Zongman, starting from the invasion of the Red World Demon King

At this time, she finally looked at Saigo Yan. She had not paid attention to him during the previous battle, but now seeing Yan's too handsome face, even she couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

When I realized that the man opposite me was looking at me with a smile.

This overly naive child's ears immediately turned red, and he turned his eyes away...

Her mind is as pure and innocent as a blank sheet of paper. She has never been exposed to anything other than combat since she was born, and she doesn't understand why she is attracted to a face.

It's just a cricket and a torch! Don't worry about it!

As a Fire Mist Warrior, all she needs to focus on is fighting and defeating the enemy! Anything else is meaningless!

At this moment, like Shana, the God of Heavenly Punishment was also paying attention to Saigo Homura, but their focus was completely different.

Compared to Yuuji Sakai, whom they encountered in the original work - the treacherous hostage who couldn't understand the situation at the beginning and even blocked the enemy's knife, Yan's previous performance was much better. Even the God of Punishment couldn't help but take a few more glances.

As an ordinary person, facing this level of disaster, he could bravely seize the opportunity to fight back against Phosphorus. Flesh-bodied grass monster! This kind of bizarre thing, even the Red World Demon God has never seen it before.

What a rare find! Unfortunately, there's no other Order Crimson Devil King in this world to sign a contract with. The only enemy is a suspected troublemaker from the Chaos Crimson Devil King.

The God of Heavenly Punishment really felt it was a pity! Such fighting talent and courage, it was such a waste to be an ordinary person.

——Unable to obtain power, but possessing rare treasures, the boy in front of him has been targeted by the previous Phosphorus.

In a way, this is unfortunate.

But seeing that Yan had remained terrifyingly calm until now, as if none of the terrifying experiences he had gone through before, which would have been horrific for ordinary people, had affected his mind, the God of Heavenly Punishment recognized the Torch's magnanimity in his lifetime.

Suddenly, Alastor discovered something—

No—it wasn't the Torch—did this human survive to survive and survive until we arrived? This man is still alive.

How is it possible? This street has been eaten to such a mess, but this human is still intact.

The God of Heavenly Punishment felt that his previous judgment was a little premature.

...Does this human really have no power to resist at all?

Shana, who hadn't noticed the Heavenly Punishment God's numerous psychological changes in such a short period of time, avoided Yan's gaze and continued to look at the surrounding streets: "That thing is really a big eater. Her master must be a big eater too. What a trouble..."

After saying that, Shana raised her index finger high, and from between her fingers emanated a brilliant light that kept changing colors like the Milky Way, and then the whole world began to reverse and recover.

The world began to change - the streets and shopping malls that had been devoured and turned into ruins began to recover, as if time had turned back...

When the humans who had been eaten recovered, the bright red world faded and regained its color, and then time began to flow again.

Chapter 6: Imagine ice cubes as torches, world buffering mechanism

Yan raised his head, and the shocking scene of the changes in the world before him was completely imprinted in the depths of his mind.

Just a simple free spell to repair the world can create a miracle that is like the loser eating dust and time turning back.

Although I know that this technique is not the power to completely restore and reverse time in the area, and it cannot be called true divine power, just achieving the scene before my eyes is already very exaggerated.

The final boss, the sacrificial snake, used the power of existence to open up a new world in the gap between the two realms, so that the apostles of the red world no longer need to eat humans and still have endless power of existence.

The value of this creation, which possesses infinite power of existence, is terrifyingly high.

Understanding the nature of the power of existence is crucial, and getting this information from Shana herself, the Fire Mist Warrior, is a key part of his next plan.

So, when I saw the sky turn back to blue, I looked sideways and saw that the bodies of all the people around me were burning blue torches.

Yan said in a guiding tone: "So - can someone explain to me what just happened and who you are?"

As he said that, Homura looked at the necklace on Shana's chest.

The God of Heavenly Punishment, Alastor, noticed Homura's gaze. "Have you noticed my presence? You have excellent mental foresight and observation skills. Then tell him the truth. After going through something like this, if I don't say anything, this human won't let it go."

"……I see."

At this time, Shana has returned to her normal black hair color, and her appearance looks no different from an ordinary cute JK girl on the street.

But then this lovely girl spoke a cold, brutal reality without any warmth: "You are no longer human. Not only you—you should be able to see it now. Anyone who can see a fire in their body is the same. They are replacements for the humans who were eaten by the Red World and disappeared."

——Substitute!

"That is, the torch—!"

Saigo Homura said calmly, "Torch?"

Shana glanced sideways - did this man really understand the meaning of her words? Why could he be so calm in the face of the cruel fact that he had been eaten!

"If something suddenly vanished, the world would lose its balance. I temporarily placed it in there to soften the blow..."

Saigo Homura: "So—you mean I'm already dead, and all that remains is a false, empty shell with memories, right?"

"...!"

"That's right, the real you has been eaten and disappeared long ago. Now you are just a remnant..."

The God of Heavenly Punishment interrupted Shana: "No, the power of existence in this young man's body is very complete and not residual."

Because the rules of the world are different, when they first came to this world, not only Shana, but even he made a mistake and almost mistook Xixiang Yan for a torch.

After being reminded by the God of Heavenly Punishment, Shana re-examined it: "?! Okay, I was mistaken. But the other guys were indeed eaten."

Shana then explained that those who ate the humans were not real disciples, but were merely small fry under the disciples, used to collect food for them.

Then Saigo Yan asked a few more questions, each of which hit the key point.

For example, the red barrier that covers the world and stops the flow of time - its name is Seal: it is a barrier of the law of cause and effect, which can temporarily separate it from the flow and cause and effect of the world, without letting others know what is happening inside.

And what is eaten is not humans, but human existence. The people who are eaten are as if they have never existed, without even a trace left. This will not cause any major impact or shock to the present world.

The ones responsible for dealing with the disciples are the Fire Mist Warriors - a group of humans who have signed a contract with the most powerful individual among the disciples of the Red World - a being called the Red World Demon King, and then borrowed the Demon King's power to fight in the real world.

Since there are red world people who wantonly endanger the world, there are naturally red world people on the side of order who hope to maintain stability in the two worlds. Among them, the demon kings are too powerful in their bodies, and just coming to the real world will cause an impact, so they have selected some outstanding human individuals as their contractors to fight against their wanton compatriots.

The two of them walked along the riverbank as the sun was setting. Shana said, "Just right—look over there..."

Shana pointed to a group of children walking towards them. The flame of one of the children was already very small, and then it burned out completely, and the whole person turned into flame and disappeared.

When the four children who were originally walking side by side became three children, the three children immediately filled the empty space and huddled together without noticing and continued to laugh and run, as if they did not realize that they had lost a playmate they had been familiar with for many years.

The God of Heavenly Punishment then spoke up, "This is a buffer mechanism to mitigate the effects of the world losing too many beings at once. In other words, if the ground beneath your feet were to disappear, you would fall and be impacted. But if the ground were to become ice and then slowly melt, you wouldn't be impacted at all."

"Just imagine the ice cube as a torch. As the torch slowly gets smaller, it disappears, and its impact on the world becomes minimal."

Yan responded calmly, "A beautiful example, but a truly cruel truth—a being erased from birth, stripped of even the right to cause grief to loved ones. Perhaps it's a good thing to be unaware of anything. No—you've said it before, but I have a treasure within me that I don't even know what it is. You call it Mystis, a special entity that allows me to move within the seal. It seems that even if I wanted to forget everything and completely distance myself from it, it's impossible now."

God of Heavenly Punishment: "That's right, that's it - I hope you can understand the situation. You are in a very dangerous situation now -"

Saigo Homura suddenly interrupted with a smile, "Then—let's make a deal!"

God of Punishment: "Hmm?"

Saigo Homura: "You don't have a place to stay in this world, right? I can provide you with accommodations. In return, you will be responsible for protecting my safety in the event of an attack from the Crimson World Apostles. At the same time, I will also be responsible for acting as bait to lure out your enemies."

When talking about using himself as bait, Yan's expression was very calm, without any panic at all.

When ordinary people realize that they are being targeted by such a terrifying existence, they would have already become desperate, terrified, and even screaming themselves hoarse to the point of going crazy.

Even if someone has a stronger willpower, it would be wrong to be able to maintain a mental breakdown. Let alone think calmly and analyze the pros and cons of the situation like Yan, the brain is probably still a blank.

The God of Heavenly Punishment couldn't help but admire Yan's ability to remain calm and make the most favorable judgment for his current situation, saying, "What a smart decision!"

This human being is truly outstanding!

Soon, the God of Punishment agreed on behalf of the girl. He had originally wanted Shana to secretly stay by the other party's side and wait for the enemy to expose himself.

Since he could proactively reach a cooperation with this human, Alastor didn't have to let his contractor stand outside the house stupidly and be exposed to the wind and rain.

Chapter 7: Names, taking the place of parents, become an unbreakable bond

The residue will one day burn away, and no one will remember their existence, and no trace will be left.

Even in photos, no image will be left. The daily necessities and traces that have been used - whether it is a cup, toothbrush, desk, or bed - will disappear, as if they had never existed with it.

This is such a terrifying fact, and humans who learn of it will undoubtedly feel fear and resistance.

Wanting to survive at all costs... is the instinct of every living thing.

The killer with flaming hair and scorching eyes—in her original world, she had seen many ordinary people who had mistakenly entered their world and were unable to accept such a cruel reality.

Every one of them, without exception, suffered a mental breakdown.

but--

The man named Saigo Homura, even after understanding the situation, still said that he wanted to use himself as bait.

The look in the other person's eyes was not the familiar collapse that the girl was familiar with, but something else that she couldn't explain.

If Saigo Homura knew the doubts in the girl's heart, he would definitely tell her with a smile: It's excitement——!

He already knew who the real enemy behind this was: the Red World Demon King - Hunter Fariagni was indeed very powerful.

He can be called the Demon King. At this stage, even if Shana, who has been trained as a professional fire mist warrior since childhood and conquered Tianmu, a monster sword spirit in her human period, and has full combat talent, is no match for him.

But that’s exactly what makes it challenging.

In my life so far, my heart has never been beating so strongly and violently. That boring and empty life is completely gone from today.

He does have a fear of unknown challenges in his heart, but he also has an anticipation as if he were truly alive.

He was even longing for it, because the enemy was very strong - he knew very well in the true sense - with overwhelming numerical beauty, so just running away was useless.

Stuck in a situation with no escape? Being targeted? If you can't solve the problem, then solve the problem itself—the source of the fear.

Crisis is also an opportunity. The spiritual light that can be gained in this process will certainly be considerable.

He had a premonition that if he missed this opportunity to overcome his inner weakness and lost the will to move forward, he might lose all the courage to continue moving forward in the future.

His life will become a failure. Even if he can use the golden finger to continue to become stronger, he will not be able to have a truly strong heart, just like a certain shameful ghost king boss. He will never become a truly strong person.

The girl, who had always maintained a stern and dignified expression, finally revealed a cute expression that suited her age.

It was like the subconscious joy of a little girl who got her favorite candy: "For—me?!"

Shana's little face suddenly turned red, and she hesitated whether to take it.

Saigo Homura: "So - name?"

Homura Saigo: "My name is Homura Saigo - as a partner, please at least tell me your names."

Shana frowned slightly and blushed: "I don't have a name."

Inexplicably irritable——! And incomprehensible confusion!

A name? I never had one growing up.

"I'm just a fire mist..."

Saigo Homura looked at Shana calmly: "Really?"

This child's self-esteem is very sensitive, and showing a look of pity at this time would only hurt her.

But no matter how calm Yan's eyes were, Shana still felt like a thorn in her side, and suddenly felt awkward: "Wulusai, Wulusai, Wulusai!! Anyway, if you want to distinguish me from other Fire Mist Warriors, just call me Zhidian Zana's Fire Mist."

Saigo Homura: "That's the name of the weapon, the katana you held before..."

The God of Punishment couldn't help but interrupt: "Accurate judgment."

The old father now realized that although he and Shana's companions cared about the child, they had never given it a name.

What a misstep - after all, they were either the Red Demon God or the Demon King, or the Fire Mist Warriors who bore a deep blood feud and hatred. Not a single one of them had normal human values. They hadn't even decided on something as important as the name that had accompanied humans since their birth. As guardians, they had truly failed.

Saigo Homura: "Then—let's choose one now. Not as a tool, not as a weapon, but as a symbol of the continuation and birth of life—a name that should belong to a human being."

……

Shana——! The name is derived from the homophony of the sacred tool Zhidenzana.

Finally, after the wedding, Saigo Homura gave this destined cute name to the girl.

The tsundere girl kept a blank expression on her face, and even afterwards she neither said she accepted nor rejected it.

No one has ever treated her as a normal human being.

Since childhood, they have been taught to be the strongest fire mist warriors who are contracted by the God of Heaven's Punishment. In the warrior's concept and dictionary, there is no such soft word as the birth of life - full of freedom.

Even though the people around her actually cared about her in their hearts and did not really treat her as a tool or to be trained as a pure killer, Shana always set high standards for herself.

In the dark night, a girl appeared alone on the roof of the Homura family, constantly muttering the name Shana.

She seemed to care a lot about the name, but she complained to her old father that a mere human being had done such a useless thing and named her without his permission, when it was obvious that a Fire Mist Warrior didn't need a name.

In fact, you really want this child.

If you don't desire it in your heart, you won't care so much and be so entangled about it.