Chapter 100

Shockwaves exploded, heat and storms wrestled, the ground was torn into deep trenches by the aftermath, the surroundings shook, and stones flew while tiles shattered.

Though the blazing fire was fierce, it was neutralized by the wind; though the storm was steady, it struggled to shake the divine flames.

The two divine powers intertwined and pulled, neither willing to yield even an inch!

"What skill! Shijo Aoi was actually able to fight Jingo Rin to a standstill. How on earth did she do it?"

The main reason, of course, was the role of [Susanoo], as well as the sword in her hand.

The Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, which [Amaterasu] had borrowed from who knows where and lent to her.

The Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi is a symbol of [Martial] prowess and [Courage] in Shintoism. However, as Shijo Aoi mentioned just now, Susanoo is not only a god of war but also a god of trickery who beguiles and deceives enemies.

When he subjugated the Yamata no Orochi, he didn't just jump in and hack away with brute force; he gathered intelligence first, got it drunk on sake, and then chopped off its heads.

Although the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi is mentioned in many anime, manga, and games, few people mention its [Attribute] in mythology—it is, in fact, a divine sword with the [Storm] attribute.

Wherever the Yamata no Orochi went, rain clouds (Ame-no-Murakumo) floated overhead. Its myth is believed to represent [Flooding]. The winding appearance of rivers was described as a [Great Serpent], and every time a storm struck and the rivers flooded, it would destroy (devour) the rice paddies (the eight maidens). Susanoo defeating the serpent symbolizes flood control.

Later, the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi was obtained by [Yamato Takeru]. During his eastern expedition, Yamato Takeru was tricked into hunting deer on a plain. The locals set fire to the field, intending to kill him. Yamato Takeru used the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi to cut the grass and clear a path. During this, he discovered that the sword could control the wind, so he whipped up a gale, causing the fire to engulf the locals who had ambushed him. From then on, he named the sword the [Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi].

Floods, storms, wind, controlling fire—these keywords combined were enough for Shijo Aoi to gain an elemental advantage over Jingo Rin!

Furthermore, Jingo Rin's angelic attribute is [Uriel]. As previously mentioned, in variants of Christianity and its doctrines, Uriel is regarded as an angel with solar attributes. Yazidism, which worships the Peacock Angel, also refers to Israfil (Uriel) as the [Sun King].

By the same logic, there is the legend of Susanoo driving his sister, Amaterasu, the sun goddess, into a stone cave.

The myth of the trickster hero who [Hides or Steals the Sun] is very prevalent from India, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and the Korean Peninsula all the way to Japan, and even across the South Pacific. This type of myth is known as the [Solar Eclipse Myth].

The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi is the storm that fans the flames, and Susanoo is the one who hides the sun.

"So strong! Simply too strong!"

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

The storm had suppressed the divine fire, and lightning dominated the battlefield. No matter how strong Jingo Rin was, she was merely an opponent lacking tactics and wisdom, possessing only brute force like a wild beast.

At this very moment, the scales had tipped in favor of Shijo Aoi—even a Divine Child should bow before her!

098: Myth Reenacted

Amaterasu and Susanoo—the myth of these divine siblings has been analyzed and interpreted by countless people since ancient times.

Most interpretations are identical to Shijo Aoi's understanding: Susanoo is the god of storms and the sea, wild and violent; while Amaterasu is the sun goddess of Takamagahara.

In the myth, Susanoo once did many wicked things. For instance, throwing a horse skin into the weaving room from the roof, causing the weaver to be startled and accidentally impaled by a shuttle in her privates, leading to her death. Consequently, Amaterasu was terrified and hid in the Heavenly Rock Cave, and it was only after the gods exiled Susanoo to the human world that the matter was resolved.

Forcing his sister to hide in a cave, plunging the world into darkness—this is a symbol of the storm suppressing the sun.

It is also the mythological logic that Shijo Aoi is now using to her advantage.

However, there is another theory—that the conflict between gods is actually a reflection of past events in the human world.

Some mythologists point out that the archetype of [Amaterasu and Susanoo] might stem from a real change in royal power in ancient Japanese history. Queen Himiko of Yamatai ruled with sorcery and was rumored to be able to communicate with ghosts and gods. Later, she was defeated by the male king of the neighboring Kunu Kingdom, and Yamatai subsequently perished.

Some historians believe that it was the Kunu Kingdom that suppressed Himiko's Yamatai, usurped power, and later gave birth to the Yamato Imperial Court of Japan.

This series of historical events might be the metaphor in the myth for [The Sun God being forced into darkness, and the Martial God dominating the world].

The era of divine power exited, and the era of military power arrived. The iron sword defeated the bronze mirror; the age of sorcery ended, and the age of the samurai began…

If this is true—

Then the young swordswoman wielding the blade of the storm should also be able to once again crush the [Shrine Maiden Divine Child] who is like the blazing sun.

If myths were to repeat themselves, would the ending, naturally… be like this?

"My father once told me that there is never only one way to interpret a myth."

The battle was over.

The fierce clash between the storm and the divine fire finally ceased.

The dilapidated [Sugisawa Village] was now unrecognizable. The streets, already in ruins, had now been stripped of their final layer of disguise. The stone paths were fractured and collapsed, the ground was charred and cracked, and between the broken walls and ruins were traces of scorching and slash marks, like a corpse with its limbs torn apart.

The lingering shadows of the evil monsters were still struggling, but they had lost their form—they were products of fog and desire, now torn by wind blades and burned by divine fire, turning into wisps of screaming black smoke that curled and dissipated. The air was filled with an indescribable, cloying sweetness, like burnt candy.

Jingo Rin stood in this scene of chaos and charred ruins, feeling slightly melancholy.

"—Because when you think about it, if the myth of Amaterasu and Susanoo is truly a reflection of history where the iron sword defeated the bronze mirror, and the ancients established the Yamato Court… then the main deity of Shintoism shouldn't be Amaterasu, but Susanoo, right?"

In the widely circulated version of the myth today, the unruly Susanoo was banished from Takamagahara by the gods for causing disturbances and acting with excessive violence, demoted to the human world, and became the ancestor of the earth gods.

However, there is not only this one way to interpret the myth of Susanoo and Amaterasu.

If one changes perspective and re-examines it through the lens of archaeological mythology, one can see a completely different picture:

In Japan's earliest Yayoi period, Kyushu in the southern part of the archipelago was the birthplace of the bronze mirror faith. Due to its geographical proximity to the continent, it was the first to come into contact with the culture of the Central Plains and the first to master the art of casting divine mirrors. At that time, the bronze mirror was not merely a tool for looking at one's reflection, but a medium that carried divine will.

On the other hand, the central Kinki region, where Nara and Kyoto are located, worshipped the [Sword], which symbolized military force and conquest, and was the core of the ancient iron sword faith.

Later, as the Yamato regime moved eastward and the center of power shifted from Kyushu to Kinki, the bronze mirror traveled east, transforming from an original divine object into the symbol of the sun goddess [Amaterasu], eventually replacing the old faith that centered on the sword.

Thus, a new myth was born—the sun goddess sits high in the heavens, while the god of the sword is banished to the mortal realm.

If this evolutionary path is the Truth of the myth, then the Amaterasu Omikami revered as supreme by Shintoism today might not be the original main deity, but an outsider god from the borderlands—she defeated the original god-king of the central region and seized the supreme throne in the myth.

In other words, the god who was truly driven off the throne by the foreign sun… is Susanoo.

So at this moment, it is only natural that Shijo Aoi, playing the role of [Susanoo], is being crushed on the ground by Jingo Rin, the sun and the blazing fire, right?

Lying sprawled in the center of the village's scorched earth, Shijo Aoi's long hair was disheveled. The Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi slipped from her hand and embedded itself in the ground, its blade trembling slightly, as if still vibrating with unwillingness.

She had lost. But she was still breathing.

She had fallen. But she remained like an unbroken sword, silently stuck in the ruins.

The wind stopped, and the thunder ceased. The entire world was left only with the lingering light of the unextinguished black flames, dancing before her dizzy eyes.

Even Kisaragi Mayu, the [Tsukuyomi], didn't have time to lament Aoi's defeat before being plucked out by Rin like a rabbit, shrinking to the side with a mournful face, not daring to move.

The sword god of Yamato had been beaten down by the foreign Sun King again—a repeat performance.

"I don't mean to say something like [the difference in quality is too great, so compatibility is meaningless]; anyone can say that."

"I actually just wanted to tell you—that things like mythological compatibility actually don't matter at all. Because myths can be interpreted from a different angle at any time."

A shrine maiden of the Tomb of Christ—a role that sounds like unofficial history—saying such things with a calm face is actually quite convincing,

"Elemental advantage, depending on the situation, can potentially be reversed."

Although Shijo Aoi really wanted to retort, unfortunately, she truly didn't have the strength left to do so.

Because right above them, above this scene of chaos and charred ruins,

—the layers of thick fog above their heads had been blasted through by Jingo Rin's absolute power.

Her blazing fire shot straight up from the ground, forcefully scorching a huge hole in the sky of the [Inner Realm]. It was a perfectly circular hole, its edges still glowing with golden-red scorch marks, as if a god had pierced the dark clouds with a fingertip.

Sunlight pierced through this breach, casting down onto this Inner Realm that had been sealed for so long.

Dazzling, intense, and warm.

Jingo Rin stood under the sunlight falling from the sky, surrounded by divine fire, her clothes fluttering gently, her expression indifferent.

"It's just a pity that it still didn't make me use my full strength."

"I haven't even used [Mushiki: Exorcism of the Demon God]."

These words contained no self-boasting; instead, they sounded like some kind of helpless confession.

At this moment, Rin felt a regret of incomplete combustion, a loneliness of being at the top where it is cold. The only person who could teach her what love is, sure enough, was…

"However, being able to fight me to this extent is enough to be worth remembering."

She lowered her eyes to look at the girl sprawled on the ground; her tone did not resemble a victor looking down on an enemy,

"Gaining divine power through role-playing in the [Inner Realm] to narrow the gap in our strength; the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi that reverses flames, the well-honed technique, excellent combat intuition, on-the-spot reaction, and explosive power."

"Admirable, Shijo Aoi. I will not forget you."

"Heh."

Aoi on the ground managed to roll her eyes, her lips moving, but she ultimately gave up on retorting.

Rin, as if she had heard her inner voice, frowned slightly: "I mean it."

"If you can't get something, go grab it; if you don't like someone, fight them—if I were as simple as you, Father might like me more."

"He always says that understanding your own desires, cutting through the fog of desire, and realizing your true wishes is the prerequisite for becoming strong—isn't a simple and understandable desire like yours great?"

Shijo Aoi closed her eyes and stopped struggling.

"Are you whipping my corpse or mocking me?"

"Whatever you want to do, just get on with it."

She said weakly.

But Rin just shook her head: "I won't kill the two of you."

However, at the same time, she had turned her gaze toward the deeper part of the village, to the end of the darkness where the thick fog had not yet dissipated.

Qi Xing had already chased into the deeper layer of the [Inner Realm], and the aura of [Amaterasu] was becoming increasingly vague and uncertain, even more dangerous and unpredictable.

"As for over there…"

She said slowly,

"I'm afraid that might not be certain."

—

The flowers bloom on two branches, each telling its own story.

Let's return to Qi Xing's side.

While the battle between Rin and Aoi was not yet finished, Qi Xing had already flown at lightning speed, chasing [Amaterasu] all the way to the edge of the shallow layer of the [Inner Realm].

Along the way, endless thick fog condensed into evil monsters of desire, attempting to rush out and intercept Qi Xing, causing him to finally be too lazy to even use his fists, directly turning his true energy into thunder blades and throwing them to blast all the monsters to pieces.

He even used the thunder blade to blast and kill the fleeing [Amaterasu] from afar!

However, immediately another [Amaterasu] would pop out from who knows where and continue to flee.

After killing several [Amaterasu]s, Qi Xing even discovered that the newly appeared [Amaterasu].

Although the physical body remained unchanged, the clothes she was wearing began to change.

At first, it was a luxurious kimono, but as he kept killing, it now turned into an outfit that looked like both a burial shroud and a Japanese white wedding kimono.

After killing her five times, [Amaterasu] flashed into a stone cave and disappeared.

Seeing this, Qi Xing immediately frowned: "Could this be some kind of Heavenly Rock Cave thing?"

As mentioned many times before, the deeper layers of the [Inner Realm] are all associated with mythological archetypes drawn from the collective unconscious of all humanity. When it comes to a stone cave related to [Amaterasu], everyone can easily think of the story from the solar eclipse myth where Amaterasu hides in the Heavenly Rock Cave, causing the world to lose its light.