— — — — — —
India, Kathmandu
Hercules stood in the middle of a wide plain, frowning as he sensed the presence of a temple buried deep beneath the earth.
"To dig, or not to dig," he muttered.
The mighty hero hesitated. Should he really excavate Indra's underground shrine?
But the divine intuition that came from his own godhood told him the information he sought was very likely hidden below.
He thought for only a couple of seconds before deciding.
"Dig."
Yes, digging up Indra's temple was a serious taboo — practically the same as grave-robbing a god. But figuring out whether the "King of End" divine godhead actually linked him to Indra was far more important.
If he was wrong, he could always go back to Little Garden and apologize to Deva Indra. If he was right… then whether he dug or not, Indra might try to kill him anyway, to strengthen himself and complete his new unfinished godhead.
Between two bad options, he'd take the lighter one.
Decision made, Hercules immediately set about desecrating the site.
He summoned the power of wind and earth; the land trembled, gales howled, and the ancient temple of Indra was unearthed whole, rising out of the ground in a storm of dust and divine pressure.
Gritting his teeth, Hercules stepped inside.
Guided purely by instinct, he walked straight through the outer halls and into the central sanctum. Behind the massive statue of Indra — the four-armed god holding his thunderbolt — he spotted a strange passageway.
"A spiritual domain, huh?"
Sensing the otherworldly energy pulsing from beyond it, the fearless demigod squared his shoulders and strode right in.
— — —
Japan, Kyoto — Bishamondō Temple
A tall woman in a business suit with a high ponytail stood at the base of the shrine's torii gate. Her name was Uesugi Kenshin.
She looked up at the small temple and the miko sweeping the stone steps, her expression caught somewhere between irony and amusement.
"Seriously? A shrine… dedicated to me?"
The name might be the same, but she was not that "Uesugi Kenshin" — not the famed war god of Japan's Warring States era. Her true self was Bishamonten, one of the Four Heavenly Kings and a guardian deity of Buddhism.
The only reason she used this mortal name was because centuries of people had spread the belief that "Uesugi Kenshin was the incarnation of Bishamonten."
In essence, she was a born god — a protector of the Buddhist law.
"So this is the place mentioned in my divine insight," she murmured. "The site where I'll find information about the King of End."
With a faint smile, Kenshin passed under the torii and climbed the steps. None of the shrine maidens sweeping nearby even looked up; it was as if she didn't exist to them.
Inside the main hall, her gaze fell on the shrine's central idol — a woman clad in samurai armor, standing proud and fierce.
"Huh? They actually know I'm a female deity?"
Then her brow creased in disbelief. "Though… that armor's a bit too minimal. Why's the stomach exposed? And is that— bandages under the clothes?"
Her eyes drifted toward the statue's face. "At least the faith here is strong. There's enough accumulated belief to raise a six-digit god a rank higher."
Still, when she examined the idol's features, she couldn't help but smirk. "They didn't even capture one-tenth of my beauty."
Well, at least the sculptor got her gender right. She'd let the artistic liberties slide.
Just then, several short, chubby men entered the shrine. Kenshin tilted her head curiously as they lit incense, bowed three times, and then— pulled out their phones.
One of them held up his device toward the statue and began chanting, half-prayer, half-gacha ritual:
"Goddess Uesugi, please bless me! Let me pull the SSR War God Uesugi Kenshin in one roll! I swear, if I get her, I'll marry you! Please, Goddess, please!"
Kenshin blinked. Her expression was… complicated.
After a few minutes, the group's luck ran out. They cursed loudly when they failed their pulls, earning stern warnings from the shrine staff before shuffling out, dejected.
Kenshin glanced back at the idol. The thick, glowing faith energy that now filled the entire hall made her sigh in mild disgust.
At that moment, a faintly luminous figure emerged from the statue — an ethereal woman who looked almost identical to the idol itself.
The phantom gazed up at the swirling clouds of faith above and muttered, "Only this much after fifty years? At this rate, my true body will never descend. Even after three hundred years, I might not be able to manifest fully!"
"Damn it! If it weren't for that insane godslayer teaming up with Athena to hunt us, I wouldn't have had to destroy my divinity and hide here!"
As she floated upward toward the accumulated belief, still grumbling, Kenshin finally spoke up.
"Excuse me."
The phantom's head snapped down instantly. "Who dares interrupt the Dragon of Echigo?!" she thundered, divine pressure bursting outward.
Kenshin scratched her cheek, unimpressed. "Communication's gonna be a pain, huh…"
She took a slow breath. Behind her, halos of radiant gold began to bloom one after another — Buddhist merit light, a divine power known as the Golden Radiance of Virtue.
The phantom froze midair. The swirling faith energy stopped as well, then both were pulled irresistibly into Kenshin's glowing halos.
When it was over, Kenshin shook her head with mild exasperation.
"Uesugi Kenshin. The concept of that name belongs to me. If you call yourself by it, you're my avatar — and avatars can't disobey their source."
She sighed. "So really, you've only got yourself to blame for using my name."
As she absorbed the memories left behind, her eyes widened slightly.
"So… the trinity Athena joined forces with a godslayer — possibly the King of End — to hunt down other deities?"
"This version of me abandoned her godhood and escaped to the Netherworld out of fear? Pathetic. To think she even dared share my name."
"But strange… I can't see what that King of End or Athena actually look like. The images are… blocked. Who's capable of hiding them from me?"
She frowned, muttered to herself, then straightened up.
"If the memories are right, that King of End is still in the Netherworld, hunting gods. In that case, I should probably pay the place a visit."
With that, she took a single step — and crossed the boundary between the living world and the shadowed realm below.
---
The Netherworld, deep within the mythic domain
Ryo Yagami stood before a row of massive stone tablets engraved with Rama's history. His cosmo burned around him, perfectly simulating the energy of a godslayer as he released controlled waves of divine power.
That power filled the entire space — vast and suffocating, enough to rival dozens of godslayers combined. Even the air itself was forced out, leaving only raw, swirling divinity.
Around him stood priestesses: Sita at the center, flanked by Pandora, Asherah, Alice, and Liliana. Their voices rose in solemn harmony, chanting the hymn of the King of End.
{O King of Salvation, who appears at the world's end!}
{We pray for the rebirth of the sword — to pierce the darkness of doomsday and slay all demon kings.}
{Ah! Most noble sword among swords, blade among blades!}
{You are the edge that annihilates evil, the white light of salvation born to strike down every Rakshasa in this world!}
{O Holy King revealed at the world's end, descend upon us!}
As their chant reached its peak, Ryo suddenly felt countless hostile wills locking onto him from afar — faint, but unmistakable.
Across countless parallel worlds, the beings known as "the Kings of End" had sensed his presence.
And now… they were watching him.
.
.
.