The Sea God

Arakawa was located in the Kanto region, quite a distance from the Heian-kyo where Miketsu resided. Traveling there would take a significant amount of time; for a mortal on horseback, it would likely take dozens of days. Even for an Onmyoji riding a common demon bird shikigami, it would take a day or two.

By the time Miketsu decided to intervene, the main force of the Sea Nation was already advancing toward Arakawa. If she used conventional means, she certainly wouldn't arrive before Arakawa fell. Thus, Miketsu used the spaceship left behind by Yorihime and the others, a vessel built with the technology of the Lunar Capital.

This spaceship had been Yorihime's personal craft when she first came to Earth. It could easily break through the atmosphere and travel rapidly between the Earth and the Moon. Its flight speed within the atmosphere could quickly reach several times the speed of sound, making the trip from Heian-kyo to Kanto a matter of moments.

Watching the girl who called herself the miko of Inari Okami float out from the belly of the "iron bird," all the yokai on the scene were momentarily stunned. Various thoughts exploded in their minds.

'The Great Inari? Is that a human deity? Why is she interfering in a struggle between yokai?'

'That white iron bird—is it that miko's shikigami?'

'A human deity delivering an oracle to a Yokai Lord... this is unheard of...'

Amidst the confusion and chatter of the many yokai, Kikyo, standing on the water between the two Yokai Lords, became the center of attention. The sea yokai of the Sea Nation and the residents of Arakawa focused their countless gazes upon her. Among them, the two most piercing stares belonged to the Yokai Lords themselves.

"An oracle? Haha... Hahaha!! A human deity actually wants to deliver an oracle to us yokai? What a hilarious joke. Hey! Little miko, isn't your god sticking her nose where it doesn't belong?" Otakemaru laughed loudly, his tone filled with mockery as he looked down at Kikyo on the water.

"You must be mistaken. A miko of Inari Okami, a celestial god worshipped by humans—how could she possibly concern herself with the affairs of yokai?" the Lord of Arakawa added bluntly. Clearly, he did not believe Kikyo's words either.

Faced with such doubt and ridicule, the expression on Kikyo's face did not change in the slightest. She maintained her calm demeanor and continued.

"The oracle was personally granted to me by Lady Uka; there is no mistake. Lady Uka cares for the fate of all living beings under heaven. Today, Lord of the Sea Nation, you have gathered a hundred thousand troops to press against the land. Is it truly for Arakawa alone? Lady Uka has foreseen the calamity you will cause in the future. This oracle... is a warning to you."

As Kikyo spoke, she turned her gaze toward Otakemaru. The moment their eyes met, Otakemaru felt a sudden jolt in his heart.

'This miko knows my goal? She knows exactly how many troops I have? For her to appear suddenly at this critical moment... could it be that a god truly gave her a revelation?'

While Otakemaru was reeling internally, the Lord of Arakawa was also slightly stunned. After a moment of reflection, he spoke to Kikyo.

"It seems... a celestial god really is paying attention. Lady miko, may I ask what the oracle of the Great Inari is?"

Kikyo let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the Lord of Arakawa's question. Standing between the Lord of Arakawa and Otakemaru, she spoke in a solemn voice.

"Lady Uka decrees: Arakawa and the Sea Nation must immediately cease fire and withdraw their troops, stopping all slaughter. As the aggressors, the masses of the Sea Nation must face a reckoning and provide restitution to Arakawa and the survivors of the recent shipwrecks. The criminals shall be punished. The people of the Sea Nation must return to their realm and never again plot against the land."

After Kikyo finished proclaiming the so-called oracle in a loud voice, the scene fell into a sudden silence. Not a single yokai spoke. For a moment, the only sounds echoing through the space were the crashing waves and the hum of the spaceship's engine.

"Heh... The Great Inari is indeed wise and just. I am willing to obey such an oracle!" The first to speak was the Lord of Arakawa. He spoke decisively and gave Kikyo a direct bow.

After nodding slightly to the Lord of Arakawa, Kikyo turned her gaze to Otakemaru on the ghost ship. His face was grim, and his expression as he looked down was one of cold indifference.

"Hmph... Utterly boring. Since when does a god who manages mud-legged rice planting get to boss me around? And a reckoning... does she even have the ability?"

Otakemaru snorted coldly, then looked at Kujira beside him and gave a blunt command.

"All forces, advance! Capture Arakawa! Anyone who dares to interfere, no matter who they are, is to be killed on sight!"

"Yes! Young Lord!"

Otakemaru's disdain for the oracle was simple. Although Inari Okami was a deity, she was merely a human agricultural god whose main stronghold was far away in Heian-kyo. He did not believe this agricultural god could stir up any trouble on the great sea. He believed in his thousands of sea yokai, and even more so in himself. He would not allow himself to retreat without doing anything.

He could not allow it, and the entire Sea Nation could not allow it!

With Otakemaru's command, the army of the Sea Nation began to move once more. The ghost ship and the sea yokai advanced simultaneously. Under this massive formation, the residents of Arakawa couldn't help but swim back several inches in panic, and the Lord of Arakawa raised his blade once again.

Seeing this, Kikyo couldn't help but sigh. She closed her eyes and began to pray. Immediately... a surge of divine power radiated from her body.

Above the distant clouds, Miketsu, looking down at the earth, felt Kikyo's prayer. She did not rush to respond. Instead, she began to form hand seals, chant incantations, and construct a jutsu-shiki.

She did not want to intervene directly with her own power just yet. Instead, she wanted to use this plan to conduct a small experiment.

At this moment, Miketsu was casting a spell. It was none other than her most practiced technique, the Deity Summoning Spell. But this time, the deity she was summoning was not herself.

The Deity Summoning Spell could be said to be the type of sorcery Miketsu had mastered most thoroughly during her time as an Onmyoji. She had relied on it to gain many advantages when she was unable to release her divine power. After regaining the ability to use her divine power freely, Miketsu did not abandon deity summoning entirely. Instead, she began to ponder a question.

If a god summons a god, what would happen? And what would happen if the Deity Summoning Spell was cast using divine power directly?

After experimenting, Miketsu had found the answer. When a god summons a god, they ultimately summon the higher deity corresponding to their own godhead. For Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami, her higher deity was her father in mythology, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, also known as Susanoo.

Although Miketsu viewed Susanoo-no-Mikoto as merely a relative recognized by mythology, from the perspective of the mythological Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Miketsu was still his biological daughter. Furthermore, according to myth, Susanoo was a quintessentially rebellious god; he wouldn't blindly follow Amaterasu's words. Therefore, Miketsu's chance of a successful summoning was very high.

Of course, if it failed, she would simply respond to Kikyo's prayer with her own divine power. This was merely an experiment.

As the incantation and prayer concluded, a faint cyan-blue light emanated from Miketsu's body. After the light dissipated, Miketsu's appearance had changed.

Her original miko attire of a white robe and scarlet hakama had transformed into a suit of ancient, primitive armor. The armor, inscribed with strange symbols, covered her vital areas over a white undergarment. Her exposed arms were decorated with tattoos unique to a war god. A long greatsword was sheathed and fastened to her lower back, and her neatly combed short white hair had become wild and disheveled.

"Oh my... I didn't expect him to just give it to me directly..." Looking at the change in her attire, Miketsu showed a somewhat embarrassed smile. This had gone more smoothly than she thought.

'Maybe he's a father who dotes on his daughter... though essentially, I'm not his daughter...'

Looking at her outfit, Miketsu began to respond to Kikyo's prayer. What Miketsu had just requested from Susanoo-no-Mikoto was not divine power, but a divine authority. Now, Miketsu began to use this other divine authrority to output divine power and grant it to Kikyo.

On the surface of the sea, as the Sea Nation's army approached, Kikyo's body also began to glow with a blue light. Then, divine power overflowed from her.

"Descend, miracle..."

Suddenly, the sea surface beneath Kikyo's feet underwent a strange change. A white line of spray extended rapidly from her feet toward both sides, reaching all the way to the distant horizon.

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the entire ocean began to tremble. Using the white line at Kikyo's feet as a baseline, the vast sea split open to both sides, forming two colossal walls of water.

Before the eyes of the gathered crowd, the entire sea was being split in two. The mouth of Tokyo Bay was forcibly cut open, directly severing the entire bay from the outer ocean. The divided sea cut off the path of the Sea Nation's army, separating the Sea Nation's forces and the Arakawa residents into different sections of the ocean.

This was the divine authority Miketsu had borrowed from Susanoo-no-Mikoto: the Sea God authority!