Chapter 17

Another Star God, but this Star God gives a completely different feeling.

The Destruction Star God gives a strong sense of oppression, making his malice easy to feel; yet strangely, we feel nothing of it from this Star God.

——On the contrary, there is a warm, heavy feeling.

Yuecheng Liu described his first impression of this Preservation Star God while quickly jotting down something in his little notebook.

If nothing unexpected happens, HAND headquarters will soon find Section Chief Ya to give a report on the 'Preservation Star God'; these notes might be useful to Ya later.

The Destruction Star God had already frightened several HAND executives half to death, and now another Star God has appeared; fortunately, He showed no hostility and vanished in the blink of an eye.

It seems different Star Gods have different stances toward humanity," Asayu Youzhen said. "I have a guess: perhaps the Destruction Star God holds supreme authority over 'Destruction' in the universe, while this Preservation Star God is the exact opposite, like the strongest spear against the strongest shield

Youzhen switched to a 'watch the drama, the bigger the better' tone: 'If these two Star Gods really meet, what would happen? A fight would surely be earth-shaking.'

Yuecheng Liu pushed up his half-rim glasses: 'But it would definitely cause rivers of blood; when the connection between the still-unclear light-curtain world and our world is unknown, it's best not to fight.'

Accompanied by a tremendous rumbling, Xing only felt a tremor underfoot, as if heaven and earth were collapsing. Fortunately, it didn't last long; once Xing came to, he found himself back on the space station.

"Our calculations succeeded; the Preservation Star God Kripir has truly appeared." Black Tower's voice suddenly sounded in my ear, and she let out an enigmatic giggle: "The Pioneering Star God Akivili, returned from the dead, has drawn an old friend."

Since waking, Xing had never deeply investigated the gossip among Star Gods, but hearing Black Tower's tone, she seemed to know quite a bit.

"Tell me more about the Star Gods' friendship stories."

"This is merely a simulacrum Star God carefully cultivated by Ruan Mei and Screw Gum; true Star Gods wouldn't bother with us. So I set your identity as the Pioneering Star God Akivili to attract them."

Black Tower paused here, clicked her tongue, and said: "As it turns out, my judgment was correct; from now on, when you encounter virtual Star Gods, you'll need to cozy up to them."

Black Tower waved her hand, and all of Xing's Preservation blessings were strengthened; she hoped this would lure Kripir to appear again, but no matter how many monsters Xing defeated along the way, it was to no avail.

"Well... He probably won't come." Black Tower's voice sounded weary: "I admit I was a bit too eager for quick results... From now on I won't interfere with your actions; do as you please."

"Kripir's appearance was probably just a coincidence... Anyway, sorry." Having said that, Black Tower's voice vanished.

Xing fought monsters all the way, crushing every creature in the simulated universe, yet nothing happened; she couldn't help asking Black Tower about the next goal, and after a long silence, Black Tower's regretful sigh came through the ear.

"I was still hoping He would show up. Never mind, I'll shut down the simulated universe now; it's just an instant, you won't feel anything, and we'll talk later in reality."

The space station's display gradually faded into darkness; Xing had grown accustomed to drifting in the void, but after floating for a while, she realized she was still in the simulated universe.

"Black Tower?" Xing shouted into the empty void.

"He has come!" Black Tower's incredulous voice suddenly sounded in my ear: "No, it's not Him... it's another Star God! It's——"

Black Tower's voice gradually faded, as if the whole world were continually receding from me, and everything around became utterly unreal.

Suddenly, Xing felt a brilliant light flash before her eyes; after struggling to open them, she could barely make out what lay ahead.

It was a blurry humanoid figure, his whole body like crystal carving, yet also as if made of countless mirror shards; his facial features were repeatedly refracted by prisms into an enigma, visible only as He wore a six-tiered pearl crown before us and an ice lotus crown behind Him, and at the moment we gazed directly at Him, countless memories surfaced in Xing's mind.

——

Tanjiro stood in a forest where wind and snow intertwined.

His black hair fluttered in the cold wind, the scar on his forehead slightly reddened by the freeze. He clutched the thick scarf around his neck, his clear gaze piercing the drifting snow as he fixed his eyes on the distant, hazy torch.

In memory, his father abandoned his usual frail sickliness, barefoot in the eight-direction torches, arms reaching back to his chin, bending his waist and stepping. Behind his mother, carrying Nezuko, she gently stroked his head.

"Hah, this place is... Mom?"

"I remember I was——"

Tanjiro always felt he had forgotten something; he was covering his red‑frozen fingertips when a sudden urgent shout rang in his ears.

"Tanjiro! Tanjiro!"

Accompanying it, the scene before his eyes gradually blurred and collapsed; Tanjiro felt his head sway like a swing, and when he barely came to, he saw his senior brother, Water Pillar Giyu Tomioka, continually shaking his shoulders.

"Tanjiro, wake up!"

Tanjiro patted his head, finally waking completely from the recollection. He looked around and found the entire Demon Slayer Corps in utter chaos.

"What's going on?" Tanjiro still hadn't grasped the situation.

Giyu Tomioka furrowed his brows and said: "A third Star God has appeared; at the instant of His appearance, everyone who looked directly at Him fell into a brief recollection—fortunately this state lasts only a short time, not serious, and most people have already recovered."

"I thought the appearance of a Star God wouldn't affect us, but it seems I oversimplified. Some Star Gods themselves carry special effects that inevitably influence others the moment they appear."

Shinobu Kocho said, still uneasy: "This is merely a virtual Star God appearing in the simulated universe, a human creation; if a true Star God were to appear..."

Hearing this, the several Pillars present all involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air.

"Hey hey, getting back to the point, does this count as some kind of 'divine sign' in a sense?" Sound Pillar Tengen Uzui gave a wry smile, only now realizing how great the gap is between the world they inhabit and the world behind the light curtain.

"Of course." Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled faintly: "According to intelligence from below, many local governments are already planning to build temples for the Destruction Star God Nanuke, and many ordinary people have begun to change their faith, believing in Star Gods."

"Believe in Destruction? That guy doesn't look like a benevolent deity at all; you can't just have faith in him." Sanemi Shinazugawa frowned.

"But it's still better than believing in some deviant cult." Shinobu Kocho said lightly: "I heard that not long ago, a sect called the Mansei Gokuraku Cult publicly declared a change of faith, and over two hundred of its followers came to believe in the Destruction Star God Nanuke—such a huge sect... overnight it was left with only its founder."