Clockwork Bride

Page 318

As his name suggests, Susanoo is a middle-aged man with a thick beard. Moreover, the pronunciation of "Susanoo" in Old Japanese also means violent and destructive, and the character "man" not only indicates gender but also emphasizes his masculine nature. Therefore, Susanoo is a "male god with a beard, a violent personality, and destructive power."

A fierce and efficacious aragami.

It withered the mountains and fields with its first cry right after it was born.

He caused a great disturbance in Takamagahara, forcing Amaterasu to hide in the Ama-no-Iwato.

It wreaked havoc across the land.

However, after killing the famous Yamata no Orochi, he also gained the nature of a hero god in one fell swoop.

It's not unusual for gods to have multiple facets, just as human personalities are complex. Hayden, looking at Susanoo now, didn't see him as the "violent" figure portrayed in mythology. His son had been beaten half to death and severely humiliated by Hayden, yet Susanoo didn't fly into a rage, nor did he rush in to be slapped like a villain in a novel. His eyes gleamed with wisdom and contemplation.

In fact, some theories suggest that Susanoo was the first poet in Japanese history and could compose waka poems. If this is true, then it's quite reasonable to assume he was intelligent!

So Hayden then tried asking, "I know I've gotten myself into a lot of trouble, but I'd really like to have a calm conversation with you Yamato gods. Is that alright?"

“I do have many questions for you,” Susanoo replied calmly. “So let’s have a peaceful conversation first. After all, we won’t know anything without talking first, and policies can always be changed.”

In other words, if Susanoo senses something amiss with Hayden, he will not hesitate to fight him. He is a powerful god, and a valiant war god at that. Without Kallen by his side, Hayden's chances of winning against him alone are probably less than 20%.

...That being said, seeing Susanoo's reaction, Hayden actually felt that he was quite rational and someone with whom communication was possible. That was truly interesting.

"Mr. Hayden, our Yamato God Clan has never harbored any hostility towards the Peacock King's family." As expected, Susanoo spoke first. "Your rebellion against Mithra Bodhisattva has nothing to do with our Yamato God Clan. Why are you killing our priests and deities?"

why?

There are actually many reasons. For example, the prosecutors attacked Hayden first, Hayden felt that they were the ones who started the killings, and Hayden thought that the two Japanese officials in the prosecutors' office were the masterminds... But these are all secondary.

The real reason was that Hayden genuinely wanted to eliminate their existence. He wanted these gods to pay the price, not just for their attack on him. He wanted to do it. He genuinely felt a sense of satisfaction when he annihilated Kenfiki and Ebisu. He didn't resist that feeling.

But that's not what Hayden needs either.

"I am looking for a way to defeat the Bodhisattva Mithra."

So Hayden decided to say it this way.

"For this, I need to enter [Ashihara Province] - and I think we have common interests in this matter. So there's no need to continue fighting."

Susanoo frowned: "Are you implying that we have a hostile intention towards the Mithra Group?"

"Stop pretending now, Great God Suqianwu. I've been watching this land for a day, I'm not stupid," Hayden immediately retorted. "That's right, when I first arrived, I did treat you Yamato gods as lackeys of the Mithra Group, so I didn't hesitate to kill you. But now I can see that you and the Mithra Group are not of one mind, or at least not entirely of one mind."

When Hayden first arrived in Japan, he already felt something was strange: why did these Yamato gods, on the one hand, learn the Mithra Group's [capitalist] magic paradigm, while on the other hand, stubbornly retain a part of the [respect] magic of the old era? You know, mixing two different magic theories together will not make them stronger, but will reduce the efficiency of the system's operation.

Hayden initially thought this was because the Yamato gods were greedy and unwilling to relinquish their old ways. Now, however, he understood somewhat. It was probably because Susanoo, the leader of the gods, and his faction dared not entrust the fate of their nation and people entirely to the theories and technologies of the Mithra Group. Because they dared not fully rely on the Mithra Group's ideology and paradigm, they could only cling to some old feudalistic ideas to ensure that their nation's culture would not be completely unified by the Mithra Group.

On the other hand, just as different people in the same country will have different ideas, different gods in the Yamato pantheon will certainly have different views on this issue. For example, Ebisu probably genuinely felt that this wretched country would be better off being swallowed up by Mithra Bodhisattva, allowing the Bodhisattva's sun-like light to guide the entire world!

There are also Yamato gods like Futsu-no-Mitama, who probably don't care about any politics, concepts, or ideologies at all, and are purely concerned with their own pursuit of the Way and their own interests as gods, purely self-serving.

Hayden had killed them both like chickens, not really realizing the consequences at the time, but now he finally understood completely. Even among the same race of gods, not all gods could think the same way; it's not enough to simply label them all the same.

This principle is actually easy to understand, but sometimes when people get carried away with the killing, they can easily lose sight of what's happening.

That's why Hayden said now: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend... Although there's no such thing as a free lunch, since you also have ambitions to rebel against Mithra, we should at least stop fighting here and deal with our common enemy together?"

If something as simple as this could be useful, the world would be such a wonderful place.

As expected, Susanoo simply replied coldly, "Ambition? This has nothing to do with ambition. Any nation, in order to ensure its survival and prosperity, must also consider all dangers and prepare countermeasures. I'm sure you are well aware of how uncertain a threat the Mithra Group's existence poses to Japan."

“But no matter how great the threat from the Mitra Group is, I will not cooperate with villains who are trying to restore the devil. This is a matter of principle.”

It seems they are determined to stick to this issue and refuse to budge.

“I have no intention of restoring the devil. I just want to ask Asmodius a few questions, and I don’t even mind if you’re watching.” Hayden rubbed his temples, suddenly puzzled. “Why do you say this is a matter of principle? You don’t actually care that much about the difference between the ideologies of the old and new gods, do you? I can tell you’re very pragmatic in this regard.”

“It seems you really don’t know,” Susanoo replied coldly. “The God of the Heavenly Vault—whom you call Asmodeus—killed my two older sisters at the end of the war between the old and new gods four hundred years ago.”

Ah? ?

Hayden genuinely knew nothing of this. Before coming to Japan, he had learned some secrets about the ancient gods, much of which his mother-in-law, Hela, had shared. Even so, Hayden only knew that of the three most important deities of the Yamato pantheon—Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo—the first two had died in the war between the old and new gods. How could Asmodeus have been the one to kill them?

At least, when Susanoo spoke of Asmodius, the anger and hatred in his eyes were genuine.

It seems the Mithra Group has imposed too much control and restrictions on information related to Asmodeus. Hayden found this increasingly surprising—was Mithra truly so averse to anyone investigating the history of Asmodeus? Because of matters concerning the Outer Gods? Was he really that afraid?

Then Hayden definitely needs to be investigated.

"But I really don't want to restore the devil."

He is very sincere.

Unfortunately, Susanoo still looked at him coldly: "You have resurrected 100,000 ancient gods and demons."

“I already said that once, they’re not demons.” Hayden waved his hand, pointing to Red Leaf who was being surrounded by the ancient god monsters. “Besides, I also brought your sister’s spirit into the mortal world. Doesn’t that add two points?”

In truth, the Amaterasu radiance summoned by Hayden after his resurrection from the Underworld was merely a fragment of the goddess's power, not containing her own soul or consciousness. It was like the embers after the sun has burned out, like ash, not even truly remnants. Momiji, seeing Susanoo from afar, naturally wouldn't approach this "younger brother," feeling somewhat afraid of him.

However, Susanoo glanced at Momiji from afar, but showed no anger or dissatisfaction. He simply sighed, and the intense negative aura emanating from him actually decreased by 30%.

Hayden did not overlook this sign.

“I’ve made my purpose clear enough.” He shrugged and continued, “Now it’s your turn to tell me what you plan to do. You’re not without your own ambitions against the Mithra Group; Takemikazuchi just swung his sword at the Five Hundred Arhats. You can’t possibly capture me now and hand me over to Mithra, hoping to just say, ‘Oh, it was all a misunderstanding,’ and that’s it, isn’t it?”

Susanoo gave a cold laugh: "That's not necessarily true. Mithra Bodhisattva is actually quite concerned about the movements of the Peacock King's family. Perhaps capturing you alive would indeed be of great value."

"What about those two [Heavenly] beings over there?"

Hayden pointed to Dhritarashtra and Dakini, whom they had captured. The expressions of these two heavenly captives were quite grim.

"Let them go back alive? They'll definitely have a lot of unpleasant things to say to Mithra Bodhisattva. Kill them to silence them? Seal them up to gag them? You can't tell Mithra 'it was all a misunderstanding' either way, can you?"

Susanoo remained expressionless: "They're just old things, ancient Indian gods dressed in the skin of new gods. Mithra Bodhisattva wouldn't really care whether they live or die."

Upon hearing this, Dakini was both shocked and furious: "Susanoo, do you really intend to rebel?! After the Bodhisattva finishes dealing with the European battlefield, all traitors will be sent into [reincarnation]!"

Unexpectedly, Susanoo laughed again upon hearing Dakini's words: "What does this have to do with 'betrayal'? We have sworn allegiance to the Mithra Group and have been forced to serve like slaves to barely survive. But serving a ruler is like serving a tiger, and right now our Japan is facing a life-or-death situation... The culprit is none other than the Mithra Bodhisattva himself."

"The enemy is in Tushita Heaven. We have only one wish."

Before he could finish speaking, Susanoo suddenly drew his Ame no Habakiri and chopped off Dakini Ten's head with a single strike.

"Great Expulsion of the Barbarians!"

In an instant, Dakini's severed head rolled to the ground, spurting blood. Her face still bore an expression of shock, her soul, accompanied by a wailing cry, soared into the sky, seized by the laws of reincarnation. This sudden turn of events not only turned the face of the nearby Dhritarashtra deathly pale, but even left Hayden momentarily stunned.

Wow, even though I chopped off quite a few god heads today, I didn't expect it to look so exciting to the people around me!

Let's get down to business.

Susanoo, who had just chopped off Dakini's head, now looked completely unconcerned, sheathed his sword, turned back to Hayden, and spoke in a serious tone.

"Guanyin Bodhisattva told me some things about your battle plan, but it didn't include anything related to Asmodeus. In other words, this must have been your own idea."

"Huh? Wait a minute?" Hayden's eyes widened. "So you were in cahoots with Guanyin all along?"

“Kannon Bodhisattva has a strong influence in Japan. We also have to waver between the Bodhisattva factions within the Mithra Group to ensure our independence,” Susanoo replied calmly. “But let’s not digress here. No one knows when Mithra Bodhisattva will send the next group to cause trouble, and we must stop Mithra Bodhisattva’s ambition to swallow the world with [Reincarnation] no matter what. In this respect, my interests are aligned with yours. Mr. Hayden, if you have any plans, please tell us as soon as possible.”

“Uh, no plan.” Hayden rubbed his temples. “I just need to get into [Ashihara Province], and then I’ll take it one step at a time… but I’ve already messed up the way in myself.”

"Is that really so?" Susanoo looked at Momiji, who had been summoned by Hayden with Amaterasu, once again. "You destroyed the passage to the Land of the Dead, yet you still managed to summon Amaterasu's divine power from within? That doesn't make sense."

That's true. Considering that he couldn't think of any other tricks for the time being, Hayden could only shrug, turn around and go back to the stone circle and the shimenawa rope to see if there were any loopholes in the barrier.

Meanwhile, Susanoo regrouped Takemikazuchi and the other scattered remaining sumo wrestlers and ninjas. The new Yamato god stared at the 100,000 old god demons opposite him; the two camps, their hatred deeper than the sea, glared at each other.

Even eternal enemies can temporarily set aside their hatred in order to deal with the same, more troublesome foe... but it's only "temporarily" set aside.

Like Hayden, who killed two Yamato gods and gnawed off one of Susanoo's son's arms, did the Yamato god clan really just "let it go"? Probably not. However, on the other hand, Hayden didn't intend to truly "let it go" with these semi-feudal, semi-capitalist Japanese new gods either. Shouldn't their sins be accounted for? At most, they'd be ranked after Mithra before being considered.

This is an unspoken truth that everyone knows, but no one is saying it now. From this perspective, even if Hayden and his men did defeat Mithra, the world certainly wouldn't be at peace.

But let's get back to the main topic now. Hayden is currently inspecting the disrupted passage to the [Reishi Plains]. He cast several spells, and as he examined it, he gradually discovered something very strange and bizarre:

About two hours before he arrived, someone else had been here. Not only had they been here, but this person had also opened a passage, entering the [Ashihara Country] before Hayden and his group arrived and disrupted the passage.

...To call this a coincidence is rather suspicious. And what's even stranger is, without a guide, how did this person open the passage and get in?

The more Hayden thought about it, the more unsettling it became. In the series of events that had just unfolded, there seemed to be a loophole, a point he had overlooked. And the more Hayden pondered this loophole, the more he realized a crucial issue he hadn't yet clarified:

The "guide" was certainly not killed by Hayden, nor does it seem to have been killed by Dagini.

So who exactly killed Komakutayu?

394: A Thousand Thoughts

Hayden was busy checking the passage leading to [Reishi Plains], seeing if he could open another crack.

Meanwhile, the others present were not standing still in a daze. The new god army on Susanoo and Takemikazuchi's side was a modern regular army, and their situation was not bad. Under Takemikazuchi's command, they were making necessary adjustments and were very orderly.

In contrast, the 100,000 Old Gods and monsters were all temporarily resurrected by Hayden and were completely unaware of the situation. Just moments before, in the midst of the chaotic and frenzied battle, they were able to rush in and fight together in a chaotic frenzy. Now that the fighting has temporarily stopped, they have time to calm down and think things through, and their thoughts have naturally become more varied.

First, all the monsters listened to Hongye's general explanation of the current situation and learned that they had been resurrected in the future, four hundred years later, and that the current world was a world after the defeat of the old gods.

Given that their enemies were right in front of them, many simple-minded and hot-tempered demons immediately wanted to rush forward and fight to the death. Fortunately, most of the demons weren't so foolish and quickly pulled back the most hot-tempered ones.

Meanwhile, these less clueless monsters were also making their own plans.

The simpler-minded monsters thought: "Since we are fortunate enough to be resurrected, and the princess who inherits the bloodline of our main family is right in front of us, then we should continue to respect her as our master and strive to rise up again in this era."

Some monsters thought, "The one who resurrected us is the Peacock King's son-in-law, and the princess now serves under him. The Peacock King doesn't seem to have any sons, so his only daughter's husband is practically his son. As expected of the Peacock King, following him should lead to a promising future, right?"

They didn't consider the Peacock King an enemy. This was partly because the Peacock King himself did not personally participate in the war in Japan, and partly because the Peacock King openly expressed his stance at the beginning of the war, rather than suddenly turning against them midway. Therefore, they only regarded him as a formidable foe and feared him.

Regardless, both of these demons are still thinking in the old feudal mindset in this new era. What they believe in most is still the guarantee brought by traditional bloodline inheritance.

Bloodline! That does sound like a very reliable thing, at least much more reliable than relationships built on money... Well, although that's what they think, it's hard to say whether it's actually true.

On the other hand, some monsters certainly had more modern ideas. At that very moment, several powerful monsters were gathered in a corner, secretly discussing something.

Among these monsters was a tiger-wolf-raccoon. This ugly monster, just as its name suggests, was a hybrid of a tiger, a wolf, and a raccoon. It had spread plagues and claimed many lives.

The other one had no physical form; it was a demonic wind capable of spreading fever, a close Eastern relative of the demon Pazuzu, though not as powerful. It remained silent during the discussion.

There was another, a giant owl with a one-legged pig's tail. Its name was Heel-Heel, and it had brought calamity upon the land, causing suffering to tens of thousands. It was squinting its black eyes, emitting a low and sinister cry.

Each of them is a terrifyingly powerful and ruthless demon. Four hundred years ago, their war against the new gods and the Yamato gods wasn't for any collective benefit. Now, when they gather in private to discuss something, they're certainly not talking about anything serious.

"The world is in chaos right now, and there are so many new technologies that allow us to upgrade and enjoy them. It's the perfect time for heroes to fight each other. This resurrection has truly come at a great time!"

As for the idea that Mithra Bodhisattva would unify the world through reincarnation and control everyone's souls—these things sounded far too fantastical, and these ancient demons naturally didn't believe them. They believed in their own power and abilities, and in their ability to carve out their own niche in the new era!

That's confidence and ambition!

But then again, assuming they really do raise their flags and carve out a place for themselves in the chaos, and actually succeed, transforming themselves into new god-kings, the scene might be beautiful, but apart from the monsters sitting on the stage changing, what difference would there be between them and the previous ones?

...Now that Hongye is at the heart of all these demons and monsters, she naturally feels extremely exhausted. While smiling and greeting these senior demons, explaining and comforting them, she is inwardly wailing—Master, I'm just not good at this kind of thing! Aaaaaaah!

She was, after all, the kind of person more suited to be a samurai than a king. Hayden might even be more suited to this position. However, Hayden was currently busy investigating the passage to the Ashihara Kingdom and had no time to deal with these 100,000 yokai.

With 100,000 demons, there are at least 50,000 different thoughts. Even Momiji herself is no exception.

On the other hand, the gods and humans weren't much different. While Hayden was busy investigating the passage, Susanoo seized Dhritarashtra and began to interrogate him thoroughly, trying to extract more information about Mithra Bodhisattva's current plans. Unfortunately, Dhritarashtra knew very little.

Regardless of whether they are new or old, gods or demons, everyone has their own thoughts, desires, plans, and goals.

Back to Hayden. He studied and fiddled with the broken passage in Ashihara for a while, examining traces of others entering Ashihara a few hours earlier, and the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Finally, he couldn't resist and turned back to find the local: "Kurenai, are you free? If you're busy catching up with relatives, I won't bother you."

Hongye was already dizzy from being bothered by the monsters, so how could she miss this opportunity? She quickly turned around: "Master—! Please feel free to give me any important orders!"

The other monsters all regarded Hayden as the Peacock King's adopted son-in-law and immediately made way in fear. Although Hayden and Karen's power had gradually caught up with the Peacock King, and they could even do some things better than their father, the Peacock King's reputation and seniority were still very strong.

"I've been checking the passage for a while, and something's getting more and more confusing," Hayden said, frowning. "What exactly is the [Reed Plains Kingdom]? I initially thought it was a sealed-off area managed by the ancient gods, not easily accessible. Then, after hearing you mention the [Land of the Dead], I thought it was a sealed, special underworld space. But now, as I examine it, something doesn't seem quite right. This isn't just a separately isolated space; it seems even time..."

Before the words were even finished, and before Hongye could answer, another voice chimed in: "It's normal to feel strange; it proves your ability."

It turned out that Susanoo had already finished interrogating the unfortunate Dhritarashtra. He didn't actually need to do it himself. Seeing that the ninjas had almost finished, and Hayden had made another discovery, Susanoo arrived.

The great deity calmly said, "Because it is separated in space, it is the 'Land of Roots'; because it is in the past in time, it is the 'Land of the Dead'. Mr. Hayden, do you understand this meaning?"

Hayden might have thought about it more carefully in the past. However, having just experienced the mess with the Aztecs in South America a few days ago, he had gained a better understanding of death and magic of the past, and now he immediately realized: "Staying in the past is death."

In other words, the "Land of the Dead" is a separate, isolated realm that is spatially isolated from reality and temporally frozen four hundred years in the past?

This is not difficult to understand in theory.

But once Hayden understood the theory, he found the actual operation even more astonishing: "How did you manage to do this? To carve out a region-level space and freeze its time four hundred years ago??"

“We didn’t do this.” Susanoo shook his head. “Four hundred years ago, on the last day of the war between the old and new gods, the eight great bodhisattvas fought a great battle with Asmodeus here, breaking time and space and obliterating all the laws of nature. Since then, the spacetime state of [Ashihara Country] has always been like this. Mithra simply put a barrier around it and had us guard it.”

If it were the Hayden of the past, he might have been shocked that Asmodeus was so powerful, or even doubted whether Susanoo had made a mistake. But now, having heard about Asmodeus and the power of the Outer Gods from Avalokiteshvara, he found the story quite credible and secretly pondered—this kind of technology is difficult to replicate even today, let alone four hundred years ago?

It's likely that Asmodeus summoned the power of the Outer Gods, and the aftershocks alone obliterated the Great Dao.

Overall, this seems like a good thing, because Hayden now understands the terrifying power of the Outer Gods even better... The only problem is that he's locked himself out.