Dazzling golden light burst forth from Miketsu's fingertips, forming a thick beam that shot directly towards Torin, who had transformed into a giant leopard cat. The beam pierced straight through Torin's chest, creating a large, circular hole. Severely wounded again, Torin let out a beastly wail, finally unable to stand, collapsing heavily to the ground, silent and still.
Seeing Torin lying motionless on the ground, Miketsu breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although it was extremely perilous, in the end, she successfully caught up and struck him down before he could attack the altar.
Taking off Qin Xin, which had reverted from its Earth Spider Mask form back to a fox mask, Miketsu intended to thoroughly confirm if Torin was truly dead. But before she had taken two steps, a powerful fluctuation erupted from the altar.
Purple and blue, intense demonic power and spiritual power simultaneously burst forth from the Vermilion Bird Altar, impacting the rock walls around the cave. A strong whirlwind swept out, making Miketsu's black robe rustle.
What happened? Was there a problem with the forging?
Feeling this anomaly, Miketsu grew suspicious. Just as she shifted her gaze to the top of the altar, a scream suddenly came from above.
Startled by the sound, Miketsu immediately turned and ascended the steps, quickly reaching the top platform of the altar, the forging site of Fujiwara no Kanehira and Totosai.
All sorts of materials and tools were scattered everywhere. A strong wind continuously blew outwards from the center of the altar. On the bronze disc, demonic power and spiritual power had transformed into two giant serpents, entangled and fighting, constantly biting and tearing at each other. At the very center of these two energies, two blade-halves, not yet fitted with guards, floated in mid-air, trembling constantly and emitting a piercing, grating sound that grew louder and sharper, becoming increasingly unbearable.
At this moment, Fujiwara no Kanehira and Totosai sat on opposite sides of the bronze disc. They weakly propped themselves up with their hands on the ground, blood trickling from their mouths. They looked up at the blade-halves floating in the center of the bronze disc, their eyes filled with despair.
As soon as she stepped onto the platform, this was the scene that greeted Miketsu. Seeing the constantly intertwining and mutually repelling demonic and spiritual powers, as well as the expressions on Fujiwara no Kanehira's and Totosai's faces, Miketsu felt that the forging situation seemed rather dire.
“Cough... cough, cough, cough... No... it's no good...” Totosai coughed up a mouthful of blood, speaking weakly.
“Of course not... I said it before... Forcibly correcting and inducing fusion will ultimately only cause the power to backflow and backlash against us...” Fujiwara no Kanehira clutched his chest, looking at the blade-halves suspended above the Vermilion Bird Seal. His tone revealed weakness and helplessness.
“But we had almost perfectly balanced the powers...”
“Balancing it is useless... The problem lies at the source; our plan itself was too idealistic...”
The two swordsmiths conversed across the space. Although they noticed Miketsu's arrival, they had no strength left to say anything more. Looking at the situation before her, Miketsu couldn't help but ask,
“What happened? Was there an accident with the forging?”
Fujiwara no Kanehira turned his head, and upon seeing Miketsu, he gave a bitter smile and slowly said,
“It's not an accident, but a situation we foresaw from the beginning. We thought we could handle it properly, but in the end, we realized we were too naive...”
“Indeed... we were too idealistic at first, thinking we could use technical means to compensate for deficiencies in the rules. What arrogance...” Totosai echoed Fujiwara no Kanehira, his words full of self-mockery.
“Deficiencies in the rules? What problem exactly did you encounter?” Listening to the two swordsmiths, Miketsu grew even more puzzled.
“Heh... Simply put, demonic power and spiritual power simply cannot merge. Until the very end, they continue to repel and resist each other, unable to form a single entity.” Fujiwara no Kanehira said helplessly, looking at the two giant serpents biting each other on the bronze disc.
“We had anticipated this situation and prepared many methods to resolve it, but having tried them all, none proved effective. Ultimately, we cannot violate the heavenly laws of this world.”
“Heavenly laws?”
“Yes, heavenly laws... The stability of this world stems from the superimposed three realms: the human realm, the demon realm, and the divine realm. It stems from the interconnected structure of the three great domains: the Human World, the Underworld, and the Celestial Realm. This is one of the heavenly laws.
“In a complete system, the three powers—human, demon, and divine—must either exist as only one, or all three must exist. There is no logic in having two and lacking one.”
After Fujiwara no Kanehira finished, Totosai continued,
“Indeed, heavenly laws cannot be defied. Yet, we two, arrogant in our talent, thought we could transcend them with our skill. But this is the result, alas...”
“Although the two blades are forged, the power within them cannot be stabilized at all. In less than an hour, they will completely collapse. This gamble, we have lost...”
After hearing their words, Miketsu finally understood the problem. So, she continued to ask,
“Then why don't you try to incorporate the power of the divine realm? Wild gods shouldn't be hard to find, right?”
“Can wild gods be considered beings of the divine realm? They are merely a group of yokai or spirits who happened to acquire faith. Their divine power is impure and, in essence, still belongs to the Human or demon realm; it cannot be used as pure divine power.” As he spoke, Fujiwara no Kanehira looked upwards, as if gazing at something distant and unattainable.
“If we truly need to introduce divine power, what we need is the purest divine power from the Celestial Realm. Those who possess such power are the exalted gods and Buddhas of the heavens. They reside in Takamagahara, in the Western Pure Land, in immortal palace grottoes... in places above the Celestial Realm that we mortals can never reach. Although they have shrines and temples in the mortal world, they do not touch the dust of humanity. We cannot even find them, let alone borrow their power...”
“Heh heh... Even if we could find them, what then? The true gods and revered Buddhas are high above; would they agree to our request? It would be good enough if making such a request didn't anger them and bring down divine punishment...” Totosai chuckled, clearly both of them considered seeking out true gods an utterly absurd option.
“...”
After hearing Totosai and Fujiwara no Kanehira's words, Miketsu remained silent for a long time. She quietly watched the two creaking, violently trembling blade-halves on the bronze disc, and the constantly biting serpents of energy.
What emerged in her heart at this moment were the wailing and howling sounds within the power of blood sacrifice. In places unknown to her, this malevolent power had perhaps already harmed countless living beings.
“Totosai... I ask you, to defeat Oyakata, is this weapon truly necessary?”
“Oyakata, relying on the power of blood sacrifice obtained from an unknown source, has devoured a vast number of living beings. He has now become a true great yokai, revered as a Yokai Lord of a region. Unfortunately, we cannot hope to reach his level of strength, which was boosted by blood sacrifice, through mere cultivation. Therefore, we must rely on an external object...” Totosai replied upon hearing Miketsu's inquiry.
“Then, if we were to supplement this weapon with the power of a true god right now, could the forging be completed?”
“This... theoretically, it is feasible. Now, if divine power is integrated to form a cycle, it would resolve the issue of spiritual and demonic powers repelling each other, thereby completing the forging...”
“...”
After hearing Totosai and Fujiwara no Kanehira's replies, Miketsu sighed deeply, then spoke again. This time, her voice changed, shifting from the Owl's voice back to Miketsu's true, gentle female voice.
“Gentlemen, I can save this weapon now, but as a condition, I hope you can keep a secret for me...” As she spoke, Miketsu walked into the bronze disc, allowing the chaotic demonic and spiritual energies to buffet her cloak.
“You... what exactly do you intend to do? No, who exactly are you, Your Excellency...”
Amidst Totosai's and Fujiwara no Kanehira's half-knowing, half-puzzled confusion, Miketsu took out a small carving knife from her sleeve. This was something she had obtained in the Secret Realm when she first arrived. She had once used this knife to carve her name on the shrine's torii gate.
Approaching the floating blade-halves, Miketsu took a deep breath. Then she untied a part of the bandage on her hand, gritted her teeth, and used the carving knife to make a cut in her palm, letting blood flow out.
Miketsu extended her clenched fist, allowing her blood to slowly drip, precisely onto the two suspended blade-halves.
Boom!
Accompanied by a violent tremor that shook the entire underground cave, a golden aura surged skyward from the blade-halves. Miketsu quickly retreated. She then saw that between the purple and blue energies, the golden aura was wildly gushing forth. The serpents of energy, which had been wildly biting each other, became still at this moment. The blade-halves stopped their violent trembling, and the three energies slowly intertwined, gradually merging into one.
Immediately after, a dazzling white light illuminated the entire underground space, as if it were daytime.
Totosai and Fujiwara no Kanehira had, at some point, sat down together. They stared blankly at everything before them, conversing in a daze.
“It's done? It's done! We succeeded!?”
“Yes, we succeeded. No one would have thought that at this final juncture, we would be able to supplement it with divine power...”
“This means that in the end, this blade is not the Blade of Two Realms we envisioned, but... but the Blade of the Three Realms!”
“Yes, the Fangs of the Yokai, the Flames of the Spirit, the Blood of the God... ultimately forged into this unprecedented wondrous weapon that transcends the three realms! Its wielder will traverse all three realms, unstoppable! This is...
“The Sword of Universal Dominance!”
Rate on N.U.
