Agitation

Above the sea, within the spaceship, Miketsu was using Kikyo as a vessel to explain the cause of the Sea Nation's decline to its people. Simultaneously, she was organizing the information she had gathered, particularly regarding this ancient god of the sea.

The ancient god of the sea had plundered the life and ley lines of the land, collecting enough external energy for a resurrection ritual. However, due to the First Emperor's interference, the ritual failed. The collected energy scattered, giving rise to the Sea Nation.

Because the First Emperor did not completely annihilate the soul of this ancient god of the sea, the deity was now awakening. It was reclaiming the energy it had originally gathered, causing the Sea Nation to wither. Since the sea yokai were also nourished by the Sea Nation, the god was guiding them into war, intending to recover even more energy through their deaths in battle.

Miketsu could now confirm that an ancient god existed beneath the Sea Nation—a god that had died twice and was incredibly weak. Its state of weakness was likely even greater than that of Orochi or Tokoyo-no-Kami. Whether it could even move on its own after being killed twice was a question.

According to the information Suwako had previously shared with Miketsu, the total death of an ancient god was known as soul destruction. Such an event usually occurred during wars between ancient gods. Those who lost but survived such wars did so either because the victor was negligent, or because the loser had a hidden trump card or a specific trait. For instance, Suwako became a wild god through the faith of mortals, while Tokoyo-no-Kami possessed the trait of samsaric rebirth. Miketsu herself wasn't entirely sure of her own case, but it was likely for the same reason as Suwako—she had been preserved through the ancestral worship of the Hata Clan.

It seemed that mortals and modern gods found it difficult to eliminate ancient gods because it was hard to extinguish their divine souls. This was the case for Yamata no Orochi and other calamities and demons of myth. The fundamental reason they could linger on was that only an ancient god could inflict soul destruction upon another ancient god.

Currently, this ancient god of the sea before Miketsu had clearly died in an ancient war. It was unclear whether it had survived because of the offerings of its followers or the negligence of the victor. It had attempted to revive over a thousand years ago, only to be killed again by the First Emperor at the final moment of the ritual. Since the First Emperor could not handle the divine soul, it had lingered until now, preparing to revive once more.

For Miketsu, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Discovering an ancient god that had died twice and was weakened to the extreme was the perfect chance to strike while it was most vulnerable. She could obliterate its divine soul in one go, completely severing its possibility of revival.

Compared to Tokoyo-no-Kami, who had actually revived but had not reached its final stage due to its traits, or Orochi, who had been plotting for centuries within the Void with mortal subordinates and a massive hoard of blood sacrifice power, this twice-killed fellow should be much easier to deal with.

Miketsu, who could now use the crystal to apply a rudimentary form of ancient god power, wanted to see if she could directly snuff out this deity's soul, causing it to vanish forever.

Any ancient god attempting to revive had to be discovered and eliminated as early as possible. Otherwise, once they reached the level of Orochi or Tokoyo-no-Kami, they would be very difficult to handle. She did not want another competitor in the race for revival.

On the spaceship, Miketsu made up her mind to erase this ancient god of the sea. After finishing the ship's settings, she flew out of the hatch and dove straight into the ocean.

...

"So, it's that so-called Sea God that turned the Sea Nation into this? In that case, let's hurry up, drag that fellow out, and slaughter him!"

Beneath the sea, Otakemaru spoke while gripping his weapon tightly after hearing Kikyo's words. The identity of the enemy was now perfectly clear.

"Sigh... I never imagined... that in the end, I was merely being used by another. But now, it is time to set things right..." Uminari lamented, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.

"Yes, that Sea God must be dealt with. Otherwise, the consequences will affect more than just your Sea Nation. Do you know of any suspicious or strange places in this land where odd phenomena frequently occur?" Still maintaining her possession, Miketsu spoke to Uminari through Kikyo's body. Upon hearing this, Uminari thought for a moment before answering.

"Suspicious places... In the Sea Nation, there is only one such place: the 'Abyss' deep within the western wilderness! It is a massive undersea rift, bottomless and dark. Any sea yokai brave enough to dive in never returns, and intense tremors occasionally emanate from within."

The Abyss? It seems that is where the remains of that ancient god of the sea lie... Now that I've found it, things will be easier... Miketsu thought as she dived rapidly. She continued her dialogue with Uminari through Kikyo.

"In that case, please take me to this 'Abyss' immediately. The energy required by that evil Sea God has not yet fully returned. This is our chance."

"Understood, I will—"

Rumble!

Before Uminari could finish his sentence, a violent tremor shook the seabed. The thunderous roar echoed through the water, stinging their nerves. The coral and rock houses beneath the ghost ship where Uminari and the others stood began to collapse.

"What's happening! What is the cause of such a violent tremor?" Uminari asked in shock as he looked at the scene around them. Otakemaru, his brow furrowed, looked toward the west. Using his vision as a Yokai Lord of the sea, he could see a massive cloud of silt rising from the seabed, its range expanding rapidly.

"The west! It's the Abyss in the west!"

Otakemaru shouted, and everyone looked in the direction he pointed. At that moment, the tremors grew even more intense. A powerful turbulent current began to swirl throughout the seabed, and the floating ghost ship was suddenly caught and dragged toward the ground.

"Watch out!"

In the moment of crisis, the Sea Nation leaders leaped from the ghost ship. The vessel slammed into the seabed and was smashed to pieces. The leaders, utilizing their nature as water yokai, barely managed to stabilize themselves within the turbulence.

"Damn it... what on earth is going on!" Otakemaru gritted his teeth as he watched the silt erupting even more spectacularly in the west, his heart filled with confusion. "Kikyo," who was clinging to a giant piece of coral to avoid being swept away, spoke solemnly.

"It's that fellow... It probably realizes its plan has failed. Now, it's staking everything on a single throw to come out!"

The ancient god of the sea had guided the Sea Nation's yokai to war to reclaim energy through their deaths, but now that recovery had come to a halt. With the leaders, Uminari and Otakemaru, returning to the Sea Nation with outsiders, the Sea God hidden within the Abyss understood that waiting any longer would yield no results.

"So... you plan to come out personally to devour the power you think you deserve? Hmph... that will come at a heavy price..." Miketsu murmured to herself as she continued her descent into the deep sea.

Clearly, that ancient god of the sea was not one to simply sit and wait for death.