They say even mountains and rivers change in ten years.
If a decade can change the landscape, then what of a unit like ten thousand years?
Well… it goes without saying.
For a staggering 30,000 years, I used the shrine at Mount Osore as my base to wander the Soul Society. When I had nothing to do, I'd return to the mountain to enjoy the hot springs. In that time, Osorezan—once a land of pure terror—somehow became a semi-famous tourist destination.
Of course, it didn't become a tourist attraction overnight.
How could a land where people dropped dead for decades change its image so easily?
Perhaps because it was a place so closely associated with death, people who missed their deceased children or family members began coming here to offer prayers.
To those few who prayed with such heart-wrenching sorrow, I'd sometimes show them the Hell Gate, explain the Six Realms of Reincarnation, and offer a bit of comfort…
And naturally, that sparked rumors that this was the land closest to Hell.
Because of that, every year…
No, almost every month now, people come seeking this place.
There are those who come to offer sincere prayers.
Then, there are those who come to enjoy the hot springs that Tenjiro dug out and Gensin adjusted for toxicity.
Recently, some bold fools have even wandered as far as the springs behind the shrine where I reside. They usually see me, freak out, and bolt.
After that, rumors started spreading that a god lived behind the shrine, turning it into a divine "Spirit Ground."
What does this mean? It means a semi-famous tourist spot became a damn famous one.
It was already crowded and chaotic, but now it's basically an ant colony.
It took 170,000 years to reach this point.
"Phew… time sure flies."
As I let out a deep sigh and submerged myself in the spring water, I felt a massive Spiritual Power approaching.
A familiar one… something I'd felt many times before. It wasn't the Zero Division. Those guys rarely ever leave the Royal Guard Palace.
Then who is it?
After a long soak, I stepped out, dried myself quickly by raising my body temperature, and threw on my clothes.
The person I encountered was none other than a young girl.
She was a stranger. Her Spiritual Power was certainly familiar, yet she was someone I didn't have in my memories.
Sitting on the roof of the shrine, I pondered over whose Spiritual Power this could be until the girl knelt before the shrine and began to pray.
"Sob… hic… Mother… Mother…"
I wondered what had happened to make her weep so much; she looked like she might wither away and die from dehydration.
If I leave her like that, she really will die. As I let out a heavy sigh, the praying girl looked up.
She noticed I was here?
Even skilled individuals usually can't find me when I mask my presence, yet she managed it?
"Ah… um, excuse me…"
"What?"
Wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, the girl glanced at me tentatively and gave a small, careful gesture.
"I-it's dangerous up there, please come down…"
The girl, who had been sobbing for her mother just a second ago, was now worrying about my safety the moment she saw me.
It wasn't even about me sitting on a place meant for a god; she was simply concerned because it looked dangerous.
Is this one the same type as Hozuki?
Growing interested, I hopped lightly off the roof. The girl's eyes went wide, and she suddenly dashed toward me.
It was obvious she was trying to catch me. Horrified, I kicked the air to kill my momentum and landed behind her.
The girl, who had intended to use her own body as a cushion, lost her target and naturally tumbled forward, rolling across the ground.
"Hey, brat! If you try to catch me with your body, you'll break your spine!"
"Ah, well… isn't it better for two people to be slightly hurt than for one person to be severely injured…?"
Compassion for others, self-sacrifice without expectation of reward, and that familiar Spiritual Power.
It was her. The reincarnation of Shiba Hozuki.
I smirked at the dirt-covered girl as she gave a bashful grin.
"Do you remember me?"
"Um, ah…"
I asked on the off-chance she might, but she just wore a dazed expression, her eyes spinning as she started to think.
Anyone could see she didn't know me. I sighed and shook my head.
"If you don't—"
"W-wait a moment! I'll try to remember…! Um, uuu… mmm…"
She held up a hand to stop me, clutched her head with both hands, and thought for a long time before carefully opening her mouth.
"The florist mister from West Rukongai…?"
"Who the hell is that?"
"I'm sorry… I don't know… If you're a benefactor I've forgotten, could you please tell me what happened between us…?"
As expected, memories are wiped upon reincarnation.
I already knew this, but I felt a strange sense of novelty as I settled her doubt.
"Of course you don't know. This is the first time we've met."
"Ah, thank goodness… ehehe… I'm a bit slow, so I forget things often. I was worried you might be a benefactor I had forgotten… I'm relieved!"
"Relieved? There are plenty of people who would try to scam you by claiming they're a benefactor you forgot."
"It's okay. They'd only do that because they need help, too. Though… it is a bit sad that they would commit the sin of lying. They'll surely regret it later… but if they repent eventually, isn't that enough?"
Not worrying about her own well-being, but worrying about the sinner who deceived her.
She was Hozuki through and through.
No, seeing her consider their future rather than just immediate pity, she had certainly grown much more than the Hozuki of back then.
Kagaya was right.
"So, what are you here for?"
"Ah, well… about that…"
Her face paled as she recalled a bad memory, and she cautiously began her story.
She had a mother who died after a life of committing many sins. Because of the saying that those who do wrong go to Hell, the girl spent every day offering food and prayers, wishing for her mother to go to Heaven.
In the process, she heard stories of Osorezan being the place closest to Hell and came here hoping she might catch even a glimpse of her mother's shadow.
"What did she do that makes you so certain she went to Hell?"
"Things that are hard to even put into words… I don't want to claim it wasn't my mother's fault. However, if she sincerely repents her sins, even if it's late, and wishes for salvation… I want to save her, even if it means sacrificing my own body."
The same firm resolve she showed when she saved that sinner in front of the crater, with a mindset far more refined than before.
Kagaya would have to acknowledge this.
"Then go save her yourself. I'll open the door for you."
"Huh?"
Leaving the stunned girl behind, I stood before the shrine.
It's been a while since I opened the gates, since I sent Ise back to Hell after she finished her work.
"Stand back. If you're too close, you'll die."
"Ah, yes."
The girl stepped back two or three paces.
Standing there, she'd be crushed to death by the Spiritual Pressure of Hell.
"More. Further back. Keep going."
"Oh, even further?"
If she stays there, she'll die from the toxic Miasma of Hell.
"Go all the way to that Torii gate back there."
"Will here be okay!"
"Yeah. Stand right there."
After confirming the girl had moved back, I took the Ouken from my robes.
Truthfully, opening the Gates of Hell isn't that much of a feat.
If you possess the Ouken, you can open and close them freely.
However, if you add one more factor, things get complicated.
Namely, sending a living person into Hell.
You could say the procedures are complex, but the real issue is that they usually just die, unable to withstand the Miasma of Hell that leaks out when the gate opens.
No matter who it is, if they die in Hell, their soul is bound there.
It's like… what do you call it?
It's like their spawn point gets glitched and they're reborn in Hell.
They become unable to leave until their next reincarnation.
So, to send a living person into Hell, they either have to be strong enough to resist the Miasma, carry something that can purify it, or have a person present who can provide that purification.
First off, it's unlikely that girl is strong enough to endure the Miasma. Pass.
An item to purify the toxins? There's none here. Pass. Then, there's only one way left.
* * *
The girl blinked, watching the back of the man standing before the shrine.
She couldn't understand why he had told her to move so far back.
She didn't even know who he was, so how could she possibly know what he intended to do?
She simply trusted his warning that it was dangerous and stepped back.
"Will he be all right…?"
If it was dangerous for her, wouldn't it be dangerous for him too? Thinking this, she gazed at the distant man.
The man took something from his clothes and tossed it forward.
*Clap!*
The moment he clapped his hands, a colossal gate manifested.
No, the gate had been there from the start. It was merely invisible to the eyes of the girl, who lacked the qualification to see it.
"H-huh…!?"
The moment she laid eyes on the revealed Hell Gate, the girl gasped.
Its overwhelming size, seemingly reaching the heavens, reminded her of the helplessness of humans before death, and the depictions of suffering sinners carved into the gate instilled a primal fear of evil karma.
It was an exhortation to all the living to do good, and a warning to accumulate no ill deeds.
Then, with a heavy, grinding sound, the gate opened, and the wails of the damned stretched out in every direction.
Terrible screams that tightened one's heart just by listening, and a toxicity that felt as if it would rot the skin of anyone standing nearby, surged toward the girl.
Any living soul would tremble in fear seeing that gate and the landscape beyond, but what the girl felt was something entirely different.
"Mother is in there…"
She felt compassion for the suffering sinners.
She felt sorrow looking upon a Hell filled with endless pain.
As if entranced, she approached the wide-open Hell Gate.
The man moved to stop her in surprise, but seeing something, he smirked and stepped aside.
[What do you think?]
"They simply did not know. The sentient beings who practiced evil deeds did so only because there was no one to lead them."
[What will you do?]
"For the sake of the beings within the Six Realms who suffer due to their karma, I shall widely bestow skillful means and become the hand that leads them."
[What do you desire?]
"I pray that until the end of future eons, I shall widely bestow skillful means upon those suffering the retribution of their sins, so that they may be liberated from their pain."
As the girl spoke, a halo appeared behind her head.
The Miasma of Hell no longer blocked her path. A sense of omnipotence wrapped around her, and the feeling that she could do anything filled her entire being.
"Until every sentient being trapped in Hell or destined for Hell is liberated, I shall not attain Buddhahood."
With those words, the girl discarded everything she possessed.
The halo vanished, and the sense of omnipotence scattered.
The Miasma of Hell began to invade her body once more, but the girl smiled, accepted everything, and walked toward Hell.
And on that day, a monumental incident occurred: every single sinner in Hell attained liberation and ascended.
And so, Hell collapsed for a time.
========================
The website for reading paid chapters is available on my Patreon. The number of chapters on Patreon: 91
Link: patreon.com/UltraMagnus_T