Chapter 33: Ever-Changing Weakness
The initial plan that Hikigaya and Voban made was for the Monkey King's army to spread across Kinugawa before launching their next attack.
Although this would give the enemy some time to coordinate with their allies, overall it still put Hikigaya at a relative advantage.
In fact, the waiting turned out even better than he had expected.
Nikko, an administrative city in Japan, is not very large, more like a small town.
However, it has the saying, "Don't call anywhere beautiful until you've been to Nikko." It's a famous tourist spot suitable for visiting year-round.
This originally quiet town is located on the southern bank of the Ōtani River, at the foot of Mount Nantai in northwest Tochigi Prefecture. Its local population is only tens of thousands, but the number of tourists visiting annually reaches several million.
The western mountainous area is Nikkō National Park, with its highest peak being Mount Oku-Shirane. Nearby are more than 20 bell-shaped volcanoes over 2,000 meters tall, as well as famous sightseeing spots like Lake Chūzenji, Yumoto Onsen, Senjōbara, and Kegon Falls. These are also the places where the Great Sage and his allies have descended.
By now, Hikigaya estimated that the Great Sage must have transformed at least hundreds of thousands of people. Such a feat required immense divine power, enough to weaken the Great Sage to a certain extent.
Therefore, when the aura of the divine beast finally appeared in Kinugawa, Hikigaya felt no need to wait any longer.
He rushed out of the hotel first, following the aura all the way to the Tōbu World Square.
Tōbu World Square is one of the famous scenic spots in Kinugawa Onsen Village. The square consists entirely of miniature landscapes built to an exact 1:25 scale. It includes 102 world historical relics and buildings, and "houses" 140,000 "residents" shrunk to the same scale, with such detailed faces that no two are exactly alike.
Not long after entering, Hikigaya found his target.
Dozens of monkeys were jumping and playing among the buildings.
The ancient Roman Colosseum was used as a bed and had partially collapsed from their weight. The Sphinx of Egypt was missing its head. Buckingham Palace had turned to rubble. The "residents" of these buildings had been savagely trampled, many unrecognizable.
As Hikigaya appeared, the noisy monkeys all looked at him with murderous eyes.
Several particularly aggressive monkeys jumped toward Hikigaya's position, screaming with elongated, metallic-shining claws.
This time, the sacrificial building was the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. Hikigaya blew a breath of wind, and a few monkeys were swept into a pond, tipping the Golden Pavilion over along with its wreckage.
Amid the monkeys' cries of pain, a roar came from the sky.
Hikigaya looked up to see a huge bronze monkey descending from above. With a thunderous crash, it landed, shaking the ground with its massive body.
This monkey was about 12 to 13 meters tall, muscular but with short, thick limbs. It looked less like a monkey and more like a gorilla.
It was obviously much stronger than the other monkeys and had no human aura—it was a true divine beast, likely the ape from the Flower-Fruit Mountain that serves the Great Sage in mythology.
In the Monkey King's army, these apes probably act as lower-level commanders and were not targets Hikigaya needed to separate during battle.
Roar—!!!
The terrifying beast thumped its chest like a gorilla and hammered the ground hard, making the earth tremble.
Then it charged toward Hikigaya with a speed about equal to the wind. Nearby monkeys transformed from humans scattered in fear.
The beast reached out its long arm to grab Hikigaya, but blazing flames erupted from Hikigaya's body, burning off the beast's hand.
Sensing the power of a god slayer, the beast tried to flee, but Hikigaya blocked its path.
With a single chop, he severed its other hand, then kicked its face, sending it flying in the exact opposite direction from which it had come.
The other monkeys didn't escape either; they were driven back and regrouped by Hikigaya's aggressive pursuit.
Then Hikigaya activated his divine power.
A strong light burst from the monkeys' mouths, noses, and ears like vapor, flowing into Hikigaya's hands.
In his hands, the life light spread like smoke, dispersing on the ground before gathering again, eventually forming several people.
They were tourists, all unconscious but alive.
Hikigaya looked back at the monkeys, including the giant ape divine beast. All their bodies dissolved like sand grains—experiment successful.
As he had envisioned, combining the power of the Afterlife Sun with the ability to absorb light and consume fire allowed him to rescue transformed humans by extracting their life light and crush the Monkey King's army.
The ever-changing divinity of the Great Sage traces back to ancient totem worship of animals and plants.
Back then, humans believed their clans or tribes originated from specific creatures, and the associated worship and taboos formed totemism.
This mindset is reflected in later myths as transformation arts, most commonly stories of plants or animals transforming into humans.
However, since the Great Sage is also associated with spirit stone worship and soul worship, his powerful and tenacious life force makes his transformations even more mysterious—far beyond mere shape-shifting.
Now Hikigaya could be confident: this ability could be broken.
He continued clearing monkeys entering Kinugawa, rescuing roughly dozens of tourists. These lucky ones, freed early from the god's control, would not regain consciousness soon, but they were definitely safe.
Hikigaya informed the sorcerers to come rescue the people and then headed toward Nikkō.
His three comrades had already set out.
Within five minutes, Hikigaya found traces left by the wolf pack.
He followed them and after about half an hour saw the demon army that had once swept across Europe.
Hundreds or thousands of giant wolves ran with the three god slayers' figures faintly visible among them.
This was not all of Voban's troops. If Hikigaya remembered correctly, the old man still had an army of undead.
He charged into the wolf army. The giant wolves parted to let him through, allowing him to reach his companions.
"Longer than I thought," Voban sized him up. "It's rare to have a big scene welcoming us. Why waste time on minor players?"
"Big gains can come from minor players," Hikigaya replied, then pointed to a giant wolf beside him. "Can I borrow one to ride? I have something good to break the Monkey King's army, but I need time and space."
"That's nothing. Leave the wolves to me. You just show off for us."
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