Like someone wanting to shed their outer coat in the heat, Amaterasu seemed to want to shed her own body. She was in pain; it was as if something within her was trying to burst through her chest, yet remained trapped beneath a thin layer of skin—like sitting on a red-hot iron plate. Pure torment.
The mystery of Sū ěr and Think disappearance acted like a thin cord maintaining her sanity, a carrot dangled before a donkey, commanding all her focus.
Sū ěr did not respond to her question. In Amaterasu current abnormal state, even dialogue could potentially manifest as conceptual damage. He slightly regretted those few words spoken earlier; they might have caused harm to Think and himself. Yet, stalling with words was a necessity...
"Hey... speak up?"
Hearing no reply, Amaterasu urged him, leaning forward with urgency. Her chest, torn open like a split hog, inspired no desire. At first, the blood was crimson, but in just a few breaths, it turned gold—no different from the blood of that jade fox, perhaps only purer.
"Where did you go?! How did you escape this world?! Why have you come back?!"
Question followed question, and Amaterasu emotions grew more agitated. Pale blue veins traced abnormal patterns across her cheeks, giving her a haunting, demonic beauty that looked nothing like a god.
Seems like we can't avoid it... well, I suppose I'm getting what I asked for.
[Let's hit her together. Let's end this quickly; this place makes my skin crawl.]
Sū ěr grumbled to Think. Even if plants grew thicker over buried corpses, a place filled with an excess of meat and no greenery made even an environmentalist like Think uncomfortable.
Without warning or a word—caution dictated total silence—Sū ěr lunged toward Amaterasu.
The tooth-aching sound of bone snapping and the squelch of twisting flesh.
In that split second of passing, Think had used her palm to pierce through Amaterasu chest and abdomen. In that moment, her normally solid form had turned into an intangible essence. The true power of this strike could likely only be described by that unfortunate flower demon—but now, a goddess had been added to the list. Assuming she still had enough sanity to realize it.
Unlike the flower demon who had been alert and holding back, Kazami Yuuka had only been grazed by Think palm. Amaterasu, however, had taken the full brunt of the hit after Sū ěr sudden explosion of speed. Consequently, when Sū ěr turned back, she had completely lost her human form.
Arms were indistinguishable from legs, flesh from clothing. Even that haunting face was twisted into the mass. In the lump of gore, it didn't matter if her cheek was pressed against an arm, her chest, or her entrails.
She was nearly covered in glowing golden blood, yet Sū ěr clearly saw the agony vanish from her face. She was actually smiling... and that only made his expression grimmer.
Amaterasu was falling, dropping toward the land below—the land composed of the final remnants of the eight million gods of Takamagahara. But neither Sū ěr nor the tortured, chained Ninigi-no-Mikoto felt any relief.
It wouldn't end this easily—both he and Think knew this. They continued to scan their perception for any anomalies.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto was struggling desperately as well, as if seeing a hope for release, or perhaps trying to warn Sū ěr. But unable to make a sound, he could only jitter violently in the scene, adding to the frustration.
Sū ěr felt no pity for him. Even if he had no interest in torture, he believed this punishment was far from enough to pay for what the Heavenly Grandson had done to the humans of Yamato... He just kept his eyes fixed on the falling Amaterasu.
[Don't let her just go down there.]
I know.
Agreeing with Think, Sū ěr took a deep breath. To be honest, in this Takamagahara, he found it far harder to establish a connection with the world than in Ashihara no Nakatsukuni. It was as if this place had its own lucid, independent consciousness—though fortunately, that consciousness was groggy and incoherent.
Since passing through the gates, Sū ěr had been calling out to this small world with all his might, just as he had when he first arrived in this era. He reached out bit by bit; fortunately, this space was much smaller than Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, saving him time.
The conversation with Amaterasu had merely been a stalling tactic. Though it was mostly the two sides talking past each other, Sū ěr finally regained that feeling—
Unquestionably, spiritual energy existed in the small world of Takamagahara. Because it was the abode of gods, the energy here was even denser than in Ashihara no Nakatsukuni. Visual horrors of a meat-paved earth aside, the absence of gods to consume the energy meant the concentration was high.
Like a blue-white cloth wiping across the sky, the spiritual energy in Takamagahara gathered under Sū ěr control. It condensed into a physical shape and slammed down toward Amaterasu. If all went according to plan, her ruined body would vanish the moment it was touched—like pencil marks erased by a rubber, leaving not even a groove behind.
Closer, and closer. Sū ěr and Think nerves pulled taut. They watched the mass of energy fall, watched it press into Amaterasu fleshy form, watched them dissolve like ice and snow... Did she really vanish?
Sū ěr eyes widened in bewilderment.
At least within his perception, until the last drop of golden blood was diluted and gone, Amaterasu made no move. She didn't even resist. When Sū ěr dispersed the massive spiritual energy, the air was empty.
Nothing was left.