Chapter 423: The Black Death!
As the dark curtain vanished, the evening sunlight once again poured over the land.
The light and fire that had been nullified earlier had now been restored.
"What are you planning to do?"
Athena couldn't help but ask again.
"Just conducting an experiment,"
Renji replied, giving the once-again-loli-fied Athena a head pat, which made her twist her little head in displeasure.
Speaking of which, wouldn't she resist or try to escape after having her seal released?
For one, after the seal was lifted, her divine power wouldn't immediately recover—it would take time.
As for how she had the strength to wield such a vast Authority, it was sponsored by Renji's power.
He wasn't worried that she would turn against him.
By now, he had almost fully grasped the details of Athena's legends. With the ability to reenact myths and the Golden Sword, he had Athena completely cornered.
"An experiment? What kind of experiment?"
"I want to try rewriting myths,"
Renji said eerily.
The myths woven by humanity could bring about significant changes to gods.
For instance, if humans were to weave a new legend related to Athena, once this myth gained some influence and spread, it would genuinely affect Athena.
So, under the cover of Athena's abilities, he was spreading his plague.
Of course, he didn't actually intend to create a hellish scenario; he was merely using the spread of the plague to disseminate something else.
It was like a computer being infected by a virus—he wouldn't let the virus damage the computer. Instead, the virus's invasion provided him with a channel to tamper with some of the computer's internal programs.
That was his goal.
"Rewrite myths?"
Athena raised an eyebrow and stared deeply at him.
If it was truly as she suspected, it would be even more terrifying.
More frightening than his previous display of reenacting myths.
So, she decided to wait and see.
If things continued like this, that woman would eventually jump out to confront him directly.
No matter who won, it would ultimately break the current stalemate, which would be a good thing for Athena.
Come to think of it, she was also curious about one thing: how did this guy convert the meager magical power of humans into such immense strength?
When he provided her with power, Athena faintly sensed a special connection between him and three human women.
Those three women were constantly supplying him with power, much like wireless charging in modern human technology. However, the amount transmitted wasn't very large, so it didn't drain the three human girls much or cause any significant impact.
Unless his power was nearly depleted, like that day when he drained their power in one go.
Moreover, Athena had also discovered something: the reason he was so difficult to detect as a Heretic God was that he existed in a state of being both human and god simultaneously.
He could switch between these two states.
And now, her current situation—being sealed by his Authority—was also quite peculiar, as if he had brought her down from the heavens and made her human.
Thus, Athena felt an unexpected sense of freedom in losing all her power.
It was as if that invisible Thread of Fate had vanished, no longer making her feel constrained, as though it had been completely severed.
Tōshōgū was a famous shrine in this country.
The group that had now arrived here stepped onto its grounds under the cover of true night.
Since it was still early in the evening, and this was a popular tourist spot, quite a few visitors could still be seen around.
Ahem
Cough~
Some people were coughing.
"Speaking of which, why does it feel so hot?"
It wasn't summer yet—it was only early April, just a few days after the new school term had begun—and the weather was still quite chilly.
The person who mentioned feeling hot wasn't engaged in any strenuous activity either, yet they were inexplicably sweating.
"Really? I feel unusually cold today."
The one who said this was chattering their teeth.
Normally, given what they were wearing, they shouldn't have been this cold.
So, Kaoru, noticing that some of the tourists seemed off, had a bad feeling about the situation.
Just then, a figure came jogging over—it was her subordinate, Touma Amakasu.
"How's the situation?"
"Not good. It's spreading at an unimaginable speed."
Touma scratched his head in frustration as he spoke.
Although the dark veil had disappeared, the plague seemed to be truly spreading, and signs were already beginning to show.
In less than two hours, the number of people across the country experiencing minor physical ailments had suddenly surged to over a million.
Moreover, it wasn't limited to the areas previously covered by the dark veil; sporadic cases were appearing in unaffected regions as well.
"What exactly is causing it?"
If they could immediately identify the virus responsible for the spreading plague, they could start targeted treatment right away.
She hoped it was a purely physical virus and not something like a curse—otherwise, things would get complicated.
"The Black Death!"
Touma uttered the term gravely.
Hearing this, Kaoru shuddered.
Beside her, Ena tightened her grip on the long cloth bag she was holding.
As for Hikari, even at her young age, she knew what the Black Death was, and her pupils widened with fear.
In truth, they had already speculated this possibility through certain phenomena.
Thus, when confirmed, fear inevitably grew within their hearts.
With such a massive infection base, isolation became meaningless.
Moreover, despite modern medical conditions being quite advanced, the Black Death remained an extremely dangerous plague. Once it broke out, the situation would truly be precarious.
Therefore, to prevent the plague from fully erupting and turning the country into a living hell, they had to quickly locate that Heretic God and defeat it.
So, Kaoru turned her head to look at the person she was carrying on her back—Mariya Yuri.
To find that Heretic God, they needed this child's assistance.
"Immediately mobilize all Hime-Miko with spiritual vision to begin the search," Kaoru promptly issued the order.
Although Yuri was the Hime-Miko with the finest spiritual vision, they couldn't place all the pressure on her alone, nor gamble all their hopes solely on her.
"By the way, contact that Princess immediately!"
The Princess of the Council of Sages would surely extend a helping hand.