Chapter 88

"To murder a teacher who imparts knowledge and instruction is the first sin; to slaughter innocent non-human races is the second sin; to kill a teacher's former friend is the third sin."

"As the Great Lord, failing to protect the nation is the fourth crime; causing the shogunate to fall into disarray and the nation to suffer humiliation is the fifth crime; failing to kill Ashiya Dōman and being deceived by him is the sixth crime."

"The flames of war have raged for centuries without ceasing; this is the seventh sin. Countless talented individuals have lost their lives and shed their blood; this is the eighth sin."

"Minamoto no Raikō failed his teacher's trust, many of his visions could not be realized, and many opportunities were wasted... This is the ninth sin."

"Of all the faults, this one is the one who committed them. Each and every one of them is an unforgivable sin..."

"There is no forgiveness for sin."

In the darkened inner chamber, with his limbs severed and his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth gouged out, he transforms himself into a general imprisoned in the cage of "Ashiya Dōman," mechanically repeating the words that have been used for hundreds of years.

At one point, her thoughts suddenly stopped for a moment.

The general could sense that the door, which had been closed all along, had been pushed open.

Who is it?

Her somewhat sluggish thoughts flowed slowly.

"Are you a teacher?"

Her thoughts were devoid of any expectation or pain, flowing calmly.

Seeing emptiness throughout eternity, without thought or intention, this is it.

But why does my broken body still seem to be weeping?

Hebe stood in front of the door of the small room.

There are no superfluous decorations here, just a blank gray area.

In the center of the small room stood a withered statue, without limbs and with its head half destroyed.

Dim electric light flickered between the gaps in the dry, weed-like hair.

Where the eyes once were, now lies empty, from which two streams of bloody tears flow.

134. Changing the order

"How ugly, Raikou..."

In the quiet room, Hebe's voice flowed softly as she reached out and touched her disciple's withered cheek.

It felt like stone; she had turned herself into a cage, sealing herself off tightly until her arrival.

"My good-for-nothing apprentice has ended up ruining himself like this."

Hebe stroked Minamoto no Raikō's mutilated head with her hand, her long eyelashes drooping as if she couldn't bear to see what was happening before her.

Sunlight streamed in through the wide-open door behind her, and a howling wind swept everything away. Hebe reached out and placed her hand on the still-vibrant amulet.

This is the only one that has transcended the end of history, yet its color remains vibrant, as if it were yesterday's amulet.

The fox spirit stood before the remains of her disciple, her eyes flashing with numbers that represented her Completion Rate in Lostbelt: 88%, 89%, 90%...

She still has some time; there's still time to save Minamoto no Raikō.

Hebe pressed her fingers on the amulet, and countless buzzing sounds emanated from all parts of her body; it was the sword called "Feixiang".

In Buddhism, "non-thought" refers to a state that transcends all external thinking and goes beyond duality.

Taking another step forward leads to complete liberation, the extinguishing of all attachments.

On the contrary, the "No Thought, No Mind" pursued by the general is actually a heretical path that blindly seeks to completely extinguish consciousness.

If there is anything in the world that can save the general from "Unconscious State," it is only Hebe's Sword of Non-Thought.

"Never give up your love, and never give up your hope. Everything will be alright, everything will be alright, everything will be in order. I gave this promise to A-Long, and now I pass it on to you."

"Love will surely overcome all end."

That amulet was a vessel for the many emotions that Minamoto no Raikō had severed.

That was just an unintentional act by Hebe, but it became the last thread that saved Minamoto no Raikō.

In the eternal purgatory of ignorance, this spider silk clung tightly to Minamoto no Raikō, preventing her from being completely beyond saving.

The sword intent, carrying all the emotions that had once belonged to "Minamoto no Raikō," was reinjected into the general's body.

The third fox tail, capable of turning fate around, gently wrapped around Minamoto no Raikō.

Once again, their fates were exchanged.

In the almost unconscious silence, the general heard a deafening explosion in his own stream of consciousness.

After that loud noise, an image surfaced in the depths of her mind: a girl wearing a magnificent Twelve Layered Robe and a crown like the sun hanging high behind her head.

The girl has nine fox tails behind her and lively fox ears on her head.

Her face was exactly the same as the one in my memory, but upon closer inspection, it seemed somewhat distorted, as if shrouded in a hazy mist.

This is the essence of the Non-Thought Sword; the sword energy is merely its appearance.

Ultimately, it uses Hebe's mindset to directly access the target's underlying thinking.

It's like a warship that abandons the use of artillery and missiles and directly rams the enemy ship with its hull.

But at this moment, Hebe did not need to use her mind to destroy the general's mind—the latter had already eliminated all his consciousness.

Therefore, Hebe is doing the opposite at this moment.

She used her own mind as a rocket to send the amulet into the general's mangled body.

Deep within the general's consciousness, the nine-tailed girl smiled slightly before completely dissolving and vanishing.

Instead, countless cowardly emotions that should have been abandoned surfaced like sand on the sea.

"Mercy."

"Lucky."

"Pain."

"Closed off".

"Escape."

"Weak."

There were also countless emotions, big and small, that had been abandoned, which filled the emptiness in her heart and transformed her from a general back into "Minamoto no Raikō".

"Lai Guang, Lai Guang." Hebe's deep voice sounded in her ear, "From a long, long time ago, you have been a not very smart child... The path of abandoning emotions and turning yourself into a purely rational ruling machine is simply not feasible."

Even those in power sometimes have things they deeply regret.

Even the Eternals who ascended to the wasteland did not suppress their desires in the slightest; on the contrary, their desires far surpassed those of mortals.

Both Arthur and Ozymandias used their desires as the foundation of their achievements, but Minamoto no Raikō did the opposite, eliminating his own desires from them.

What kind of sacrifice and determination would be required to achieve this?

Hebe felt a little emotional.

"Lai Guang, I met many people in the Higashi. Some were just casual acquaintances, while others were long-time friends. They were not pawns to be manipulated; they had their own destinies and their own futures... This is the reason for my victory."

"I never imagined that Miss A-Long, who had already escaped certain death, would stubbornly step into the river of fate once again after learning of my actions;"

"I never imagined that you would endure all this criticism and speculation without wavering... I did consider what cruel methods I could use to punish you, or rather, to retaliate—"

"I think I will fight you with swords drawn. I will seek justice for Miss A-Long, for Oni -Kishibō Hōgen Sakata Kintoki, for Saga... for all those you have wronged."

With each word Hebe spoke, her brow twitched in pain.

The mental and physical exhaustion is secondary.

She cut off her fox tails one by one.

The Holy Grail is a ruler whose moods are unpredictable. It is the oldest of the three rulers of the Orthodox Church and is regarded throughout the world as the primordial Great Mother Goddess and Earth Mother Goddess.

Just as Scar Father rejoices in the establishment of authority, Wolfman revels in the destruction of kingdoms, Celestial Flint favors the changes of the times... the Holy Grail's passion lies in sacrifice and rebirth.

He delights in all sacrifices—especially those made for redemption.

Because in the prayers of the Orthodox Church, from ancient times, the Holy Grail has vouched for all beings with its own flesh and blood.

The Holy Grail says: Whoever betrays his life, defiles my blood.

[A ruler is casting his gaze... The ruler currently casting his gaze is: the Holy Grail!]

Under the watchful eye of the Holy Grail, you can restore something to its former glory through sacrifice and offering.

This is a law permitted by the Holy Grail!

To save something, you must first make a sacrifice.

The blood of the Messiah, May Archon, transformed into the two rivers, and the oases irrigated by it still nourish 500 million people in the Middle East.

In June Archon and sacrificed herself at sea to calm the waves. To this day, the ocean currents Cathay China still flow smoothly, and navigators all over the world are grateful for her grace.

This is the way of the cup: without drowning, there is no birth.

Without sacrifice, there is no salvation.

Hebe walks the path of the nine-tailed Heavenly Fox, each tail symbolizing her achievements on the path.

It can be said that the tail is not only proof of her status, but also the source of her life.

With each fox tail that detached from Hebe, she grew weaker.

Minamoto no Raikō, on the other hand, was even more complete.

135 Farewell (Higashi Volume Complete)

The first things to grow back were her own eyes and ears, which she had gouged out; the second things to heal were her severed throat and tongue.

Under Hebe's protection, Minamoto no Raikō's shattered mind was restored, as if he had just woken from a long, distant dream.

The pain and torment she experienced in her dreams were taken away by Hebe in the form of fate and inflicted upon herself.

"Teacher... Teacher!"

Although he was no longer in pain, Minamoto no Raikō's heart was in more agony than it had been through five hundred years of torment.

She killed her teacher with her own hands, but in the end, she still had to rely on her teacher to save her.

For her, these five hundred years could even be described as a form of self-punishment and asceticism.

She used this method to numb herself, as if by doing so, she could get closer to the teacher.

For Minamoto no Raikō, she would rather her teacher tear open her flesh and blood and exact revenge on her for the wrongdoings than have Hebe look at her with a gentle gaze that suppressed her pain, as she did now.

Beneath the general's armor and the Imperial Monarch's crown lies Minamoto no Raikō's delicate and sensitive heart.

It was as if only through this method could one look up at the teacher's back.

It seemed that only through this method could they slightly alleviate their inner guilt.

"So, after five hundred years, I have ultimately accomplished nothing..."

"No, it's not that I accomplished nothing."

The light disappeared from Hebe's eyes, but her hand remained firm and steady, as if no amount of pain could shake her in the slightest.

Her movements even became faster.

"Raikage, you are the Imperial Monarch of the Higashi, the shogun of the shogunate, a mysterious assassin destined by fate, and a hero who expands the territory for human society."

Hebe said, "You used everything you had to seal the calamity at the end of time; even I couldn't have done better than you."

"You've done very well... very well..."

"Lai Guang, you are now an excellent ruler. Your teacher is proud of you."

The hard armor that was used for disguise, for solace in the darkness of loneliness, finally crumbled.