Chapter 385: Grand Finale
Within the void of the spatial turbulence, Hikigaya Hachiman slowly opened his eyes.
"Where am I?"
Feeling the weakness coursing through his body, Hachiman looked around blankly.
[Host, you're finally awake.]
The lively voice of the System echoed in his mind once more, providing Hachiman with no small amount of comfort. However, he soon became curious about the whereabouts of the other System.
[Oh, you mean my friend? It's currently mid-mission, so of course it returned to its own host.]
"Your friend?"
[Yeah, that ice-cold fellow I mentioned to you before.]
'Is that so?'
Hearing the Intelligent System's words, a sliver of a smile appeared on Hachiman's lips. It was quite the coincidence. The world he had randomly dragged the Nine-Tailed Fox into happened to be one where all life was extinct, and he happened to run into the Intelligent System's friend. With that friend's help, he had completely eliminated the Nine-Tailed Fox at the cost of a world's destruction...
"But it doesn't matter anymore," Hachiman murmured.
Whether it was a true coincidence or something designed by someone else, at least the final outcome was good, wasn't it?
"System."
[I'm here.]
"You swindled quite a lot of Spirit Coins from me before, didn't you?" Hachiman asked playfully, recalling the sky-high price of 50,000 coins for a single piece of intel.
[Ah... well... about that...]
"Fine, I won't hold it against you. Providing me with a free route back home shouldn't be a problem, right?" Hachiman suggested, looking at the raging spatial turbulence around him.
[Of course not!]
As soon as the System's sincere words fell—as if afraid Hachiman would change his mind—it immediately marked out the navigation route back to Hachiman's world.
"I've drifted quite far, haven't I...?"
Though he had expected it, Hachiman still couldn't help but gasp when he saw just how far he had floated through the turbulence while unconscious.
[It's only about 70-something jumps back. Good luck, Host! I'm off on my vacation.]
With their debts settled, the System bid its farewell and vanished from Hachiman's mind once again.
"Only 70-something jumps, huh?"
Hachiman shook his head at the System's nonchalant tone. But then again, with every jump, he was getting closer to Komachi and the others. To be able to see the people he cared about after a mere 70 jumps—that was indeed quite a short time.
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Tokyo City Center.
With nearly a hundred years of accumulated Providential Luck sucked away by the Nine-Tailed Fox, the two Ghost God stood dazed for a long time. Looking at the scene before them, no matter how thick-headed they were, they knew they had been played for fools by the Fox!
"Damn it all!"
The Middle-Rank Ghost God punched a building skeleton to vent its rage.
"What do we do now? If we don't break through, let alone the exorcists, even the Ghost God from other regions won't let us off!"
The Low-Rank Ghost God was relatively calmer, but the thought of being unable to resist the returning exorcist without a promotion made it restless.
"If there's no Providential Luck, then we use the primitive method! What else can we do?!" The Middle-Rank Ghost God glared at its stupid kin. Had it forgotten how it reached the Ghost God rank in the first place? "There are at least ten million ordinary people hiding in the ruins of Tokyo. If we drain all their life force, we can still promote!"
"I'm afraid that won't be possible."
A smiling voice drifted down from the sky. The two Ghost God looked up to see four human women of various statures floating in the air. The laughter came from the woman at the front, who possessed a queen-like aura.
"Four Half-Gods dare to be so arrogant?"
The Middle-Rank Ghost God was startled at first, but upon sensing they were only at the Half-God level, it was filled with ecstasy. If it absorbed their life force along with ten million humans, it might reach the peak of High-Rank. What exorcist would it fear then?
"Ah, Chise-nee, why waste words with these guys? Wouldn't it be better to just blast them all away?"
The woman among the four with high twin-tails frowned at the Ghost God's predatory gaze. She cracked her knuckles, interrupting the first woman, and landed directly in front of the two Ghost God, beckoning them with a finger.
"Come on, let's go together!"
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By the time Hikigaya Hachiman returned to his original world, a full day and night had passed since the attack on Tokyo.
After briefly confirming that the evil spirits in Tokyo had been dealt with by someone, Hachiman rushed to the Inari Shrine. However, Isayama Mei, now an apprentice miko, told him that since the incident had settled, Komachi and the others he had asked her to protect had already returned to their respective homes.
Left with no choice, Hachiman hurried home.
Unlocking the front door with his key, Hachiman didn't even take off his shoes before rushing into the living room to find Komachi, Sakura, and the others. But the living room was empty.
"They're not here?"
The absence of those familiar figures made his heart tighten. Holding onto the hope that they might be playing games in their rooms, he charged up to the second floor, opening every door. But the empty rooms slowly extinguished the hope in his heart.
"They're really gone..."
Hachiman walked back to the living room dejectedly and sat on the sofa. Just then, the door at the entryway opened again.
Komachi and Irisviel walked in chatting and laughing, carrying groceries, followed by Illya and Sakura holding hands like real sisters. As they were about to change their shoes, a sudden gust of wind blew from inside the house.
Komachi felt a sudden force around her waist and found herself pulled into a warm embrace.
"Onii-chan...?"
The familiar scent in the warm embrace let Komachi identify him instantly. The longing from the past few days made her instinctively hug Hachiman back.
"My, you siblings really have a wonderful relationship."
After the initial surprise, Irisviel watched the two with a smile. Behind her, Illya's eyes lit up at the sight of Hachiman, but then, as if remembering something, she huffed and turned her face away, clearly not wanting to greet him.
Sakura's heart leaped with joy the moment she saw him. But seeing Hachiman and Komachi hugging, she subconsciously shrank back. However, as she retreated, she felt her back touch a figure.
"What? Did you think I forgot you?"
Hachiman gently stroked Sakura's hair. Upon hearing his voice, her eyes filled with tears, and she threw herself into his arms.
"Well then, Hikigaya-kun, welcome back."
Watching the touching reunion, Irisviel lightly clapped her hands in congratulation. Hachiman looked at the two sisters in his arms, then at the tsundere Illya who clearly wanted to come over but couldn't bring herself to, and finally fixed his gaze on Irisviel's face, which held a hidden depth of emotion.
He nodded gently.
"Yeah. I'm back!"