Fear

Early morning, in a remote hut within the Inari Secret Realm behind the Inari Shrine.

As consciousness began to link and perception returned, Takemikazuchi-no-Kami slowly woke from his coma. When he hazily opened his eyes, he saw a strange wooden ceiling.

"I... didn't die...?"

Murmuring in a low voice, the robust Takemikazuchi-no-Kami propped himself up and slowly sat up, then began to examine his surroundings.

It was a small room. Beneath him was a hard wooden bed, and around him was a series of strange and exotic instruments flashing with mysterious lights and symbols. Beside the bed stood a rack holding various peculiar tools, many of which were oddly shaped knives.

While observing his surroundings, Takemikazuchi-no-Kami also began to examine his own condition. He reached up to touch his neck and found that the wound there had almost completely healed, leaving only a faint scar that could be felt.

"I was... healed?"

Just as Takemikazuchi-no-Kami was feeling confused, the door was pushed open. From behind it stepped a mature woman with a long white braid—the former Omoikane-no-Mikoto, Yagokoro Eirin.

"Ah, you're awake. You woke up quite fast. Is that to be expected of the body of a God of War?" Eirin said with interest, looking at the now-conscious Takemikazuchi-no-Kami. He, in turn, couldn't help but freeze upon seeing her.

"You... you are... Omoikane-no-Mikoto? Why are you here? Did you save me from Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto?" Takemikazuchi-no-Kami said in shock. It was clear he recognized Eirin, who had once been an orthodox god. Eirin replied calmly.

"The reason I'm here is complicated; it's not something that can be explained quickly... nor do I wish to explain it to you. As for saving you from Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto... I think you might be mistaken. I didn't save you. On the contrary..." Eirin said with a strange smile. At that moment, a clear and soft female voice came from outside.

"Eirin, is that guy awake?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Takemikazuchi-no-Kami's heart skipped a beat. Then, as he clearly saw that familiar red and white figure enter the room from behind Eirin, a powerful emotion surged within his heart, and images of memories flashed through his mind.

Being hit in the face with a stone... having his divine power sealed... being sent flying by a punch... having a light sword shoved in his face... even... almost being decapitated by his own hand...

These images flashing through his mind triggered the most primal instinct of any living being. He immediately let out a cry, struggled, and fell directly off the bed. His body instinctively shrank back, and after knocking over a pile of instruments, he huddled into the farthest corner of the room, the spot furthest from the door.

Miketsu, who had just entered the room, was stunned by the clattering scene before her. She then looked at Eirin beside her.

"Is this... a bit of an overreaction?"

"An overreaction? An overreaction only proves we succeeded. Look at how deep of an impression you've left on him... seeing Takemikazuchi like this is truly a magnificent sight." Hearing Miketsu's inquiry, Eirin replied with a smile, appearing quite pleased to see Takemikazuchi-no-Kami in such a state.

After finishing her exchange with Eirin, Miketsu looked back into the room, her gaze landing on Takemikazuchi-no-Kami huddled in the corner. Upon meeting Miketsu's gaze, a look of pure terror washed over Takemikazuchi-no-Kami's face. The tattooed, two-meter-tall man shrank into the corner, thrusting his hand out and shouting loudly.

"You—don't come any closer!"

Seeing this reaction, Miketsu's lip twitched. She wondered if the previous surgery had gone a bit too far.

At this moment, Takemikazuchi-no-Kami was experiencing one of the most fundamental and powerful emotions of all living beings—one that was usually suppressed by his divine virtue and which he had never felt before. This... was fear.

Currently, Takemikazuchi-no-Kami harbored a profound fear toward Miketsu.

After defeating Takemikazuchi-no-Kami, Miketsu had begun to consider how to handle him. On one hand, she didn't want to kill him directly, as that would likely lead to total hostility with all of Yamato. With enemies like the Great Snake and the Great Worm still present, she didn't want to start an all-out war with an entire pantheon. The scene of the Yamato gods from Takamagahara besieging Mount Inari was not something Miketsu wanted right now.

On the other hand, because of the influence of his divine virtue, Takemikazuchi-no-Kami was fearless. Even if he failed, he would fight Miketsu to the bitter end. If she just left him there, he would come knocking on her door again as soon as he recovered, never-ending.

Thus, after much thought, Miketsu suddenly had an idea. She brought the comatose Takemikazuchi-no-Kami, who had lost too much blood, back to the Secret Realm and into Eirin's laboratory. There, she and Eirin—who had not yet left for the Lunar Capital—performed surgery on the unconscious Takemikazuchi-no-Kami, specifically targeting his godhead.

Miketsu's goal was to modify Takemikazuchi-no-Kami's divine virtue so that he could taste the flavor of fear.

Eirin had once been Omoikane-no-Mikoto and was the Chief Sage of the Lunar Capital. She had once conducted detailed research on her own godhead and Kou's, which had been shattered by Chang'e power. This research was very deep, and its results had even led to the creation of a super-powerful priestess like Yorihime, who could access the power of the gods.

Therefore, Eirin's understanding of a modern god's godhead was extremely profound. While she couldn't recreate a godhead from scratch like the white-robed Daoist, she was more than capable of performing precision surgery on one.

The surgery performed by Miketsu and Eirin was very complex, with Eirin as the lead surgeon and Miketsu acting as an assistant. First, they extracted Takemikazuchi-no-Kami's godhead. Then, Eirin opened the godhead to find the section containing his divine virtue and modified the parts related to emotion.

Within Miketsu's causality vision, she could easily see through the structure of the godhead, guiding Eirin on which parts did what, where the divine virtue region controlled which emotions, and warning her of various surgical risks. With this guidance and these prompts, Eirin successfully completed the godhead surgery.

Of course, the modifications made during this surgery were extremely subtle. The divine virtue and godhead were not fundamentally destroyed; Takemikazuchi-no-Kami had not lost his divine power or been completely liberated from myth like Eirin.

This subtle modification had only one effect: it allowed Takemikazuchi-no-Kami to feel fear—a fear that had been slightly amplified. Nothing else had changed. The current Takemikazuchi-no-Kami was absolutely no longer the fearless warrior who would complete his mission even unto death.

He could now feel fear, especially a bone-deep terror toward Miketsu.

And for Miketsu, as long as he was afraid, they could finally communicate.