445: A calamity god descends upon the world

A rumbling sound, like muffled thunder, came from beneath Mount Fuji, carrying a heavy, malevolent aura as it seeped out through the ground fissures.

The ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

The resentment accumulated over a thousand years suddenly burst through the earth veins, causing the entire mountain to shake violently.

Crushed rocks rolled down the mountainside, and scorching magma mixed with dark, viscous filth shot straight into the sky, splashing black and red sparks thousands of meters high.

The sky was dyed a dark, heavy red, so dark that no light could penetrate, pressing down overhead with a deathly stillness.

A colossal black shadow slowly emerged from the magma.

Eight hideous serpent heads broke through the turbid magma and black mist, rearing up abruptly, their thick neck muscles tensed with ferocity.

Each head looked different.

Some bore rough, hard single horns, their tips covered in uncleaned black grime; others had several layers of pupils stacked in their eye sockets, revealing an eerie glow when they rotated... All eyes burned with crimson fire, filled with savagery and a thousand years of pent-up hatred, making onlookers stiffen with fear.

Not a single complete scale could be found on the serpent's body; it was all large patches of rotting, shedding hard skin that flaked off with a gust of wind.

The blackened bones and constantly writhing flesh were directly exposed.

Viscous black liquid flowed down the serpent's body, dripping onto the ground and burning small pits, emitting pungent black smoke.

The thick serpent bodies twisted together, slamming heavily onto the scorched earth.

A large section of the ground immediately caved in, the surrounding vegetation instantly withered, and even the stones began to crack. A foul stench drilled into their nostrils, causing nausea and revulsion.

This was Yamata no Orochi, the God of Calamity that crawled out of mythology, suppressed in the earth veins for a thousand years, finally reappearing in the world.

As soon as it appeared, dense black mist surged out from its body, spreading rapidly in all directions. A bone-chilling cold spread across the ground, soon enveloping half the mountain.

This mist was not ordinary water vapor; it was entirely composed of the venomous resentment and filth it had accumulated during its thousand years trapped underground, a partial leakage of its inherent power.

Even a single drop caused bone-gnawing pain.

The black mist swept over the scorched earth, and any vegetation it touched instantly withered, turning into shattered ash within seconds, completely scattering with a breath of wind.

Buildings made of reinforced concrete, upon contact with the mist, quickly became pitted and uneven, large chunks of concrete flaking off to reveal rusted rebar inside.

A pungent, fishy odor wafted through the air, like thoroughly decayed rotten flesh, making living creatures dizzy and disoriented just by smelling it.

All light was swallowed by the mist, and the temperature plummeted.

The surroundings were eerily silent, with only the sizzling sound of flowing magma... What was even more terrifying was that this mist could easily awaken the evil thoughts hidden in human hearts and magnify them infinitely.

Fear, suspicion, selfishness, brutality... all dark thoughts, once touched by the mist, surged out like madness. Even people who usually seemed honest suddenly had fierce glints in their eyes.

"Susanoo!!!"

Eight different hisses exploded together, tearing through the air. The surrounding small mountains trembled, and rocks clattered down.

This hatred had been suppressed for over a thousand years, so fierce it could gnaw through bone.

Crimson vertical eyes quickly scanned the scene before it, looking both familiar and strange. The mountains were still the same mountains, but their appearance had completely changed, devoid of their former aura.

I must find that enemy who tricked me, got me drunk, and then chopped me into pieces with the Ten-Fist Sword. I will also drag the entire Takamagahara into the mud... letting those pretentious gods never know peace for all eternity.

The thousand years of suffering, I will make them repay it tenfold.

However... Its perception spread out like an overwhelming tide, extending along the mountains, sweeping over the mountain peaks corroded beyond recognition by the black mist, and over the land covered with corpses.

Some of the corpses were so decayed their forms were unrecognizable, while others maintained the posture of mutual slaughter.

It probed further up, all the way to the sky where Takamagahara once stood.

Empty, nothing there.

The nauseating divine power of its enemy, which should have been present, could not be detected at all, not even a trace remained.

Even the divine realm constructed by the gods showed no activity, as if it had never existed, completely vanishing from this world.

One serpent head, adorned with crooked deer antlers, slowly turned, its vertical eyes showing confusion, its forked tongue flicking out then retracting: "Where did Takamagahara go?"

"How can there be no trace at all?"

Another serpent head approached, flicking its tongue to taste the residual aura in the air, but after a long while, it couldn't detect any familiar scent, its tone irritated: "I don't know, those pretentious guys are all gone, not even a trace of faith remains."

"Impossible!"

Another serpent head suddenly reared up, the fire in its eyes burning brighter, its hiss laced with malevolence, "I was trapped in the earth veins for a thousand years, yearning for revenge every day. How dare they disappear?"

"They must be hiding! They must be!!!"

"No! Susanoo, where have you hidden yourself?"

The main serpent head in the center roared even more fiercely, its sonic wave carrying a black wind that directly blew away large patches of scorched earth, even flipping over the corpses on the ground.

Responding to it were only the dying groans of ant-like humans on the land beneath, and their noisy mutual slaughter caused by the mist.

It was chaotic and made the 'serpent' irritable.

The eight serpent heads rubbed against each other, bones clashing against rotten flesh, emitting a grating, teeth-aching sound. Malevolence overflowed from the serpent's body, and the surrounding black mist thickened further.

The accumulated millennium of vengeful obsession had nowhere to vent.

Gazing at the unfamiliar world before it, confusion and bewilderment churned within its ancient consciousness, denying it peace. The anger in its heart grew stronger and stronger, wishing it could tear this world apart.

But soon, a more tangible, more unbearable desire overshadowed these thoughts—hunger.

Its stomach was empty and churning, as if countless insects were gnawing at it. The aura emanating from the humans below, whose evil thoughts were stirred by the mist, fighting and snatching from each other, surprisingly stimulated its appetite.

That wisp of vibrant negative emotion, just smelling it made the serpent want to swallow it.

The left serpent head, exposing its sharp fangs, opened its massive mouth, viscous saliva dripping down, hitting the ground and emitting white smoke, burning small pits. Its tone was full of greed: "If the enemy can't be found, then I'll make do with these living creatures to fill my belly for now."

"I haven't eaten in a thousand years; I've been starving for ages. If I don't eat something, my power won't recover at all."

"Although these things are filthy and full of inferior aura, fortunately, there are enough of them to sustain me for a while. Let's recover some strength first."

Another serpent head flicked its tongue, its crimson eyes fixed on the crowd below, its serpent eyes full of appetite.

The main serpent head slowly lowered, its blood-red eyes scanning the humans below, who were scurrying around like headless flies and killing each other due to the mist.

Those people were still fighting over the remaining supplies.

They were brawling, heads bleeding, completely unaware that death hung over their heads.

The evil thoughts growing in their hearts, to me, who had just escaped and been hungry for a thousand years, turned out to be an unexpected tonic.

Devouring them would not only fill my belly but also quickly restore my vitality... It's a bargain for these ants.

"So be it."

The main serpent head let out a low hiss, full of impatience, having made its decision.