Susanoo is dead.
In the dense jungle, Omoikane-no-Kami Kukurihime-no-Kami walking through the boundless forest when Omoikane suddenly spoke, as if he were talking about something trivial that had nothing to do with him.
Kukurihime-no-Kami's small face froze for a moment. She lowered her eyes, unsure how to respond.
This was entirely expected.
However, the way Omoikane-no-Kami treated her fellow deity made her unable to feel happy at all.
After a long silence, Kukurihime-no-Kami finally spoke, as if confirming her answer.
"Even Mikata Raijin can die, right?"
Omoikane-no-Kami nodded, a smile playing on his lips.
"That's right, Mikata Raijin's death was also part of my plan."
Both deities are gifts I gave to the two giant whales.
As the host, serving delicious food to the two guests is simply part of the host's hospitality.
Would he offer his own companions as food to outsiders? Kukurihime-no-Kami didn't know whether she should be afraid or feel chilled for the man before her.
Despite being a deity, she harbored an endless sorrow that she could not shake off.
Must Takamagahara be saved in this way?
Kukurihime-no-Kami desperately wanted to go back and tell Great Goddess Amaterasu that even if Takamagahara achieved final victory through this method, humanity had been lost, and Takamagahara would never be the Takamagahara it once was.
It will eventually fall apart.
But she lacked both the courage and the ability to come up with a better solution.
Although the Omoikane-no-Kami before me is cold-hearted and treats the lives of gods like dirt, he ultimately did everything for Takamagahara.
Kukurihime-no-Kami now somewhat resents her own ability. Why does it have to be the power of prophecy?
If I possessed the destructive black flames of Great Goddess Amaterasu, perhaps Takamagahara's fate wouldn't have been so tragic.
Are you denying your own abilities?
Omoikane-no-Kami looked into Kukurihime-no-Kami's eyes, a half-smile playing on her lips.
"I..." Kukurihime-no-Kami gently closed her mouth; she didn't want to have any more conversation with the man in front of her.
"Don't be afraid, I won't treat you like Susanoo and the others. Your abilities are far more useful than theirs."
Let's go, we're almost there.
Kukurihime-no-Kami watched Omoikane-no-Kami's retreating figure, unsure whether to be thankful her abilities had worked or to rebuke him for treating the lives of gods like dirt.
Takamagahara, the highest place left over from ancient times.
When did we fall to such a state?
The forest gradually receded into the distance behind us, the road ahead grew narrower and narrower, and the trees turned from withered white to charred black.
The ground began to soften, like stepping on some kind of water-soaked ash.
There was a very faint fishy smell in the air, not pungent, but it made one's throat tighten. The wind blew slowly from the front, as if it were surging up from some very deep place.
"We're almost there," said Omoikane-no-Kami.
Kukurihime-no-Kami didn't respond. She had already seen it.
At the end of the forest, the ground suddenly collapsed, as if something had gnawed a piece off.
It was an extremely long rift valley, its walls pitch black, as if it had been burned for a thousand years.
A layer of grayish-white mist floated at the bottom of the rift valley. The mist was not thick, but it rose and fell slowly as if it were alive.
There were no birds, no insects, and even the sound of the wind became muffled here, as if swallowed by the fog.
The environment here felt somewhat eerie to Kukurihime-no-Kami; even she had never been to this place before.
What place is this?
" Yomi-tsu." Omoikane-no-Kami stood at the edge of the rift and said softly, "The final resting place of all the gods of Takamagahara. The dead gods are all placed here."
Waiting for them to be resurrected and return to their rightful place.
After he finished speaking, he leaped into the air and fell like a leaf.
Kukurihime hesitated for a moment, then followed. The valley was deep, and the two remained there for a long time.
The fog brushed past her, icy cold. When she reached the bottom, Kukurihime realized that this place was even larger than Takamagahara.
The ground was cracked black mud, and many huge stone statues were half-buried in the mud. Some had been broken into pieces, while others were still in kneeling or looking up.
Those stone statues had no faces, only the dents of their features, as if they had been forcibly carved out.
Kukurihime-no-Kami looked at the stone statues and asked Omoikane-no-Kami a question.
Has a god ever been resurrected here?
Omoikane-no-Kami shrugged.
"Not yet, all life has been almost drained by that god."
"Who? Which god?"
Omoikane-no-Kami did not answer, but strode forward.
Kukurihime-no-Kami dared not look too long. She felt that the stone statues were watching her with their eyeless hollows. The two walked along the valley floor for a while and then turned into a narrower crevice.
A faint light shone down from above the crack, like moonlight, but it wasn't the moon. The fog here was even thicker.
Omoikane-no-Kami parted the fog and stopped in front of a huge black rock.
"That's him."
A head is embedded in the center of the black stone.
That head was very large, about the height of an adult.
The grayish-white skin had grown into the stone, making it impossible to distinguish where the forehead was or where the stone veins were.
His eyes were closed, his lips tightly pressed together, as if he were still enduring death.
Some hair-thin roots crawled out of the black stone, wrapping around his chin and neck, like an old mask covering his head.
The enormous head, having endured countless years, remained uncorroded by its surroundings.
It was as if some kind of magical energy was sustaining the meager life force.
"Who is this?" Kukurihime-no-Kami's voice was very soft.
" The Amenominaka."