Chapter 16: The Ancient Sun-Chasing Goddess
Water and the shadows of trees—these things, in mythological thinking, all belong to the feminine system, which also includes gods of the underworld.
The earth mother goddess with a human head and a serpent's body, who is also a great deity of the underworld—in Chinese mythology, the most famous one is undoubtedly Nuwa.
However, Hikigaya doesn't believe the being he's facing is that Nuwa.
That goddess always seemed to be focused solely on her role as a mother deity, dedicated to digging the earth, earning the universal praise of farmers.
In the giant pit, a large, earthy yellow snake had begun to coil and take form.
But now, Hikigaya was starting to get a sense of what was going on. Upon seeing this, he didn't find it particularly surprising. Holding the nine-tailed fox in his grasp, he began running again.
He could no longer rely on the power of water to move—it would only create an opportunity for his opponent to strike.
There were many buildings nearby, which provided a suitable environment for him to leap around.
In just a few quick moves, the giant pit that had been the park was no longer in sight.
The immediate priority was to keep this snake from wreaking havoc in the city. If she continued like this, it would inevitably turn into a disaster.
Hikigaya did his best to avoid crowded areas.
That cold, eerie aura belonging to the serpent goddess continued to follow him, like a shadow.
He fully utilized his martial artist's footwork and sprinted wildly. Eventually, the buildings around him dwindled. He had no idea how long he'd been running, but he was completely out of Chiba City, now surrounded by rivers and natural terrain.
Just as he landed on the ground, he heard a thunderous boom behind him.
He looked back.
A massive phantom form, part dragon, part serpent, rose from the earth, emitting a deep, ox-like bellow, and chased after him.
The water in the surrounding air was also moving in a way Hikigaya found very familiar.
As expected—manipulating the shape and behavior of the object to gain control. He had found it odd before—even if someone had similar powers, they shouldn't use them in exactly the same way.
This was clearly an act by ancient humans trying to control nature—a form of shamanism, which appeared in many regions. But in a world where gods truly existed, such shamanism likely mimicked the powers once demonstrated by gods.
In other words, his opponent's power likely relied on having a "model" to imitate.
If the target was the sun, then the mythology must originate from sun-controlling shamanistic practices. That was highly likely. This goddess was clearly chasing after light, and wherever she went, brightness was drained, leaving behind eerie darkness.
Several names immediately popped into Hikigaya's mind.
He quickly narrowed down the list.
He needed to collect clearer "evidence"—if the giant manifestation was truly revealing her other identity.
"We're screwed, we're screwed…" the nine-tailed fox, still in Hikigaya's grasp, muttered incessantly. "We're totally doomed this time…"
Hikigaya ignored her and turned to continue escaping.
But before he could start running again, the ground around him rumbled.
Hills rose, river valleys split apart, and the rivers no longer followed the laws of nature. Instead, they surged into waves, forming watery serpents and dragons to block Hikigaya's escape.
This was the godlike power described in myths—of shaping mountains and rivers, of floods bursting forth. In many myths, such power could easily be interpreted as the ability to create heaven and earth. That meant he wasn't wrong.
That brief delay was all it took—the sky suddenly darkened. The serpent goddess had arrived.
Her massive tail descended from the sky with crushing force, smashing the earth into a crater amidst flying dust and debris.
After finishing that sweeping attack, the gigantic divine form vanished. The serpent goddess appeared on the battered ground.
By now, there was no more light in the sky. Night had fallen, yet no stars were visible. But on the edge of the darkness, sunlight still touched the earth, forming a stark contrast between light and shadow.
"God from a foreign land—you have nowhere left to run."
The serpent goddess stood still. She casually swept her gaze around—and locked onto a spot.
In the next moment, Hikigaya emerged from that very place. His eyes glowed with golden-red flames, as if burning fiercely.
"You truly can rekindle the sun."
In the serpent goddess's eyes, the nine-tailed fox had completely vanished—her gaze was fixed solely on Hikigaya.
Hikigaya snorted coldly.
Now that he understood her powers, he could finally strike.
God slayers were not easy to come by. Since the beginning of mythology, only a few dozen had ever existed. If facing a god always required a deadly fight, they wouldn't be so universally hated by the gods—a sign of their greatness.
For most of history, there were only one or two god slayers in the world at a time. There were even centuries when not a single one existed. An era like the current one, where multiple god slayers competed for dominance, was extremely rare. It was known as the era of rampant demon kings. During such times, gods would also appear more frequently on earth, trying to destroy these demon kings.
Strangely, Hikigaya had this knowledge in his mind—but couldn't remember who had told him.
He released the nine-tailed fox and stretched out his hand, palm open.
First, a small glimmer of light. Then the light spread until Hikigaya's entire figure was obscured.
With a faint "boom," a spark was born within the sea of light. Centered on that spark, countless rays of light gathered into it.
The nine-tailed fox stared, dumbfounded. In her eyes, on the once-dark sky, a sun had appeared!
Although not as dazzling as the real sun in the sky, this sun still drove away the darkness, spreading warmth and heat to the land.
"Didn't you want the sun? Take it!"
Hikigaya's voice rang out from within the sun.
With that voice, the sun in the sky suddenly began plummeting toward the ground!
There was no doubt—if it hit the earth, the entire land would become a sea of scorching fire, burning everything to ashes.
On the serpent goddess's face, however, appeared a look of joy. With a whoosh, she left the ground, leapt toward the falling sun, arms open to embrace it.
The nine-tailed fox finally saw Hikigaya—he had emerged from the other side of the sun.
Around him, a fierce wind was rising, and within it, the faint shapes of several fierce beast-heads were beginning to form.
A voice passed through the storm, reaching the nine-tailed fox's ears.
"In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there are many gods who have snakes threaded through their ears, hold snakes in their hands, and trample snakes underfoot. In ancient beliefs, the serpent is a symbol of eternal life and also the sign of the earth mother goddess."
"The most famous sun-chasing god, who also commands snakes and controls the sun, is Kuafu. His myth reflects ancient shamanistic rain-invoking rituals."
"Kuafu has interpretations as a seeker of light, as a representation of the day-night cycle, and even as the creator of calendars based on tree shadows. Before dying, he cast aside his staff, which became the Deng Forest—also known as the Peach Forest—conveying a belief in rebirth. It symbolizes female fertility and vitality, a product of ancient worship of the female reproductive force."
The storm grew louder; the divine beasts were becoming more distinct.
"Kuafu and the sun, as opposing entities in mythology, represent the feminine side. Myths dominated by female deities arose during times of mother goddess worship—when women were revered as the original and only gods, giving birth and controlling all things. The earth mother goddess, symbolized by the snake, was the embodiment of this."
"In similar minority myths, fertile women were a necessary condition to become a sun-chasing deity. 'Chasing' here doesn't mean pursuing, but expelling. Kuafu used peachwood to drive away the sun, causing it to fall and become the Deng Forest—symbolizing the mother goddess's fertility and resurrection. Kuafu is essentially an ancient earth mother goddess, later evolving into the river-making, water-controlling giant deity, and her image shifted from female to male."
"The earth mother goddess doesn't seek to destroy the sun, but to use her divine power to help it be reborn. By controlling and mimicking the sun's path of death and rebirth, she influences the sun so it functions properly. The darkness, the movement of water, and the interplay between tree shadows and sunlight—all reflect the sun's trajectory."
The nine-tailed fox turned her dazed gaze to the other side. There, the serpent goddess seemed deaf to Hikigaya's words. She simply embraced the sun, allowing its flames to burn her body, dragging it toward the ground.
What the nine-tailed fox didn't know was that Hikigaya was cursing wildly inside.
"Damn it, using speeches to activate powers does seem to increase their effectiveness—but it's so damn tiring!"
He looked at the beast of Set forming in the wind and sighed.
Finally finished the damn monologue...
Now it was time for Kuafu to "die."
Kuafu wasn't a guy, but a girl. Honestly, when he first saw this interpretation, he found it… kind of off. It ruined the imagery.
But if we follow the interpretation of the myth, next Kuafu would die along with the sun, then transform into a vibrant peach forest. Through death and rebirth, she would allow the sun to revive and absorb its power.
Judging by her behavior, she was indeed doing just that.
But a newly resurrected earth mother goddess is weak. Next, Hikigaya would finish her off using the beast of Set.
Sounds ridiculous, but that's how it works. As gods—even Heretic ones—they had this maddening trait of "no matter what, I must do this."
Kuafu sees the sun and must embrace it, die, and be reborn. Just like Perseus in anime who must kill the dragon on sight—it's irrational, but maybe that's what makes them gods.
Hikigaya felt quite lucky. This sudden encounter with a god, he handled quite easily—and all thanks to his reading habit.
If he hadn't recently read about Japanese and Chinese myths, he wouldn't have identified the enemy so easily or figured out the easiest way to defeat her based on that knowledge.
Though it sounds a bit anticlimactic, there was no suspense left in this battle.