I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

Gu Yan looked up from below.

15th place.

Carl Schmidt.

Tianyan (Sky Eye)

Fourteenth place.

Alexander Vasilyev.

Extreme winter.

Thirteenth place.

Amina Diallo.

The scorching sun.

12th place.

Ivanova.

Valkyrie of the Russian Federation.

Eleventh place.

Han Jae-hee.

Captain of the East Asia Theater Lightning Commando Team.

Tenth place.

Shingo Sakamoto.

The Sword Saint of the Cherry Blossom Country.

Ninth place.

Anna Belle.

The Saint of Light of France.

Eighth place.

Apollo Costa.

Brazil's flames reign supreme.

Seventh place.

Li Xuanzhen.

The first elder of the ancient martial arts family of Great Xia.

Sixth place.

Pei Yuran.

In the photo, she is standing on a frozen battlefield.

A long sword was held horizontally in front of him.

The ice crystals that had formed on the sword were even sharper than they had been three years ago.

The dark blue tassel was still tied to the hilt of the sword.

Encased in ice crystals, it neither melted nor faded.

Fifth place.

Lin Jinyu.

The photo was taken on the battlefield.

She was suspended in mid-air.

Golden flames spread out behind her, forming an endless sea of ​​fire.

A fierce fighting spirit burned in those golden eyes.

Gu Yan looked at the photo.

I suddenly remembered an evening many years ago.

She demonstrated her newly awakened fire-type ability in the open space behind the Lin family's house.

Golden flames danced in her palm.

The light reflected off her still chubby face, creating a play of light and shadow.

She jumped up and spun around.

The flames trailed like a spiraling, rising golden skirt.

The embers from the fire fell through her fingers like fireflies.

He stood to the side.

I think she resembles the fire goddess from Norse mythology who dances at dusk.

Intense and dazzling.

It set the entire twilight ablaze.

She is now hovering over the battlefield.

A golden sea of ​​fire spread out behind them.

It was many times larger than the tiny flame in the palm of my hand back then.

But her eyes were red.

He was still wearing the broken half of the compression ring on his wrist.

Legend has it that she slew one hundred S-class calamities.

After each battle, he would say that it was a gift for him.

The fourth place goes to a retired South African general.

The third-place photo is of Chiyomiya Hanyu.

In the scene captured by the photographer.

She was swinging her sword at the head of an A-level Calamity.

The blade traced a dark red trail in the air.

Her long, jet-black hair danced wildly in the wind.

The hem of the kimono was soaked with blood.

But her eyes remained calm and composed.

The second and first place winners are two independent superhumans who do not belong to any of the five major war zones.

My identity will be kept confidential.

All combat power data is also encrypted.

There aren't even any photos.

There are only two black silhouettes.

Gu Yan stared at the ranking list for a long time.

Those familiar names were listed one by one on it.

Each one represents countless battles he never participated in.

Every battle contained the remains of people he didn't know about.

He leaned back on the sofa and let out a long sigh.

He really didn't expect that.

In just three short years.

The world has changed so much.

The girls who used to surround him.

It has now become the last pillar of humanity's defense line.

But he spent those more than a thousand days and nights.

Lying deep in the mountains of the land of cherry blossoms.

I know nothing about this.

.......

Time flies.

Gu Yan stood in the center of the living room.

Looking at the figure at the door.

Chiyomiya Hanyu is back.

The girl stood barefoot on the wooden floor.

Her long, jet-black hair, still dripping wet, clung to her pale cheeks.

The hem of the plain white kimono was stained with dark red blood.

It's hard to tell whether it's hers or those calamities on the battlefield.

The pheasant sword had been sheathed and hung at his waist.

Black blood droplets were still dripping from the scabbard.

She looked like she had been pulled out of a sea of ​​blood.

But his back remained perfectly straight.

His deep brown pupils remained calm and composed.

It felt like taking a short walk in my own backyard.

Instead of having just crawled out of a mountain of corpses.

Gu Yan subconsciously took a step forward and then stopped.

He opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

The figure wielding a sword to slay the dragon that was just on the TV screen.

And the girl standing quietly at the door.

They overlap in the same frame.

The shock made all the prepared words come to mind.

It was all stuck in my throat.

"you……"

Mr. Gu.

Yuzuru spoke first.

The sound was as calm as a still lake.

It was just a little lighter than usual.

"You're still awake."

Gu Yan looked at the hem of her kimono, which was soaked with black blood.

Then I remembered the scene on TV where two S-class calamities were killed with three strikes.

He remained silent for several seconds.

He only said one sentence in the end.

"Your clothes...would you like to change them?"

Yuzuru glanced down at his kimono.

Then he raised his head and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

That arc is very, very small.

But it was especially noticeable on his blood-stained face.

It's like saying, "Why are you concerned about this first?"

"Okay. Wait a moment."

She turned and walked deeper into the corridor.

Barefoot on the wooden floor.

A very faint trail of bloody footprints was left behind.

Elena remained silent throughout.

He only looked up after she turned around.

The golden pupils lingered on the bloody footprints for a moment.

Then he lowered his head again and continued flipping through the book.

About fifteen minutes later.

Yuzuru returned wearing a clean kimono.

A plain white background.

The cuffs are embroidered with extremely fine, pale blue flowing water patterns.

A light silver belt was tied around her waist.

Her long, wet hair had already been dried with a towel.

But it's still a bit damp.

A few strands of hair clung to the side of her neck.

The bloodstains on my face have been washed off.

Her exquisitely sculpted face reappeared.

She was holding two cups of hot tea.

Walk over to the coffee table.

Place one of the cups in front of Gu Yan.

He took another cup and knelt down on the futon opposite him.

The movements were graceful and elegant from beginning to end.

He was a completely different person from the one who wielded his sword to slay dragons on the battlefield.

"Thanks."

Gu Yan picked up her teacup and took a sip.

The tea is Gyokuro, a specialty unique to Japan, the land of cherry blossoms.

It has a slightly astringent taste upon entry and a long-lasting sweet aftertaste.

He put down his teacup.

Looking at the girl across from me, sipping her tea slowly.

I finally voiced the question that had been weighing on my mind for a while.

"I just saw you on TV. Those three stabs... were very powerful."

Yuzuru raised his eyelids and looked at him.

Those deep brown pupils looked exceptionally profound under the warm yellow light.

"Mr. Gu has some questions to ask."

Gu Yan nodded.

"About the Kuroshio, about the Chiyomiya family. I can tell you anything you want to know."

Yuzuru put down his teacup.

Place your hands, one on top of the other, on your knees.

She paused for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts.

Then he opened his mouth.

"The Chiyomiya family is the oldest family of shrine maidens in the land of cherry blossoms."

"Our mission from the beginning was to protect this rift."

"Not those smaller ones outside, but the one beneath Mount Fuji. That's the Kuroshio Rift, the largest rift in the world."

"It's much older than those on the battlefield. It hasn't completely cracked yet. Most of the spiritual power of the chief priestesses throughout the ages has been used to maintain the seal. That's why the Chiyomiya family doesn't have long lifespans."

Gu Yan's fingers tightened slightly as she held the teacup.

"Was Elena left in the Sakura Kingdom because of this seal?"

Yuzuru nodded.

"Lady Elena is the contract guardian recorded in the ancient books of the Chiyomiya family."

"Her existence predates our family history. She used her own power to hold up the seal when it was at its weakest. But she was also seriously injured in the process."

"The spiritual energy dissipated, forcing it to revert to its most primitive form."