My youth story cannot be a knight war

Looking at the wronged souls surrounding him, Zaimokuza's pupils trembled violently, and then he suddenly reached out to cover his mouth. An indescribable feeling of nausea rose from the depths of his throat.

He had always thought that "Kikiru" was just a simple killing game. Even when Baruba later told everyone that it was actually a sacrificial ritual, Zaimokuza was indignant but did not think deeply about it.

Because in his opinion, since everyone is dead, it doesn't matter what the nature of this "Kikiru" is. In the future, he only needs to do one thing, which is to kill the Gurongi who committed such evil deeds and avenge those who died tragically... Zaimokuza found that his previous self was too naive.

He thought that all suffering would end when a person died, but Zaimokuza never thought about what exactly was being sacrificed in this ritual.

What "Kikiru" worships seems to have never been as simple as human life, but the more essential soul. The dead killed by the Gurongi cannot even get their souls liberated, but instead become sacrifices in this sacrificial ceremony.

The word "cruel" is not enough to describe the darkness of this behavior, because it is true that even the soul cannot rest in peace after death, and it completely breaks the lowest bottom line of human ethics and morality - the dead should rest in peace.

An emotion he had never experienced since he was born struck Zaimokuza's heart. He unconsciously clenched his fists, and a bright red color flashed in the depths of his eyes behind his glasses.

And at this moment, Kyosuke Kousaka, who was in another school far away in Chiba Prefecture, had the same emotions flashing in his eyes, and these emotions finally turned into a raging fire burning quietly in his eyes.

This was an appearance he had never shown to others before. He was like a blade-wielding Buddha sitting on an altar, but his eyes were burning with a fierce rage that was the opposite of his appearance, enough to burn all the evil spirits in the world.

““Unforgivable…/!””

The two people who were separated from each other said the same words at this moment. One was as angry as magma, and the other was as calm as the Dead Sea.

Suddenly, a bright red light lit up in the light curtain, illuminating the faces of all the viewers red, as if covered by a layer of bright red curtain.

[The humanoid body instantly transformed into the alien form that had caused this tragic situation. Gooma suddenly covered the black belt around his waist with both hands, and golden electricity flashed from the belt.]

Its fang-filled maw opened, and Gooma began to chant a language distinct from any current human language, even the ultra-ancient Gurongi and Lindo languages. With each passage, the electric light woven around its waist grew more glaring.

At this moment, Gooma and the surrounding scene, illuminated by the light, seemed to have returned to a year ago, replaying another tragedy that had occurred in Nagano Prefecture.

On that day, the unidentified life form Zero awoke after breaking the seal and awakening his sleeping companions. In the modern era, multiple Gurongi committed unimaginable bloodshed, as if demons trapped in the deepest depths of hell had returned to the human world to do whatever they pleased.

If Zero unleashed a horde of bloodthirsty demons that time, what will Gooma unleash this time?

[I'm afraid no one wants to know the answer to this, but it is definitely enough to change the current situation between humans and Gurongi.]

“Rise!”

Even the roars were so similar. Gooma suddenly opened his hands, and a strange word appeared in each palm.

Immediately afterwards, golden electricity radiated from the rune on his palm, piercing the air and piercing the surrounding river, dyed red by the blood of the dead. The blood-red river suddenly exploded the moment it was touched by the lightning, and the blood surged into the sky, defying the laws of physics and converging towards the square in front of Gooma.

The blood automatically coalesced and formed on the tiles of the square, a strange symbol gradually taking shape. Simultaneously, in Gooma's vision, the scattered souls in the air howled as they were drawn in by the suction force emanating from the symbol. If anyone could hear the wails of these souls, this scene would surely become a nightmare for that person forever.

What kind of sound was that? It was as if all hope had been stripped away, even consciousness had been forced to fall into the deepest depths of hell. From then on, the world was left with only darkness and despair, and there would never be a peaceful rest again.

"this--"

Seeing this scene, countless people around the world turned their heads away, unable to bear to watch, with cold sweat pouring out of their foreheads like a flood. Although no one except Gooma could see this scene inside the light curtain, the people outside the light curtain could be said to have watched the whole process from a God's perspective.

The desperate screams and howls of human souls became real nightmares for many people at this moment.

As these souls were drawn into it, the runes took shape at an ever-increasing speed, and a strange light emanated from the totem. The blinding crimson even overshadowed the sky, which was dyed red by the setting sun.

[“For my game, wake up——”]

[Looking at the formed totem, Gooma's mouth literally opened to his ears, and crazy joy and malice were revealed on his face, which was no longer human.]

[And when all the souls were absorbed into it, the totem completed its formation. The blood-formed lines seemed to glow with a red agate glow, but it did not give people a stunning aura at all.]

[All that can be felt from this totem is boundless blood and evil.]

If someone were to look down from above at this moment, they would see that this shape formed by the runes resembles a gigantic animal head. The fierce aura emanating from the totem's eyes seemed to possess life, and even space itself vibrated slightly under the gaze.

[And the type of animal head is—a wolf.]

[Looking at this huge wolf-head totem, Gooma let out a wild and hoarse laugh. It knew that its goal had been achieved.]

[The final key to the "Ultimate Darkness" is about to be found.]

[In ecstasy, Gooma spoke in a chant-like tone about the existence represented by this totem and the adjectives used to describe it.]

"The first 'N' of the clan, the first ultimate, the first king!"

"N-Gamio-Zeda!"

53. Death that erodes everything (4K)

[The howl faded, and the wolf-head totem, constructed from the blood of countless dead, burst into a dazzling red light. A sound like a beating heart echoed as the intensity of the light fluctuated.]

[At the same time, at the moment the blood totem in Waichang Village took shape, a few hills away, Jiulangyue also underwent some strange changes.]

A remote mountaintop in Jiulang Mountain suddenly exploded in a violent explosion. Amidst the flying sand, rocks, and wood debris, a crimson beam shot up from the shattered mountaintop. The spiraling column of light pierced the clouds, its powerful suction pulling the nearby clouds into a spiral around it.

At that moment, the sky seemed to have transformed into a lake pounded with rocks, blood-red waves spreading across the heavens. The commotion caused by this anomaly was beyond imagination. Within Nagano Prefecture, there was hardly any area that could not see the crimson pillar of light that stretched from sky to earth.

This scene was like heaven and earth turning upside down, like a cage sealing a demon being opened. The people of Nagano Prefecture stared blankly at the sinister red light. Before their brains could react, an indescribable chill spread from the extremities of their limbs throughout their bodies.

This is the purest fear in humankind's DNA, a fear of nature's top predators that we've inherited over the course of evolution, a feeling we've never felt again since becoming the dominant species on this planet.

[And now, this fear buried in the genes has revived once again. The human body senses the essence of all the strange phenomena happening now before the consciousness does—some terrifying predator above humanity has awakened.]

"That's the direction of Jiulangyue!"

Yukinoshita Yukino stared intently at the crimson beam of light at the end of her field of vision, her eyes filled with disbelief.

[Is there really something hidden in that damn place?!]

[Plop——]

[“Hmm!”]

Suddenly, her ears seemed to hear the dull throbbing of her own heart. Caught off guard, Yukinoshita groaned, covered her chest with her hands, and bent over.

[And it wasn't just her. At this moment, everyone in the temple simultaneously covered their chests. Everyone felt as if their hearts had been struck by something heavy, and panicked cries arose everywhere.]

"What the hell is going on?!"

Totsuka Ayaka said this in a state of doubt. He looked around at everyone around him, his eyes filled with confusion.

[“Just now, did everyone feel something happening in their hearts…”]

"No, that beating sound just now wasn't caused by our heart!"

[Toshio Ozaki, standing nearby, frowned. His right hand was also covering his chest where his heart was, as he spoke with a thoughtful look in his eyes.]

"My own heart rate hasn't changed much. It's about the same as usual, neither faster nor slower. This means that the noise just now wasn't actually—!!!"

Once again, the sound of a beating heart echoed. This time, everyone present heard the same sound, but it wasn't their own.

[“How—how is this possible!?”]

Hearing the sound of a heartbeat, Ozaki Toshio immediately looked in the direction of the sound. His eyes suddenly widened, and he cried out in disbelief.

Because the sound of a beating heart came from the very place where the pillar of light rose, this was why Ozaki Toshio was so shocked. As an internist, he understood better than anyone present how terrifying this phenomenon was.

[You have to know that the beam of light was at least several hilltops away from Waichang Village. What kind of creature's heartbeat could travel several kilometers and still ring so clearly in everyone's ears, even triggering a resonance effect?]

This is truly horrifying. What kind of heart structure could have the power to travel kilometers and still be heard clearly? The blood flow required to achieve this level of power alone would be comparable to that of a maximum-powered pond pump.

[Can the blue whale, the largest creature on Earth today, with a heart the size of a human and the power of a car engine, achieve this level of pulsation? Even if its size were increased tenfold, it probably wouldn't be able to do it!]

[At the base of the rising crimson pillar of light, within the exploding mountaintop, in the deeper darkness within the mountain, the terrifying sound of a beating heart could be heard.]

[A faint light shone through the cracks in the mountain, illuminating the interior with a tiny ray of light.]

Deep within the mountain, an old stone coffin lay quietly in the darkness. The remaining light cast a shadow on the dusty half of the coffin, illuminating a white totem.

It was a totem identical to the wolf-head symbol Gooma had summoned in Outfield Village, the only difference being that one was a sinister crimson, while the other was a pure white outlined with some kind of white paint.

[And the moment the totem was illuminated, the lid of the sarcophagus began to tremble, the amplitude gradually increasing from slight to violent.]

Pitch-black fog surged out from the cracks left by the shaking coffin lid, quickly filling the interior of the mountain and spilling outward along the shattered peak above. A thick black fog, so thick that not even light could illuminate it, descended from the summit downwards, as if the entire mountain were covered in a billowing black curtain.

In this ominous black fog, the beating of the heart grew more intense, and at the same time, a fierce roar surged. A fierce wind carried the pitch-black fog, transforming it into black waves that spread rapidly in all directions.

This whistling gale is essentially like the beating of a heart; it is the sound of a creature breathing heavily as it is about to awaken.

Something even more terrifying then occurred. As the black mist spread, everything within it underwent drastic changes. The towering trees withered at an incredibly rapid rate, their green leaves turning yellow and gray within seconds, as if time itself had been sped up exponentially. The flock of birds that had just noticed the disturbance and taken flight from the branches plummeted from the sky before they could escape. As they hit the ground, the falling leaves buried their bodies, like a simple sky burial performed by nature.

[Not only that, the soil beneath the ground also turned dark green. Countless creatures living beneath the ground broke through the surface at this moment, their bodies violently convulsing and tumbling. When the black mist enveloped them, these creatures completely lost all signs of life.]

This black fog was like the agent of the god of death in the human world. Everything enveloped within it was ordered to take away life. Even that space had become a forbidden zone of death; anyone entering would die.

In just a few minutes, the thick black fog had engulfed the mountain and rapidly spread to the surrounding hilltops. At this speed, it would only take about five minutes for the black fog to spread to the area where Waichang Village was located.

[With the remaining time, escaping from here is simply wishful thinking unless we take a helicopter.]

[There is no doubt that this is a completely hopeless situation.]

[Looking at the black fog spreading at the end of her vision, Yukinoshita Yukino felt a moment of panic at first, but then she felt relieved.]

She crouched down and hugged the surviving little girl tightly to prevent her from witnessing the scene. Amidst the surging crowd, she looked up at the sky, where a faint glimpse of stars could already be seen. Even in the countryside, the night sky was clearer than in the light-polluted city.

"Really? Looks like I can't supervise you anymore... You'll just have to learn to be more self-disciplined on your own."

[She sighed silently, and then a helpless smile appeared on her beautiful face.]

"...Don't be late again, Zaimokuza-kun."

Koukou Ikusei High School, boys' dormitory.

"That is……!"

Looking at the scene on the screen, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka stood up suddenly. Due to his excessive movement, the chair fell to the ground with a crisp crash.

He stared intently at the coffin standing in the swirling black fog, especially the wolf head totem engraved on it, and his eyes changed drastically like never before.

Ayanokouji was certainly no stranger to this totem, as he had seen it before, in the fourth chapter of the light curtain.

This was the same ancient text from the Alpha Obelisk that Yukinoshita Yukino had translated earlier—"Those whose lives are corrupted will inevitably become its apostles. The chief of the apostles is "Golden Darkness," the apostle who controls disease and disaster, and is also the first apostle."

When the other party translated this sentence earlier, Ayanokouji saw it clearly through the light curtain. The symbol referred to by the "Darkness of Gold" was exactly this wolf-head totem!

Combined with what No. 3 said before, this totem is undoubtedly an identity symbol of a certain existence, and its true identity is already obvious.

"Belonging to the clan's first 'N', the first Ultimate, the first King... As expected! My previous speculation was completely correct."

Ayanokouji's hands trembled slightly, then suddenly clenched into fists.

"As expected, there's more than just Zero, the N Group Gurongi now. Besides him, there are other N Group Gurongi out there! And they're also sealed!"

"N-Gamio-Zeda, its identity totem is a wolf head. Does this mean its true form is a wolf-shaped Gurongi? And according to Number Three, this Gurongi is actually their clan's original king... the original king, the first apostle. This information all corresponds to what was translated from the obelisk earlier."

"Apostle of Plague and Disaster, is this referring to this extremely corrosive black mist? Such a being is actually sealed away in Nagano Prefecture? And Number Three's goal this time is to awaken him?"

His mind raced, all the previous information fragmented in his mind, and then pieced together like pieces of a puzzle, forming a path towards the truth.

"Number Three slaughtered the entire population of Gaiba Village and sacrificed their souls. This was the first step. The target of the sacrifice was Gamio, and the purpose was to awaken him. This was the second step. The reason was that this was the key to inducing the 'Ultimate Darkness'..."

"Wait...keys?"

Ayanokouji was stunned, and his eyes gradually widened.

"That means Gamio, no—"

"——The Gurongi of the 'N' Group are the key to bringing about the 'Ultimate Darkness'?"

Hikigaya Hachiman silently repeated this deduced conclusion, and his pupils suddenly contracted violently.

"Kikiru" is a ritual of sacrifice to the "Ultimate Darkness", and the sacrifice is the human soul. In addition to this, there may be other uses, such as what No. 3 showed this time, using these souls to awaken another sealed Gurongi.

The purpose of Number Three's massacre of all the villagers in Gaiba Village was to awaken another sealed Gurongi of the "N" group. The true identity of this Gurongi was the first king of the Gurongi clan. He was also the "N" before Number Zero and the previous leader.

From the information previously revealed, it can be inferred that No. 0 was able to become the new "N" by defeating his predecessor, and the Gurongi clan does not allow two rulers to exist at the same time... But why did he defeat the opponent's No. 0 but not kill the opponent?

Could it be that it is out of gratitude for the previous leader's hard work and achievements that the respect and love that comes from it?

What a joke! If those bloodthirsty Gurongi really possessed this kind of thing, Hikigaya would rather believe that all Japanese politicians are kind-hearted people who work for the country and the people.

The true reason has been clearly revealed by Number Three, because this is a necessary step to bring about the "Ultimate Darkness" - and the Gurongi of the "N" Group are an indispensable part of this process.

This is probably the real reason why the victor, No. 0, did not kill his predecessor. It was not that he could not kill him, but that he had another purpose.

"Could it be that……"

After deducing this, the truth was like looking at a mountain through a veil, with its outline vaguely visible, and Hikigaya's heart felt as heavy as water.

Could it be that the method to summon the "Ultimate Darkness" is...

"--minister!"

"!"