The Calamity of Heaven

High above Heian-kyo, atop the Monitoring Pavilion in low Earth orbit, countless moon rabbits were busily preparing the next volley of Heavenly Fire. The energy reserves brought from the Lunar Capital had not yet been exhausted; they still had one shot left.

Asamasa stood in the center of the control hall, his expression stern as he supervised the moon rabbits' work while surveying the azure Earth below. Watching the 3D holographic projection show the charging progress passing the halfway mark, he let out a cold snort.

"Hmph. Just wait. Once you witness this Purest Heavenly Fire again, I’ll see if you still have the strength to stop it..." Asamasa muttered confidently. He believed that the previous interception of the Heavenly Fire arrow had been a complete miracle, and miracles did not happen twice. He did not believe that the species on the ground could manipulate a power greater than the cutting-edge weaponry of the Lunar Capital.

On the other side, Toyohime, who had only just slowly regained consciousness, sat in a seat being tended to by two moon rabbits. Her dazed eyes suggested she had not yet fully recovered.

At this moment, Toyohime understood that regardless of whether Asamasa's operation succeeded, she would undoubtedly be sent to the Tribunal to answer for the failure of her and her sister's mission. She might even be made a scapegoat for Asamasa. Even if she were lucky enough to escape death, the rest of her life would likely be spent in endless imprisonment. A deep sense of despair loomed over her heart.

Suddenly, a moon rabbit observing the holographic projection seemed to discover something. His brow furrowed, and after rubbing his eyes to confirm several times, a flash of terror crossed his face. He shouted loudly to Asamasa nearby.

"Re—Report, Lord overseer! An energy reaction is approaching at high speed from below! It’s about to hit the Monitoring Pavilion! The groundlings are counterattacking!"

"What?!" Hearing the moon rabbit soldier's words, Asamasa turned pale with shock. He never imagined those primitive gods on the ground would possess the ability to attack this high altitude of tens of thousands of meters—and with the precision to target the Monitoring Pavilion. At a range of tens of thousands of meters, a miss by a hair's breadth would result in a miss by a thousand miles.

"They can actually counterattack? Intercept that thing immediately!" Asamasa roared his command. Following his orders, the moon rabbits immediately activated the Monitoring Pavilion's self-defense systems.

On the exterior of the Monitoring Pavilion, several magical arrays formed out of thin air. After rapidly gathering spiritual power, they fired light bullets to intercept the incoming attack. However, there were only three or five of them—a pitifully small number.

Traversing a distance of tens of thousands of meters and vertically crossing the entire atmosphere, the golden Arrow of Light had broken through the blue sky and flown into the pitch-black void of space. Following the red line of causality, it surged toward the nearby Heavenly Fire giant bow.

The intercepting light bullets fired toward the golden arrow, but because their flight speed was too slow and their numbers too few, not a single one managed to hit. The Arrow of Light continued its assault on the Monitoring Pavilion.

"Re—Report, Lord overseer! Interception failed!"

"What! Can't those fools design a better self-defense system?!"

Inside the control hall, Asamasa slammed his fist onto the table in a panic, his eyes burning with fury toward the weapon designers back in the Lunar Capital.

The Star-Punishment Heavenly Fire Bow was a masterpiece overflowing with the arrogance of the lunarians. While it possessed the devastating power to purify the Earth's surface, it was paired with an incredibly lackluster self-defense system. The Lunarian weapon designers had never even considered the possibility of groundlings counterattacking into outer space. They believed that simply placing this Heavenly Fire bow in orbit made it invincible to those on the ground; the self-defense system they installed was merely a perfunctory decoration.

Piercing through the lunarians' arrogant defenses, the Arrow of Light struck the outer wall of the Monitoring Pavilion with extreme speed. The energy contained within exploded, causing the entire heavenly bow to shudder violently. The powerful impact caused the massive structure to shift and tilt. The moon rabbits inside, including Asamasa, clutched their heads and cried out in alarm.

Because Miketsu had controlled the output, the energy released by the Arrow of Light was far from enough to instantly destroy the entire Monitoring Pavilion and the heavenly bow. However, it still blasted a hole through the outer wall, connecting the interior to the vacuum of space and destroying the hermetic seal.

Following a deafening boom, the air inside the Monitoring Pavilion began to rush violently out into space due to the pressure differential. The howling wind swept up everything in its path—people and objects alike. Numerous moon rabbit soldiers were tossed into the air, pulled toward the breach by the powerful airflow.

"Activate safety suits!"

Amidst the cries of alarm, the well-trained moon rabbits activated their safety suits. Instantly, a powerful magnetic attraction was generated between their clothing and the metal surface of the Monitoring Pavilion. This force overcame the suction of the breach, fixing them firmly to the floor or walls like magnets, preventing them from being swept away by the current.

Due to the long-term nature of high-risk work in outer space, moon rabbits had suffered many casualties from various accidents. To prevent the loss of labor, the Lunar Capital had designed these safety suits.

However, not everyone in the Monitoring Pavilion had a safety suit. Toyohime and Asamasa, two lunarians who disdained wearing the same attire as their rabbit servants, lacked them. Consequently, after being tossed into the air, they were sucked straight toward the breach.

"D-Dammit..."

"Help! Help me!"

In the nick of time, several moon rabbits already fixed to the floor grabbed hold of Toyohime and Asamasa as they were being pulled toward the breach, saving them from being flung into the void. Both looked up at the moon rabbits who had rescued them.

"Th—Thank you..."

"Well done! You filthy animal! I command you not to let go! Otherwise, it’s the execution grounds for you!!"

Agitated, Asamasa screamed at the top of his lungs. His face was contorted into a hideous mask by the buffeting wind as he shouted.

Hearing these words and seeing that face, the moon rabbit girl holding him was startled. Her grip slipped, and Asamasa was instantly swept away by the powerful airflow.

"How dare you—AAAAAAAGH!"

With an expression of utter terror, Asamasa was flung directly out of the breach into the silent void of space. In the extreme cold and suffocation, he lost consciousness forever. Like the countless objects from the Monitoring Pavilion tossed out with him, he became a piece of space debris orbiting the planet.

Asamasa was gone, but the crisis for the Monitoring Pavilion continued. Although all the moon rabbits and Toyohime were successfully anchored, the rapid loss of air signaled the approach of death for everyone. The breach opened by Miketsu's Arrow of Light was massive and spanned several compartments; it was impossible to repair under these conditions.

Feeling the rapid drop in temperature and seeing the panicked expressions of the moon rabbits around her, Toyohime’s gaze hardened. She made a decision in her heart.

'I cannot abandon them...'

Gritting her teeth, she struggled against the airflow to pull a pill from her clothing and swallowed it. Immediately, she felt a violent power swelling within her.

Closing her eyes and clenching her teeth against the intense pain, Toyohime began to overload her abilities. A wave of power radiated from her, conducting through her contact points to cover the entire Monitoring Pavilion, the heavenly bow, and the moon rabbits anchored throughout.

"Teleport..."

In a flash of brilliant light, the massive Monitoring Pavilion vanished from outer space. All that remained was a cluster of space junk floating quietly, destined to cause trouble for the space programs of mortals a thousand years in the future.

Meanwhile, in the clearing within the Inari Secret Realm, the magical array originally drawn by Eirin—which had not yet been erased—flashed with light once again.