silver-white rings imprisoned the three-in-one Great Sage Equaling Heaven and his sworn brothers — wait, that's not completely accurate!

  One person managed to overcome the circlet and escape, it was of course the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.

  Jumping nimbly with movements like lightning, he tried to escape to the skies, but at this time, a silver-white flash of light flew and struck the Great Sage in the forehead.

  "Ouch!?"

  It was John Pluto Smith's last magic bullet.

  Godou was greatly surprised to find the Great Sage resilient enough to withstand the direct hit with only cries of 'ouch' but thanks to the impact, the divine monkey of steel also lost his balance.

  Using this opening, Godou ordered Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi to send a silver-white ring towards the escaped prey, finally capturing the Great Sage Equaling Heaven this time.

  Thus the three rings dragged the three divine spirits back to the bottom of the crater they had made during their re-entry.

  However, merely restraining them did not amount to victory.

  The black demonic bird leaped down into the meteorite crater where they were located and its mighty wings began to give off fire.

  "For annihilation I count the number of my great works — I am the axe of the night that summons termination, lowering the final curtain for the world's destruction, the messenger from hell!"

  These were the flames of annihilation, the transformation that executes all enemies by incinerating his own body.

  The black flames melted the steel rings that imprisoned the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and his subordinate gods. In the end, the steel rings generated by Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi were melted down into liquid state.

  Molten steel filled the crater, engulfing the Great Sage and his brothers.

  It was like a natural furnace. Invincible steel was being melted down and losing its form. The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the giant boar and dragon were all turning into shapeless masses within the furnace.

  Athena once said — super high temperature that melts iron was the natural predator of the sword gods of steel.

  Godou's first thought was a furnace, which is why the flames of annihilation and Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi were used together to create this natural predator!

  "Waaaaaah!"

  With final pitiful cries of death, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and his sworn brothers finally melted completely.

  This was the moment of complete victory for the three Campiones — Kusanagi Godou, Smith and Luo Hao.

  Epilogue

  It was a little more than ten minutes after the end of the intense battle on the plains of Senjougahara.

  Kusanagi Godou was brought back to normal life with a phone call from Sayanomiya Kaoru.

  'Though I had worried if the situation might become very severe, Kusanagi-san, your victory was splendid this time.'

  "Eh? From where did you watch our battle?"

  Godou began to search with his eyes the plains of Senjougahara which had been turned into a dismal wasteland.

  Before he could report the outcome of the battle, the chance to break the news was seized from him.

  'When the decisive battle began, the barrier of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was also destroyed so I was able to watch the entire process using investigative magic all the way over from Toushouguu. In the end, I was fortunate enough to witness the cooperation of you kings. I look forward to great things in your future, and the way you took command was simply magnificent.'

  "Ah, not at all, it wasn't anything special... Anyway, how's the damage this time?"

  Praised in an unwanted area, Godou felt cold sweat running down his back.

  'Damage... Hmm, Toushouguu has suffered complete destruction. If it were to be restored, the time required would be on the order of years. As for how the crater on the plains of Senjougahara should be covered up, I am still discussing it with my subordinates.'

  Kaoru's voice did not sound calm or composed at all. She really seemed to be worried.

  Godou glanced at the great crater before his eyes, a little apologetic in his heart. At some point in time, the boiling molten steel had somehow disappeared.

  The beautiful wetlands were marred by a huge crater with a diameter of 300m.

  Even if one were to call it a crop circle, it would be far too big...

  'All the various citizens and tourists who had turned into monkeys are now recovering consciousness. We have started providing them with psychological counseling.'

  "Psychological counseling?"

  'Yes, the vast majority of the saved victims lost the memories from the time when they were monkeys, but a portion of them reported seeing a monkey god and having a nightmare of transforming into a monkey, and in that dream a frightful devil king appeared and threatened them, that if they don't help him out they would be turned into monkeys once again.'

  Godou had a great shock. Was this caused by the stress of the [Goat]!?

  'Plus there were unbelievable phenomena like those who were sure they had been at Toushouguu, but woke up at Lake Chuuzenji, or people who should be sleeping at home, but found themselves outside. It's a bit difficult to cover everything up with a reason like mass hallucination, so we will start using hypnosis wizardry to edit their memories.'

  It seemed like things had become very serious.
>
  Godou felt extremely apologetic and started acting very awkwardly.

  'The victims need the provision of psychological counseling as well as mass hypnosis and the implanting of fabricated memories. Though it is a difficult undertaking with thousands of subjects, we have already made full preparations during everyone's battles, and we will definitely give it our best.'

  This was the description of the efforts for preventing the disclosure of news about gods. It sure sounded like fictional dialogue from television.

  However, even if information could be manipulated, the physical evidence left behind in the real world could not be eliminated so simply...

  Godou could do nothing but sigh as he hung up the phone, facing the massive evidence carved out of the great land.

  "Looks like losses were unexpectedly small. Truly wonderful."

  "It feels particularly delightful to finally close the case on the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Godou and Smith, I, Luo Hao, must surely reward the both of you well for your contributions in our cooperative battle."

  Beside the sighing devil king were the other two Campiones.

  As a side note, even though the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had been defeated, no one seemed to have usurped any authority. Was it really because the battle ended with a three-versus-one finish?

  "Then I shall take my leave. Until next time."

  "You're going already? Isn't there still a lot of cleanup to handle? You're not staying to help?"

  As the masked king suddenly took his leave, Godou immediately asked him to stay without a thought.

  Even though they had only fought together as comrades briefly, Godou felt that, if he had to put it into words, Smith was a man who resonated surprisingly well with him. To be frank, Godou felt a slight reluctance to part.

  "Truly regrettable, but it won't fit John Pluto Smith's style otherwise. When the curtain falls upon the stage, the actor must exit. When the battle concludes, the hero and devil king must also vanish."

  Smith answered with an obviously posed tone of voice.

  Expecting this kind of answer from the start, Godou could not help but smile wryly as things occurred as predicted.

  "As a return favor for the incident this time, I promise to help you out in America if you're in trouble."

  "Pardon my frankness, but if someone disastrous like you came over, who knows what kind of tragedy would befall my homeland? However, if you really did visit, I would have no choice but to take up the responsibility of supervising you."

  Smith extended his black leather-gloved right hand.

  Godou shook hands in return. Inconsistent with the image of the pretentious nobleman, the hand felt unnaturally soft.

  "Your Beautiful Eminence, please take care, though who knows when we shall meet again. If possible, I, John Pluto Smith, never wish to make you my enemy."

  The black caped king bowed elegantly and extended his hand towards the third king.

  The demonic cult leader showed an expression that seemed to say 'Could he actually be offering to shake hands?' Godou frantically blurted out:

  "Nee-san, I think it would be very childish if you ignored him."

  "What—!? You are staring at me with those eyes again! I understand of course. Your elder sister simply has misgivings as a maiden against shaking hands with an unidentified man!"

  Delivering a contrived excuse, Luo Cuilian extended her hand in kind.

  Smiling like a prankster beneath his mask, Smith immediately transformed as soon as he let go, turning into the black demonic bird and taking flight.

  (Afterwards, a certain American lady was taking a return plane trip, anxiously worrying to herself: 'That boy, really, seemed to be gazing at me with such thoughtful eyes a number of times... Unconsciously I began to feel happy and became more and more familiar with him. Perhaps, could there be some kind of fated bond between us... Annie, you idiot, he's ten years younger than you! And a super sex maniac as well, completely unsuitable! However, in the rare chance that...' Of course, Kusanagi Godou had no way of knowing that such a little interlude occurred.)

  Only two of the three Campiones remained.

  "You won, Godou!"

  It was Erica, and all the rest of his female companions had arrived, apparently safe and sound.

  Erica led the way with Yuri, Liliana and Ena following behind.

  More surprisingly, even Amakasu Touma and Lu Yinghua arrived immediately after them.

  "Cough cough, what a hard day's work, Kusanagi-san. Originally I wondered if I could help in some way, and rushed here from Toushouguu by car, but you seemed to have settled everything by yourself."

  "Spared the necessity of resolving ourselves to a sacrificial battle against gods, we really need to cheer hurray."

  It was the arrival of the girls and the much-missed male faction. However, the new arrivals all suddenly froze in their tracks, because Luo Cuilian had placed her hands on Godou's shoulders.

  "So Godou, though it pains me to leave my 'little brother' behind, there are the sayings, friendship between gentlemen is as insipid as water,[95] while all banquets naturally come to an end. Your elder sister now returns to Mount Lu."

  "Little..." "Brother?" "And..." "Elder!?" "Sis?" "-ter!?"

  Erica, Liliana, Yuri, Ena, as well as Amakasu and Lu Yinghua were all speechless.

  The demonic cult leader ignored them and continued, completely failing to register their existences in her eyes.

  "Until we meet again, you must work hard and improve. First of all, you have to practice the proper way to address me, understood?"

  "Uh, can't I just use 'Nee-san' directly?"

  Even faced with a solemn order, Godou tried to muddle through without outright agreeing.

  Since he had already learnt the basics of how to get along with this elder sister, and because the other party was someone who could not be understood with common sense, Godou knew he cannot be caught up in her rhythm and must express an appropriate degree of self determination.

  "You have no wish to express reverence to the supreme exalted elder sister?"

  "It's important to not be fettered by trivial matters of address. Rather, what's key is the way I see you. Nee-san and I made a vow to become sworn siblings. With such an important promise between us as companions, this fact will forever remain unchanged until the day I die. Isn't that good enough?"

  When facing Luo Cuilian, Godou found himself somehow able to resist unlike the way the other girls always caught him in their whims.

  Perhaps thanks to the emphasis of the 'sibling' relationship, as long as he avoided seeing Nee-san as a 'woman', he felt like he could say anything without reservation.

  "What a handful to handle you are... I've heard that younger brothers are cuter if they are a little bit naughty so I shall grant you special permission this once. However, please do not forget, you are the only person in this world who is allowed to call me your elder sister, understood?"

  "No problem. You take care too, may we meet again as willed by fate."

  Having bid their farewells, Luo Cuilian left Godou's side.

  Flower petals began to flutter all around her. Was this the tree peony?[96] As the elder sister and also transcendent beauty was surrounded by the glamorous blizzard of petals, she vanished with a whoosh.

  "Uh... what is this about? Unbelievable that Master would..."

  With an extremely impressed expression, this time it was Lu Yinghua who approached.

  "I never would have expected Kusanagi-sama to have entered a sibling pact with Master. The humble disciple Lu Yinghua, hereby congratulates my Esteemed Uncle!"

  "Esteemed Uncle!? Don't call me such a weird name!"

  Godou reprimanded the youth who was saluting in the martial arts way with one fist held against an open palm, his head bowed respectfully.

  "Well, since you are Master's sworn younger brother, and also my superior in martial might, I cannot casually address you... So, what about calling you Godfather?"

  "That's
even worse, I'm not some kind of mafia boss!"

  "Actually, since Master rules the Martial Realm and all Chinese-trained martial artists, it is rather like being a mafia boss... After further consideration, I think it's best that I call you Honored Uncle. So, Honored Uncle, Lu Yinghua takes his leave."

  Leaving with a smile devoid of his usual snobbishness, Lu Yinghua departed.

  As befitting of the qinggong master, he was gone like the wind in an instant.

  — Getting acquainted with so many powerful people, and becoming unexpectedly familiar with them, let's hope this incident is resolved with that... It was just as Godou was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

  "I say, Godou, when did you get so intimate with Her Eminence? It's so intimate that it's a little suspicious."

  Erica's beautiful voice questioned.

  Why? Somehow it felt like there were hidden barbs in that glamorous voice.

  "It's not so strange, right? In truth, she's actually quite a friendly person... Uh, though I do think that she tends to be a bit disruptive, so it would be a bad idea to let her loose in places with many people."

  "For you to find a way to get so intimate with that kind of woman, how exactly did you hook up with Her Eminence?"

  "She seemed to be calling you 'little brother', right? I feel the same as what Erica-san is insinuating, with just one or two days' time, it is very suspicious for relations to have progressed to such intimacy. Really, Godou-san you..."

  Even Yuri lowered her gaze as if heart-broken.

  She still had her bad habit of stopping midway in her sentences even when there was much more she wanted to say.

  "Another person agrees, further confirming my speculation. I only took my eyes off you for a moment, and there you go settling such decisive matters on your own. You truly are a monster."

  "So amazing! Because it is too cool, even Ena doesn't know what to say."

  Liliana nodded firmly, and even Ena was wryly poking fun at herself.

  What was going on with them? Godou felt himself shrinking in retreat. Come on, all he did was gain something like a step-sibling, why were they all reacting so subtly!?