Chapter 386: The Chaos of Yamata no Orochi
At this very moment, inside the Reality Marble: Hell Screen of Shimousa.
"Yamata no Orochi! Break the barrier here first!" Shirou commanded.
"Humph! Fine! Let me show you the power of my true form!" The Serpent, controlling the Kunoichi's body, leaped high into the air, the gold in its eyes becoming increasingly dazzling!
Rumble rumble!
The ground within the Reality Marble began to shake, and mountains and castles swayed from side to side.
"You humans who do not know the height of the sky and repeatedly offend me! You who play tricks to deceive my Takamagahara! And you, the vengeful ghost from hell who provoked me and wished to use me! Now! I shall let you know who the master of this land truly is!!!" A roar that shook the heavens and the earth erupted from beneath the ground.
A cataclysmic earthquake occurred, followed by a shock that split the earth and startled the heavens.
BANG!!! A sound like a thunderclap rang out! A massive black shadow smashed through the ground and shot into the sky!
It was a serpent monster even larger than Toge Castle. Waving eight gigantic snake heads, it was not one of those previous serpent monsters, but the true Yamata no Orochi. Dragging its long body, it emerged from the ground, shattering the magical formation meant to convert humans into monsters and breaking the Reality Marble emitted by the Sorcerer.
In the small town outside Toge Castle, the fox dancing girl in the blue kimono held a hand over her eyes, gazing at the situation on the battlefield from afar, and let out a shriek: "Waah! The barrier has been broken! It's actually Yamata no Orochi! Her true body was actually brought here!?"
"That is my enemy. Once Shirou finishes off the Sorcerer, that snake will be our new great enemy," Illya said from the side, raising an eyebrow.
"No, no, we can't win against a monster like that. She actually came here! And both her soul and true body appeared at the same time! If her soul truly returns to that body, it will be a disaster. I really want to run away~!" Tamamo-no-Mae shook her fox ears, saying with some fear. This wasn't about being cowardly; as the Golden-Furred White-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox with deep ties to Wa-no-kuni, she was the one here who best understood the terror of the number one monster in this land.
"What a huge snake!" Kiyohime, nearby, opened her eyes wide, appearing slightly excited with stars in her eyes.
"Ah, ah... As for you, you might actually be a relative," Tamamo-no-Mae said with half-closed eyes, looking conflicted.
Especially on this land of Wa-no-kuni, Yamata no Orochi is a great monster that even the main gods and ancestral gods, Amaterasu and Susanoo, had to use schemes to defeat in mythology. In a sense, it is a main-god-level monster that she could only confront head-on if she had collected all her tails back.
"Mere mortals! Since you dared to use my avatar, prepare yourselves to be avenged!" The eight heads of Yamata no Orochi let out a shrill scream! Like a whip, they lashed out at the Demon Castle. When those hard snake heads smashed into the castle, it was just like Godzilla in a tokusatsu show hitting a model of a miniature building.
The barrier of the entire Enri-Edo Castle was smashed to pieces by the brute force of those eight snake heads. Even the building structure of the castle was affected, splitting into two from the Main Keep to the ground, and shattering apart.
"Why! Why!?" The Sorcerer Amakusa Shirou let out an angry roar of unwillingness. "Tokugawa slaughtered us, Musashi wants to stop me! Chaldea wants to stop me! The Counter Force wants to stop me! Now even Yamata no Orochi! Even a disaster beast like this wants to stop me?"
The Serpent opened its golden slit pupils and said in a deep voice:
"Did you mistake something? I am the local Snake God. Demanding humans offer young women as sacrifices is only natural, as the humans living there reside in my territory and originally belong to me.
However, the gods of Takamagahara sealed me away, so I naturally sought revenge against them. When did I ever say I permitted you to turn my territory into this state! If they are frightened every day, even the flesh of young women will become unpalatable."
"Bastard! Bastard! BASTARD!!! Aaaaaah!!!" The Sorcerer Amakusa Shirou let out an angry shriek.
At that instant, Shirou's eyes flashed with white light, and the sword in his hand was drawn and swung in an instant!
Draw Slash! Fusing the master technique of a swordsmith's sword-testing art, he unleashed the full performance of the weapon in a single strike.
The sword light passed through the Sorcerer's body, reaching directly to the essence of his existence, destroying the source of energy that he was constantly using to recover and heal.
"Ugh, aaaaaah!!! Damn you! Tokugawa! Emiya Shirou!!!" Amakusa Shirou perished under the sword light.
His remaining Reality Marble, which had been burned by flames, dissipated bit by bit like a peeled eggshell. At the center, the location where Shirou stood began to return to the sight of the shattered Main Keep.
"If one becomes an Avenger, then the final end is destined to be something like this. Just like the fate he bestowed upon the Servants as Heroic Spirit Swordsmen, this is also the fate of an Avenger," a certain Count who shined with electric light said coolly, holding down his hat in the strong wind.
"Hehehehe! The humans here are destined to die anyway, so offer them to me! It has been a long time since I tasted human flesh!" At this moment, the Serpent twisted its body, its eight heads exploring here and there, flicking their tongues, seemingly searching for humans in the vicinity, and roared triumphantly.
At this moment, Shirou made his move! In fact, the reason he did not draw the sword he had forged and activate his Noble Phantasm was for this very moment. Now, he had finally waited for the opportunity to take care of both Amakusa Shirou and the Serpent at the same time.
He raised his hand, and a massive pillar of white light descended from the sky, shrouding the inside of the Reality Marble, intending to trap the massive body of the Serpent within the world of the Reality Marble as well.
"Human! Emiya Shirou! You dare to betray me!!" The Serpent, pinned to the ground, let out a roar of unwillingness.
Shirou's eyes flashed with white light, unmoved, calmly watching as the Reality Marble closed and disappeared bit by bit. The Serpent opened its huge mouth, trying to break free, but the white light blocked it back like protective glass.
"Sorry, but I never agreed to your request," Shirou said. Since the Serpent still intended to eat humans, he could not leave it alone.
Indeed, he opposed the white god's methods of overcorrection. If the Throne of Heroes were sealed, he would not be able to see Artoria, Jeanne, and the others. If there were no gods, then Illya, who now existed as a fusion of goddesses, would not be here to meet him.
But this did not mean Shirou could accept a partnership proposed by a man-eating monster.
"Waah! Roar!" Yamata no Orochi was unwillingly sealed inside the hell in Amakusa Shirou's heart.
Everything was over, and the majesty emitted by the Serpent's body vanished from this world.
The surroundings became quiet, leaving only Shirou and the others with the broken Toge Castle.
"Ah! So the Holy Grail was here," Illya said, looking at the scene of devastation after the battle. She walked forward and lifted the broken, collapsed rubble. Sure enough, a brilliant golden
color was revealed in the pile of dirt. Only then did the magical energy sweep toward the surroundings like a balloon inflating and bursting, revealing its sense of presence.
As the former Lesser Grail of Fuyuki City, the girl had a special sensitivity to golden cups of similar nature.
The ground beneath Illya's feet cracked into pieces of soil containing large stones. The ground was shaking, as if some massive creature was about to overturn from underneath.
"Illya! Watch out!"
"Eh?" The young girl called out in surprise.
Shirou lunged forward, picked up Illya, and jumped to the side.
A snake head suddenly shot out from the ground, opened its blood-thirsty mouth, and swallowed the Holy Grail.
The appearance of the snake was exactly the same as the heads of Yamata no Orochi, only more robust, like a tree stump connecting all the trunks. After swallowing the Holy Grail, it seemed to be supplemented with energy, and its body continued to grow crazily. The width of its head alone was over two meters, and its mouth was wide enough to swallow an elephant whole. The Yamata no Orochi curled its long body, creating a mass of coils, and while its length was unclear, it was at least over 30 meters.
"Are you okay, Illya?" Shirou asked, putting the girl down, feeling worried.
"Yes, thank you, Shirou," Illya said.
Above the green, slit pupils of the serpent, two small bumps were bulging, as if something keratinous were about to break through the surface of the black scales. A hoarse, evil voice sounded from the snake's belly.
"Hehehehe, although the humans of this land all call me Yamata no Orochi, you wouldn't know that I had another name in the Primordial Era, would you? It is called the Nine-Headed Dragon God! The tail that was always hidden in the ground is actually another head of mine!"
A young girl crawled out of the snake's mouth; it was the Kunoichi Mochizuki Chiyome, who had disappeared inside the attic. It turned out that the voice was coming from her mouth.
Shirou activated his Mystic Eyes to check the Kunoichi's current state and said: "Be careful, she is no longer a Servant; she is in a completely different state. It seems she has been modified by the god and has completely turned into the body of Yamata no Orochi."
Yamata no Orochi shouted in a crumbling rage: "Humans! You foreign gods mixed together! You dare to ruin my plan to revive, what a disgrace! Unforgivable, unforgivable! I will swallow you all!"
Those who possessed the bloodline of an Oni or the blessings of a Great Myojin, even if they had died and become Heroic Spirits, could not escape this binding of their bloodline.
Only Shuten-douji, whose bloodline was the highest, seemed to have resisted the Serpent's control and left this world.
However, Fuma Kotaro was not among them.
Just as the Sorcerer used the Serpent, the Serpent also used the Sorcerer, making half of the Heroic Spirit Swordsmen he summoned pieces of the Serpent's chess set.
"Tomoe Gozen, Fuma Kotaro! Since my daughter, Shuten, is unwilling to help, there is still my son, Kojiro."
"KOJIRO!!!" Everyone looked at the blue-haired man on the side in surprise.
"Don't look at me," Sasaki Kojiro said awkwardly. "The so-called Kojiro is just a way to refer to the second son in the family. There are countless Jiro's all over the land."
Shirou said: "The Serpent should be talking about Soma Kojiro, also known as Taira no Masakado. After all, this is within the scope of the So-no-kuni (Kazusa Province), which is very close to Taira no Masakado's fief. Legend has it that he was the son of a dragon-snake, and because he was licked by the dragon-snake at birth, he possessed an indestructible body and the ability to create avatars. It was only after his true form was identified by Fujiwara no Hidesato that he could be killed with a single arrow. When he rebelled, he united the forces of the Kanto region and declared himself the 'New Emperor'. In the entire history of Wa-no-kuni, he is the only person who launched a large-scale rebellion and established his own imperial title."
Gudako also said in surprise: "Taira no Masakado, one of the four great vengeful spirits of Wa-no-kuni! The monster who could still bring harm even after his head was chopped off!"
"Humph! I am the new Emperor of Wa-no-kuni, replacing the Emperor, the true man of destiny! You juniors! Who will come forward to accept death!" Taira no Masakado split into seven, each avatar possessing the same sturdy body and powerful brute force.
"If that's the case, then use a Heroic Spirit to confront a Heroic Spirit! The Heroic Spirit capable of suppressing Taira no Masakado is..." In Shirou's mind, an image of that brawny man whom Master Xuanzang used as her eldest disciple 'Wukong', laughing boisterously, emerged.
Shirou attempted to project that person. White light flashed, and with the help of the Eyes of God, he performed a possession summoning, connecting to that Heroic Spirit above the Throne of Heroes.
"Didn't expect to see an acquaintance here, huh? Alright, then I'll lend you my bow," the Archer with one shoulder bare said with a smile.
"Thanks!" Shirou replied. His Saint Graph changed, and his spiritual attire also transformed into the garb of an ancient warrior holding a bow.
"That is Lord Tawara Toda's bow!" Sasaki Kojiro exclaimed.
"Ah! Although I actually like his rice bag better," Shirou said with a light chuckle. He drew his bow, nocked a steel arrow on the bowstring, aimed at the body emitting massive black demonic energy, and released the string.
Historically, the imperial court of Wa-no-kuni was weak, and Taira no Masakado, who had the support of some local daimyo and the identity of an imperial grandson, simply rebelled and declared himself the new Emperor. The battle-hardened Taira no Masakado conquered many cities and prepared to strike at the imperial capital.
The imperial capital hurriedly levied troops to go and suppress the rebellion.
It was during this campaign that Fujiwara no Hidesato rose to prominence and became famous for ages. He brought his precious bow to the front of the formation, and just as the large armies were about to engage, he shot and killed Taira no Masakado with a single arrow. Without a leader, the enemy army fell into chaos and fled directly before the battle even truly began.
However, in other stories, although Taira no Masakado was killed by Fujiwara no Hidesato using a scheme, he acted as a vengeful spirit. Even after his head was cut off, he caused the deaths of the Emperor and ministers in the imperial court, retaliating for everything.
Neither Onmyoji nor monks could do anything about him. Finally, they built a temple for him and worshipped him, only then did he agree to stop.
But whether vengeful spirit or monster, Shirou would not give him any chance!
Under the effect of his Mystic Eyes, the true and false forms of the seven avatars were fully exposed. The arrow, exploding with a intense flow of red magical energy, directly broke through the sturdy defense of Taira no Masakado's invincible, sword-and-spear-proof body. The sharp point of the arrow pierced his forehead, right between the eyebrows.
"Damn it...!!!"
The red magical arrow pierced through, and the seven avatars disappeared instantly, leaving only the main body that had been struck by the arrow, which by now had lost its life and collapsed onto the ground.
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