Chapter 550: The Apex of Takama-ga-hara, Amaterasu!
The Divine Weapons were dead. This was the second time Bishamonten had experienced this. A heart-wrenching pain made her suffer immensely. She considered them her family.
"Yes, they are all dead. Kuguha did it," Ren told her the facts without any circumlocution.
"…" Bishamonten, with her hair disheveled, dug her fingers into the mud.
Due to the blight that had grown on her body, her clothes had been torn. After the corruption was eliminated, the shattered fabric also slipped off. Now, her almost naked body, combined with her listless state, looked particularly miserable.
If he were alone, he would certainly appreciate it. Unfortunately, he still had five girls clinging to him. He sighed and created a white cloak that floated down, slowly covering her.
Bishamonten, head bowed, looked at the drooping fabric. Her chaotic thoughts gradually settled. She gripped the cloak and stood up from the mud. "Who… are you…?"
"We are ordinary people from the present world who were accidentally drawn here," Ren replied, stating they were neither gods nor Nora.
"Ordinary…" Bishamonten felt a bitter emotion. To be able to slay phantoms, instantly remove blight, and sever the wounds from Regalia—these were things even Amaterasu could not do.
"Hoo…" Although his identity was unknown, she couldn't focus on that. She stumbled, looking at the courtyard filled with severed limbs, and tears streamed down her face as she walked towards the castle, still holding a faint hope of finding a survivor.
Seeing her, Ren shook his head. "Don't waste your energy. I can tell you for sure, everyone is dead."
"…" She didn't stop.
Ren added, "Since they were your Regalia, you should have a sense of it yourself, right?"
His words had an effect. Bishamonten stopped, and her fists slowly clenched. "Was I wrong?" With her back to him, a question suddenly escaped her lips.
Ren said indifferently, "Kindness is not wrong. It's just that you don't understand people." He didn't think she had done anything wrong. She took in many spirits out of kindness. But what she didn't understand was that even as Regalia, people were still people. They would feel jealousy, anger, and suspicion.
"Don't understand people…" Bishamonten suddenly understood. She looked up, letting the rain patter on her cheeks. Washed by the cool rain and enlightened by his single sentence, her long-standing confusion was cleared.
But even so, the clarity was covered by sorrow. She placed her right hand on her chest, her fingernails pressing into her skin until it bled.
Suddenly, the rain stopped, the dark clouds dispersed, and the sun shone on the earth once more.
"Bishamonten." A majestic female voice appeared from above.
"There's someone in the sky!" Yotsuba pointed.
A woman, enveloped in sunlight, wearing luxurious divine robes, with long flowing hair.
"Amaterasu!" As one of the Eight Million Gods, Bishamonten instantly knew her identity. The supreme being among them, the Sun Goddess who nurtures all life. "Amaterasu-sama, why have you come?" Facing her, Bishamonten composed herself and respectfully knelt.
[Inorin's Note: Takama-ga-hara, the "High Plain of Heaven," is the realm of the gods (Kami) in Shinto mythology, the main setting for the gods in 'Noragami'.]
Amaterasu withdrew her gaze, which had lingered on Ren, and slowly descended. After bowing slightly to him, she spoke to Bishamonten. "Your divine connection with Takama-ga-hara has been severed. Why?"
"Severed connection?" Bishamonten looked up, confused.
"Ahem." At this moment, Ren cleared his throat, drawing their attention. "I did it. My friends and I stumbled in and found her being corroded, so I cut off her connection." He stated it frankly. In his eyes, the so-called apex of the Eight Million Gods was merely a minor character between Lv5 and Lv6.
"So that's it. Thank you, honored one, for helping her," Amaterasu was not without discernment.
"Bishamonten, can you explain the situation?"
"Yes, Amaterasu-sama…" She began explaining.
Ren looked at the five sisters. "Are you still scared?"
"Ah!" They then remembered they were still clinging to him and quickly let go.
Itsuki, shyly twirling her hair, chuckled. "Well, much better now. I'm not that scared." The five exchanged glances, each hiding unique emotions.
"Ahem," Nino coughed and whispered, "Ren-kun, is that really Amaterasu?"
This was not information worth concealing, so Ren nodded. "She is, but there are differences, such as gods and Regalias…"
[Inorin Note:
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