Chapter 16 If There Were Gods

"Is the so-called Great God of Calamity the Dragon of Phantom Light that descended three hundred years ago?"

There were many factors that transformed Reito Island into this bizarre state, and the most influential among them was undoubtedly the Calamity of Phantom Light in 1709. Had that disaster never occurred, this nation would likely have walked a path entirely different from the present.

Izumo Rina had stated personally that the accuracy of Reito Island's misfortune divination was due to the blessing of the God of Calamity. Combining the events he encountered after arriving on the island with the cryptic warnings of his friends, Gongsun Ce believed the island's anomalous state was inextricably linked to the so-called "God of Calamity." The first thing he needed to figure out was the true identity of this deity.

The kind old woman did not answer directly: "Have you heard of the concepts of *Magatsu* and *Naobi*?"

The esper shook his head, and the woman beside him took over the conversation: "'Maga' is a collective term for all things irrational, disasters, impurities, misfortune, and ill fate. 'Maga' can also be expressed as distortion, and the concept opposite to it is 'Nao'. Purifying impurities and dispelling disasters is what the people of Reito Island commonly call turning calamity into rectitude."

You're quite knowledgeable, as expected of a local.

Gongsun Ce summarized: "Magatsu is bad luck, and Naobi is good luck. That seems to be the gist of it."

The old woman smiled and nodded.

"Guest, in your opinion, between calamity and rectitude, which one holds the primary position?"

"Calamity," Gongsun Ce answered immediately. "The so-called rectitude is a concept born from calamity. The good luck brought by rectitude sounds like the purification and distortion of calamity. Furthermore..."

He continued under the old shrine maiden's encouraging gaze: "The deities of rectitude among the hidden gods also emerged due to the influence of the god of calamity, which is to say, the giant dragon. Rectitude is not the opposite of calamity, but simply another manifestation of it. That is how I understand it."

"You are a very perceptive person," the old shrine maiden praised. "Magatsu and Naobi transform into one another, thereby completing the circulation of calamity. That is the vortex known as 'destiny'."

"This vortex is brought by the Great God of Calamity, and we, dwelling within it, are able to borrow the deity's power, hence we devoutly refer to it as a blessing."

The old woman took a sip of tea, rested for a moment, and slowly spoke: "Yet the deity is fickle, and the circulation of calamity does not remain balanced forever. When the power of calamity accumulates too much, the god of calamity will descend to the mortal realm to restore balance to the cycle. Should the power of calamity reach its limit... what descends then will no longer be an ordinary god of calamity, but the Great God of Calamity herself, the very creator of the vortex."

Looking into Gongsun Ce's eyes, she said peacefully, "The Great God of Calamity last descended in 1709. Beyond this small island, she is known as the Dragon of Phantom Light."

Shigure Rei's expression remained neutral, but her gaze clearly showed her utter disbelief in this theory. Gongsun Ce probed tentatively, "Ms. Izumo, I am not sure how much you know about my situation..."

"Rest assured, guest. Little Yan has told me about you. These theories regarding the vortex will not pose any danger to you." The old woman smiled somewhat helplessly. "Because you are already within the vortex of this island."

Since the old woman had conferred with Yan Qi, knowing this made things much easier. Gongsun Ce proceeded to reason comfortably: the vortex, connections, the God of Calamity, and the vague warnings—tying these together...

"The descent of the God of Calamity makes the power of the so-called vortex extremely strong, to the extent that any informational disturbance pointing toward Reito Island is captured by the vortex of calamity and rectitude. The informational disturbances entangled with the vortex are what you call connections, and the existence of these connections makes divination performed on Reito Island extremely accurate," Gongsun Ce carefully sorted through his thoughts. "I believe that the more one understands the vortex itself, the tighter the connections become, and the greater the impact the vortex brings. Therefore, no one told me about this before I set out, and all you have done is provide a brief introduction."

"And you and the Seven Luminaries Shinto have methods to observe and even influence these connections. This might be the prayer you mentioned earlier, or some application of the Formless Arts unknown to me. In any case, we are forced to borrow the power of the Seven Luminaries Shinto to initiate our action plan; otherwise, setting out completely unprepared would allow the Martial Assembly and Military Vanguard to divine the details of our operation, or even subject me to sudden misfortune and other inexplicable occurrences due to the vortex..."

Recalling the bizarre speech of the bean-washing child, Gongsun Ce pressed his hands together and added, "To supplement this, in the mouths of the hidden gods, connections are referred to as fortune, and gray connections mean the vortex is exerting a negative impact on me. That is my personal guess, am I correct?"

"..."

The old shrine maiden was momentarily speechless, and Shigure Rei sneered, "It seems your hocus-pocus tricks don't work on him."

Gongsun Ce frowned: "Ms. Shigure, please don't be so rude!"

"Hmph." Shigure Rei said no more, leaving the cup of tea before her completely untouched.

The old shrine maiden waved her hand, indicating she didn't mind. She looked quite wistful.

"Guest, your guess is basically correct. Do you have anything else that puzzles you?"

Plenty of things.

The wandering divine beans, the living deities, the inexplicably mended path of misfortune, and even the connection between the dragon phenomenon and the Formless Arts... There were still many things he did not know, but the gray-haired young man keenly noticed a trace of weariness in the old woman's eyes.

Izumo Hiyori appeared to be well over seventy years old, and now that night had fallen, it was long past time for an elderly person to rest.

Gongsun Ce raised his cup and toasted the old shrine maiden. "All my doubts have been cleared. Thank you for your help, Ms. Izumo."

"Hehe... If there is anything else you do not understand, go and ask that child Rina." The old woman leaned on her cane, stood up, and called out, "Rina—Rina—"

"Coming, Granny." The shrine maiden pushed the door open and poked her head in. Her gaze swept over the two unmasked individuals, and her jaw dropped. "Whoa..."

The old woman scolded helplessly, "You child! Don't be rude in front of guests!"

"Sorry, sorry," Rina apologized repeatedly with a smile. "The rooms are ready. Come this way."

The two bid farewell to the old shrine maiden and followed Rina into the corridor. After walking a short distance on the wooden floorboards, Gongsun Ce heard the shrine maiden whisper softly, "I didn't expect you to be quite handsome."

Shigure Rei let out a retching sound.

"Ms. Shigure, I'm so moved." The esper was practically on the verge of tears. Ever since he had met Shigure, almost no one had ever praised his appearance, largely because any male standing beside that fellow would automatically be relegated to the "utterly mediocre" tier, blending seamlessly into the crowd without standing out.

This pleasant mood lasted until Rina led them to the guest rooms.

"Mr. Gongsun will stay in this room, and Miss Alice's room is just around the corner over there. Although it's an old-style room, the facilities are complete. It can't compare to big city hotels, though."

Shigure Rei had still used the alias Alice Eydal during her self-introduction, so Rina did not yet know that the person beside her was the notorious Shigure. The shrine maiden showed them the rooms, but noticing that her guests' faces were as dark as the bottom of a pot and that they both stood rooted to the spot without moving, she asked in confusion, "Are the two of you unsatisfied?"

Fairly speaking, the guest room Rina prepared for them was extremely comfortable. It was nearly as large as Gongsun Ce's personal apartment; tatami mats were laid over the solid wood floor, furnished with a low table and floor cushions; light-colored calligraphy bearing the character for "Zen" hung on the wall, alongside elegant floral arrangements near the corner; and further inside, the bedroom featured a large bed that looked thoroughly inviting—truly thoughtful for a foreigner like Gongsun Ce who was unaccustomed to sleeping on the floor...

However, Rina's arrangement suffered from an oversight that truly could not be blamed on her.

The shortest distance between the rooms assigned to the two guests exceeded five meters.

"..." "..."

The faces of the two guests were as gloomy as a winter lake. The female hunter spoke first: "Is there a room slightly closer?"

Rina thought for a moment and asked, "Is there some technique that requires a specific distance?"

Gongsun Ce applauded vigorously in his heart. It's so great that you're a professional and could make that association immediately! Mr. Gongsun's reputation has been saved!

"Yes, yes, the defensive technique we activated for safety when we set out... the distance preferably needs to be..." Gongsun Ce gave an awkward cough, "Within five meters."

Rina looked back and forth at their faces, wearing a "I understand" expression. The esper had no desire to explore what exactly a high school shrine maiden thought she understood. Without much hope, he asked, "Are there any single rooms that fit the requirement?"

Just looking at Rina's awkward smile, he knew the answer.

And so, thirty minutes later.

Gongsun Ce, having finished washing up first, stood expressionlessly in front of the bathroom door, listening to the drip-drop of running water from behind.

Naturally, the double room was larger than a single room. He had to press himself flat against the door to ensure a safe distance was maintained between himself and his partner. And because Miss Alice was completely out of his field of vision, he had even been forced to hand his cell phone into the bathroom along with her.

A luxury suite, the dead of night, alone with an attractive member of the opposite sex. What a fantastic setup! Why did it have to be with Shigure Rei?! If it had been replaced by...

"Ugh!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, reigning in his thoughts. Thinking of anyone right now would be far too inappropriate. Calm down, Gongsun Ce! You are a man who has seen the world! Only hormonally surging high schoolers would let their imaginations run wild over mere the sound of running water; you're long past the age of wanting to chat up pretty girls the moment you see them! Hearing running water and then thinking of droplets falling on skin, of the paths those droplets take, and imagining bodily curves—that kind of thinking is just...

He reached up and plugged his ears.

His mind hadn't even leaped to such lengths during actual combat. He trained his mental processing speed and associative ability so he could find clues and rapidly crack enemy attack methods, not to daydream in front of a bathroom door!

This uncontrollable train of thought made him extremely uncomfortable, even breeding a sense of disgust. Gongsun Ce squatted by the door like a hoodlum, reciting classical Chinese texts taught by Yan Qi in his mind to distract himself. By the time his legs began to go numb, the sound of a lock clicking finally came from behind. Warm steam billowed out against his back as the door opened, accompanied by someone's disgusted voice.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

"Meditation," Gongsun Ce replied with absolute tranquility. "Contemplating the mysteries of Zen."

Gongsun Ce pounded his numb legs, turned around, and stood up, wanting to casually drag out some mission-related topic to distract himself.

"—!"

The gray-haired young man's plan failed before it even began, simply because he was greeted by an unexpected sight. His gaze swept upward from bottom to top upon standing, taking in barefoot feet and slender legs; above that were short shorts tightly hugging her buttocks, followed by a midriff and navel peeking out between her tank top and bottoms, a tank top stretched taut by full breasts, dark hair wrapped in a towel, and the composed face belonging to Shigure Rei.

"—Hey!"

The esper retreated five meters at maximum speed, turning his head away as if he had been punched. The dark-haired woman was drying her hair by the bathroom door, curling her lip as she repeated, "Absurd... What on earth are you doing?"

"You! Could you please show some awareness!" The esper wiped his face. "At least change back into your hunting gear!"

"Haah? Who rests in that kind of clothes?" Shigure Rei found a can of beer in the refrigerator and tossed it to Gongsun Ce. "Have your slime check if it's poisoned...?"

The esper leaped even further away in an instant, running straight into the bedroom—five-meter distance priority!

Shigure Rei's gaze was as though she were looking at a psychiatric patient. An eerie silence fell over the room until the synthesized, reading-aloud voice of a young girl suddenly emitted from someone's phone.

[Monitoring indicates Gongsun Ce's body temperature and heart rate have risen. Is he suffering an unexpected ability attack? Kyra issues a reminder with 99% goodwill.]

Kyra! You—!

!

!

Gongsun Ce didn't know if he was blushing, but he noticed the dark-haired woman's face flush instantly, much like the occasion they accidentally ran into each other during the last dating plan. There was still hope; he just needed to quickly think of a snappy remark to jab at her and bring the pace back into his familiar territory—

"Heh."

The blush on Shigure Rei's face faded, replaced by a malicious smile. Gongsun Ce knew this round was ruined. He raised a hand in gesture: "Calm down first!"

"Aah, even I startled myself. I never imagined you could still hold feelings of interest toward someone who killed you once." Shigure Rei tossed the beer aside and stepped into the bedroom step by step, resembling a cat cornering a mouse.

"Are you fascinated by this body? Or has your masochistic nature morphed into some bizarre desire, and after that incident, you've actually fallen in love with me?"

Tch, of all times... This woman was truly difficult to deal with. Once her hopeless narcissism and wicked sense of humor occupied the surface of her personality, it became impossible to gain any advantage!

Shigure Rei pressed forward step by step, and the gray-haired young man had already retreated to the edge of the bed. He knew that if this continued, things would genuinely turn bad; who knew what kind of things this woman could pull off when brimming with a sense of superiority!

"I admit your figure is great. Mr. Gongsun is, after all, a normal young male—it's understandable that I wouldn't want to get too close to you, right?" Gongsun Ce raised his hands threateningly. "Stop right there, or I'll use my psychokinesis—"

Shigure Rei made her declaration in an immensely joyful tone: "An inferior's ability cannot reach me!"

The gray-haired young man still hadn't figured out her train of thought. Just as he hadn't expected her to launch a sneak attack while underground, he hadn't anticipated Shigure Rei using her ability at this moment either.

The restraint of psychokinesis was utterly useless; Shigure Rei was standing right before him. The lingering warmth radiated from her side, the scent of shampoo emanated from her dark hair, her red lips parted with light breaths, and the fair skin exposed beneath her collar—the seductive allure of the opposite sex slammed into his brain, leaving him momentarily dazed.

Subconsciously, the esper used his white substance to create restraints while, simultaneously, Shigure Rei hooked her finger under his chin.

"Stop right there!" the young man roared. Yet she completely ignored the blade of white substance pressed against her throat, staring straight into the youth's eyes.

"You know what, Gongsun Ce? What brings me the greatest joy is not your desire, but the self-loathing and self-reproach revealed in your eyes when you realize it."

Once again, seductive lips uttered wounding words; once again, the viper drove its fangs into his heart.

"—!"

Shigure Rei was a manifest-realm spiritual phase wielder. How could he have forgotten that? He could not afford a single moment of slackness in front of this person, otherwise she would perceive the emotions churning within his heart...

"How amusing," the dark-haired woman laughed gleefully. "You practically refuse to let go of any opportunity to despise yourself. Can't you live without this kind of self-abuse?"

"Stop projecting the superiority you adore onto others," Gongsun Ce glared at her fixedly. "Don't force me to use this damn thing to knock you out."

"Can you do it, boy?"

She grabbed Gongsun Ce's hand and pressed it tightly against the collar around her neck. "Look, it's just this tiny thing. With a single word from you, I'd have no choice but to let you do as you please."

"But can you do it? Simply because I spoke an unpleasant truth, simply because of your own desires..." Despite being in an extremely disadvantageous position, she wore a victorious, evil smile. "Can you resolve yourself to inflict harm upon me?"

Gongsun Ce was momentarily speechless. What else could he say? Show weakness and admit he couldn't? Curse her malice all over again? No, playing by conventional rules would surely leave him at her mercy. Shigure Rei's sense of superiority was mounting step by step. If she were at full strength right now, the power of her spiritual-phase manifestation would be able to...!

Gongsun Ce closed his eyes tightly and shouted, "Kyra! Save me!"