Chapter 50: Breaking the Bounty
When emotions run high, people subconsciously overlook certain things.
Whether it's joy or anger.
Even Hikigaya, who had become a godslayer, was no exception.
Fortunately, Osiris reminded him.
If one could create a Beast of Set, then of course a second one could be created as well. Ultimately, it was only a matter of having enough knowledge and magical power.
Creating a swarm of swords like Kusanagi Godou might be impossible, but creating a few more beasts should be doable.
Thinking this, he recalled knowledge about Osiris' solar divinity in his mind.
A whirlwind visibly formed around him.
This was another whirlwind, and with its emergence, the surrounding scorching energy quickly dissipated.
A new Beast of Set appeared—it could be called the Beast of the Sun.
At the same time, Hikigaya felt that the Beast of Set he was currently riding had its solar portion, belonging to Osiris, stripped away.
He made another discovery: knowledge cannot be duplicated. A destructive beast aimed at a single target of knowledge can only exist one at a time...
Just as he thought this, the heat that had previously been blocked by the first Beast of Set surged upward.
Having lost its solar aspect, this destructive beast seemed to lose its resistance to the sun.
A pity for the magical power consumed.
Just as he thought this, he felt a stream of magical energy flowing from within the divine beast back into his body. It was his own magical energy, the same he had used to create the beast.
This was something to be happy about—the unused magical energy could be reclaimed.
Soon, Hikigaya's magical power was mostly restored, becoming full once again, and the first Beast of Set exploded with a "boom" into a mass of chaotic wind.
Although surprised, Hikigaya used the airflow to leap onto the back of the second Beast of Set.
The heat immediately vanished.
As expected, its resistance to the sun was far stronger than the first, and yet it consumed far less magical power. Even though this was only his second time doing it, he had become surprisingly proficient.
It seemed just like in anime—actual combat was truly the only way for godslayers to grow stronger.
However, Hikigaya soon created another one.
This time, it was the Beast of Flood.
Sure enough, it didn't vanish and effectively resisted the power of the sun. His guess was right—Osiris was indeed supporting his solar power with the power of Flood.
This guy's foundational divine attribute in terms of bounty really was the water of life represented by the Nile River—that is, the power of hi annual flood—not the land as depicted in the anime.
This confirmed another of his theories.
If the world of mythology was seen as a company, then the various divine names were merely job titles. Thus, the primitive spirit (so to speak) bound by that divine name and turned into a god would have abilities matching that name. If the mythology changed, the primitive spirit bound by that divine name would also become something else in accordance with the new myth—just like how job titles can be switched.
So, there was no need to care about what the primitive spirit originally was. Their abilities would always align closely with the divine name currently binding them, at least in line with the mythology before they left the mythical world. As long as you weren't dealing with a god who had been detached from mythology for a long time, whose stories had changed greatly, this rule would hold.
Hikigaya could come to this conclusion because, according to mythology, Osiris originally wasn't a river god of the Nile. Like Set, he was a god introduced into Lower Egypt from foreign lands. Set was originally a typhoon, while Osiris, after entering Lower Egypt, was merely a vegetation god.
It was only in later myths that he became associated with the Nile, gradually developing the image of a god controlling life and death in nature. Later, he ascended to become the god of resurrection in the underworld. This godhood was further strengthened when New Kingdom-era Egyptians fully merged the beliefs of the heavenly and underworld afterlives, making him the ruler of death in ancient Egyptian mythology.
However, at this moment, Osiris' sun no longer posed a threat to Hikigaya.
Destroying the sun was also very simple.
The Beast of Flood charged into the sun. Without the power of Flood to support it, the sun began to dim, losing its former might. Then the Beast of the Sun, carrying Hikigaya, delivered a fatal blow.
With just a single strike, the sun was destroyed.
This false world collapsed. Even though the land, fields, rivers, and forests briefly reappeared, they too quickly crumbled.
Osiris' divine realm of bounty was finally reduced to dust.
In the end, Osiris' bounty was fundamentally rooted in the power of Flood. Without that, everything fell apart.
Hikigaya finally saw the Chiba village he remembered.
He also saw the people who had been trapped—mostly ordinary citizens, though some were jujutsu sorcerers.
Naturally, when the ordinary people saw Hikigaya flying through the sky on a giant dog, they were dumbfounded. To put it simply, they were all stunned.
The sorcerers fared a little better, though they also looked extremely uneasy.
Godslayers didn't have a great reputation. Hikigaya experienced that fact once again...
He ignored the people and flew away on the divine beast.
Osiris still existed. He hadn't been destroyed along with the divine realm of bounty. Hikigaya's godslayer body still reminded him of that fact.
The mountains swept past beneath his feet as Hikigaya searched for Osiris' presence.
He had to kill him. He had no intention of defying his nature as a godslayer—just as Osiris would absolutely not let him go, either.
But speaking of which—where had that guy gone?
He could no longer see the Chiba village. All around him were mountains covered in dense forests.
Yet something was awakening from within.
Just as Hikigaya tried to pinpoint what it was, the sky suddenly darkened.
It was clearly daytime, but in an instant, it turned to night, and the moon appeared in the sky.
Then, a voice came from beneath the earth.
"To think that someone who has only just become a godslayer managed to win the first round... now I can't really mock that guy anymore. Choosing you back then really was the right call."
Under Hikigaya's solemn gaze, a red willow tree sprouted from the ground ahead.
The swaying tree continued to grow larger, then from its trunk emerged a gorgeously decorated box.
More than half the box protruded from the trunk, and then its lid was pushed open by a green hand—revealing the figure of Osiris.
According to myth, after being killed by Set, Osiris' body was placed inside such a box and hidden within a red willow tree, until Isis found it. But when Set discovered the box, he playfully chopped Osiris' body into fourteen pieces—this is the famously gruesome "dismemberment and resurrection" story of Uncle Osiris.
Hikigaya looked up at the moon. This form of Osiris was clearly his underworld deity aspect—the side of him that was also the King of the Gods.
"Well then, let's continue."
Osiris stepped out of the box. The moonlight shone on his green skin, radiating an eerie and sinister glow.
Important Announcement!
I Posted a new Fanfiction!
It's a crossover between Oregairu and Classroom of the Elite
The Return Of Hikigaya Hachiman in the Classroom of the Elite
Summary:
During the unanimous special exam in the second year at Advanced Nurturing High School, Hikigaya Hachiman was expelled.
After successfully making it through university entrance exams... he was rewarded with a big truck.
You can find the fanfiction here: https://www.webnovel.com/book/the-return-of-hikigaya-hachiman-in-the-classroom-of-the-elite_32602834508344205
Hello everyone! I'm VarieTL.
Read ahead (40 chapters) by supporting me on https://www.patreon.com/c/VarieTL and https://ko-fi.com/varietl
There you can also read 5 other Novels and other 3 Fanfiction of Oregairu