The priests and shrine heads stared at the phantoms of a man and a woman, dressed in the short tunics of Heian-era serfs and holding the Heavenly Jeweled Spear. The same two names flashed through their minds.
Izanagi and Izanami.
"Izanagi and Izanami truly exist."
At Imado Shrine, Shrine Head Fujiwara had been following the disaster closely. Now he stared at the two phantoms on the screen, so excited he could barely speak. "I knew it... I knew they existed... Ha ha!"
Now that the entire nation worshipped Amenominakanushi and Suitengu Shrines had sprung up everywhere, he had refused an old friend's invitation and remained at Imado Shrine to serve Izanagi and Izanami.
Not out of devotion. He had been gambling.
What if Izanagi and Izanami truly descended into the world? Would they look kindly on the man who had continued to serve them?
That hope had kept him at the shrine until now. At last, his gamble had paid off.
"Have we won?"
In the Prime Minister's residence, Tagawa Masamune clenched his fists.
"I think so." The expert who had remained on standby beside the Prime Minister sounded uncertain.
In terms of divine rank, the great Amenominakanushi was a Creator God, the undisputed Chief God of Eastern Isles mythology—the God of All Gods, the King of the Gods.
Cthulhu Fhtagn, though famous in the Cthulhu Mythos, was only a middling existence. Above it stood the Three Pillar Gods and Azathoth, chief of the Outer Gods.
Both had descended in their true forms. The great Amenominakanushi should have crushed Cthulhu Fhtagn.
But the sight of Cthulhu Fhtagn emerging unscathed after the Great Sun Tathagata Purification Mantra had tried to destroy it had left too terrifying an impression on him. Now he dared not be sure.
"Aaah—aaah—aaah—aaah—aaah!"
The evil god shrieked