“─────GEEEYAAAAA!!!”
A fierce roar that shook heaven and earth. But it was not that of the two headed white snake’s. It was from a golden lion with a mane that shone brilliantly like the sun.
“Eh………!?”
Kuro Usagi thought she was hallucinating for a moment. The lion descended upon the two headed white snake which had come within ten centimeters of her nose. Its mane bustled about, looking like a meteor; all those who saw it would think that it was the sign of a king. The lion sank its teeth into one of two heads’ necks and slammed it on the ground after shaking it about like a rag doll. At that moment, a fountain of blood danced in the air.
The two headed white snake took a fatal blow, but from the blood that poured out came serpents and scorpions which bound the lion’s body. The white snake descended upon the now restricted lion. Its sharp, pointed claws teared at the lion’s mane. The lion had already rolled over, covering its vital points, but the mane that the white snake had shredded was harder than vajra[2]. If the lion took a direct hit from that, it wouldn’t get away unscathed. The two headed white snake tried to follow up on its attack. But as if interrupting the two, another figure jumped out in verbal abuse.
“You idiot, don’t let your guard down! What’s the lion of the sun doing like that!”
“Grr, I don’t need to hear that from the likes of you, demon child!!!”
The verbal abuse came from a female. With the moonlight at her back, she appeared, her hair gleaming brightly and vividly like gold threads, and dazzling looks. However large the Little Garden was, there was only one species with those outward features. Kuro Usagi, still not able to lift her legs, she held her breath in shock.
“A,A pure blood vampire………and a lion of the sun……!?”
Confused by the bewilderingly changing situation, she finally let out a voice. At a glance, anyone could tell they were a strange combination. A vampire who controls the night, and of the sun——-a lion who pulls the chariot of Surya[3]. Seeing opposing species together on the same battlefield was nothing short of a bizarre sight.
“You insignificant lizards, don’t think you can keep me down forever!!!”
The golden lion let out a roar like a gust of wind. As if in response, his mane released a surge of scorching heat, turning into a fire storm and burned away the rabble.
“……………!?”
─────A pure blood vampire and a lion of the sun. Fighting these two wouldn’t be favorable. Deciding that, the two headed white snake sprang back into the shade of the forest and left. The vampire and lion were about to chase after it, but a voice soon called them to stop.
“You two, that’s enough. There’s no need to chase after it anymore."
The voice that told them to stop was also from a female. Stunned as Kuro Usagi watched the events unfolding, she looked up silently at the figure of the woman who appeared from the animal trail. She wore a white trench-coat, leather long boots, and spiral shell piercings on both her ears. Her gentle blonde hair was like confetti, and her friendly face in turn felt like it represented the depth of her benevolence as a whole. The compliant lion sidled up against the blonde woman and asked.
“But Canaria. If we leave that alone, it will continue to grow without limit. If we’re to stop this at the roots, then it must be now.”
“Nothing’s going to change if we hunt down just one of them. Unless we take down the main body, they’ll multiply infinitely.”
“Even if you say that, leaving that alone is,”[4]
“Just listen to me. You may have been reinforced with the sovereignty of the sun, but you can only deflect sharp blades. You’d be a bad match against that dragon. ………But before that.”
The woman called Canaria let out a breath as her gaze met Kuro Usagi’s. Lifting up Kuro Usagi off the floor in her arms, she tilted her neck and smiled.
“Nice to meet you, little miss bunny. Are you alright?”
“Y,Yes.”
She gulped as she nodded. Canaria also nodded back, smiling as her hair swayed like confetti.
“To fulfill our oath to the Alliance, we have made haste to the moon rabbits’ place. What’s your name?”
“K,Kuro Usagi.”
Oh? Canaria said as she tilted her head. But quickly understanding the situation, she let out a bitter smile.
“I see. You haven’t been given a name yet, have you.”
“Y,Yes. At today’s birthday festival, my mother was the one who was supposed to——-“
She was about to say, but nothing came out. Tears suddenly welled in her eyes as her sorrow surfaced. Her mother and father, her family, her tribe, all of them took up the rear to let her escape. This much, even a ten year old Kuro Usagi could understand. So even if she desperately tried to hold it in, her tears overflowed as they fell.
“………Where are your parents?”
“They said they’d go guard the gate that leads to the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods………my entire tribe, they stayed in the castle. Because I’m the heiress………Take the blessing handed down to us and run, my father said………!”
As she spilled large tear drops, she handed over a gift card to Canaria. Looking at the gift card which depicted a black and white half-moon, she lowered her gaze as she figured out the situation.
“The authority of the moon and Chandra Mahal………I see. So you’re the rumored heiress.”
Canaria delicately wiped away her tears, and gently hugged her.
─────Moon rabbits are naturally endowed a multitude of gifts from their patron Lord of the gods, but amongst them, there were ones that possessed a special reality and even those that ranked the highest in divine armor. Despite the long history of their race, it is said that only three people have been endowed with the divine equipments. But now in the current generation, those records have been completely destroyed.
Kuro Usagi was just barely ten years old, and the one to have inherited four types of divine arms.
‘Vajra’s Replica’
‘Mahabharata Karna’
‘Brahmastra’s Replica’
Sovereignty of the Moon ‘Chandra Mahal’
Sakra devanam Indra, accompanied by the war god masses, the twelve Adityas. Among those, four of the war gods’ divine arms were left to this girl. Her unparalleled talent obviously had her tribe very agitated. To think that one of their own children, not only born with the sovereignty of the moon, but also with their old home, the Chandra Mahal. Although it was normal for some of the young in the race to be born with the Sovereignty of the Moon, but the one that Kuro Usagi’s been bestowed with from birth had been the hometown that they had lost for a long time—[Chandra Mahal].[5] This good omen would hail further prosperity for the moon rabbits, and no one doubted this as they rested their expectations on her. Since then, Kuro Usagi was set up as the moon rabbits’ heiress, and they celebrated her birthday every year. Around this time, she was supposed to be spending the night having fun with her mother and father.
“Mm……You’ve done great getting this far. Leave the rest to us, and sleep well tonight. When you wake up——-we’ll have finished everything by then.”
When Canaria said that, a breeze blew through the forest. The gust of wind that blew through scattered the clouds in the night sky, projecting the stars across the entire sky. Leisurely raising her right hand, Canaria infused her power into a brilliantly dazzling ring. Waiting behind her, Leticia’s mouth twitched in surprise.
“H,Hey, Canaria.”
“With the heavenly gate connecting to the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods destroyed, the road for the twelve Adityas to come to the Little Garden has been sealed. ………Which basically means that the only ones who can stop that demon lord is us. If another heavenly army[6] comes out, the lower and middle floors will be scorched under the pretext of purification. I’d rather not see that happen. ——-So with that in mind, it’s our turn, Croix Baron.”
As soon as she said this, a shadow darker than the abyss draped over the night sky. Belonging to an extremely small amount of just holy spirits and devils, it was the power to control the boundaries of the world——-Astral Gate, which cuts through the heavens and unlocks the gate. The shadow that had crawled out from the cleft open night sky soon took the form of a faceless, planar human figure, and materialized, standing in front of Canaria wearing a tailcoat and bowler hat.
In front of an aberration one step above the white snake, Kuro Usagi could not hold back her pitiful screams.
“A,A,A real grim reaper………!?”
“YES! Khaha, this must be my favorite, a wild rabbit with an excellently promising future! There’s no doubt that this child will grow into a fine sexy lady! Is she the tribute this time, master!? Then let’s get hustling!! We’ll be bunking for three days and nights without food or drink, so let’s do our best!!!”
*Eeek* Cringing, her bunny ears drooped as Canaria held onto her. As if finding her fearful gesture interesting, the faceless tailcoat wearing grim reaper cracked open a smile in the shape of a crescent moon and rolled around on the ground laughing.