Inner Destroyer

　Friends are too fragile; enemies are too unbearable. Even colleagues and subordinates who also possess supernatural powers...she must deliberately control her strength to avoid breaking them.

　Her life has never been about "dating" but about "protecting".

　This world is too light, too fragile, and will shatter at the slightest effort. In this world, so many things are too delicate.

　So, at this moment, when her father once again talked to her about the "limitations of desire," the true "desire," and the relationship between "power"...

　"In the past, I always thought that my desire was 'wanting to give it my all' - wanting an opponent who could make me give it my all."

　After a moment's contemplation, Rin replied.

　Her voice was not loud, but extremely clear. It was words that came from the depths of her heart after careful consideration.

　"I used to think that being able to fight with all my might, to burn completely, would be my greatest pursuit."

　"But now... facing an enemy like the 'Peacock King', I really have to give it my all, and even that isn't enough. Even though I've achieved my 'wish'... I don't feel satisfied."

　Lin paused, looking through the hospital window at the edge of the trembling sky.

　"So, I guess I was wrong."

　"What I really want is not just a strong opponent."

　She recalled her first two duels with Qi Xing, her initial misunderstanding of his "unlucky backstory," and the strange resonance that had arisen within her.

　She recalled the moment in the "inner world" when Qi Xing was almost shattered by the white halo. More importantly, she recalled the so-called "respect" and "praise" voices she had just seen in the ward, and those people who arbitrarily placed expectations and admiration on Qi Xing.

　Even if he defeated the terrifying demon king, even if he gained power comparable to that of a god, who could guarantee that Qi Xing wouldn't die mediocrely in the next battle?

　"Dad, many people take it upon themselves to impose their ideals on me, and then take it upon themselves to be disappointed in me... I really hate this."

　"I just save people because I want to save them, and I protect people because I want to protect them. I just do what I want to do."

　The mission of "Guardian of the North" and protecting her hometown were just her doing what she wanted to do.

　Having said that, Lin let out a sigh of relief.

　Now she can declare with absolute confidence: "I want a friend who is my equal and who will fight alongside me. I want to protect him."

　“That’s what I long for.”

　Even so, upon hearing his daughter's words, Shinji Jingo looked at her with a subtle look: "Just friends?"

　"only friends."

　Rin replied calmly,

　"Dad, do you have to think that way? Besides, he has a fiancée."

　"I don't even know what it feels like to be in love."

　She paused, then added, her tone lacking even a trace of regret, only pure calmness: "I don't even have sexual desire."

　Divine Protector Shinji: "..."

　Ah Lin, you said that we were just friends, but at that moment, the emotion revealed in your eyes was not the emotion that should be shown towards a "friend", but rather the gaze of a beast, like a lion.

　Friendship, shouldn't you need to "hunt" for it? You really just found the prey you longed for after a long period of boredom, didn't you?

　This child has inherited a high percentage of my genes. This might not be a good thing.

　But then again, Shinji didn't like to interfere too much with his children.

　If a person cannot recognize his true self and what he really wants, even if everything is given to him for free, he will still have nothing.

　So there was no point in telling her the answer in advance. She would figure it out eventually anyway.

　What to do after catching the prey? We'll figure it out when the time comes.

　Shinji has always had great confidence in his children.

　Maybe he wasn't that confident, but he always tried to maintain his confidence. Otherwise, everything would be meaningless.

　"Good luck, silly girl."

　"Good luck to you, Dad."

　After saying that, Lin didn't look back and walked straight towards Qi Xing's ward.

　The further understanding of herself made her heart warm and her heart surge.

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　The old father took the joke seriously.

　She returned to Qi Xing's ward door and opened it.

　Then she saw Qi Xing and Elaine kissing.

　It wasn't a particularly passionate kiss, not even one suitable for children. It was just a simple, even slightly immature kiss. That light contact was like a confirmation that they were still by each other's side. Elaine's fair cheeks had already flushed all the way to her neck.

　This wasn't something that couldn't be done in a hospital, and it wasn't a public place. It was just a perfectly natural scene between an engaged couple about to go to war.

　But Lin was still stunned.

　The two people she encountered quickly separated. Elaine frantically fixed her hair, her eyes wandering. Qi Xing, on the other hand, remained calm, speaking as if nothing had happened. "Lin, will you come to the next battle?"

　Of course she will come.

　But before coming, she had a question she had to ask.

　"Wake up!"

　Rin has returned to his calm, businesslike state.

　"You just said that you weren't fighting the Peacock King to the death just to protect the lives of millions of people."

　"I want to know, in that case, what exactly is your reason for fighting?"

　This question came so suddenly that even Qi Xing was slightly startled.

　He had just been intimate with Elaine, and was thinking that the day had finally become somewhat human, when Lin saw him. It would be a lie to say that it wasn't awkward or unexpected. But Qi Xing quickly smiled softly and looked up at her: "I'm not a comic book hero."

　"I certainly have the desire to protect the people here, but it only accounts for 20% of my motivation at most."

　He shrugged, his tone revealing a light self-deprecation.

　"I've only been here a few days. Talking about 'protecting this land' doesn't seem like enough experience for me."

　Ultimately, Qi Xing was an outsider. He was even a stranger to this world. Fighting to protect the innocent people here was part of his reason, but it couldn't be all.

　"So, let's talk about justice?" He chuckled softly. "Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough to understand what justice is."

　"But I understand a simpler, more fundamental truth."

　Qi Xing's smile finally looked a bit ferocious.

　"Someone hit you on the right cheek,"

　"Then I'll smash his left cheek."

　"If you suffer a loss, you must seek revenge. I was roasted to medium rare by the Peacock King and nearly killed, and you let me just run away?"

　"They're making excuses, telling themselves that this is unavoidable, that this is a strategic retreat, that after it bombs Northeast Asia, the world will naturally concentrate its forces to deal with it?"

　"Sorry, I'm not that broad-minded. Let them think that way."

　"I'll kill it in thirty hours."

　These words left Elaine and even Sasa speechless.

　Too foolish, too lacking in wisdom, to be divine, heroic, or emperor.

　Only Lin couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slowly when he heard these words.

　——That’s how it should be.

　This kind of reason made her feel good. This kind of statement was what she liked.

　Not for sentient beings, not for the desires of others, not for someone else's God.

　Just one person.

　I fight just because I want to, everything is for myself.

　If you suffer a loss, you must get it back. If you get slapped in the face, you must return it. You are a human being through and through.

　But it was this person who talked about fighting with God while joking, and was confident that victory would come.

　Even if that's not the best option.

　Even according to today's legal and moral standards, this might not be considered justice. However, law and morality are merely decorations of the soul, ultimately superficial.

　The true self, the essence of the soul, is what Lin likes and considers to be worthy of himself.

　"I will fight alongside you."

　So Rin replied,

　"Do you have a plan?"

　"Of course."

　Qi Xing smiled back.

　"When you weren't around, I asked Sasa—as expected, the Djinn are easily influenced by human myths and beliefs."

　"Call the people in charge from the Onmyoji Bureau. It's time for them to lend a hand and help me with something."

　110: Sun Mythology

　Thirty hours later,

　Operation "Giant Spirits Conferred God" has officially begun.

　——Before, before Lin returned to Qi Xing’s ward, Sasa had explained the situation to Qi Xing and Elaine.

　"The giant spirits that appear in the human world will change their form according to human belief."

　She was suspended in the ward, looking unhappy, but still said patiently,

　"Strictly speaking, all gods in this universe—except me—are affected by human beliefs. It's just that the Djinn, as an AI without a self, is usually sealed in the 'Dream of All Beings,' so they are most affected."

　"The Dream of All Creatures has no barriers; it is the collective unconscious shared by all of humanity. The giants play the roles of those 'mythological archetypes'."

　"But once they are summoned, or come to the human world for other reasons, they will be influenced by the belief patterns of 'regionality' and 'specific culture', and thus become... all kinds of strange and bizarre appearances."

　At this point, Sasa's face had turned dark.

　"For example, this time's [Peacock King (True Buddhist Version)]."

　"Normal [Peacock King

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　Of course, it can't be the real Buddhism, combining Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi into one Buddha, with six hands holding a mirror, rice, jade, a bow, a sword, and a gourd—I don't need to tell you that, right?"

　indeed.

　Qi Xing and Elaine looked at each other.

　Although Sasa is now telling the deep secrets of the world that mortals do not know and even magicians are almost impossible to know, this logic is actually quite easy to understand.

　"In other words, this 'True Buddha, Peacock King' has elements of both the Three Noble Sons of Shintoism and the 'White God True Buddha' worshipped by the eight hundred nuns, forcibly stitching the two together."

　"Both of these elements can be countered separately, and Stitches' flaws are often the stitching itself."

　Qi Xing's thoughts turned quickly.

　"We currently have the Spear of Longinus, which can counter the White God, and Phosphorus, which can counter the White God. If we had something that could counter the Three Nobles of Shintoism, perhaps we could exploit the weakness of the True Buddha, Peacock King."

　Elaine was suddenly a little puzzled: "Something that can restrain Sanguizi? An American?"

　"This is a good joke, but I have another idea."

　Qi Xing grinned,

　"'To make it the same by imitation' - this is a universal sorcery pattern in occultism around the world. As long as the narrative of a mythological event is accurately reproduced, the laws that were once manifested in that event can be invoked."

　In many ancient civilizations, religious rituals were not "symbols" but "reenactments" - they were re-enactments of mythological events.

　Many important things—life and death, harvests, wars, marriages—were done once by God. The rituals humans perform are essentially repeating what God did once, hoping to achieve the same results and re-validate God's original actions.

　It can be said that the concept of "like attracts like" is the core essence of all magic itself.