"Rest assured, I'm completely yours, and I wouldn't hide anything from you. Besides, can't you sense my thoughts?"
"If you wish."
Kōta glanced at the little boy, feeling a bit speechless. Ever since he had transformed into this form, the god had lost all his former aloofness.
Shaking his head, Kōta smiled at the little boy.
"Every life has its own thoughts, and I don't want to pry into yours casually, as that would be disrespectful to you."
"Now that the contract is signed and you've appeared here, we will be close partners, friends, and family from now on."
"For family, I trust unconditionally."
Upon hearing Kōta's words, the little boy's expression turned serious again. He gave Kōta a deep look, said nothing, but bowed deeply to Kōta and said in a deep voice, "From now on, I'll be counting on you."
"Mm!" Kōta looked at the little boy, a smile on his lips, and nodded. Then he spoke, "It's not suitable to keep calling you Higanbana. I'll give you a name!"
"A name?" The little boy straightened up, a hint of eagerness appearing on his face. He was a being born of heaven and earth. From birth, he had been called Higanbana, and other gods called him that too, so he had never thought of having a name.
"Since you're following me from now on, and your essence is a flower, let's remove the 'flower.' From now on, you'll be called 'Higan'!" Kōta stroked his chin, nodding continuously.
"Higan?" Higan froze on the spot, then looked at Kōta. "What's the difference from what I was before?"
"There is!" Kōta said as a matter of course. "One is Higan, and the other is Higanbana. Removing one word obviously makes a difference!"
"Don't you think it's a bit, well... a bit much for a boy to have a name with 'flower' in it?"
As he spoke, Kōta gave Higan a knowing look.
"Fine!" Higan rolled his eyes at Kōta, feeling helpless. "Alright! Higan it is then!" It's better than nothing, isn't it?
"Alright, let's go out!"
"Mm!"
Then, the figures of the two disappeared from here. After the two of them vanished, the giant void flower silently appeared in the sky, rooting itself in the void and absorbing energy. Only Higan's consciousness had left, not his spiritual avatar. It was the bridge connecting him and Kōta, and it would be rooted here forever, unless Kōta broke through the realm beyond reincarnation and voluntarily dissolved the contract.
Outside.
The moment Kōta opened his eyes, he felt Kuina's concerned gaze upon him. Kōta turned his head and gave Kuina a relaxed smile.
"I'm fine."
Then he smiled at his companions who were also looking on with concern from outside the temple behind him. "It's over. Let's welcome our new partner."
As he spoke, he pointed to the Higanbana on the stone platform, "Higan."
Upon hearing Kōta's words, everyone instinctively breathed a sigh of relief. Kōta was not only their captain but also their companion and a friend with whom they could risk their lives. Of course, they didn't want anything to happen to Kōta. Now, the Higanbana, a god who surpassed their understanding in their eyes, had become their companion. This made them sigh with relief and couldn't help but smile.
Just then.
The Higanbana on the stone platform swayed, as if nodding, and Higan's voice followed, "Please guide me in the future."
"Alright, we'll talk about anything else later." Kōta freely let go of Kuina and then looked at Higan. "You should be able to shapeshift, right? Just like in the spiritual world."
"Yes," Higan nodded, then added, "But with my current state entangled by demonic power, I can't even shapeshift. Please hurry down and clear it up, Kōta. I can't wait to regain my freedom."
The demonic power not only entangled him but also acted as a shackles, locking him here and forcing him to sleep. It was only here, in slumber, that he could endure until now, struggling against the demonic power amidst dwindling faith.
"No problem, I'll go down now." With that, Kōta nodded to Kuina and then, without hesitation, followed the passage opened by Higan downwards.
The passage was neither dark nor gloomy. It was filled with blood-red patterns that emitted a faint glow. After walking down for a while, they emerged from the passage into a vast, open space. This space was like the inverse of the island. While the island was covered in endless flower seas, this place was filled with countless roots. These roots were intertwined yet orderly. At their end was a mass of swirling, seven-colored energy that made Kōta's eyes twitch. He had seen this energy before; it was the same energy that Queen had tried to use to harm him. However, Queen's energy was forcibly condensed into a seven-colored hue and was only a wisp. Compared to what was here, it was day and night, incomparable.
Turning to look behind him, Kōta realized that the passage he had come down was actually a giant root. The entire massive root branched out here, connecting to countless smaller roots. Not connecting, but these were originally branches of this main root.
"What should I do?" Looking at the seven-colored energy mass, which was surrounded by countless roots and continuously churning, Kōta spoke in his mind. He could sense that these roots were no longer able to resist this mass of seven-colored energy.
"This mass of demonic energy was left by the demon who injured me. He was a mature demon whose power had long reached a point where he could be immortal without his本体. Thus, even after tens of thousands of years, I haven't been able to erase even a tiny bit of it," Higan's serious voice echoed in Kōta's mind. "Actually, when I first let you guys come, I just sensed something different about you. Although you were still very weak in my eyes, I couldn't see through you at all. At that time, I just wanted to grasp at a sliver of hope and see if you could really help me. Although this hope was very slim, I had no other choice, because you were the first being with a similar aura that I had sensed in so many years."
"As you can see, if you hadn't come, and if you had waited a little longer, perhaps a few decades, or even a few hundred years, I would have completely lost my ability to resist and would have been invaded by this energy, transforming into another type of demon, or even becoming a portal for them to descend upon this world again."
At this point, Higan's tone suddenly became lighter. "When I truly met you, and when you used spatial energy in front of me, I knew that the time for my liberation had truly come."
"With your spatial abilities and my guidance, we can completely strip this demonic energy from my body."
"You mean this?" Kōta thought for a moment, extended his hand, and a spatial fluctuation gradually condensed into a spatial glass ball in his palm.