Kaguya-sama: Love Is War wants me to turn myself in.

As soon as the words fell, a chilling wind suddenly blew through the world, and the surrounding darkness seemed to come alive, surging continuously. Then, a silver-haired, red-eyed elementary school student appeared, floating in mid-air, his clothes and hair fluttering. Although he was only small in stature, his expression was extremely cold, and he exuded a terrifying aura that was both awe-inspiring and unapproachable.

As the elementary school student appeared, the surrounding shadow creatures immediately became fanatical and knelt down on one knee.

Kage Chika looked up, her body trembling slightly, and quickly covered her eyes: "It's...it's Hiruko-shin."

Amamiya Natsuki and the others immediately understood that the silver-haired, red-eyed elementary school student in mid-air was the mother of all the shadows, a deity worshipped and venerated by the island's inhabitants.

Of course, it's hard to determine whether this little girl is a god or a monster, since no one has ever seen what a real god looks like.

at the same time.

Numerous prompts quickly appeared in front of Natsuki Amamiya's eyes.

You have encountered the mother of all shadows—Hiruko-gami.

[An unusual creature that has survived for hundreds of years is currently injured. You realize that it is no match for you and decide to temporarily avoid confrontation.]

Through careful observation, you discover that the other party possesses the ability to restart time.

[After careful consideration, you realize that in the previous playthrough, you successfully killed the four-armed creature, causing Hiruko to go berserk. Time has already restarted once, and this is now the second playthrough.]

"Time restart?"

Amamiya Natsuki was shocked. Suddenly, she realized why the potions in her backpack had disappeared for no reason. It was because the group had already experienced a summer and had successfully killed the monster Four Hands at the previous summer festival. However, Four Hands seemed to be particularly important to Hiruko, so Hiruko directly restarted the time or the dungeon.

All doubts were resolved.

Why were almost all the tourists on the cruise ship that docked at noon copied? It's because Hiruko was looking for the 'players' among the tourists.

Why was Si Shou so certain that everyone's target was him when he first appeared?

Why did the medicine in my backpack disappear for no reason...?

Because this is already the second playthrough.

Chapter 599 The God of War Returns in the Third Cycle

"Main body..."

Hiruko floated in mid-air, her red eyes devoid of any human emotion, only filled with endless indifference. Her gaze swept over Natsuki Amamiya without lingering, but instead settled on Kaguya, Yukino, Hayasaka, and Chika before she spoke for the first time:

"You are the one."

The voice was childish, yet exceptionally cold, devoid of any emotion.

After saying this, Hiruko extended his right hand towards the girls and made a grasping motion in the air.

The next second, Kaguya Shinomiya seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand and floated up.

"Eh? Kaguya-chan!"

Fujiwara Chika couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Hayasaka Ai's gaze sharpened, and a magic gun appeared out of thin air in her hand. She raised her hand and fired a shot, colorful streams of light gushing from the muzzle and flying towards Hiruko-gami in mid-air.

Unfortunately, the magic beam was too slow, and a shadow leaped into the air to block the attack with its body.

Hayasaka Ai knelt on the ground, still wanting to continue firing, when a deep voice suddenly rang out:

"Attack on a deity is a serious crime."

Four Hands shook his head, and without hesitation pulled out a javelin made of black mud from behind his back and threw it out.

A sharp whistling sound suddenly rang out.

The javelin transformed into a black lightning bolt, tearing through the night sky and striking straight at the spy maid.

Yukino Yukinoshita was right next to Hayasaka when she grabbed the spy maid and rolled away.

boom!

The black javelin swept past the two girls and sank into the ground with a roar, leaving another deep crater where dirt and gravel flew everywhere.

at the same time.

Amamiya Natsuki's gaze fell on Hiruko-no-Kami, her mind racing.

No wonder we only saw Shadow Senior, Shadow Haimeng, etc., but not Shadow Kaguya, Shadow Yukino, or Shadow Hayasaka, because... these were targets that Hiruko deliberately left behind, intending to copy herself.

When ordinary shadow creatures try to copy players, a fog of memories appears in their minds, making it impossible to see through them. So... what about Hiruko-gami, who is a god?

After Hiruko personally copied the player, will a memory fog appear in his mind?

In the previous playthrough, Hiruko probably didn't try to copy players, but that didn't stop her from doing so, and Kaguya was the copy target she just chose.

So... what should we do now?

Amamiya Natsuki's mind raced as she considered a solution.

Defeating Hiruko-gami seems impossible. Its eyes didn't give any hints. Even if it's injured, it's probably not a super-powerful being that ordinary players can kill.

So, how about using shadow skills to disappear into the shadows and escape the encirclement?

Natsuki Amamiya quickly rejected the idea.

Can't escape.

Hiruko is clearly a boss of an exceptionally high level. Ordinary shadows have the ability to move into shadows, so Hiruko must have the same ability, or even be stronger. Even if you transform into a shadow cat, there is a high chance that you will be caught by the opponent in shadow form.

Besides, even if they manage to escape, how would they complete the dungeon quest to kill the four-armed enemy?

These thoughts surged through her mind in an instant, and relying on her keen intuition, Amamiya Natsuki chose the boldest course of action—

Kill that four-armed monster!

It's clear that Shigetsu has an extraordinary relationship with Hiruko. Killing Shigetsu will cause Hiruko to go berserk again, and then time will restart!

The ability to restart might be unsolvable, but it won't affect the game. For example, it allows Shoko to record all the information in her diary. As long as the diary is stored in her backpack, it won't be affected even if time restarts.

I don't have a chance to write in my diary now, but...

After careful consideration, you have decided to wear the Mask of Remembrance, remembering today's humiliation, and repaying it double in the next playthrough.

Amamiya Natsuki recalled the mask that the Forgotten Mystery had dropped when she killed it in Chiba Prefecture.

[Item: Thorn of Remembrance]

[Category: Mysterious Drops]

[Quality: unique]

[Attribute: Effective when worn. Some memories are etched in your heart. After wearing this mask, your memories will be engraved and will never be forgotten, even as time goes by.]

[Note: Sometimes, forgetting is not a painful thing.]

Despite being a strange entity possessing the power to forget, the item it dropped was a mask that would forever remember everything; it was quite peculiar, to say the least.

Some of you have tried this thing before. After wearing the mask, all your life experiences, whether happy or painful, will be recalled with incredible clarity.

Happiness in life is always fleeting, while suffering is plentiful, so after trying it on once, I tossed it into a corner of my backpack.

However, according to the clues that have appeared, the memory power of this mask can clearly resist the power of time restarting, and it will not be forgotten even as time goes by.

That being the case...

"Snapped!"

Natsuki Amamiya snapped her fingers lightly, and in the next instant, time on the entire island froze.

Leaves falling from mid-air.

Gravel flying on the ground.

Yukino and Hayasaka were half kneeling on the ground.

Chika embraces Kaguya.

And the Hiruko-gami floating in the sky—everything was frozen in time.

"Ok?"

Amamiya Natsuki's gaze sharpened as she suddenly noticed that something was moving within the frozen world.

It's the leech god.

This supernatural creature, which resembles an elementary school student, is moving its eyes. Its dangerous red eyes are looking at Amamiya Natsuki, clearly showing surprise.

"Because of the ability to restart time, even in a time-stopped state, one still retains the ability to think and act?"

Natsuki Amamiya silently analyzed the situation in her mind.

However, judging from Hiruko's appearance, the opponent's mobility was obviously extremely weak, suppressed to the extreme.

Amamiya Natsuki remained calm and, without the slightest hesitation, began to act. The time stop lasted only three seconds, making every second extremely precious.

The first second.

"Flying Curse!"

Amamiya Natsuki decisively stretched out her right hand and grabbed at the four hands dozens of meters away.

The strength assessment was successfully passed.

The four hands, frozen in time, offered no resistance and flew directly towards Amamiya Natsuki's hand.

The second second.

Amamiya Natsuki gripped the hammer she had used before with both hands, swung it forcefully, and smashed it down on the chest of the four hands.

As previously mentioned, the black armor on Four-Handed's body is not made of metal, but rather sludge formed from shadow matter.

Since it's a shadow, heavy blows are still extremely effective.

boom!

A hammer slammed into the chest of the flying four hands, causing ripples to spread across their black armor. Then, centered on the point of impact, the black sludge rapidly contracted.

The third second.

The silt shrank away, revealing the frozen face of a middle-aged man and his defenseless chest.

Natsuki Amamiya then put away the hammer, and a scalpel appeared in her palm. She then plunged it into the chest of the four hands...

The time stop ends.

"No!"