Chapter 30: Facing the Water Itself; Du Shui: “You clearly don’t want to die…”

Raindrops lashed chaotically against Izayoi Ame’s face. His clothes were long since soaked through, clinging to his body like a heavy, suffocating burden.

Izayoi Ame continued his descent, following the curve of a massive wave. From high above came the mournful, whale-like cry of his Spiritual Body. For a fleeting moment, as he cut through the spray, he felt as though he had become a whale himself.

If only he truly were nothing more than a blue whale.

Izayoi Ame tightened his grip on his blade. Aided by the rushing currents, he had already closed in on the front lines of the Kanagawa Defense Chain.

The very front, where Anomalies swarmed and the battle raged most fiercely.

Izayoi Ame reached out and gave a light flick of Umizukigiri. A translucent Blue Torii, constructed from pure spiritual energy, manifested upon the surface of the sea.

He threw himself into the Blue Torii. This space-type Anomaly, bound to the service of the Izayoi Family, caused his form to flicker in mid-air, rapidly closing the distance toward the gargantuan entity looming further out.

“Tch… I need to recalibrate the position one more time.”

Pale blue ripples solidified into a small platform. When Izayoi Ame landed, the surface vibrated with soft undulations.

He stared out at the sea, his brow furrowed deep.

The ocean remained a void of black, heaving violently under the torrential downpour. But the surface of that black water was moving, crawling with a constant, writhing motion. No, that wasn’t the sea at all; beneath the surface lay layer upon layer of Anomalies huddled together, their mass forming that darkness.

It was a depth beyond counting.

Izayoi Ame’s pupils constricted. The whale swimming through the clouds above seemed to let out another sorrowful cry. This was the companion Anomaly tide brought forth by Y008. It was a conceptual power, a magnitude of strength that Correctors who had never faced a King of Anomalies could not possibly imagine.

Kraken was the water itself. Its companion tide naturally surged like the waves of the sea, virtually manifesting as a new ocean.

Though he had long since steeled his resolve, the fundamental human instinct is to survive. Even in his moments of absolute determination, Izayoi Ame had indulged in the fantasy that perhaps, just perhaps, he might return alive after slaying the Anomaly.

But seeing this sight, he knew it was impossible.

That lingering spark of hope for survival vanished, turning into rain that fell into the deep black sea and disappeared.

“It seems this is as far as I go.”

Izayoi Ame gripped Umizukigiri, the tachi where everything began, the blade once worn by Umizuki no Mikoto. He looked toward the colossal entity standing silently amidst the rain and the raging waves.

A distant, pained roar erupted from the blood-red eye suspended within the dark clouds. Perhaps Kraken was in pain as well.

“Forget it.”

Izayoi Ame abandoned his struggle and his fear. His hand brushed lightly against the Blue Torii of spiritual energy beside him while his other hand raised the long blade, ready to bring it down with finality.

“Maybe death is for the best… If I die, perhaps I can finally wash away this sin…”

He closed his eyes, preparing to use the Blue Torii for one final spatial jump.

However, a streak of golden Flowing Wind interrupted him with pinpoint precision. It coiled around his wrist, forcibly arresting the motion of his blade.

Izayoi Ame opened his eyes, intent on finishing the strike, but another voice pinned him to the spot.

“You can’t wash it away, Izayoi Ame.”

He whipped his head around and saw Liu Ming, who was being pulled along by Yun Zhou as they landed lightly on the watery platform.

The young master of the Liu Family appeared exceptionally composed even at such close proximity to Y008. He looked pale and somewhat weak, but when his red eyes, glowing faintly from the use of spiritual power, turned toward Izayoi Ame against the backdrop of the dark clouds, Izayoi Ame suffered a momentary hallucination that he was being stared down by a King of Anomalies.

After all, the eyes of the Kings were all that same terrifying, blood-red hue.

He tried to speak, but was interrupted by yet another voice. Ying Huo vaulted onto the platform with Du Shui’s help. The latter landed with unhurried elegance, closing her oil-paper umbrella. Not even the hem of her shrine maiden robes was wet.

The Savior Squad was all here.

Izayoi Ame felt a massive headache coming on. He truly lacked the mental energy to wonder how these three had found Du Shui after he had gone to such lengths to hide her. He could only pinch the bridge of his nose and speak in a raspy voice. “What are you doing here?”

His voice was thick with the despair of a man who had truly run out of options.

“I’ve come for my blade.”

Du Shui took a step forward. Her tone was gentle, but the murderous intent suppressed beneath it was plain to hear.

Izayoi Ame understood instantly. Though he didn’t know how Liu Ming had managed it, Du Shui must have recovered her memories. She remembered Kraken, she remembered him, and she remembered the reason for her birth.

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying? Now that you’ve remembered, you have even less reason to take this blade. This is madness.”

Du Shui’s presence here meant only one thing: Kraken had completely returned to Y008.

Izayoi Ame sighed. He felt liquid sliding from the corner of his eye, but he had no time to discern whether they were tears at seeing the person he had tried so hard to save ultimately destined for the waves, or merely the common rain falling from the sky.

He only knew that the sea was incredibly dangerous. Now that Kraken had departed, he had to get Du Shui away from here so she could live.

According to the Elder Council’s plan, the Vessel of Umizuki no Mikoto would kill the completed Y008. Even the close relationship between the two Vessels was a result of their calculations. To ensure the absolute death of a King of Anomalies, the mad Elder Council did not hesitate to use tender affection as a spear.

Such a truth and such a fate were far too cruel for Du Shui and Kraken.

Izayoi Ame believed he had put on his full authority as District Chief, but to his surprise, not only Liu Ming, but none of the other three showed even a hint of fear.

Du Shui, in fact, moved forward rather than retreating. Her gaze seemed to be fixed on Izayoi Ame, but she was actually looking past him at the black sea behind him.

A sense of foreboding grew sharper in Izayoi Ame’s mind. “Are you insane?! Get out of here, now!”

Du Shui didn’t care. She spoke each word with sharp, crisp clarity, uttering the very sentence Izayoi Ame feared most: “I want to accept the memories of Umizuki no Mikoto.”

Above the storm clouds, thunder tore through the sky. The girl’s face was starkly illuminated by the flashes of lightning.

“Since she could become me, then there is no reason I cannot become her.”

Izayoi Ame stared at her blankly, as if seeing the girl before him for the first time. For a fleeting moment, he felt as though the person standing there wasn’t Du Shui at all, but the Umizuki no Mikoto of years past.

How could she speak of such an impossibility with such unwavering resolve?

“Izayoi Ame… the Kraken has already returned to Y008. Do not go there just to die.”

Du Shui faced the District Chief, standing ready. Her expression was no longer dignified and gentle; instead, she looked terrifying amidst the flickering lightning.

With a single sentence, she had exposed exactly what Izayoi Ame intended to do.

Two jellyfish Spiritual Bodies, one blue and one red, swayed behind her. It was only then that Izayoi Ame sluggishly realized they no longer looked like Siphonophores, but Immortal Jellyfish¹.

The Spiritual Body of every Umizuki no Mikoto Vessel was an Immortal Jellyfish. They died and were reborn, turning into a wisp of spiritual power that cycled through endless reincarnations within the petri dishes of that laboratory, carrying their memories to eternally guard this stretch of sea.

But he didn’t want every unlucky Vessel to end up like that – picking up the blade belonging to Umizuki no Mikoto, awakening her memories, becoming a different person, and then being discarded like a single-use weapon, dying heroically the moment an Anomaly arrived.

Too many sins had already occurred in that laboratory. There were too many evils he had failed to stop. Even though Du Shui had been allowed to leave the Third District as a discarded experimental subject after the explosion, she had never truly been let go.

The thing in Du Shui’s eyes was a part of the Kraken. Izayoi Ame even remembered the words the Elder Council had used to deceive the Kraken back then: “As long as you give us a part of yourself, your sister can live forever.”

In reality, they were using Du Shui as a medium to activate the Kraken. As long as she returned to the Third District and encountered the Kraken, their plan could still be executed.

Izayoi Ame had previously been unable to resist because of the Plot Strings implanted in him. But now, Liu Ming had helped him remove those loathsome threads, and he could endure it no longer.

That was why he had taken up the Umizukigiri. Since Umizuki no Mikoto could be any Vessel from the laboratory, why couldn’t she be any Clan Head?

Even if the price of wielding the Umizukigiri to slay Y008 was death, what did it matter? At the very least, it made more sense for a Clan Head to sacrifice himself.

Because his surname was Izayoi.

No matter how much he loathed that name, he was an Izayoi.

“It’s all the same, Du Shui.”

Izayoi Ame looked up, a miserable smile touching his lips. “It’s all the same. This is my responsibility; I cannot leave it to someone else. Moreover, I certainly cannot let you accept those memories that have been passed down for God knows how many years.”

“But if I’m the one holding that blade! I can definitely, definitely survive!”

Du Shui was clearly becoming emotional. The Kraken had already left, and she didn’t want to watch one of the few old friends from her laboratory days walk down a path of no return that could still be avoided.

“And what if you survive?!” Izayoi Ame was truly angry now. “If you choose to remember those cursed memories, your lifespan will be capped at thirty! You won’t live past thirty!”

The expressions of Yun Zhou and Ying Huo changed instantly.

Du Shui’s voice was cold. “So what? Thirty. At least I’d have over a decade left to see how this world ends. Unlike you, who plans to bury yourself directly in the water.”

Izayoi Ame took a deep breath. He turned his back to her, no longer looking at Du Shui, and whispered, “I won’t let you die for my sins. Without a Torii, none of you can reach Y008.”

With that, he prepared to summon the Blue Torii to leave, but his wrist was caught once again.

It was a silver-blue thread.

“Young Master Liu… what are you doing now?”

Izayoi Ame looked utterly helpless.

“Ah, I just wanted to say, maybe you two can go together.”

Liu Ming actually managed a smile even in this situation. “After all… with me here, none of you are going to die.”

“Huh?! For real?”

Everyone present widened their eyes, snapping their gazes toward Liu Ming.

Liu Ming only nodded with a smile, though the gravity in his eyes was heavy, belying his relaxed demeanor.

He recalled the conversation he’d had with Du Shui before coming to find Izayoi Ame.

“Accepting the memories of Umizuki no Mikoto… even if I put everything I have into helping you, it will only give you a slim chance of survival. You need to think this through. It’s a one-in-a-million shot.”

But Du Shui had nodded without the slightest hesitation.

“The laboratory selection was also a one-in-a-million shot for me. Since I survived that, then this isn’t my limit-“

“A slim chance is my one hundred percent success rate.”

Du Shui had flashed a smile identical to Yun Zhou’s. That smile was so bright it almost made Liu Ming want to close his eyes to avoid being burned.

Those words kept echoing in Liu Ming’s mind. He took a deep breath, reaching a certain resolution.

In truth, it wasn’t a matter of putting in “everything he had.”

The Liu Family chased profit, but they held a trump card that gave them absolute dominance in the spiritual field – a trump card he had never used…

But now that Du Shui was pushing herself to this extent, Liu Ming occasionally found himself thinking…

I’d also like to know… exactly where my own limit lies.

What threads can do isn’t limited to just soothing; they can also connect.

The essence of the Liu Family’s spiritual Guides was actually using the medium of threads to perform spiritual assembly, connection, and differentiation… which was why they remained undefeated among Guides.

Where the limit of this special ability lay… even Liu Lin didn’t know.

But if it was Izayoi Ame and a Du Shui who had unleashed the power of Umizuki no Mikoto… it should be fine.

Liu Ming took a deep breath and looked around. “Are you all willing to bet your lives on this?”

Izayoi Ame remained wary. He couldn’t understand why a member of the Liu Family would choose to do something so thankless, but Du Shui nodded without a moment’s hesitation. “Sure, I’m willing.”

Yun Zhou followed immediately after. “Me too!”

Ying Huo grabbed him, his voice sounding weak. “He wasn’t asking you…”

Liu Ming rolled his eyes, tilting his head as far away from Yun Zhou as possible, as if that would prevent him from being infected by the boy’s stupidity. “If you’re dead set on joining, fine. I don’t mind having an extra person to share the burden.”

At that, Yun Zhou nodded happily and hurried over.

Left where he stood, Ying Huo was stunned. What does that mean? Are they isolating me?

He had assumed only Izayoi Ame and Du Shui were capable of sharing the load.

Gritthing his teeth, Ying Huo ran after Yun Zhou. “If Yun Zhou can do it, then I’m in too. Anyway, the more people there are to share it, the larger the denominator²-“

Liu Ming’s expression went numb. “Do you people really think this is a good thing?”

But Yun Zhou shook his head earnestly. “I know it’s not, but you’re all here. I just want to be with you guys.”

And Ying Huo, whom Liu Ming had acknowledged as a smart man, was currently nodding along as if his brain had been scooped out.

Liu Ming felt even more suffocated. Was it possible that being near Yun Zhou caused one’s brain to vanish? He had truly never seen such lunatics rushing to take part in a losing deal.

But it had nothing to do with him. He sighed; if they wanted to come, let them. With more people, the impact from Umizuki no Mikoto’s mental pressure would indeed be significantly lighter for each individual.

“It’s not just a matter of me saying you can join, though. The District Chief and Du Shui can do it because they are connected through the medium of Umizuki no Mikoto’s spiritual power…”

Silver-blue threads manifested in Liu Ming’s hands. As he spoke, he attempted to link their spiritual powers together. He moved quickly, and soon, threads of spiritual energy were wound between Du Shui, Yun Zhou, and Ying Huo. The entire process was unexpectedly smooth.

The threads connected with ease, causing Liu Ming’s voice to grow slightly hoarse. This meant that Yun Zhou and Ying Huo either shared the heritage of Umizuki no Mikoto, or they possessed spiritual power and strength on the same level as the deity.

His movements froze for a split second. Why?

The former was impossible. How could Ying Huo and Yun Zhou, who were from the 6th District and Seventh District, have anything to do with Umizuki no Mikoto? As for the latter… Liu Ming sighed. He could only say that they truly were the “protagonist group”; they all had terrifying hidden identities.

“What? What did you just say?”

The heavy rain was pouring down now, and the noise from the sea had increased. Liu Ming was standing a short distance from the group, so Yun Zhou hadn’t heard his murmur clearly.

Liu Ming didn’t bother responding. There was no need to reveal it now.

He looked toward Izayoi Ame and held out his hand in a gesture that looked very much like an interrogation. “District Chief, if you please.”

Izayoi Ame hesitated. “Actually, I think it would be easier if I just went over there and died on my own. There’s no need for all this trouble, and besides, this was originally the Third District’s business…”

Schwing!

The ring of a blade echoed. To everyone’s shock, Du Shui drew her sword and, without the slightest hesitation, rested the edge against Izayoi Ame’s neck.

Perhaps his mind was in turmoil, or perhaps Du Shui was simply too fast, but Izayoi Ame hadn’t even noticed her move. He was stopped dead in his tracks. He instinctively took a step back, but Du Shui’s blade didn’t let him go, following his movement like a shadow.

“You-“

Izayoi Ame looked at Du Shui, only to find her eyes filled with deadly seriousness.

“You just took a step back, didn’t you?” Du Shui said, emphasizing every word. She spoke with such gravity that no one dared to interrupt.

“You still have a will to live. Since you want to survive, stop trying to block me… and even if we look at it from the worst-case perspective, I am also a person of the Third District. That is not a reason for you to exclude me.”

Du Shui spoke with such conviction and such a chilling, formidable aura that even Izayoi Ame was stunned. He could no longer find the words to refuse.

He let out a sigh, casting aside his indecision. He drew out a strand of his own spiritual power. High above, the massive blue whale let out another whale-song that sounded like a sigh.

Liu Ming said nothing, silently taking the spiritual power and adding it to the connection.

“If we fail, I will teleport you back.”

Izayoi Ame swung his blade to summon a blue Torii. The Torii had a limited number of uses within a set timeframe. After using it to get close to the Kraken, there would only be one chance left.

This final chance would be the last safety net for these young people. After all, this was a project personally established by Chairperson Black Swan; Izayoi Ame could not allow them to actually die here, no matter what.

“Let’s go.”

The blue Torii was built out of thin air by arching currents of water. The surface of the space within the main gate of the Torii rippled and shimmered. Izayoi Ame was the first to step inside.

Du Shui and the other three looked at each other and, without hesitation, charged in after him.

No matter what lay behind that Torii, they would not retreat.

The blue waves receded. After the sensation of cold ripples and the abstraction of spatial travel, they landed on a platform of water that Izayoi Ame had constructed once again.

The wind and rain, far more violent than before, lashed against their faces. The moment he landed, Liu Ming felt as though he could barely stand. A massive, swinging tentacle brushed past the edge of their platform with terrifying proximity. They were only barely managing to hover in the air thanks to Izayoi Ame’s rapid reactions.

Every movement of the several-hundred-meter-long behemoth brought a piercing gale. Liu Ming nearly lost his balance, but fortunately, Ying Huo and Yun Zhou each grabbed one of his hands and pressed down on his shoulders, steadying him on the small platform.

“Is that… the Kraken?”

Du Shui’s voice was calm yet trembling.

What kind of monster was this?

Hideous, twisted, and colossal, it occupied the entirety of the sea, making the vast ocean seem like a tiny basin, cramped and overflowing beneath the weight of its tentacles.

It resembled a giant octopus, yet its body was covered in scales it shouldn’t have possessed. The suckers on its sprawling tentacles were sharp and nauseating. Only those blood-red eyes, appearing simple and absolute through the hazy sea mist, looked like a pair of full moons rising over the water, revealing a trace of eerie beauty.

Not a single trace of that young girl remained.

Those eyes rotated quietly, peering through the torrential rain and crashing waves, past the tentacles and the tide of Anomalies, to lock onto the platform with unerring precision.

In an instant, a terrifying killing intent bore down on them. If the Kraken could lock onto their position, it could kill them easily through the sheer pressure of its mental force alone.

Translator’s Notes