Chapter 172 172: Above All Giants

Words : 1419 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

— — — — — — Outer Space. Beyond Earth. In the vacuum near Earth's orbit—originally empty and silent—chaotic currents of energy suddenly stirred, forming a beam of light... And then, a giant. Not just any giant—a humanoid so massive that even a single one of its eyes made the distance from the Earth to the Moon, all 384,400 kilometers of it, seem small in comparison. With a single hand, it pinched the Moon between thumb and forefinger, casually lifting it from its orbit. Its massive gaze locked onto the Moon battlefield below. "SO, I HEARD SOMEONE HAS BEEN BULLYING MY LITTLE PRINCESS?" "..." xN The entire battlefield went dead silent. Even Kaguya herself—who had called for Veyron—never imagined he'd show up like this. She expected him to appear, sure, but not by casually plucking the literal Moon out of orbit like a pebble. Breaking into the mid-fourth tier and igniting his soul light... had he seriously gotten this absurdly strong? The others were even more stunned. "Th-th-th-this...!" Yorihime stared up at the colossal giant floating in space—its features unmistakably Veyron's, even though its form was made of chaotic starlight and swirling matter. She then turned to look at the normal-sized Veyron on the battlefield—who was also holding a miniature Moon in his hand, so detailed you could even make out buildings from the Moon Capital on it. She stood frozen, mouth dry, repeating "This... there... I...he...this" over and over, trying—and failing—to say anything. The idea that someone stronger than Tsukuyomi, the so-called "Lord of the Moon," might exist on Earth? That, Yorihime could accept. Under Eirin Yagokoro's teachings—walking history herself—Yorihime had a decent grasp of Earth's ancient divine age. Even with all her pride, she wouldn't dare say Tsukuyomi was the only god who survived the fall of the divine era without having to cut off a piece of themselves. Back in that mythic age? Her father's kingdom in Takamagahara was just one of many pantheons—strong, yes, but far from supreme. But now... this? A being from Earth who could ignore the Moon's divine conceptual layer like it was nothing—who could treat the Moon itself like a toy marble... Yorihime felt a chill. If Eirin wasn't currently standing beside Veyron—and if they didn't seem to be on very good terms—she honestly would've started praying for Tsukuyomi's soul already. Still, even with Eirin clearly being close to him, it didn't look like Tsukuyomi would come out of this situation unscathed. Not when Veyron seemed ready to indulge his spoiled little princess's every whim. "...We should head over too," Eirin said calmly, patting Toyohime's shoulder as the poor girl stood there, mind clearly still fried from information overload. Now that Veyron had given everyone a masterclass in what a real dimensional beatdown looked like, the so-called "Lunar War" ended in the most one-sided fashion possible: A total victory for the invaders. After the dust settled, the post-battle stats came in. Damage Report: Invaders / Defenders: 0 / 0 That's right. Zero casualties—on both sides. The fact that the attackers suffered no losses was understandable. Before departure, Kaguya had already purged most of the cannon fodder that Yukari Yakumo had scraped together. Just the thought of those expendable yokai stepping foot on the Moon's sacred soil made her feel sick, so she wiped them out before they ever left Earth. In the end, the only ones she brought with her were top-tier monsters—each one with a fourth-stage Gene Lock at minimum. Pure elites, every one of them. As for the Moon's defenders? The rabbit soldiers who first arrived with Toyohime were technically part of the "Lunar Defense Corps." But given how clean their uniforms were and how stiffly they stood in formation, they had probably never seen a real battle in their lives. When the fighting actually began, their performance was so laughable that even Suika Ibuki and Yuugi Hoshiguma couldn't be bothered to kill them. Later, stronger lunarians joined the fray as the invaders closed in on the Moon's great barrier. Their strength—and courage—deserved some respect. But unfortunately for them, even those elites weren't much of a threat to the two oni kings, and were quickly outclassed. As for people like Yuuka Kazami? Monsters strong enough to obliterate the defenders in a flash? Well, Yuuka knew about Kaguya's complicated ties with the Moon Capital. And for Veyron's sake, she was happy to give some face and let Kaguya decide who lives or dies. In the end, despite all the flashy spectacle and booming power surges, the only ones who actually died were a bunch of disposable yokai goons—those unlucky enough to be tagged for death by Yukari or Ran's pre-signed 'Tickets to the Underworld.' Just cannon fodder. Nothing more. Everyone goes home happy and it ends with a banquet—feels like a taste of Gensokyo. — — — Back in the heart of the Moon Capital—inside the ancient palace that used to belong to Tsukuyomi, Lord of the Moon, and now served as the seat of its new ruler, Princess Kaguya—a post-battle victory feast had just wrapped up. Kaguya controlled the time within her body and grew into an adult. Then Veyron got dragged by her into spending the night in the palace's inner chambers afterward. "You're already awake, Father?" Kaguya stirred too, sensing his movement. She nuzzled closer to his chest, curled up in a way that made her feel warm and safe. "More or less," Veyron replied, slipping out from under the covers. A glint of golden light flashed across his eyes, and an outfit instantly formed on his body. At this point, he no longer needed sleep to restore himself—his mind and body had long since surpassed human limits. But ironically, the stronger he got, the more he found himself returning to old habits. Back when he first joined the chat group, he had given up sleep entirely to push his strength as fast as possible. Now, he'd taken it back—simply because he could. "Well, I guess I should get up too." Kaguya stretched lazily, then with a shimmer of moonlight, her body blurred for just a second—just enough time to finish dressing and freshening up via spatial magic. When she reappeared, she stood in full royal attire in front of Veyron, elegant and glowing. In her hands was a sealed scroll. "Perfect timing," she said cheerfully. "Today is a 'settle old scores' kind of day." What she held was the Lunar Society Registry—the official record of the Moon People. More than ten years ago, after taking the Hourai Elixir, Kaguya had been exiled to Earth. Sure, that had been part of her own scheme, with Eirin's influence nudging Tsukuyomi to make the final call. But even so, plenty of people in the Moon Capital hadn't exactly shown her kindness back then. And she hadn't forgotten. "Oh ho~" She opened the scroll and spotted two names right at the top—those of the "princesses" of the Moon. They hadn't treated her too harshly ten years ago, true. But in the long years before that? They had never gotten along. A devious twinkle flashed in her eyes. She had an idea. "Dad," Kaguya said sweetly. "Are you free right now?" Veyron gave her a deadpan look. "You're literally smirking. That face is screaming 'mischief.'" He sighed and flipped out his time-stop pocket watch. "Do I look like someone short on time? Just say what you're planning." "It's nothing that big, I promise," Kaguya said, smiling even wider. "It's just... well, even though you stripped that woman, Tsukuyomi, of her concept of the Moon and handed it over to me yesterday, and she's still asleep from the backlash..." "...Her two lovely daughters are still hanging out in the estate right next to ours." She closed the scroll with a snap. "And, well... if I don't at least bully a princess or two today, didn't I come back to the Moon for nothing?" Veyron was curious now. He knew it wasn't about anything indecent—he would never lay a hand on someone just like that. And Kaguya, even though she often said things that were easy to misunderstand, wouldn't go that far. She didn't even like it when Veyron visited that treeporn world and so much as touched other women. . . .

Chapter 172 172: Above All Giants

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