"Swish!"
Within the solemn shrine, Seishuin Ena, who was seated formally on the floor, suddenly untied the long cloth bag and drew out a long weapon from within.
It was a tachi stored in a jet-black scabbard.
The blade was three shaku, three sun, and five bu in length. Judging from its appearance, it seed to be a straight, single-edged long blade with no curvature.
Seishuin Ena gripped the hilt and slowly drew the sword, causing the blade to reflect a brilliance similar to sunlight.
Astonishing Magical Power surged upon it.
Terrifying sharpness rippled across it.
The sa atmosphere as when a Heretic God descended emanated from that sword, causing divine energy to fill the entire shrine.
"A no Murakumo..."
Affected by this divine energy, Mariya Yuri felt a wave of dizziness, and involuntarily began to mutter.
"One of the Three Sacred Treasures passed down since the Age of the Gods, a divine sword said to have been taken from the tail of the Yamata no Orochi when it was slain by Susanoo..."
"Its na is Kusanagi, its na is A no Murakumo..."
"It is a god of the sword, a god of steel, a god of battle..."
Without a doubt, this was Spirit Vision.
Stimulated by the divine energy emanating from that divine sword, Mariya Yuri’s unparalleled Spirit Vision was imdiately triggered, allowing her to speak of the origin of the sword.
A no Murakumo no Tsurugi, also known as the Kusanagi Sword, is a legendary divine blade and a divine artifact wielded by Susanoo no Mikoto, one of the Three Noble Children of Japanese mythology.
This legendary divine artifact was now being carried on Seishuin Ena’s person.
Therefore, she was the "Hi-Miko of the Long Sword."
"As expected of Yuri, your Spirit Vision has beco even more refined than before."
Seishuin Ena generously praised her friend.
"And then?"
In contrast to Mariya Yuri, Kaiser was completely unaffected by the divine energy that, to humans, was absolutely impossible to ignore. Instead, he looked at it with an expression as if he were watching a sulking child, appearing overly calm.
"This thing is your partner, and now that it’s showing such a strong fighting intent toward , should I take it as you two specifically ca here to provoke ?"
Faced with Kaiser’s words, Seishuin Ena revealed a sowhat troubled expression.
"Mm, Ena really would like to know how powerful and great the legendary King is, but even Ena understands that the King’s dignity must not be challenged. So this ti, Ena really didn’t co here to fight the King."
However, the divine sword in Seishuin Ena’s hand clearly had other intentions.
"Ena didn’t expect A no Murakumo to have such a strong reaction toward the King. It seems to be very interested in you," Seishuin Ena tilted her head and said, "It seems to want to witness your capabilities, to understand your potential, to issue you a trial."
Upon hearing this, Kaiser imdiately laughed.
"A re divine sword actually wants to test ?" Kaiser spoke as if he had heard the world’s greatest joke, "As expected of a divine artifact with the attribute of steel. This sword itself could be considered a subordinate god, a god of steel, right?"
In this world, there exists a certain class of gods that are extrely unique.
They are born for battle—their very existence is akin to that of a living sword. They are gods who possess a terrifying will to fight and to conquer.
Because they are usually extraordinarily connected to "steel" and "swords," people call them gods of steel, gods of swords. Even if mixed with other Divinities, they still tend toward battle. Pure-blooded "steel" would not even show attachnt to anything but combat—they are born for battle and die for battle.
This type of god typically possesses the trait of seizing the Authorities and powers of those they defeat and subdue, turning them into their own. In various mythologies, there are tales of them taking weapons from the enemies they have defeated.
They are in constant conflict with the earth mother goddesses who preside over earth, life, and death. In many mythologies, there are stories of them slaying dragons and serpents—incarnations of the cornered earth goddesses—thus gaining their power. So even depict them taking the goddess, transford into a maiden, as a lover, or accepting her as a supporter.
Thus, most "steel" possess the nature of extracting power from the earth—this is the hallmark of gods of steel.
The Circle of Usurpation, the divine artifact used to create Campione, is precisely a tool used to reenact the attributes of gods of swords and gods of steel. Therefore, it possesses the ability to seize the Authorities and powers of dead gods.
Susanoo no Mikoto once obtained the weapon known as A no Murakumo no Tsurugi from the dragon-serpent Yamata no Orochi, and there is even a legend of him marrying Kushinada-hi because of it. Thus, A no Murakumo no Tsurugi, born from the body of Yamata no Orochi, a dragon-serpent incarnation of a fallen earth mother goddess, is a god of steel, and even a pure-blooded steel.
Possessing the Divinity of a conquering god just like its master, and also being a subordinate god to Susanoo no Mikoto, this is the divine sword known as A no Murakumo.
Though Kaiser had not activated any Authority, perhaps it had not yet recognized the true nature of Kaiser. But as a god of swords and steel, it must have sensed sothing extraordinary from Kaiser, thus arousing its will to battle and displaying burning fighting spirit.
Seishuin Ena said it was testing Kaiser—that might very well be true.
It wanted to use its own thod to confirm the essence of this man before it, who gave it a special feeling—to know what kind of power this God-Slayer possessed.
This was both a challenge and a test.
To achieve this goal, it even began injecting its divine energy into its wielder—Seishuin Ena.
Poor Seishuin Ena hadn’t even noticed this yet—quite negligent, honestly.
"Boom—"
Outside the shrine, the sky suddenly turned dark and oppressive for so unknown reason, and thunder and lightning began to stir.
A storm started brewing, and rain began to gather, causing Mariya Yuri, already sowhat dazed, to have a gleam of ghostly light in her eyes.
"Susanoo no Mikoto, also known as Susa-no-O, Kuzu-matou-nushi, Susa-ō-no-Mikoto, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Kamususanoo-no-Mikoto, Susanoowo-no-Mikoto, Gozu Tennou... is one of the Three Noble Children born from Izanagi. The other two are the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and the Moon God Tsukuyomi..."
"Susanoo-no-Mikoto is the sea god of the vast oceans, a destructive god whose temperant is fickle—at tis ferocious, at tis heroic..."
"As the land god of Izumo, he combined with many other gods repeatedly and acquired many myths. Thus, based on his Divinity of controlling storms, he is the snake-slaying one, a culture hero god who excels in trickery..."
Hearing this, both Kaiser and Seishuin Ena turned their eyes toward the outside of the shrine.
"This really is a provocation, isn’t it?"
Kaiser spoke expressionlessly.
"Grandfather?"
Seishuin Ena was also sowhat surprised.
"King! This is..."
Mariya Yuri finally ca out of her Spirit Vision state. As if realizing sothing, her expression changed dramatically and she urgently tried to say sothing to Kaiser.
Kaiser raised his head, stopping Mariya Yuri from speaking.
"I know."
As he replied with these words, Kaiser looked toward Seishuin Ena.
"I wasn’t really planning on fussing over this, but since even the old geezer hiding in the Netherworld can’t help but jump out, then if I don’t give you all so sort of response, I’ll seem too temperless."
As he spoke, Kaiser extended his hand and silently summoned a pair of ancient cudgels.
"Since you’re an acquaintance of Mariya’s, I’ll hold back a little."
"Though you are innocent, just a dium being used, I still have to tell you..."
"Don’t die, alright?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the cudgels around Kaiser vanished.
"——!"
In that instant, Seishuin Ena’s heart tightened. Without hesitation, she leaped backward.
"Bang!"
The ancient cudgels instantly appeared in front of Seishuin Ena as if through teleportation and slamd into the divine sword she hastily raised, knocking it away.
The Hi-Miko of the Long Sword let out a muffled grunt and was sent flying, smashing through the shrine wall and into the outside.
"Ena!"
Mariya Yuri cried out in alarm.
Kaiser stepped forward, using Shunpo to instantly exit the front hall of the shrine and appear outside.
"Boom——"
A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, illuminating the pitch-black world.
The brewing rain finally began to fall, mixed with fierce winds, forming a storm that engulfed the entire Shichio Shrine.
"O A no Murakumo no Tsurugi—"
The girl’s clear and pleasant Kotodama echoed in the storm.
"With my body as sacrifice, I beseech the pacification of the raging soul!"
"Chiba Break · Divine Igaki · Transcend · Now in My Na · Regret Not!"
"To vanquish the savage, bestow your power upon !"
The Hi-Miko of the Long Sword, erging from the storm, raised the divine sword high.
At the effect of the Kotodama, the divine sword’s appearance began to change.
It changed from a straight blade to a curved one. Its blade, which had emitted a holy white light, turned into a black sword seemingly engulfed in pitch-black flas.
At the sa ti, the Magical Power on Seishuin Ena’s body disappeared, replaced by explosively surging divine power.
"Possession Rite!"
Mariya Yuri, who had run out from the front hall, saw this scene and couldn’t help but shout.
The Possession Rite, as the na implies, is a technique in which the practitioner acts as a dium to invite another’s spirit to descend into themselves and thus use their power.
As the chief Hi-Miko and the top Hi-Miko of the present day, Seishuin Ena possessed the qualification to beco a Possession Rite practitioner.
Those with this qualification are even rarer than those with Spirit Vision. And among them, Seishuin Ena was the highest-level Possession Rite practitioner.
Because she summoned the Divine Spirit of a god.
At this mont, a part of the Divinity of the god she worshipped—Susanoo no Mikoto—was dwelling within Seishuin Ena’s body.
With a human body, she accepted the power of a god. At this mont, Seishuin Ena was the god’s representative on Earth.
Thanks to this, the divine sword, which humans should not be able to wield freely, had now truly beco Seishuin Ena’s weapon.
"Even though it feels like Grandpa tricked , it’s too late to complain now!"
A smile full of fighting spirit appeared on Seishuin Ena’s face.
"Here I co!"
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