Chapter 47 – The Axis of the Universe
Sunlight Mountain… well, that name feels a bit forced now. The mountain is still there, but it's been reshaped so much that even the cosmic singularity of old wouldn't recognize it.
The tall parts soar into the clouds, while the low places… well, you can't see the bottom with a single glance. The ground is covered in ravines, and several massive chasms have completely changed the topography of this region.
It's said that in a place called Azeroth, there was a great lizard named Deathwing who was also a master of earth-alteration, directly redrawing the entire continent's map. Now, after a little trial run by a few God-Slayers here on this small patch, that same craft has been recreated.
Fortunately, thanks to the Black Prince's authority, otherwise it wouldn't have just been Sunlight getting altered.
After days of continuous chaotic battle, it seems the fighting has finally come to an end.
First, the monkey god called Anuman was tricked into retreating. Whether he died or not is unknown, but the fact is he hasn't reappeared.
Next was Horus, whose fighting spirit wasn't very strong to begin with. His integrity clearly needed a recharge—when he realized his side had lost a member, he immediately pulled off a dramatic pose, then flamboyantly transformed into a bird and flew away.
Thus, only the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and Perseus remained. When they saw the God-Slayers closing in with murderous intent, they didn't bother with any "I'll die on my feet" bravado. The Great Sage rode the clouds and fled, while Perseus—who had nearly lost his life dozens of times—was just as decisive, tossing out a golden slab before leaving.
The actions of the God-Slayers were halted precisely by that slab.
Because the slab had become the vessel of Perseus's power, he turned it into a "substitute" to unleash a power he had never used in the battle before. The natural and unnatural orders of the space everyone occupied were thrown into disarray. It wasn't until Hikigaya fired the Sun God's Arrow, suppressing the disorder, that Perseus's power dissipated and everyone was freed.
Now, that slab rests in Hikigaya's hand.
"A fine treasure," Hikigaya couldn't help but praise as he looked at it.
It was far more powerful than the thing Kusanagi Godou used in the original story.
Perseus—or rather Mithras—was originally a deity of the Proto-Indo-European religion, later implanted into the ancient Near East by the Hittites. He often appeared as a god of contracts,
and his worship endured for more than two thousand years. At its peak, his temples spread across the entire Western world—matched only by that of Christ later.
Of course, such a great god wasn't limited to contracts alone.
For instance, the places where his followers gathered for rituals were called "Sun Caves." The reason for this name was that the believers held that when Mithras was born, the world was in darkness, and it was he who brought light to it.
At the same time, Mithras was also a celestial deity, and his teachings were centered around the cosmos and the stars. His followers would arrange various astral symbols in the Sun Caves to simulate the cosmos, dedicating themselves to "resonance between man and the stars." This line of thought had much in common with the later Chinese idea of "resonance between heaven and man."
The slab in Hikigaya's hand was none other than the famous "Tauroctony of Mithras"—the bull-slaying relief.
Every symbol carved on it could be interpreted as a star or constellation: apart from the sun and moon, the bull represented Taurus, the snake Hydra, the dog Canis Minor, the scorpion Scorpio, the raven Corvus, the jar Aquarius, and the lion Leo. In short, the Tauroctony was a star map.
Moreover, it was also one of the tangible links between the names Mithras and Perseus.
Of course, none of that meant much to Hikigaya. What mattered to him was the Tauroctony's significance as a manifestation of Mithras's authority as a god of the cosmos.
Because the relief might be an ancient mythological interpretation of the precession of the equinoxes, specifically the shift of the vernal equinox from Taurus to Aries. Due to the limitations of astronomy at the time, people couldn't identify the cause of this phenomenon. Mithras's followers believed it was the god himself who displayed his might, slaying the Bull (Taurus) and moving the equinox into Aries, thereby altering the axis of the universe.
In other words, by ending the great age of Taurus, Mithras proclaimed to mankind that he had rebuilt cosmic order.
That's one interpretation by modern mythologists, but judging from Mithras's display here, perhaps it was true.
Thus, Hikigaya could break it with a single arrow—partly because wielding this authority through the Tauroctony was far weaker than Mithras himself using it, and partly because to build a new order, the old one must first be destroyed. That lined up perfectly with the Sun God's Arrow, a power specialized in striking down those who sow disorder.
Lord Di Jun doesn't care whether it's new or old—if you stir chaos, you get smacked.
Still, for Hikigaya, this was a great treasure.
It was a divine artifact. In other words, as long as he replenished its mana, he could use it indefinitely.
If he ever got ganged up on, or just wanted to cause trouble, he could slap this slab in his enemy's face. It was practically a cheat-like authority.
While Hikigaya was weighing the slab in his hands, the Black Prince walked up to him.
"Looks like you've gained the most from this," the young gentleman from Britain said, gazing at the scarred earth before them.
But his tone made it clear he meant the opposite.
Unfortunately, that required Hikigaya to understand—or to be willing to understand.
"No, no, you're too kind, everyone gained a lot, didn't they?" Hikigaya cheerfully stashed away the Tauroctony, flashing the Black Prince a radiant smile.
The Black Prince's lips twitched, but he kept his face straight and continued: "I should be going now. Sorry for the disturbance."
"Don't be like that," Hikigaya quickly grabbed his sleeve with a grimy paw. "Let's chat a bit—it's rare for us to fight side by side the first time we meet."
Side by side?
The Black Prince felt he should roll his eyes.
He'd been hiding perfectly well, until Hikigaya's mysterious authority shook him out of hiding. And not only that—another god had been shaken out too! Buy one, get one free!
At this moment, in the Black Prince's eyes, Hikigaya was nothing but Trouble.
Honestly, he didn't want to chat with Trouble-kun at all—he just wanted to turn into lightning and fly away. But that would be too rude, and as a gentleman, he couldn't allow himself such a lack of manners.
"King Hikigaya, please let go first." He looked helplessly at the filthy paw clutching his sleeve and said with some pain, "I just bought this suit."
"No problem, I'll send you a dozen later."
"No need! Just let go, and everything can be discussed!"
"Oh, that's fine then." Hikigaya immediately let go and warmly invited, "Let's head back to the city first."
"What about these people?" The Black Prince pointed at the humans scattered throughout the ravines.
Some were local residents, some were tourists, but they all had one thing in common—they had previously been turned into monkeys by the Great Sage.
When Hikigaya's arrow broke Perseus's divine authority of disorder, they were restored to human form.
But expecting them to come out unscathed was impossible. The battle had been too fierce; even the surface of the earth had been altered. Naturally, some people died before they could be restored.
Even so, the number of survivors was not small. Those who had finally returned to normal were all dumbfounded, not understanding how they suddenly ended up in an unfamiliar place.
Some chuunibyou among them even shouted that they had transmigrated and begged for equipment or an old master.
The Black Prince honestly couldn't understand a word of it.
"They're easy to deal with. By the way, is your power still restraining this place?" Hikigaya took out his phone, only to find there was no signal, and put it away again.
"My authority was already broken by Perseus. Also, were you trying to make a call? The communications in this area should already be down, shouldn't they?"
"True." Hikigaya sighed, then offered what he thought was a very reasonable suggestion: "Let's head back first. Once we're somewhere with signal, we can call someone to clean up."
"What a pitiful fellow," the Black Prince thought silently. But just as he prepared to say a few gentlemanly words for the poor survivors' sake, he noticed Hikigaya frantically winking at him.
Confused, he followed Hikigaya's gaze—his face immediately darkened.
Luo Hao was striding toward them with furious momentum.
"You're right, let's hurry and call someone over to clean this up! I'll wait for you in Tokyo!"
Spitting this out in a rush, the Black Prince immediately turned into lightning and shot skyward—fleeing first out of courtesy.
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