The Trend

After reading Suwako's reply, Miketsu felt a touch of admiration for her attitude as an Ancient God. While other Ancient Gods were doing everything in their power to revive and reclaim their dominion over the world, she merely wished to maintain the status quo, with no desire to regain her former strength. Among the Ancient Gods, she was truly an anomaly.

The reason Suwako cherished mortals and the current state of the world was likely due to being saved by her former mortal worshippers. Through their faith, an Ancient God on the brink of complete extinction retained her consciousness and was reborn as a wild god. In this form, she lived for a millennium, embracing a more approachable demeanor toward mortals, which in turn transformed her disposition.

What concerned Miketsu even more in Suwako's reply was the immense power of the Ancient Gods. According to Suwako, Ancient Gods at their peak were incomparable to Modern Gods; they could casually devastate the world. Even the complete resurgence of a single Ancient God would have a profound impact on the entire world.

In contrast, the Modern Gods had a much smaller impact on the world. Not only was their raw power inferior to that of Ancient Gods, but they typically resided in the Celestial Realm, making descent troublesome. To unleash their full divine power in the human realm, they needed to establish a Divine Domain, and even then, battles within the Divine Domain would not affect the human realm itself. Considering this, the existence of Modern Gods was indeed much gentler on the world compared to Ancient Gods... Perhaps this was the very meaning of their existence?

As she pondered this... Miketsu suddenly realized something: there were three types of beings in this world that could be called gods: Ancient Gods, Modern Gods, and wild gods.

Beyond their vastly different power levels, the greatest distinction among these three was their reliance on faith. The power of Ancient Gods stemmed entirely from themselves; they neither needed nor could acquire faith. Now, apart from a few barely clinging to existence, they were almost entirely extinct, yet their power was the strongest. Modern Gods derived most of their power from mythology and a small portion from faith; they could gain faith but were not overly dependent on it. Almost all resided in the Celestial Realm, with numerous restrictions on descending to the human realm, making their power secondary. wild gods, however, drew their power entirely from faith, resided completely in the human realm, and were very weak.

Among these three, the more powerful they were, and the more they could disregard faith and mortals, the harder it was for them to influence the human realm; they were either extinct or severely restricted. Only wild gods, whose power was not overly strong and who were entirely dependent on faith—gods who must rely on all living beings—could fully operate in the human realm. Naturally, Miketsu herself was an exception and not counted among them.

The differences between these three types of gods subtly revealed a trend: they were growing weaker and increasingly reliant on mortals. Was this a coincidence? Or a deliberate design? Miketsu had no way of knowing, but in her opinion, the diminishing influence of gods in the human realm was a good thing, both for herself and for ordinary mortals...

Amidst her thoughts, Miketsu suddenly had another flash of inspiration. She immediately found a new sheet of paper, spread it out on the table, and once again let ink condense into words, as Suwako transmitted more information.

“Oh, one more thing to add,” the message read. “Lastly, regarding the ley line anomaly that catfish mentioned, I've also sensed recent disturbances. The source of the anomaly is in Kanto, specifically in Shimosa Province. Based on the information you provided earlier, this might be related to that worm.”

“In any case... I will keep an eye on this matter and diligently gather relevant intelligence. If anything happens, I'll inform you. After all, we're very close to Shimosa Province, so handling things here is much more convenient than for you in Heian-kyo. You should keep a close watch on that snake in Heian-kyo and try not to venture too far. With Kanako's help, that worm, which hasn't even pupated yet, won't be able to cause much trouble.”

Reading Suwako's additional message, Miketsu's brows furrowed slightly. She hadn't initially considered that the ley line anomaly could be the work of the Tokoyo-no-Kami. Like the Great Snake, which was striving to break its seal, the Tokoyo-no-Kami was also preparing for its full resurgence, and it even seemed to be allied with the Great Snake.

Fortunately, she wasn't alone this time. Suwako was close to the worm's activity, so she could help keep an eye on it. Kanako, as a Modern God with the divine office of a war god, should be able to suppress the Tokoyo-no-Kami in its larval state.

“Phew...” Miketsu set down the letter. After organizing her thoughts, she finally let out a long sigh. She then decided to visit the demon realm for some food and a good relaxation.

That night, in Choyo-machi, the demon realm of Heian-kyo.

Miketsu was strolling quite leisurely along the bustling streets of Choyo-machi. At this moment, she had not manifested in her Owl form, but in a different guise.

Barefoot in wooden geta sandals and clad in a red-patterned kosode, Miketsu was dressed like an ordinary human girl. The difference, however, was a pair of small horns on her head and alluring, demonic makeup on her face, making her appear like a common lesser yokai. This was Miketsu's special attire for browsing the night markets of the demon realm.

Because Owl's status in Choyo-machi was exceedingly high, Miketsu appearing in her Owl form on the streets would instantly shatter the usual clamor. All the yokai would nervously make way for her, not daring to show the slightest disrespect before the yokai general. This completely destroyed the night market's atmosphere, much to Miketsu's displeasure.

Moreover, the Owl's appearance was something she had somewhat haphazardly designed at the beginning; those bandages wrapped around her body were indeed uncomfortable. Furthermore, to maintain the Owl's image, she had to specifically restrain some of her actions, which felt unnatural.

Therefore, to conveniently shop in the demon realm, Miketsu had created a new disguise. This current appearance was primarily crafted by Konkiku. To make her look more like a yokai without causing a stir, Konkiku had specially applied demonic makeup for Miketsu and even procured small attachable horns. This transformation made Miketsu appear like a harmless, minor yokai, rather than a dark boss like Owl.

Holding several skewers of grilled food from a street stall, she ate as she walked. Suddenly, she noticed an incredibly popular shop on the street ahead. A large crowd of yokai, and even humans, was packed around its exterior, creating a lively and bustling scene.

“Hmm... it's quite rare for a shop to be this lively in Choyo-machi... Wait, I think this place is...”

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Miketsu quickly jogged towards the shop. Sure enough, on the signboard, she saw the three characters she expected.

Hyakumonogatari Hall.

Seeing these three characters, Miketsu couldn't help but twitch her lips. Then, observing the many yokai and humans, each holding a deck of cards with focused expressions, she inwardly grumbled about a certain Secret Lore Yokai.

That fellow actually managed to popularize card games.