The instant Satsuki's words left her lips, she suddenly felt a pulling force emanate from the Kusanagi no Tsurugi in her opponent's hand. Its target was the golden sword qi wrapped around her wooden blade.
An ordinary mage, faced with this near-authority level of plunder, would likely have been reduced to helpless prey.
But Satsuki had always placed the greatest emphasis on control over her own power. The Kusanagi no Tsurugi's attempt was therefore futile.
Realizing that she could not absorb Satsuki's strength, Ena's eyes grew hollow as she began to chant an incantation.
"Under heaven... grant governance... bestow the land of sustenance... establish it... like the crowing of fowl... the realm of my beloved... summon the august warriors... shatter the thousand rocks... bring harmony to the people... let none refuse service... govern the nation!"
As her chant flowed in a low murmur, vortex-like winds began to coil around her body, then swept outward in violent spirals. Purple lightning intertwined with the storm, forming an indestructible divine barrier around her.
Satsuki let her sword arm fall naturally to her side. Her black haori and long hair were lifted wildly by the gale, fluttering with a sharp whoosh.
Then, bracing against the pressure of the wind, her eyes gleaming brilliantly, she walked toward Ena, who stood wrapped in storm and lightning. At the same time, Ena—now in a state of divine descent—advanced as well, her steps rigid and measured.
Until the distance between them shrank to three feet in a single instant.
A streak of light split the air. Space itself hummed.
The divine sword in Ena's hand transformed into a black-violet flash as it slashed downward. The storm and lightning coiling around her erupted from all directions, striking Satsuki with annihilating dark thunder.
Yet Satsuki abruptly lowered her stance, drawing in her force and "sheathing" her sword in posture. At the moment of close contact, she shifted into the opening stance of iaijutsu.
A flicker of surprise crossed Ena's vacant eyes.
Because this posture defied all common sense. The essence of iaijutsu lay in returning the blade to its scabbard, gathering momentum, and releasing it in an explosive instant.
But Satsuki had no scabbard. Her sword path could not be concealed. And without concealment, how much damage could even a powerful iaijutsu strike inflict upon the Kusanagi no Tsurugi? That was what Ena believed.
Not until a golden sword-light that struck after yet arrived first suddenly appeared did true astonishment surface in her hollow eyes.
Fast? Was this speed? Just how fast was it?
The golden radiance branched across the air like lightning itself. The moment it appeared, it tore apart the surrounding dark thunder and storm with unstoppable force, crashing directly into the descending Kusanagi no Tsurugi.
Clang—!
The tremendous force burst upward like an irrational, frenzied beast determined to break through everything. Even the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, empowered by released divinity, was knocked aside by that single iaijutsu strike, leaving its guard wide open.
Ena instinctively retreated, attempting to widen the distance.
But Satsuki's iaijutsu was far from over. Her wrist flicked slightly, and another golden arc cut through the air, slashing straight toward Ena's sword arm.
"!"
Even in her state of divine descent, Ena could not comprehend how such a terrifying strike could be unleashed a second time in an instant. Was iaijutsu not a technique that emphasized a single killing blow?
Yet there was no time to think. The dazzling blade-light was already upon her. Mere swordsmanship could no longer suffice. Without hesitation, she commanded the surrounding dark thunder and storm to condense into a massive shield, blocking before her just as the blade descended.
Zzzzz—
A piercing shriek rang out where the golden light met the storm shield. Thin and razor-sharp, the golden blade burrowed viciously into the shield forged of tempest and divinity.
But it did not end there. Satsuki's strike tore open a crack in space itself. Behind the golden arc, a spatial fissure extended forward as well, slamming into the divine shield summoned by Ena.
Boom—
Under the collision of the two forces, even a shield forged by a god could not endure.
With a muffled detonation, the twin blade-lights and the divine shield exploded simultaneously in midair, sending out a distortion powerful enough to warp space. Thrown back by the recoil, Ena—despite divine protection—staggered violently backward.
Satsuki, however, remained completely unaffected. Having perceived the mysteries of space, she leapt into another temporal frame at the instant the recoil struck, cleverly ignoring the immense reactive force. Not only did she avoid the stiffness brought by the backlash, she was able to continue her pursuit.
Reversing her grip on the wooden sword, golden radiance gathered along its length. She swept it horizontally before her.
Several golden blade arcs shot forth, slicing straight toward Ena's abdomen.
Yet Ena's response next caused even Satsuki's eyes to brighten.
Instead of dodging while stumbling backward, Ena struck the ground beneath her with lightning at the very limit of time. Using the explosive recoil, she blasted herself away, narrowly evading the first sweeping golden blade.
The golden arc grazed the soles of her feet, piercing through stone walls and atmosphere alike. Its perfect curve carved yet another scar across the distant earth. An explosion thundered down the street.
But Satsuki had not unleashed one blade arc—she had unleashed seven.
Against the first four, which could be evaded, Ena responded through continuous displacement. The reaction speed and explosive power she displayed in that instant had already transcended humanity. It was the kind of movement only a giant cockroach or cricket of human size could perform.
Against the final three, which could not be avoided, Ena swung the divine sword with puppet-like rigidity. There was no elegance whatsoever, yet she precisely deflected all three arcs.
Then her counterattack arrived immediately.
Having pulled back the distance, she raised her sword overhead. Countless bolts of lightning gathered at its tip, then split into innumerable electric serpents that descended from the sky toward Satsuki at speeds nearly impossible to discern.
Rumble... rumble... rumble...
Within the ceaseless thunderous inferno, Satsuki's figure transformed into a deep black shadow. At a speed and with a reaction even the spirit of the Kusanagi no Tsurugi could not comprehend, she wove through the lightning. When unavoidable bolts descended, she split them apart with slashes too swift to follow.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The black silhouette moved like a wind spirit among thunder until she forcefully broke through the encirclement and leapt high into the sky, pressing toward the figure of Ama-no-Murakumo whose expression had finally shifted.
—"Impossible."
Her lips did not move, yet a mechanical voice resounded.
Her body began to tremble. Unwilling to accept defeat, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi attempted to pour in even more divine power. But Ena's human body had already reached its limit.
Yes—at this moment, Seishuuin was no longer merely a shrine maiden. She was the divine blade Ama-no-Murakumo itself.
Even so, the might she unleashed in this instant surpassed anything before.
The Tenseigan perceived the change immediately.
Soaring into the sky with the agility of a swallow, Satsuki rapidly closed the distance. In the instant their gazes met, she casually swung once, knocking aside Ena's instinctive counter.
She then rotated the hilt and struck sharply against Ena's wrist.
Though Ena's body had been strengthened by divine power, a peculiar force transmitted from Satsuki's hilt, severing the flow of divinity from the Kusanagi no Tsurugi into Ena's body.
Ena's attempted counterattack froze midair.
Satsuki had anticipated it all along. The moment she cut off the divine supply, she pivoted and delivered a fierce kick, sending Ena crashing down from the sky.
With the divine flow severed and struck by such force, Ena's eyes widened. She coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her sword hand could no longer hold on. The Kusanagi no Tsurugi flew from her grasp, spinning through the air before plunging into the distant ground. Ena herself fell unconscious.
At the same time, the divine barrier shattered, and the surrounding space reconnected with reality.
—When Erica arrived at the scene, what she witnessed was Satsuki slowly descending from the sky in the aftermath.
"Is it over already?"
From the moment she sensed the divine power of the Kusanagi no Tsurugi while with Yuri Mariya to the instant she arrived using Hermes' Boots, not even ten minutes had passed.
And within that brief span of time, the Tachi Shrine Maiden now lay naked upon the ground.
"With her body, enduring this long was already commendable." Satsuki casually discarded the wooden sword in her hand and walked step by step toward the distant Kusanagi no Tsurugi. At last, she reached out and pulled the divine instrument—now restored to a black straight blade—from the ground. "If I had prolonged the fight even a little longer, that shrine maiden's body would soon have been eroded and shattered by divine power."
The Kusanagi no Tsurugi was Susanoo's weapon.
Rather than saying that a human body could wield a divine instrument, it would be more accurate to say that just now, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi had controlled Ena's body, turning her into a pure killing machine.
From the moment divine might enveloped Ena, the one who appeared to be Ena—but was not truly Ena—had become a shrine maiden manipulated by the divine blade.
Although Satsuki had severed the flow of divine power between the sword and Ena, she had not extinguished the Kusanagi no Tsurugi's divinity. Thus, she addressed the blade directly.
"Since we've come this far, won't you invite me in for a visit, Susanoo?"
"Susanoo?"
Erica was not particularly familiar with Japan's native gods, yet she still assumed a guarded stance. She had already keenly sensed that the site had been tampered with by some kind of spell.
By focusing her mind and sharpening her perception—combined with the heightened senses granted by becoming a Godslayer—her awareness was greatly amplified.
Although Erica's spiritual sight could not compare to Yuri Mariya's Revelation, it was more than sufficient to see through the arrangement here.
Thus, she immediately detected the anomaly—there was a passage here connected to the Hidden World.
She had learned of it from Pandora.
The Hidden World, also known as the Astral Realm, was a place chosen by certain Heretic Gods as a retreat after they had grown weary of walking the earth. According to legend, some beings who had reached a near-divine level of attainment would also come here to continue their cultivation. It was the boundary between life and immortality. Time did not flow there, nor did inevitable death from the end of lifespan exist. As such, it had become a relatively popular place for retirement.
Following Satsuki's words, another surge of kotodama erupted from the Kusanagi no Tsurugi in her hand, like a force about to tear the world apart.
That power coiled around their feet, turning the ground into a dark ripple. The soil beneath them was dyed pitch black.
Standing atop it, Erica and Satsuki began to sink downward.
"Is this how you invite guests—so rough? No wonder Amaterasu of Takamagahara couldn't stand you."
With that thought, another surge of spatial power burst from Satsuki's body. She swiftly read the information of the Hidden World passage and unfolded Yomotsu Hirasaka below.
Grabbing Erica's hand and pulling her into her arms amid her startled expression, Satsuki nimbly leapt into the black passage.
...
The transfer through Yomotsu Hirasaka was far more efficient. In the blink of an eye, the scenery before them completely changed.
It appeared to be within an unknown mountain forest.
Before their eyes rose a lush green peak.
The scent of soil and trees was thick in the air, and beside them flowed a murmuring stream.
On a clear day, a walk here would surely be pleasant. But under the influence of some divine power, rain now poured down in heavy drops, splashing loudly against the earth.
Naturally, such rain posed no obstacle to Satsuki or Erica.
A simple magical technique was enough to keep the droplets at bay.
The two followed the stream upstream. Before long, they discovered a small hut. At the same time, the Tenseigan revealed a domineering divine presence concealed within.
So this was where the master of the divine sword resided.
As the thought crossed her mind, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi in Satsuki's hand let out a soft hum, and a tremendous force surged from its hilt.
Understanding, Satsuki released her grip. The black divine blade immediately shot forward, darting straight into the hut.
Only its master could compel a divine instrument to move of its own accord like that.
Susanoo—called "Grandfather," one of the elders of the History Compilation Committee, and one of the Three Precious Children of Japanese mythology—was inside that hut at this very moment.
The two approached the door unhurriedly and pushed it open.
The interior resembled the simple wooden dwellings seen in period dramas. At a glance, it was obvious that the house was completely cut off from electricity, gas, or running water.
The only noteworthy sight inside was an old man sitting cross-legged before a traditional sunken hearth. The unruly divine blade Kusanagi no Tsurugi now rested across his knees.
He stood at least over six feet tall, broad and imposing. Wearing only a coarse kimono, he revealed a powerful physique utterly mismatched with his age. The muscles covering his body would put most strong men to shame.
The old man's expression was equally stubborn, perfectly befitting his robust frame.
"I had only intended to invite an old acquaintance. I didn't expect a Godslayer to intervene so suddenly. Well, no matter. The Hidden World is far too quiet. I haven't experienced such rare liveliness in a long time."
With that, the old man let out a hearty laugh.
"Susanoo, even if we are old acquaintances, greeting people this way will cause quite a bit of trouble."
Satsuki's words startled Erica at her side. She turned to look at her. "Satsuki, you know this god?"
"Yes. We crossed paths once elsewhere." Satsuki did not deny it.
The elderly Susanoo nodded as well. "After all, I am a god. Shrines and incarnations dedicated to me are numerous. Any outstanding talent who appears in Japan has a high chance of encountering me."
At that moment, a second voice sounded within the hut.
"We were also curious what kind of being could linger so persistently in Susanoo no Mikoto's thoughts. To think it would be a young girl."
Erica stiffened and looked toward the source of the voice. In a corner of the hut sat another figure, though she had no idea when he had appeared.
He wore black monk's robes, yet did not seem fully human. His skin was dried and devoid of real flesh, as though it had been stripped away entirely.
Like one who had achieved Buddhahood in the flesh—resembling a mummy.
"Though she is a girl, her power is astonishing beyond reason. Indeed, a seedling worthy of expectation."
A third voice followed—this time, a woman's.
She was a peerless beauty, sitting properly opposite the monk in black robes. She wore the brightly colored layered kimono of a Heian-era noble princess, magnificent and elegant, reminiscent of ancient Japanese aristocracy.
Her pupils were clear like glass. She possessed chestnut-brown hair and smooth ivory skin.
Her exquisite features seemed sculpted, far surpassing the appearance of modern Japanese people.