Hikigaya's God Slayer Story

Chapter 18 – Hikigaya Hachiman Gains a New Form

The expanding darkness had already engulfed the entire space, swallowing even the terrifying radiance that had shone earlier.

Athena was now burning her divine power at full force to kill Hikigaya Hachiman.

From the outside, not a single glimmer of light could be seen anymore.

But within this curtain of darkness, it was a different story.

The light that severed procreation and the light that revived life alternated across Hikigaya's body, while the raging light of thunder repeatedly emerged from Athena's hands.

Man and goddess — both had truly ignited in battle.

There was nothing more to say: a god-slayer and a god were destined to be irreconcilable enemies.

At this moment, Hikigaya Hachiman and Athena were exhibiting the most natural and expected attitudes of their kind.

Athena wanted to kill Hikigaya, while Hikigaya's desire to slay a god burned even stronger.

"As expected of Athena, wielding such diverse powers so well."

After punching away a bolt of thunder, Hikigaya appeared unafraid of Athena's lightning now and even had the leisure to make sarcastic remarks.

This goddess who wielded clouds and thunder was, in mythology, a staunch supporter of the patriarchal system.

Zeus trusted her more than any other god, even entrusting her with his thunderbolts.

Therefore, Hikigaya only needed to channel his understanding of Zeus's lightning into Set's "severing" ability to cancel out those bolts.

However, it didn't seem to bother Athena much — she could generate new thunder at any moment.

This goddess, who like Zeus used thunder as a weapon, would undoubtedly strike lightning into Hikigaya's body the moment she found an opening — and at that point, the situation would change completely.

Thus far in the battle, Hikigaya had relied on his martial skill to prevent that from happening.

Not just through passive defense, but with decisive offense.

His moves were swift and sharp, his attack trajectories short.

Stepping with the footwork of Bone Method, he maintained a strict control over the distance between himself and Athena, striking out with palm blows like jabs, and even using his fingers to pierce like spears — all aimed at forcing Athena to use her shield, Aegis, for defense.

Once she did, he would seize the opportunity to unleash his seismic authority, using calming power simultaneously to suppress Athena's terrain-disrupting forces.

Athena's counterattacks were sharp too.

She repeatedly used the divine eyes of intimidation and petrification, causing Hikigaya many difficulties — the most serious being when his shoulder was completely punctured, leaving a hole the size of a fist.

Yet just as Athena possessed the power of life, he did too — alternating the radiance of Osiris and Set, he repeatedly survived her killing intent.

This was not a battle that beings other than gods or god-slayers could participate in.

Not even spectators could survive.

Even a trace of their leaked power could destroy a mid-sized city — annihilating all matter and life within.

As their lightning-fast exchanges continued, both combatants felt awe for the other.

Athena was surprised by Hikigaya's resilience; Hikigaya, in turn, silently marveled at Athena's ferocity.

A god of war truly was a god of war.

The life force of the virgin goddess, the death force of the underworld goddess — all were perfectly wielded by Athena, along with her martial prowess.

Aegis was indeed terrifying.

Beyond its defensive power, it emitted fear and other negative emotions to disturb Hikigaya's mind.

Precisely because of that, Hikigaya was even more determined to destroy this shield first.

If it could spread fear, that meant it was channeling energy into Athena.

In mythology, Aegis was associated with four personified abstract concepts, including fear and strength.

Hikigaya, no longer the rookie he once was, knew that "strength" here most likely referred to destructive power.

Hmm... Destruction?

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

There was that old story about the strongest spear versus the strongest shield. A silly tale, sure — but one with a certain logic.

Hikigaya didn't have a spear, but he did have an arrow. And that arrow specialized in suppressing those who disrupted order.

Whether his guess was right or not, he'd try it anyway. This battle had gone on long enough!

After batting away another thunderbolt and landing a follow-up attack on Athena's shield, Hikigaya suddenly leapt back several steps.

With those few leaps, he opened a distance of dozens of meters between them.

"One trick, all the way" — that was Hikigaya's dream. In the past, now, and forever.

"Trying that coward's weapon again?" Athena responded instantly, already charging forward, quickly closing the gap.

"Coward or not, you'll find out soon enough." Hikigaya grinned, kicked the ground, and soared into the sky. "Come on, keep chasing. I can fly!"

But then he was stunned to see Athena crouch down and slam her foot powerfully into the ground.

The already fractured terrain collapsed completely under her stomp — and in exchange, the goddess shot into the sky like a cannonball, her beautiful face filled with murderous intent.

To Hikigaya, this was the best possible outcome — even a delightful surprise.

"Yep, gotta fight gods to reap the biggest rewards." Watching Athena streak toward him like a comet, Hikigaya mused inwardly. At the same time, he began to transform.

First, his hair and clothes turned into flames. Then his entire body — until he became a blazing fireball, burning fiercely in midair.

Even the dark veil cast by Athena couldn't obscure the intense radiance emanating from the fireball — nor could it drown out Hikigaya's voice.

"Though you're a goddess who upheld patriarchy in myth, the gods of disobedience contradict their mythological selves.

That must be why you say you hate light — but in truth, what you hate isn't light. It's men, isn't it?"

The goddess didn't respond. Her speed didn't drop — in fact, she seemed to accelerate.

Her divine shield was held aloft, and the thunder spear was gripped tightly under her arm, aimed straight at the fireball that was Hikigaya.

Her bright eyes showed unshaken resolve, unfazed by her enemy's words.

But the next moment, her resolve turned into shock.

The burning flames scattered — and a massive Xuan Bird appeared in the sky.

At the instant the mythical Eastern bird emerged, the lightning in Athena's hand began to twist and dissipate.

"An Eastern divine bird?" Athena said solemnly, her body halting abruptly in midair.

"Too late to dodge now." The Xuan Bird spoke in Hikigaya's voice. Though now a bird, his tone was full of smugness. "Come, come — eat my new move! Flames of Kunlun, perish together; Heaven's wrath exceeds wild fire!"

In the next instant, this arrogant-sounding giant bird erupted in blinding light — illuminating the night sky like it was midday.

Chapter 19: The Dread of a God

The so-called darkness had become a joke.

In fact, this vast curtain of shadow could no longer even obscure the light within it.

At the boundary of the darkness, faint yet steadily increasing particles of light were continuously leaking out, slowly forming a hazy white band that was becoming more and more obvious against the dark veil.

But within the darkness was an even more terrifying scene.

The incantation spoken by Hachiman Hikigaya, now transformed into a Xuan Bird, came from the original words of Hou Yin the ancient text Yin Campaign-

Historically, Lord Yin, acting under the orders of the Xia King, commanded the six military divisions in a campaign against the negligent Heavenly Official Xi He. Yin Campaign was the speech given by Lord Yin before the great battle to rally morale.

In mythology, this event became a key source for the legend of Yi shooting down the nine suns.

The Xia King became Emperor Di Jun, Lord Yin became Hou Yi, the six divisions of the Xia transformed into the red bow and white arrows used to shoot the suns, and Heavenly Official Xi He became the sun goddess and her sons.

For people of that time, if the calendar became chaotic, it was tantamount to the disorder of the entire universe—no less serious in consequence.

And now, Hikigaya was using Yin Campaign in the exact same way.

Using ancient texts as incantations is a common magical technique—as long as one can understand the symbolic meanings, the words of the ancients become sharp weapons.

Though a Godslayer's authorities are not the same as magic, their connection with ancient texts is even closer, making this method particularly potent for unleashing unexpected power.

At this moment, the solar calamity flames unleashed by the Xuan bird had already expanded to an immense scale.

The fire surged and rolled like storm clouds in the sky, howling and spiraling. Whatever originally existed where the flames passed had now been reduced to ashes.

And amidst this boundless sea of white flames, only one figure stood unwavering.

That was the goddess Athena.

Holding aloft her divine shield, Aegis, the sky-encompassing flames seemed to be halted by the shield.

No matter how they roared in the heavens, they could not fall.

At the heart of the firestorm, in his avian form, Hikigaya took everything in with clear eyes.

"Those who strike first, execute without pardon. Those who delay, execute without pardon." He recited the second line of the incantation.

Athena tried hard—but effort alone was not enough.

As long as she continued to use her identity as a goddess of destruction and disruption of cosmic order, she could not stand against the power of the ten suns.

Or rather, any Heretic god whose nature ran counter to mythology itself was a source of chaos in this world.

In that sense, the "Ten Suns" power Hikigaya wielded would be the most hated force among such gods.

Finally, the white sea of flames could no longer be stopped.

It poured down from the heavens like a waterfall, as if the Milky Way had overturned and the sea of stars was crashing to the ground.

One after another, halos more dazzling and terrifying than ever before were formed in this apocalyptic fusion of sky and earth—crushing, overwhelming, unrelenting—sweeping across the same area again and again, compressing what little space the darkness had left, surging toward the edge of the black curtain.

And unsurprisingly, the goddess's darkness was lost.

Like a bubble bursting from within, the curtain of darkness that once veiled the heavens collapsed like foam, leaving nothing behind.

In its place came blinding light. A massive ball of radiance, like a phoenix reborn in flames, lit up the Siberian sky.

But the terrifying force it unleashed was far more than mere light.

It devoured the very land on which it blazed.

Layer after layer, again and again.

When it was all over and the brilliance faded, a massive crater had taken the place of what was once gravel and forest. Heat still rose in waves. After being scorched at intense temperatures, the landscape had turned into a crimson pit of lava, the magma within still flowing—leaving no doubt as to the sincerity of its creator.

Clearly, this guy had no intention of showing restraint on someone else's land.

Yet at the center of the crater, a vaguely humanoid form floated atop the lava.

The word "vaguely" was deliberate—because it certainly wasn't human.

No one could float atop magma...

That was a god.

A defeated god.

Suddenly, a chill emanated from that figure—so cold it froze all the heat in the vicinity.

The flowing lava solidified, and the fiery pit walls rapidly changed color.

Then, with a cracking sound, the god's body rose from the newly formed rock.

Athena's armor was gone.

Her helmet, breastplate, armguards—everything had vanished. Even her shield was no more. She now wore only a simple, ancient-style white robe.

Her silver hair remained radiant, and a wreath adorned her head, but her once-sharp owl eyes had lost their edge.

Her face as the "virgin warrior" had been broken and laid bare.

Now, she could no longer act in her role as a god of war, which severely impacted her power.

As a result, she now only had her natural powers to rely on in battle—likely no longer enough to kill Hikigaya Hachiman.

The power he had just unleashed felt both unfamiliar and strangely familiar to her.

Though she couldn't recall why, she was certain—it was the nemesis of all disobedient gods.

Athena's bare feet stepped onto the solidified rock, and she began to ascend step by step from the bottom of the crater.

By the time she reached the ground's surface again, lightning had reappeared in her hand.

Though she had lost her valkyrie abilities, she had not lost her command over thunder and storm clouds—natural forces that were hers by right as a nature goddess.

Athena looked around. In her bright eyes, there was only desolation.

Not only was the land scorched, but even before the calamity fire struck, all life had already been annihilated.

Now, likely not a trace remained.

"Hikigaya Hachiman..." Athena's delicate brows furrowed slightly—she could no longer sense his presence.

But the idea that his last attack was some desperate mutual destruction attempt—she couldn't believe that.

Most likely, he had once again stolen some ability from one of her fellow gods—one that allowed him to hide.

How infuriating.

Suddenly, Athena stopped in her tracks.

A look of disbelief appeared on her face.

She sensed the rhythm of life!

Now, some may not understand why a goddess of life would be so shaken by a mere sign of life.

So let it be said clearly:

Goddess Athena had felt the rhythm of life... within her own body!

Though extremely weak—so faint it was nearly imperceptible—and it appeared only briefly, never to return...

Athena would swear by her highest divine title as the goddess of life that she hadn't misheard it.

The goddess disliked the sun, but did not resist it—because like the earth, the sun bore the power of life and death, of fertility.

However, as a complete embodiment of life—and as a virgin goddess—Athena could not comprehend what had just occurred within her own being.

For the first time in millennia, a foreign emotion arose in her heart.

She felt panic—and, like a normal human girl, that panic showed clearly on her face.