Tokyo Gods Only Want Beautiful Priestesses

Only the sword in my hand, seemingly alive, spewed endless sharpness, leaving countless cracks on this mountain.

"Harmful..."

As the shrine raised its hand, the entire mountain came alive in response to its palm, with the soil, rocks, and trees all leaping about.

"Today, I'll capture you and turn you into a meat toy."

"If you can do it, then come on!"

The Kusanagi Sword was swung out once more, and Kagome Ruri, who was watching from the sidelines, felt that sensation again. Time seemed to be stretched and stirred up, and everything was shattering.

Is this the divine sword Ame-no-Murakumo, taken from the tail of the Yamata no Orochi? It's terrifyingly exaggerated.

This time, even as an observer, Kojō Ruri still couldn't think of a way to counter the sword's power.

The reason why Ushi-Gozen was able to save herself from that sword strike was because of a karmic connection between Ushi-Go-Nen and Ama-Kusanagi. If not, how could she have dealt with an attack that she couldn't even react to?

However, she noticed that the corners of Jingu's mouth curled up.

"What a pity. If I hadn't seen it once, I probably would have gotten infected."

Amidst the chaos of time and the world, the shrine calmly extended its hand.

This sword strike didn't actually shatter time; it merely created the illusion that time had been cut apart.

What is truly severed is not the ethereal concept of time, but rather people's sense of time scale, which is why that illusion occurs.

If I hadn't witnessed it firsthand, the shrine might have suffered a loss due to being caught off guard.

However, even if one understands the intricacies of this move, it is not easy to deal with.

The terrifying sharpness of the Kusanagi cloud can indeed achieve the effect of cutting through anything.

At this moment, Jingu had no divine weapons or special tools at hand, so he could only use his hands to catch Ibuki's sword.

However, in the end, Jingu seemed to have thought of something and chose to avoid Ibuki's sword strike by turning to the side.

Ibuki turned and spun, but Jingu still didn't meet the sword head-on, choosing to dodge as before.

"What's wrong, Jingu? Why are you hiding? This isn't like you."

"It's just that taking direct hits isn't my style. I now fully understand the intricacies of this sword."

The sharpness of the sword itself is not frightening; as long as it is material, it will not be difficult for the shrine. The problem is the divinity of the Ame-no-Kurakumo.

Chaos, disorder, and rage—this thing indiscriminately affects everything around it.

In terms of compatibility, this thing is not compatible with the shrine. No matter what kind of things the shrine tries to create by combining matter, it will destroy them.

Just like that time when she fought against Narukami, she was able to restrain the celestial phenomena manipulated by the shrine because of her divinity as a thunder god.

However, compatibility is just compatibility; does that mean you can't fight if you're in a counter-restraint situation?

"Even if you figure it out, how will you deal with it, Shrine Maiden?"

Now that she had been seen through, Ibuki stopped hiding it and openly revealed the true nature of Ama no Kusanagi.

The sword moved like a snake, even traversing Ibuki's body, disrupting everything around it.

Whether tangible matter or intangible existence, everything was disturbed by this divine sword.

"Ha, nothing in this world is absolute. Many things can change with just a little push."

Jingu spread his hands; he already knew what to do.

"Okay, let's try again."

This time, Ibuki did not try to sever the flow of time in the eyes of the shrine, but instead purely activated the divinity of the divine sword itself.

A ferocious serpent leaped from Ibuki's arm bone, viciously lunging at the shrine, its fangs the very edge of its blade.

However, that was just an illusion. After a moment of confusion, Kagome Ruri no longer saw any venomous snakes, but only the divine sword that had cut through Ibuki's flesh and sprang out from her arm bone.

The blade pierced through the body, clearly penetrating flesh and blood, and piercing the hand of the Divine Palace, yet not a single drop of blood flowed.

Instead, it was the shrine's flesh and blood that bound the sword, making it seem as if the shrine had reached out and grasped Ibuki's sword.

What is he going to do?

Ibuki tried to twist the sword, but found that it didn't move at all, as if it were firmly frozen.

“To deal with something like this, you should retaliate in the same way. No matter how tough you are, as a physical entity, you can be destroyed by me.”

Kusanagi can easily destroy creation with its chaotic divinity, but the Shrine, on the other hand, can also break this sword from the root, only it needs to seize it first.

This is not a problem; Ibuki will naturally bring the sword to your door.

By the time Ibuki realized this, it was too late; the shrine had already completely understood the structure of the Ama-no-Murakumo.

Whether it was truly the skeleton of a living being or some kind of mythical forged metal that the shrine had never encountered before, the shrine simply extracted a segment from its material composition.

It's like removing a section from the middle of a tower made of building blocks; the entire material composition of the sword collapses instantly.

Without its supporting base, the sword collapsed and turned into ashes, which even spread towards Ibuki's body, but Ibuki managed to avoid it by breaking her own bone.

Having lost its divine body that supported its existence, Ama no Kusanagi could only merge into Ibuki's body.

"In that case, the sword is solved."

Chapter 252 Resurrection

Powerful weapons are not necessarily durable.

The sharper a sword is, the more fragile it is; improper grip can even cause the blade to chip.

There has been a misconception since ancient times that the sharper the sword, the more powerful it is. But the truth is that sharp swords break easily and are often less durable than axe blades.

Although these are common-sense principles, they are not inapplicable in this situation.

Just like the Song Jing Liuli just now, she can use hell as her weapon, but she herself is extremely fragile.

In terms of weaponry, this is a major drawback.

Ibuki, confident in the power of her weapon, used it carelessly without ever considering its potential fragility.

If Kajōruri could see through the illusion of time scale and then focus on the Ama-no-Kumara itself, then Ibuki might not be able to win.

It can only be said that experience and intelligence are extremely important in battle. Ibuki's physical strength is enough for her to exchange injuries for intelligence, but Kajō Ruri cannot.

The two also have different margins for error; now Ibuki has lost her most important weapon.

Ibuki stared at her shattered arm bones, her expression somewhat dazed, with ashes still scattered on her hands.

"What? Does the pain from a broken bone hurt a lot?"

"It hurts quite a bit, but I hope it will hurt even more later."

Saying something somewhat ambiguous, Ibuki looked up and smiled at Jingu.

Jingu shook his head helplessly.

"Why are you all so self-destructive? Isn't it better to live happily?"

As a hedonistic shrine, it's difficult for them to understand what these people with extreme minds think about every day.

No matter what, Ibuki could have lived a carefree, even unrestrained, life that countless people or yokai could only dream of.

However, it is precisely because they all have this mentality that they are easily won over by the shrine.

People like Ge Jing Liuli, who are more logical in their actions and have extremely strong mental resilience, are not as easy to deal with as they are.

"Well, let's just say my head got a little messed up after it was reconnected. Actually, I'm really envious of you, Jingu."

Ibuki suddenly blurted out this sentence.

"Ok?"

"At first, when I first learned about you, I thought you were like me."

Looking at the ravaged mountains around her, Ibuki felt a pang of nostalgia.

"Born to be gods and Buddhas, after being born, they wantonly display their martial prowess and desires, doing what they like to do, just like I was at the beginning."

"But you are much better than me. I thought you would also quickly accept the targeting and attacks from all kinds of people, and eventually learn to compromise and experience pain."

Of the many demons that once gathered at Mount Oe, very few remain by Ibuki's side today.

From their initial rampage and chaos to the legendary demon-slaying achievements of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, not to mention the modern era where yokai are now subject to regulations governing human society.

How many people can accept the wild and violent demon race?

Death and compromise—these are the two things Ibuki learned growing up, but what is even more painful is disagreement.

Disagreements with subordinates, disagreements with colleagues, disagreements with friends,

Disagreements with sisters and relatives.

Should she align herself with demons, or choose to abandon them and take a different stance? If she does, perhaps she can build normal family relationships.

But in the end, she chose to compromise, even though compromise was a choice that pleased neither side.

That's why she admired the shrine, and even felt jealous of it.

Even though everyone started out the same, Jingu is stronger than her, both in terms of mentality and power.

Not bound by the opinions of others, not limited by the positions of those around them, doing what they want to do, and having the ability to shape the world into the way they want it to be.

I envy them; they have the same work style, yet their outcomes are completely different.

It's as if the goddess of fate has endorsed him, making him invincible; no one can change or stop him.

"Some things are best understood by yourself."

Jingu simply said that he would consider the thoughts of those around him at the beginning, just like with the matter of the emperor at the beginning.

However, rather than going through that kind of struggle, the shrine ultimately chose to do what he pleased, regardless of whether the emperor was in pain or unhappy afterward.

This has gradually shaped his current style. At worst, he can manipulate her a few more times afterward. As long as she stops thinking, there won't be any more pain.

"Yes, it's good to understand."

Ibuki's body began to change; snake scales began to appear, and her pupils gradually turned into vertical pupils.

"So either let me sleep forever, or let me forget all of this."

Its expanding form gradually devoured the entire mountain range. Amidst the decay of flesh and blood, poisonous water and foul blood polluted the rivers and trees, ultimately turning the entire mountain range into its own flesh and blood.