Sū ěr continued to mobilize the world's spiritual energy to block Amaterasu advance. As Ashihara no Nakatsukuni shattered, the power he could tap into increased, yet it did nothing to change his situation. After all, whenever he called upon the energy, Amaterasu called upon her own share.
The stagnant Milky Way finally began to flow. It carried a weight that belonged to more than just one era. It flowed and flowed... and then scattered. Before the eyes of countless terrified beings, the end of the Milky Way fanned out like a peacock's tail, but what it unfurled were stars—flowing stars.
Sū ěr had been struggling since Takamagahara broke, but he never forgot to keep an eye on that Milky Way. He remembered that both his journey to the future and his return were tied to it. Thus, he was the first to catch the anomaly.
If the Milky Way were a river, this "fanning out" wasn't a widening or an increase in water; those chaotic, aimless shooting stars were a sign of a collapse that could no longer be sustained.
Or rather, the entire world looked like a scene from the apocalypse. Volcanoes erupted, floods swallowed plains, and the cracks in the earth were large enough to swallow massive Yōkai. The demons gathered by Yakumo Yukari huddled together, resisting the disasters. In Izumo, the gods and Oni pulled their seven floating islands together, trying to save the humans—the world was collapsing, the world was dying.
Stunned, Sū ěr realized that in such a short time, the world had fallen to this state. The reckless extraction and crude manipulation of the world by him and Amaterasu had accelerated the end.
But... this shouldn't be happening?
He grew agitated. He couldn't accept this result—Why?
If this world was never supposed to collapse, if it wasn't supposed to end like this, then where did that human-ruled modern society come from?
Did the future... change?
Did I do something wrong? After learning of the past from Nurarihyon, he had thought this journey was the fulfillment of that future. But in the future Nurarihyon spoke of, he hadn't done this? Different actions led to a different future—did I... destroy this world?
The weight of those words flashed through Sū ěr heart, refusing to leave. Despite all he had been through, he still couldn't bear the guilt of causing an entire world and all its life to vanish.
I... she... I—BANG!!!
"ARE YOU CRAZY!!! STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT NONSENSE RIGHT NOW!"
Think scream, nearly breaking her voice, was a mix of scolding and uncontrollable worry. It pulled Sū ěr consciousness back from the brink of blurring.
Just then, Amaterasu had seized the moment he drifted off—which lasted far longer than an instant. A flood of gore, mixed with spiritual energy, slammed into him. Ropes of meat lunged out to pull Sū ěr body into the mass, only to be torn away by an enraged Think.
Her flimsy magic was useless now; she could only help Sū ěr body dodge through the hands of the cackling Amaterasu.
"WAKE UP! GET A GRIP!"
She wanted to slap him, but seeing the blood flowing from his eyes, nose, and ears made her afraid to use even a bit of force. She could only shout in a futile, desperate attempt to wake him.
From a powerless mortal to the One True God, Sū ěr had overwhelming power, but he had no experience in high-level combat. That was an experience he couldn't have gained as a human.
He struggled to regain control of his body, but his movements were no longer as graceful as they had been. He was narrowly escaping death at every turn; the price of that momentary distraction was far from paid.
Seizing the opportunity of his brief lapse, Amaterasu occupied the parts of the world Sū ěr had loosened his grip on, further strangling his connection.
Death was closing in. Mistakes were piling up. Amaterasu was laughing—endless, manic laughter.
"Yes, yes... just like that! Hahaha!" As the Milky Way collapsed, the beings of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni could finally hear her voice. "DIE! DIE! DIE!"
"I won't lose! I won't fail!" she screamed, enraged at the mere possibility of failure, yet clearly terrified. She swung her arm with the weight of a world. "I already tried it with Tsukuyomi! I cannot fail!"
"I will become the god that represents the world! I will be like them, a Kotoamatsukami! A Hitorigami!!!"
The more Sū ěr wavered like a butterfly in a storm, the more frenzied she became. She poured everything into her pursuit, yet grew increasingly frustrated that the man kept emerging from her power, no matter how wounded.
"So—just die! DIE!"
"Only when you die can I shed this burden! Only when you die can I become an incorporeal god!! DIE! WHY WON'T YOU DIE!!!"
BOOM!!!
Sū ěr couldn't reply. He felt his soul being hammered by Amaterasu, who had tracked him through the world's connection. Pain—pain he hadn't felt in so long—made him grit his teeth in a savage resolve.
Think soul-form had become chains bound to his will, keeping him from scattering. The pain was shared with her.
—It was a wind.
An indigo aurora, yet it smelled of wind—who was laughing?
It wasn't Amaterasu demonic cackle, but a relaxed, cheerful, and mischievous laugh, like a boy's. Just hearing it had a calming magic.
And white feathers began to spiral down from the sky.