3 bar menu

Last Embryo Volume 2 Chapter 7 Part 4

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Investiture of the Gods, or Houshin Engi, as it is more commonly known, was the anthology of the Chinease legends and myths from the Ming period, and Shen Gongbao was one of the many characters depicted in this epic tale where the Taoist Gods and other immortal beings of both new and old were being locked in an eternal struggle. The exact time period of it remains uncertain, but there is a good reason for that.

Similarly to the Journey to the West, Investiture of the Gods was a legend that leaked to Little Garden from the Outer World. If you were to ask anyone about it, then pretty much everyone would tell you that all of the battles and Gift Games waged all across Little garden were supposed to be wars by proxies that Gods could wage amongst themselves without having to worry about being acknowledged by anyone from the Outer World, but in the cases of those two, by either some miracle or a bizarre twist of fate it turned out that their information the information from Little Garden and the Outer World got mixed up with each other, creating a swirl in space-time continuum, leading to all manner of misunderstandings like the one Shen Gongbao had to explain to Asterios now.

Point of this whole talk is: female Shen Gongbao was just one of the many singularities created withing the boundaries of Investiture of the Gods. Whether she was a myth native to the Outer World or Little Garden, the only thing that everyone was sure about was that neither of those two never explicitly mentioned what was Shen Gongbao’s real gender, and that it was a subject that she was ever willing to talk about herself if she didn’t had to. Whatever the true case may be, the fact remained that she was till one of the characters depicted in Investiture of the Gods, one of the many mountain sages and magnificent warriors who thrived in the period of many wars and defeated the armies of strong opponents like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

「I think I understand what you’re trying to say, but I have to admit that it is a very rough understanding. So what you are trying to say is that this appearance of a young girl is your true form, while the imagining of you as a wise old hermit is the one that has been made up?」

「Well, kind of, I guess. Truth to be told, my real body should be the one of an adult, but this particular Gift Game seems to have an age restriction implemented as one of its rules, so I had no choice but to lower my age a bit if I wanted to participate, and boy you can be sure that I wanted to do so! This battle you’re having here seems to be hell of a lot interesting, and I’ll never say no to an opportunity to have a good fight with strong opponents!」

「I guess it must have affected your head as well, since it is filled with such immature thoughts, huh? Battling is not everything there is to life, you know?」

「Shut it, old man! Has no one ever told you that geezers like you no longer have any right to meddle in the affairs of us young people? So why don’t you… well, I don’t know, go back home and have a nap or something?! Also, you keep trash-talking me, but isn’t it the same with our little Bull Monster on your back? I don’t know about you, but he looks like a kid from where I’m standing.」

She said nonchalantly while placing her hands on her hips. It was the first time he heard about this age restriction thing, but if something like that really has been in effect ever since this Gift game began, then it would explain his current childish appearance perfectly.

(I see. So this 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority has an age restriction placed on it.)

In that case, the reason why he, who is known universally as The Minotaur, a man-eating monster was transformed into such a young form would be…

「….! Khhhh…??!!! N-No……..!」

All of a sudden he found it difficult to breathe. His eyes also went wide from too much shock at once and chills ran down across his spine.

He, Asterios, the Minotaur, wasn’t even supposed to be invited to the 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority. He heard that this Great Gift Game was supposed to have involved those whose myths were related to the sun, but even those he was a rightful member of the Greek pantheon of myths and legends, the Greek mythology had many more people and Gods more suitable to take part in it compared to him, who was little more than a man-slaying beast. Out of all of those candidates, there was no way in hell that someone like him would have been selected.

And yet, here he was, turned into his younger self. Was the main reason behind his transformation something entirely unrelated to the Sun Authority War?

Being assaulted by doubts which he never had up until now, he looked at his own small hands in astonishment, but the sight wasn’t making him feel uncomfortable at all. Right now he must have been around 15 years old, but the body he was inhabiting now was undoubtedly his own. It wasn’t that his age was changed. This must have been how the prince of Crete, Asterios originally looked like.

What does it mean? What does it entail, exactly? What was tye truth hiding behind the foggy veil of his missing memories?

Due to all the dizziness that washed over him, Asterios grabbed his head and bend his body forward.

「What’s wrong, little guy, Having motion sickness? If you feel like vomiting, then don’t hold yourself back and feel free to go all projectile all over the geezer’s back!」

「Oi, Shen Gongbao! Looks like I’ll have to teach you a lesson this time! But leaving that aside, what’s wrong, Bull Monster? If you do want to vomit, then I would appreciate it if you showed me at least a bit of consideration.」

「It’s nothing, I… I feel fine. More importantly, let’s end the idle chitchat here.」

Saying that, Asterios prepared his original weapon, 『Labrys』. It was smaller than his Keraunos, but that was a given since it wasn’t meant for combat in the first place. Its true purpose was something else entirely.

Raising his body with a ghastly expression, Asterios pointed 『Labry’』 towards the Giant Spirit Train which was still going towards the Ley Line at high speed.

He didn’t believe that the Minotaur needed any kind of salvation, but there was a mystery which he had to unravel by whatever means necessary. And if the one who has the answers he was looking for is this Saigo Homura guy, he absolutely cannot allow him to slip out of his grasp now.

Raising 『Labrys』 high into the air, he then swung it down and cut through the empty space before him as if he was opening a lock of the door that has remained closed for long enough.

「I’m sorry, but it looks like we will have to halt any further explanations. That fellow is extremely dangerous! 」

The woman clad in butler’s attire, Scathach, declared that after the trembling of the entire wagon has subsided. As she looked to the sky which seemed to have grown even darker than before, she forcefully grabbed Homura’s arm and brought him closer to herself. Due to how unexpected that newest attack was, Homura was shaking in his knees, but thankfully it didn’t stop him from going as closely behind his new master as possible. He wondered what exactly might have happened outside to cause such a reaction presumably throughout the entire train, but he didn’t have that much time to think about it, because another surprising thing happened right after this current one finished. Mainly, Homura noticed that his feet… bagan to float in the air above the floor of the Giant Spirit Train. For a moment the mixed sensed of confusion and suspension made him feel nauseating, but he quickly recognized exactly what it was thanks to a similar experience he went through only a few days ago. Holding onto the handrail mounted on the wall, he looked out through the window.

「A….Are we really falling?! The entire Great Spirit Train?! 」

「That’s incredibly perceptive of you! Don’t leave my side no matter what unless you want to die instantly, understand?! 」

The entirety of the Giant Spirit Train 『Sun Thousand』, which was now falling through the sky, was filled with various agonizing cries. All the Beastmen were trying to grab onto whatever they could to stay in one place and not get flung out through the windows, but at this rate they were all going to get seriously hurt or worse once they will inevitably hit the ground.