The Hime-Miko of Paradise is a variation of what is known in the European magical world as a Witch.
The term 'Witch' represents the earliest era, a word for the descendants of the shrine maidens and priests who became saintesses. Their knowledge and magic are passed down directly by word of mouth from the witches of the previous generation. One must possess the aptitude of a shrine maiden and be capable of instructing others in the ways of witchcraft.
Communication between witches dispenses with empty pleasantries; they often address those stronger than themselves as "Granny" or "Big Sister." Since the Middle Ages, high-ranking witches have formed their own unique network, holding regular gatherings like "Witches' Night." The one who created this network is the first and current Queen of Witches, the Progenitor Goddess Crowley.
As for the Spirit Vision of witches and the magical arts that blossom from their bloodlines, the Hime-Miko possess these as well, along with their own native Japanese heritage. More critically, their constitutions are exceptionally suitable for certain special existences to depend on.
Seiya's palm slowly squeezed. If this were the real Mariya Yuri, her wrist would have already been crushed to a pulp. But the S.H.I.E.L.D. girl before him was still all smiles, even proactively leaning closer to Seiya.
"Legend says that the seventh Godslayer, Seiya, possesses a talent for seeing through to the essence of his enemies in battle. It seems the rumors are true." The existence depending on Mariya Yuri made no attempt to hide its identity.
"But you are too arrogant. You should not have walked into our trap after seeing through the disguise."
Without waiting for Seiya's response, the light in the hotel began to distort as a secret ritual, prepared on this land the night before, began to activate.
Los Angeles. A great melting pot of races, and a major hub of economy and industry.
A demonic city, a vortex of crime, a metropolis where depravity and prosperity coexist and intertwine. Within this chaotic city live people who have strayed from the world's principles.
They are psychics who have sold their morals and conscience to demons in exchange for extraordinary magical power—in other words, sorcerers.
The reason they chose Los Angeles as their base was their search for the "Angel's Kiss," a holy relic buried here centuries ago, said to grant its inheritor immense magical power.
Although the truth of this matter is unknown, it is an indisputable fact that there are more sorcerers here than in other cities.
But three days ago, the leader of all sorcerers, Angela the Fly King, was defeated by the strongest superhero, John Pluto Smith. To be precise, they destroyed each other, and there has been no word from John Pluto Smith since.
But at this moment, unprecedentedly bad news emerged.
Above John Pluto's partner, Jack Millpan, was a cloudless, azure sky. Reflected before his eyes was the cerulean ocean of California. If it were summer, the crowds of people coming here to swim would make even the beaches of Venice seem quiet.
However, Jack's expression was grim. A high-pitched divine incantation echoed as a twisted form appeared above the sea.
"I am Heaven. Thou shalt tremble before Me! I am Earth. Thou shalt curse Me! My head is Enlil, My face is the light of noon!"
Angela the Fly King, who had been defeated by John Pluto Smith, revealed her form once more, even crying out the divine words of the Serpent of Apostasy's return.
"O gods who protect me, please exorcise the demonic curse upon my body! King of Edena, Latarak, bend thy breast and knee! O you who dwell within the horns, grant me fleet feet!"
The behemoth that appeared before the world caused panic and chaos. The sorcerers cheered, while the superheroes watched with grave expressions.
Jack, a former detective, drew his service weapon. John Pluto was dead, so it was up to his partner... But soon, he and many other superheroes stopped their advance.
Because opposite Angela the Fly King, a figure shimmering with the colors of the stars had appeared.
Even without having seen this majesty's(?) true face, one could feel the pure torrent of energy beneath that physical form from the undisguised aura he projected.
As space warped, the night sky rapidly turned to day, and Seiya, who should have been in the infinity pool on the hotel's top floor, arrived above this sparkling sea.
"Spatial transference. A forced teleportation spell of such a massive scale is approaching the realm of the gods." He gazed at the woman before him.
Revealing her true form, Angela the Fly King looked down upon the human before her. Only now did she sense that the seventh Godslayer's body still harbored severe injuries. Had she known this earlier, she wouldn't have needed to waste so much energy.
But as long as the goal was achieved, it was fine. Angela flicked her forked tongue.
"Little Seiya, your arrogance is the cause of your defeat. You are now in no position to worry about the West Heaven Palace you left behind."
Hearing this, Seiya let out a soft chuckle.
"You asked me earlier why I didn't expose you, even when I knew you were all impostors."
A massive amount of water-element essence was devoured by Angela, steadily increasing her power, yet a sense of unease grew in her heart.
"Because I also want to break the seal on the West Heaven Palace. That so-called Martial King Luo Hao is merely a pawn to clear the way for the true king."
At the West Heaven Palace, Kufaji Kando, dressed in the kariginu robes of a Shinto priest, appeared in a side hall. The moment he pushed open the door, he froze. The Dragon-Slaying Sword, which should have been enshrined here as the Goshintai of the main shrine, had vanished.
"Are you looking for this, Young Master Lu?" A familiar voice sounded from behind him.
Kufaji Kando blinked and turned to see the shrine maiden, Ena Seishuin, holding two swords in her arms. Seeing the playful look on her face, it was clear she had long known he would come here.
"It seems that Saint truly has discerning eyes. My crude art of transformation couldn't fool him after all."
As Kufaji Kando finished speaking, his body steamed and, with a shimmer of light and shadow, he reappeared under the moonlight with an entirely new face. The martial arts agent of the Western Continent, the young master of Hong Kong's Lu family, Lu Yinghua.
"Since you are here, then Cult Master Luo Hao should be arriving soon, or perhaps she is already here." The instant Ena Seishuin's voice fell, a figure appeared before her.
It was a black-haired girl who could only be described as a peerless beauty.
She wore the clothes of ancient China—a Hanfu. She had on a long-sleeved top with a wide collar, and a lower garment that wrapped around her like a long skirt. Because it was a right-sided lapel garment, it looked very similar to a kimono.
The Cult Master of the Five Peaks Sacred Cult, the second Godslayer who alone is honored in heavens and on earth, the Martial King of Jiangnan, Luo Hao.
The moment he saw her, Lu Yinghua skillfully prostrated himself. "Master's divine skills are peerless, your might shakes the cosmos! Your disciple bathes in your sacred grace, like gazing upon the sun and moon! Master's divine stratagems and brilliant plans make the scoundrels of Japan tremble in fear! This journey will surely break the seal, may Master live for a thousand autumns and ten thousand years!"
Almost simultaneously, Ena Seishuin offered up the Dragon-Slaying Sword she had been guarding.
"Oh, a Japanese woman who knows how to adapt to the times. But are you not the handmaiden of my compatriot? To offer his Goshintai to me like this, are you not afraid of his wrath?" Luo Hao raised a delicate eyebrow.
"Because this is what my Chief requested." Ena Seishuin looked frankly at the exquisitely beautiful face of Luo Hao before her, feeling a twinge of melancholy despite being a woman herself.
"The Chief asked me to tell Your Majesty that if you wished to come, you needed only to inform him. There was no need to be so furtive. And this Dragon-Slaying Sword is his gift to congratulate you on freeing the Great Sage Equaling Heaven."
"It seems it was I who was being petty." A smile touched Luo Hao's face.
But seeing it, Lu Yinghua felt an irrepressible shiver. Only he knew that his master was as beautiful as she was small-minded; her current expression showed she was quite bothered by this.
"Master, unsealing the Great Sage is what's important," Lu Yinghua hurriedly interjected.
"Lead the way."
Luo Hao huffed, then looked at Ena Seishuin standing beside them. "As for you, come along as well."
Lu Yinghua took out a talisman and easily passed through the barrier set up in the West Heaven Palace to ward off the uninvited. They came to the main shrine building but did not stop, continuing forward.
Holding the talisman, Lu Yinghua entered the vast forest behind the shrine, with Luo Hao and Ena Seishuin following. This was the intermediate zone leading to the grounds of the Futarasan and Tōshō-gū Shrines.
Clearly, the path Lu Yinghua, in his disguise as Kufaji Kando, had shown them yesterday was wrong.
With the faint sensation of passing through a waterfall curtain, the three arrived at an ancient祠堂. It was neither large nor magnificent, just a very simple and unadorned shrine, the kind often seen on country roadsides.
Low peach trees grew around it. A shimenawa rope was stretched around the four sides of the shrine and the peach trees, releasing a powerful magical energy. This rope was the barrier.
Upon arriving, Ena Seishuin moved to take the Dragon-Slaying Sword, as this was where a Hime-Miko was needed to recite a norito.
Simply put, it was a power that could erase curses and magical energy—a light that could eliminate supernatural forces that shouldn't exist.
And a top-tier Hime-Miko like herself, wielding the Dragon-Slaying Sword which was the core of the West Heaven Palace's barrier, could even dispel the Lenient Law of Bǐmǎwēn.
However, the arrogant Cult Master took the initiative, drawing the Dragon-Slaying Sword and swinging it downward.
In an instant, the barrier, along with the Lenient Law of Bǐmǎwēn, shattered. At this moment, the suppressed God of Steel could almost be said to have briefly regained his freedom.
Ena Seishuin almost nodded in approval. As the most gifted cultivator in history, Luo Hao had reached the pinnacle in every field, and her talent was no exception. She naturally possessed the abilities of a Hime-Miko, and even surpassed Mariya Yuri.
The Authority of Tōshō was broken by Seiya, the contemporary Tōshō Daigongen. Now, the Lenient Law of Bǐmǎwēn has been broken by Luo Hao. Only one final, crucial step remained to awaken the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
That was the blood of dragon and serpent.
And an ordinary Dragon of the Ley Lines, sufficient to summon a Heretic God, would not be qualified. It had to be a far more sacred existence.
At this moment, off the coast of California, a luxury cruise ship was coiled by a great silver serpent. Compared to the colossal ship—weighing over one hundred fifty thousand tons, three hundred meters long, and sixty meters high—even this great serpent did not seem so massive, but its majestic aura remained intact.
However, the beautiful serpent's body was covered in wounds, dyed red by copious amounts of blood.
Just then, the night sky was obscured by thunderclouds, and lightning descended to the earth. The bolt of thunder struck not the great silver serpent, but the massive ship it ensnared.
Thunder and electricity, flash and flame. The luxury cruise ship, struck by lightning, became a bizarre bonfire. Amidst the flames stood a single figure.
"How is this possible?!" Angela the Fly King stared at the Saint before her in disbelief.
"I clearly sensed your body was riddled with wounds! How can I be so powerless against you!"
Although she was a Progenitor Goddess, inferior to Godslayers and Heretic Gods, her opponent was also heavily wounded. Logically, they should have been on equal footing.
But her magical arts were completely ineffective, and even the divine beast she summoned was easily slaughtered. He didn't even don his legendary Authority Armor, yet he could crush her so easily?
"Enough with the nonsense. I recall you Progenitor Goddesses have one last ace up your sleeve. Use it now, or you won't even be able to replicate your narrow escape."
Angela the Fly King gritted her teeth, a ferocious smile forcing its way through them.
"What a greedy man you are. Is my current form not enough to satisfy you? You still wish to wring out the power of my kin? Then I shall grant your wish!"
"My head is Enlil, My face is the light of noon!"
The young girl chanted the holy verse aloud.
Her voice, as crisp and enchanting as a bell, nonetheless sent an unpleasant shiver down the spine of all who heard it.
"The peerless goddess Urash is the guardian of my parts! The necklace on my neck is of the goddess Ninlil!"
The incarnation of a young and beautiful vixen, yet her eyes began to turn vicious.
One could call it a savage look. Her gaze and expression seemed to want to tear apart everything she saw.
"My hands are the sharp scythe of the moon, flashing in the western sky! My ten fingers are the willow comb made from the bones of revered gods."
The girl shed the red robe she was wearing.
Her naked skin was exposed. The slender body had no excess muscle, nor were her curves particularly defined. Yet, this created its own beauty—like an unripe fruit, a raw beauty that a mature woman would never possess.
However, what captured Seiya's gaze were the scars etched upon the girl's body.
On the white skin of her back, chest, abdomen, waist, legs, and neck. Her skin looked as if it had been pulled by an external force, leaving burn-like scars. Red and black wounds covered her entire body.
But the sorcerers entrenched in Los Angeles were being blown up one after another like fireworks, and the essence from their deaths was all plundered by their leader.
Her body then underwent a massive change. The slender, beautiful girl's body vanished, swelling and changing shape.
Her arms retracted, her legs merged into one, her body elongated, and her neck stretched. Her smooth skin was covered by a layer of scales, and her beautiful face transformed into that of an insect.
After only a few dozen seconds, Angela had become a giant serpentine monster.
The Serpent of Apostasy, sweeping across the coastal waters, was over fifty meters long. If stretched out from head to tail, it could probably rival a twenty-story building. Its scales were a brilliant silver-white, so beautiful they could only be described as noble and extraordinary.
Having briefly returned to a Heretic God, Angela, the Serpent of Apostasy, presented herself before Seiya.
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