Although Shi Hui was a transmigrator from another world, his understanding of Izumo was limited to a single PV of Huangquan. He had no way of knowing the details not mentioned in the PV.
Just like now, the conversation between Raiden Mei and Sakura earlier seemed somewhat enigmatic.
Moreover, even if Shi Hui did know some things related to Izumo, he had to pretend not to know, which would align with his identity as a Heavenly Outsider.
“Um… if I may interrupt,” Shi Hui said, pointing to the wreckage of the aircraft not far away.
“As you can see, I came from outside the heavens in this piece of junk… ah, no, this landing pod.”
“I came from outside the heavens in this landing pod.”
“So, what exactly are the Gatekeeper of Wangchuan and the Sword Bearer you just mentioned?”
Sakura’s gaze met Shi Hui’s calmly.
She didn’t answer immediately but turned slightly, her gaze cast beyond the ruins to the scarred land where thunderclouds still hung low.
“This is not a safe place to linger,” Sakura’s clear, cold voice carried an undeniable authority.
“Although Takemikazuchi is destroyed, the remaining nine evil gods of Takama-ga-hara could descend at any moment.”
Her eyes swept over the two disheveled individuals and she said, “Follow me.”
She didn’t explain where they were going, only turned and walked quickly towards a relatively flat open space at the edge of the ruins.
Her cherry-pink long hair floated gently behind her, looking out of place amidst the scorched and dilapidated surroundings.
Raiden Mei struggled to stand, the red horns on her forehead swaying slightly with her movements, but her body staggered from intense pain and weakness.
Seeing this, Shi Hui stepped forward, extending his hand to help her.
“Don’t touch me!” Raiden Mei recoiled sharply like a startled hedgehog.
Perhaps realizing her impoliteness, or for some other reason, Mei’s tone softened.
“S-sorry… I-I can walk by myself.”
She took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing her discomfort, and, leaning on the purple chao sword, painstakingly followed Sakura’s steps.
Shi Hui withdrew his hand and silently followed a few steps behind her, maintaining his distance.
Upon reaching the open space, Sakura stopped.
She gently raised her right hand, palm upward.
A faint, low-frequency hum sounded, and then, space rippled like water.
A uniquely shaped aircraft seemed to “squeeze” into reality from another dimension, hovering half a meter above the ground.
The ship was a deep, dark silver, with sleek lines and an indescribable beauty.
Notably, several dark yellow energy patterns shimmered faintly beneath the deck on the hull’s surface.
It didn’t resemble any ship design Shi Hui was familiar with; it looked more like a creation that fused technology with some kind of “unknown power.”
A hatch silently slid open on the ship’s belly, and a soft white light projected downward, forming a light ladder.
“Get on,” Sakura said concisely, being the first to step onto the light ladder, her figure disappearing inside the hatch.
Raiden Mei looked at the ship, which exuded a familiar aura, and tightened her grip on the chao sword.
After a moment of hesitation, she still stepped onto the light ladder, with Shi Hui following closely behind.
Upon entering the ship, Shi Hui found the interior surprisingly spacious.
There were no complex dashboards or control panels, only a central floating control sphere emitting a soft blue light, a large, dark display screen, and a circle of silver-gray seats of unknown material lining the cabin walls.
The air was fresh, with a faint scent of cherry blossoms.
Soon, the ship started.
Through the window, Shi Hui saw the scorched earth below rapidly receding and shrinking.
The thunderclouds were easily pierced, and the ship ascended steadily, entering the relatively calm stratosphere.
“Where are we going?” Shi Hui couldn’t help but ask again, breaking the silence inside the ship.
Sakura stood before the control sphere, not turning around, her clear voice ringing through the cabin.
“Thorn of Fire Moth.”
“What kind of place is that?” Shi Hui pressed.
“Izumo’s official organization for resisting the evil beasts of Takama-ga-hara,” Sakura’s answer remained concise.
She slowly turned, her icy-blue eyes looking at Shi Hui. After a moment, she glanced again at Raiden Mei, who was curled up in a corner seat, clutching her purple chao sword, her head bowed.
“As for your previous questions about the Gatekeeper of Wangchuan and the Sword Bearer…” Sakura began to explain.
“This cannot be explained in a few words, but since you are from outside the heavens, a witness to this war, and a participant in this divine fall, you have the right to know the truth of this world.”
Sakura raised her hand, not touching the control sphere, but merely made a gesture, and the display screen lit up.
A somewhat eerie star map appeared, with a colossal, ink-black sun occupying the center of the view.
Orbiting this ominous black sun was a massive celestial body emitting an eerie purple glow.
Takama-ga-hara!
“Long, long ago, ‘They’ descended from that purple star—Takama-ga-hara.”
Sakura’s fingertip lightly tapped the void, and the light of Takama-ga-hara on the star map suddenly intensified, countless streams of light shooting towards the nearby azure planet—Izumo.
“Eight Million Gods… this was the initial name people gave ‘Them,’ filled with reverence.”
Sakura’s tone shifted slightly.
“However, when the ‘divine miracles’ truly descended…”
The star map switched, showing a doomsday scene of collapsing skies, burning rivers, and crumbling earth, with countless tiny human figures fleeing and perishing under the shadows of giant beasts.
“We then discovered that They were gods, yet also beasts—evil beasts in the name of gods.”
“They did not come to rule, nor to dominate, nor to plunder, but only to hunt.”
The image froze under the shadow of a giant beast, vague in form but exuding a terrifying aura.
“Until there was nowhere left to retreat, the ancestors of Izumo embarked on a bloody path later called ‘God-Slaying.’”
The star map faded, and the scene shifted to mountains of broken sword fragments, forming a graveyard.
“Seventy thousand thirty-three swords broken…”
Sakura’s voice deepened.
“The ancestors groped in the almost desperate darkness, until…”
The scene switched again, countless swords being melted down.
Twelve ancient-looking longsword phantoms, each emitting a different glow, slowly formed in the flames.
Behind each longsword was a massive phantom, which were the twelve main gods of Takama-ga-hara.
“A great blacksmith, whose name is unknown and hidden deep in the dust of history, forged Izumo’s twelve ‘World-Protecting Chao Swords’!”
“These twelve swords embody Izumo’s fiercest desire for survival and its most resolute will to resist the gods.”
“Their very existence corresponds to the twelve supreme evil gods who wield the rules of the world above Takama-ga-hara.”
“Truth, Space, Thunder, Hurricane, Frost, Life and Death, Blazing Flame, Consciousness, Bedrock, Domination, Restraint, Erosion… They are the embodiment of rules, and also the root of destruction.”
“The World-Protecting chao swords are also the ultimate God-Slaying Swords!”
“Those who possess these twelve World-Protecting chao swords, and are recognized by the chao swords, bearing their power and curse (demonization), are the Sword Bearers.”
“By killing a god, seizing its core of power, and embedding it into the corresponding chao sword, the Sword Bearer can truly awaken the power of the chao sword and wield the authority of the gods!”
Sakura’s gaze turned to Raiden Mei.
More precisely, she looked at the Thunder chao sword “Roar” in Mei’s arms, which was embedded with a god’s core.
“We are the God-Slayers who walk among humans, the last bastion protecting civilization, and also… the martyrs who walk on the edge of life and death.”