I'll kill you after I finish this game!

The meaning of pouring water on a tombstone is to show the deceased that they have not left their birthplace.

In my hometown, people believe in returning to one's roots, but my dad certainly wouldn't want to be far away from his family.

"Dad, do you remember when you used to ramble on about the light novels my sister and I read? You told me that you wanted to be the protagonist when you were young, right?"

After pouring well water on his sister's tombstone, Lei Zhe squatted in front of his father's tombstone, grinning broadly.

Looking at the photo embedded in the tombstone in front of him, a middle-aged handsome man with a serious expression who bore a five or six-point resemblance to Lei Zhe except for his eye color, Lei Zhe raised his hands and put them together, not knowing whether he was praying for something.

Opening his eyes, those deep blue eyes, filled with sensuality and gentleness, seemed to see through the cemetery, revealing the urn containing ashes placed in the coffin.

Because of the incompleteness of the body, Shirogane Miyuki's father cremated it after consulting with Reiji, right after Reiji gave them his last silent look.

Reiji's eyes began to deepen, and he activated the power of the Netherworld Grail within him, channeling his consciousness and gaze toward the Land of the Dead through the medium in the graveyard.

P.S.: I went to visit relatives today, so sorry for the late update...

Chapter Sixty-Three: Lord Hozuki, the One Who Fears the Ghosts of the Underworld

This world has gods and demons, and the underworld, which manages the resting place of souls, naturally also has its own deities in charge of its management.

In the East, there is a Netherworld managed by immortals and gods; in the West, there is a Netherworld managed by beings like the God of Death, or the Netherworld of Northern Europe, and so on.

And the Netherworld Abyss beneath Raiji's feet is also managed by the gods of Japan.

The underworld is a general term for the final resting place of souls. In that place, there are many gods in charge of different areas who manage different souls.

As a person from the underworld, Xiaoyou is very familiar with this. She also told Lei Zhe that after death, the souls of people from different regions, that is, different countries, will be assigned to different places and go to their respective places of death.

The people of the underworld also have their own special zones for souls, but they are very unpopular and despised. You can understand why by looking at the fact that the people of the underworld use souls to create Megalo weapons.

Who the hell would want to go to your godforsaken place and be used as material to make weapons?

These were things Xiaoyou told him. After all, she was a prominent figure in the underworld and naturally had a deep understanding of her hometown.

Of course, some extraordinary beings also have designated areas of rest after they die.

Lei Zhe's father, Lei Yun, was a pure Chinese. Even if he died in Japan, his soul would belong to the underworld in Zhongzhou.

As a Japanese person, the mother naturally belongs here. However, Raiji himself and his sister, Chisa Yozuki, being of mixed race, were born there according to the rules of the underworld and stayed there for a long time. They are marked by that place and are therefore souls belonging to the Japanese underworld region.

Unlike the original High School DxD in Razer's memory, although he had never encountered any native gods, it did not mean that they did not exist; they were simply weaker compared to the mythological forces in the world.

Japan claims to have eight million gods. While the number sounds impressive, the quality and strength of those gods are questionable. Hmm, even a grain of rice or a pea can become a god. What kind of extraordinary power can you expect from such beings?

However, according to Lei Zhe's girlfriend Xiao You, there are quite a few powerful figures in the underworld, but most of them are law-abiding beings.

Meanwhile, in the neon-lit underworld, in this eerie and gloomy world, besides the heinous souls who need to be punished by hell, there is also a place in the underworld similar to the Soul Society in Bleach.

After all, there is a queue to be reincarnated. At this moment, in the Yellow Springs Underworld, there is a Hundred Ghosts Street where countless souls dwell, as those who did not commit any major mistakes in their lives but died young before their lifespan was over.

This place is built in a style similar to the neon buildings of the mortal world; it has everything that exists in the mortal world, and it also has things that don't exist in the mortal world.

Aside from the somewhat eerie environment, the streets and skyscrapers here are really no different from the real world.

People came and went... no, it should be ghosts coming and going. Everyone's faces and appearances were no different from when they were alive, except that some eccentric individuals would always show their bloody and hideous appearances.

The 'normal ghosts' walking down the street, seeing the other's dead-looking appearance, remained calm and indifferent, unsurprised by it all.

Some ghosts were still driving cars on the road, but instead of running on the ground, the cars were eerily floating around at a speed no different from that of a normal car.

Occasionally, you can see a few buses full of ghosts passing by.

Luxury items like cars are sometimes bought by ghosts in the underworld, and sometimes burned by their relatives in the mortal world. However, it seems that Japan doesn't have the custom of burning things like the East, so 99% of ghosts buy them with money.

At that moment, a car stopped in front of a house in Hyakki-gai (Hyakki-gai Street). A man with long, straight black hair and a middle parting, wearing a Japanese kimono with red trim and a black background, stepped out of the car. There was also a small horn about a few centimeters long sticking up in the center of his forehead.

The man casually pulled out some underworld currency from his kimono and tossed it to the pale-faced ghost of the taxi driver. Then, under the ghost's trembling gaze, he slung a black spiked club over his shoulder and walked into the house.

dong dong!

The cold-faced unicorn knocked on the door in front of him.

"Ah, it's coming."

After the man knocked on the door, a sweet and lively female voice came out.

The door opened a crack in front of the man, and then a pair of curious and alert blue eyes peered through the gap. Upon seeing the imposing, cold-faced, one-horned man carrying a spiked club...

"Master Ghost Light!?"

Upon seeing this imposing presence, the person inside the door showed no fear but instead politely opened the door with a smile.

At first glance, you can see that she is a beautiful and lovely girl with strikingly long, black hair that reaches her waist.

The white dress was adorned with lace trim, with ruffles on the collar and cuffs, and a belted waist. Her slender and beautifully curved legs were tightly encased in black pantyhose.

The girl had a youthful and adorable appearance reminiscent of a Western doll, and she showed no fear in the face of the cold, one-horned man standing outside the door, offering a polite smile.

"Chisa, has your mother finished her drawing?"

The cold, unicorn-like man, whom the girl called Hozuki, changed his cold expression upon seeing Chisa, and asked the cute girl in front of him in a very friendly and respectful manner.

"...You should ask your mother about that, Lord Hozuki."

Chisa, a cute girl whose full name is Yozuki Chisa, first led Hozuki into the house, and then brought him to the door of a room.

Upon opening the door, an aura of decadence and resentment, seemingly solidified into a tangible form, wafted out.

Hozuki and Yozuki Chisa were immediately overwhelmed by this aura.

—It was an atmosphere created by mixing together drawing paper, ink, cola juice, and the sorrowful and melancholic emotions that lingered in the room.

Both Hozuki and Chisa could read the meaning of this aura. It seemed to be constantly saying, "I have no motivation, I am so sad, I am a useless person."

Upon opening the door, numerous exquisite drawings, scribbled scraps, and crumpled pieces of paper were piled on the floor, along with several game consoles, comic books, and drawing tools, forming small mountains.

And in the middle of these messy, chaotic, and disorganized mountains, on the office desk in the room, there was a woman with disheveled hair and her face covered, like Sadako, drawing.

The woman was dressed very casually, just in her pajamas, exuding a tangible aura of melancholy as she worked with her head down. Judging from the exquisite drawings that were quickly taking shape on the table, you could tell she was painting.

"Your mother...has had another attack?"

Hozuki showed no fear or disgust upon seeing the eerie and messy scene in the room; he merely twitched his lips and softly asked Chisa a question.

"My brother burned food for us again, and he also burns letters over from time to time. My mother has been doing this ever since she reads them."

Chisa looked at her mother, who was completely absorbed in her painting work and didn't respond even when someone came in, and sighed softly as she walked into the room. She picked up the only tidy table and handed it to Hozuki.

If you look closely at your mother, you can see that she is drawing a portrait of a cold-faced boy and a portrait of a middle-aged man on the drawing paper.

These are her son, Yozuki Raizhe, and her husband, Rai Yun.

Is it because she misses her son and husband?

Hozuki could also see the portraits that Sana kept drawing, and he understood her heart, which was filled with longing.

She was happy that her son was still alive, but the fact that she could not meet her husband, who had died with her, in the afterlife was a source of great pain for the mother and daughter.

Aside from the other party's son, Hozuki tried to help her, but was powerless to do so, since her husband was a Chinese man whose soul did not reside in this area.

Although he possesses unparalleled strength and status in the underworld, he is also a lawful being and cannot interfere in the affairs of other underworld institutions, so he is powerless to do anything about their matters.

Hozuki is an assistant to King Enma in the underworld, and the actual ruler of hell in the eyes of Chisa and some ghosts.

And the first cursed demon of hell.

Even Izanami, the mother goddess of the underworld, is no match for this sadistic man, whether in terms of her ability to manage hell or her personal strength.

Even in the underworld, he is a high-ranking figure in the leadership and the actual controller of the Hundred Ghosts Street.

Here, he's considered a high-achieving, wealthy, and handsome man, much like he is in the human world. He owns a car, a house, and has a high social standing. He also owns many businesses that have a prestigious reputation in the underworld.

How prestigious are Hozuki and his business? In this underworld region of Japan, they are roughly equivalent to the Shinomiya family in the mortal realm.

Just like in the mortal world, this place has recently started to develop its own entertainment industry for ghosts. The purpose is to provide entertainment for these idle souls, so that they can stay here peacefully for a while and then go to their next life.

After all, if you just let your soul stay here and do nothing, it's easy for something to go wrong.

Yozuki Sana, who is also Chisa's mother, is his most popular manga artist.

She has many comic book fans in the mortal world, and the same is true in the underworld, where she is even more popular and has a huge following.

Hozuki, the powerful figure in the underworld, took the mother and daughter who died unjustly very seriously. This was not only because they were employees of his company, but also because a certain respected figure in the mortal realm had asked him to take care of them.

This is why Hozuki, as the big boss, could personally visit the mother and daughter to offer his condolences. Otherwise, even though Hozuki is very gentlemanly towards women, he wouldn't have taken the time out of his busy schedule to come here in person.

"Both, I guess. I'm more worried about Onii-chan. After all, in the letters Onii-chan burned, besides comforting his family, he mentioned many other things. After he mentioned in the letters that he avenged us, my mother has been worried about him ever since."

While talking about her mother, Chisa skillfully tidied up the trash on the floor of the room and arranged the various drawings and objects.

Lei Zhe originally had the mindset of the Eastern Huang. After learning that there were gods and demons in this world, he would occasionally burn some things at home, and he also wrote the letters himself.

In the letter, Lei Zhe did not mention whether he was doing well or not. He simply wrote about his own life and words of comfort to his family, as if he were writing a diary.

For example, after killing those ghouls and some enemies, the thrill of avenging his great grudge was followed by endless emptiness. When he had nothing else to do, Raiji wrote about his successful revenge.

Whether Lei Yun's father received it or not was unknown, but his mother and sister definitely received it. After reading it, the mother, who understood her son's personality, was extremely anxious and sorrowful.

Chisa was happy that her brother had survived, but after the happiness came worry. She understood her brother's personality and tried to put herself in his shoes. What would she be like if she were the one who survived and went through this?

It's certain that their personalities have changed drastically. The letter that came a while ago said that they had successfully avenged them, but the mother and daughter didn't feel happy at all. Instead, their hearts were filled with sorrow.

"I don't know your brother's current condition, but I can assure you that he is not in any danger to his life."

Seeing the girl's worried expression and noticing the aura she exuded, similar to her own mother's, Hozuki offered her words of comfort with great gentlemanly manners.

He wasn't lying. After all, the mother in front of him had been specifically asked by that Hersez to take care of her, and the Reiji in the mortal realm must also have a close connection with him.

Moreover, Yotsuki Reize, as a person and even as an existence, has become utterly bizarre.

The reason it's considered strange is because of Hercules. When Hozuki went through the Underworld to examine this human's past, all information about that person in the underworld disappeared.

All souls have records after they go to their next life, but there is no record of Razer's current life or his previous life.

Hozuki guessed that it was probably the necromancer who made the mistake, which caused all the information about the other party in the soul record tape to disappear.

"Thank you for your comfort, Lord Hozuki. I..."

After being comforted by Hozuki, Chisa quickly regained her composure and became less dejected and resentful. But just as she was about to continue thinking about what Hozuki had to say, a sudden change occurred.

"Om-!"

Suddenly, a passage between life and death appeared in the void above the room's ceiling, from which two warm and sacred golden energy bands overflowed.

With an incredibly fast, cold gaze from the demon Hozuki, he enveloped Chisa in front of him and Sana, who was still working over there.