Chapter 94

Hope (, Kibō) is the 94th chapter of the Noragami manga series written by Adachitoka.

Short Summary
The battle between Yato and Father continues, now with added pressure from the approaching dawn, which will signal the start of Ooharai and Amaterasu's eventual arrival. Hiyori and The Stray discuss the latter's past with Yato.

Chapter 94-1
Yukine runs emotionally rampant and is determined to find his father (Naomichi Tajima), but Father (Kouto Fujisaki) tells him to shut up and focus on spreading his net and the battle at hand. Yato grows worried because it is nearing dawn, which is when Ooharai will begin and Amaterasu will arrive. He doesn't want Heaven to punish Yukine for being Father's shinki.

Yato and Father continue fighting. Father asserts that Yato went wrong by forgetting his purpose of calamity; and that as a god who is born from wishes, Yato should have no wishes or desires of his own. Father attempts to guide Kazuma toward the God's Greatest Secret by asking him if he's curious about his past life, and taunts him about his unrequited love for Bishamon. However, Kazuma doesn't give in to the taunt, and they continue the fight.

Father and Hagusa open a sinkhole beneath Yato and Kazuma, but they're able to escape. Yato tells Kazuma to use the scatter-shot attack, Crimson Petals, but before he can, a sea slug-like ayakashi emerges from the sinkhole and swallows them both.

Chapter 94-2
The Stray wonders aloud to Hiyori if she ever had a real family, but doubts it since she died before she was born. She reveals that she was a tiny soul that had already been corrupted by phantoms, but Father named her using the Word. He had wanted someone like her who didn't know good or evil. She reminisced about the fun she had tormenting people with Yato. She said that she would do it again and show Hiyori if she could, because she viewed Yato scattering blood/human ears/etc. as something beautiful and peaceful, like the scattering of flower petals. The Stray suggests that Hiyori get some sleep, because she looks exhausted, but Hiyori thinks to herself that there's no time to do that because they need to find Yato and Yukine quickly.

The scene returns to Father, who is petting a wolf-like masked ayakashi. He kicks the sea slug phantom, annoyed with Yato's efforts against him. He tells himself that Yato didn't call Amaterasu to finish him off because he actually wants to save him, by just making it look like he killed Father so that Heaven would be appeased.

Yato and Kazuma break out of the sea slug phantom, and Kazuma uses the Microburst attack, injuring Father in the process. Yato is currently missing his divine garments since they are smothered in slime from the phantom, so Kazuma tells him to fall back for a moment. Regardless, Yato presses on, and Kazuma is able to re-materialize the divine garments. They now seem to be gaining an edge against Father, forcing him back and delivering a cut to his neck.

Yato assures him that he has no plans of letting Father escape from Heaven's execution. He makes to behead Father, saying that Yaboku would die with him.