Better Mutual Loss Than Sole Victory

You attacked an Outer God creation. You lost the divine favor of the Outer God, Ancient Alien God.

You lost your status as one of Ancient Alien God's Favored.

An icy aura surged in from all around. The Wights turned their heads, seeming to catch the scent of fresh "humanity" from Bai Cangshu, and instantly became frenzied.

Yet Bai Cangshu remained standing before the enormous tree of flesh and blood. Looking at Sugahide Hito’s pained face, he floated up from the ground and pressed a finger to Sugahide Hito’s chest.

"What’s wrong, Sugahide Hito? Does my attempt to save this country pain you?"

"You never had a heart to begin with…"

Sugahide Hito opened his mouth to explain, but with a puff, he vomited a mass of flesh and blood. His body had long since fused with the giant tree, its interior filled with human flesh.

Overkill’s deadly sin ability was exceptionally suited for this kind of physical attack. So long as an attack could break through the opponent’s defenses, Overkill would drastically amplify the damage they suffered.

It was only a single piercing wound, yet in Bai Cangshu’s perception, Sugahide Hito—who seemed to have fused the vitality and flesh of hundreds of people—had been severely wounded.

In his agony, Sugahide Hito’s face rapidly twisted. The icy magic completely shattered his psychological defenses, and he utterly abandoned the self-image and bottom line he had always clung to.

The reason Sugahide Hito had refused to be assimilated for so long was that he had always held onto the underlying logic that he was Japan’s prime minister and had to serve his country and people. But after Bai Cangshu mercilessly told him that he had to kill him to lift this curse, Sugahide Hito’s selfishness finally overcame that heroic grandeur.

He did not display the "radiance of humanity" Bai Cangshu had hoped to see.

"Urgh—pfft!"

Sugahide Hito spat out blood again. The next moment, his entire face was covered by that twisted flesh, leaving only his ice-blue eyes exposed. The giant tree’s surface froze over, greatly increasing its defenses.

"It hurts so much, Mercenary Tao!"

"You were never a good person to begin with, were you? Hmph… and now you’re pretending to be some kind of hero. How laughable!"

The enormous, sinister God Tree rose from the ground. It was over four meters wide and more than fifty meters tall. Once it had uprooted itself, its roots and trunk were covered in severed human limbs and flesh, like scraps of food that had not yet been digested.

Bai Cangshu looked at the completely "darkened" Sugahide Hito before him with some disappointment. He had thought that this prime minister, who had swallowed his pride before him for the sake of the "greater good," would be someone capable of letting him see a heart.

He had not expected him to become so ugly the moment his own life was at stake.

Roar!

Sugahide Hito let out an utterly unoriginal roar, and the surrounding Wights instantly pounced at Bai Cangshu. But immediately afterward, an even more terrifying roar erupted from Bai Cangshu’s body.

Boom!

Like thunder.

The Wights lunging at Bai Cangshu were blasted away several times faster than they had charged in. They broke apart midair, rotten flesh and shattered bones shooting in every direction like arrows.

Thud, thud.

The giant tree staggered backward. Sugahide Hito faced Mercenary Tao’s power head-on, but he was utterly unable to contend with it. He violently shook his body as two new faces began to emerge on either side of the giant tree.

They were unmistakably the two leading figures of Shintoism in this era. Their faces were twisted in pain, yet they still retained their original appearances.

"Quick, cast a spell for me!"

"If we don’t kill this Mercenary Tao…"

Sugahide Hito suddenly froze. Mercenary Tao had already vanished from before his eyes. The eyes on the other two faces had only just opened. Whether these two Shintoism higher-ups intended to struggle or cast a spell, they only had time to focus their ice-blue pupils on Bai Cangshu.

A pitch-black greatsword had already torn through the air, trailing two streams of white vapor curling backward. Black-red lightning spread from the blade and collided with the cold aura in an instant, breaking through the icy power and plunging directly into the giant tree.

Ring!

The sword’s cry held none of the clarity of steel. It was as grating as someone forcibly tearing apart iron with a blade.

Bai Cangshu had no swordsmanship to speak of. He was relying entirely on the extraordinarily high efficiency conversion of Silver Wolf Under the Moon’s extraordinary trait after nightfall, turning a Strength stat of over fifty into a terrifying figure approaching one hundred.

Then… he swung.

Pfft!

The pitch-black sword light was like a crescent moon, instantly passing through the giant tree and crashing into the snow-covered ground.

Rumble!

The ground exploded continuously. Snow, dirt, and flesh were all flung into the air, while the estate collapsed several meters downward.

Bai Cangshu put away the Dragon Slayer and watched blue radiance gather before finally forming a Drop Card in front of him.

You killed an Alien God creation: Alien Tree. You obtained 1,200 Dimensional Points.

You obtained a Drop Card (Blue).

Your reputation with Ancient Alien God has decreased. Current status: Stranger (34/100).

The "honeymoon period" between Ancient Alien God and Bai Cangshu rapidly came to an end. After Bai Cangshu killed Sugahide Hito, he saw an ice-blue inscription beneath the giant tree.

He could not recognize that writing, but by touching it, he still received a prompt.

You touched Ancient Alien God's contract (Signed).

As Bai Cangshu’s black hair continued to drift in the wind, he stretched out his hand. In his eyes, the words formed from icy magic were likewise composed of countless symbols.

Those symbols inherently possessed power.

He lacked the relevant knowledge and could not understand those symbols, but he did not need to understand them.

Bai Cangshu reached out. When his fingers touched the ice-blue symbols, they began to scatter, and the contract rapidly blurred.

Bai Cangshu then casually swiped his hand across it. After flickering twice, the contract directly collapsed.

You destroyed Ancient Alien God's contract.

Your reputation with Ancient Alien God has decreased. Current status: Hatred (78/100).

Almost the instant he completely destroyed Ancient Alien God’s scheme, Bai Cangshu sensed through Mantra that large numbers of figures were rushing toward his location.

They were Ancient Alien God’s followers, as well as Its creations.

This Outer God, whose "self-care ability" was far too strong, had finally been angered by Bai Cangshu and began trying to erase his existence.

Bai Cangshu’s lips curled up. To him, a situation where Ancient Alien God alone profited was a loss of benefits. Now that neither side had gained anything, it was much better.

"No, it might not be mutual loss after all…"

Bai Cangshu suddenly laughed aloud and shot into the sky, raising his right hand high. The title Ororchi Yashiro shone brilliantly.

Dark clouds rapidly gathered in the sky. Amid the churning thunderclouds, muffled thunder began to rumble.

This grand display immediately drew the attention of the Japanese people who had still survived, accompanied by signs that the ice and snow were beginning to melt and the cold was receding.

In places closer to Tokyo, people could even clearly see a figure in the sky, standing amid flashes of lightning with one hand raised. The lightning in the heavens seemed to answer him as it suddenly crashed down.

Masaru Kato hid in a dilapidated factory with his younger brother. There were many others with them, all people Masaru Kato had protected after heavy snow suddenly blanketed Japan and all kinds of monsters began to appear.

In the end, he could not agree with Kei Kurono’s way of thinking and chose the path he believed was right.

As he looked at the godlike figure in the sky, a name inexplicably came to mind.

Reincarnation Star People, the perfect-score BOSS, Mercenary Tao!

"Is he… going to fight those monsters?!"

Then, recalling Bonnie’s warning before she left, he dismissed the thought. Bonnie had said that compared to any alien or monster in this world, Mercenary Tao was the true monster.

If someone like him could stand on our side… how wonderful would that be…