Chapter 34: San Francisco Was Casually Dealt With By Someone
After clearing out the troops within the city in one fell swoop, Hikigaya and Anne headed toward the city limits together.
Both God Slayers planned to take a trip to the East Coast.
But Hikigaya was one step ahead because he first shot up into the sky, targeting the army outside the city.
If not for Anne's sake, even though the opposing side was merely following orders, he would absolutely not show any extra mercy.
Invading and plundering other countries, filling the fields with corpses—that was also following orders.
Establishing concentration camps and planned massacres—that was also following orders.
The infamous Unit 731—that was still following orders.
Should those who follow orders be treated kindly and understood? Absolutely not.
If they were to be treated kindly, there would only be one reason: someone's prestige was great enough, and the weaklings following orders were simply incapable of harming him.
For instance, at this moment, Hikigaya Hachiman was giving face to a newly acquainted and agreeable compatriot.
Otherwise, he could stomp the entire San Francisco area into the sea with one kick.
Or a "slightly more serious" setting sun could turn the West Coast into a living hell.
To be even more ruthless, he could create volcanoes on the spot, re-enacting the Thera catastrophe in North America and sending the United States back to before its founding overnight.
As a God Slayer skilled in natural forces, Hikigaya Hachiman's direct destructive capacity against human civilization had never truly been displayed.
It wasn't that he couldn't, it was just laziness.
But it was precisely because of his laziness that he was terrifying.
At least up until now, his attitude towards human society had always been, "casually messing with it is fine."
As Hikigaya ascended thousands of meters into the sky, the atmosphere began to undergo abnormal flow and friction. The wind pushed the cloud masses, and snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
Each snowflake captured and absorbed the surrounding heat. Some vanished before hitting the ground, but more were accompanied by strong winds, forming a blizzard.
Finally, this power broke through the critical point and unleashed its might.
The wind ceased, and the sky was instantly clear. What conscious people saw was a massive wall of clouds completely surrounding San Francisco.
They were in the eye of the storm.
First, the army in the outer ring of the city was instantly frozen by the cold current descending from the sky. In an extremely short time, San Francisco became a crystalline ice sculpture standing on a snowy plain.
The freezing cold current then spread to the Bay Area. The water surface was frozen instantly, followed by the outer sea.
Within one minute, the fleet on the outer sea followed San Francisco's fate.
But apart from Anne, people did witness this scene.
For example, Professor Best's face was paler than the snowy landscape on the screen.
And inside the White House conference room, there was a deathly silence.
All electronic equipment in San Francisco was operating normally, without any outage. No one thought this was due to the quality manufacturing of 'America'.
Because satellites captured a line of text Hikigaya had left on the ice field, formed by towering ice peaks: I AM COMING.
More than two hundred years after its founding, a God Slayer had finally issued a formal declaration to this country across the ocean.
He was not the Englishman of yesteryear; he had no interest in the wealth of this land.
Nor was he a Warlock; the army armed by modern civilization was ineffective against him.
The only person who could negotiate with him cared only about the people, not the politicians.
And his target happened to be a group of politicians.
When Best was invited back into the conference room, he saw a group of current power-holders who looked as though the end of the world had arrived.
"Can a nuclear strike eliminate him?"
This was the first sentence Best heard, and he knew at the same time that this was the only thing these people wanted to know from him.
Did they not know the consequences of using a nuclear bomb on their own soil? No, they knew very well, but clearly, they no longer cared.
But...
Should I mention that regardless of whether it works or not, resurrection is also standard for most God Slayers? Forget it, I won't say it. They are a bunch of idiots!
"A God Slayer is not a human being," Best said with a sorrowful tone. "They are gods who have slain gods. Human weapons cannot kill them. Only a god can kill a god."
"Nonsense!" The SSI Director's expression was more ferocious than before. "Professor, I know you have an unusual interest in mythology, but now is not the time for research. We need practicality!"
Practicality? The most practical thing would be to drag a scumbag like you out and shoot you first!
Best thought to himself.
"I have no solution. You do not believe that 'God Slayer' is a factual designation rather than a rhetorical one. Based on that premise, everything else is just empty talk," he said. "I must remind you all, in ancient times, there were already powers on earth no less destructive than, or even exceeding, nuclear bombs. And the gods who could easily wield such power are precisely the prey of God Slayers."
The meeting ended on a sour note.
Best left the White House, but he could not return to Los Angeles, as all routes to the West Coast had been sealed off.
He could now only place all his hope in the King of Los Angeles.
He just had no idea what Anne was doing right now.
.
.
.
"Even like this, it's possible?" On the completely frozen streets of San Francisco, Anne was curiously looking at a soldier who was maintaining the posture he had before being frozen, and asked the newly returned Hikigaya.
"The power of life is great. I personally believe this is the key to humanity surpassing the gods, because the essence of life force is equality," Hikigaya reminded her. "Don't touch him. He's not dead, but his body is now more brittle than a potato chip."
"Are the citizens also like this?"
"If they were indoors, they are just severely frostbitten."
"I didn't expect you to have this method of subduing the enemy without fighting."
"Of course. Politicians only care about themselves. Those who follow orders are one thing, but eliminating irrelevant people is meaningless," Hikigaya said. "The common ailment of those obsessed with power is always believing they are omnipotent, but they are actually more insignificant than anyone. I will make them understand."
"I have no objection," Anne said. "Speaking of the Yomi you mentioned, I had no idea there was such a dangerous organization in this country before. They seem even more dangerous than Warlocks."
"On one side, you have cowards who only dare to show off against the weak, and on the other side, you have martyrs who dare to confront a god. Do you think they can be compared?"
"Definitely not comparable. So, are you planning to eliminate them this time? Please allow me to assist you in this endeavor."
"No, actually, my people aren't much different. The difference is that I'm not familiar with the ones here."
"Won't that damage your reputation?"
"Then what do you think of your reputation after cosplaying as a Kamen Rider for ten years?"
"Fine... But as a partner, may I ask you to ensure that your subordinates do not involve the civilian population in their actions?"
"You can rest assured on that point. Actually, it's quite difficult for those martial artists to attack ordinary citizens who pose no threat in their eyes."
"Why?"
"They can't bring themselves to do it. After training in martial arts for more than a decade, if they go off to bully the general public, they'll be laughed to death by their opponents... Well, actually, there aren't none of those people, and I'll deal with them too this time."
Hello everyone! I'm VarieTL
Thank you as always for your support!
I wanted to announce that I posted a new Fanfiction!
Saving the World with Crossovers, starting with replacing Natsuki subaru with Hikigaya Hachiman
Kawata Osamu transmigrated and became a God.
Wonderful start, right? Unfortunately, this world is destined to be destroyed by the Abyss...
The only thing he can do is try to merge many worlds together thanks to the "Children of the World."
If he can show everyone their adventures and evoke enough emotion, the worlds will merge! Kawata Osamu decided to start by replacing Natsuki Subaru with Hikigaya Hachiman!
2nd Arc: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka in Redo of Healer
3rd Arc: Shirogane Miyuki in Inuyasha
4th Arc: Kousaka Kyousuke in Overlord
I have already posted 264 Chapters of this Fanfiction!
Mostly because it's really really good, so I wanted to continue working on it XD
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting