Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 160

 Everything lay in decay, collapsed, desolate, and in ruins. It was destroyed beyond recognition.

 A tall mountain range with a strong spiritual veins. The plateau was supposed to be a peaceful resting place.

 The not-so-vast land, however, provided enough bounty to sustain the villagers, who numbered no more than a hundred. Most monsters wouldn't bother to climb the steep and tangled mountains. It was a hidden village nestled in the mountains... a rare safe haven for people.

 Of course, while the beasts crawling on the ground could be dealt with, but the flying monsters posed a bit more of a problem, though not something to worry too much about. Really powerful monsters wouldn't stick around here where there isn't much prey, especially with "her" around to handle the smaller ones.

 "She" was picked up by the village's elderly couple. The old man found and the old woman nurtured the infant that had been abandoned at the foot of the mountain below the hidden village. Not even of the same blood, nor the same species, but they cherished "her" as if "she" were their own grandchild.

 Due to her non-human nature, she gained exceptional strength as a child in the village, and yet she was truly loved. Eventually, she became a defender of the village. With her strength, she protected the village from various Mōryō (evil spirits) and sometimes went down the mountain to gather wild vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbs for the village.

 The unusual girl, around the age of ten, had no doubts about this and instead her heart was filled with overflowing pride. If the elderly couple, who were literally her foster parents, were pleased, if everyone in the village was pleased, if she could protect her place, there was no greater joy for her.

 Even if she had wounds every day, even if she never left the elderly couple's hut for anything other than her duties in the village, even if she remained unknown to outsiders... still, she was truly happy.

 This is not a tragedy. In this tough world ruled by tragedy, where being ruthless is the key to survival, it wasn't unfair. At least she had food, care, and even snacks. Just having those things made her luckier than many other kids.

 ...However, the true tragedy is revealed in this very moment.

 "Ah, u, a...?"

 She didn't know what had happened. The last thing she witnessed was light, heat, and a gust of wind. In just a few seconds, everything turned to dust. The village was destroyed, and the people she knew had become unrecognizable masses of flesh. The elderly couple who raised her were the same. All that remained were crushed fragments of flesh, unrecognizable as their original form.

 She didn't know it, but far away in the north, a huge fight caused all the destruction. Two powerful deities took place over the Great Spiritual Vein. This battle, one of the countless stray bullets in the epic that will be passed down in myths for a thousand years, ended it all. But she, like a small unnoticed bird, didn't know anything about these huge events. For her, these stories of deities fighting didn't matter at all.

 Because of this, amidst this ignorance, the time left for her is not long...

 "Ah, ah... a..."

 She groaned. Her small body was thrown away by the explosion. Her wings were mercilessly damaged, her feathers were scattered, and one of her arm was horribly torn off.

 From the cross-section, thick, sticky dark red blood continues to flow. She thought it looked like crushing a wild strawberry. The lack of pain from the wound must be because her senses were numb. Although the dull ache was felt throughout her body, as it had been harshly battered.