Without warning, the freshly cleared skies violently stirred, fracturing down the centre. A colossal pillar of absolute, blinding white light tore through the heavens, rushing toward Orochi with the velocity of a falling star.
With a casual, arrogant flick of his wrist, Orochi redirected the trajectory, sending the beam crashing harmlessly into the distant ocean, where it vanished into the deep.
"Tch... what was that?" Orochi muttered, glaring upward as his golden eyes narrowed. "It felt... strangely heavy."
He glanced down at his pale hand to reassert his grip, only to find it empty. The vessel of Byakuya had completely melted away like liquid wax, slipping right through his fingers. A few paces away, Bushido had already managed to drag his battered body across the sand, putting vital distance between himself and the deity.
'What was that catastrophic energy just now?' Bushido thought, his weathered face tight with exhaustion as he watched the sky. 'It felt utterly dreadful.'
Before Orochi could contemplate the trick, the heavens fractured a second time. A twin pillar of the same pristine, blinding light rained down upon his position. Orochi snapped his fingers to deflect it conceptually, but the light refused to bend. Hissing, he was forced to physically catch the beam with his bare hands, straining his green-skinned muscles to toss it to the side violently.
'What is the meaning of this? It was vastly heavier this time... and I couldn't command it,' Orochi thought, his gaze darting frantically toward the pool of melted flesh where Byakuya had stood.
From the shifting, liquid remains, Byakuya's distorted voice echoed with chilling satisfaction.
"The reason why no one has been able to ascend into Kami... It's because of Hōrai. Now that you have broken the laws, Orochi, you must pay the price for your actions."
Before Orochi could even formulate a retort, a third, colossal pillar of white light detonated from the clouds.
This time, there was no redirecting it. The sheer, infinite weight of the strike slammed squarely into Orochi's chest, violently driving the deity down toward the damp earth. Gritting his fangs, Orochi planted his heels into the collapsing shoreline, unleashing a desperate roar as he pushed back against the descending light with both hands, straining until the very fabric of the beam began to crack under his divine pressure visibly.
"I will not be defeated by mere light... I am Kami!" Orochi bellowed, his voice echoing across the crashing waves.
High above, the sky fractured again as another colossal pillar of absolute white descended. He could sense that this one was exponentially stronger than the last. Had he chosen to swallow his pride and dodge, his newfound divine speed would have carried him to safety, but his absolute arrogance would not allow it.
"I am Kami!" he roared at the heavens as the beam slammed squarely onto his frame.
The catastrophic force devastated him. The light instantly incinerated his jade skin, and the subsequent strike tore away his newly reformed flesh. Yet, driven by pure, obsessive willpower, Orochi refused to fall. Even as his entire body burned into cinders, he maintained his defiance.
'I am Kami... everything in existence is mine to command!'
He foolishly believed that if enough of these celestial pillars struck him, he would eventually understand their spiritual composition and seize control of the technique itself. But Orochi failed to realise a fatal truth: this cosmic authority did not originate from this world. There was no spiritual way for a newly ascended earthly deity to comprehend it in such a brief window of time.
The final, absolute pillar of white light tore through the clouds. This time, it didn't just target his physical vessel; it completely decimated his soul. The blinding flash evaporated the Calamity entirely, leaving behind nothing but the dark, jagged crown clattering onto the damp sand.
Before the dust could even settle, Byakuya's physical form abruptly reconstituted from the shadows, his hand reaching down to claim the divine artefact.
"No, you don't!" Bushido barked.
Blipping through the displaced space with a desperate burst of speed, the old master lunged forward to intercept the puppet master. But his outstretched hand passed right through Byakuya's frame as if striking air. He couldn't touch him.
"Hehehehe..."
The ancient entity occupying Byakuya's flesh let out a mocking, echoing laugh as the space around him began to distort. Its gaze locked onto the exhausted veteran, his eyes gleaming with cold anticipation.
"Just wait a little longer, divine body of Raijin. We shall come for you soon enough... After all, your body is required to establish the Southern Deity Gate."
With those parting words, the entity vanished completely into the ether, leaving the desolate beachside in a deafening, heavy silence.
"Tch... I let him get away," Bushido spat, his voice laced with uncharacteristic frustration. He stared at the empty space where Byakuya had vanished. "I have a thoroughly foul premonition about that individual... And that crown he seized, I could still feel the residual embers of Orochi's powers pulsing within it. And what in the heavens was that absolute light just now...? Damn it. There are far too many variables occurring at once."
Exhaling a long, ragged breath, Bushido turned his weathered gaze toward the damp sand where Yorimitsu lay.
"Ohhhh... look at that," the old master murmured, a brief, genuine smile cutting through his exhaustion. "The kid is already this proficient in the specialised breathing techniques I taught him. He self-mending. That is truly impressive."
CRACK—!
Without warning, the displaced seaside landscape violently snapped and splintered like shattering porcelain. The illusion dissolved entirely, violently dropping them both right back into the blood-drenched terrain of Sanctuary Island.
"Mmm... so much lingering devastation," Bushido muttered, his sensory network immediately picking up the chaotic, mourning energies echoing across the vicinity. He shook his head grimly as Yorimitsu slowly forced himself up onto his feet, using his soot-stained blade as a crutch.
"This nightmare is bound to trigger a massive war," Bushido murmured under his breath.
"A war...?" Yorimitsu repeated, his voice raspy as he wiped a trail of dried crimson from his chin.
"Mmmmmm. Think about it, boy. An unprecedented number of people from the high-ranking noble factions perished here today. I am entirely certain that the heads of those influential clans will weaponise this tragedy as immediate justification, stirring up violent political turmoil within the court to seize power."
'He is hiding something,' Yorimitsu realised instantly. He watched the subtle shift in Bushido's posture, noting the old master's uncharacteristically evasive tone and slightly shifty gaze.
Instead of pushing, Yorimitsu glanced up at the smoke-choked sky, his mind racing. 'I wonder how Shion and the others fared during the harvest... I can't afford to relax just yet. We need to locate them immediately.'
"So... what is our next course of action, Master?" Yorimitsu asked, keeping his gaze locked firmly onto the veteran warrior.
"We regroup with the surviving forces first," Bushido commanded, turning his back to hide the slight tremor in his rotting leg as he began to walk. "Once we ensure the perimeter is secure, we march straight back to the Capital. We need to report this to the higher-ups before the rumour mill tears the empire apart."
The old man sighed, looking back at the butchered landscape. 'This is an absolute, unmitigated mess.'