Unexpected

The terrifying giant mouth from the primeval chaos constantly opened and closed, uttering mad whispers that could penetrate the soul. The ear-piercing demonic sound relentlessly invaded and ravaged every living being within its range of influence.

"Aaaargh!"

Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami and Futsunushi-no-Kami clutched their ears, screaming with expressions of extreme agony. However, no matter how tightly they covered them, the frenzied whispers could not be blocked. The horrifying voices tortured their spirits without restraint.

It wasn't just their hearing. As the whispers continued, a brilliant kaleidoscope of colors appeared before the wide-eyed Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami and Futsunushi-no-Kami. After their hearing was tormented, they began to experience visual hallucinations. Dazzling, vibrant colors swirled constantly in their eyes, and this severe visual pollution transmitted to their nervous systems and brains. It persisted even when they closed their eyes, adding insult to injury for their spirits, which were already exhausted from the auditory torture.

This was only the beginning. If the mad speech continued, all senses—touch, smell, taste, and more—would gradually malfunction. Before this ancient god, the more numerous and acute one's means of sensing the world were, the more cruelly they would be tortured.

"Stop it!!"

Futsunushi-no-Kami roared. With his eyes closed, he used his hands, which had transformed into blades, to slash wildly at his surroundings, carving crack after crack into the earth. However, these actions were entirely futile. His frantic attacks achieved nothing; even if he happened to strike the ancient god's mouth by chance, he could not harm it. He was completely unable to stop the continuation of the frenzied whispers.

The ancient god's whispers spread far and wide. Within the area centered on the abyss canyon, large numbers of creatures died in droves. Birds fell from the sky, and insects collapsed on tree branches. On the surface of Lake Suwa, masses of fish began to flip over, their white bellies floating upward. No living being could endure the pollution from the ancient god. This was why Suwako had evacuated everyone in the vicinity beforehand.

"Aaaargh... I can't take it anymore!!"

Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami howled loudly. By now, he was bleeding from his seven orifices, and his mind was in shambles. In his madness, he reached out and tore off his own ears, leaving the sides of his head a bloody mess. Yet, even this could not stop the torture of the mad whispers.

Even as modern gods, they were unable to withstand these demonic whispers from the primeval era. Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami, whose spirit was the more fragile of the two, had already begun to self-mutilate. If this continued, only death awaited them.

"Good... Now, I just need to wait..."

Beside the terrifying giant mouth, Suwako looked upward, speaking slowly with a solemn expression. At this moment, her fists were clenched, and her brow twitched slightly. Although the demonic whispers affected her as well, it was nowhere near as severe as it was for Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami and the other; it seemed to be merely at the level of being "very unpleasant."

The reason for this lay in Suwako's ancient god divine soul. To the incredibly powerful spirit of an ancient god, this level of pollution was nothing; at most, it caused irritation.

Although Suwako's divine soul was far from its peak, the frenzied whispers from this ancient god's mouth were also an extremely weakened version. Suwako had once heard a super chorus performed by ten thousand such mouths simultaneously.

Suwako could endure the whispers, but Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami and his companion could not. Now, Suwako only needed to wait quietly for the gods who had come to destroy her to be badgered to death. Judging by the current progress, they were not far from a mental breakdown and suicide.

But at that moment, the ancient god's mouth, which had been whispering frantically, suddenly paused. Then, the entire thing froze and stood there stiffly. The frenzied whispers stopped abruptly, and peace suddenly returned to the world.

"Oh no... No way, not at a time like this!" Suwako said in shock at the sight. She knew exactly what was happening: the vitality of this "souvenir," which she had forcibly torn off and preserved, had reached its limit. The tiny amount of ancient god power contained within was exhausted. Now, just like its original body, it was entering death.

The true form of that ancient god of ten thousand mouths had fallen eons ago during a group assault by numerous other ancient gods because it was a public nuisance. Not only was its divine soul extinguished, but its remains were dismantled—it was as dead as dead could be.

Back then, Suwako, as an ancient god, had used certain means to preserve the vitality of this single mouth, allowing it to be sealed until now even after its main body perished. But this was not permanent. One day, its vitality would vanish, and this unrestrained release had accelerated the process.

Suwako had actually foreseen this outcome, but she hadn't expected this mouth to be so lacking in stamina. It had died out before it could even talk the enemies to death.

After all, it was just a reanimated corpse fragment. It had been hundreds of millions of years; it was bound to reach its end eventually.

The terrifying giant mouth remained motionless with its tongue sticking out. Then, the dark red flesh rapidly weathered and vanished. In the end, all that remained were the skeletal frame of the mouth and a pile of fangs that fell to the ground.

"Huff... huff... It... it stopped..." Gasping for air, Futsunushi-no-Kami clutched his chest, his seven orifices still bleeding.

"I... almost... almost died... I..." Also bleeding from his orifices, Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami looked at his blood-stained hands. His trembling right hand touched the side of his head where his ear should be, and his expression froze.

"That... brat..." Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami turned his head, staring at Suwako in the canyon with a hideously terrifying expression. Seeing Suwako preparing to dive into the earth to escape again, he immediately threw several blood-stained feathers.

"Ugh..."

Suwako's leg was slashed by the high-speed feathers, and the edges of her clothing were pinned to the rock wall behind her, momentarily restraining her movements.

"Don't you interfere, let me tear her apart..." Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami shouted to Futsunushi-no-Kami. Sharp claws grew from his fingers, and he soared into the air on the wind, charging straight toward Suwako at the bottom of the canyon.

At this moment, Suwako had no room to counterattack. She could only grit her teeth and watch as Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami rushed toward her at high speed.

Boom!

Suddenly, the rock wall on one side of the canyon exploded. Amidst a cloud of dust, a plump and dazzling giant figure charged out, pouncing directly at Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami from the side.

"What..."

Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami tried to dodge urgently, but a web of light threads swept over him, sticking and fixing him to the opposite rock wall. Then, with eyes full of shock, Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami saw a giant set of mouthparts lunging at him.

With a thunderous crash, the plump and hideous Eternal Worm slammed into the rock wall, swallowing Ame-no-Hinatidori-no-Kami whole in a single bite.