Just as the Great Snake broke free from the shackles of myth, wreaking havoc in Takamagahara and beginning to erode the entirety of Yamato Mythology, deep underground in a certain part of the mortal world, light threads filled a massive cavern. A colossal egg-like cocoon still occupied the deepest reaches of the cave, its glow flickering rhythmically like a beating heart.
This was the sanctuary of the Eternal Worm. It grew within this cocoon, waiting for the moment to emerge. Under normal circumstances, that moment would have been months away, but in a world now plunged into total chaos, the Eternal Worm could wait no longer.
"Those false gods can no longer restrict you. Hurry, fulfill your promise!"
The shrill voice of the Eternal Worm echoed from within the massive cocoon. Opposite the cocoon, a purple-scaled snake coiled around a stalactite flicked its tongue and spoke.
"Rest assured, I will not forget the contract made with an important ally..."
As the purple-scaled snake spoke, a faint purple light shimmered over its body. Vast amounts of energy were transmitted from its awakened true form, causing its size to explode. The clone of the Great Snake grew at a frantic pace, its expanding body soon crushing the stalactite beneath it. In moments, the clone had swelled to over a hundred meters in length.
The Great Snake's clone writhed its massive body, coiling around the Eternal Worm's cocoon. Then, the flesh of the snake clone began to dissolve, turning into a deluge of blood.
In an instant, the massive volume of blood saturated the glowing cocoon, seeping through the gaps in the light threads. After absorbing the blood, the creature inside began to develop at an incredible speed. Months of growth were bypassed in a heartbeat, and the Eternal Worm reached its moment of emergence all at once.
Once all the blood had been absorbed, the massive cocoon fell silent. The flickering light vanished, and the rhythmic pulsing stopped.
Suddenly, a crisp cracking sound began to emanate from the cocoon. An indescribable power radiated outward, causing the surrounding rocks to rapidly weather and shatter. The falling debris turned to ash in an instant.
Under the radiation of ancient god power, the snow and ice on the ground directly above the massive cavern melted rapidly. The forest carbonized at high speed, and the thick earth weathered into flying dust. In a short time, the ground had eroded into a massive crater, at the bottom of which sat the original cocoon.
The cracking sounds grew louder. Then, two blade-like forelimbs pierced through the thick cocoon from the inside. The massive shell was torn open, and the Eternal Worm emerged.
Butterfly-like wings, nearly five hundred meters long, unfurled, adorned with brilliant and dazzling patterns of light. The slender torso between the wings was covered in segments of thick carapace. Along the sides of the torso were neatly arranged, razor-like appendages. Atop the torso sat a large head with sharp mouthparts and wide-open purple eyes.
The ugly, bloated worm was gone. In its place was an exquisite and magnificent giant butterfly. Lifting its head to look at the night sky, the newborn Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly let out a shrill, otherworldly cry.
At that moment, at the feet of the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly, a pool of unabsorbed blood writhed and reshaped itself into several new purple snake clones. They slithered up and coiled around the butterfly's body.
"Now then, according to our plan, we shall divide the work. Let us make all the false gods submit..."
"I know that without you telling me..."
Murmuring, the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly vibrated its brilliant wings and shot toward the sky. In an instant, it crossed the boundary from the mortal world into the Celestial Realm. However, this was not Takamagahara.
The Celestial Realm was a collective term; it was not a single continuous space but was divided into the divine kingdoms of various mythologies. Different divine kingdoms were connected to corresponding regions of the mortal world, and one would arrive at different divine kingdoms depending on where they departed from.
Because it feared Miketsu would cause trouble, the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly had chosen a pupation site far from Japan, on the other side of the world. Therefore, it did not arrive at Takamagahara, but at another divine kingdom.
What appeared before the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly now was a sea of clouds bathed in twilight. Within that sea of clouds grew a tree so colossal it seemed to pierce the heavens, its crown and roots beyond sight. This was Yggdrasil, the World Tree; this was the Norse divine realm!
"It's in the canopy. After eroding the Kojiki, I can sense their unique power..." the clone of the Great Snake whispered from atop the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly. Hearing this, the butterfly wasted no time and soared upward, flying at high speed toward the crown of the World Tree. A few divine messengers and minor gods tried to intercept them, but under the power of the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly, they all aged rapidly and lost their ability to fight.
After breaking its cocoon, the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly could impose the concepts of decay or rebirth even upon eternal life.
Thus, in the absence of the chief god Odin, the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly's surprise attack proceeded with perfect smoothness. During the ascent, countless layers of magical barriers constructed from runes appeared in its path, but the butterfly simply charged head-on and shattered them.
After forcibly breaking through many powerful magical restrictions, the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly found what it was looking for on an ancient platform atop the canopy: an old stone pillar covered in moss and densely carved with runes.
The massive Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly alighted on the canopy. Then, a clone of the Great Snake slithered down from the butterfly onto the stone pillar and bit into it. As the eroding toxin was released, the Great Snake began to lay its hands on other pantheons beyond the Yamato gods.
"Now, on to the next one..."
Leaving one snake clone behind, the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly vibrated its wings and took flight, crossing the boundary to another divine kingdom.
This time, a towering divine mountain appeared before its eyes.
With the help of the Ancient God Tokoyo Butterfly, the Great Snake was rapidly turning the gods of this world into its puppets. They would be the essential tools for its future dominion over the entire world.
In Takamagahara, sensing the information sent back by its clones, the Great Snake's true body felt immensely satisfied. It then glanced around at the darkened Takamagahara and spoke slowly to the bewildered Amaterasu below.
"You were right; this so-called Boundary Wall is indeed an eyesore... Let me help you destroy this barrier. From now on, the Celestial Realm and reality shall be one. The Age of Gods shall never end, except... it will be my Age of Gods..."
"I... shall destroy everything constructed by that damned Mandate of Heaven!"
By Lake Suwa, at the Moriya Shrine.
While the Celestial Realm was in turmoil, the shores of Lake Suwa remained exceptionally peaceful. Suwako, who had been sitting on the ground leisurely gazing at the sky, suddenly froze. As if sensing something, she turned her head toward the west.
"That aura... As expected, if that snake successfully awakened, that worm's revival would also be ahead of schedule."
Murmuring, Suwako stood up, yawned, and stretched.
"Well... now is not the time to be sitting around..." Suwako said as she looked toward the shrine and the small house behind her, calling out loudly.
"Hey~ are you ready, Sanae? It's our turn to take the stage~"
As soon as Suwako finished speaking, the paper door of the house was pulled open. Kaki stepped out, and behind her was a young girl whose appearance was seventy percent similar to Kaki's.
"Y-Yes, Lady Suwako!"
The girl had green hair adorned with frog and snake hair accessories. She appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years old and was dressed in a blue and white miko outfit. A look of slight bewilderment was visible on her pretty face.
The girl named Sanae looked around before focusing on the miko outfit she was wearing. She tugged at the upper part of her sleeves and whispered to herself.
"So the Wind Priestesses from a thousand years ago didn't wear clothes that exposed their shoulders? It feels... a bit unfamiliar..."
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