The rising sun finally appeared again, casting its glow across the vast plains of Musashi Province and enveloping the distant mountain ranges in pure light.
In that moment,
Uesugi Kenshin's words held no panic, no fear of death. Instead, an unparalleled calm.
A calm so penetrating, so chilling, that even the five hundred elite personal guards behind her found it unsettling.
Shinji and Kikyō remained fully alert. Even though the enemy's situation seemed hopeless, with no way out, this was, after all, a being connected to gods and buddhas, an incarnation of the divine descending to earth.
No amount of caution was excessive.
To Uesugi Kenshin's question, Shinji gave no further response. But non-response was itself a response.
He didn't care whether she lived or died. He simply had to make this high-and-mighty "god-buddha" pay the appropriate price.
Otherwise, anyone could threaten them, bully them.
The future would never be peaceful.
The next moment,
Uesugi Kenshin merely focused her gaze on Shinji.
She simply said:
"This time, you have won, mortal demon god."
"But my 'heavenly mandate' is not yet ended."
"The next 'me' will do better."
"She will come for you again, and like me, she will want you. She will make you my 'vessel.'"
A humming sound arose.
Golden light appeared, revealing eight weapons.
Tachi, sickle… the physical manifestations of the eight treasures of Bishamonten mythology, the divine power of the god of wealth, the heavenly general guarding the celestial gate.
The divine, buddha-like authority revealed in that instant was unmistakably the source of all divine artifact power.
Its sheer magnitude made the surrounding air tremble, putting Shinji and Kikyō on high alert…
But it was merely an energy release, roughly equivalent to an Eighth or Ninth Transformation demon, unaffected by spiritual suppression.
Yet only a second later,
With Uesugi Kenshin's words, the weapons shattered, the authority dissipated.
Her own body ignited with a light like karma fire.
This seemingly natural transformation, combined with her words,
Made Shinji's expression tighten.
This time.
The next.
These words together set off a violent shock in his mind.
He suddenly remembered something.
From before crossing over, the setting of "generational succession" of gods and buddhas in a work called Noragami.
In that work, gods and buddhas were not eternal. They could change.
But their change was not death, not disappearance.
It was generational succession.
The old god dies, the new god is born.
Inheriting the predecessor's name, duties, and faith. But personality, appearance, memory all reset.
Like the same river, flowing in a new riverbed.
The water was still there, but the way it flowed was completely different.
Uesugi Kenshin, incarnation of Bishamonten, was not saying she would die.
She was saying she would "succeed generations."
This generation of Uesugi Kenshin would die.
But the faith in Bishamonten would not disappear. The people of Echigo would still pray, still worship.
That faith would re-condense, giving rise to a new vessel, a new "Uesugi Kenshin."
A different individual.
A different personality.
A different face.
But still the incarnation of Bishamonten.
Still holding the power of divine artifacts.
Still able to rule Echigo.
"This predicament, I am powerless to stop. I cannot escape. But… I will allow the next 'incarnation of Bishamonten' to descend directly into Echigo territory, nipping the crisis in the bud."
As long as "Uesugi Kenshin" could appear in Echigo,
The crisis in Echigo would be resolved in an instant.
With her presence as the incarnation of Bishamonten, the morale alone would be enough to repel the Imagawa invaders.
Regardless of whether that Uesugi Kenshin was her.
Uesugi Kenshin remained as aloof, as proud, as confident as ever.
The golden light surging around her was no longer outward, but inward.
Directed at herself.
Like the Nirvana recorded in ancient Buddhist scriptures.
Or rather, not "like"—it was Nirvana.
Self-annihilation.
A wave of sound arose.
The five hundred elite personal guards knelt in solemn silence. The faith in their eyes, which had been unwavering but had shown a few cracks due to their situation, grew even more fervent.
They lowered their heads, as if completely abandoning the crisis at hand.
Abandoning all concerns of life and death.
So…
"Gods and buddhas interfering in the human world… truly an unreasonable world."
Shinji expressed this thought, then suddenly stepped forward and asked:
"But you're not the true body of a god or buddha, just an incarnation… can you still undergo generational succession?"
Uesugi Kenshin looked at him. In those eyes, which should have been fading, a light kindled again.
"As expected of one who can outthink even me… you even know this." She smiled. That smile seemed to carry a true, human warmth. "Yes, succession is possible."
"I am an incarnation of Bishamonten, descended by heavenly mandate. As long as that mandate remains, Uesugi Kenshin will continue to exist."
What was the heavenly mandate?
Was it… "history"?
Shinji wasn't sure, but instinctively felt that even if it wasn't, it was something similar.
The name Uesugi Kenshin did indeed have a significant place in the later history of Japan, one of a handful who once came closest to the apex of power.
Dragon and Tiger.
Uesugi and Takeda.
From a historical perspective, she should not die here.
From the perspective of a divine being descending to earth, her birth must have carried some mission… and that mission would not, in any case, be to die at the hands of a demon like him, a transmigrator.
She would not truly die.
Thus, she could remain confident and aloof.
Even if the successor would not be her.
There was only a trace of subtle regret in her voice.
Not regret for her own demise, but that she would not witness the moment she had envisioned.
"What a pity," she said softly. "An existence capable of equal dialogue with me… you are truly qualified to become my divine artifact, my blessed vessel, even my guiding star."
As the words fell,
Uesugi Kenshin's body grew brighter.
Not the golden light of divine artifact power released outward.
But a soft, white light seeping from within.
Like the wick of a lamp slowly burning down.
This was the self-dissolution of a divine incarnation
Packaging all the experiences, all the confusions, all the unresolved questions of this generation, sealing them for transmission to the next.
Then, dissipation.
The faith accumulated over decades by the countless people of Echigo was being drawn from her body, converging into a visible white pillar of light, shooting into the sky.
The pillar rose straight into the clouds.
The sky for miles was lit up, as if the midday sun had suddenly appeared on the morning horizon.
Nirvana.
True Nirvana.
Uesugi Kenshin's body became transparent in the white light.
Her silver-white hair dissolved into threads of light, the hem of her white monk's robes evaporated like morning mist.
Her face remained.
On that delicate, heroic face, the smile had not yet faded.
Her lips moved, forming the last few words
"Next time, I will surely—"
But just at that moment,
In the instant before her body fully dissolved into white light
Shinji moved.
His movement was so fast that even Kikyō didn't react.
[Spirit-Seeking Bow Arm Change].
Soul Summoning.
Soul-Seeking·Inevitable Hand.
Dark green phosphorescence burst from the center of his right palm, spreading up his arm to his fingertips, condensing into an almost invisible, ultra-fine thread of light.
The thread was not aimed at Uesugi Kenshin's dissolving body.
But at her soul.
Facing Uesugi Kenshin's sudden self-annihilation and Nirvana, this Cicada-Shell Escape of hers, Shinji had watched the entire time. Not because he wanted to sit idly by, not because he couldn't stop it. He was watching, searching.
Self-annihilation, Nirvana, generational succession.
They necessarily involved the soul.
And about the soul, Shinji was no longer in the dark.
He could sense it.
Could capture it.
In that instant, he "saw" clearly.
The essence of this so-called Nirvana was the soul detaching from its old shell, entering the torrent of faith, being washed and reshaped, then descending as a new vessel.
The moment the soul left the body, it belonged to neither the old shell nor the new.
It hovered between the two.
Like a fish jumping between two ponds.
And he found it.
Found… the opportunity to reach out and grab that fish the moment it leaped from the water!
What had been proven was that an incarnation of a god or buddha, after all, was not the true god or buddha itself. Having incarnated, it was naturally human.
And the human soul, no matter how powerful, had its limits.
Thus.
The Spirit-Seeking Bow Arm Change fully unfolded.
Dark green phosphorescence wrapped around Uesugi Kenshin's soul.
Not an attack. Simply… anchoring.
Using the soul-seeking power of the Spirit-Seeking Bow Arm, to hold that detaching soul firmly in place.
Then
Push it back.
Press it back into the not-yet-fully-dissolved body.
Pop.
Like forcing a wisp of nearly-flying-away smoke back into a bottle.
The white light suddenly contracted.
The pillar of light reaching into the sky collapsed inward, as if someone had pulled it back down to earth.
Nirvana… interrupted.
Even if only temporarily.
Even if, once started, generational succession couldn't truly be halted.
But at least at this moment, Shinji had done it.
Uesugi Kenshin's body re-condensed.
Her silver-white hair fell back over her shoulders, her white monk's robes reformed around her body. The smile on her delicate, heroic face froze.
Her eyes opened.
In those ancient well-like eyes, an emotion appeared that had never existed since her birth.
Bewilderment.
Complete, total, uncontrollable bewilderment.
She had been dissipating just now.
Had felt the pull of the faith torrent, the liberating sensation of the old shell breaking.
The next moment, she would enter a new cycle, a new vessel, a new beginning—
In a form completely unrelated to this one, transcending all obstacles, returning to Echigo.
To continue the heavenly mandate of the existence called Uesugi Kenshin.
But at that instant,
A hand… had forcibly pulled her back.
Like someone standing on a cliff edge, arms spread to fly, being yanked back by the collar.
"You—" Her voice carried a rare tremor.
"What did you do?"
Shinji did not answer.
His right hand was still extended, dark green phosphorescence spreading from his fingertips to Uesugi Kenshin's chest, like an invisible chain, anchoring her soul within the old shell.
Then he spoke.
Only one words.
"Kneel."
Uesugi Kenshin's expression changed dramatically.
That face, which since birth had never shown fear, never shown humiliation, never shown any human negative emotion—
At this moment, cracked.
Not the crack of an outer shell breaking.
Something deeper, the crack of "divinity."
Because, to her horror, she found that her soul… no longer obeyed her.
Lock onto the target's soul, inevitably hit.
Combined with Soul Summoning.
Together, their effect was no longer just "hit."
But "control."
Brief, limited, control at the soul level.
For beings superior to Shinji, or for true gods and buddhas, this control was negligible.
But unfortunately, Shinji had already confirmed that Uesugi Kenshin was not a true god or buddha.
She was only an incarnation.
And at this very instant, she had just experienced an interrupted Nirvana, a loosening of the connection between soul and body.
Her soul at this moment was as fragile as a kite with a broken string.
And Shinji's soul-seeking power was the new string reattached.
Thus.
Uesugi Kenshin's knees bent.
Her soul, pulled by that dark green chain, brought her body with it, uncontrollably....
Knelt.
Thud.
Both knees struck the ground.
The dull sound echoed across the moonlit battlefield.
Her silver-white hair fell to the ground, like moonlight shattering in the dirt.
The hem of her white monk's robes spread out, gathering dust.
Those ancient well-like eyes flew wide open.
What reflected in them was no longer moonlight.
But the reflection of a crimson demon mask.
The high-and-mighty incarnation of Bishamonten, who had never bowed to any existence, knelt before a demon warrior.
The five hundred elite personal guards were all petrified.
Spiritually petrified, and worse, their faith cracked.
They had witnessed an impossible scene....
Their god.
Knelt.
Before a demon.
Knelt.
Yes.
To truly defeat a god… was never to destroy their physical shell.
But to shatter their false idol. To make them… kneel.
Even if only temporarily, it was still enough.
Enough for the world to see.
Your so-called god… is not so great after all!