Heaven and earth were split into black and white. Thunder roared in the skies, and torrential rain poured down on the land—this was the scene covering the entire region of Phoenix Mountain.
In the sky, each flap of the giant rainbow-colored swallow's wings stirred up a violent storm. Every cry it let out triggered lightning across the heavens.
Yet in all this, it was the center of radiance—light surged upward like flas from its body, forming a brilliant halo behind it, then spreading outward.
And beneath the shadow of this massive divine bird, Hachiman—now stuck to a cliff like a lizard—was dodging its attacks, his face full of gloom.
Dodging the giant bird's attacks turned out to be easier than he had expected, probably because the size difference between the two was simply too massive. What looked like impenetrable attacks from the divine bird actually left plenty of space for him to maneuver.
Also, the divine bird didn't seem like it was actually trying to attack him seriously.
It looked more like it had sothing else it wanted to do.
"This is giving a headache..." Hikigaya muttered to himself after dodging yet another unreasonably thick lightning bolt by feeling the flow of the air. Watching the divine bird joyfully soaring through the sky and constantly whipping up storms, he complained in his heart, "It looks like this thing is having a blast. Does it even rember it's supposed to be fighting ?"
As a promising god slayer who regularly read books, Hikigaya, after his initial panic, had managed to identify the divine bird by referencing the massive sun-holding tree, the bird's swallow-like form, and the Eastern Yi's solar worship style.
Wherever sunlight shines, there is solar worship, and wherever there is solar worship, the solar divine bird is indispensable. For example, Apollo's solar form was a crow, and the solar deities in ancient Egypt and Persia were both eagles—the most famous of which being Horus of ancient Egypt.
As one of the six major centers of ancient solar worship, ancient China naturally had its own solar divine bird. The most famous of these is the three-legged Golden Crow (Jinwu), and its image was not confined to China alone. Before Japan's solar deity worship was unified under Amaterasu, there were many animal-shaped solar gods, including the crow. In the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki myths, there is a solar ssenger nad Yatagarasu—a giant three-legged crow that helped Emperor Jimmu defeat his enemies. Clearly, this was influenced by China's ancient three-legged Golden Crow.
However, during the Shang dynasty, there wasn't yet a concept of the three-legged Golden Crow in China—nor was there any association between the sun god and crows.
At that ti, the solar divine bird was neither a crow nor three-legged, nor did it dwell within the sun. Instead, it was seen as a wind god that carried the sun on its back, moving it across the sky and bringing light to the world. This was the first developntal phase of the Chinese solar bird concept, far older than the later "a crow resides in the sun" notion symbolized by the Golden Crow.
The na of the solar bird in the Shang dynasty was Xuanniao (Dark Bird or Black Bird). Thus, there was the saying "Heavenly Mandate Black Bird descended and gave birth to the Shang." The Xuanniao referred specifically to the swallow.
The Shang people always viewed swallows as solar birds, partly because swallows migrate north and south. Though they didn't understand migratory patterns, they knew swallows appeared with the arrival of spring. Hence, they believed this bird carried the sun north in sumr and south in winter.
It was under the Shang that this image reached its peak, representing the zenith of ancient Chinese solar worship.
So, from all this, the identity of this divine being was practically shouting itself out.
Honestly, identifying gods through kissing like that guy is super la. It totally drags down the dignity of us god slayer.
Hikigaya felt a good god-slayer should read more books—that's how you develop a piercing gaze that sees through everything. He refused to believe any self-respecting deity could tolerate their opponent flirting with girls mid-battle.
If it were him instead…
"Screw your smooch, co at , bro!"
Seriously, taking out that smooching dude's monster doesn't even cause the slightest bit of guilt.
It's basically purifying this world!
Hikigaya felt imnsely noble.
And now, he began sneaking toward Phoenix Mountain.
Because this Xuanniao seed to be having way too much fun—it had totally forgotten about him! It was just busy shining sunlight on the ground nonstop!
He didn't know whether to feel happy or sad about that...
Still, Hikigaya figured he might as well endure it. After all, he promised soone he'd deliver sothing—might as well sneak in now and do his job.
As he approached, the enormous divine tree ca into full view.
This tree was unimaginably huge, tightly anchored to Phoenix Mountain. Even from its base, Hikigaya could see massive roots sticking out—so of which were spewing fire.
In every culture, solar worship is accompanied by various mythic symbols beyond birds—like water and trees. Water often symbolizes the sun's mother, and trees stand for life, as well as the connection between sun and fire. So trees even beca exclusive symbols of solar deities, such as the laurel in Greek mythology or the oak in Norse lore.
In Eastern Yi mythology of ancient China, the ultimate solar tree was Fusang—also called Fumu or Fusang. It was the dwelling place of the sun and represented both the starting and ending point of the Eastern Yi's solar cycle.
Mulberry trees (sang) have always been closely tied to life in Chinese mythology. Kuafu's resurrection took place in the form of a mulberry grove, and Houyi's divine bow used to shoot down suns was also made of mulberry wood.
For the Shang people—part of the Eastern Yi pantheon—who perford fertility rituals in mulberry groves often visited by swallows, it was perfectly natural for their solar myth to depict the sun rising from the Fusang.
Hikigaya swore, if this wasn't the Fusang tree from myth—the place where the sun enters and exits—he'd go ho and eat his bookshelf.
But just as he was considering blasting open a hole at the base of Fusang to sneak into Phoenix Mountain, he felt a searing heat descend from above.
Looking up, he saw it was the solar bird ford from the Set-sun that had earlier been subdued by the Fusang.
That really pissed him off.
Using soone else's power to attack them—that's always been a protagonist's privilege. When it happens the other way around, it's always the joke characters who get that treatnt...
Absolutely unacceptable!
Still, though it was ford from the Set-sun, it had only stolen the fire unleashed by Hikigaya's Set authority. His actual authority hadn't been taken away.
So, this solar bird—ford purely from his own power—posed minimal threat to him. Beating it up was absolutely fine.
Fuming, Hikigaya leapt up, grabbed one of the bird's legs mid-air, spun it around in a circle, and smashed it against a root of the Fusang thicker than a telephone pole.
The result was excellent. The stupid bird imdiately croaked, and its burning energy exploded out. The root of Fusang lted, creating a direct tunnel into Phoenix Mountain's interior—even lting part of the mountain wall, from which lava started to pour.
Hikigaya then released his magic energy outward, coating his entire body, and dashed into the lava.
Not because he was afraid of being burned—
But because...
This ti, he absolutely refused to destroy his clothes again! Not even his shoes!
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