Attacking the Sun

Above the zenith of Takamagahara, the orange-yellow sea of clouds churned violently. On the eastern horizon, the sun disk flickered intensely, and a colossal beam of incandescent light erupted from within it. The thick solar ray engulfed the mountain peaks towering above the clouds, its blinding radiance making it impossible to keep one's eyes open.

The surging brilliance lasted for several seconds. Then, the sun's fury gradually subsided, the incandescent light dimmed, and the churning of the orange clouds returned to a calm state. The solar ray that had pierced the sky vanished, and along with it, the summit of Mount Ama-no-Hi-no-Kami had disappeared.

The entire peak protruding from the sea of clouds had been completely vaporized by the sun's divine light. Under such divine might, nothing should have remained where the summit once stood.

Of course... that was only what 'should' have been.

At the former location of the summit, a massive figure now hovered. It possessed solid black metal armor, precise mechanical structures, intricate decorative engravings, and a fluttering divine bird cloak.

This was the masterpiece of Great Qin forged a thousand years ago—the mecha 'The Emperor'.

Currently, the dark mecha hovered in the air, held aloft by its jet thrusters. Behind it stood Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto and Kanako, completely unharmed. Using the mecha as a shield, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto had safely withstood the scorching solar ray head-on.

Even the assault of the Chief God of the Sun could not shake this steel body forged from the remains of an ancient god.

"What... is this?" Kanako murmured, her mouth agape as she stared at the dark giant. In front of her, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto answered calmly.

"It is the proud work of a certain meddlesome emperor... but I am the one using it now," Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto said slowly, feeling a slight sense of relief in her heart.

Fortunately, she hadn't sent all of these units to the Lunar Capital for modification yet, so she had brought one along. Otherwise, she really wouldn't have known how to dodge that strike just now.

To be safe, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto had brought the mecha with her on this trip to Takamagahara. Before ascending to the summit, she had ordered the mecha to hide within the sea of clouds. When Amaterasu attacked, she had it ascend immediately to serve as a shield.

It seemed the appearance of the mecha had surprised even Amaterasu. After the first ray, the sun disk on the eastern horizon fell silent for a brief moment. Seizing this chance, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto took her next step.

"Quick, we need to run now..."

"Huh?"

Just as Kanako thought Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto would use this suddenly appearing mechanical puppet—which even Amaterasu couldn't pierce—to act arrogant, Uka suddenly turned and dove toward the sea of clouds below. The dark mecha followed close behind. Seeing this, Kanako immediately invoked her wind god power to keep up.

Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto knew very well that she had come to Takamagahara to help her important ally, Suwako, rescue Kanako, not to fight. Since Kanako was already in hand, there was no need to linger. It was best to leave quickly.

From the moment Amaterasu attacked, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto had made a preliminary judgment of her strength. As a Chief God, Amaterasu's power was on a completely different level compared to the other orthodox gods Uka had fought before. Not only was Amaterasu's divine authority powerful, but her output of divine power was also terrifying, nearly on par with Uka's current state.

While their current output was comparable, Amaterasu's divine authority was far superior. The Inari authority was a subordinate to the Sun authority and was completely suppressed, rendered unusable. Furthermore, Dakini-ten's ghost-god authority would be countered by this supreme yang divine power. Additionally, Dakini-ten's power was focused on close combat, and Uka didn't think it was a good idea to brave temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees to engage Amaterasu in a melee.

If it weren't for the Inari authority being useless here, Uka could have neutralized Amaterasu with a single drought restriction...

Without resorting to the suicidal release of the ancient god's soul, Uka's most effective means of countering Amaterasu was the mecha of the First Emperor. However, she wasn't naive enough to think a single mecha could take on Amaterasu and the entirety of Takamagahara.

Therefore, Uka needed to retreat to the mortal world. There, the power that modern gods could exert would be significantly diminished. Without divine territory, it was difficult for a modern god to even descend.

During their descent, Uka saw the scenery beneath the clouds. It was a vast, fairyland-like continent bathed in morning light. Clusters of giant buildings, unseen in the human realm, towered between divine mountains and ethereal waters, surrounded by multicolored clouds. On the outer edge of the land lay a vast, motionless 'ocean' of pale purple mist.

Uka had no time to admire the celestial scenery. She could clearly sense countless fluctuations of divine power converging from all directions. Above the firmament, the scorching flames erupted in brilliance once more, and a rain of thousands of radiant arrows poured down from between the clouds.

Grabbing Kanako, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto entered the interior of the mecha, relying on the incredibly powerful ancient god armor to resist the radiant arrow rain. Controlling the mecha, she plummeted from the clouds and dove into the pale purple 'ocean'. However, it wasn't an ocean at all, but a thick expanse of mist.

This was the Breath of the Celestial Realm, a product of the overlapping boundaries between the celestial and mortal worlds. This breath was considered a supreme treasure by many human practitioners.

As they descended through the Breath of the Celestial Realm, Uka intended to forcibly consume divine power to descend to the mortal world. However, she found that no matter what she did, she could not successfully cross through the breath to reach the mortal world.

"Amaterasu... she has severed the link between Takamagahara and the mortal world..."

Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto murmured from within the mecha. She could clearly feel Amaterasu's power permeating the entire sea of celestial breath.

At that moment, a beam of light pierced through the orange clouds, shining down upon the mecha within the sea of breath.

"It is useless, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto. The entirety of Takamagahara is my divine domain. You cannot escape..."

A mature female voice echoed between heaven and earth. Hearing it, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Oh... is that so?"

With those words, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto issued a new command to the dark mecha. From beneath the mecha's divine bird cloak, several flying objects suddenly emerged. They combined in mid-air, instantly forming a dark crossbow.

This was the 'The Emperor's' dedicated weapon. For ease of transport, Uka had brought a simplified version, not the heavy giant crossbow taller than the mecha itself that she had used to slay the Sea God.

Gripping the dark crossbow, the 'The Emperor' adjusted its aim toward the dazzling sun disk in the sky. A silver-white metal arrow was already loaded.

The Breath of the Celestial Realm blew against the divine bird cloak. Aiming at the sun disk above the firmament, the 'The Emperor' fired the crossbow. The silver arrow shot forth under the influence of acceleration jutsu-shiki, soaring straight into the sky.

"Pointless..."

The sun disk beneath the firmament emitted another blinding solar ray. The ultra-high temperature beam engulfed the silver arrow, melting it rapidly.

The arrow wasn't forged from Uka's remains but was an alloy produced by the Lunar Capital. And what Uka intended to fire wasn't the arrow itself, but a certain substance upon it.

"What..."

Suddenly, the massive solar ray vanished into nothingness, as if it had been erased from existence. The arrow, which hadn't been completely vaporized and remained as a small fragment of debris, continued to fly toward the sun disk. Upon its tip, a silver-white light was slowly glowing.

This was the trace amount of Chang'e Power Concentrate that Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto had applied beforehand.

This was the nemesis of all orthodox gods!

The remains of the arrow struck the sun disk. Instantly, the colors of heaven and earth shifted, and the entirety of Takamagahara vibrated as if it were boiling. The sun disk's brilliant light suddenly contracted, turning dim and grey, and it shrank abruptly. Takamagahara grew dark in an instant, and Uka felt Amaterasu's divine power receding frantically.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto crossed the boundary and forcibly descended to the mortal world.