The Yatagarasu's Descent

The valley was known for its fierce winds.

That made it easy to step along the flowing currents of air.

As I advanced by treading through empty space, the entire valley unfolded beneath me in a single sweeping view.

Seen from the other side, it meant I was just as clearly visible to the enemy.

“Mortal, do not interfere with the revolution the new order shall bring.”

“Obstructors will be eliminated.”

“This much?”

“They’re nothing but half-finished angels.”

Polar Night surged from the shadows and coiled around my body. The rich darkness soaked into my skin, synchronizing with every bone and cell until I became one with the night itself. I unfolded the fully unified Polar Night to its utmost limit. A curtain of night bled across a portion of the sky, turning it pitch black.

Spears. Swords. Maces. Polar Night transformed into countless weapon shapes and hurtled toward the fallen angels.

“It makes it easier to infuse my will.”

Polar Night had no fixed form. It was an intangible power that could take on ten thousand shapes according to the user’s desire. I could not wield it as freely as my own limbs the way Nyx did. Therefore, I had no choice but to imprint images from my imagination onto it, raising its destructive power. This was a feat made possible ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only after I had taken one step into the realm of perfection.

Nyx murmured, her voice laced with admiration.

The fallen angels possessed combat strength equivalent to Platinum-rank players in the level 300 range. They swung their spears in frantic desperation against the barrage of weapons forged from Polar Night.

“A mere mortal commands such power!”

“Do not lose composure.”

The fallen angels responded in coordinated formation. Still, I had never planned to defeat them with Polar Night alone. I closed in while treading the Wind Path and unleashed the only martial technique I could use against an opponent synchronized with darkness.

Crackle!

Internal energy surged over the dark blade. I swung the sword that radiated an aura strong enough to surpass the level of sword energy manifestation. One strike, one kill. The fallen angels fell from the sky exactly as their name implied.

“How dare a mortal defile the corpse of a heavenly being!”

“Heavenly being? Don’t make me laugh.”

For fakes created by the Tower, only their arrogance matched the originals. After dismantling the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fallen angel formation, I moved to the nearest altar.

“Didn’t you know about those dyed chicken wings, Goddess?”

“It’s nothing special. They’re basically parasites.”

The Klyphoth Tree was the inverted symbol of the Tree of Sephirot, which represented order. A mirror-like space that could only exist by reflecting an original world. Nyx quickly grasped the concept.

“Parasites or not, they aren’t weak opponents.”

Just as the Branch of Gaag Szeblah I encountered on the nineteenth floor had possessed power far beyond the floor’s intended difficulty, the Branch of Golacap that formed part of the Klyphoth Tree also carried considerable strength. The difficulty had been raised by the constellations’ intervention, but it still felt like a fair adjustment in line with the floor’s setting.

“Only if this were before I obtained the Rainbow Flashing Stone.”

I licked my lips. While strolling through the air, my eyes caught an altar steeped in darkness. The moment the demon followers saw me they pointed and cursed. A pitch-black barrier surged up to envelop the altar while vast quantities of dark mana writhed inside the enclosure.

Black Flare. Destroy Ray. Dark Blender. Black flames, beams of destruction, and waves of every foul energy imaginable shot skyward. Every single follower was a “Branch” equal in rank to the hidden boss on the nineteenth floor. Their power could not be underestimated.

“All that enthusiasm is wasted on them.”

I clicked my tongue and pulled back. Magic range is not as long as arrows or bullets. It is an anomalous phenomenon created by the user rearranging mana through sheer will. The farther the rearranged mana travels from its caster, the weaker its cohesion becomes. Once I put more than a hundred and fifty meters between myself and the darkened altar, the ferocious dark spells lost more than two-thirds of their power.

I erased the incoming magic bullets with the power of Polar Night, then rearranged my mana at the same time. A blazing orb took shape. I completed one Solar Explosion but did not release it. Instead I let the Protection of Greed corrode it. Dark-crimson mana spread across the orange surface. The immense energy compressed inside the sphere writhed violently, yet I held it firmly in check.

Don’t talk to me right now.

Although I had widened the distance to weaken the demon followers’ spells, I still could not afford to be careless. Polar Night continued its cycle of destruction and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠regeneration each time it touched their magic. I hurled the two Solar Explosions I had finished in twenty seconds simultaneously. The orange orbs flew toward the altar, resonated with each other, and unleashed the power they contained.

Kwaaaaaaaaang—!

The heat that surpassed all limits melted part of the cliff face.

“If I drop two Solar Explosions on them, there’s no way the altar stays intact.”

The altar had been slightly outside the blast radius. Even so, the shockwave alone shattered the protective barrier and roasted the demon followers inside to a crisp.

“Thanks to their hard work, the altar survived.”

“What?”

This goddess really knows how to make someone feel uneasy.

I devoured the charred demon followers—the so-called Branches of Golacap—but my essence gauge did not fill completely. The Branch of Gaag Szeblah on the nineteenth floor had been treated as a boss monster, so defeating one filled the gauge to a hundred percent. It looked like I would have to put in a little more footwork.

I placed my hand on the pitch-black altar and poured mana into it.

Normally this purification required several party members working together. Thanks to the Primordial Dragon Heart, however, my mana overflowed and I could handle it alone.

“Yeah. Raising the difficulty ended up being pointless.”

When I agreed, Nyx stared straight at me.

“What?”

“Telling someone their face looks strange is rude, you know.”

Sharp as ever. I turned my head and pretended not to hear.

The mission on the forty-first floor. It would be inconvenient if it ended this quickly. So keep struggling, fallen angels.

* * *

The Forgotten Valley, stage of the forty-first floor. It was originally a mission that recommended a five-person party, but that meant nothing to me. Despite the constellations raising the difficulty, I succeeded in purifying every altar the demon followers had seized. Afterward I summoned Lexy and established a defensive line.

“Goddess, stop lounging around and do some ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠work.”

“You only call upon this one at moments like these.”

Nyx manifested while grumbling, yet contrary to her words she actively cut down the demon followers and helped defend the altars. Their assaults gradually weakened.

A useful attack spell based on dark mana. Moreover, I had gained a debuff spell necessary for Deicide. Used together with Deicide, it would prove invaluable when hunting the Old Gods. It was a skill I had relied on heavily against them even in my previous life.

This should be enough.

I took one step back from the altar.

“Goddess, can you handle the defense for a while?”

“As expected, you had another goal in mind. Leave it to this one.”

With Nyx and Lexy working together, they should be able to cover every altar scattered throughout the valley. I descended to the bottom of the ravine.

Just as I thought. Even after the difficulty was raised, the fundamental structure of the mission had not changed completely. The ownerless altar was a fairly well-known hidden element even in the present era. That was why no messages about first discovery or additional rewards appeared. The way to use an ownerless altar was simple: offer anything and receive a random reward.

“At least, that’s what the description says.”

In truth, the ownerless altars followed their own formula. Offer A and receive B. In my previous life, players had called the forty-first floor the Workshop of Miraculous Alchemy. If you knew the combination recipes, you could reap enormous benefits. At the current point in time, the proper way to use these altars was not yet widely known.

“Time to put this to use at last.”

I took out an item that had been sleeping inside the Pocket of Desire for a long time and placed the Strange Bird’s Egg on the altar. It was a reward I had obtained after clearing a gate in Argentina. My original plan had been to find a player specialized in taming, fulfill a few conditions, and hatch it into a Thunderbird. But it proved difficult to locate a capable tamer in the country, so I had given up.

“Using it on an ownerless altar works just as well.”

I grinned and poured mana into the base of the altar.

Oooooooooong—!

Some things never change no matter how many times you regress. A fantasy species summoned through the Strange Bird’s Egg as a medium. A massive one-legged black bird—the Yata Crow—glared down at me.