Chapter 116

When even a thousand cuts and ten thousand slices seem insufficient to atone for one’s sins, perhaps…

The Qiuqiu people are your ultimate destination!

When the will of the gods was finally and utterly decreed…

A sudden wave of terror rose in the hearts of all humanity across the world.

They did not know what was about to happen, yet just as animals with keen senses flee en masse before an earthquake…

This is the instinct of all living beings!

At the same moment, the Holy Empress suddenly looked up, stunned, gazing at the Eye of Heaven above, her eyes hollow, murmuring unconsciously:

“The songs of praise Itachi sang in joyous sin shall become thorns eternally entwined around your souls.”

“They shall cause the eyes of wisdom to burn ceaselessly within eyes of ignorance.”

“Until the stars become silent tombstones…”

The attending official—Tongou Kikunosuke—arrived just in time to hear the Holy Empress recite this hymn as if receiving a divine oracle; his aged face twisted in shock, his voice nearly hysterical as he demanded: “What in heaven are Itachi babbling about?”

“Tell me quickly—Itachi were just joking, weren’t Itachi? Tell me now!”

Tongou Kikunosuke, unable to suppress his terror, screamed out in anguish.

The Holy Empress paid no heed to the out-of-control official; unconsciously, tears streamed down her face.

Then.

The Holy Empress pushed Tongou Kikunosuke away, fell to her knees, and wept aloud as she prayed to the Eye of Heaven descending upon earth: “God, I know the world is steeped in filth.”

“I know our sins are unforgivable.”

“Yet, could Itachi grant us sinners one final chance?”

“For even in this mire, there remain those who cling to goodness, struggling to survive…”

Aside from a few, like the Holy Empress, who could hear the will of Heaven, most were ordinary people, numb and dazed.

They stared in awe at the divine miracle, regarding it as divine grace.

Some fell to their knees in fervent prayer for divine protection; others believed the gods were about to save the world…

In the suburbs of Tokyo, Elder Matsuzaki led the children he had taken in out of their crude, filthy shelter, gazing up at the sky together.

“Elder, is the god coming to save us?”

“Elder, Elder, if we pray, will the god give us food?”

Elder Matsuzaki stared fixedly at the Eye of Heaven, tears flowing down his face without his awareness.

O God, have Itachi finally grown weary of humanity’s sins and are about to bring forth great judgment?

In this age where ghouls and demons run rampant, the more virtuous one is, the more one suffers in sorrow.

Even if a saintess were to descend and give birth to a savior…

The savior, surveying this dark age engulfed by calamity, would still shed crimson tears of blood.

Hearing the children’s calls, Elder Matsuzaki snapped back to himself, then pulled them down to kneel and pray: “Children, pray to the Divine One.”

“Pray that the Divine One grants us a perfect new world.”

“Call out—call out to the new age that is coming.”

Mid-aged yet utterly worn down, Elder Matsuzaki had taken in only a dozen cursed children, barely keeping them from starving.

Even now, he could only watch helplessly as more children lost their breath in despair.

For he was only one man.

His strength was limited.

Yet how could a soul inherently good not be shattered a thousand times over by witnessing such darkness, again and again?

Had it not been for his unwillingness to abandon these children he had taken in, he would have long since left this cruel world.

O God, I hate Itachi for not coming sooner—then so many children would not have died in despair.

O God, I thank Itachi for descending upon this world.

For now, no more children will ever die in despair again.

…

In a sewer.

A mother cradling a cursed child with crimson hair gazed into the Eye of Heaven, then gently kissed her child.

“O God, protect my daughter Iris—let her live freely, without sorrow, in a beautiful new world…”

Iris, in Greek, means rainbow—symbolizing hope and a promise of beauty.

This was a mother’s hope for her child.

Yet when the child was born, her father had nearly killed her.

It was only through the mother’s desperate struggle, mere moments after childbirth, that she escaped with the child from that so-called family.

The child in her arms rubbed her cheek, her eyes, as beautiful as rubies, filled with innocent wonder: “Mother, what’s happening?”

…

【No need for despair, no need for fear】

Hermes ignored over ninety-nine percent of all life; the coldness in the Eye of Heaven vanished.

Instead, it gazed tenderly upon every radiant soul.

Even Hermes, who had seen all things, could not help but be moved by souls that still shone so brilliantly in this hellish world.

【Itachi shall all live happily in the coming new world, bearing my blessing.】

The divine will grew ever gentler.

【I bless Itachi with good health, a life of peace, ease, and fulfillment.】

【I bless Itachi that in the new age, Itachi shall never worry for food, nor dread tomorrow.】

【Each day of yours shall be bathed in light, far from darkness.】

As the voice faded, boundless radiance enveloped every chosen soul.

Those with broken bodies were restored to wholeness in the light.

Those tormented by illness were freed from pain.

The young and powerless were transported to the side of the first petitioner.

Simultaneously, the curse from Heaven crashed down!

In the Holy Empress’s widened eyes, she saw Tongou Kikunosuke—who had always appeared as a loyal minister—now, black, coarse hairs first sprouting from the wrinkles on his hands.

Then, spreading rapidly.

Sudden, excruciating pain caused Tongou Kikunosuke to scream in madness.

His bones cracked and shifted with a sound that made teeth ache.

His body was forced into a hunched posture, reshaping toward a form better suited for survival, better suited for… the mind of a beast.

Yet his consciousness was deliberately preserved, utterly locked within this beast’s carcass.

This would force him to clearly feel his new existence as a beast.

He could only watch as his body was ruled by beastly instinct…

He tried to roar.

His vision began to blur at the edges; the world lost its colors, leaving only dim, indistinct light and shadow…

Finally, before the Holy Empress stood a hunched, filthy black-furred figure.

Beneath a pale, poreless bony mask glowed a pair of wild, crimson eyes.

He became it.

He became a… Qiuqiu person, ruled entirely by beastly instinct!