Divinity and Humanity

Miketsu, commanding the divine body of the Heavenly Mandate Mysterious Bird, crossed the boundaries once more, soaring toward a hidden realm concealed above the Celestial Realm. After passing through a tunnel of shimmering, iridescent light, she arrived in a strange new space.

It was a vast expanse that felt as though it were beneath a starry firmament, filled with a hazy, dreamlike glow. Below this space lay a Sea of Time, woven from countless, dense threads of causality. It surged from an unseen source at one end toward an invisible shore at the other.

Soaring over this sea of time and fate as the Heavenly Mandate Mysterious Bird, Miketsu—now a fully awakened Fate Weaver—could clearly perceive that this was likely the manifestation of the world's total causality. Though it resembled an ocean, it was in truth a torrent of causality linking the past and the future.

From this vantage point, one could likely weave and interfere with the fate of the entire world. If the world were a gargantuan puppet play, this was the place where all the control strings finally converged at the top—the ultimate hiding place of the puppeteer behind the scenes.

Looking down at the ceaseless torrent of causality and surveying the boundless, illusory space, Miketsu spoke through the form of the Heavenly Mandate Mysterious Bird.

"I have come. Show yourself..."

As Miketsu spoke, the space before her suddenly rippled. Amidst a phantom halo of light, a massive, translucent figure appeared before her, spreading wide its illusory wings.

At that moment, what appeared before Miketsu was another Heavenly Mandate Mysterious Bird—one identical to her in every way. Aside from one being physical and the other a phantom, the two birds facing each other were indistinguishable, like a reflection in a mirror, even down to the frequency with which they beat their wings.

"You are..." Miketsu murmured, sensing a profound, innate familiarity from the depths of her soul. However, the other entity did not answer her question immediately; instead, it began to transform.

The illusory bird's body collapsed and contracted, quickly condensing into a small, humanoid figure. The form it took was that of Miketsu herself. The difference was that she wore intricate, profound black ceremonial robes, and her long white hair flowed down to her waist. Beneath a solemn, heavy crown, her crimson eyes remained indifferent and silent. Her appearance was identical to Miketsu's, yet her entire form was a translucent projection lacking physical substance.

Seeing the change in the phantom bird, Miketsu's expression tightened slightly. Then, a faint light radiated from her large crimson pupils, projecting her own human form in front of the illusory girl. With short white hair and serious, earnest eyes, she habitually wore her red-and-white miko outfit consisting of a white robe and scarlet hakama. She, too, was a translucent projection without a physical body.

Thus, the two girls—identical in face but different in attire and hairstyle—floated above the surging torrent of time, gazing at each other within the illusory space. Neither possessed a physical form; they were merely projections manifested for the sake of communication.

Facing the girl who shared her face, Miketsu asked again with a serious tone.

"Who... exactly are you?"

In response to Miketsu's inquiry, the illusory girl spoke with cold eyes and a voice devoid of emotion or inflection.

"I am you..."

Miketsu was momentarily stunned by the answer. She continued her questioning.

"Are you Heavenly Mandate?"

"Yes."

"So, Heavenly Mandate is also me?"

"In a sense, yes, but that is not entirely accurate," the illusory girl replied in the same flat, emotionless tone. After this exchange, Miketsu's mind was filled with confusion. Seeing the bewilderment on Miketsu's face, the illusory girl continued her explanation.

"You are me... and I am you... We were once one, the original Fate Weaver. I am your divinity, and you are my humanity."

Upon hearing the girl's words, Miketsu's heart shook, and a look of shock appeared on her face. The phantom girl's statement contained an overwhelming amount of information.

This girl who looked exactly like her claimed to be Heavenly Mandate, claimed to be her, said they were once one entity, and called herself her divinity!?

As she processed this, various theories flashed through Miketsu's mind. Finally, she shook her head, organized her thoughts, and looked back at the illusory girl.

"You mean that we were once a single consciousness—the consciousness of the original Heavenly Mandate Mysterious Bird—and that you are the divinity while I am the humanity?"

"Yes," the illusory girl responded simply. Having received a definitive answer, Miketsu continued her serious inquiry.

"Then why did the Heavenly Mandate Mysterious Bird fall in the first place? Why were we separated? Why did you become Heavenly Mandate while I remained in the mortal world?"

The illusory girl paused for a moment before answering calmly.

"To explain all of this in detail, we must start from the beginning... from a very long time ago."

"How long ago?" Miketsu pressed.

"From the moment the Ancient Gods—beings that should never have existed—began to influence this planet."

'Ancient Gods... beings that should never have existed?' Miketsu was taken aback. Did those words imply that the appearance of the Ancient Gods was an abnormal phenomenon for this planet?

"You mean... the existence of the Ancient Gods is an accident and a mistake?" Miketsu asked gravely.

The illusory girl's expression remained unchanged as she replied indifferently.

"Of course. Do you think it is normal for an ordinary planet to host so many super-beings that far exceed the planet's own carrying capacity?"

Hearing this, Miketsu's mind grew heavy. She had indeed pondered this question before. Given that the Ancient Gods possessed the power to destroy heaven and earth at a whim, the Earth was far too small a vessel for them. For a planet to naturally evolve even one such super-lifeform would be significant—much like Chang'e—but why were there suddenly so many on Earth?

As the illusory girl said, the power and number of the Ancient Gods far exceeded the limits of what the planet could sustain. For so many terrifying entities to cluster on a single planet was indeed an extremely abnormal phenomenon. In other words, the fact that this planet had managed to survive under the depredations of such a group of Ancient Gods was nothing short of a miracle. A miracle among miracles!