Stalemate

Brilliance cascaded from the heavens. Beneath this sacred light, the white snake miko lay sprawled amidst the ruins, her body bristling with arrows and unable to move. At this moment, Lady Miketsu needed only a single arrow of light, brimming with divine power, to eradicate the Miko Orochi completely. Yet, she hesitated to release it.

The voice of the Great Snake reverberated through the space. Hearing His words, Miketsu furrowed her brow and spoke sharply.

"So... was it you who orchestrated their twisted transformation, Orochi?"

Miketsu's voice echoed into the distance, and Yamata no Orochi responded immediately.

"Their current state? Heh, the primary cause of their plight isn't me... it's those mortals. I merely provided a little guidance..." As the Great Snake's words drifted out, Miketsu couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.

"What did you say? Mortals?"

"Indeed... the root cause of this disaster was forged by the mortals themselves. Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto, perhaps you already know the tale of the Yamato Court's old capital. It was there that the first miko was sacrificed..." The Great Snake's tone and manner began to take on a hint of playful mockery. "But I must tell you, the sacrifice of that miko was not my will..."

"Not your decision..." Hearing the Great Snake's words, a look of shock appeared on Miketsu's face.

"Correct. At that time, the Four Symbols Seal was fully intact, and I did not yet have the ability to accept sacrifices. That miko, named Kikyo, attempted to investigate the Imperial Palace. I used vengeful spirits to reignite the disaster as a warning to the mortals... Those mortals acted exactly as I expected, seizing the miko in a panic. However, what I did not anticipate was that the Emperor, fearing death and wishing to prove his piety, would take the initiative to sacrifice that miko without any divine oracle from me. Heh, it was laughably foolish..."

Miketsu stood frozen, her expression wooden, as the Great Snake continued.

"Such are mortals; such is humanity. They presume to guess the will of the gods in a most ridiculous and pathetic manner, living humbly in eternal fear. They believed I would be appeased by devouring the miko's soul, but in truth, I laughed at their ignorance. Regardless, I was amused by their absurd behavior, so I chose not to stop them and suppressed the vengeful spirits. Thus, they truly believed I was satisfied with the offerings they presented."

Miketsu listened silently. As she looked at the white snake miko on the ground, a complex emotion gradually surfaced in her eyes.

"By the time of Heian-kyo, mortals had normalized miko sacrifices, offering them to me in a never-ending stream. I watched as those spirits of miko who hated everything continued to appear and gather, growing ever more powerful... It was quite entertaining, really. Their sacrifices were futile from the start; they were merely birthing a monster they could never hope to handle..."

After the Great Snake finished his initial explanation, Miketsu pondered for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

"After the Black Tortoise Array failed, your interference in the living world clearly intensified. You could have devoured those miko souls then, yet you didn't. Why?" As Miketsu's words fell, the Great Snake's voice rose eerily once more.

"Naturally, because those miko souls have far more interesting uses than simply being devoured... As the vengeful spirits of miko sacrificed by their own kin grew in number, their accumulated resentment continued to intensify. So, I stepped in to facilitate their fusion and infused some of my own power into them. Then, you have what you see now... they eventually merged into one in my image. In a sense, this white snake is my clone..."

"A clone... Could it be that through them, you can interfere with the living world?"

"Indeed. But you should have realized by now that this is contingent upon you killing and eradicating them... Do you know why, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto?"

Faced with the Great Snake's question, Miketsu fell into silence. Before long, the Great Snake's voice rang out again.

"Heh... it seems you don't truly understand the nature of vengeful spirits. When is their resentment at its peak?"

Miketsu was slightly taken aback, then spoke as if she had grasped something. "Is the moment a vengeful spirit's resentment reaches its peak... the moment it is destroyed?"

"Sharp enough... Yes. For a spirit filled with malice, the greatest hatred is being unable to vent that hatred even after becoming a vengeful spirit..."

Vengeful spirits are formed from resentment. They gain power at the cost of eternal unrest, the inability to pass on, and extreme distortion, all to seek revenge. If they pay such a price and still fail to achieve their goal—if they are directly eliminated instead—their resentment will surge exponentially at the moment of their destruction.

"Vengeful spirits gain power from resentment, and this white snake miko is arguably the most powerful vengeful spirit in this world. The power that will erupt when they are on the brink of destruction is absolutely colossal. I can use their connection to me and that power to open a passage for even more of my strength to interfere with the living world... And this time, the interference will be far more potent than the one thirteen years ago. You will not be able to oppose it," the Great Snake said slowly. Having observed the potential outcome through causality, Miketsu did not doubt his words.

"To think you... would use them to such an extent," she said, her face dark as she gripped her bow tightly.

"How else? Since they are my miko, it is only right that they turn to ash for my sake."

"You're preventing their resentment from expanding by blanketing every human settlement in this region with your protection, aren't you? How long can you maintain such a massive Divine Blessing?"

Hearing the Great Snake's words, Miketsu paused, then a small smile played on her lips.

"It seems... your goal is to consume my spiritual power in this manner."

"No. Whether you kill them and allow me more interference in the living world, or leave them be until your spiritual power is drained, both are acceptable to me... Once Heian-kyo, threatened by resentment, loses your protection, it will have to rely solely on the Four Symbols Seal. And that also means... my seal will be further undone." The Great Snake's words echoed in Miketsu's ears, his tone carrying a hint of mockery.

"Then... let us continue like this for now. Let's see how long it takes for my spiritual power to run dry." As Miketsu spoke, she stowed her bow and arrows, remaining suspended silently in the sky, using the Purifying Light of the World to suppress the white snake miko.

"Is that so... then I shall wait and see..." After one final whisper, the Great Snake's voice fell silent. Everything around them grew quiet, save for the whimpering of the suppressed white snake miko.

One minute, two minutes... ten minutes, twenty minutes... forty minutes, fifty minutes...

Nearly an hour passed, but Miketsu's suppression had not weakened in the slightest. The large-scale Divine Blessing covering the surrounding towns remained steadfast against the erosion of resentment, showing no signs of faltering.

"It... hasn't weakened... How is this possible? You are but a false god of Takamagahara... How can you possess so much spiritual power!" The Great Snake's voice rose again in the space, but this time, there was a hint of disbelief in his tone.

In response, Miketsu simply continued to suppress the white snake miko while maintaining her smile. Just moments ago, she had received word through Kikyo's prayers. Under Yura's command, the onmyoji of the Onmyoryo had successfully developed a preliminary jutsu-shiki to resist the erosion of resentment. They were currently leaving the protected Heian-kyo and heading toward the Forbidden Grounds.

Now, Miketsu only needed to maintain the suppression and wait for the onmyoji to arrive. With her assistance, the onmyoji's large-scale array would be enough to seal the white snake miko!

Since she could not kill it, she would choose to seal it. While Miketsu did not yet know how to use her own spiritual power to seal things, she only needed to wait for the Onmyoryo's arrival. With her level of spiritual power, waiting even an entire day would be no problem at all.