“Indeed, They never respond, leaving us to slaughter one another in this world; that is the very reason we have fought until now.” Hoolay looked up at the void of the sky within the illusion. “If the cold, aloof gods do not heed the wishes of mortals, then we shall fight for our own desires!”

“Do you understand now, Saran... you and I are much more alike than you think.”

—

Demon Slayer.

“Wherever the arrow of the Aeon of the Hunt falls, there is only Death. Feixiao’s obsession has always been to eliminate all Abominations before the Aeon acts, so that the arrow will not fall and her comrades will not be caught in the crossfire.”

The Stone Hashira pressed his hands together, two lines of tears streaming down his cheeks. “...What a kind and powerful General. To eradicate the Abominations and protect her comrades, she has constantly pushed her internal power to the limit. But this time, if she refuses Hoolay and succumbs to a madness that ignores friend and foe, she might also be struck by an arrow from the Aeon of the Hunt, right?”

“The General Yueyu who saved her before seems to have been killed by an attack from the Aeon of the Hunt.” Iguro Obanai shook his head gently. “Even someone as strong as a General, blessed with the power of an Aeon, is still far too different from a true Aeon. If Lan really fired an arrow at Feixiao... about half of the Xianzhou Luofu would likely be reduced to ash, along with the lives of three Generals.”

“Hiss...” Mitsuri Kanroji gasped. “...This is practically an Aeon of ‘Death.’ Is this how He treats His own followers?”

“Is it possible that a god never needs followers? Rather, it is the followers who need the god?” Shinazugawa crossed his arms and said coldly, “Shortly after the Xianzhou obtained immortality, they were invaded by the Denizens of Abundance. Without the help of the Aeon of the Hunt, it’s a question whether the Xianzhou would even exist today.”

“Furthermore, if I recall correctly, the Aeon of the Hunt is one of the few who actively responds to the people’s pleas. Although His attacks cause the Deaths of countless Xianzhou people, ultimately it is to kill the Abominations. Is it better to sacrifice a small number of people for the The Reignbow’s intervention, or to let the Xianzhou face total annihilation under the siege of the Denizens of Abundance? While it's a difficult choice, I doubt anyone would refuse the former.”

—

“You are a beast born for war, destined to die for war!” said Hoolay.

“...Perhaps.” Feixiao sighed softly. “So, what is the desire you fight for, Hoolay?”

“To make the stars in the sky the grazing fields of the Borisin. And you, Saran?”

Feixiao turned around. “So that one day, no one will ever have to witness a ‘falling star’ again... so that one more person can live to return to Yaoqing with me.”

“You would rather resist what you were meant to be, degrading yourself from a free wolf to a domesticated fox, just for... one more person?” Hoolay’s voice carried deep fury. “Then so be it! I will use your fear and doubt as nourishment to seize you, swallow you—I will replace you... and become ‘Feixiao’!”

Feixiao only looked at him coldly. “‘We are so alike, monsters born for war and destined to die for it’... You were absolutely right about that, Hoolay.”

“So, pray to the heavens—even if They never respond. May the arrow of The Hunt pierce the monster’s heart!”

Almost the moment her words fell, a speck of icy blue appeared without warning in the gray sky.

At first, it was just a point of light the size of a star, but it soon streaked across the sky like a meteor, leaving a brilliant blue trail. Feixiao seemed to feel something; she looked up and reached toward the sky as if to touch that heavenly light, but the god’s arrow only brushed past her, striking the earth directly behind her!

“Did you see me... ‘Meteor’?”

The arrow exploded behind her, kicking up clouds of dust. When the smoke cleared... a double-edged battleaxe wrapped in pale lightning stood silently embedded in the earth.

—

Record of Ragnarok.

“Is that... a weapon bestowed upon her by the Aeon of the Hunt?!” Lu Bu’s eyes widened. “And the Aeon delivered it personally?”

Welt had mentioned before that the Aeon of the Hunt was the most human-friendly Aeon and was willing to actively share His power with humanity. Now, it seemed those words were true.

Seeing Feixiao gifted a weapon by an Aeon, the human heroes present felt more envy than admiration. A gift directly from an Aeon—what kind of divine weapon must it be?

“Yes, this is the god’s response,” Sasaki Kojiro said solemnly. “Strange, Feixiao has been fighting Abominations as an Emanator of The Hunt all this time. Did her conviction only receive the Aeon’s recognition at this very moment?”

Kojiro speculated that Feixiao’s fox-like Lightning Lord was likely inherited from the previous General Yueyu. Unlike Emanators like The Herta, who have a direct connection to an Aeon, the Emanators of the Xianzhou are deeply tied to the position of General. It seemed that as long as one received the recognition of the Xianzhou Marshal, even an ordinary person could be elevated to an Emanator... though anyone recognized by the Marshal could hardly be considered ordinary.

“It seems it’s not that the gods do not heed prayers, but rather that the actions of Hoolay and his kind have never been recognized by the Aeon, so He has never responded.”

Recalling how Stelle had been glanced at by Aeons three times and had stepped onto three completely different Paths, in a sense, wasn't that also a unique talent?

—

“I swear, like clouds shielding the sky, to protect the Xianzhou. I shall fulfill this oath... until my final day.”

The giant axe seemed to be the embodiment of ‘The Hunt.’ The moment she closed her fingers and gripped it tightly, she clearly felt that gaze from the highest heights... His gaze.

“I grasp the reins and soar on high; I raise the long arrow to strike the Abominations!”

The iron laws of The Hunt seemed to condense into a spark of clarity in the god’s eyes, which then cast its gaze down, like a chess player noticing a single stone on the board and placing it in perfect accordance with the logic of the game.

The glance lasted only an instant, but Feixiao had already lifted the massive blade from the ground, pointing it directly at Hoolay!

In a gust of wild wind, Hoolay also manifested in her likeness, and even her unique Lightning Lord, Feihuang, appeared behind him. The two looked at each other and smiled, knowing that a battle was now inevitable!

“From the day of my birth, the sky bled and all things wailed. I once ruled the strong and hunted the weak. Now, I shall use your Heart-beast as my weapon and your name as my prey... Feixiao!”

Feixiao aimed the giant axe at Hoolay, who was floating in mid-air. “I will tear away your disguise and make you realize your own cowardice and incompetence, Hoolay!”

“Hahaha, the wolf lurks in the hearts of all Borisin and Foxians... once you grow weak, it will feast upon you!”