Chapter 30: Great Cleanup
Hikigaya truly believed he was very strong.
However, it seemed that the powerful him had never used this strength on "ordinary people."
Stirring the sky, tearing the earth, creating a hell on earth—it wasn't that he couldn't do it, he just didn't want to.
But his kindness didn't seem to be sufficiently rewarded.
If that was the case, it was time to be a little evil. Killing people was the simplest thing for a Godslayer.
After entrusting the girls to handle things in his absence, Hikigaya set off alone.
Since he acquired the Eye of Horus, he no longer needed guidance or a leader.
But before all that, he was still willing to take a flight first.
The helicopter left at Hinata Mansion came in handy. It carried Hikigaya towards Tokyo Bay, landing on a giant ship as night fell.
When Hikigaya stepped out of the helicopter, he was met by the martial artists of the Yomi Hand-to-hand Group who were already standing by.
The One Shadow and Nine Fists had not arrived, but Hikigaya believed an explanation would soon follow.
"Lord Hikigaya." The martial artists welcoming him knelt down on one knee, offering their respect. "The One Shadow and Nine Fists are aware of your intent and have already gone to ensure that the Eight Span Blade of Divine Retribution does not escape."
"I don't care about the Eight Span Blade of Divine Retribution." Hikigaya asked, "Which schools have a clear affiliation with the Eight Span Blade of Divine Retribution?"
"There are five in Japan, one in the UK, and the rest are in the Americas."
"Do you have a map?"
Someone immediately presented a map; clearly, these people were well-prepared.
This was why Hikigaya liked the Yomi Hand-to-hand Group; their tacit understanding was truly excellent.
But right now, he really disliked the Weapon Group.
"Hmm, very close, right here in Tokyo... though actually, it doesn't make much difference." Hikigaya picked up the maps, flipped through them one by one, memorizing the locations. Then, he took out a string of prayer beads from his pocket.
He had grabbed them on his way out.
The Eye of the Sun emerged in Hikigaya's right eye. The prayer beads in his hand began to heat up, their color gradually changing from pitch black to deep crimson.
With a flick of his finger, five beads detached from the string and shot up into the sky under the cover of night.
About a few seconds later, amidst a terrifying roar, the sky exploded. The light of the flames illuminated the area as if it were daytime.
The three-legged Golden Crow, a solar beast existing only in mythology, now appeared in the current world due to the sunset authority of the Godslayer, Hikigaya Hachiman.
In the eyes of the five Golden Crows, there was the same Eye of the Sun as in Hikigaya's.
As the five maps were consumed by the glow of the Eye of the Sun, the five Golden Crows, hovering in the sky, flapped their wings forged from divine flames. Their divine forms cut through and burned the clouds, transforming into five magnificent, massive pillars of light that pierced the sky and earth, plunging directly into Tokyo, devouring and vaporizing all matter that stood in their way.
The light came and went quickly. In an instant, in Hikigaya's eyes, there were five huge pits in central Tokyo—five buildings used as strongholds by the Weapon Group, along with everyone originally inside, had completely vanished.
Under the light of the setting sun, all things are annihilated.
Hikigaya felt that Voban was right; a great cleanup was a joyous affair.
Although human society has moved beyond the scope of a zoo, the law of the jungle, the desire to destroy and abuse other lives, is still deeply rooted in the human heart—the so-called beastiality.
Hikigaya hadn't been particularly savage in the past because he felt nothing could genuinely anger him. There were only a few people he truly cared about. Whether others were miserable or happy didn't really matter to him, so he genuinely lacked motivation, as he was, in fact, very lazy.
A life where he could just lounge at home, except when fighting a God, was one he absolutely loved.
But alas, some people always wanted him to be a bit more like Voban.
Hikigaya remembered reading a poem during middle school before he crossed over, something about killing one being a sin but slaying ten thousand being heroic. Though incredibly chuunibyou, it held a grain of truth.
Either don't do it at all, or if you do, make it a grand affair.
Wiping out tens of thousands of people with one activation of the Sunset authority, Hikigaya felt their life force becoming his sustenance in the light and fire. He felt no discomfort, finding it perfectly fine.
Then, he took a step, his body turning into lightning, entering the domain of chasing wind and pursuing lightning, flying towards the land across the great ocean.
Although this speed was not the speed of light, one or two minutes was sufficient for him to traverse the Earth's most expansive ocean.
The Eight Span Blade of Divine Retribution did not need to worry about the legacy of martial arts; the lifetime's gains of the deceased would all belong to Hikigaya along with their lives.
Hikigaya's Eye of Horus had already pinpointed the first target.
It was a church built in a small village far from the metropolis.
More interestingly, a truck was loading and unloading military supplies at the church's back door, and every house in the town had excavated underground bunkers, storing a volume of weapons far exceeding what would be needed for general civilian use.
This was a Weapon Group stronghold on the West Coast, whose members belonged to a Guntō-jutsu school of martial arts, and most of the school's personnel were in this small town.
The conflict between the Weapon Group and the Karate Group was not solely due to martial arts philosophy. In terms of power, martial arts schools that used weapons had good prospects for development in this era. However, the Karate Group held more decision-making power within the organization due to having more top masters, which was difficult for the Weapon Group to accept.
Strongholds like this were scattered all over the American continent, but now, this one was about to face a bolt from the blue.
The sky, which had been bright and cloudless, first became overcast. When the shadow of the clouds covered the entire village, a thunderstorm rained down.
Sitting atop the thunderclouds, Hikigaya watched the small town turn into ruins under the dense, descending lightning strikes. Every person and animal on the surface was killed by the thunderbolts.
When the surface was cleared, Hikigaya flicked a prayer bead, which, accompanied by a sonic boom, shot into the ruins. It then lifted the earth beneath, and the ruins first sank into the opening fissures. Subsequently, lava erupted from these fissures, completely obliterating everything here.
At the same time, another map in Hikigaya's hand was burned to ashes.
The next moment, he vanished in a flash of lightning.
Following the directions provided by the Karate Group's maps, over a dozen Weapon Group strongholds in North America were wiped out one by one, all in a fairly consistent 'Three Alls' style (kill all, burn all, loot all).
Until he entered a city.
San Francisco was the largest city on the West Coast.
Entering San Francisco, Hikigaya was already a bit bored with the sweeping he'd been doing, so this time he was straightforward. From a distance, he struck out a Blazing Blade. In plain sight, the Blazing Blade cleaved a large building in two. The people inside were instantly either burned to ashes or roasted to death by the incredibly high temperature.
The people who were walking and driving in the nearby streets, upon witnessing this scene, let out screams of terror and despair, creating an atmosphere of panic that spread through the city, acting as if looking at it one more time would cause them to become pregnant.
Hikigaya believed they would recover very quickly.
And at the moment yet another map in his hand was incinerated into ash, he suddenly heard someone shouting his name.
"Hikigaya Hachiman! Please stop your actions!"
Hikigaya, who had already planned to leave, stopped. He turned around to look.
A large black bird was flying toward him from the north.
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