Chapter 133

Uesugi Toru gripped Kaga Kiyomitsu's sword hilt, silently staring at Ye Chun lying on the stone slab before him, her pale neck exposed within his reach.

——【Ye Chun / Kisaragi Station (Three-Star)】.

He asked again: "If I swing my blade down now, does that count as saving you?"

"Ah, yes." The girl on the stone slab, unable to move except for her words, gave an affirmative response. "Yes, Uesugi-kun."

She seemed to realize something, so she looked at the Ye Chun sitting slumped on the ground: "Uesugi-kun, I imagine you must be concerned about her."

"Don't worry, Uesugi-kun." The girl smiled. "After I die, she will dissipate along with me as an obsession."

"From now on, no more 'Ye Chun' will repeatedly endure suffering, experience loneliness, feel despair, and finally march toward death, over and over."

"Uesugi-kun, you are very gentle. I understood this clearly from the very first time I met you."

The girl said softly: "Every Ye Chun, including me, though independent, shares their memories with me uncontrollably."

"——Even if what was previously experienced no longer exists due to a restart, I still remember you closing my eyes and burying me, remember you roaring at me to run by the railway."

The girl lowered her eyes, her shoulders trembling slightly: "So, please save me from this endless cage of samsara."

——Just swing the blade to kill Ye Chun, and she can be liberated, with a high probability of directly completing the task and ending the Kisaragi Station map.

Uesugi Toru fondled Kaga Kiyomitsu's cold sword hilt.

He knew that whether the girl named Ye Chun's life ended here or could continue depended entirely on his single thought.

Uesugi Toru closed his eyes and opened them again, a decision already made in his heart.

——Such salvation, he does not admit.

Uesugi Toru raised his head and said to the girl: "Since you can share memories with Ye Chun, you should know I promised her I would take her out of Kisaragi Station."

Uesugi Toru raised two fingers,

"Twice."

He slowly drew Kaga Kiyomitsu from its vermilion sword sheath, wisps of pale color dripping from the sword tip, causing the platform of Kisaragi Station to tremble faintly.

Uesugi Toru asked: "Ye Chun, do you know what a promise means?"

But before the girl could answer, he continued speaking as if muttering to himself: "A promise means that once spoken, it must be done."

"——Otherwise, just don't say those two words in the first place."

"And, you seemed to have said it just now, right?" Uesugi Toru took out the Blessed Folding Fan, holding it in his left hand. "The world at the other end of the tunnel is still in 2004, and the Ye Chun who came with me was also sent into Kisaragi Station from that time point."

The girl opened her mouth: "That's correct……"

"Then isn't the matter easily resolved?"

Uesugi Toru retorted, then put the pale Hannya Mask on his face, covering that calm countenance as before.

"Next, just need to send Ye Chun back to the other end, then slaughter the Kisaragi Station beneath our feet, so that 'Ye Chun entered Kisaragi Station on that day' will not happen."

Uesugi Toru let go, letting Kaga Kiyomitsu bite into the platform ground of Kisaragi Station,

"——Isn't that correct?"

What kind of logic is this?

In Kisaragi Station, the three people other than Uesugi Toru did not understand the meaning of this illogical statement.

Only the Kisaragi Station beneath Uesugi Toru's feet emitted a violent tremor, pure and cold murderous intent rising almost instantly, locking onto Uesugi Toru from all directions.

Thus Uesugi Toru couldn't help but laugh: "I was just guessing casually based on a few unreasonable places, never expecting to actually guess right."

Without warning, a dark cane attacked from behind Uesugi Toru, about to pierce his chest.

But faster than this one-legged high-speed old man was Kaga Kiyomitsu's sword blade.

A crescent-shaped pale blade light suddenly rose from the high-speed old man's chest, splitting him in two, and then the residual blade light of Kaga Kiyomitsu slowly spread out with crackling electric arcs.

The high-speed old man fell again, but no prompt popped up.

The four-tailed fox shook its crimson tail tip, turning its eyeballs filled with bloodshot veins, easily catching the aura of the reappearing Taiko Drum and Baka Hayashi.

"Earlier in the tunnel I already sensed something was wrong. How could the yokai I had already slain come back to life, and even join hands to deal with me?"

Uesugi Toru coldly smiled: "Before exiting the tunnel, you used every means to block us, but when Ye Chun proposed killing her, you remained silent……"

He took a deep breath, stepping forward, streaking through the mountain forest night like a straight red-and-white line on a monochrome painting, arriving behind the two yokai summoned by Kisaragi Station in the blink of an eye.

Rustle rustle.

The Baka Hayashi and Taiko Drum, whose weaknesses and vital points had long been grasped by Uesugi Toru, froze in place instantly, then turned into colorless powder falling to the ground, turning into a pile of sand.

"——Because if I kill Ye Chun, this accident fused with you, then you could fully control yourself again, and thus let this mononoke called Kisaragi Station continue."

Pat pat, pat pat.

Dense footsteps came from not far away. Uesugi Toru looked around and found they were still those chi swarms exactly the same as those encountered in the tunnel.

Kisaragi Station's actions further confirmed his idea was true.

"Mononoke, truly amazing." Uesugi Toru couldn't help but sigh, unfolding his folding fan in one motion. "It can even do things like connecting past and present."

As the words fell, a bucket-thick blue-purple lightning bolt struck straight down like a heavenly divine soldier onto the broad top of Kisaragi Station, and water-like thunder spread throughout the entire Kisaragi Station in the blink of an eye.

But the electric light seemed to turn a blind eye to the girl on the stone slab; only a few stray electric arcs accidentally touched her, letting her feel a slight pain.

"Hum hum hum……"

A huge humming sound came from within Kisaragi Station, like a roar, yet also like a train's whistle.

"Ye Chun!"

Uesugi Toru shouted loudly, causing the girl originally slumped by the car to tremble all over and look at him.

The SUV's car key traced a beautiful arc in midair, was caught by Adult Ershaku, then stuffed into Ye Chun's somewhat trembling hand.

"——You have to drive back through the tunnel by yourself!"

Uesugi Toru said word by word, the violent internal qi in his body surging, dazzling electric arcs flashing all over him.

He slowly assumed the Three-Stage Thrust stance: "The road ahead you must walk alone! This is the final trial!"

Boom!

Several boulders flew toward Uesugi Toru, only to be shattered into fragments by him as easily as cutting butter.

But this had already broken his original Three-Stage Thrust Stance, buying enough time for Kisaragi Station.

The giant concrete pillars that had originally supported Kisaragi Station rose from the ground one by one, splashing mud and dust across the sky.

The entire Kisaragi Station, amid violent rumbling, stood up like a living creature.

——【Kisaragi Station (Three-Star)】.

Gazing at the crimson status window hanging across the night sky, Uesugi Toru clicked his tongue annoyedly: "They say it's alive, and it really can move."

He had thought Kisaragi Station could only summon yokai or Chi Swarms from the world at the other end of the tunnel, but never expected that a station, a building itself, could actually move.

Did he really think this place was a Gundam set!?

Rumble rumble...

At this moment, the ten-odd-meter-tall Kisaragi Station stood not far from Uesugi Toru in an extremely eerie manner as a "standing building."

Amid the rumbling, the SUV lurched out of the dust and smoke, dodging several falling rocks.

Immediately after, Ye Chun's voice came, tearing her throat: "Uesugi-kun—will you still remember me after I go back!"

Probably not.

Because if "Ye Chun entering Kisaragi Station on that day" had not happened, then all the stories in Chang Shi and at the other end of the tunnel would come to an abrupt end, becoming as if they had never happened.

Uesugi Toru did not answer her, only gripping Kaga Kiyomitsu and silently gazing at Kisaragi Station as it raised its Concrete Giant Legs and walked toward him.

——If Kisaragi Station cannot be killed, then all talk of going back or remembering or not is empty.

In just a few seconds, the SUV left Uesugi Toru's Range of Perception, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

After Ye Chun left, he could finally face the powerful enemy before him without any misgivings.

Whoosh—!

Dozens of steel pipes along with all the shelves in the Convenience Store rose into the air at a speed the naked eye could not catch, then surged toward Uesugi Toru like cannonballs one after another.

The iron flow descended from the heavens!

But all of this, in Uesugi Toru's eyes, was like a slow-motion movie—stubborn and ridiculous.

——Before using Angry Eyes, Uesugi Toru, exerting his full strength, could slay the Ten Hina Night Walkers who had touched the Three-Star boundary line.

——And now, Uesugi Toru's nerve reflexes and physical strength had even surpassed the limits imaginable by ordinary people.

Scorching Corona Qi surged through his limbs and five viscera and six bowels; they were consciously compressed by Uesugi Toru again and again, then gathered at one point, and exploded with a boom!

Those steel pipes and shelves had not even had time to fall before Kaga Kiyomitsu's sword blade sliced past the feet of two incredibly thick cement pillars of Kisaragi Station like cutting paper.

Paleness quickly spread upward.

Uesugi Toru spat a sharp Qi Sword crackling with lightning onto the ground, seeing the girl abandoned by Kisaragi Station off to the side opening her mouth in a daze,

"Uesugi-kun, I made those Chi stop..."

The girl gazed at the white trail and the string of electric arcs winding like dragons and snakes for dozens of meters straight to her eyes, and couldn't help but bite her lip,

"It seems I did something unnecessary."

"No, thank you."

Beneath the Evil Demon Mask, those eyes filled with crimson turned toward her, and he said seriously: "You've been a great help."

Before the girl could make any response, her complexion changed, and she shouted nervously,

"Uesugi-kun, Xiao—!"

Before the words fell, four huge tails lightly changed direction, and Kaga Kiyomitsu cleanly sliced the entire Convenience Store sweeping over into two halves.

On both sides of the pale blade light, the sounds of steel and concrete colliding rose and fell.

The dust just kicked up was blown clean in an instant by the gale that followed, revealing Uesugi Toru's figure—having merely changed direction, yet standing immovable.

"Tch."

Casually spitting a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground, Uesugi Toru, feeling his Five Viscera and Six Organs faintly trembling, wiped the corner of his mouth with his skin-bursting hand back.

"The speed isn't too fast, but the overall strength seems much higher than mine..."

Uesugi Toru could still stand here completely unharmed only because Kisaragi Station, since its birth, was probably moving for the first time, causing that terrifying power to be unable to be precisely exerted.

This allowed Uesugi Toru to face the opponent head-on with clicking surfaces without falling behind.

But such a foolish thing, doing it once is enough.

Since speed and agility are superior to the opponent, this advantage must be exerted to the extreme!

A Concrete Giant Fist covering a range of ten-odd meters descended from the heavens, wanting to nail Uesugi Toru into the ground.

Boom!

Uesugi Toru leaped out of the yellowish-brown dust, and in three or two steps came along the narrow, huge concrete arm to the junction where it met Kisaragi Station's body.

Kaga Kiyomitsu descended.

Slash!

"Hum..."

After losing this extremely heavy part of its body, Kisaragi Station's center became unstable and it fell backward.

Uesugi Toru, not yet landed, narrowed his pupils and saw Kisaragi Station below him with its gate wide open.

Good opportunity!

Although not knowing Kisaragi Station's vital point or weakness, Uesugi Toru regarded it as a boss-level Mononoke with an extremely long health bar—cutting down the opponent's health bar no matter what is always a good thing with no harm.

"Xiao Jia! It's time to go!"

Uesugi Toru growled softly, causing Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand to tremble with delight.

"Inhale—"

A large amount of Corona Qi surged from the soles of Uesugi Toru's feet; he wanted to accelerate again in midair like this, and then, with this excellent angle and the blessing of gravity, deliver one slash to heavily wound Kisaragi Station.

But at this time—

Hum-hum-hum!

The sound of a train arriving rapidly approached from his right hand side, then grew louder.

Uesugi Toru's movements suddenly stalled.

A train arriving, in midair?

Uesugi Toru turned his gaze and caught sight, from the corner of his eye, of the train head hurtling toward him at an extreme speed of at least three hundred kilometers per hour.

Already, right in front of him!

Can't dodge it!

Uesugi Toru's pupils shrank to the size of a needle tip, and he held Kaga Kiyomitsu and his arms clad in Cold Steel Arm Guards horizontally before him.

Now he could only take this blow head-on and make other plans afterward!

"Toru-sama!"

Ni Shaku-sama's voice, now mature and steady, rang in his ear; clad in Pure White Wedding Kimono, the eight-shaku-tall figure had at some point stepped in front of Uesugi Toru.

Hum-hum-hum!

The train came rushing and collided head-on with Ni Shaku-sama's body.

The latter's body was flung like a doll onto the distant railway tracks, but it bought Uesugi Toru a moment of precious buffer time.

With no time to check on Ni Shaku-sama's condition, Uesugi Toru strained to alter the direction of his Internal Qi burst by a hair.

Bang!

Internal Qi spurted forth!

The humming train brushed past Uesugi Toru; the sharp whistling of the wind was stretched into a straight line and vanished from his ears along with the train rushing into the horizon.

Uesugi Toru's pupils turned icy cold; he stared fixedly at Kisaragi Station, collapsed on the ground and not yet risen, and poured all his strength into activating the Corona Qi within his flesh, raising Kaga Kiyomitsu high.

The remaining Spirit Power within his body also turned into threads of lightning winding around the sword blade, interweaving and surging.

"Die—!"

Upon the Joto Land shrouded by the Double Moon, a Third Pale Moon suddenly rose!

An exaggeratedly absurd Blade Light rose up, squarely piercing into the very center of Kisaragi Station's enormous form, slicing all those complex steel bars, cement, windows, and other building materials in half.

Originally, such an injury might not amount to much for Kisaragi Station—it could discard part of its body and continue operating with the rest.

And given a certain amount of time, a mere crack could be easily repaired.

Even four or five more such cracks might not cause as much damage as that initial bolt of lightning.

But now it was different.

Large patches of pale color spurted and spread from the break point; in no time they covered the entire Kisaragi Station, connecting with the Separation Sorrow Domain at the earlier break point on its foot.

Crack, crack, crack…

Kisaragi Station's earth-shaking, miserable howl had not yet had time to be uttered before it was swallowed by the Separation Sorrow Domain spreading like a disaster into that colorless pallor.

Uesugi Toru's feet touched the ground, and he stumbled as he landed.

He was about to follow through with the stance for his next strike when a flood of prompts suddenly popped up before his eyes—

【You killed Kisaragi Station (Three-Star), gained 800 Soul Ash!】

【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu: Blade of Parting to slay Kisaragi Station (Three-Star); the quality of Kaga Kiyomitsu: Blade of Parting has improved by a medium amount!】

【Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique proficiency +250!】

【Your skill, Tennen Rishin-ryu proficiency +120!】

【Your skill, Five Thunder Technique: Kiai proficiency +150!】

【You gained…】

Uesugi Toru had not yet had time to react to the prompts bursting forth before his eyes when these prompts, appearing because he slew Kisaragi Station, were instantly shoved aside and occupied by red warnings.

【Warning: Because you slew Kisaragi Station, the current Area · Kisaragi Station is undergoing major unknown changes…】

【Warning: Because you slew Kisaragi Station, the current Area · Kisaragi Station is undergoing major unknown changes…】

I already slew Kisaragi Station?

Uesugi Toru looked at Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand, which kept emitting a clear sword cry; upon seeing the pale color on the blade about to disappear, he understood the reason.

It was because Kisaragi Station's main body was too enormous, and he had slashed down from above to cleave its exact center, causing the effect of Separation Sorrow Domain to be amplified beyond measure.

Thus, in a short time, Kisaragi Station was eroded clean by Separation Sorrow Domain.

Just as he came back to his senses, Uesugi Toru immediately raised his head and anxiously looked around.

Ni Shaku-sama!

Earlier, Ni Shaku-sama had blocked that unimaginably heavy critical blow from the train head for him; even if she had the ability to turn her life into a health bar, her life or death was uncertain.

Fortunately, Uesugi Toru saw within two seconds that pure white light ball shining brightly in the mountain forest.

"Fortunately…"

Luckily, he had previously dressed Ni Shaku-sama in the Undefiled Doll Garb, causing this Epic Equipment to activate the effect of Pure Glazed Glass at the moment her life hung by a thread, blocking and absorbing all subsequent damage.

Otherwise, Ni Shaku-sama would truly have met with more misfortune than good fortune.

Uesugi Toru sheathed Kaga Kiyomitsu; with no time to mind anything else, he rushed toward Ni Shaku-sama, who had been blasted over a hundred meters away.

"Ni Shaku-sama?"

Uesugi Toru arrived at Ni Shaku-sama's side before the Pure Glazed Glass Light Shield vanished; her body had transformed into eight shaku tall, and she had not yet had time to change back into a girl's form, and he embraced her in one arm.

Without any hesitation, he poured the last drop of Awakening Spirit Mist into Ni Shaku-sama's mouth, then held her tight, hoping the healing effect would become stronger.

Now, under the state of Anger, his Charm Attribute was doubled, so Ni Shaku-sama's innate healing effect should be better than ever before.

"How do you feel now?" Uesugi Toru asked softly.

Ni Shaku-sama in his arms opened her eyes with difficulty, squinting into a slit, twisting her fleshy body, and murmured haltingly: "It hurts… it hurts so much… Toru-sama…"

Uesugi Toru's heart tightened.

He immediately wanted to exit Joto Land and return to reality to find Rituna Minami and have her summon two Onmyoji specializing in Shikigami healing.

The Eight Shaku Figure seemed to see through Uesugi Toru's thoughts, so she quickly raised her hand and gripped his wrist, pouting her lips upward: "Toru-sama, actually if you kiss me once, your injuries will all disappear..."

Pausing, the Eight Shaku Figure seemed to find this unreasonable, so she added: "This is the hidden effect of my healing talent!"

Uesugi Toru lowered his head, silently gazing at the Eight Shaku Figure who had suddenly acted like a fleeing hare just now.

The Eight Shaku Figure shifted her gaze slightly: "Hehehe..."

Uesugi Toru wordlessly parted the Eight Shaku Figure's hair, then lowered his head and kissed her forehead hard.

In an instant, the Eight Shaku Figure clenched her fists as if shocked by electricity, a burning redness spread from her cheeks to her ear roots in a flash, red as if it would drip blood.

After a moment, Uesugi Toru sighed helplessly: "Haku, don't make jokes like this anymore, it'll make me worry..."

After finishing his warning, Uesugi Toru stared at the Eight Shaku Figure in his arms somewhat strangely, poking her cheek with his blood-stained fingers: "It's just a kiss on the forehead, why are you blushing like this?"

He was stunned for a while, then hesitantly asked: "Hey... Eight Shaku Figure, you've probably just been talking big all along, right?"

The Eight Shaku Figure raised both hands to cover half of her flushed face, not daring to answer Uesugi Toru's words.

Ah? Guessed right?

Uesugi Toru slightly opened his mouth, hardly believing that the Eight Shaku Figure was actually so pure-hearted, worthy of being called "Eight Shaku Urban Legend's Shame".

He had always thought that over these many years, the Eight Shaku Figure should have already achieved the Hundred Boy Slaying and even the Thousand Boy Slaying feats.

This point, Uesugi Toru could tell from when the Eight Shaku Figure wanted to attack him upon their first meeting, and from their conversation in front of Hongan-ji back then...

But now it seems, perhaps not?

Could it be because the Eight Shaku Figure was about to disperse back then, so she dared to act for real instead of just talking big?

No matter how Uesugi Toru thought about it, he found it extremely absurd.

But the Eight Shaku Figure in his arms reacted completely unlike something fake.

Forget it.

As long as the Eight Shaku Figure didn't receive a fatal injury thanks to the protection of the Pure Glazed Glass Light Shield, everything else was just a trivial small matter, and it wasn't too late to talk about it later.

Rumble...

From within the distant Isanuki Tunnel came wave after wave of huge collapse sounds, as if something immensely huge was being shattered into pieces, constantly collapsing.

Even separated by such a great distance, Uesugi Toru could easily feel that earth-shaking tremor.

"Eight Shaku Figure, can you walk?"

Uesugi Toru asked first, then shook his head: "Forget it, I'll carry you."

Carrying the Eight Shaku Figure in her Eight Shaku Figure form, whose height and body type far exceeded his own, even Uesugi Toru in this state felt a slight immense pressure from behind.

He said nothing more, just carrying the Eight Shaku Figure to the girl who was still at the former site of Kisaragi Station.

"Uesugi-kun..."

The girl gazed fixedly toward the direction of Isanuki Tunnel, and after a while, moved her gaze onto him: "Your idea seems to be correct."

Rumble rumble!

Amidst the sound as if it would shatter heaven and earth, clear tears of relief surged from the corners of the girl's eyes, and she finally couldn't help but burst into loud crying.

"Uesugi-kun, thank you... thank you... thank you..."

With the passage of time, the girl's body on the stone slab gradually changed from solid to translucent, then became a transparency even thinner than the tears flowing from the corners of her eyes.

Finally, transforming into light points her eyes could no longer capture, she drifted away together with her high-pitched crying that had been suppressed for too long, into the boundless Joto Land.

Uesugi Toru witnessed all of this.

After a long time, he spoke softly, as if bidding farewell,

"Goodbye, Ye Chun."

【Main Quest Two, Rescue Yu Jun, Completed!】

【You overcompleted Main Quest Two, whether choose Accumulate Reward?】

"Accumulate."

Uesugi Toru turned his head, looking toward the direction of Isanuki Tunnel.

Even separated by a distant distance, he could faintly feel the immense Spirit Power and bone-piercing coldness coming from within.

Snow Woman.

And following closely after, spreading out, was resentment and wailing deeper than this bone-piercing cold Spirit Power.

Then, at the end of Uesugi Toru's gaze, a White Dot absolutely impossible to ignore appeared in the pitch-black night sky.

End of Chapter