Chapter 098: The Corpse That Resides on Venus
It started with a shiver—not of cold, but of dread. Several deities, linked inextricably to the stars, broke into a sweat, their bodies trembling as they watched the impossible unfold. These beings—Star Gods, as they were called—shared a unique resonance with celestial bodies. And yet, those very stars… had vanished.
The realization spread like wildfire.
"What... what is he trying to do?"
Brunhilde narrowed her eyes, perplexed. She had seen many kinds of divine rituals, illusions, even powerful curses. But this… this astronomical manipulation? Could it truly be real?
If it was, then the onmyōji Ashiya Dōman had already reached beyond the threshold of divine power, far surpassing the domain of any chief god.
But if he truly possessed such strength, why bother unlocking the seal of the ominous god Omoshirogami—the entity said to dwell in the Devil's Star?
Unless this malevolent god held some deep connection to Dōman's ambitions?
Brunhilde turned her gaze toward Zeus—the arrogant old god whose smug composure was now unraveling, his face drained of color.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Suddenly, a horrifying pressure rippled through the divine realms, making Brunhilde instinctively pivot toward the north—a force emanated from Odin, the Allfather of Norse mythology.
He had drawn his divine spear—Gungnir.
"That's…!"
Before the words fully left her lips, the spear shot through the air like a bolt of obsidian lightning.
It was aimed directly at Ashiya Dōman.
But it didn't strike his skull as intended. Dōman twisted at the last moment, clutching the spear mid-flight. Though he diverted it from his head, the tip still slid downward—straight into his chest.
The black flames writhing around Dōman surged upward, as though preparing to merge with the very heavens. But then, inexplicably, they recoiled. The smoky aura snapped back, converging upon Dōman's frame.
"Hehehe… Odin, I must thank you for this strike," Dōman said, his smile unhinged. "You've increased my chances of success."
Then he let go.
Gungnir—The Spear of Eternity—pierced through his body with clean precision. With a blast of air, the corrupted onmyōji's body was stripped of its dark haze, revealing a skeletal husk. His flesh, ravaged by misfortune and foul magic, had long since rotted away.
The hole in his chest glowed with the mark of Gungnir's violent intrusion.
And yet the spear did not return to its master.
Instead, it flew outward—past the arena, past the heavens—vanishing into the distant sky like a shooting star.
"What… What's happening?"
The gods gasped as their attention was drawn toward Venus—the nearest planet visible. Its surface began to change. Strange pentagram structures appeared, etched like scars across its terrain.
Pillars of stone emerged from those symbols, each inscribed with runes. Not just one kind, but many—from countless mythologies.
It was no ordinary structure.
It was… a seal.
The true purpose of Dōman's celestial ritual was beginning to dawn on them.
"That was his goal? To open it?"
The Devil's Star.
Venus, long avoided by many gods due to its dangerously unstable nature, now exposed an ancient magical seal. Those who recognized the pentagram understood the danger—this was not merely an artifact, but the gate to a prison. A place where nightmare gods and cosmic beasts—like the apocalyptic 666—were entombed.
And that gate only appeared when the entire solar system was aligned.
"There's no way… Did he truly shift the stars?"
"No, it must be an illusion."
The vision shimmered—except for Venus and the black sun hovering nearby, all the other celestial bodies faded like mirages.
"But Earth… where's Earth?"
That answer was simpler. Earth and the celestial realm shared coordinates but not dimensions; to dwell in the divine realm meant standing atop Earth's axis, unseen from the sky.
"Still… he nearly convinced me," one deity admitted.
"True celestial manipulation is impossible. But he deceived the stars."
This voice came from Shiva, who stood with quiet awe.
"Deceiving the stars... that alone is a feat without precedent."
For a mere human to achieve that—was not just miraculous. It was terrifying.
The alignment wasn't perfect. But even an illusion could unlock a divine prison if executed with precision.
And within that prison lay horrors the gods themselves dared not remember.
"Why would a human dare release such evil?"
Was it arrogance? Madness?
The seal was designed by countless chief gods. Breaking it should have been beyond mortal reach.
Yet… Odin's face had grown pale. Cold sweat trickled down his chin as he stared—unblinking—at the Devil's Star.
Something had gone wrong.
Chapter 099: His Real Corpse… Lies on Venus
Gungnir—Odin's spear, the one said to never miss—was called the Spear of Eternity. Legends told of its unerring aim, of how it tore through destiny itself. When thrown, it would always find its mark, and only return once its task was complete.
But this time, it hadn't returned.
Odin furrowed his brow.
Had it missed?
No—he had aimed manually. What it struck wasn't a target Gungnir had locked onto of its own volition. The spear had been guided by his hand.
So then… why did it keep flying?
Why did it not return after piercing Dōman's body?
Had it missed?
No—he saw the strike. He saw Dōman impaled. Unless… that wasn't Dōman?
Was it a decoy?
Odin recalled a haunting detail: when the spear went through Dōman's chest, something clung to it—a skull.
And that skull… seemed all too real.
Gungnir had carried it skyward—beyond the celestial realm, through the mortal world, and into deep space.
Its destination?
Venus.
"O Susanoo," Odin called, voice stiff. "Was Ashiya Dōman's corpse ever fully destroyed? If not, where is it now?"
Susanoo paused. "Not… not completely. No."
"What?"
"It… it's not in the human world."
That answer turned Odin's blood to ice.
Then where?
Where had it gone?
He looked to where Gungnir flew.
Venus.
Why was it there?
Who transported it?
And why?
"Wait… something's on the surface!" Heimdall, the announcer, cried out from the arena.
Adjusting his godly visor, Heimdall magnified the image—stretching the very boundaries of divine sight.
"What—what is that?"
It looked like a rocket.
A human rocket.
Not too unusual. Earth frequently sent probes toward other planets. A few stray satellites weren't worth alarm.
But then—another figure emerged.
"Is that… a rover?"
The lens zoomed in.
"WHAT?!"
Heimdall nearly dropped the feed.
A skeleton—clad in ragged onmyōji robes—crawled out of a metal coffin.
It was headless.
It looked… exactly like the one Odin had just struck down.
"W-What is this?!"
"Why is there a moving skeleton on the Devil's Star?"
"That's a human? No—a sorcerer?"
The gods stared at the crystal display, watching the skeletal figure shift and twitch.
"That's impossible. How did he bypass our divine barrier?"
A special seal protected the prison—a seal no one should cross.
Then someone noticed it.
A thick metal crate.
"That's how…"
A human rocket—ordinary in construction—could pass undetected. No divine aura. No cosmic energy. But inside the crate… something hid. A barrier—perhaps even a nullification device—masking divine presence.
"He used human tech to sneak it in," one god whispered.
And if the skeletal figure inside was Ashiya Dōman's true body…
Then they were in grave danger.
The seal was real.
The prison was real.
And the man poking around inside was no illusion.
Brunhilde, watching it all unfold, felt the chill trail down her spine.
"This… this is bad."