Why can't humans do it too?

“…Ah, it’s her,” Su Er said slowly, turning back to look at the yellowed photograph on the cabinet, having been led astray by Yukari Yakumo’s sudden question.

Very well, this reluctant parting look—in the minds of Yukari Yakumo and Yuuka Kazami, Sue's expression at this moment provided further evidence for their previous guesses.

"If you don't mind, could I offer some small assistance?" Yukari Yakumo suddenly leaned forward slightly and said sincerely, "That painting looks quite damaged... I happen to have some skills in item repair, so why don't you give it a try?"

Chapter Twenty-One: The Power of Yakumo Yukari

"Aren't you a gap monster?" After exchanging a glance with Xin Ke, Su Er asked curiously, "That gap can be used to repair items?"

"Hmm, all I need to do is slightly adjust the direction in which the power operates—"

"Don't be fooled by Yukari Yakumo. Although she always talks about things like 'Gap Demon,' judging from what her big-mouthed subordinates say, her real ability should be called 'Manipulating Boundaries.'"

Before Yukari Yakumo could finish speaking with a smile, Yuuka Kazami interrupted her mercilessly, revealing all the information she knew.

"...Can't even such a fine cup of tea shut you up?" Yakumo Yukari's smile faltered, probably because she hadn't expected Kazami Yuuka to expose her at this moment.

"If you have any complaints, you can choose to attack me directly," Kazami Yuuka said sarcastically, turning her head away. "Your useless subordinates were still shouting that Lady Yakumo Yukari, who possesses invincible power, would avenge them before they died... It's a pity that I've been waiting for you to appear for so long, but I don't seem to have found any invincibility."

From the very beginning, the relationship between these two youkai was far from friendly. To be more precise, it was a situation where Kazami Yuuka was always looking for an opportunity to beat up or even kill Yakumo Yukari, and Yakumo Yukari's thoughts were self-evident.

Although seeking out and fighting powerful enemies is Kazami Yuuka's greatest pleasure now, she also knows that she was buried underground for several months to protect Yakumo Yukari from disaster. Therefore, even if she had the chance to do it all over again, she would still choose to come to this hut, but she would still trick Yakumo Yukari.

Yuuka Kazami simply enjoys challenging strong enemies and becoming stronger; she's not a foolish yokai at heart. In fact, she's quite intelligent. Even though everything that happened before was her own choice, she's still very unhappy when she's been tricked. And when she's unhappy, she needs to vent, without needing a reason. As for why… well, because she's a yokai!

Thinking of this, Kazami Yuuka gave Yakumo Yukari, who was glaring at her, an even brighter smile.

"Realm?" Having discerned the battle between the two demons opposite him, Su Er pretended not to notice and inquired about the newly appeared keyword.

"Ah, it's just a very ordinary ability." After being exposed by Kazami Yuuka, Yakumo Yukari had no intention of continuing to hide it. If she chose to hide her ability after being discovered, it would undoubtedly cause the already fragile conversation to break down on the spot. "To put it simply, it's the ability to create and destroy logic."

“?”, Su Er looked puzzled. Why did this ability sound so awesome?

“Don’t be fooled by Yukari Yakumo. Although her abilities are theoretically capable of doing things with a very high ceiling, if she really could do that, would she still be sitting here with us now?” Yuuka Kazami laughed even more happily. “I’m afraid she has already secured a position in Takamagahara as a youkai.”

Indeed, talking about ability without considering effort is simply dishonest.

Suer nodded; he understood completely.

"That's right. The so-called manipulation realm is essentially about creating new existences and negating existing ones." Now that she's been discovered, Yukari Yakumo will stop pretending. She drank the last sip of tea in her cup, and then, under the watchful eyes of the other three pairs of eyes, crushed the cup in her hand into pieces.

"Like this... the realm of brokenness and wholeness."

As Yukari Yakumo finished speaking, the wooden cup that had been crushed into pieces seemed to reverse time, returning to its state from just a few seconds earlier when it was still intact.

"Just like the world we see, the existence of all objects is based on the existence of realms. Just as if you can't see the surface of a lake, then the lake doesn't exist, and if there are no mountain ridges, then the so-called mountains and sky don't exist either." Noticing the surprised gaze of the male demon and his soul opposite her, Yukari Yakumo had to admit that she felt a secret sense of satisfaction at this moment, but on the surface she still remained calm and composed.

"The so-called realm is the benchmark for balancing all things in the world. If the realm of all objects does not exist, then the world will become a huge whole, indistinguishable... that is, chaos." After briefly describing her ability, Yukari Yakumo added with a smile, "Of course, I definitely cannot do such a thing. In the end, I am just a youkai. If I really reached that point, I would probably have lost my self-awareness and become a concept-like existence."

“…What a terrifying ability,” Su Er sighed meaningfully as he picked up the wooden cup that had just been repaired—after all, even he couldn’t glean any further clues from the cup.

Without a doubt, it is the ability to overturn everything from the root of all things. Suer once again confirmed that Yakumo Yukari's self-proclaimed title of "little demon" was really just a self-proclaimed title. To be honest, with just this one ability, Yakumo Yukari could rival the power of a god... In a few hundred, a few thousand, or even tens of thousands of years...

At least for Yukari Yakumo right now, that's something she can't do.

“It’s really troublesome. No matter what kind of surprise attack she makes, it will be easily dodged. Repairing a picture and moving through spatial rifts are just the most rudimentary uses.” It was clear that Yukari Yakumo’s agility was causing trouble for Yuuka Kazami. The green-haired banshee said rather boredly, “If you still want to see the original appearance of that picture, you can let her try.”

"A drawing... a photograph?" Su Er hesitated for a moment, lost in thought because of Yakumo Yukari's ability information, before finally remembering what the group had been talking about at the beginning.

He reached out and pulled the photo from the cabinet not far away into his hand. His thumb ran over the half of the wing that was still faintly visible, and Suer suddenly chuckled.

This photo was naturally the one that Jibril had tossed onto his chest without looking back at the edge of the Elf Sea. It should have been broken down into pure elves as he and Xinke fell into the Elf Sea, but after Sull became the One God, he directly used the power of the One God to retrieve it from the past, yet he never returned it to Jibril until he left... and they never even met.

Since most of it has already been burned away by the flames, it doesn't need to be intact and undamaged.

“No need,” Suer said, looking up. “Let it stay like this.”

"When the day comes that she personally returns it to its owner... I'm sure she'll want to see that difference."

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Jade Fox

After instructing the housekeeper to take good care of the house while he and Shinko were away, and still feeling uneasy, using his ability to directly shield his house from the world to ensure that no troublesome monsters would come in and cause damage while he was away, Suer set off for Yamato.

It wouldn't be entirely accurate to say that he went alone. Putting aside Shinko, who had always been by his side, Yukari Yakumo hadn't given up on the idea of ​​bringing them into her grand scheme. And with the simple thought that following Sull would make it easier to find a fight, Yuuka Kazami also followed along.

They didn't have to wait for the ice and snow to melt. Although the cold and food shortages were extremely dangerous for ordinary people in this era, they posed no obstacle to Suer and his group.

The reason why Suer gave up the idea of ​​waiting until early spring to go to Yamato was because of a sentence from Xinke: "Isn't it better to see the true situation when humans and gods live together in the cold winter when food is scarce?"

Ultimately, both he and Xin Ke were curious... not about barbarian dwarves like the Earth Spider, but about the humans in this world who were truly called human, and how they differed from themselves and Suer.

They did not evolve from naturally occurring animals, but rather, like the Shinko, were a race created directly by the gods.

They yearn for a peaceful and tranquil life, but such a life does not mean living like stagnant water, merely existing for the sake of living. Both Suer and Xinke agree with this, especially since this era, lacking various forms of entertainment, is practically like being in prison.

Squatting beside the stream, Suer stared at this incongruous scene. Winter was far from over, yet a river formed by melting snow had appeared at the foot of the mountain. It wasn't a normal riverbed, but a newly opened passage.

The flowing meltwater should have been bone-chillingly cold, but when Suer dipped his fingers into it, he didn't feel any coldness. In fact, when he turned his head to look at the source of the stream, he could see white steam rising from the mountains as they approached the mountainside. The snow covering the mountains was melting, revealing the wet, leaf-covered ground.

The entire mountain range seemed to be divided into several distinct layers. At the edge of the view, which was mostly obscured by trees, the ground had turned into a black and yellow color of dried fallen leaves. Further down the stream in front of us, the water that had melted and flowed down returned to the cold world, spreading out and freezing together again.

However, even this second-forged ice line is constantly moving further into the distance, and the breath of spring seems to have already appeared on the other side of the mountains... But this is a sight that should not be appearing, since it is only the beginning of December, and spring is still a long way off.

Without a doubt, the cause of this strange phenomenon is easy to guess—a nine-tailed fox.

"...A slightly smaller sun?" Standing up from the stream, Su'er remarked with considerable emotion, "That's quite an exaggerated power. But causing such a widespread anomaly in winter must have triggered a chain reaction involving various plants and climate changes, right? Isn't there any god to stop her?"

"Although it has fallen, it is still a side of Amaterasu, Your Excellency."

Yakumo Yukari's voice came from the hillside not far behind Suer.

"Just a heads up, perhaps because she's been treated too coldly, that fox isn't someone you can easily talk to. In her presence, there's only submission... or death," she said as she walked to Su'er's side. Yakumo Yukari slightly raised her head and saw a wisp of white steam drifting past her head.

The water flowing in front of me was already boiling hot melted snow.

Her entire body was as white as jade, radiating a light that seemed to emanate naturally from within, bright and dazzling, yet without causing any stinging to the eyes of those who gazed upon her. Nine snow-white and fluffy tails brushed against the sky behind her, like flowing silk, swaying as if in the wind, yet also as if manipulating the wind that blew past her.

The so-called Yasakani no Magatama is not actually a single magatama, but a whole string of magatama. It is currently floating around the neck of this beautiful white fox, emitting a faint light, but it is not covered by the color of the nine-tailed fox itself.

Elegant and luxurious, it was a beauty that transcended species, and even Xin Ke couldn't bring herself to deny it—in fact, the forest elf with the long, pale golden hair almost had her eyes shining.

"Sul! Let's raise this one!!"

Then he gave Suer a request that gave him a huge headache.

“Uh, of course I have no problem,” Su Er felt his eyelids twitching, “but it might take a little while… until the opportunity comes, everything is ready, conditions are ripe, all necessary preparations are completed, and we have a comprehensive view of the whole situation, a view of history and the past—”

"Should we defeat her or kill her? Or to what extent? In one breath? In two breaths?" (Group 607784197)

Before Suer could finish speaking, he saw Xin Ke's gaze already passing over his shoulder and looking at Yakumo Yukari on the other side.

This was the first time he had ever seen Xin Ke look so desperately wanting something.

“I think we can try it a few more times. Generally speaking, even the most stubborn yokai can’t stand the feeling of repeatedly struggling back from the brink of death… I have quite a bit of experience with this kind of thing, and I can help out then,” Yuuka Kazami interjected enthusiastically.

"Thank you for your kindness, please don't cause any more trouble, can you please be quiet for a moment?" With a blank face, she gestured for Kazami Yuuka to shut up, but the next second Suer was covered in mouth by Xinke from behind, and all that could be heard was the sound of air spitting out.

"Alright, let's continue," Xin Ke said with a smile, resting her chin on Su Er's head.

“…Then it depends on the extent of your power.” After confirming who had the right to speak, Yukari Yakumo ignored Sull’s gaze and continued, “After all, if we really attack this nine-tailed fox, the commotion during the battle will probably be impossible to conceal, and if her life is truly in danger, a god should come to her rescue. We must take that into account.”

"However, judging from the current situation, perhaps your power is greater, Su'er?" With that, Yukari Yakumo turned around and looked at the nine-tailed fox walking in the valley in the distance.

The jade-colored fox turned its head to look at the hilltop where the group of people were standing. No one made a move to hide, yet she seemed to see nothing as she rolled her eyes before continuing to walk towards the valley floor.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Kingdom of Yamato

Without a doubt, it was Su Er who concealed the four of them, preventing the Nine-Tailed Fox from suspecting anything. In the eyes of that jade fox, this place was so pure that it was untainted by any impurities and full of the breath of nature.

There was no intention to rashly attack the Nine-Tailed Fox. Thanks to what Yukari Yakumo said, the Nine-Tailed Fox seemed to be in a bad mood because she couldn't find anyone, so Sull didn't even have the idea of ​​meeting and chatting. He shattered Yukari Yakumo's dream that Sull would take a powerful attack on the fox and join her glorious cause.

This monster from the gap is still too young and not mature enough.

"It's just a minor ability to manipulate flowers and plants, nothing to mention," Su Er casually brushed aside matters related to her abilities, and continued, "Speaking of which, she just stole the Yasakani no Magatama, didn't the gods of Yamato come after her?"

“Not at all. To be honest, if it weren’t for the huge commotion caused by this nine-tailed fox stealing the Yasakani no Magatama, those gods might have simply pretended not to know anything about it,” Yakumo Yukari said with a disdainful smile. “Otherwise, why would everyone find it so suspicious?”

Undeterred by Yakumo Yukari's flattering words, Suer stood on this high slope with her eyes closed, and she could feel the moving flame, the scorching sun, and the sun falling to the earth.

The nine tails do not represent nine different powers. Even if she did something against the will of the gods and became a demon, it was just a simple matter of changing her hat for this fox. The power she has always possessed has been only one, which is the power that proved her birth and represents her origin - the sun.

That light and heat alone were enough to destroy everything she disliked.

"Hurry up... I'm getting more and more curious about the situation in Yamato," Suer urged after pulling Xinke's hand away from her lips.

He had no intention of revealing his existence until he understood the strange situation in Yamato.

--------------

The high walls and palaces that should never have appeared in this era were the dwellings built by the gods themselves. However, judging from Su'er's perception, their so-called high walls were only so high, and the most magnificent buildings were only three stories high, cities built with wood and a small amount of stone.

The people inside the city were reasonably well-dressed, but those living around the city walls could only barely cover their sensitive parts with tattered cloths. Some small, dilapidated wooden houses were surrounded by cultivated fields.

From this perspective, these people possess a primitiveness that is incongruous with the high walls and palaces behind them, yet perfectly in line with the era.

Even without a thorough understanding, Suer had already clearly discerned their status in the Yamato Kingdom—without a doubt, they were the lowest-ranking commoners.

"Just curious, how tall is Amaterasu Omikami exactly?" Su'er asked somewhat speechlessly, standing on a high slope overlooking the city.

“We don’t know about that, since we’ve never seen Amaterasu Omikami, but we do know about the height of that grandson of the gods,” Yakumo Yukari said with a smile, turning her head to point to Sue’s shoulder. “It’s probably only up to Sue’s shoulder.”

...Is he that short?