Refusal to Submit

On the battlefield of Heian-kyo, just as the Great Snake was on the verge of defeat, all the necessary conditions for its resurrection were finally met: the miko, the energy, and the remains... Under the prayer dance of Amaterasu Himiko, the blood of the sacrifice drenched the corpse of the Great Snake. The ancient god Yamata no Orochi, whose eight heads spanned eight great mountains and whose eight tails filled eight deep valleys, descended upon the human realm once more. Its roar shook the world, and every mystic could feel a primal fear rising from the depths of their hearts.

"In the end... could it not be stopped?"

Miketsu hovered in mid-air, murmuring to herself as she watched the reborn Great Snake. She could clearly feel the terrifying pressure emanating from the primordial era. She understood that the monster before her had exceeded her limits.

After its roar, the eight heads of Yamata no Orochi turned slightly, all staring down at Miketsu. Then, they simultaneously opened their bloody maws. Terrifying energy gathered rapidly within them, and eight beams of brilliant purple light burst forth. For a moment, the sky and earth went dark, and the aura of destruction spread in all directions.

"This is bad..." Miketsu murmured, her expression grave.

From the very start, the Great Snake began preparing a devastating breath attack. Miketsu could clearly sense that each of the eight incoming breaths surpassed her current maximum energy output. If these eight breaths were fired together, not only would Heian-kyo be completely erased, but the entire Kinki region might be destroyed. This power to easily redraft the map was something even the nuclear weapons of humanity a thousand years later could not match.

"Eight cups of sake..."

Just then, a mature female voice echoed between heaven and earth. From the clouds above, eight beams of white light shone down, followed by eight streams of clear spring water gushing from the source of the light. These eight streams poured down from the sky, splashing accurately onto the Great Snake's body. Instantly, the fragrance of wine filled the air; these eight streams were actually incredibly sweet and fragrant sake.

Drenched in the heavenly spring sake, the Great Snake's eight pairs of eyes froze simultaneously. Its body, which had been towering into the sky, suddenly went limp and began to droop helplessly. The terrifying energy gathering in its mouths dissipated instantly, and half of its heads collapsed weakly to the ground.

Yamata no Orochi, the resurrected ancient god... had been neutralized here... exactly as described in Yamato Mythology. Eight cups of divine sake could weaken the mighty Great Snake.

"Is this... the power of myth?" Miketsu whispered. According to the White-robed Daoist, humanity relied on the power of mythological creation to finally defeat the descendant ancient gods. A corresponding myth could counter a corresponding ancient god. The modern gods, who were deified human heroes, relied on the blessing of myth to seal the last batch of ancient gods in this world. The Great Snake was one of them.

Yamato Mythology... possessed a special effectiveness against Yamata no Orochi...

Seeing the Great Snake weakened, Miketsu prepared to launch an immediate offensive. However, at that moment, the sky blazed with light, and a massive golden phantom descended from the heavens, landing between Miketsu and the Great Snake. Miketsu had seen this phantom during the invasion of the Moon Feather Princess; it was the projection of Amaterasu!

"Stop, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto. You do not need to kill it, nor can you," the avatar of Amaterasu said bluntly, looking at Miketsu. Facing the avatar of Amaterasu, Miketsu's expression froze for a moment before she answered sternly.

"Heh, I was wondering why Takamagahara showed no reaction while the Great Snake ravaged the human realm through the seal, and why Takamagahara repeatedly tried to force me back to the heavens. It turns out all of this was to pave the way for the Great Snake's resurrection..." Miketsu looked at the Amaterasu before her and spoke plainly.

"Is this your plan? Himiko!"

Hearing Miketsu's questioning, Amaterasu chuckled and replied.

"As expected, you remained a chess piece difficult to control until the very last moment, spirit of the Hata Clan. My intuition back then was correct; I should never have sealed you into the myth. But the contribution the people of Qin made during the war could not be ignored. No Chief God would like a deity like you, who cannot be bound by myth."

Amaterasu murmured as she looked at Miketsu, reminiscing.

"Although you caused some trouble for my plan, fortunately... everything proceeded smoothly in the end..." Amaterasu's tone revealed confidence and ease, as if everything was under her control.

"So, your goal is to seize the power of an ancient god? For that, you were willing to ignore the suffering of the living beings below?" Miketsu continued to press, and Amaterasu answered as usual.

"For the future of the gods, what does the sacrifice of a few mortals matter? Besides, I am not the only one seeking the power of the ancient gods. It is... we..."

Just as Amaterasu finished speaking, a commotion came from the western horizon, accompanied by the aura of powerful divine power amidst the radiance...

Somewhere in the sky over Central Asia, exotic light spilled wantonly from the clouds. Bursts of divine chants echoed among the auspicious clouds, and illusory scriptures and magnificent stars appeared between heaven and earth.

Above the clouds, the White-robed Daoist frowned deeply as he looked at the emperor and the monk who were unfolding their divine power together, shouting angrily.

"The primeval snake demon of the East has appeared! Instead of rushing to help Amaterasu suppress the demon, you come here to block this old Daoist. What is the meaning of this!?"

Hearing the White-robed Daoist's rebuke, both the emperor and the monk remained unfazed. The emperor responded with a smile.

"Exalted One, now that a primeval demon god has appeared, why must we suppress it?"

"Nonsense! Primeval demon gods act willfully and bring calamity to the world. The Mandate of Heaven bestowed the power of deification upon mortals to create you modern gods specifically to suppress ancient gods and save all living beings. This is your heavenly duty as modern gods!" the White-robed Daoist continued. He could see that the two Chief Gods before him clearly had an agenda.

"Heavenly duty, heh... We followed the Mandate of Heaven, saved all living beings from the hands of ancient gods, and established great merit in this world, intending to become the new masters of this heaven and earth... Yet the Mandate of Heaven has cast us aside after we served our purpose. We are being weakened every moment," the emperor continued. The White-robed Daoist paused after hearing this, then replied.

"Weakened... What do you mean?"

"There is no need for the Exalted One to feign ignorance. Is it not an obvious fact? The Boundary Wall is gradually thickening, making it increasingly difficult to descend into the mortal world. Divine interference grows weaker year by year. It is an undeniable fact that we modern gods are being rejected by the mortal world. If things continue to develop at this rate, a thousand years from now, we won't be able to manifest a single divine miracle in the mortal world, let alone descend! The so-called Celestial Realm... will become a prison specifically designed for us!" the emperor said coldly, voicing the common concern of all Chief Gods.

"I ask you, Exalted One: if one cannot bestow divine grace, cannot deliver divine punishment, and cannot trigger divine miracles... though we hold noble titles, we are essentially just a group of prisoners... Can we still be called gods?"

"We... refuse to accept this!"