Chapter 174: The End

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Minamoto Kiyomoto!
It was Minamoto Kiyomoto’s voice!
The crowd was both surprised and ecstatic, and also indescribably in disbelief.

He had succeeded. He had really turned the “Coral Demon Moth”—this county-level yokai—into a demon body!

Minamoto Nagatoku’s body trembled with excitement.

‘Minamoto Kiyomoto is really going to become the Lord of Kyoto! The future is real! The Minamoto clan has become the orthodox imperial family!’ He shouted wildly in his heart with his remaining rationality, wishing he could roar to the sky.

Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi exchanged a glance and both laughed.

“You really want to agree to him?”

“You be the second wife.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

After relaxing, the two of them immediately started a civil war.

Compared to the cheering official practitioners, the Shinto sect’s faces were ashen.

A county-level yokai. When the “Yellow Springs Demonic Dragon” was alive, it was only at this level.

Was the future really unchangeable? Would Minamoto Kiyomoto definitely be invincible and rule alone?

“What are you waiting for?!” Sanae Sara and the other group leaders roared at the desperate followers.

Their faces were also grim and ugly, but they did not release the spell seals that controlled the demon dragon nails.

The followers came back to their senses, hurriedly formed a seal, and tormented the giant turtle like crazy.

The giant turtle let out a strange and mournful cry. The sound was so shrill that some of the female practitioners felt sympathy for a yokai for the first time in their hearts.

“Why bother? Let me help you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s laughter came from the sky again.

“Dong!” A sound of a heart beating violently.

The sound was very loud, like the heart of the world.

After the sound of the heartbeat, the “sky” began to shrink rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the crowd could already see the end of the “sky” with their naked eyes.

The demon-hunting ship cut through the thorns and waves, and finally arrived at the battlefield at this time.

Itomi Yuki, the Izumo Miko, the Suitengu Miko, and countless practitioners who served as “boatmen” stood on the bumpy deck and watched from afar.

The undulating land of the mountain range slowly shrank, and the mountain ranges standing on the land also shrank.

The golden pillar, the fire pillar, the ice pillar, and the earth pillar, the four pillars that supported the sky, slowly dissipated.

The scene was magnificent and spectacular, like a fairy tale.

The giant turtle shrank smaller and smaller. Slowly, only the area above the heads of the Shinto sect and the yokai was left.

The official practitioners who were pressed underneath passed through the three-colored divine light at the edge of the turtle shell, and their hearts trembled.

After confirming that they were fine, they immediately soared into the air and came to the sky where the black clouds were rolling. It was as if they had come out of a prison, and they took a deep breath.

Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi flew to the front of the “Coral Demon Moth.”

Compared to the “Coral Demon Moth’s” huge figure, the two of them were as small as golden and flaming flower buds.

“Kiyomoto!” the two of them called out to the “Coral Demon Moth.”

The “Coral Demon Moth” buzzed and laughed. It was Minamoto Kiyomoto’s laughter.

The coral horns, as magnificent as a crown, spewed out a three-colored divine light, and the two of them were rolled into the coral horns.

“My two wives, watch me show off my divine might!” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh.

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t say anything, only the relaxation and joy of surviving a disaster.

Himegami Izayoi scolded with a laugh, “Who’s your wife? We’re not married yet.”

Fatty slowly woke up and saw Rabbit, Yuka, Koi, Monkey, and Horse Face surrounding him, staring blankly at the distance.

“Are we safe? What are you looking at—” he opened his mouth wide.

The thousand-meter-high “Coral Demon Moth,” it stood between the sea and the sky, huge, majestic, and looking down, just like a god between heaven and earth.

The black Tathagata sitting on the clouds collapsed. At the same time, a golden halo of light appeared behind the “Coral Demon Moth.”

Itomi Sayaka looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto with surprise, led the six members of Group Nine to fly to the demon-hunting ship, and landed on the deck.

“Sister (Sayaka)!” Itomi Yuki and Hanyu Chika ran over.

“Are you injured?” Yagyu Michiko, who had stayed behind to protect the rescue department, asked.

Itomi Sayaka shook her head. It wasn’t that she wasn’t injured, but it could be cured, so there was no need to say it.

She turned her head and glanced at the Izumo Miko, wanting to tell her that all the people from Group Four were dead, but considering that there were people all around, she didn’t speak.

The crowd stood on the deck and looked at the “Coral Demon Moth.”

The Shinto sect, which was pressed under the turtle shell, even though the mountain range had become smaller and the weight had been reduced, was still suffocating and uncomfortable.

They had to erect another “earth pillar,” fuse all their divine artifacts into it, and still chant the incantation, forcing the giant turtle to turn over.

“Kiyomoto-kun,” Sanae Sara tried her best to remain calm and said with a smile, “how about another deal? I’ll give you the Black Thunder, and you let us go.”

“Do you think I’m still lacking the Black Thunder?” The “Coral Demon Moth” carried the halo of the sun, slowly swept across the sea surface, and approached the giant turtle.

The practitioners along the way all made way. Even though they knew it was Minamoto Kiyomoto, they still didn’t dare to approach this world-shaking giant beast.

Only the Hokkaido Miko, without avoiding or yielding, flew straight over and landed on the coral horns.

Minamoto Kiyomoto wanted to push her away, but he felt that it would be too disrespectful to her.

Rikka had helped a lot. If it weren’t for her, not to mention Kamibayashi Miko and the others, the others would probably have already died.

“Sayaka, you go too,” Hanyu Chika urged in a low voice.

Itomi Sayaka smiled bitterly and said, “Let’s forget it for now.”

Her skin was not that thick, and there were so many people.

The Hokkaido Miko is really amazing. Are all the people from Hokkaido so thick-skinned?

Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi had the same doubt, but they didn’t ask. The lesson from Minamoto Kiyomoto was that if they said it, Rikka would definitely ask them to apologize to Hokkaido.

“You’re not lacking, but I’m the only one in the world who knows the Black Thunder. Once I die, the Eight Gods of Thunder will never be gathered again,” Sanae Sara said with a coquettish laugh, her voice trembling slightly.

“Some things should disappear,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

He glanced at the members of Group Four who had turned into yokai, remembered the many people who had sacrificed for the Demon Body Spell, remembered his father who had been burned to death in pursuit of the Vermilion Bird, and remembered the Ogosho who had abandoned everything for power and strength.

From the time he left Tokyo Bay, it had only been half a month. He had almost been frozen to death, had been separated from Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi by life and death, and had fought a desperate battle with the “Coral Demon Moth.”

Everything on the sea made him rethink himself.

He had found a goal to challenge his limits—not only to eliminate yokai, but also to eliminate practitioners, until he became the last practitioner in the world.

He wanted to turn this world into a world where he had the final say, where the law had the final say.

Sanae Sara, hearing Minamoto Kiyomoto’s words, knew that the situation was not good. She continued to persuade him while speeding up her chanting.

The giant turtle tossed and turned, and overturned a few more hills.

‘Kiyomoto,’ Tamahime said in his mind, ‘you can’t completely control Little Moth yet. It’s going to retract the three-colored divine light. Hurry up and make a move!’

With Minamoto Kiyomoto’s ability, he had only snatched fifty percent of the control. If it weren’t for Tamahime’s one-tenth, he would have probably died in the sea of capacity.

The “Coral Demon Moth,” which still occupied forty percent of the body, firmly controlled the fundamental spell of the three-colored divine light.

As soon as Tamahime’s voice fell, the three-colored divine light floating at the edge of the giant turtle began to rapidly dim.

“Shinto sect, the history of a thousand years should end!”

“No!”

The “Coral Demon Moth’s” giant wings closed, and the crowd’s breathing hitched, their hair dancing wildly.

The Shinto sect, which was facing the hurricane, wanted to retreat, wanted to escape, but was pinned to the spot by the hurricane of the three-colored divine light, unable to move even half a step.

“Ah!” Amidst the miserable cries, flesh and blood directly separated from the bones, and the empty skeletons fell into the sea like tattered rags.

The yokai shrieked and roared, and ran around like crazy, attacking the turtle shell.

The three-colored divine light became weaker and weaker, and some attacks penetrated the divine light and fiercely bombarded the giant turtle’s body.

Sanae Sara and the other group leaders, braving the hurricane, roared as they controlled the giant turtle.

With a huge wail, the giant turtle finally turned over.

The sky was overturned. The shrunken mountain ranges slid into the sea one after another, returning to their original size, and rolling up a swift vortex.

Attracted by the vortex, the island-like demon-hunting ship sailed forward uncontrollably.

“Drop the anchor!” Amatsumara rushed onto the deck and commanded loudly.

The clansmen of the Amatsumara clan immediately took action.

The Shinto sect finally saw the real sky again. At this time, including the group leaders, only thirty people were left.

“Go!” the leader of Group Three roared and shot away.

“Minamoto Kiyomoto, I won’t let you go!” Sanae Sara’s black hair was scattered, and she let out a shriek like a fierce ghost.

“Chase!” the Kyushu Shinto Lord ordered.

Minamoto Nagatoku, the Ichijo clan leader, the Taira clan, Haguro Kasen, and others were about to make a move.

“It seems that you still don’t believe that I’m a person of my word,” with a laugh, the “Coral Demon Moth’s” voice became grim. “I said it’s over. Didn’t you hear me?”

The giant wings’ photon blood flowed and gathered at the coral horns.

“Hey, we’ll be fine, right!” Himegami Izayoi kicked the increasingly bright coral horns.

“Bang—”

In the strong light, everyone had to close their eyes.

When they opened their eyes, the scene that had happened on Yomijima Island happened again.

The sea in front of them, in a semicircle centered on the “Coral Demon Moth,” had disappeared without a trace. The stinking seabed was exposed under the clean and boundless night sky.

The few mountain ranges that had just fallen were either tilted or overturned, stacked there like geometric blocks.

The Shinto sect, led by Sanae Sara, and the yokai transformed from the members of Group Four, had evaporated along with the seawater.

The crowd looked at this world-destroying strike in silence.

They couldn’t imagine how Miyagi Prefecture had held on back then.

“Group leader! The anchor is slipping! The ship is going to be sucked in!” After a short pause, the demon-hunting ship sailed towards the exposed seabed.

The twenty anchors forged from yokai remains could not resist this powerful suction.

The Kasen all swooped down, helping to pull or pushing at the bow of the ship, holding the ship back.

The divine energy in the “Coral Demon Moth’s” body was exhausted.

‘I used too much force,’ Tamahime complained in her body. ‘Without Little Moth’s cooperation, it’s very troublesome to replenish the divine energy, and it’s slow to recover on its own.’

The huge “Coral Demon Moth” collapsed into a three-colored divine light and gathered into a tall and straight figure.

Amatsumara, who was holding onto an anchor, shouted loudly, “Long live Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi! Long live the Honshu Shinto Lord!”

The crowd raised their arms and shouted, “Long live Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi! Long live the Honshu Shinto Lord!”

The sea roared, and the cheers rose and fell.

Minamoto Kiyomoto descended with the wind. He saw the rolling seawater at the horizon, like a thousand troops and ten thousand horses charging, and saw the brilliant Milky Way, twinkling all over the sky.

In his ear, Himegami Izayoi was saying to Rikka, “…You saw it? Three colors, blood-red, black, and gold. There’s no white of yours. There’s no place for you here.”

“The base color is white.”

“Where’s the base color?!”

“There is. You just didn’t see it.”

It was finally over.

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The great hall of the demon-hunting ship was brightly lit and dazzling, as if it were filled with a hall of pearls.

Countless delicious foods, drum music and singing, clinking glasses, and immortal music drifted.

“Subduing the Coral Demon Moth and eradicating the Shinto sect is an unprecedented feat. The great Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi!” a Kasen said drunkenly and loudly.

“The great one is the Divine Medium,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

“You’re too modest. The Divine Medium is not as elegant as you,” the crowd said one after another.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced at Kamibayashi Miko, who smiled and did not speak.

He had no choice but to say to the crowd, “Since you say so, let’s just say I’m great.”

“Cheers to Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi!”

“Cheers!”

The banquet was hearty. Compared to when they set off, more people went on stage to perform. Even a Kasen like Yagyu Michiko played a pipa song.

Everyone clearly felt that the era of Minamoto Kiyomoto had come.

Rikka was still arguing with Himegami Izayoi.

“Kiyomoto’s face is very white. He must like me very much.”

Himegami Izayoi held her wine cup, sneered, and said sarcastically, “Are all the people from Hokkaido so optimistic?”

“Yes,” Rikka nodded.

Kamibayashi Miko sized up Minamoto Kiyomoto. His face was indeed paler than before.

“What’s wrong?” she asked softly.

“It’s nothing,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile. “The Coral Demon Moth hasn’t been completely subdued yet. It’ll be fine in the future.”

“It’s very similar to your future face,” Himegami Izayoi also observed him. “Will you not be able to subdue it until you’re old and dead?”

“A county-level yokai, it can’t be that bad,” Minamoto Kiyomoto touched his face.

His future self’s face was indeed a little pale, but on that world line, it was Kamibayashi Miko who had fused with the “Coral Demon Moth.” Had his future self fused with other yokai?
What kind of yokai? It could restrain his energy at that time.

Konohanasakuya-hime? The Eternal Life Jade Fan? Or Akan?

Or was it just because he was dead, so his face was pale?
“‘A county-level yokai, it can’t be that bad,'” Himegami Izayoi imitated his tone, then scolded with a laugh, “We almost parted by life and death, and now you’re looking down on it.”

“A person can’t be without confidence, but they can’t be arrogant. Why do you always not listen?” Kamibayashi Miko also scolded him.

“I know,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile. “This time I went out to sea, I’ve learned my lesson. I know what’s most important. I won’t charge to the front anymore. I’ll live well.”

‘That’s right. If you die, I’ll die too,’ Tamahime nodded.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s smile froze. He remembered that he still had this burden.

“Miko,” he said to Kamibayashi Miko, “when I’ve completely mastered the Coral Demon Moth, how about I give it to you?”

“No,” Kamibayashi Miko refused without thinking. “I’ve always felt that turning into a yokai is very ugly. I’m surprised you can tolerate it.”

“…”

“I think it’s very beautiful,” Himegami Izayoi had a different opinion. “How cool would it be to ride it?”

“…Let’s drink,” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his cup.

Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi laughed and raised their cups.

The Hokkaido Miko put down her chopsticks, picked up her wine cup, and Himegami Izayoi gave her a white look.

Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed, brought the wine cup to his lips, and drank it all in one gulp.