The Final Trump Card

High above in Takamagahara, the Great Snake, who had previously been at a disadvantage, relied on the power of the myths he had eroded to launch a counterattack against the Ancient God of Darkness. His massive eight-headed form tightly coiled around the mechanical remains of the Ancient God of Darkness, and his eight giant mouths bit down hard on the critical points of the mechanical body. Although his powerful bite, which could easily crush diamonds, failed to cause even the slightest dent in the black-gold frame, the ancient god's venom that continuously seeped from his fangs began to gradually corrode the black-gold. A large amount of smoke rose amidst a persistent sizzling sound.

Though the progress was slow, the Great Snake was indeed causing damage to the Ancient God of Darkness. As the corrosion continued, the Great Snake's power of erosion also began to take effect. The surrounding rocky ground was rapidly turning into flesh. Upon this new land of flesh, countless new giant snake heads sprouted forth. They joined the main body's ranks, coiling tightly around the mechanical remains of the Ancient God of Darkness, continuously secreting toxins to accelerate the corrosion.

To deal with Chang'e, who was using Princess Kaguya as a vessel, the fleshified ground sprouted thousands of snake heads that lunged toward the heavens. Because her source had been damaged, Chang'e's strength was far inferior to when she was the Moon Feather Princess. She emitted countless silver rays to shred the snake heads. While the Great Snake could not pose a direct threat to Chang'e for the moment, Chang'e also found it difficult to lend a hand to assist Miketsu.

By now, the Great Snake had seized the initiative in the battle. The current stalemate was merely temporary. As the corrosion deepened, the scales of victory would eventually tip toward the Great Snake's side. The Great Snake could not help but whisper gloomily through one of his clone snake heads.

"The outcome is decided..."

The Ancient God of Darkness gave no response to the Great Snake's words. Within the body currently being restrained and corroded, Miketsu's consciousness was linked to a distant place—linked to the mortal world. There, her final trump card was already prepared.

In the mortal world, at Mount Inari in Heian-kyo.

Atop Kojin-mine, Kikyo wore a black ritual robe embroidered with silver-woven divine birds. She gazed at the celestial scenery appearing as a phantom in the sky due to the thinning of the boundary wall, and she spread her hands wide.

In low Earth orbit, the Monitoring Pavilion had been recharged via a supply ship. The energy irradiation mode was now active. The energy reserves stored by the Lunar Capital over a century had been completely exhausted for this. The second wave of energy irradiation was ready.

Divine soul, remains, energy, and a ritual priest—Miketsu had now gathered all four conditions for the revival of the ancient god. All that remained for the Fate Weaver to truly descend upon the world once more was a single ceremony.

And now was the perfect time to hold that ceremony.

With her furisode fluttering and her feet stepping in the pattern of the stars, Kikyo began to dance atop Kojin-mine beneath the magnificent projection of the Celestial Realm. Rhythmic whispers echoed lowly in the space, and Threads of Causality slowly manifested around Kikyo as she danced. At this moment, Kikyo could feel the torrent of fate that linked all things and surged toward the future.

"The Mandate of Heaven returns..."

Mystical fluctuations spread from the dancing Kikyo. Simultaneously, the Monitoring Pavilion in space began to fire a silver-white beam toward the ground.

The beam fell from the zenith to the earth. Under Kikyo's guidance, the energy irradiated from space gathered in the high altitude above Kojin-mine, forming a massive, continuously expanding orb of light.

Since Miketsu was not currently in the mortal world, the energy could not be irradiated directly onto her. Therefore, it had to pass through the hands of the ritual priest, Kikyo, to project the energy from space into the Celestial Realm to complete the revival.

In the Celestial Realm, the Great Snake, who was entangling the Ancient God of Darkness, suddenly paused. Then, one of his snake head clones rose to the front of the Ancient God of Darkness's head and whispered in a smug, dark tone.

"Are you trying to revive? Is a ceremony being held right now? Do you want to rely on revival to turn the tide?"

The Ancient God of Darkness remained silent, not making a single sound in response to the Great Snake's words. Seeing this, the Great Snake raised his voice further, speaking with a cold, arrogant sneer.

"Heh... You must be surprised right now. Surprised at how I can grasp your movements... That is because I can sense it. I can sense it through your ritual priest. Do not forget... where that ritual priest of yours came from..."

The Great Snake whispered triumphantly. At the same time, in the mortal world, Kikyo, who was performing the divine dance, suddenly stiffened. She stopped dancing and her eyes flew wide. Within her wide eyes, a faint purple light flickered.

"Do not think I do not know. Your ritual priest was once the soul of a miko sacrificed to me! She was the first miko those foolish humans offered up to me! As long as her soul once belonged to me, it will belong to me forever! No matter how many times she reincarnates, she will never escape my influence in all eternity!" The Great Snake opened his mouth wide in a frenzy, continuing to shout triumphantly at the Ancient God of Darkness before him.

"She is the deepest trump card I hid by your side! When I learned she was actually your ritual priest, I was so excited I couldn't close my mouth! Because I realized... you can never revive. You can never defeat me. You lost from the very beginning!"

Just as the Great Snake finished speaking in the Celestial Realm, Kikyo, forced to end her divine dance atop Kojin-mine in the mortal world, could not help but clutch her head and kneel on the ground in agony. She cried out loudly, struggling to stand and continue the dance, but she simply could not do it.

The latent imprint deep within Kikyo's soul was the deepest and most critical trump card the Great Snake had hidden to deal with Miketsu. Only at a moment like this would the Great Snake reveal this card.

"Aaaah!"

Kikyo screamed in pain. The revival ceremony was interrupted by this sudden accident. The energy orb gathered high in the air lost its guidance and collapsed, erupting into a brilliant glare. The revival ceremony of the Ancient God of Darkness was declared a failure. In the Celestial Realm, the Great Snake, sensing this scene, became even more triumphant.

"Heh... Now you don't even have energy. You've lost... Fate Weaver..."

However, to the Great Snake's surprise, the Ancient God of Darkness responded. Miketsu's calm voice echoed through the space.

"Oh? Is that so?

"Did you think you were the only one who could possess multiple ritual priests at once?"

Hearing Miketsu's words, the Great Snake froze. After a long moment, he spoke slowly in shock.

"What..."

In the mortal world, atop Kojin-mine, a petite girl with pitch-black hair tied back, wearing a circular crown and possessing pale skin, slowly floated down from the sky. She was dressed in the same black ritual robe with silver embroidery as Kikyo.

"Thank you for your hard work. Please rest well. I will take it from here..." Menreiki said with a slow smile as she leaned down to help the pained Kikyo up.