Racing Against the Revival

By the shores of Lake Suwa, at Moriya Shrine.

After the crisis had been averted, the civilians who had been evacuated from the vicinity of the shrine began to return. Along with the populace, the shrine's staff also returned to their posts.

Kochiya Kaki, the miko of Moriya, stood upon the ravaged battlefield holding a small fox in her arms. Looking at the deep gashes in the ground, she could not help but sigh in wonder.

"Are these... the marks left by the messenger of Takamagahara? The earth has been sliced so deeply, and so many fish in the lake have died. This is..."

"Hmph... I don't know what kind of secret weapon Suwako was hiding from us to be able to withstand multiple orthodox gods... she certainly didn't use anything that impressive when I came here to conquer her back then." Beside Kaki, Kanako muttered with a look of doubt.

"Well... perhaps using that secret weapon would have caused too many innocent casualties. Lady Suwako was unwilling to harm her own believers, so she didn't use it against you when you arrived so suddenly, Lady Kanako. But this time, Lady Suwako evacuated the believers in advance, so she no longer had any reservations..." Kaki speculated softly while stroking the sleeping fox in her arms.

"Heh... Is that so? In the end, it makes me look like the great villain... But then again, that woman Suwako has more than a few secrets," Kanako said, her voice trailing off.

"Indeed, being mysterious has always been Lady Suwako's style. Sometimes it feels like only Lady Uka and she speak the same language... Hmm... but speaking of which, where is Lady Suwako? I haven't seen her anywhere," Kaki said, changing the subject as she looked around.

"Her? She went out with Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto. Apparently, they went to the moon to discuss some matters?"

"Eh... the moon?!" Hearing Kanako's words, Kaki looked up at the sky in surprise.

...

On the moon, in the Lunar Secret Realm.

At the center of the vast Lunar Secret Realm lay a gargantuan crater with a radius of ten thousand meters, looking like a wound upon the earth. The once advanced and prosperous capital had long since vanished into ash, yet the vitality of this lunar soil had not been erased; instead, it continued to teem with life.

At the edge of the massive pit were countless temporary houses. Between these dwellings, moon rabbits bustled about, engaged in various tasks.

No longer slaves, they were now building a home of their own.

On the eastern edge of the Lunar Secret Realm lay numerous heavy industrial workshops. Countless moon rabbits were currently working within, the loud and chaotic clanging of steel on steel ringing out incessantly.

Inside a mechanical assembly room, a black steel giant was being precisely dismantled by mechanical arms. In the forging room, heavy metal wreckage was being hoisted by cranes and lowered into a massive, glowing furnace. Under the prayers of the miko standing by the furnace, the metallic remains containing divine bodies were slowly being melted down.

In a control room at the center of the workshop cluster, Miketsu, Suwako, and Eirin sat watching the footage of the workshops on the screens.

"So... what is the overall progress? How much has been completed?" Looking at the various scenes on the screen, Miketsu asked Eirin. Eirin simply spread her hands.

"I'm sorry, not much. In fact, it can only be said to have just begun," Eirin said bluntly, her words leaving Miketsu momentarily stunned.

"Just begun..."

"Yes. The project you entrusted to us is incredibly vast and complex. The preliminary work is indispensable. I have only just finished analyzing the construction of those machines and completed the blueprints for the overall assembly. Furthermore, due to the collateral damage when Chang'e destroyed the city, some important equipment was damaged, and we only just finished repairing it," Eirin explained to Miketsu. Miketsu's brow furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"Then how much time will it take to complete everything?"

"We have already mobilized the maximum existing production capacity of the Lunar Capital to give it our all, but this project is truly immense. Coupled with the fact that many facilities were damaged during the calamity of Chang'e, it's impossible to finish in the short term. By my estimate, it will take at least six months to complete the goals you set," Eirin continued to answer. Miketsu's frown deepened.

"Six months... half a year... that is simply too long..." Miketsu said solemnly, shifting her gaze to Suwako beside her.

"Can you estimate how much time that worm needs to break out of its cocoon?"

Hearing Miketsu's question, Suwako pressed down on the brim of her hat and spoke in a very serious tone.

"That fellow's pupation time is determined by the amount of energy it devoured during its larval stage. The more energy it stored, the faster it can accelerate. Judging by the size of that thing when it first appeared, the ley line energy it consumed last time hadn't completely dissipated—at least half of it remained. Afterward, it devoured two orthodox gods on top of that base, so the energy it finally stored is already quite high..."

Suwako paused to calculate in her mind before continuing.

"Based on the final size of that worm... I estimate its pupation time might take four to five months. If it is given extra energy during this period, the progress could be moved forward even further..."

"Four to five months... In other words, the forging cannot be completed in time?" Miketsu murmured to herself after hearing Suwako's estimate. At this moment, she felt that time was not on their side.

After Suwako finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room became increasingly heavy. It was then that Eirin spoke up.

"Actually, I don't think we necessarily need to race them. Although I'm not entirely sure what level of strength that so-called ancient god Tokoyo will possess after a full recovery, it surely cannot stand against the entire world alone. We aren't its only opponents. If an ancient god truly revives, the Chief Gods of the entire world will definitely respond, just as they did with Chang'e. And since the opponent isn't Chang'e this time, the Chief Gods will likely descend in their true forms. A single revived ancient god shouldn't be able to withstand us plus all the Chief Gods in the world..." Eirin offered her insight. Having been deeply involved in Miketsu's revival plan, she had long since learned the secrets of the ancient gods.

"Hmm... you have a point. That worm isn't considered a particularly strong existence among the ancient gods. Its most unique features are its infinite reincarnation and a cocoon that even ancient gods cannot open; other than that, it's nothing special. So even if it fully revives, with all the Chief Gods of the world plus us, we wouldn't be without the power to fight..." Suwako nodded. In terms of peak strength, the Eternal Worm was weaker than the Great Snake, and compared to Chang'e, it was more than a few levels below.

"So we can just make our preparations and face it head-on when it transforms into a butterfly? Perhaps we could even find a way to locate its pupation site and set traps in advance." Eirin proposed her idea, but Miketsu immediately spoke up to negate it.

"No... we cannot just wait. Otherwise, the revived ancient god we face then won't be the only one..."

"What?"

In their confusion, Suwako and Eirin both turned their gaze toward Miketsu. Miketsu reached into her sleeve and pulled out a seal radiating a purple light—it was the White Tiger Seal.

At this moment, the White Tiger Seal was emitting a dense, sinister power. Two-thirds of it had already been corrupted into a purple hue, with only the remaining third still holding its white color.

"This is the White Tiger Seal. As I told you before, it is the manifestation of the White Tiger Array, the final array in the Four Symbols Array that seals the Great Snake's divine soul and remains. For some time now, the Great Snake has been using the other three arrays already in his hands to wantonly erode the White Tiger Array. However, that erosion stopped just moments ago... Why do you think that is?" Miketsu said gravely.

Eirin thought for a brief moment and immediately guessed the answer.

"The Great Snake... is timing his progress. If he had continued to erode at the original pace, he would have broken the seal before the Tokoyo-no-Kami emerged from its cocoon, exposing his remains and soul to us. That would undoubtedly be dangerous. So, he temporarily halted the erosion to synchronize his timing with the Tokoyo-no-Kami. When the time comes, he can rely on the revived ancient god as an ally to complete his own revival ritual..."

"If we leave him be, we might have to face two revived ancient gods at the same time..."