---o---
A verdant, deep mountain.
The rich scent of earth and trees filled the air, accompanied by the gentle babbling of a nearby stream.
One would surely think it a comfortable place for a leisurely stroll.
If anyone were to see such a landscape, that would be their immediate thought.
But—
That was not the reality of it.
In fact, for ninety-nine percent of mages, this place was a land of certain death. It could even be said that for the vast majority of God-Slayers, it was an exceedingly perilous location.
This was the Astral Plane.
A world where the spiritual takes precedence over the physical, and ethereal bodies rank higher than material ones.
'World-traversing' from the mortal realm to the Astral Plane was a magical art of the highest difficulty, requiring the consumption of precious spiritual elixirs beforehand.
Mages who have set foot in the Astral Plane are exceedingly rare, due to the immense difficulty of obtaining both the ritual for teleportation to another world and the necessary elixirs.
Without a drug that could activate one's spiritual efficacy and allow the physical body to adapt to this other world, anyone aside from a God-Slayer or a deity would die from being unable to acclimate to the environment.
And within this mountainous landscape of the Astral Plane, there stood a simple, wooden cabin, like something out of a historical drama.
A brief glance was enough to tell that this house was completely cut off from things like household electricity, gas, and running water. Inside, there was only an old-fashioned bed and a sunken hearth.
Within the cabin, an old man who appeared to be its master sat cross-legged before the old hearth.
He was tall, at least over one hundred and eighty centimeters, with a very large frame. He wore only a single coarse kimono, revealing a powerful physique that completely defied his age. The muscles covering his body would put most strongmen to shame.
The old man's expression was just as stubborn, perfectly matching his robust build.
If anyone with the ability of spiritual sight were here, they would surely be scared witless upon seeing this old man.
Destroying Takamagahara, deceiving Amaterasu Ōmikami, slaying the god of food in a rage, subjugating Yamata no Orochi…
With spiritual sight, it would not be difficult to see these scenes—which should only exist in legend—emanating from the old man's being.
The old man's true identity was already obvious.
He was Susanoo.
Or rather, the Heretical God Susanoo, who had wandered the earth for a thousand years, brought his own madness under control, and entered the Astral Plane to live in semi-seclusion.
At present, this Heretical God who had tamed his own frenzy was not in a good mood.
The reason was simple.
Many major events had occurred recently.
First, the Astral Plane—which exists outside the timeline and should theoretically be able to observe the past, present, and future of the outside world—had suddenly lost its observational function.
Then, for some unknown reason, the number of God-Slayers in the mortal world began to skyrocket.
Eleven God-Slayers.
A single era had produced a double-digit number of God-Slayers.
For the vast majority of Heretical Gods, especially those with the attributes of 'Steel' and 'Hero', this was a wonderful development they could only dream of.
Doing battle with the demon kings rampaging through the mortal world and cleaving off their heads was precisely what Hero Gods and Gods of Steel loved most.
If his madness had not yet been brought under control, the Heretical Susanoo would have been overjoyed by this and would have immediately sought out his mortal enemies for a battle to the death.
But—
His madness had been controlled.
This meant that the Heretical Susanoo's personality would gradually align with the true Susanoo.
And the true Susanoo was not purely a god of storms and steel.
If he needed to deceive an enemy, he would become a trickster who beguiled and deluded his foes—a god of deception, a god of theft.
Gradually breaking free from his madness, the Heretical Susanoo had naturally become a sly old fox.
This Heretical God, who in a sense was now very close to his original self, naturally had no desire to fight a group of lunatics and chose to hide instead.
The current situation in the outside world, a chaotic dance of demons, was clearly not favorable for Susanoo.
And, what was most troubling…
Among those demon kings, a particularly vicious one had come to the Far East and killed the King of the Far East, a boy he had held in high regard.
This information was passed to him by a member of the History Compilation Committee, through the Seishuin family.
And—
This new King had clearly stated that he came to the Far East to hunt the strongest 'Steel'.
That hero, sleeping in the sky.
At this thought, the Heretical Susanoo's mood grew agitated.
How did that guy know that Rama was sleeping in the Far East?
The so-called 'King of the End' was a 'Demon King Annihilator' chosen by the gods to prevent an overabundance of demon kings from ravaging the mortal world.
Once awakened, the hero chosen as the Demon King Annihilator would begin to cleanse the world of all calamities.
If the God-Slayers were all slaughtered by the awakened hero, it would actually be a very good development for Susanoo.
After all, while ruling a country from the shadows of the Astral Plane was satisfying, it was obviously not as satisfying as ruling directly.
But—
Prince Rama was already very tired.
He carried out the hero's mission purely because if he didn't fall into slumber soon, the world would be destroyed by his passive abilities, and the only way for him to sleep was to kill all the God-Slayers.
His rationality was already nearing its limit, as he had no desire to act and was only being whipped forward by fate with the threat of "world destruction."
The burden of the divine sword of salvation was too great for him, leaving him utterly exhausted.
No one could guarantee that after Prince Rama awakened, he wouldn't start to resent the very soil from which God-Slayers were born—the Heretical Gods.
If the strongest 'Steel', mockingly nicknamed "Luo Aotian" and "Luo Aoyu," became resentful, all Heretical Gods existing in this world would be slaughtered.
A hero who slaughters demon kings, only to turn his blade on the gods who gave him his mission, sounded a bit ridiculous.
But it was not impossible.
In the worldline where Mithra served as the King of the End, Mithra's method of eliminating God-Slayers was to slaughter all Heretical Gods, making it impossible for new God-Slayers to be born.
Once that exhausted prince was pushed too far, it was entirely possible he would imitate Mithra, directly kill all the Heretical Gods to reduce the breeding ground for God-Slayers, and buy himself more time to sleep.
When that time came, it would truly be the end of everything.
Even without using the divine sword of salvation, if that prince simply unleashed his full power, it would be enough to make the gods tremble.
And he still held the most terrifying weapon in this world.
If he turns his blade on me…
Having learned from the Seishuin family that the newborn King was injured after his fierce battle with Kusanagi Godou, Susanoo stood up.
Then—
The divine swords known as Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi and Ame-no-Habakiri appeared in his hands. Upon their blades flickered a cold light that seemed capable of tearing the soul asunder.
He had to stop that boy who didn't know his own limits.
---o---
Author's Note:
PS: After looking up Rama's description in mythology, I feel like I'm reading a novel by that red-haired old man.