Reborn through faith

Envy, hatred, despair—under the Divine Punishers' threats, promises, and displays of power, all manner of emotions appeared on the faces of Sun Wheel City's residents. As they looked up at their neighbors being drawn skyward by golden light, the agonized screams of those who had lost their limbs still echoed in their ears.

For the first time, those who had grown up in the ancient city felt so clearly the terrible price of defying the gods!

No matter how they struggled, no matter how they pleaded,

death was certain.

The great general stood among the crowd, gazing up at the heavens.

He watched his fellow townsman, who had called his daughter an evil monster, look utterly relieved.

He watched the blow of divine wrath draw ever closer to the ground, intent on annihilating everything in the world.

He watched Princess Yao, whose presence had become almost impossible to discern within the gods' confinement—or Takiyashahime, as that onmyoji had called her.

Throughout it all, neither hatred nor fear appeared on his aged face. His bearing remained as steady as befitted his station.

Yet his tear-filled eyes and faintly trembling lower lip proved that he was still silently pleading, still praying for something in his heart.

And one thing was certain: the great general's prayers were not directed toward the gods above. Otherwise, why would he have kept them confined to his heart, to murmurs between his lips?

Of course, he was not the only one who acted this way.

There were also the soldiers who still knelt on one knee, the elderly who still held their palms together, and the residents who kept calling out to and trusting Princess Yao—or Takiyashahime...

It was not that they insisted on worshipping a woman who had fallen and become a monster.

They had simply