The Gift of the Fiery Golden Eyes
At that exact moment, Hoya and the Heavenly Demon both shot upright with a startled “Kugh?!” Their bodies sprang up like springs. The rebound from the bed launched them momentarily into the air, and in that brief gap they frantically patted themselves down to confirm they were safe. Their movements were so desperate and urgent that anyone watching might have asked if they had just come back from the dead.
“W-where are we?”
And I would tell them: yes, you really did just come back from the dead.
“We… didn’t die?”
The memory was still vivid. The crushing pressure of the Jingu Bang they had seen right before death. Even though it hadn’t touched them, the sheer overwhelming mass had already begun to collapse their bodies—an illusion they simply couldn’t forget.
“Haha… this is on a completely different level from the simulation.”
If death in the simulation only left a slight mental scar, this kind of death was… how should I put it? It felt like the very existence called “me” had returned to nothingness.
Throb.
“Ugh, my eyes hurt.”
Maybe it was because of the unexpected death, but an especially fierce pain radiated from my eyes. The left one in particular was so bad I wondered if something had gone seriously wrong.
“Ugh!”
The Spiritual Eye reacts to the Fiery Golden Eyes.
The Fiery Golden Eyes react to the Spiritual Eye.
The Fiery Golden Eyes absorb the power of the Spiritual Eye.
“Fiery… Golden Eyes…?”
Was it the Fiery Golden Eyes I was thinking of? I had to check. I immediately pressed hard on my left eye and dashed to the mirror.
“What the hell is this?”
In the mirror, my left eye had become a blazing golden iris, exactly like Sun Wukong’s eyes that had pierced through the mist.
“The Fiery Golden Eyes? My eye actually turned into the Fiery Golden Eyes?”
I didn’t even bother asking why. After all, when I returned to reality, I hadn’t received anything from Sun Wukong. This Fiery Golden Eyes must be the gift he left for me.
“Ugh, but does it have to hurt this much the whole time?”
An unpleasant burning pain seared my optic nerves, forcing my eyes to keep squinting. At this rate I was worried I’d only get wrinkles around my left eye.
“By the way, where did Master and Miss Hoya go?”
The image leading to Sun Wukong had also vanished. It was the first time I’d felt this kind of silence since arriving at the academy—excluding the time in the library—and it felt strangely awkward.
Fiery Golden Eyes
Type: Skill
Insight eyes imbued with the flames of the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
—Sees through all illusions and barriers.
—Perceives every movement within its field of vision.
—Purges impurities from the body.
—Contains the power of the Spiritual Eye.
To ease the awkwardness, I checked the effects of the newly acquired Fiery Golden Eyes. The surprisingly excellent abilities brought a smile to my face despite the pain in my eyes.
Fwoooosh.
“Ugh?!”
The pain in my eyes suddenly intensified. It grew so severe I couldn’t even open them properly. On top of that, a scorching heat centered on my left eye began to spread, heating my entire body as if it intended to burn me completely.
“Kuaaagh…!”
Thanks to the effects of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, there was no major physical damage, but there was nothing I could do about the mental agony of my body burning. I could only endure it.
Grind.
So this was the price I had to pay to obtain the Fiery Golden Eyes. Was it because I was human? Was the power too strong for a human to accept, and that’s why it was throwing this tantrum?
“Don’t make me laugh.”
Who the hell did it think it was to throw a tantrum? The Heavenly Demon Divine Art was sitting quietly inside me right now, and it dared to act up?
“Calm down quietly…!”
Even as I endured the pain, a small anxiety stirred inside me. What if this agony didn’t disappear and continued forever? If that happened, would I still be able to go about my daily life without constantly grimacing?
The heat of the Eight Trigrams Furnace contained within the Fiery Golden Eyes burns away the body’s impurities.
All stats increase by 3.
“…Huh?”
But all those anxious worries were blown away by the following system alerts. What filled the empty space wasn’t the previous unease, but a surge of anticipation—how much could my stats possibly rise?
“Kuu… hehehe.”
The moment this heat subsided, the stat increases would stop. In other words, as long as this pain continued, I could keep getting stronger!
“So you weren’t just trying to torment me.”
What had I said earlier? Arrogant? Throwing a tantrum? Stay quiet? All of those were mistakes. Stay quiet? This power should be rampaging even harder!
“Go on, rampage!”
I was ready, Fiery Golden Eyes. This was both mercy and a gift from the Fiery Golden Eyes, as well as a trial. And this pain was nothing more than growing pains that would make me even stronger.
Perhaps it understood my intention. The heat of the Fiery Golden Eyes grew even fiercer, surging through my body and pouring out scorching energy without restraint.
“With pain like this… who would give up on getting stats…”
Earlier I had curled up to suppress the pain, but now I spread my body evenly to let the heat circulate better and focused on my breathing. As if to prove my actions were correct, the heat grew stronger and faster, and the amount of stats increasing began to expand dramatically.
Hsssss.
The heat was so intense that it even seeped through my skin and began to ripple outward. Not only the spot where I sat, but the air in the entire room started rising in temperature as if I were standing under the summer sun without air conditioning.
“Huu… huup…”
Body impurities are being purged.
All stats increase by 7.
Strength stat increases by an additional 1.
Hsssss.
‘Ugh, the smell.’
The stench of burning impurities made me frown involuntarily. Just how unpleasant could a smell be? I wanted to ventilate the room, but I was afraid that moving might reduce the stat gains, so I stayed cautious.
Creak.
Because of that, the room filled with the acrid odor of burning impurities. Only after the Fiery Golden Eyes had calmed down was I finally able to rush over and open the window to air the place out.
After ventilating, I checked my current status. Look at these beautiful numbers. How much time had passed since the entrance ceremony, and my stats had already risen this much? On top of that, with the impurities gone, my body felt more elastic and my skin had become clearer.
But there was one side effect. The blood vessels in my left eye, where the Fiery Golden Eyes resided, had burst and turned it blood-red. The Heavenly Demon Divine Art’s recovery would heal it quickly, but if it didn’t return to normal by tomorrow, I decided I would wear an eyepatch.
“Still, Master and Miss Hoya haven’t come back yet.”
How long had it been since the two of them were gone? Recently, even when Hoya disappeared, the Heavenly Demon had almost always stayed by my side, so an inexplicable emptiness filled the space they left behind.
Meanwhile, right after Zeon had received the questionnaire from Sun Wukong…
The Heavenly Demon and Hoya had already crossed dimensions and arrived in the Ghost Lair.
—I wonder if the enemies will even arrive in this short amount of time.
“That’s exactly why they’re coming. If we had given them too much time, they would have grown suspicious and there would have been a forty percent chance of failure, you know?”
To keep her promise with Hoya. And to uproot the yokai who coveted Zeon in their desire for Sun Wukong’s power, the Heavenly Demon began loosening up her body in advance.
Rumble. Rumble.
Hoya looked up at the dark clouds that filled the sky and clicked her tongue as she compared them to the sight of the Heavenly Demon warming up.
“What kind of warm-up manipulates the weather…?”
—So, when are the enemies arriving?
“Ah, they’re coming right over there~”
Seeing this, she really felt reassured. Hoya pointed at the figures flying toward them from far away, imagining the lightning hidden within those dark clouds pouring down on the enemies.
A monkey yokai riding a cloud with a confident expression. Behind him, a majestic procession of yokai followed in formation.
“But are you really going to fight in that state? If you want, I can lend you one.”
—No need. Wearing such cheap goods would make it difficult to show my true ability.
“This is a high-class item, you know.”
The Heavenly Demon remained in her soul state no matter where she went. Unlike Hoya, who had taken on a physical body for the proper fight in the Ghost Lair, she had no special method and would have to fight in her soul form. That was why Hoya had prepared a vessel for her to possess, but the Heavenly Demon had refused, saying it would only get in the way of the battle.
—Is that monkey yokai the one you mentioned?
“Yes. The one who calls himself Sun Wukong’s descendant. Despite how he looks, he’s lived far longer than me, so he might be tricky to deal with.”
—I see. That cloud in particular looks troublesome.
“The Somersault Cloud. If I obtained the arts of cloning and transformation, then he obtained the Somersault Cloud.”
Rumble rumble rumble.
As the distance closed, the ground began to shake violently with the yokai’s movements. Only two people stood against that countless horde of enemies. Yet neither of their faces held even a trace of tension.
“Who is the one who received our ancestor’s power!”
The monkey yokai riding the Somersault Cloud shouted roughly. Hoya let out a small snort and laughed.
“Ancestor? Please. You’re not even a real descendant.”
“You… yes, you must be that arrogant fox. How is that sickly old man doing? It’s about time for him to die, yet his lifeline is surprisingly long!”
“Hmph.”
—What’s this? You’re not responding to such provocation?
Considering Hoya’s personality that had easily fallen for provocations until now, this was truly strange.
“We’re about to fight. Why would I fall for such cheap taunts?”
—Hmm, to hear you say that…
“And it’s bad luck.”
Grin.
“I don’t want to waste words on a corpse that’s about to die soon.”
Snap.
Hoya lightly flicked her finger, and a barrier formed around the space. She had set it up to settle things here once and for all. A silver barrier enveloped the surroundings. The monkey yokai clicked his tongue at the Ghostly Qi embedded in the barrier.
“A barrier, huh. As expected of a fox, you’ve gotten quite good at petty tricks.”
—I’ll acknowledge that.
“Shut up!”
Who’s side are you taking right before a fight?
“Return Sun Wukong’s power to me right now and hand over the information on the one who will face the trial this time!”
“If I were going to do that, I wouldn’t have come out here in the first place.”
“A foolish choice! Then I shall take it by force!”
Boom. Boom.
What a voice. His volume was so tremendous that simply speaking loudly caused the surrounding space to tremble.
“T-that monster monkey. Just how much power has he devoured?!”
Hoya was shocked by the monkey yokai’s strength, which had grown far beyond what she remembered. But the Heavenly Demon simply wore a bored expression and slowly swept her finger downward.
—It won’t matter if we start first, right?
“Huh? Yeah, it doesn’t matter… but are you really okay with this?”
It was clearly beyond expectations. Hoya’s voice carried worry at the power that exceeded all standards. No matter how strong the Heavenly Demon was, the power before them now looked stronger than the Heavenly Demon had been during their previous fight.
In response to Hoya’s words, the Heavenly Demon let out a light laugh and said,
—Then let’s clean up the small fry first.
“All of Sun Wukong’s power belongs to me! I am Sun Wukong’s true descendant! I am the next Great Sage Equal to Heaven who will succeed him!”
—Extinguish.
Rumble.
With the Heavenly Demon’s casual gesture, the lightning that had been hiding within the dark clouds poured down.