Tokyo: Starting with the Shrine Maiden

"keep it."

Xi Minjiang gave the instructions.

Izumo Shrine naturally has its own dedicated channels for forging weapons.

These hammers can still be used after being repaired.

Haruhiko didn't seem to care.

He's no good with the hammer.

Besides, he didn't put in much effort.

However, according to the normal rules, he will eventually get a share of the spoils.

With Hoshino Rin and Hoshino Hotaru around, Haruhiko wasn't worried about returning empty-handed.

He looked at the house thoughtfully.

They had deliberately avoided houses during their previous fight.

This was to prevent the contents from being damaged.

With so many evil spirits here, there must be something good in there.

"Be careful."

Xi Minjiang gave a reminder, then walked ahead and entered the house.

This time, there was no further attack.

"Check if there are any remaining spiritual artifacts."

Xi Minjiang looked around and said, "This used to be a place for training spiritual tools, so we should be able to find something here."

The other priestesses scattered.

Before long, he had collected a bunch of katanas.

Everyone was somewhat surprised.

I didn't expect there to be so many, and they all look exactly the same.

"It should be a standard-issue weapon."

Xi Minjiang guessed.

Standard weapons are those manufactured according to the same rules.

It was frequently used in ancient armies.

For example, the uniform long spear.

"But something's strange."

After inspecting the items, Xi Minjiang said, "The spiritual tools here range from the first to the fourth tier."

Haruhiko stood aside without saying a word.

He casually picked up a katana.

Because everyone was deep in thought, no one paid attention to his actions.

However, this action is quite normal at this time.

A game notification sounded.

【Name: Akashi (fake)】

[Condition: Damaged.]

[Rank: Second Rank]

[Effect: Unknown.]

[Note: One of the Nine Swords of Godslaying, a inferior product by Akashi.]

Haruhiko raised an eyebrow.

He switched to a katana.

Apart from the difference in rank, all other descriptions remain unchanged.

He roughly understood why there were so many identical katana.

It was a failure in the creation of Akashi.

As for the Nine Swords of Godslaying, Haruhiko had never heard of them.

It should be the story after his first playthrough.

He had previously learned that his era was the middle period of the Age of Gods.

There are still three hundred years left until the end.

Therefore, there are many things that Haruhiko doesn't quite understand.

Judging from the name, it must be quite impressive.

"Put it away."

Unable to find any clues, Xi Minjiang had to give up for the time being.

Apart from the katana, nothing else of value was left in the house.

The group continued onward.

After crossing a mountain peak that was about ten meters high, a valley appeared before them.

But the valley was completely charred black.

Volcanic ash.

Xi Minjiang glanced at it and said, "It's caused by lava flowing over."

Although Hotaru Hoshino is the nominal leader of the team, she cannot speak.

So many things were left to Ximinjiang.

"Is there something there?"

Haruhiko noticed a black object standing not far away and couldn't help but ask.

Xi Minjiang turned his head to look, and then frowned.

She didn't answer, but walked straight forward and finally confirmed her guess.

It is a human corpse.

But it was covered by lava and could not move, and its skeleton was covered with black impurities.

Haruhiko and Hoshino Hotaru exchanged a glance and stepped forward as well.

Both of them recognized what it was.

There are many ahead.

Haruhiko raised his head.

The vast valley was filled with black corpses.

It must be because the volcano erupted suddenly and there was no time to escape.

But there are no volcanoes here.

Haruhiko looked around and saw only normal low hills.

In the distance, there were no mountains in sight.

The group walked forward.

Haruhiko discovered another problem.

All the magical artifacts on their bodies were dissolved; not a single one remained intact.

This is obviously not normal.

Although lava is terrifying, as a psionicist, as long as you react quickly enough, you can defend against it.

Unless it's not normal lava, but some kind of sorcery.

Soon, Haruhiko and the others stopped in their tracks.

A bottomless hole appeared before them.

Traces of lava were all around.

Without a doubt, this is the location where the lava erupted.

Is there a volcano down there?

Haruhiko asked.

"Just test it and you'll know."

Xi Minjiang understood what he meant.

She previously shared Haruhiko's view that there were no volcanoes around.