Chapter 192: Aren't You, Minamoto no Raikou, in Cahoots with Monsters Too?
Minamoto-no-Raikou had come to seek aid.
After all, she had already tried—even she could not kill that Heavenly Fox within that Great Bounded Field. Even with the power of Ushi-oni, she was no match for it.
Thus, to resolve the situation, she needed allies.
Initially, after being sent out, she had intended to seek help from Great Qin. She had heard from those Evil Spirits that in this world, His Majesty the First Emperor was said to still be alive.
If she could obtain his assistance, she was certain her problem could be resolved.
But when she arrived at Great Qin, she discovered that the entire nation had vanished. Apart from scattered ruins, not a single person remained.
Inquiring among the tribes around Great Qin, she learned that from a certain day, thunderous explosions had erupted from Great Qin, and they claimed to have seen objects continuously flying into the sky, a phenomenon that persisted for nearly a year.
When they later went to investigate, they found that Great Qin had completely disappeared—both its cities and its people.
Upon learning this, Minamoto-no-Raikou felt a moment of despair.
However, she then heard from the tribespeople that if she sought powerful individuals, she should head west, where there were people known as the "Scourge of God"—the Huns.
With this information, Minamoto-no-Raikou journeyed westward, only to find that the Hun tribes had also vanished.
This time, she could tell it was not a normal relocation. It seemed a battle had erupted, and they had moved away.
Failing to find the so-called "Scourge of God," Minamoto-no-Raikou continued westward.
Later, at sea, she detected the residual Magical Energy left behind after Noah used the Holy Spear of the End to strike down an island.
This led her to seek out Noah.
Before arriving, she had never imagined that Noah would be the emperor of the west!
But this was even better.
If Noah, as emperor, had other powerful individuals under his command, then the chances of killing that Heavenly Fox would be even greater!
With such thoughts, Minamoto-no-Raikou came to request an audience with Noah.
As Vivian guided her, Minamoto-no-Raikou's gaze remained fixed on Vivian.
Her warrior's intuition told her that this woman, who appeared to be a servant, was incredibly strong!
The impression she gave was no weaker than that of Ibaraki among the Evil Spirits!
And such a person served as a servant to the emperor named Noah... Originally, Minamoto-no-Raikou had estimated that what she witnessed at sea was likely the aftermath of Noah's full power. Now, on her way to meet him, she continued to raise her estimation of Noah in her mind.
Logically, this should have led to overestimating him.
But when Vivian brought Minamoto-no-Raikou before Noah, she realized:
Even after repeatedly raising her estimation of Noah in her mind, she had still underestimated him—and by a vast margin!
Though the moment she was led in, the seemingly gentle man even smiled and gestured for her to sit, speaking not in the unfamiliar western language but in her own familiar tongue... No amount of amiable appearance could conceal the immense pressure he exuded in Minamoto-no-Raikou's perception!
As a result, Minamoto-no-Raikou was extremely tense when facing Noah, her nerves constantly on edge, a reaction typically reserved for the most critical moments of battle.
Yet even this could not provide Minamoto-no-Raikou with the slightest sense of security.
Instead, it made her feel that the other party was even more dangerous!
It was as if, were she to become his enemy, there would be no need to fight at all—defeat and death would inevitably be her fate!
Such was her state of mind.
It was at this moment that Noah directly addressed Minamoto-no-Raikou.
"Minamoto-no-Raikou... a name from Japan. Japan is quite far from here. You've traveled such a great distance to find me—what exactly is your purpose?"
Noah was not at all worried that the other party might not understand his words.
For he was the Star Performer; his words would automatically be translated into the language familiar to the listener, and the words spoken by the other party would likewise be automatically translated into the language he understood.
The abilities of the Star Performer were indeed that convenient.
Such was Noah's situation. Upon hearing his words, Minamoto-no-Raikou briefly pondered.
Japan... so that's how the West refers to us?
This question flickered through her mind, but she quickly dismissed it, focusing instead on answering Noah's question.
"Great Emperor of the West, I have come this time primarily to seek your assistance—in our Japan, a Great Yokai has appeared, calling herself the Heavenly Fox and claiming to be a divine messenger. Although our local warriors are determined to slay her, we have attempted many times without success. In the end, we had no choice but to seek help from outside."
Minamoto-no-Raikou did not mention her alliance with the Evil Spirits, not even a hint of it.
She herself had no desire to bring it up, and she feared that if she mentioned her alliance with the Evil Spirits, the other party would outright refuse her plea for aid.
After all, Minamoto-no-Raikou harbored not a shred of goodwill toward those demons in her heart; subconsciously, she regarded them as utterly detestable beings.
Thus, she said nothing of it.
First, she stated her purpose, then she presented her offer.
"Of course, we do not expect you to assist us without compensation. If you help us eradicate this yokai, you may propose any conditions you wish—whether gold, silver, or other things, we will give you all we can."
Upon hearing this, Noah glanced at her, then casually unfolded a map that had been folded nearby and placed it before Minamoto-no-Raikou, pointing with his finger to Japan's location on the map.
"Anything you can give... that does sound like a tempting offer. But unfortunately, isn't it possible that after I defeat the yokai you cannot overcome, I could simply take its place and bring all of Japan under my control?"
As he spoke, Noah's smile remained unchanged, and he continued to look at Minamoto-no-Raikou with that same expression.
"You warriors are seeking help far and wide to eradicate yokai for the sake of the people. But aren't you afraid that after one yokai is eliminated, an even greater 'yokai' might be drawn in?"
Hearing Noah's words, Minamoto-no-Raikou felt somewhat helpless.
"But you are not a monster, are you?"
Although the Japan where Minamoto-no-Raikou lived before being sent here by that Distortion already had a unified nation, she was well aware that it was her original world.
The Japan of now was not unified at all.
In fact, due to the chaos caused when that Heavenly Fox established the Heian Capital, the faction that should have unified all of Japan in her original world had already been destroyed. Meanwhile, the tribe that should have been immensely powerful during this period had also perished after provoking the Heavenly Fox.
The whole of Japan was completely fragmented.
Under such circumstances, when she sought aid from Great Qin, she was prepared to directly cede Japan as territory of Great Qin.
Now that Great Qin was gone and replaced by the West, the outcome was naturally acceptable as well.
As for the reason, it was just as Minamoto-no-Raikou had said.
Whether it was the First Emperor of Great Qin or Noah of the West... even if they were likened to monsters, they were ultimately not monsters.
As humans, pledging allegiance to another nation primarily composed of humans was nothing to remark upon.
But being controlled by monsters... that was entirely different.
Moreover, that Heavenly Fox's methods were exceedingly brutal, and its motives were unclear. Minamoto-no-Raikou had also discovered that the creature was not actually a divine messenger of Amaterasu at all, and seemed to even worship some evil Foreign Gods!
Otherwise, Minamoto-no-Raikou would not have allied with those Evil Spirits, nor would she have offered all of Japan as a price to seek external aid.
That was what she thought.
Upon hearing her words, Noah still showed no reaction and simply spoke thus:
"A powerful warrior, for the sake of righteousness, is even willing to become a traitor who sells out her homeland, all to free her people from the control of monsters. That sounds truly moving..."
At this point, Noah paused, then met Minamoto-no-Raikou's gaze.
"If I hadn't learned early on that you, Minamoto-no-Raikou, while not allied with the Heavenly Fox, are indeed allied with another group of monsters called 'oni,' I might have believed it. What do you say?"