"I don't know who's telling the truth—you or Ultraseven—but I know one thing: when it comes to purifying corruption, nothing carries more weight than light. Before the Giant of Light, who stands for justice, neither corruption nor evil god can win... Hisayuki, do you agree with me?"
Hinako Shimizu's manner began to grow calm and composed.
She stopped trying to work out what was true, and instead placed her hope and trust in Ultraseven.
With a Giant of Light watching over her, why should she follow someone else's demands and go meet a suspicious fox spirit?
"That..."
Tsuneki Hisayuki was left speechless.
Refute her? How could he refute that?
The only way to argue against her would be to claim Ultraman was just a fictional tokusatsu character—not to dispute whether Ultraseven actually possessed such power.
But the trouble was, Ultraseven had already appeared in the real world, and Hinako had seen with her own eyes the power and form he displayed.
Whatever he said now, it couldn't outweigh Hinako's trust in Ultraseven—that much was beyond doubt.
"So I'm staying right here. I can't go wandering off, or Ultraseven won't be able to find me. Or better yet—Hisayuki, bring Ultraseven here. If everything you're saying is true, then go explain it to him directly. Ultraseven isn't the type to act without hearing both sides."
Hinako Shimizu said this to Tsuneki Hisayuki, her expression deadly serious.
Tsuneki Hisayuki fell silent.
"...Very well, Hinako."
After a moment's silence, he nodded, accepting Hinako Shimizu's proposal with an air of calm composure.
"I'll go find Ultraseven and explain everything, then bring him here. Until then, Hinako, wait right where you are. Don't wander off."
Tsuneki Hisayuki gave her one long, complicated look, his eyes holding too many unspeakable emotions—worry, resignation, and a trace of something dark that Hinako couldn't quite read.
He said nothing more, only bowed slightly, turned, and walked out of the jingū. In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace.
Hinako Shimizu stood where she was, her grip on the lantern pole unrelenting. She drew a deep breath, forcing herself to stay sharp, and swept her eyes across the entire jingū.
The bloodstains on the flagstones hadn't yet dried. The shadows cast by the vermilion sacred pillars lay like crouching claws, and every gust of wind that swept past the eaves sent a jolt through her taut nerves.
Hinako Shimizu edged backward slowly until she reached one of the sacred pillars, pressing her back against the cold wood, watching warily for a danger that hadn't yet shown itself.
Time trickled by, second by second.
She had no idea how long had passed—maybe only a few minutes, maybe half an hour.
In this place with no sun or moon to mark the hours, there was simply no way to gauge how fast time moved.
"Hinako..."
Suddenly, a voice drifted in from beyond the shrine gate.
Hinako Shimizu's whole body jolted, her pupils contracting sharply.
That voice... that voice was—
"Hinako... come here..."
It was that voice again, carrying a tone she knew all too well, clearer than before, as if whoever was calling to her was drawing closer.
The owner of that voice... was Sakuko!
It was Igarashi Sakuko's voice!
Hinako Shimizu's heart clenched violently. Almost by instinct, she spun to look at the shrine gate behind her. The heavy door panels hadn't budged an inch; the bronze beast-face ring hung there in silence—yet that voice had unmistakably come from beyond the gate.
"Hinako... come quick... I'm here..."
Sakuko's voice kept calling, each cry clearer than the last, each more urgent than the last.
Hinako Shimizu's breathing quickened.
Sakuko...
Her childhood friend. The one who'd borrowed five hundred yen from her and never paid it back.
She was dead!
Just moments ago, right before her eyes, red spider lilies had bloomed all over Sakuko's body as she collapsed onto that empty village road and never rose again.
Ultraseven had said she was dead. He'd tried to save her with his light, but it had been too late.
So Sakuko was dead. That much was certain.
So what was calling her name right now?
Hinako Shimizu bit down hard on her lower lip. A rusty, metallic taste of blood spread across her tongue. The pain cut through the fog in her mind, and the hesitation and wavering in her eyes faded away, bit by bit.
It was a trap!
Hinako Shimizu drew a deep breath and stood perfectly still.
The calling from beyond the gate cut off abruptly.
Dead silence fell over the jingū once more, broken only by the wind moaning past the sacred pillars.
Hinako Shimizu kept her eyes fixed on the gate.
The voice was gone, but the sense of danger had only grown stronger.
Suddenly, an immense force slammed the heavy gate open. An invisible shockwave swept through, and crimson mist came pouring in from outside.
A twisted figure emerged slowly from the mist, each step dragging with a heavy, scraping sound, like a puppet worked by strings.
Hinako Shimizu's breath caught. Her pupils widened slightly.
The figure wore a tattered white shrine maiden's robe, the red spider lily pattern embroidered on its hem long since soaked through with blood. The golden headdress atop its head radiated like sunlight, making the face beneath look all the more ghastly.
The face that had once belonged to Sakuko was now covered by a sheet of ghost-pale skin, the eye sockets sunk into black hollows, the corners of the mouth torn back all the way to the ears, baring bone-white teeth.
In her right hand she gripped a ritual implement, its metal spikes glinting cold in the crimson mist; in her left, she dragged a rust-eaten iron chain, the golden sickle at its end scraping across the flagstones with a shrill, grating screech.
It was Sakuko. And it wasn't.
"Hinako... I've come to save you..."
The uncanny shrine-maiden monster let out an eerie, rasping cry that stabbed at the eardrums.
"Sakuko..."
Hinako Shimizu's face went pale. She wanted to deny that the monster was Sakuko, but her instincts, her sixth sense, told her that this shrine-maiden-clad thing with Sakuko's exact voice was very likely Sakuko herself.
"Hinako!"
With a rasping shriek, the shrine-maiden Sakuko lunged viciously at Hinako Shimizu. That seemingly rigid body erupted with terrifying force—the flagstones beneath her feet cracked under the push-off, and she raised the thorned implement high, driving it down at Hinako Shimizu on a gust of foul wind.
Hinako Shimizu instinctively raised the lantern pole to block.
Clang—!!
A tremendous crash rang out as the thorned weapon struck the lantern pole. The sheer force of the impact numbed both her arms, and the blow sent her skidding backward several meters, her shoe soles scraping two black streaks across the flagstones.
Before she could steady herself, the chain was already whistling toward her.
The iron chain lashed in from the side like a snake come to life, the blade at its tip slicing the air with a sharp, whistling shriek.
Hinako Shimizu hastily ducked and dodged.
The blade skimmed past her back, shearing off a few locks of hair. Before she could straighten up, the chain had already snapped back and lashed out again—this time straight for her face.
Hinako Shimizu rolled aside to dodge. The blade grazed past her ear and slammed into the ground, sparks flying, gouging a deep crack into the flagstones. Fragments of stone sprayed against her face, leaving a few thin cuts.
____
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🔥 New history: DanMachi: Inheriting the Legacy of Alternate Versions — posted on The_Mikudayo