Chapter 132: I Don’t Accept This Kind Of Salvation! Slay Kisaragi Station!
Shangshan Che gripped the hilt of Kaga Kiyomitsu, silently staring at Ye Chun who lay on the stone slab before him, exposing her pale neck within his reach.
——【Ye Chun/Kisaragi Station（ Three-Star）】.
He asked again: “If I swing the blade now, would that count as saving you?”
“Ah, yes.” The girl on the stone slab, unable to move except for speaking, gave an affirmative response, “Yes, Shangshan Jun.”
She seemed to realize something, so she looked at Ye Chun slumped on the ground: “Shangshan Jun, I think you’re worried about her.”
“No need to worry, Shangshan Jun.” The girl smiled, “After I die, she will also dissipate along with me as an obsession.”
“From now on, no ‘Ye Chun’ will repeatedly endure pain, experience loneliness, feel despair, and finally march toward death, over and over.”
“Shangshan Jun, you’re very gentle. I understood that point perfectly clearly from the first time I met you.”
The girl said softly: “Every Ye Chun, including me, is independent, but their memories are uncontrollably shared with me.”
“—Even if what happened before has ceased to exist due to the restart, I will remember you closing my eyes and burying me, remember you roaring at me to escape at the railroad track.”
The girl lowered her gaze, her shoulders trembling slightly: “So, please save me from this endless cycle of reincarnation.”
——Just swing the blade to kill Ye Chun, and she would be freed, and it would most likely directly complete the task and end the Kisaragi Station map.
Shangshan Che stroked the icy hilt of Kaga Kiyomitsu.
He knew that whether the girl named Ye Chun’s life ended here or could continue was up to his single thought.
Shangshan Che closed his eyes and opened them again, having made his decision.
——He did not acknowledge such a salvation.
Shangshan Che looked up and said to the girl: “Since you share memories with Ye Chun, you should know that I promised her I would take her away from Kisaragi Station.”
Shangshan Che held up two fingers,
“Twice.”
He slowly drew Kaga Kiyomitsu from its vermilion scabbard, strands of pale color dripping from the blade tip, causing the platform of Kisaragi Station to tremble faintly.
Shangshan Che asked: “Ye Chun, do you know what a promise means?”
But before the girl could answer, he continued as if talking to himself: “A promise means that once said, it must be fulfilled.”
“—Otherwise, don’t say those two words from the beginning.”
“Besides, you just said it yourself.” Shangshan Che took out the Blessed Folding Fan and gripped it in his left hand, “The world on the other side of the tunnel is still in 2004, and the Ye Chun who came with me was also sent into Kisaragi Station from that point in time.”
The girl opened her mouth: “That’s true…”
“Then doesn’t that make things simple?”
Shangshan Che retorted, then donned the pale and solemn Hannya Mask over his face, covering his originally calm expression.
“Next, just send Ye Chun back to the other side, then slaughter the Kisaragi Station under our feet, and ‘Ye Chun entered Kisaragi Station that day’ will never happen.”
Shangshan Che let go, embedding Kaga Kiyomitsu into the platform ground of Kisaragi Station,
“—That’s right, isn’t it.”
What logic is this?
In Kisaragi Station, the three besides Shangshan Che did not understand the meaning of this utterly illogical statement.
Only the Kisaragi Station under Shangshan Che’s feet emitted a violent tremor, pure and icy killing intent surging up in an instant, locking onto Shangshan Che from all directions.
Thus, Shangshan Che couldn’t help but laugh: “I was just guessing based on the unreasonable details casually, but I actually guessed right.”
Without warning, a pitch-black cane struck from behind Shangshan Che, about to pierce his heart.
But faster than this one-legged High-Speed Grandpa was the blade of Kaga Kiyomitsu.
Arc-shaped pale blade light flashed from High-Speed Grandpa’s chest, splitting it in two, then the lingering blade light of Kaga Kiyomitsu slowly spread with crackling electric arcs.
High-Speed Grandpa fell once again, but no prompt appeared.
The Four-tailed Fox shook its scarlet tail tip, rolling its bloodshot eyeballs, easily capturing the reappearing scents of Taiko Bell and Horse-Brained Music.
“I sensed something wrong in the tunnel earlier; how could demons I had already slain come back to life, even teaming up against me.”
Shangshan Che sneered: “They used every trick to block us before exiting the tunnel, yet stayed silent when Ye Chun suggested killing her…”
He took a deep breath, stepped forward, streaking through the mountain forest night like a straight red-white line in a monotone painting, reaching the backs of the two demons summoned by Kisaragi Station in a flash.
Rustle.
Horse-Brained Music and Taiko Bell, whose weaknesses and vital points Shangshan Che had already grasped, froze in place instantly, then turned into colorless powder falling to the ground as a pile of sand.
“—Because if I killed Ye Chun, the anomaly fused with you, you could fully regain control of yourself, allowing Kisaragi Station this supernatural phenomenon to continue.”
Pat pat, pat pat.
Dense footsteps came from not far away; Shangshan Che looked around and saw the same horde of goblins he had encountered in the tunnel.
Kisaragi Station’s actions further confirmed his idea was correct.
“Supernatural phenomena are truly amazing.” Shangshan Che couldn’t help but marvel, unfolding the folding fan, “It can even connect past and present.”
As his words fell, bucket-thick bluish-purple lightning struck straight down like heavenly soldiers onto the broad roof of Kisaragi Station, liquid-like thunder spreading through the entire station in the blink of an eye.
But the electric light seemed to ignore the girl on the stone slab, with only stray arcs accidentally touching her, giving her a faint sting.
“Buzz buzz buzz…”
A massive buzzing sound emanated from inside Kisaragi Station, like an angry roar or a train’s horn.
“Ye Chun!”
Shangshan Che shouted loudly, making the girl slumped by the car tremble all over as she looked toward him.
The SUV’s key arced beautifully through the air, caught by Two-Foot Adult and stuffed into Ye Chun’s slightly shaking hand.
“—You have to drive back through the tunnel alone!”
Shangshan Che said word by word, violent internal qi surging inside him, blinding electric arcs flickering around his body.
He slowly assumed the three-stage thrust stance: “You’ll walk the next road alone! This is the final test!”
Boom!
Several massive boulders hurtled toward Shangshan Che, promptly sliced into fragments like butter.
But this had already disrupted his original three-stage thrust stance, buying Kisaragi Station enough time.
The huge concrete pillars supporting Kisaragi Station uprooted one by one, kicking up clouds of dirt and smoke.
The entire Kisaragi Station rose up like a living creature amid the violent noise.
——【Kisaragi Station（ Three-Star）】.
Staring at the scarlet sign hanging in the night sky, Shangshan Che tsked annoyingly: “Said it was alive, and it actually can move.”
He had thought Kisaragi Station could only summon demons or goblin hordes dead in the world on the other side of the tunnel, not expecting the station itself, a building, could move.
Treating this place like a Gundam set!?
Rumble…
At this moment, the over ten-meter-tall Kisaragi Station stood eerily like a “standing building” not far from Shangshan Che.
Amid the rumbling, the SUV zigzagged out of the smoke and dust, dodging several falling rocks.
Immediately after, Ye Chun’s throat-tearing shout came: “Shangshan Jun—will I remember you after I get back!?”
Probably not.
Because if “Ye Chun entered Kisaragi Station that day” never happened, all stories in the Eternal World and on the other side of the tunnel would end abruptly, as if they never occurred.
Shangshan Che did not answer her, just gripped Kaga Kiyomitsu tightly, silently staring at the approaching Kisaragi Station lifting its concrete giant legs toward him.
——If he couldn’t kill Kisaragi Station, talk of returning or remembering was empty.
In mere seconds, the SUV left Shangshan Che’s perception range, letting him exhale deeply.
With Ye Chun gone, he could finally face the formidable enemy before him without reservation.
Whoosh—!
Dozens of steel pipes along with all the shelves from the convenience store rose into the air at speeds imperceptible to the naked eye, then surged toward Shangshan Che like cannonballs.
Iron flow descending from the sky!
But to Shangshan Che, it all looked comically slow like a movie in slow motion.
——Before using Wrathful Gaze, Shangshan Che at full power could slay the Ju-Hina Yako Master touching the Three-Star edge.
——Now, his neural reflexes and physical strength had exceeded human imagination.
Scorching Corona Qi surged through his limbs, consciously compressed by Shangshan Che, converging to a point before erupting!
Before the steel pipes and shelves could fall, Kaga Kiyomitsu’s blade sliced through two massive cement pillar legs of Kisaragi Station like paper.
Pale color rapidly spread upward.
Shangshan Che spat a sharp qi sword crackling with lightning onto the ground, seeing the girl discarded by Kisaragi Station dazedly speak,
“Shangshan Jun, I stopped those goblins…”
The girl gazed at the dragon-snake-like white trail snaking tens of meters to her eyes and the chain of electric arcs, biting her lip,
“I did something unnecessary.”
“No, thank you.”
Beneath the Oni Mask, his scarlet-filled pupils turned, earnestly saying: “You helped a lot.”
Before the girl could respond, her expression changed, shouting tensely,
“Shangshan Jun, Little—!”
Before her words finished, four massive tails deftly changed direction; Kaga Kiyomitsu straight-up cleaved the sweeping convenience store in half.
On both sides of the pale blade light, sounds of steel and concrete colliding rose and fell.
The just-kicked-up smoke was blown clean in an instant by the following gale, revealing Shangshan Che’s figure—merely redirected, unmoving.
“Tch.”
Casually spitting bloodied saliva onto the ground, Shangshan Che, feeling his organs faintly trembling, wiped his mouth with his skin-cracked hand back.
“Speed not too fast, but overall power much higher than mine…”
Shangshan Che still stood intact because Kisaragi Station, moving for the first time since birth, couldn’t precisely wield its terrifying power.
This allowed Shangshan Che to face it head-on without disadvantage.
But such folly was enough once.
Since his speed and agility surpassed it, he had to maximize that advantage!
A giant concrete fist spanning over ten meters descended from the sky, aiming to embed Shangshan Che into the ground.
Boom!
Shangshan Che leaped out of the yellowish-brown dust, reaching the junction of the narrow giant concrete arm and Kisaragi Station’s body in a few steps.
Kaga Kiyomitsu fell.
Slash!
“Buzz…”
After losing this extremely heavy part, Kisaragi Station lost balance and toppled backward.
Shangshan Che, still airborne, pupils contracting slightly, saw Kisaragi Station below with its midsection wide open.
Good opportunity!
Though he didn’t know Kisaragi Station’s vital points or weaknesses, treating it as a boss-level supernatural phenomenon with a long health bar—whittling it down was always beneficial.
“Little Jia! Here we go!”
Shangshan Che low-shouted, making Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand tremble pleasantly.
“Inhale—”
Massive Corona Qi surged from under Shangshan Che’s feet; he planned to accelerate midair again, using this perfect angle and gravity to heavily wound Kisaragi Station.
But at that moment—
Buzz buzz buzz!
Train entering station sound rapidly approached from his right hand side, then amplified.
Shangshan Che’s movements abruptly stalled.
Train entering station, midair?
Shangshan Che turned his gaze, glimpsing with peripheral vision the train head speeding toward him at least at 300 km/h.
Already, within arm’s reach!
Couldn’t dodge!
Shangshan Che’s pupils shrank to pinpoints, crossing Kaga Kiyomitsu and his Cold Steel Armguards-clad arms before him.
Now, only tank this strike and replan!
“Che Adult!”
Two-Foot Adult’s now mature and steady voice rang in his ear; her eight-foot-tall figure in pure white robes had somehow positioned itself in front of Shangshan Che.
Buzz buzz buzz!
The train barreled straight into Two-Foot Adult’s body.
The latter’s body flew like a cloth doll onto distant railroad tracks, buying Shangshan Che a precious moment of buffer.
No time to check on Two-Foot Adult, Shangshan Che desperately shifted the direction of his qi burst slightly.
Bang!
Internal qi erupted!
The buzzing train grazed past Shangshan Che, its shrill whistling wind stretching into a straight line, vanishing with the train into the sky from his ears.
Shangshan Che’s pupils icy cold, he glared deadly at the downed, unrisen Kisaragi Station, fully igniting the Corona Qi in his body, raising Kaga Kiyomitsu high.
Remaining spiritual power turned into strands of lightning coiling around the blade, intertwining and surging.
“Die—!”
Upon the Eternal World Land shrouded in twin moons, a third pale moon abruptly rose!
Exaggeratedly immense blade light arose, unerringly embedding into the center of Kisaragi Station’s massive form, cleaving all the complex steel tendons, concrete, windows, and other materials in half.
Normally, such a wound might mean nothing to Kisaragi Station—it could abandon part of its body and continue moving the rest.
Given time, a mere crack could be easily repaired.
Four or five more such cracks might not match the initial lightning strike’s damage.
But now was different.
Vast swathes of pale color erupted from the severance, spreading in moments to cover the entire Kisaragi Station, connecting with the Sorrow of Parting at the previous leg severance.
Crack, crack, crack…
Kisaragi Station’s earth-shaking wail hadn’t even emerged before being swallowed by the disastrously spreading Sorrow of Parting into colorless pale.
Shangshan Che’s feet touched ground, staggering onto the surface.
He was about to assume the stance for the next strike when a flood of prompts suddenly popped up—
【You killed Kisaragi Station（ Three-Star）, gained 800 Soul Ash!】
【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu·Blade of Parting to slay Kisaragi Station（ Three-Star）, Kaga Kiyomitsu·Blade of Parting’s quality greatly improved!】
【Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique proficiency +250!】
【Your skill, Natural Reason School proficiency +120!】
【Your skill, Five Thunder Technique·Qi Union proficiency +150!】
【You obtained…】
Before Shangshan Che could react to the erupting prompts from slaying Kisaragi Station, they were instantly pushed aside by red warnings.
【Warning: Due to you slaying Kisaragi Station, current area·Kisaragi Station is undergoing major unknown change…】
【Warning: Due to you slaying Kisaragi Station, current area·Kisaragi Station is undergoing major unknown change…】
Kisaragi Station has been slain by me?
Shangshan Che looked at Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand, continuously emitting clear blade hums, understanding the reason after seeing the nearly vanishing pale color on its blade.
Kisaragi Station’s main body was too massive; his single downward slash through the center caused Sorrow of Parting’s effect to overperform.
Thus, in short time, Kisaragi Station was completely eroded by Sorrow of Parting.
Snapping back, Shangshan Che immediately looked around anxiously.
Two-Foot Adult!
Earlier, Two-Foot Adult blocked that immensely heavy train head strike for him; even with her ability to turn life into a health bar, her survival was uncertain.
Fortunately, Shangshan Che spotted the brilliantly glowing pure white orb in the mountain forest within seconds.
“Good…”
Luckily, he had dressed Two-Foot Adult in Pure Imperial Hina beforehand, activating the “Pure Lapis Lazuli” effect at the brink of death, blocking and absorbing all subsequent damage.
Otherwise, Two-Foot Adult would likely have been in real peril.
Shangshan Che sheathed Kaga Kiyomitsu, rushing first to Two-Foot Adult flung over a hundred meters away.
“Two-Foot Adult?”
Shangshan Che reached her side before the Pure Lapis Lazuli shield vanished, her body still in eight-foot form not yet reverted to girl mode, and hugged her.
Without hesitation, he poured the remaining drop of Awakening Spirit Mist into Two-Foot Adult’s mouth, then held her tight, hoping to enhance the healing.
In his current “Wrath” state, his Charm attribute doubled, so Two-Foot Adult’s healing talent should be unprecedentedly effective.
“How do you feel now?” Shangshan Che asked softly.
Two-Foot Adult in his arms struggled to open her eyes into slits, wriggling her voluptuous body, murmuring intermittently: “It hurts… hurts so much… Che Adult…”
Shangshan Che’s heart tightened.
He immediately wanted to exit the Eternal World and return to reality to find Nanjo Emi for an Onmyoji specialized in shikigami healing.
Two-Foot Adult seemed to see through Shangshan Che’s intent, hurriedly raising her hand to grab his wrist, pursing her lips upward: “Che Adult, actually if you kiss me, all wounds will vanish…”
Pausing, Two-Foot Adult added as if realizing it sounded off: “It’s a hidden effect of my healing talent!”
Shangshan Che looked down, silently gazing at Two-Foot Adult who had suddenly moved like a startled rabbit moments ago.
Two-Foot Adult slightly averted her gaze: “Ehehe…”
Wordlessly, Shangshan Che brushed aside Two-Foot Adult’s hair, then lowered his head to firmly kiss her forehead.
Instantly, Two-Foot Adult clenched her fists like electrocuted, fiery red flushing from cheeks to ear roots, red as if bleeding.
Moments later, Shangshan Che sighed helplessly: “Two-Foot, don’t joke like that again; it worries me…”
After instructing, Shangshan Che stared oddly at Two-Foot Adult in his arms, poking her cheek with his bloody finger: “Just a forehead kiss, why blush like this?”
He paused, then uncertainly asked: “Hey… Two-Foot Adult, were you always just talking big before?”
Two-Foot Adult covered half her flushed face with both hands, not daring to answer Shangshan Che.
Huh? Guessed right?
Shangshan Che’s mouth slightly agape, incredulous at Two-Foot Adult’s such purity, practically “the shame of eight-foot supernatural phenomena.”
He had always thought over these years, Two-Foot Adult had achieved hundred-boy slays or even thousand-boy slays.
This, Shangshan Che could tell from Two-Foot Adult trying to make a move on him at first meeting and their conversation before Hongyuan Temple…
But now, it seemed not?
Could it be because Two-Foot Adult was about to dissipate then that she dared act for real instead of just talking?
Shangshan Che found it utterly absurd no matter how he thought.
But Two-Foot Adult’s reaction in his arms seemed completely genuine.
Whatever.
As long as Two-Foot Adult wasn’t fatally wounded thanks to Pure Lapis Lazuli shield, the rest were trivial matters not worth mentioning, to discuss later.
Rumble…
From distant Isanuki Tunnel came round after round of massive collapses, like something enormous shattering and crumbling.
Even at such distance, Shangshan Che could easily feel the earthquake-like vibrations.
“Two-Foot Adult, can you walk?”
Shangshan Che asked first, then shook his head: “Forget it, I’ll carry you.”
Hoisting the much larger eight-foot form of Two-Foot Adult on his back, even in this state, Shangshan Che felt slight immense pressure from behind.
Without more words, he carried Two-Foot Adult to the girl still at the former site of Kisaragi Station.
“Shangshan Jun…”
The girl stared fixedly toward Isanuki Tunnel, then shifted her gaze to him: “Your idea seems correct.”
Rumble rumble!
Amid the earth-shattering noise, relieved clear tears surged from the girl’s eyes, and she finally burst into loud sobs.
“Shangshan Jun, thank you… thank you… thank you…”
As time ticked by, the girl’s body on the stone slab gradually turned from solid to semi-transparent, then to a transparency thinner than her corner-flowing tears.
Finally, dissolving into eye-unseeable light specks, drifting away with her long-suppressed loud cries across the boundless Eternal World Land.
Shangshan Che witnessed it all.
After a long while, he softly spoke, like a farewell,
“Goodbye, Ye Chun.”
【Main Quest Two, Save Ye Chun, completed!】
【You overcompleted Main Quest Two, accumulate rewards?】
“Accumulate.”
Shangshan Che turned, looking toward Isanuki Tunnel.
Even at such vast distance, he could faintly sense the surging spiritual power and bone-chilling cold emanating from within.
Snow Woman.
Following closely, spreading was grudge and wailing deeper than that chilling spiritual power.
Then, at the end of Shangshan Che’s gaze, a absolutely cannot be ignored white dot appeared in the pitch-black night sky.
