Campione! Vol 7 Epilogue

Epilogue It was a little more than ten minutes after the end of the intense battle on the plains of Senjougahara. Kusanagi G.o.dou was brought back to normal life with a phone call from Sayanomiya Kaoru. Though I had worried if the situation might become very severe, Kusanagi-san, your victory was splendid this time.' "Eh? From where did you watch our battle?" G.o.dou began to search with his eyes the plains of Senjougahara which had been turned into a dismal wasteland. Before he could report the outcome of the battle, the chance to break the news was seized from him. 'When the decisive battle began, the barrier of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was also destroyed so I was able to watch the entire process using investigative magic all the way over from Toushouguu. In the end, I was fortunate enough to witness the cooperation of you kings. I look forward to great things in your future, and the way you took command was simply magnificent.' "Ah, not at all, it wasn't anything special... Anyway, how's the damage this time?" Praised in an unwanted area, G.o.dou felt cold sweat running down his back. 'Damage... Hmm, Toushouguu has suffered complete destruction. If it were to be restored, the time required would be on the order of years. As for how the crater on the plains of Senjougahara should be covered up, I am still discussing it with my subordinates.' Kaoru's voice did not sound calm or composed at all. She really seemed to be worried. G.o.dou glanced at the great crater before his eyes, a little apologetic in his heart. At some point in time, the boiling molten steel had somehow disappeared. The beautiful wetlands were marred by a huge crater with a diameter of 300m. Even if one were to call it a crop circle, it would be far too big... 'All the various citizens and tourists who had turned into monkeys are now recovering consciousness. We have started providing them with psychological counseling.' "Psychological counseling?" 'Yes, the vast majority of the saved victims lost the memories from the time when they were monkeys, but a portion of them reported seeing a monkey G.o.d and having a nightmare of transforming into a monkey, and in that dream a frightful devil king appeared and threatened them, that if they don't help him out they would be turned into monkeys once again.' G.o.dou had a great shock. Was this caused by the stress of the [Goat]!? 'Plus there were unbelievable phenomena like those who were sure they had been at Toushouguu, but woke up at Lake Chuuzenji, or people who should be sleeping at home, but found themselves outside. It's a bit difficult to cover everything up with a reason like ma.s.s hallucination, so we will start using hypnosis wizardry to edit their memories.' It seemed like things had become very serious. G.o.dou felt extremely apologetic and started acting very awkwardly. 'The victims need the provision of psychological counseling as well as ma.s.s hypnosis and the implanting of fabricated memories. Though it is a difficult undertaking with thousands of subjects, we have already made full preparations during everyone's battles, and we will definitely give it our best.' This was the description of the efforts for preventing the disclosure of news about G.o.ds. It sure sounded like fictional dialogue from television. However, even if information could be manipulated, the physical evidence left behind in the real world could not be eliminated so simply... G.o.dou could do nothing but sigh as he hung up the phone, facing the ma.s.sive evidence carved out of the great land. "Looks like losses were unexpectedly small. Truly wonderful." "It feels particularly delightful to finally close the case on the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. G.o.dou and Smith, I, Luo Hao, must surely reward the both of you well for your contributions in our cooperative battle." Beside the sighing devil king were the other two Campiones. As a side note, even though the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had been defeated, no one seemed to have usurped any authority. Was it really because the battle ended with a three-versus-one finish? "Then I shall take my leave. Until next time." "You're going already? Isn't there still a lot of cleanup to handle? You're not staying to help?" As the masked king suddenly took his leave, G.o.dou immediately asked him to stay without a thought. Even though they had only fought together as comrades briefly, G.o.dou felt that, if he had to put it into words, Smith was a man who resonated surprisingly well with him. To be frank, G.o.dou felt a slight reluctance to part. "Truly regrettable, but it won't fit John Pluto Smith's style otherwise. When the curtain falls upon the stage, the actor must exit. When the battle concludes, the hero and devil king must also vanish." Smith answered with an obviously posed tone of voice. Expecting this kind of answer from the start, G.o.dou could not help but smile wryly as things occurred as predicted. "As a return favor for the incident this time, I promise to help you out in America if you're in trouble." "Pardon my frankness, but if someone disastrous like you came over, who knows what kind of tragedy would befall my homeland? However, if you really did visit, I would have no choice but to take up the responsibility of supervising you." Smith extended his black leather-gloved right hand. G.o.dou shook hands in return. Inconsistent with the image of the pretentious n.o.bleman, the hand felt unnaturally soft. "Your Beautiful Eminence, please take care, though who knows when we shall meet again. If possible, I, John Pluto Smith, never wish to make you my enemy." The black caped king bowed elegantly and extended his hand towards the third king. The demonic cult leader showed an expression that seemed to say 'Could he actually be offering to shake hands?' G.o.dou frantically blurted out: "Nee-san, I think it would be very childish if you ignored him." "What — !? You are staring at me with those eyes again! I understand of course. Your elder sister simply has misgivings as a maiden against shaking hands with an unidentified man!" Delivering a contrived excuse, Luo Cuilian extended her hand in kind. Smiling like a prankster beneath his mask, Smith immediately transformed as soon as he let go, turning into the black demonic bird and taking flight. (Afterwards, a certain American lady was taking a return plane trip, anxiously worrying to herself: 'That boy, really, seemed to be gazing at me with such thoughtful eyes a number of times... Unconsciously I began to feel happy and became more and more familiar with him. Perhaps, could there be some kind of fated bond between us... Annie, you idiot, he's ten years younger than you! And a super s.e.x maniac as well, completely unsuitable! However, in the rare chance that...' Of course, Kusanagi G.o.dou had no way of knowing that such a little interlude occurred.) Only two of the three Campiones remained. "You won, G.o.dou!" It was Erica, and all the rest of his female companions had arrived, apparently safe and sound. Erica led the way with Yuri, Liliana and Ena following behind. More surprisingly, even Amakasu Touma and Lu Yinghua arrived immediately after them. "Cough cough, what a hard day's work, Kusanagi-san. Originally I wondered if I could help in some way, and rushed here from Toushouguu by car, but you seemed to have settled everything by yourself." "Spared the necessity of resolving ourselves to a sacrificial battle against G.o.ds, we really need to cheer hurray." It was the arrival of the girls and the much-missed male faction. However, the new arrivals all suddenly froze in their tracks, because Luo Cuilian had placed her hands on G.o.dou's shoulders. "So G.o.dou, though it pains me to leave my 'little brother' behind, there are the sayings, friends.h.i.+p between gentlemen is as insipid as water, ^ while all banquets naturally come to an end. Your elder sister now returns to Mount Lu." "Little..." "Brother?" "And..." "Elder!?" "Sis?" "-ter!?" Erica, Liliana, Yuri, Ena, as well as Amakasu and Lu Yinghua were all speechless. The demonic cult leader ignored them and continued, completely failing to register their existences in her eyes. "Until we meet again, you must work hard and improve. First of all, you have to practice the proper way to address me, understood?" "Uh, can't I just use 'Nee-san' directly?" Even faced with a solemn order, G.o.dou tried to muddle through without outright agreeing. Since he had already learnt the basics of how to get along with this elder sister, and because the other party was someone who could not be understood with common sense, G.o.dou knew he cannot be caught up in her rhythm and must express an appropriate degree of self determination. "You have no wish to express reverence to the supreme exalted elder sister?" "It's important to not be fettered by trivial matters of address. Rather, what's key is the way I see you. Nee-san and I made a vow to become sworn siblings. With such an important promise between us as companions, this fact will forever remain unchanged until the day I die. Isn't that good enough?" When facing Luo Cuilian, G.o.dou found himself somehow able to resist unlike the way the other girls always caught him in their whims. Perhaps thanks to the emphasis of the 'sibling' relations.h.i.+p, as long as he avoided seeing Nee-san as a 'woman', he felt like he could say anything without reservation. "What a handful to handle you are... I've heard that younger brothers are cuter if they are a little bit naughty so I shall grant you special permission this once. However, please do not forget, you are the only person in this world who is allowed to call me your elder sister, understood?" "No problem. You take care too, may we meet again as willed by fate." Having bid their farewells, Luo Cuilian left G.o.dou's side. Flower petals began to flutter all around her. Was this the tree peony?^ As the elder sister and also transcendent beauty was surrounded by the glamorous blizzard of petals, she vanished with a whoosh. "Uh... what is this about? Unbelievable that Master would..." With an extremely impressed expression, this time it was Lu Yinghua who approached. "I never would have expected Kusanagi-sama to have entered a sibling pact with Master. The humble disciple Lu Yinghua, hereby congratulates my Esteemed Uncle!" "Esteemed Uncle!? Don't call me such a weird name!" G.o.dou reprimanded the youth who was saluting in the martial arts way with one fist held against an open palm, his head bowed respectfully. "Well, since you are Master's sworn younger brother, and also my superior in martial might, I cannot casually address you... So, what about calling you G.o.dfather?" "That's even worse, I'm not some kind of mafia boss!" "Actually, since Master rules the Martial Realm and all Chinese-trained martial artists, it is rather like being a mafia boss... After further consideration, I think it's best that I call you Honored Uncle. So, Honored Uncle, Lu Yinghua takes his leave." Leaving with a smile devoid of his usual sn.o.bbishness, Lu Yinghua departed. As befitting of the qinggong master, he was gone like the wind in an instant. — Getting acquainted with so many powerful people, and becoming unexpectedly familiar with them, let's hope this incident is resolved with that... It was just as G.o.dou was about to breathe a sigh of relief. "I say, G.o.dou, when did you get so intimate with Her Eminence? It's so intimate that it's a little suspicious." Erica's beautiful voice questioned. Why? Somehow it felt like there were hidden barbs in that glamorous voice. "It's not so strange, right? In truth, she's actually quite a friendly person... Uh, though I do think that she tends to be a bit disruptive, so it would be a bad idea to let her loose in places with many people." "For you to find a way to get so intimate with that kind of woman, how exactly did you hook up with Her Eminence?" "She seemed to be calling you 'little brother', right? I feel the same as what Erica-san is insinuating, with just one or two days' time, it is very suspicious for relations to have progressed to such intimacy. Really, G.o.dou-san you..." Even Yuri lowered her gaze as if heart-broken. She still had her bad habit of stopping midway in her sentences even when there was much more she wanted to say. "Another person agrees, further confirming my speculation. I only took my eyes off you for a moment, and there you go settling such decisive matters on your own. You truly are a monster." "So amazing! Because it is too cool, even Ena doesn't know what to say." Liliana nodded firmly, and even Ena was wryly poking fun at herself. What was going on with them? G.o.dou felt himself shrinking in retreat. Come on, all he did was gain something like a step-sibling, why were they all reacting so subtly!? "Come on, could you all quiet down a bit? Yuri-neechan and all the other Onee-sama should know your bounds. Onii-sama just finished this severe and deadly battle. Really, you have all failed to be mindful of that!" Help came from an unexpected ally in the form of Mariya Hikari who had not been seen earlier. Held in her arms against her chest were cans of coffee and bottled tea and water. "I think everyone is acting a bit lacking in feminine delicacy... Right, Onii-sama, these are drinks I bought at the vending machine from a nearby restaurant. Which kind would you like?" "It's for me? Thanks." Having loudly chastised the older girls, Hikari immediately put away her intimidating anger and smiled at G.o.dou. She must have been absent earlier because she took a long route? Figuring that out, G.o.dou was very pleased with Hikari's thoughtfulness. After going through such an intense battle, his throat did feel very parched. Hikari proceeded to narrow her eyes and gaze at him with a tender expression. This expression and gesture did not match her young age, and should only be displayed by mature women. "Actually, I wanted to cook something for you, but it can't be helped in a place like this... By the way, I'm pretty good at making dishes. Not as well as Onee-chan, but for a student of my age, my skills are not bad at all. Next time, please enjoy a lunchbox prepared by me." "I don't really mind, but we go to different schools." "In that case, we can just go out together. Why not next Sat.u.r.day?" "An acquaintance will probably be asking me to put in a s.h.i.+ft for work... Eh? What is with everyone?" Starting at some point, the surrounding mood had changed. Erica deliberately shrugged with exaggeration. Yuri timidly gazed at G.o.dou and her sister. Ena sighed uncharacteristically, saying something like 'Hikari ended up becoming His Majesty's woman as well, this is far too shocking.' "Kusanagi G.o.dou, looks like I have won the wager this time. Let alone a month, the result arrived in less than a fortnight. This actually exceeds my expectations..." Then Liliana proceeded to say something incomprehensible. "No matter how things went, the fact of my winning remains unchanged. I, Liliana Kranjcar, will henceforth become your loyal va.s.sal like no other, serving by your side and offering everything to you as your premier knight." Hearing her sudden unexpected victory declaration, G.o.dou was speechless and completely bewildered by what she was trying to say. Greatly perplexed, G.o.dou turned to look at the only other male remaining at the scene, Amakasu. What on earth was going on? "Kusanagi-san... Because you dug your own grave, I cannot help you." The observing ninja descendant teased G.o.dou with a strained expression, trying his hardest not to burst out in laughter. "Hikari... What on earth are you trying to do!? l-lf father and mother found out, do you know how they will scold you? Please think a little!" "It's okay, Onee-chan." In contrast to the older sister whose face was flushed red, the younger sister was very relaxed and complacent. "If I explained that we will be serving Onii-sama as sisters, I'm sure grandpa and grandma will be very happy. In that case, father, who married into the Mariya family, probably won't say anything while mother is just an optimist. I don't think she'll mind." Hoho. Hikari seemed to be laughing as if gloating over her victory. "My dear group of Onee-sama, this is the fact of the matter. Please instruct and remind me well from now on... However, please don't worry, as the youngest member, I will humbly get along with you all, especially Erica-neesama. Everyone, I will be in your care." "Looks like in terms of social apt.i.tude, Hikari surpa.s.ses the older sister by far..." Erica murmured with great feeling as she reached out to G.o.dou beside her. Then she pinched his upper arm hard. "Ouch! What are you doing!?" "In exchange for absolution from me, this little punishment is nothing, so stop complaining... Or perhaps in consideration for the future, it'd be best if I stab you once instead?" Completely ignoring G.o.dou's protest, Erica pondered seriously. For some reason, Yuri, Ena, Liliana and Amakasu proceeded to nod vigorously in agreement. There was a beautiful little girl standing on the peak of Nantaisan, overlooking the distant world beneath where lights dotted the streets. If one were to look towards her hand, a heavy circular medallion would come into view. A circular disc made of an alloy of gold and iron, it was about the same size as the girl's fist. Engraved with script that was reminiscent of a [Sword], the girl gazed unerringly at its surface for quite a while, as the number of patterns incremented and a second [Sword] appeared on the circular sculpture. "After Perseus, it was the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's turn to be destroyed, and both their steel have been left upon the earth. Clearly, that Great Sage will not be the last hero to manifest in this world..." The blonde girl who resembled a cla.s.sic western doll looked to be about twelve or thirteen in age. It was the Divine Ancestor who introduced herself as Guinevere to Luo Hao previously. "When the Great Sage called upon the power to defeat devil kings and bring salvation to the world, I actually thought it might be possible, the destiny written in the stars for the 'one who manifests at the end' to become the strongest sword of [Steel]... Though incomplete, the Great Sage managed to make skillful use of it, as befitted the magnificent hero from the great land of China." Breathing a sigh, she put the circular medallion away and it was at this time that Guinevere noticed a presence. "Prince, though you may possess the power of G.o.d speed, you are really unskilled in the techniques of hiding in the shadows..." "Hmph, you witch. Your sense of smell is sharp as ever." From the shadows of the volcanic rocks, out stepped a man. It was Black Prince Alec. His real name was Alexandre Gascoigne. As suggested by his family name, he was the Campione whose ancestry traced its roots back to France. "I just wanted to find out what your true intentions are." "How scary... But regrettably, the open matter has already been settled. Guinevere will be heading back home now. So, let us meet again in Europe." "Very well, we shall meet again, Witch of Brittany." If the Black Prince were to pursue using G.o.dlike speed, even the Divine Ancestor would be no match. Knowing that the cold reply of the Black Prince implied that he had no intention of giving chase, Guinevere flew into the sky, enveloped in golden light. "What a waste of a trip... That said, the strength of this monkey called the Great Sage Equaling Heaven really was too abnormal. What was the source of all that power?" Watching the witch depart, Alec muttered to himself. After finding out there were three other Campiones present, he had deemed it unnecessary to intervene. But for the sake of discerning the nature of that power, partic.i.p.ating in the battle would not have been such a bad idea — Ending his contemplation here, Alec shrugged his shoulders. It was pointless to dwell any further on a concluded incident. If another similarly alarming situation were to arise in the future, just start gathering information all over again... References 1 . t Friends.h.i.+p between gentlemen... ^CD^C): a saying that originates from the Daoist philosophical cla.s.sic, Zhuangzi(^± : f). The full saying is "Friends.h.i.+p between gentlemen, they say, is insipid as water; that of petty men, sweet as rich wine. But the insipidity of the gentleman leads to affection, while the sweetness of the petty man leads to revulsion. Those with no particular reason for joining together will for no particular reason part."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi_(book) 2. t Tree peony^i^l-): Paeonia suffruticosa is a type of peony native to China and historically renowned as the King of Flowers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paeonia_suffruticosa Afterword Greetings everyone, it's been a while. I am Takedzuki Jou. The second half of the Volume 6 story, Volume 7 has finally published without incident. In this series, every time there are always ideas that I must abandon with great reluctance. Simply stated, sometimes it's because of constraints in the number of pages in order to make the story a better read. Within these lost ideas, there are quite a lot of interesting thoughts. Take Volume 4 the Perseus story for example. His origins were related to the Babylonian deity Marduk and the wors.h.i.+p of Mithras which flourished at one point in the Roman Empire. This religion has many connections with Christianity and it took great determination for me to cut out all that content. This time in the story of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, there were legends like the battle between a centipede G.o.d and a snake G.o.d on the plains of Senjougahara, but a good many of these ideas could not be fitted into the work. Particularly regrettable is a little story that didn't make the cut, about the second strongest character besides the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, building a nightclub in the human world because of his frustrations. I had written about a chapter's worth when I was told 'This is not needed.' In the end, it could not be used. Readers who feel it's a shame that this character did not have a chance to s.h.i.+ne, if you want to see the Campione story of the Hotel Master, please make your thoughts known to the Super Dash Bunko editorial department. With that, perhaps 'The Returned Zhu Bajie Strikes Back!' might be published one day. So, these Volumes 6 and 7 were written as the theme for the 'Toei Manga Festival Cross Over.' In the romantic comedy aspect, it became 'Kusanagi G.o.dou's Round.' Always kept spinning around by the various girls, he was finally able to take control. Perhaps he can be like Gian^ in his feature film incarnations, awakening heroism and bonds of friends.h.i.+p. Though this kind of situation is particularly rare, I would be most grateful if readers continue to antic.i.p.ate this kind of scene. The next volume is slated to consist of slice-of-life short stories.