"In the time of Emperor Yao, ten suns appeared in unison, causing all grass and trees to wither. Yao commanded Hou Yi to shoot down nine of them."
This is a story that first appeared in the ancient text, the Huainanzi.
A sun dog is not a myth, nor is it an omen of misfortune; it is a natural optical phenomenon. The Earth is enveloped by a thick atmosphere containing water vapor and tiny ice crystals. Under specific conditions, they form into columnar or sheet-like crystals. As they fall from high altitude under the influence of gravity, they are simultaneously illuminated by the sun, producing refraction, which in turn forms a "sun dog."
Compared to the phenomenon of ten suns appearing at once—which was first regarded as a sign of fortune and later as a disaster—the appearance of two suns in the sky is not particularly strange. Having nine "sun dogs" appear at once would be absurd, but if it's only one or two, while rare, it still occurs a certain number of times across the globe each year.
If this were a world governed by materialism, then the most appropriate course of action would be to grab one's phone and start snapping pictures. After all, the "sun dog" phenomenon typically does not last long—a few minutes at the shortest, a few dozen at the longest. Because the clouds in the sky move relatively fast, as soon as one cloud passes and the next one covers the spot where the "sun dog" appeared, it vanishes. It is a special weather event that is completely up to chance, so taking a couple of photos as a memento would certainly be no bad thing.
But—
That is all under the premise of being in a materialistic world.
And the world Miss Military Princess found herself in was no such world.
On the distant horizon, the corona of light, which bore a resemblance to the sun, grew increasingly brilliant. A perilous aura began to spread, which the Military Princess keenly perceived.
It was like an invisible, formless beast licking her skin, like being cast naked into the polar ice caps. A sense of crisis, terrifying to the extreme, coiled around Altera's heart like an endlessly creeping vine.
She had felt such a sensation once before. When she met the King of Final Manifestation who resided at the world's end, that king, stubborn to the point of madness, had once drawn the blade that symbolized the hero. In that moment, she had felt a despair that threatened to pulverize her flesh, bones, will, soul, and even her very concept of existence.
And now, that same feeling washed over her heart once more.
I must flee!!
Without a shred of hesitation, Miss Military Princess made her decision. The halo in the sky was fundamentally something she could not withstand in her current state!
Possessing spatial abilities herself, Miss Military Princess unhesitatingly activated her power of spatial jumping. As long as she could leap into another world, even an armament like the Divine Sword of Salvation, which could slice through gods like they were vegetables, could not harm her. As long as her power of Holopsicon could successfully activate, she would be able to escape.
Just as she had dodged Ivan the Terrible's lightning, Acnologia's roar, and Kevin's Skyfire Greatsword. As long as she could reach another world... reach that safe place, she could evade any attack, no matter what it was.
The power of Holopsicon surged around Miss Military Princess. Space began to warp, the barrier between worlds was being pierced... One could imagine that in an extremely short amount of time, she would depart from this world.
But—
In this world, there exists a skill called Made in Heaven.
As if time itself had been accelerated, the flow of light within the celestial halo became unprecedentedly rapid. Streams of gold and red light raged violently, the tempestuous energy emitting concentric rings of light that spread outward. The instant these halos made contact with the air, they caused it to boil and turn scalding hot, changing the color of the entire, continuous sky, suffusing it with a golden-red afterglow.
No, it wasn't just an afterglow, there was lightning! The lightning of Indra, identical in color, form, and aura to that of Vasavi Shakti upon its release! Someone had fused that lightning—which, given sufficient mana, could erase all concepts save for the world itself—into this halo!
Without question, within this beautiful and dreamlike scenery lurked the most venomous, most insidious killing intent!
And... its attack was already prepared.
Within her line of sight, a torrent of light, carrying with it a terrifying heat, shot forth in a wild display.
An instant later, the sky brightened once more. The entire heavens suddenly shifted from profound darkness to a burning resplendence, turning a deep crimson. Then, the fiery sky came crashing down upon the earth.
"BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!!"
A continuous, deafening roar. Cascading shockwaves expanded madly, as if ten thousand great dragons were bellowing in unison. The thunderous booms were strung together, sounding like a zero-distance encounter with the world's most majestic waterfall.
This bombardment, lasting for more than ten seconds, blanketed the earth in a golden deluge from the explosion of the light-arrows. Mixed within the deluge was dark-red magma, bright and blinding, like freshly smelted iron.
The armament of the Beast of Compassion unleashed its power wantonly, creating calamity. Exploding in sync with this armament was the worldview of every single person in Tokyo.
Even though the torrents of light had not been aimed at them, the power inadvertently leaked during the release of the Beast of Compassion's Noble Phantasm still inflicted a natural disaster upon the surroundings. Just as the blast wave from a nuclear explosion is sufficient to collapse nearby buildings, even though the Noble Phantasm's area of attack was far from the city, people in the distance could still feel the earth tremble.
The descent of that power, like a divine punishment, easily caused this country—one that remembers being beaten, but not the reason for the beating—to recall its past history.
Countless people fled madly from the houses they had spent enormous sums to purchase, praying to the heavens, pleading with the gods. After all, that light and heat, so much like a divine punishment, was simply too far beyond their comprehension.
It was just that the one and only true god in this world would not be listening to their prayers.
As if savoring the taste of the okonomiyaki he had just eaten, the golden-eyed youth licked his lips. He then used the power of the Youth Incarnation to command the people around him to be silent, before asking the waiter to continue bringing the food. The god cared not for prayers, only for what he was having for his meal today.
"You have successfully slain the world boss—Military Princess Altera. Dropped: 'Holopsicon'."
The System notification bell, its message identical to what he had heard in the vision seen through his precognition, chimed in the youth's ear. Having already seen the different possibilities of the Military Princess escaping, being gravely injured, or dying when he activated his Clairvoyance, the youth had unleashed his power in accordance with the "Military Princess dies" outcome. Now, he nonchalantly glanced at the girl beside him.
"What are you looking at me for?"
The girl, perhaps because the scoundrel beside her was so overwhelmingly powerful that she hadn't been flustered by the recent turmoil, felt his gaze and looked somewhat surprised.
"I've got my hands on the item."
The youth who had promised to gift Miss Stargazer the power of Holopsicon smiled.
"So, as per the agreement, since I have fetched this world-saving principle for you, I can ask you to call me 'husband,' can't I?"