Drilling

In Shimosa Province, Kanto, deep within the underground space beneath the decaying forest, at the origin point where the ley line was being gnawed, Takeminakata-no-Kami—Yasaka Kanako—was confronting Tokoyo-no-Kami, their battle already underway.

Driven by fierce winds, Kanako dodged the dense light threads coming at her with extreme speed, seizing gaps amidst the omnipresent dangers, rapidly approaching Tokoyo-no-Kami. Finally, after closing to the extreme limit, Kanako activated her Divine Domain.

A distant ancient battlefield...

Suddenly, the scenery of the surrounding space changed drastically. The dark cave filled with light threads vanished, replaced by barren land and a vast sky. Fierce winds swept between towering Onbashira, and on the cracked earth, skeletal soldiers rose one after another, picking up their tattered weapons, facing the colossal, grotesque worm.

“Is it this domain again? It seems you still haven’t learned your lesson… false god of Takamagahara…” Facing Kanako’s Divine Domain, Tokoyo-no-Kami’s baby-like voice continued to echo. He had clearly witnessed this move when he previously fought Kanako, and the final outcome was naturally self-evident.

Even Kanako, with her Divine Domain activated, found it difficult to contend with Tokoyo-no-Kami, who was already close to pupation.

“Hmph, I won’t be careless this time like before. Take this, you disgusting worm!” Kanako said, mobilizing the power of her entire Divine Domain to attack Tokoyo-no-Kami. At the same time, she couldn’t help but solemnly muse internally.

‘I can’t hold out against this guy for long. Hurry, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto! Suwako!’

…

“Understood, commencing now.”

Outside the Divine Domain, Suwako looked at the twisted space emitting strange light before her. She responded to the words transmitted by Kanako, then rose and flew above the twisted space that had been eroded and transformed into a Divine Domain. Receiving the vision shared by Kanako, Suwako, from outside the Divine Domain, could clearly see the scene within it.

“Hmm… it’s… at this position!”

Observing the battle situation inside the Divine Domain, Suwako quickly adjusted her floating position. Then she flew straight upwards, until she reached the ceiling of the giant cave, where she placed her hand upon it. Then she closed her eyes, mobilized her Earth divine power, and transmitted it directly upwards.

Directly above Tokoyo-no-Kami’s nest, on the surface more than 6000 meters away, Kaki was floating in the air, waiting anxiously. Finally, she suddenly seemed to sense something and hurriedly flew towards the ground.

In a mountain hollow, Kaki discovered a small mound of earth that was automatically rising. Upon this mound, she felt a familiar power.

“It’s Lady Suwako… they’ve begun!”

Kaki’s expression became solemn, then she flew directly above the mound.

“Hmm, next is to be directly above this, then… wave towards the sky… the sky?”

Although there was a hint of confusion in her eyes, Kaki still acted according to the predetermined plan. She hovered above the mound, her left arm holding the little fox Harumutsu, her right arm vigorously waving towards the sky. Her action was keenly captured by the mechanical eye located beyond the heavens.

…

“Master! A signal has been sent from the ground!”

In the control room, Toyohime loudly exclaimed, looking at the girl waving in the image. Eirin, who was not far away, immediately walked over upon hearing this, speaking as she looked at the image transmitted by the detector.

“Immediate targeting. We have the coordinates now, we can begin.”

“Understood, Master…” Toyohime said, simultaneously operating the controls. Kaki, who was continuously waving in the image, was immediately locked on by multiple layers. The entire mechanical giant bow began fine-tuning its orientation, aiming its firing direction at the locked target.

Subsequently, energy began to surge and gather on the bow’s body. Layers of Magical Arrays appeared and stacked before the giant bow. An energy arrow was condensing on the rail.

“Star-Punishment Heavenly Fire Bow… Penetration Mode activated…”

Under Toyohime’s command, the mechanical giant bow began another round of transformation. Its central rail suddenly extended significantly and became sealed. The curved, extended bow body also began to straighten. Now, rather than a bow, it resembled a crossbow more closely.

Miketsu, standing in the energy compartment, saw the unusual activity occurring throughout the space station and knew that the prelude to the bombardment had begun. She smiled slightly, and the Blade of the Three Realms in her hand transformed into a spirit spear. Then she sent a message to the Divine Messenger on the ground.

On the ground, Harumutsu, in Kaki’s arms, suddenly let out a whimpering sound. Kaki heard it and immediately flew away from her spot at high speed. During this process, she also prayed to Kanako and Suwako, informing them that the support attack was imminent.

“Fire!”

In the control room, seeing that Kaki had successfully evacuated, Toyohime pressed the launch button without hesitation. Instantly, amidst a roar and vibration, a dazzling, thick white beam shot from the Heavenly Bow, piercing straight towards the earth. Unlike the Arrow of Light previously fired by Asamasa, this time, what shot down from the Heavenly Bow was a complete beam of light.

With speed surpassing the Arrow of Light, the dazzling, thick white beam traversed tens of thousands of meters in the blink of an eye, connecting heaven and earth. It accurately struck the mound that Suwako had raised. Then, with high temperature, it rapidly melted the solid rock, plunging straight underground. Kaki, who had flown to a safe area, was utterly stunned by everything before her.

“This, this is… Lady Uka’s… power?”

The Star-Punishment Heavenly Fire Bow—Penetration Mode, was a specialized penetration mode designed to deal with powerful armor, multiple Barriers, and sturdy fortresses. Compared to the wide-area bombardment of the regular mode, the Penetration Mode, while not as destructive, possessed exceptionally superior penetrating power.

And now, Miketsu was using the Heavenly Fire Bow in this mode as a drilling machine. With Miketsu providing infinite energy, it could rapidly penetrate 6000 meters of earth, directly reaching Tokoyo-no-Kami’s nest!

An orbital laser drilling machine—this was Miketsu’s solution to deal with Tokoyo-no-Kami’s deep nest!

In the control room, Eirin watched the dynamic penetration depth map simulated by data with a serious expression, observing the penetration progress gradually approaching the predetermined depth.

One thousand meters, two thousand meters, three thousand meters, four thousand meters, five thousand meters…

When the penetration reached around five thousand meters, Eirin immediately picked up a Paper Crane in her hand and said solemnly.

“The penetration point is about to reach the predetermined depth! Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto!”

In the energy compartment, Miketsu, who had inserted the spirit spear into a temporarily made interface and was frantically pouring spiritual power into it, smiled slightly after hearing Eirin’s words. Then, with one hand, she sent a pre-written message to Kaki.

“Now… have Kanako release that worm at the predetermined location!”