The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

This is the difference between gods and monsters.

However, this raises some questions, such as what happened after Gensokyo was established.

It is generally accepted in later generations that gods need human faith to survive, while monsters need human fear to maintain their power... But this doesn't make sense in modern times, just like the philosophical question of which came first, the chicken or the egg.

Because this is the age of gods and monsters, humans still do not exist in this world, and there is simply no place for weak humans to survive.

In this era, gods do not need so-called faith, and monsters do not need so-called fear. The gods of today are different from the gods of future generations, and similarly, the monsters of today are different from the monsters of future generations.

So... what exactly caused these problems?

Having experienced so much, and combining it with the information in his memory, Shi Bai was able to vaguely deduce something.

In the distant past, Tsukiyomi led her kin to migrate to the moon, where the Lunar Capital was built, and the Lunarian civilization began. After that, the race of gods who went to the moon became the Lunarians.

This information was from documents he had seen before, which he couldn't understand at the time.

For example, why would Tsukiyomi, as a deity, abandon Earth and go to the barren Moon to rebuild a new home from scratch? Without a suitable reason to explain it, it simply doesn't make logical sense.

However, if we consider all of these factors in conjunction with the current situation, the answer becomes immediately apparent.

This was an era between gods and monsters. Because of the fundamentally different nature of the power they wielded, peace could not coexist between them, and war was inevitable.

However, this war between gods and monsters is destined to have no final victor. Once the delicate balance between them is broken again, this will probably be the final outcome.

Tsukiyo will lead the remaining gods to the moon to build a new home, while the monsters left behind by the war will hide in the world... until the appearance of humans.

The gods and monsters that emerged after the appearance of humankind were the beings he remembered.

This era, belonging to gods and monsters, no matter how wonderful and dazzling it once was, will eventually come to an end, just like the ancient mythological era.

"So this is probably the difference between innate and acquired gods, and the main reason why humans have been able to gradually become the masters of the world... Isn't this ridiculous?!"

After roughly sorting things out in his mind, Shi Bai's face involuntarily darkened.

He had personally experienced the severe consequences of the balance being broken many years ago, and he had barely survived it. Was he going to have to go through that kind of world destruction scene again?

"I've answered so many of your questions, so now it's your turn to answer the questions in my heart, isn't it?"

Just as he was struggling with his thoughts, the calm voice of the girl in front of him interrupted his contemplation.

"...Okay, go ahead and ask whatever you want."

With a headache, Shi Bai tapped his head with his hand, then picked up the glass of water on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

"My name is Shi Bai, the last member of the Eastern God Clan from the ancient mythological era... What is your name?"

"The Eastern God Clan..."

The girl's brows twitched slightly, and she spoke calmly.

"My name is... Yagokoro Eirin."

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Chapter Twenty-Five: Eirin Yagokoro

A tranquil bamboo forest.

"...Ya, Yagokoro Eirin!?"

Upon hearing the girl's words, Shi Bai immediately leaned back tactically, his gaze unconsciously sweeping over the girl's empty pockets.

"Any questions?"

As if sensing something, Yagokoro Eirin frowned slightly, and her tone seemed to turn a little colder.

"Cough, cough... It's nothing. After all, you're the one who dug me out. Feel free to ask me anything."

Shi Bai coughed a few times, making a fist with one hand and placing it near his mouth, then sat up a little straighter.

"Tell me, what do you want to know from me?"

What kind of era was the ancient mythological age?

Slightly softening her tone, Eirin Yagokoro began to speak.

"Could you tell me a little about that era? Why is there so little left over from that time? Why did that era eventually perish? ... Please tell me everything."

"The ancient mythological era... Why do you want to know about this?"

Raising an eyebrow, Shi Bai asked the other person a question in return.

"Because of the war between gods and monsters."

Without any intention of hiding anything, Yagokoro Eirin spoke quite frankly.

"Now is the age between gods and monsters. Both sides want to do everything they can to defeat the other. Given that the strength of both sides is almost equal, it is common to seek help from external forces."

"...So you've set your sights on a third-party force capable of intervening in a war and changing its course back to the last era?"

As the interface was explained, Shi Bai remained noncommittal.

"But unfortunately, almost everything about that era has perished with the destruction of the last world."

"The destruction of the world?"

Eirin Yagokoro was slightly taken aback.

"Yes, it probably won't be long before this era of gods and monsters, like the ancient mythological era, comes to its final end..."

Shi Bai yawned wearily, then looked up, squinting at the sky heavily obscured by the lush bamboo forest.

"...In short, that's the basic situation. Don't even think about seeking outside help, because you won't be able to find any. Just let things take their course."

"The battle between gods and demons has lasted for countless years. In this protracted war, who do you think will be the final winner?"

After a brief silence, Yagokoro Eirin asked this question.

"Winners? There are never any winners in war. The final outcome is simply a matter of who suffers greater losses and who suffers less..."

With a smile, Shi Bai looked at Yagokoro Eirin in front of him.

"By the way, you belong to the side of the gods, right?"

"No, I am currently in a neutral position."

Picking up the alarm clock from the table, Eirin Yagokoro shook her head slightly, her tone somewhat low as she spoke softly.

“I hate war, and everything else, otherwise I wouldn’t have been living in seclusion here all this time. Was the era you lived in… really not destroyed by war?”

"Yes, so you're trying to stop the war by finding evidence in this area?"

He quickly guessed what the girl in front of him was thinking and shook his head.

"What destroyed that era was not the war itself, but rather the hard-won peace that followed. It's like a balance scale with weights on both sides. When the weights are equal, the scale can remain balanced, but once the balance is lost, it can be a catastrophe for either side."

Looking at the girl in front of him who was frowning and silent, Shi Bai continued to speak.

"So, don't even dream about it..."

What are weights and scales? Are they weapons?

Before he could finish his sentence, Yagokoro Eirin suddenly looked up and interrupted him.

"........."

So you were thinking about this in your mind just now?

To be honest, Shi Bai didn't expect to run into Yagokoro Eirin so soon. After all, no matter what, he couldn't connect this slightly immature girl with the Sage of the Moon in his mind... Who would have thought that he would be dug up by Yagokoro Eirin?

This is an era between gods and monsters.

No one knows where the initial hatred came from anymore, but now, whether it's the monsters or the gods, they all share a common idea.

In this world, only one side can truly own it in the end. The so-called peaceful coexistence is nothing but a joke. How easy is it to let go of the hatred that has been accumulated in the past?

So whether it's the war that others pursue or the peace that Yagokoro Eirin yearns for, in the end it's all just a mirage.

At Eirin Yagokoro's request, Tokihaku simply recounted everything that happened in the ancient mythological era.

"To be destroyed because of peace... How could such a thing happen? If that's the case, then there's no way to escape it... right?"

After listening to Shi Bai's story, Yagokoro Eirin's face immediately turned pale.

It's either an endless, meaningless war, or the world's demise in peace... There's absolutely no hope.

So what was the meaning of her long and arduous pursuit of so-called peace?

Among the gods, she can be considered a very special kind of existence. Her origin is more ancient than any other god, and some gods even speculate that she is the first god to be born in the world.

She has always maintained an extremely indifferent attitude towards these pointless speculations. Her power is immense, so whenever she appears on the battlefield, she can easily change the course of the battle; killing and death are commonplace in her hands.

But faced with the seemingly endless war, the seemingly impossible peace, and the ceaseless killing and hatred... she grew weary.

She once single-handedly killed all the monsters on a mountain, but soon, out of revenge, a powerful monster of equal rank on the monsters' side killed almost an equal number of the gods on her side.

When she returned that day, and saw the mountains and fields covered in blood and corpses in the blood-red sunset, she stood there in silence for a long time... until dusk turned into night, and night into day.

———That was one of the most devastating wars in history.

Is it only hatred that can almost never be dispelled?

The war lasted until the very end, and they achieved a narrow victory, but... could it truly be called a victory? The massive casualties on both sides, and the fall of numerous powerful demons and gods...

Watching those she once knew turn into cold corpses, she felt an unprecedented sense of...confusion.

P.S.: Tickets

Chapter Twenty-Six: You have a lot of talent, come learn to cook with me!

No one likes war.

Realizing that continuing the war would only lead to an endless cycle of hatred and killing, Eirin Yagokoro began to try to pursue so-called peace in her own way.

However, the grudges between gods and demons have been brewing for a long time, and the accumulation of various hatreds is not so easy to explain.

War, slaughter, bloodshed, death... it never ends.

In the end, she chose to escape, hiding far away and beginning a solitary life.

I am absolutely capable of finding a way to stop this pointless war.

—She said this to herself before she left.

However, as time went by, the war continued unabated, and killing and death continued to occur every day.

How will this world ever come to an end?

Yagokoro Eirin tried many methods, but none of them worked.

It wasn't until the revelation of the legendary ancient mythological era that she finally saw a glimmer of hope, which is why she spent a lot of time researching it.

Unfortunately, in the end, what I gained was not a method, but a despairing answer.

The shattering of the pillar that had always supported her made Yagokoro Eirin feel even more lost. She had countless lives on her hands, she was only capable of destruction and killing, she naively wanted to pursue peace in war... Perhaps it would have been better if she had died in that war?

Yagokoro Eirin suddenly felt an unprecedented fatigue.

"Hmm... Actually, you don't need to be so pessimistic. As the saying goes, the Great Dao is fifty, and the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine. There must be a glimmer of hope. It just depends on whether you can find that glimmer of hope, just like in the Heavenly Realm."

Shrugging, Shi Bai casually took a box from his storage ring and placed it on the table, then began to speak.

"Of course, that depends on whether you're prepared..."

"Is enlightenment... the intention to sacrifice?"

Silently watching Shi Bai's actions, Yagokoro Eirin asked him a question.

"Just like the things they did in the past..."

"So-called enlightenment is not about the will to sacrifice, but about carving out a bright path for us to walk in the dark wilderness... I think that's it? I'm not sure if I remembered the line correctly..."

While rummaging through the box, seemingly searching for something, Shi Bai waved his hand without even looking up.

"In short, there is still much you need to do if you want to ultimately avoid your fate of destruction. If you make even the slightest mistake, you will all be swallowed up by the torrent of history and become legends like those of the ancient mythological era."

"What we need to do is also build a... celestial realm?"

After thinking for a moment, Yagokoro Eirin spoke with some hesitation.