Unraveling the Threads

Legend has it that after a series of eastern expeditions and western conquests, the gods of Yamato pacified Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni. Needing someone to rule over it, Amaterasu Omikami spoke to her son, Ame-no-Oshihomimi-no-Mikoto: "Now that Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni has been pacified, you shall descend and rule it as commanded."

Ame-no-Oshihomimi-no-Mikoto agreed to Amaterasu Omikami's request. However, while preparing for his descent, he fathered a child named Ninigi-no-Mikoto. Consequently, Ame-no-Oshihomimi-no-Mikoto suggested to Amaterasu Omikami that Ninigi-no-Mikoto should go in his stead. Amaterasu Omikami accepted the proposal and instead commissioned Ninigi-no-Mikoto to descend to Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni.

Ultimately, amidst the blessings of the gods, Ninigi-no-Mikoto departed from Takamagahara, carrying the Three Sacred Treasures. He descended to Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni via the Ame-no-Ukihashi to rule in the name of Amaterasu Omikami, a reign that continues to this day.

...

Within the Inari Secret Realm on Mount Inari, Miketsu closed the Kojiki, the book of mythology in her hands. She gazed toward the distant horizon, her thoughts churning in silence.

The passage she had just read, known as the Descent of the Heavenly Grandson, was an exceptionally famous and pivotal legend in this land's mythology. The Heavenly Grandson, Ninigi-no-Mikoto, was the grandson of Amaterasu and the ancestor of the Emperors. He was the figure linking myth to reality, the very source of the Imperial family's legitimate rule over Japan.

Divine right of kings, a living god among men—the reason the Imperial family could rule Japan in an unbroken line for ten thousand generations was precisely because of this mythologized sovereignty and bloodline. Successive Emperors were all spokespersons for Amaterasu in the human world. This supreme status, built upon myth, made the Imperial family incredibly transcendent. Even when imperial power waned significantly, no one could ever replace them...

According to myth, the Imperial family were the descendants of Amaterasu, making Amaterasu Omikami their natural primary deity. Yet, in the story Miketsu had just heard, the ancient texts hidden within the Imperial palace actually contained detailed records of Great Snake worship. When vengeful spirits ravaged the human world and disaster loomed over the Imperial clan, neither Amaterasu nor any of the gods of Takamagahara had intervened to offer divine grace. Instead, the Great Snake seized the opportunity to restore its sacrifices, becoming a secret deity of the Imperial family for a long period.

No matter how one looked at it, this situation was utterly absurd. Miketsu could not understand the actions of Amaterasu and the gods of Takamagahara. Did Amaterasu no longer want these mortal descendants and the faith they provided? Or did She simply not know or care about what was happening in the human realm? Or perhaps, they had no way to interfere with the human realm at all?

After experiencing Kanako's visit and hearing about Shuten-doji's encounter, Miketsu naturally did not believe that Takamagahara was unaware of the human realm's affairs or unable to intervene. Thus, the conduct of Takamagahara during the time when vengeful spirits ran amok and the Great Snake rose to power was profoundly confusing.

"Sigh... what on earth are those fellows thinking?" Exhaling softly, Miketsu rubbed her forehead and began to continue unraveling the intelligence she had recently gained from Emperor Suzaku.

In contrast to Takamagahara's behavior, the Great Snake's actions throughout this series of events were much clearer. First, the vengeful spirit of Prince Sawara had displayed power and strength far exceeding that of an ordinary ghost. After the incident with Prince Nagaya's vengeful spirit, Miketsu had reason to believe that Prince Sawara's spirit had likely been strengthened by the Great Snake to some degree, making it both more powerful and more violent—and thus, more dangerous.

After the Great Snake secretly increased Prince Sawara's power, the human court and the common people began to suffer immense disasters. With no one else to turn to, the Great Snake used its controlled Divine Messenger, Yamato Takeru, to appear in Emperor Kanmu's dreams. He guided the Emperor to find that ancient text—which existed in the Imperial collection for unknown reasons—and induced him to unearth the sacrificial vessels from the era of the Great Snake as an Ancient God. By restarting the worship of the Great Snake within the Imperial Palace, the Great Snake gained control over Prince Sawara's spirit, reducing the severity of the hauntings and restoring Emperor Kanmu's health. This led the Emperor to firmly believe that the Snake God had manifested to save him, ensuring his continued devotion to the Great Snake's worship.

And the wandering miko who visited later had likely sensed the abnormality in Prince Sawara's spirit. Upon further investigation, the miko probably discovered the Great Snake worship. Just as she was about to investigate further, the Great Snake retaliated by using Prince Sawara to amplify the disasters. It then manipulated the panicked Emperor Kanmu into murdering the miko and offering her as a sacrifice. This first sacrificed miko was likely Kikyo's past life... The ruins of the Seven-Story Pagoda that Miketsu had found in the forest were most likely an abandoned sacrificial site for the Great Snake.

After Kikyo, the Great Snake seemed to have developed a taste for this, continuously demanding young girls with spiritual potential from the Imperial family as sacrifices. Simultaneously, it provided a so-called "gift"—revealing the existence of the Land of the Four Gods to the human court and enticing them to move the capital.

Having witnessed how a used Four Symbols Seal could lead to the Great Snake's erosion, Miketsu now believed that the Four Symbols Corresponding Grand Array was intimately connected to the Great Snake. After hearing Emperor Suzaku's account, Miketsu judged that the Four Symbols Array might have originally been intended to seal the Great Snake. According to Suwako's revelations, the Great Snake was a formidable existence even among the Ancient Gods. Miketsu felt that it had not been simply killed like Suwako; combined with Yamato Takeru's words from before, it was highly probable that the Great Snake's remains and spirit were sealed within the Void between the Underworld and the human realm. The gate or node of this seal was the Four Symbols Array existing in the human realm.

The Great Snake had guided the Yamato Court to move the capital precisely for the Four Symbols Array that sealed it! It had induced human Onmyoji to create the Four Symbols Seals, which could channel the sealing power of the Four Symbols, specifically to use the hands of human Onmyoji to deplete the strength of the Four Symbols' seal and seize the opportunity to erode it from within.

This explained why the Great Snake was constantly causing trouble, creating various major crises for Heian-kyo. It wanted the human Onmyo Clans to use the Four Symbols Seals over and over again to resist these crises, thereby consuming the power of the Four Symbols Array and weakening the seal. Whether it was the Great Tengu incident at Sugo Ungo, the subsequent Prince Nagaya incident, or the demon calamity in Heian-kyo, all were crises triggered by the Great Snake's attempt to deplete the Four Symbols' power. From this perspective, Tamamo-no-Mae's revenge twenty years ago was likely also linked to the Great Snake. Had Miketsu not intervened, the Great Snake's goal would likely have been achieved long ago.

"Phew... that fellow really is a consummate conspirator..."

After finishing her train of thought and finally clarifying the Great Snake's objectives and methods, Miketsu breathed a long sigh of relief. For the first time, she felt she truly understood her long-term opponent, the powerful Ancient God from the primordial era, Yamata no Orochi. She understood more clearly what she needed to protect and what she needed to be wary of.

"The Four Symbols Seals... only the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird remain. Yura and Mokou..."

As Miketsu was lost in thought, she suddenly felt a movement in her sleeve. She reached in and pulled out a slightly trembling Paper Crane. This was a paper shikigami Miketsu specifically used for communication, generally for contacting people at the Onmyoryo in the human realm.

"This is... a message from Yura?"