Chapter 31: Traces of the Master
Lancelot did not linger on the screen before Hikigaya's eyes for long. The destroyed projection of the god quickly dissipated like the wind; the only thing proving its prior existence was a piece of material resembling tempered iron.
The evidence that the King of the End had once been active on the earth floated quietly in front of Hikigaya. For a Campione, this was a standard procedure known as "looting the corpse."
Hikigaya looked closely at the object. It appeared to be part of a double-edged sword, now a mere wreck, yet light still flowed across its surface—not to show off special effects, but because power was leaking out. "Wreckage" and "scrap" are synonyms; since it's scrap, it's only normal for it to leak some "electricity" now and then.
While fighting Lancelot, Hikigaya could feel the opponent trying to break through the "projection" state, only to be stopped by the power contained within this very object—there is foul play between gods; Hikigaya never doubted that point.
The existence of Divine Ancestors is the most direct evidence—patriarchal gods knocked matriarchal gods off their pedestals and downgraded them to servants to manifest the victory of patriarchy.
Collecting the wreckage with storage magecraft, Hikigaya looked back at the now-useless artificial island. After the great battle, many of Alexander's arrangements had been rendered void. The demonic sea had reverted to ordinary waters, leaving only this fake island standing there.
Without the shroud of the "Labyrinth," it was exposed starkly to human society; Hikigaya could already see dozens of ships sailing toward the location. The "life" of this island came from Alexander's Authority and the Amenonuhoko; having lost a part of that support, the island would eventually reach the end of its life even if Hikigaya did nothing.
The Holy Grail was gone, likely taken away along with the Divine Ancestor, but the Amenonuhoko Alexander used to build the island was still safe underwater. Since Alexander wasn't around, Hikigaya decided to retrieve it for him first.
With a wave of his hand, the wind currents surrounding the island began to resonate.
The ancient wind gods were of one family. No matter which lineage of wind god it was, they were all products of the concept that "all things honor Heaven and value wind and rain." In the beginning, they were all incomparably noble—shapers of worldviews, masters of the sun, moon, and time. Aside from different names and mythological languages, there was essentially little difference.
Just as Set, originally the King of the Gods of Lower Egypt, later degenerated into a mere evil god, or the Eight Wind Gods of the Zhou Dynasty—who once occupied the eight poles, held
the heavenly gates, gave birth to the eight great heavenly gods, and confronted the Dragon-Snake gods—later left behind only a lifeless Feng Bo (Earl of Wind).
Hikigaya had too many ways to erase the island, but to ensure everyone stayed away voluntarily, he decided on the "cleanest" one.
As the wind blew, a brilliant Sun Fire looked as if it burst from the earth's surface, rapidly covering the island and devouring it layer by layer. At a speed visible to the naked eye, the island deformed and melted away like ice and snow exposed to a scorching sun. First the rock layers, then evaporating the seawater it touched, continuing deeper.
After roughly the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, only a dead sea emitting billowing steam remained.
Hikigaya, unafraid of the heat, leaped into the sea. Minutes later, he burst from the surface holding a nail-shaped divine tool. By this time, ships had already appeared at the edge of the steaming dead sea. Hikigaya took a glance, and after confirming that no one would be in danger as long as they didn't "seek death" by jumping off the ships into the water, he flew toward the direction where the Divine Ancestor had been taken earlier.
Meanwhile, in the direction Hikigaya Hachiman was heading, something occurred that he could not have predicted.
The body of the Queen of Witches, having exhausted its power, had collapsed, becoming sand scattered into the sea by the wind, but her spirit still remained. In this "near-death" state for a Divine Ancestor, her Spirit Vision reached its maximum.
Then, she saw it.
The "Island" was right there.
Although the Campiones had set a trap, destiny had led them to find the Master's location for the Divine Ancestor. It was a place above the sea of clouds, surrounded by the radiance of stars. The island was very small and narrow, floating right there. On its surface, there was only an iron sword stuck in the ground, the sword already decayed and wretched.
That was the divine tool capable of annihilating the Demon Kings of the earth in one stroke; as long as the Master awakened, it would regain its former glory.
Despite being on the verge of death, the ecstatic Divine Ancestor found her vitality renewed by this. She transformed her will into a call and transmitted it over.
There was no response.
It seemed the island had been completely buried in this darkness, and the darkness swallowed the Divine Ancestor's call. The Queen of Witches was stunned.
What swallowed her call was not darkness, but her Master. Or rather, it was simply "disregard."
She was able to re-examine that place. The decaying divine sword, the narrow island, the dark space. It looked like a grave.
The Queen of Witches realized that something she could not comprehend had happened to her Master—it wasn't a problem of her just finding the place; was the grand King of the End actually "slacking off" from work?
This wouldn't do. As a girl, she might be lacking in other areas, but not letting a man sleep—that had to be a natural talent.
Divine Ancestors are Dragon-Snake gods; they can be resurrected after death, though the "cooldown" is a bit long. Having suffered for this once already, the Queen of Witches decided to find a "successor" before she kicked the bucket this time.
She summoned the Holy Grail. It had shrunk severely, but she didn't care anymore. The principal himself was skipping work; who cares if the Grail was shrunken?
"O Holy Grail, go and create a new Queen."
Originally, these should have been words full of momentum, but now they carried a flavor of helplessness. Then, with her final cursed power, the Queen of Witches performed a summoning ritual.
A disc forged from gold and iron appeared in the air. Upon its appearance, a new sigil was added to it.
"Uncle's 'Steel' will not become an Authority for a Campione, but the bow and arrow for when the 'King of the End' returns." The Queen of Witches glanced at it and commanded, "Go."
Obeying the order, the disc flew toward the west with a whoosh.
Having finished all this, the Queen of Witches' consciousness reached its end. Her final thought was—When I'm resurrected in a few hundred years, I'll come take a stroll around this place first.
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