Transformed into the leader of an esoteric sect in Japan

Fujiwara Kageko completely ignored Asakura Yuki, simply turning her head away. Blood-red tears welled up in her large, empty, unfocused eyes, and it seemed that only Kurosawa Shizuki remained in her vision.

"Sister, even you can't understand us? She's such a gentle child, she doesn't want to hurt the world in the slightest, but she locks herself in that ridiculous cage forever, living this endless cycle of life..."

Fujiwara Kageko's voice trembled, then grew increasingly venomous and angry:

"Even so, you still want to storm into her dream and murder her with your own hands, denying her even the right to dream? Don't beings like us even have the freedom to escape?"

“I didn’t kill her,” Kurosawa Shizuki recalled the last game that Kureko and the shadow girl played in the dream, and the lonely yet relieved look in Kureko’s eyes after she pushed open the horn door. “It was her own choice.”

“I don’t understand. You’re lying to me. She wants to live. This is our promise. We want to be truly free. How could she willingly die?” Fujiwara Kageko’s voice grew increasingly agitated.

"Are you just pretending not to understand? To be forever asleep in a woven dream, endlessly going through cycles of reincarnation, can living in such a lifeless dream really be called living? Compared to being imprisoned in a dream forever in a meaningless cycle, is choosing to accept death based on one's own free will so hard to understand?" Yuki Asakura questioned with a cold smile.

"I don't understand, I can't comprehend it. What value is there in the freedom to choose death? I'd rather live forever without freedom than die freely. Death means seeing nothing, knowing nothing. It's terrifying, terrifying, terrifying!" For the first time, a look of fear appeared on Fujiwara Kageko's face. "Whoever wants me to die, I'll make them all die!"

On Muko's small hand holding the golden branch, something invisible was twisting. In the shadows, an incredibly large existence was growing. Kurosawa Shizuki seemed to hear the rustling of branches and leaves in the forest again and smell the rotten and decaying odor. Kurosawa Shizuki was certain that some powerful and irresistible force was eroding this world!

“I am not her. I am an absolutely rational being. I will do anything to live. If she wants to die, then I will let her death show its greatest value.” Fujiwara Kageko turned back with a gloomy expression, looking at the remains of the girl whose last glimmer of life was fading on the hospital bed. “Thank you for making this decision for me. There was once a Kageko who was still human, and a Kageko who was about to become a god.”

"Now that she is human, Fujiwara no Kōko is willing to sacrifice her life as a chosen one for a great cause. This is something to be celebrated. From now on, there will only be one Kōko left in the world." Fujiwara no Kōko lowered her head and let out a laugh that was more like crying.

Kurosawa Shizuki was stunned. Suddenly, Kurosawa Ai's prophecy flashed through her mind: "The first person is hiding in the place where moths dance, preparing to sacrifice herself." The forest was once home to a human named Muko. She was actually the fifth chosen one.

The plaster on the wall was peeling off like snowflakes, and the whole world seemed to be bleeding and decaying. The earth was trembling, and Fujiwara no Kōko was summoning some kind of mysterious being. It was a large, translucent white moth that was perched on the remains of the hospital bed. With extremely gentle movements, it inserted its proboscis into the dry and decaying body of the girl on the bed. It began to enjoy the fifth offering.

"Do you really think everything will go as smoothly as you imagine?" Yuki Asakura said. "After you sacrificed her, the last bit of power in the forest dissipated..."

As soon as they finished speaking, the eerie woodland oil painting behind them finally weathered away completely, turning into a mess of mush, unrecognizable from its original form. Even the strange divine language marked on it became distorted and unreadable.

"So what? The only thing you can threaten me with is this golden branch, but now, even the golden branch in your hands is being usurped by me. Do you still have any chance?" Fujiwara Kageko revealed a mocking smile. In her hands, the power of the golden branch was being rapidly usurped, and its brilliance was becoming dimmer and dimmer, as if it was about to become a branch with no divine power left.

“Do you really think that even if your Age of Gods descends to this point, you will still be the only immortal in Heikyo? When one force begins to operate unchecked, another force will inevitably be summoned to maintain the eternal balance,” Asakura Yuki’s eyes burned with a flame deeper than the universe, “Utopia Flame!”

In the next instant, pure white holy flames engulfed Asakura Yuki's entire body. At the same time, amidst Fujiwara Kageko's horrified scream, the flames also spread along the golden branch, engulfing Fujiwara Kageko's entire body.

The white, holy light instantly illuminated the entire ward, as if it were about to burn everything to ashes. However, Kurosawa Shizuki's deep blue eyes were not affected by this holy light at all. On the contrary, the black matter within her body cheered and leaped in this holy flame, even giving Kurosawa Shizuki the urge to dance in response to this holy flame.

The Uri Flame is a supreme flame existing only in mythology. Before the Black Sun was born, when the eternal sun still burned in the sky, it is said that a race once roamed the land, their bodies burning with this divine flame, fighting against the eternal night. As long as the Uri Flame never extinguished, this race would gain immortality. After the Black Sun's birth, this race abandoned the sacred Uri Flame, embracing a power situated between light and shadow. However, under certain extreme circumstances, the Black Sun's servants can still reawaken the Uri Flame.

For example, when summoning the divine apostle closest to the Black Sun, the dark matter power will also revert to its original form...

Behind Kurosawa Shizuki, the two shadow servants who had recently re-established contact with her, Nakamura Yukise and Takasaki Ryo, along with numerous shadow creatures transformed from the creatures that devoured the forest, appeared on their own without being summoned by Kurosawa Shizuki. Facing the direction of Asakura Yuki, they prostrated themselves in worship without hesitation. This was the natural submission of the inferior beings among the dark creatures to their superiors.

However, what was suppressed even deeper in Kurosawa Shizuki's heart was a strange appetite. Looking at the holy white flames on Asakura Yuki's body, just like when she saw the threads of time flowing from the hermit's body not long ago, Kurosawa Shizuki actually had the illusion that this flame was very delicious. Is flame really something that can be eaten? Kurosawa Shizuki forcibly suppressed this distorted appetite. She knew that she absolutely could not go up and cause trouble for Asakura now.

Like being bathed in the sunlight, Kurosawa Shizuki could still hear the girl's clear yet resolute singing voice coming from the direction of Asakura Yuki:

"Seated on the throne surrounded by flowers is the King of Sunfire, burning brightly under the blazing sun."

Accompanied by the chanting of incantations and the roar of thunder, the sky collapsed and the earth cracked. The ceiling was suddenly torn open by an immense force. Yuki Asakura, whose entire body was engulfed in the flames of Yuri, was like a white sun. However, this pure fire with divine qualities would eventually attract all dark creatures to follow her without hesitation, as if on a pilgrimage.

This also includes the highest-ranking beings among all dark matter creatures, the apostles of the Black Sun!

A colossal black hand, its surface obscuring the sky and flowing with an inexhaustible black power, effortlessly tore open the dome of the Shedding Clothes Club and extended into the ward located on the club's lowest level.

At the end of this giant hand stood a black giant, nearly a hundred meters tall, with eight arms on its back, and a superior being wearing a lotus-shaped mask.

The King of Blazing Suns has come to pay homage.

Muko released her grip on the golden branch, and her hand fell limply to her side. Asakura Yuki staggered back several steps, as if bounced away by an invisible force. She stumbled and fell to the ground, and even the golden branch slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground. The moment she was freed from Muko's grasp, the Yuri Flame on Asakura Yuki's body also vanished without a trace. However, after the flames disappeared, Asakura Yuki did not appear to be unharmed. Her entire body was burned like charcoal. If it were a normal person, they would probably have been burned to death countless times by now.

"How annoying! This trip to Heijing is going to be a complete financial disaster," but Asakura Yuki still managed a carefree smile. The immortality of her fourth-tier Sun Servant was rapidly circulating within her, keeping her alive from dying on the spot, but such injuries would certainly not be healed in a short time.

"It's up to you now, Dad." Asakura Yuki's voice was extremely weak as she stared blankly at the black, eight-armed giant above her.

Fujiwara no Kyouko, whose body was still engulfed in flames, remained motionless, standing stiffly beside the hospital bed, immersed in a suffocating silence as if she were already dead.

However, the girl on the hospital bed beside her was not burned in the slightest by Yu Liyan. Around the giant moth that was lying on the girl and sucking all the essence in her body, there was a blood-like liquid flowing continuously. Even the power of Yu Liyan, the highest flame of the Black Sun, could not burn the moth's body in the slightest.

"Heh, the King of Blazing Sun? This kind of defective product is not worthy of being used as a trump card?" Mu Zi, who was being burned by Yu Li Yan, seemed to feel no pain at all and showed a disdainful smile.

Muko finally moved, pressing her hands to her face, right in front of Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki—

She ripped off a layer of her own skin, along with the Yu Liyan attached to it...

P.S., did you notice the pacing suddenly picked up? I'm planning to finish the remaining chapters of the "Melting Club" chapter in no time.

Chapter 135, Section 136: The Ouroboros and the Shadowless Legion

The grand city, immersed in a magical night, with dazzling lights like a bubble, is like a heavily made-up woman, revealing her most charming and graceful appearance in the dead of night.

Few noticed that at the busiest intersection in Linggu District, the busiest commercial street in Pyeongsang Province, a high-end dance club called "Shedding Clothes Club" silently sank into deep darkness amidst the dreamlike neon lights. The lights that had been flashing gradually went out, and then, like a folded piece of paper, this renowned club disappeared without warning from everyone's sight. The pedestrians passing by were numerous, but no one noticed this strange phenomenon.

Moreover, all the text in magazines, brochures, and books that documented the iconic Shedding Club was being rapidly erased. Even on the internet, satellite maps, and countless netizens' social media accounts, thousands upon thousands of messages about this eccentric high-end club were disappearing at an alarming rate. It wasn't that they were being blocked or deleted by hackers or officials, but rather that they were being erased from the very source, from history, and from memory...

After tonight, no one will ever remember that there was ever a strip club in Pyeongkyo.

"I feel like something's missing, but I can't quite put my finger on it." A couple passing by the intersection, the man dressed like an office worker scratched his head, looking puzzled at the spot where the strip club should have been. "I always remember there used to be a really scary building here. I pass by here every day, so I can't be wrong."

“Hey, you have the same impression as me. Interesting. Is this another urban legend? I feel like I’ve encountered something like this before,” the girl holding her lover’s arm said blankly. “For example, a leader who should have died a long time ago in my memory actually just passed away recently; or a war that seems to have been fought, but no one remembers it ever happening.”

"Perhaps... it's just an illusion." For this couple, it was just a trivial interlude in their busy day. Human memory is the most unreliable thing. Once it flows into the past, it will always deteriorate, weather away, and disappear with time. Nothing is eternal. So for ordinary mortals, they have long formed this habit—to tolerate illusions, forget differences, and adjust their thinking. History has always been just objective facts recorded in relatively accurate texts. No one knows the original appearance of the truly established history.

Therefore, history can be rewritten. As long as everyone perceives history as such, even a false history will be established as an unquestionable fact. A war that took place in the past can be rewritten, a person can be both alive and dead, a country can exist both in the Americas and Asia, and numerous esoteric sects can remain hidden in the shadows of history, continuing to maintain their former "secret co-governance" doctrines forever.

The order of secret co-governance has always been followed by all esoteric religions. Once a esoteric religion violates such a code, it will be attacked by other esoteric religions. In the past, many esoteric religions have broken away from the order of secret co-governance, and in the future, more esoteric religions are destined to break away from secret co-governance. The Association of the Divine Generations seems to be just an insignificant member among the many esoteric religions that have betrayed the principle of secret co-governance.

Therefore, the "Key Guardians" of the sacred secret Hydra were dispatched to "deny" the entire Shroud Club from the current "historical" record. This is a very reasonable development in the story, since everything is for the purpose of maintaining the great "secret co-governance". For this common goal, it is not so unacceptable that the cult and their enemy, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, cooperate.

In a phone booth across the street from the former Strip Club, a lively, short, and plump woman, dressed in a baggy and dowdy green dress, closed a diary. Her diary bore the emblem of an ouroboros. She picked up the phone and dialed a secret number. The call connected, but only a hissing static could be heard from the other end. She gave a somewhat neurotic smile.

"The snake has bitten its own tail, a new closed loop has been formed, the sacred secret has been sealed, we have done our work, now it's your turn, Chai Qi, don't let our hard work go to waste."

"After all, this is the bitter fruit you sowed back then, so naturally you have to deal with it. If the Time Giants who defected from you hadn't joined the Age of Gods, there wouldn't be the threat that Fujiwara no Kageko poses now." On the other end of the phone came Shizaki's cold and hoarse voice.

"The Titans of Time were stolen, and we're merely destroying the failed products of the Society. We bear no responsibility for what happened to Muko. If the situation gets out of control, we can escape to other timelines. This is all we'll do for you; don't ask for more," the woman in the green dress said coldly.

You can't tell her age or background from her appearance alone. She's neither an old woman nor a young girl, neither European nor Asian. If you saw this woman for the first time, your only impression would be "ordinary". You can't even remember any of her specific features, or even tell whether her dress is light green or bluish-green.

"Heh, we never expected any fighting ability from you scholars. Now it's time for our hunt. You can wait in the darkness for this great war to begin." Chai Qi sneered disdainfully.

"Have a pleasant hunt." The woman hung up the phone. The instant she hung up, her body vanished without warning. A few seconds later, a slightly younger woman in a green dress appeared about ten meters away from the phone booth. Then, as if in a movie edit, she disappeared again. The next time, a little girl appeared dozens of meters away, humming a cheerful tune and skipping into the crowd. The little girl's innocent face showed that she was at most a middle school student.

The little girl smiled innocently and strolled into a comic book store on the street corner. She picked up a currently popular comic book, "Deep Earth Chronicles Volume 12," flipped through a few pages, and then tossed the comic book aside with a gloomy expression.

"Damn it, the black sun, it's the black sun again. The pollution of memories is everywhere."

Meanwhile, in another fabricated history, the Shedding Club still stands at the crossroads of Linggu District. However, in this world, apart from the Shedding Club, all other buildings are empty, completely monotonous in black and white like old film reels. An eight-armed giant, engulfed in black flames, roars as it tears apart the Shedding Club's incredibly luxurious dome. The King of Sunfire is enveloped in dense black energy, but beneath his golden mask, his pupils ignite with the sacred fire belonging to Yu Liyan. Just as the King of Sunfire seems about to flatten the entire Shedding Club with his bare hands, like something out of a monster movie...

It was like being struck head-on by an iron hammer. Despite the terrifying size of the King of Yangyan, he was sent flying hundreds of meters by an incredible force, crashing through three streets and crushing countless fake buildings and structures. What struck the King of Yangyan in the chest was a blood-red "star".

The girl without skin exposed her tender flesh and pale bones, while behind her spread a pair of beautiful, pure, and flawless silver wings. Each feather on the wings was as sharp as a knife. Thick blood swirled around her, forming a blood-red star. Behind her, crimson energy surrounded another girl, whose life was unknown and whose body was decaying. The fat moth was still on that girl's body, still using its proboscis to devour the poor girl. In such a short time, the girl being enjoyed had become withered and skeletal.

The King of Blazing Sunshine staggered to his feet from the crushed ruins, his eight arms outstretched behind him. He roared furiously at Fujiwara no Kageko, who was suspended in the air, her skin shed.

On the street directly opposite the entrance to the Shedding Club, hundreds of men in black, seemingly from the Yakuza, stood solemnly like an army, dressed in impeccably tailored suits. Each of them exuded a chilling aura of warriors, and behind them, swirling shadows took on bizarre and grotesque shapes.

Leading the group was a giant wearing a golden lion's head. Behind him stood a black lion, almost as tall as three people, proudly raising its head like a king surveying his territory.

Shinji Sakata, the head of the executive department of the Heijing Black Sun Cult and also the commander of the "Shadowless Legion," the largest violent organization within the cult, turned around and loudly addressed his legion before battle:

"The sharpest blade of the Order, members of the Shadowless Legion, the Order has bestowed upon you the power of shadows, enabling you to master the great art of the invisible and pursue the revelation of immortality. Now, the time has finally come to contribute your strength to the Order! The evil and corrupt Age of Gods, they dared to plot against and murder our Saintess Kurosawa, and even attempted to poison the minds and souls of our Black Sun Cult members with the Bonding Pill. Now, they have even more brazenly declared war on the entire city of Pingjing, intending to summon their exiled evil god, Mist Spring, to devour all intelligent life in Pingjing..."

"The Heijima Black Sun Cult is on the verge of life and death. We can no longer retreat, we can no longer tolerate, and we can no longer turn a blind eye to the rampant behavior of the Divine Society! Now all we need is war! A war to wipe the Divine Society from this part of history once and for all! Conflict is a fire, and once this beautiful fire of war is lit, it must end with the complete annihilation of one side in order to satisfy the gods!"

"Gentlemen, are you ready? To prepare for the great esoteric war!" Shinji Sakata spread his arms wide, and behind him, a black lion let out a triumphant roar.

"War! War! War!" The soldiers of the Shadowless Legion of various cults shouted in unison with unparalleled fervor. The black matter in their hands condensed into black shields, square shields with black sun emblems that shone with incomparably bright light. Since the time of Emperor Aurelian in the Roman era, countless warriors loyal to the Black Sun have always wielded such Black Sun shields, crushing all powerful enemies head-on.

"Thump, thump, thump!" The warriors of the Shadowless Legion struck the ground with their Black Sun shields, creating a magnificent symphony.

Thus, the Shadowless Legion of the Black Sun Cult began its march toward the Shedding Club.

P.S., I've finally gotten a little more into the story lately, and it's amazing that I've managed to reach 130 chapters while still keeping it under my control. However, actually, not many people have actually read this far, boohoo...

Chapter 136, Section 137: The War of the Esoteric School Begins

"Boom!" With unparalleled violence, the black lion controlled by Shinji Sakata smashed open the magnificent and sturdy alloy door of the Shedding Club with its powerful body.

Behind the door, the once brightly lit club lobby is now dark, and in the darkness, pairs of dark red lights are being lit.

The writhing, inhuman shadows were all spewing out mad, delirious ramblings.

"A great transformation is about to begin; the ceremony must not be interrupted..."

"Who dares to invade Wuquanzi's sacred domain?"

"The final moment has come; the day has come to sacrifice oneself for the Lord."

A series of fresh, snow-white lights flashed as the Thunder Warriors of the Divine Era gracefully drew their swords from their waists.

"Roar!" Like a mobile war fortress, the terrifying black lion charged at the forefront, tearing a bloody path through the intricate blades of the Thunder Warrior. The lightning-infused blades that struck the black lion only left a few wounds that would heal in seconds. However, each of the lion's pounces would tear open the throat of a member of the Divine Age Cult with precise and composed movements.

However, the number of Shindai-kai cultists pouring in from the rear was simply too great. These fanatical cultists seemed to emerge from the ground, with no end in sight. They had all taken the Bonding Pill and were exhibiting certain animalistic states: the fox-like forms were agile, the wolf-like forms had sharp fangs, the eagle-like forms could glide briefly, and the bear-like forms possessed terrifying power... For a time, the place became as lively as an animal kingdom.

However, Shinji Sakata, who was following behind the black lion, revealed a contemptuous smile: "No matter how many rabble come, they are still a rabble! Gentlemen, let us follow in the lion's footsteps and form ranks!"

Shinji Sakata lowered his head and blew a military whistle hanging around his neck. With the sharp and mournful sound, behind him, a group of shadowless legion warriors holding black square shields stacked one on top of another, forming a dense shield wall that eventually created a "turtle shell formation" that was completely dark in color. Shinji Sakata also retreated into the turtle shell formation without expression, raising the square shield in his hand and becoming part of the turtle shell formation.

Just like the Western Roman legions who followed the Restorers of the World to revive the Empire a thousand years ago, the legacy of the Black Sun continues to this day without interruption.

With synchronized steps, the tortoise-shell formation of black square shields followed the military whistle of Shinji Sakata, and the sea of ​​people formed by the fanatical followers of the Asakamidaikai began to advance, providing support to the Black Lion, who was isolated and surrounded by the enemy.

The half-human, half-beast figures twisted from all directions, their movements carrying a strange rhythm of dance. They were about to clash with the Shadowless Legion in the next instant. However, the Shadowless Legion's tortoise-back formation stood firm, like an incredibly resilient reef in a raging torrent.

With another whistle, the warriors of the Shadowless Legion shouted in unison, "Kill!"

Behind the square shield formed from condensed black matter, the Shadowless Ones hurled hundreds of strange bombs made of condensed black matter towards the beast horde, much like the Roman legions throwing javelins at the barbarians before engaging in battle a thousand years ago.

One by one, round black bombs were thrown into the overwhelming beast tide. After a brief pause, bodies were inevitably pierced through the black bombs. Each black bomb covered an area of ​​nearly five meters around it, scattering countless short but extremely sharp black spikes, turning hundreds of beast-like Divine Age cultists into hedgehogs!

The next instant, the Thunder Warriors, with their graceful dance steps, easily dodged the burst of spikes from the black bomb. The sharp blades clashed with the square shields, and more than ten Thunder Warriors stepped onto the black square shields with light dance steps, actually trying to use their bodies to flip over these shields formed of black matter. The lightning crackled and roared as they raised their katana blades high in the air!

Shinji Sakata blew the whistle again, this time with a slightly longer whistle, so that all the well-trained Shadowless Cult members could understand his command.

The Thunder Warrior, about to unleash lightning, was lifted into the air by the calm Shadowless Legion warriors using square shields. Behind the shields, dozens of Shadowless Legion raiders, who did not carry shields, were revealed. In their hands, twisting black matter took on the shape of wild beasts, rapidly growing outward from the gaps in the shields!

The black matter coalesced into the head of a python, which shot out from the gaps in the shield and easily bit into the bodies of the Thunder Warriors, tearing them to pieces.

With the support of the Shadowless Legion, the giant black lion can kill enemies even more recklessly, because any enemy that might threaten the black lion will be dealt with in advance by the black bombs thrown out from the tortoise shell formation or the black snakes that leap out.