Faith

For the ordinary humans of Heian-kyo, this night was destined to be a sleepless one. The dense Yin energy transformed the entire Heian-kyo and its surrounding areas into a demon-haunted realm, making it easier for common mortals to perceive aberrations from other realms. The sight of demons dancing wildly in Heian-kyo caused the mortals to huddle indoors, trembling with extreme panic and fear. Even after the yokai unrest in Heian-kyo was swiftly quelled by the combined efforts of the Onmyoryo and Owl, the immense commotion caused by the rampaging giant creature on the western battlefield still prevented them from sleeping peacefully.

Mount Inari, located on the outskirts of Heian-kyo, was in a much better situation compared to the capital. Although the ghostly wails from Heian-kyo hadn't affected this area, the continuous vibrations caused by the giant creatures kept the Miko awake all night. Their unease led them to huddle together in one room, comforting and praying to each other, until the shrine itself underwent a change.

Specks of golden luminescence slowly emerged in the darkness of the shrine, appearing among the plants and trees, and within the houses, like dancing fireflies.

“What… are these?” Looking at the flickering lights in the darkness, the frightened Miko relaxed their expressions and spoke with curiosity. These suddenly appearing points of light seemed to carry a soothing, peaceful power that involuntarily eased their tense and panicked emotions.

Just then, the rustling of plants and trees continuously emanated from outside the paper doors of the room, causing the Miko inside to exchange glances. Then, a slightly braver Miko opened the paper doors and looked at the scene of the shrine outside. The sight before her made her freeze on the spot.

Atop Inari Shrine, a large number of various foxes had gathered. They were in various locations of the shrine: the Worship Hall, the honden, the Torii, the houses, under the Torii, in front of the stone lanterns… Foxes of all shapes and sizes sat quietly, calmly gazing up at the sky.

“Mountain, mountain foxes? Why have they all gathered here…?”

The Miko stumbled back two steps and fell onto the tatami, staring wide-eyed at everything before her. Living on Mount Inari, she knew there were many foxes in the mountains, but she had never seen them all gathered like this.

Bathed in the soft luminescence, the foxes gathered at Inari Shrine all looked up at the dark sky as if sensing something, and then cried out in unison. For a moment, long fox calls echoed through Mount Inari.

Amidst the chorus of foxes, the scattered fireflies converged, forming a soft, brilliant light that shot into the dark sky.

…

On the western battlefield of Heian-kyo, the people despairing under the terrifying power of the Great Snake saw a light descending directly from the sky. A wave of peace and warmth washed over their hearts, making them momentarily forget they were on a battlefield.

“What a warm power, what… what is that over there?” Dust-covered Yura stood up from the rubble of the Onmyoji encampment, muttering as she looked at the light shining down from the distant sky.

Golden brilliance pierced through the clouds from the sky and directly descended, enveloping Miketsu and continuously permeating her body through the stone divine tablet.

“So that’s it… Is this the Power of Faith…?”

Feeling the warm currents flowing into her body, Miketsu spoke slowly with emotion. This light was the Power of Faith she had collected since waking half a year ago. It had been stored in the shrine and descended here through Miketsu’s call and the guidance of the divine tablet.

“For a wild god, such power is everything. For other true gods… it might just be an enhancement, icing on the cake. For me… such power is a tool to break a ‘seal’…” Miketsu muttered to herself. She was now very certain that she was unable to use divine power not because she had forgotten how to use it, but because her divine power had been sealed—sealed during her slumber!

Why was Inari Okami’s divine power sealed? Who would seal divine power? Miketsu already had some clues and guesses regarding these questions, but she hadn’t reached a conclusion.

Miketsu’s divine power was sealed and could not be directly released; it could only be used by converting it into spiritual power or demonic power. Perhaps the sealer anticipated Inari Okami’s awakening, and the purpose of this seal was to prevent Inari Okami from using divine power even after waking. However, the appearance of the Blade of the Three Realms became a loophole in this seal.

This seal acted upon Miketsu herself. When the Blade of the Three Realms, containing Miketsu’s divine blood, was fully completed, and its divine power component could be used, Miketsu essentially gained an external output point for divine power. She used the Blade of the Three Realms to bypass the seal and wield divine power.

With the divine power seal bypassed, Miketsu used the released divine power to summon the faith stored in the shrine, allowing the faith to infuse her body and externally impact the seal on her, causing it to gradually weaken and break, thereby allowing more divine power to be directly released.

Looking at the maiden bathed in the light of faith in the distance, the Great Snake directly aimed its enormous mouth, filled with purplish-red energy, at Miketsu. Then, an energy orb radiating dark purplish-red light was spat out, flying towards Miketsu with an aura of destruction. Even with enemies close by, the Great Snake still chose Miketsu in the distance. It could naturally sense the strange aura within Miketsu’s body.

Facing the energy orb rushing towards her, Miketsu, clad in white robes and scarlet hakama, wearing the Heavenly Mirror Crown, did not choose to evade as she had at the White Tiger Altar previously. Instead, she raised her ornate curved bow, drew the taut bowstring, and aimed forward. Then, a divine power arrow, brimming with flowing light, quickly condensed on the empty bowstring.

“Arrow of Light…”

Releasing the bowstring, the divine power arrow shot into the sky, transformed into a golden streak of light, and flew rapidly towards the incoming energy orb. This streak of light was very small; in terms of impact, it was not as grand as Explosive Current Wave or Golden Light Spell, seeming as if it would be immediately swallowed by the Great Snake’s dark light energy orb.

The moment the Arrow of Light touched the destructive energy, the entire purplish-red dark energy orb was directly dispersed like a cloud, disintegrating without even an explosion. After piercing through the orb, the Arrow of Light continued to fly, shooting directly into the Great Snake’s head at high speed. Then, the Great Snake, its scales melted and pierced, let out an agonizing shriek!

Violent sound waves vibrated through everyone and every yokai present. Many were directly shaken to the point of spitting blood and fainting. Its massive body continuously thrashed, crushing everything around it. Many humans and yokai who couldn’t dodge in time were directly crushed by the Great Snake’s body. The Great Snake’s mouth spewed thick, long beams of light erratically, even sweeping across areas not far from human settlements, plowing deep furrows and destroying some houses on the outskirts.

Seeing the situation before her, Miketsu frowned slightly, then spoke calmly.

“This destruction must be contained. No more innocent lives should be lost in vain, Tsuruha…”

“Yes, Lady Uka…”

Following Miketsu’s will, Tsuruha transformed into her true form and prostrated herself before Miketsu. Miketsu sat sideways upon her. Then Tsuruha leaped into the air, carrying Miketsu, and soared into the sky. With the reappearance of divine power, the Divine Messenger’s power also returned.

Miketsu, riding Tsuruha, rapidly approached the frenzied Great Snake. During this process, waves of divine power rippled outwards from her, spreading into the surrounding space.

Then… the world changed…

“divine realm, Fox Hunt Realm…”