Chapter 441: The Netherworld Devours Reality, Destroying Half a Nation!
At the edge of the Netherworld, Pandora frowned as she watched the disappearing figure.
Normally, a Campione could only trigger this ritual by completely slaying a Heretic God.
In other words, merely killing Susanoo's divine persona was insufficient; one also needed to eliminate the other identities and stories woven into his myths—his divine personas—to fully activate the Campione ritual.
Yet now, with only the slaying of Susanoo's identity, the Campione ritual was judged successful.
According to the ritual, she could not breach the contract and had to proceed, thus allowing the youth named Godou Kusanagi to become a Campione.
It was also bizarre that he had drawn all of the Authorities.
Generally, this was impossible—the Ring of Usurpation could only randomly extract one of a god's Authorities.
Moreover, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.
After Susanoo bestowed all his power, he should have returned to the myths and entered the realm of immortality, yet he had simply vanished without a trace.
Though Susanoo had claimed his myths were altered and that he would cease to exist and disappear, Pandora sensed that Susanoo had not truly vanished.
Perhaps his myths had disappeared, but his consciousness still lingered.
Where could it be?
Suddenly, a chilling realization struck her—
"No way!"
Pandora murmured with a face full of trepidation.
If he truly accomplished such a thing, it would mean complete liberation from mythology—no longer bound by mythological constraints while freely wielding divine power.
With a thought, two figures immediately materialized beside her: John and Alice, whom she had just concealed.
The reappeared Alice wore an expression of shock and fear. With her Spirit Sight ability, she had likely witnessed something unsettling.
"Alice, what did you see?"
"I... I don't know how to describe it."
During Pandora's Campione ritual, Alice had been observing from nearby, and her Spirit Sight had captured some horrifying scenes.
After answering, she fell silent for a moment, reorganizing her thoughts.
"I felt that Godou Kusanagi didn't just seem like a Campione, but more like..."
"A Heretic God, right?"
Pandora finished the sentence for the hesitant Alice.
"Yes, I saw Susanoo. His soul—no, his consciousness seemed to merge into Godou Kusanagi's soul."
Alice revealed this crucial piece of information.
"So that's how it is!"
Pandora's voice grew somber.
Since ancient times, gods possessing humans wasn't uncommon, but prolonged possession was impossible due to the fragility of the human body.
However, a Campione's body was different.
Had no god ever attempted to possess a Campione's body?
Such incidents had occurred before, but incompatibility remained an issue.
A possessed Campione could only use the Authority of the possessing god, not their own, making it impractical.
If a Campione possessed their own Authority, it meant the god had been slain, making possession impossible since the soul would normally be destroyed alongside.
The figures of slain Heretic Gods appearing in the depths of the Netherworld weren't actual souls but something akin to a collective embodiment of that god's mythology—a Divine Core.
Yet now, Susanoo had successfully integrated the consciousness from his Divine Core into a human body.
He must have been preparing for this long ago—the Kusanagi family was likely created specifically as vessels for his incarnation.
"What?"
John suddenly exclaimed in shock.
"What is it, Annie?"
"Urgent communication from the Fairy Kings! Multiple gateways between the Netherworld and reality have been detected opening—scattered across that country!!!"
As she spoke, John's face beneath the mask grew increasingly pale.
"This must be Susanoo's doing. He's probably afraid of his second Divine Core being distorted or usurped, so he's trying to have half the country devoured by the Netherworld!"
Humans normally couldn't survive in the Netherworld.
Thus, Susanoo was using this method to eliminate those manipulated humans.
"Please, Annie, you must stop this!"
"Understood!"
Even without Pandora's request, John couldn't stand idly by.
After her disappearance, Alice also took her leave from the goddess, needing to immediately return to the mortal world and report this incident.
Mount Nikko.
Less than ten seconds after Susanoo vanished, a peerless beauty in ancient robes appeared—it was Luo Hao, who had finally broken free and returned.
The moment she returned, she happened to witness the three figures—master and disciples—and saw the fighting spirit blazing in the monkey's eyes.
Over a hundred years ago, the two sides had once crossed paths. Unfortunately, Luo Hao had been unable to breach the special space of the Netherworld when the monkey was forcibly pulled back into it.
Her gaze shifted to another figure, from whom she sensed a level of threat even more intense than that of the monkey.
Then, she scanned her surroundings. It seemed that during the brief time she had vanished, something quite intriguing had occurred.
Boom—!
A sudden deafening roar erupted from the innermost shrine of the Western Heavenly Palace, which had also nearly turned to ruins.
What little remained of the shrine's structure was now engulfed by a dark, gaping void, from which an eerie light shot skyward.
"Oh? The passage has collapsed? Is the Netherworld devouring the mortal realm?"
Under normal circumstances, such a phenomenon would be impossible.
If the passage collapsed, it should sever the connection between the two worlds entirely, making it unlikely for the Netherworld to encroach upon reality.
For this to happen, there was generally only one explanation: it was deliberate!
Someone had intentionally engineered this situation!
"Sayanomiya, immediately mobilize all the forces at your disposal and launch a devastating strike on every shrine in this country associated with Susanoo!"
"Huh?"
Kaoru was momentarily stunned by the command from the translucent figure of the princess who had suddenly appeared before her.
"Susanoo intends to forcibly overlap the Netherworld with the mortal realm and devour half of this country!"
"Why—"
"To prevent his other divine persona from being altered, he doesn't want half of this country to vanish. Now!!! Hurry!!!"
The final words were shouted, and then the princess's figure vanished.
"Director, now is not the time to space out."
The voice from the still-connected phone urged her, snapping Kaoru back to reality.
"But there's no need for you to issue the order. I've already directed the command—though I'm not sure how much we can accomplish."
The voice on the other end sounded utterly drained.
Hearing this, Kaoru weakly slumped to the ground.
Suddenly, Yuri, who was beside her, let out a panicked cry, as if startled by something.
Turning to look, Kaoru's expression shifted as well. The Apocalypse Knight had approached Yuri.
"Impart to me all information related to Susanoo's other divine persona."
The request—or rather, the command—was directed at Yuri.
Correction: it was an order!