Amaterasu

The machine began to shake.

Steam hissed out from the gaps.

Then it exploded.

A golden light rose like a firework and rushed into the clouds.

Gojo looked up as if sensing something.

Above the clouds, a strange cursed energy was gathering.

It seemed to be brewing something.

Another cursed spirit being born?

He noticed the phenomenon, but he had no time to study it. There were too many cursed spirits on the ground. A rough estimate put them at over a thousand.

He could not indiscriminately destroy everything. That slowed him down.

Fortunately, most of the cursed spirits were low grade. They were troublesome to clear, but they did not cause much damage to sorcerers.

As for the ordinary people who had died, Gojo could only hope they had better luck next time.

He crushed a cursed spirit underfoot and headed toward the place where the golden light had risen.

On the other side of the city, Geto and Yashima stared upward.

"Why is there no movement after so long?"

"I do not know. This is still an experiment. A timing error is normal."

Then golden light flared in the sky.

The dark night was lit as if day had arrived.

Citizens who did not know the truth cried out in confusion.

"What is that? Is it a Special Grade cursed spirit?"

"My eyes. What is that thing?"

"That cursed energy is terrifying. Are we going to die here?"

Gojo stopped and looked at the golden light in the sky, his brows tightening.

Through his senses, the light was not made of simple cursed energy.

It felt familiar.

In a nearby house, a child shouted, "Mom, look. The sky is so bright."

"Go to sleep. What kind of dream are you talking about? It is the middle of the night."

The window opened.

A mother and child leaned out and stared blankly at the golden sky.

Gojo's expression shifted.

Ordinary people could see it.

Across the city, many civilians saw the phenomenon. The sorcerers still exorcising curses grew uneasy.

What exactly was this thing?

Geto and Yashima looked up from the other side of the city.

The situation had already left their control.

"Why is the scale this big? Even nearby cities should be able to see it, right?"

"I do not know. Even last time's Susanoo did not cause such a reaction."

"We need to leave. Gojo will come soon."

"Right, right. Let me take the equipment."

They packed quickly. Geto summoned a flying cursed spirit, and the two mounted it. In a flash, they appeared a hundred meters away.

Three seconds later, their figures were gone.

Gojo appeared where they had been.

He sensed a cursed spirit's trail and was about to follow.

Then golden lightning split the sky.

The clouds around it glowed.

A strong wind swept the clouds aside.

A golden figure slowly descended.

The dark sky looked like daylight.

Everyone who saw the figure had the same word appear in their mind.

Amaterasu.

"Amaterasu? Am I dreaming?"

"Amaterasu became a cursed spirit? We are finished."

"Is that really Amaterasu? Something feels wrong. The aura is impressive, but the cursed energy reserves are not that high."

"Now that you mention it, the face looks strange too. Is that a man's face?"

"It does look familiar, but I cannot place it."

After the shock passed, sorcerers soon realized that this Amaterasu was wrong.

It was far from the divine figure they imagined. Its strength did not match either. At most, it felt like a Grade 1-level false imaginary cursed spirit.

If that was truly Amaterasu, then the goddess was far too weak.

Ordinary citizens were not calm enough to analyze it.

They took out their phones and recorded the scene.

Some posted videos with captions about receiving Amaterasu's blessing on Christmas. Then they put their phones down and began making wishes toward the sky.

Soon, Amaterasu fully appeared.

The huge body floated above the city.

It looked terrifying and holy at the same time.

"Mustard leaf," Toge said, warning the others.

The pressure from that figure was too much for him. Its level was at least semi-Grade 1 or higher. He could not handle it now.

"Do not worry, Inumaki-senpai," Yuta said. "That figure probably will not hurt us."

He did not explain further. He only looked at the sky with a helpless expression.

On the other side of the city, Gojo stared blankly upward.

His blindfold hung in his hand.

Flash.

Flash.

He took several photos and even recorded a video. Because the angle was not good enough, he changed position deliberately.

Then he looked at the picture on his phone.

A wicked smile rose on his face.

On the road, Geto and Yashima had stopped running.

They stared at the figure in the sky.

"When you made it, did you expect this?"

"A little. I did not expect it to become this sensational."

Geto suddenly thought of a frightening question.

"According to the experimental data, this cursed spirit should disappear, right?"

If it remained, they would have no good way to deal with it.

"It will not last," Yashima said quickly. "The cursed energy leakage has been controlled, but that only stops it from disappearing naturally. As long as it attacks once and spends the cursed energy inside, it will vanish."

He swallowed.

"After all, I still have not developed a way for it to absorb cursed energy from outside."

Geto relaxed a little.

Then his expression shifted again.

"No. With a disturbance this large, Ren will definitely know."

The wind suddenly felt cold.

In a corner of the city, a figure was smashed into a wall.

Two blades pierced forward and scattered the cursed spirit.

Toji pulled his weapons back and drank from a bottle.

"Work up a sweat, drink a little. Not bad."

He had been hearing noise from the sky for a while and finally turned to look.

The golden figure reflected in his pupils.

When he saw that familiar face, his eyes widened.

"Ren Zenin?"

Toji could already imagine Ren's expression the next day.

He took out his phone and took several pictures.

"Those two have guts. Hope they survive tomorrow."

He put the phone away and prepared to go home to sleep. He had played enough tonight.

As for how the thing in the sky would be handled, that had nothing to do with him.

Then Amaterasu moved.

Every sorcerer in the city felt their hair rise.

They gripped their weapons and stared at it.

Whether or not it was really Amaterasu, that huge body was not something most of them could handle.

The figure slowly opened its eyes and looked down at the city.

Compassion appeared on its handsome face, as if it felt sorrow for the people hurt by cursed spirits.

Its hands rose from its sides.

The light in the sky grew brighter.

Pure white beams shot toward the ground.

Every cursed spirit they struck was erased, regardless of grade.

As time passed, countless white beams fell through the streets.

The cursed spirits that had troubled the whole city vanished under the light.

Half an hour later, the city was clean.

The figure's body began to turn transparent, as if its time had reached the end.

It slowly faded from sight.

The sky returned to darkness.

Only then did many people realize it was still the middle of the night.

"Amaterasu acted."

"I do not care if it is real or fake. From now on, that is Amaterasu. Anyone who argues can fight me."

"Amazing. I thought we would fight until morning. Now we still have time to celebrate Christmas."

"Did you notice? Only cursed spirits died. The buildings touched by the light were not damaged."

"So that is the difference between humans and gods?"

Sorcerers discussed the scene excitedly.

Seeing a legendary god once in a lifetime, even in this strange form, was more than enough fortune.

Yuta was surrounded by Maki and the others.

They did not ask questions directly, but their eyes made the meaning clear. If he did not explain tonight, he would not get away.

Yuta could only tell them about the agency.

Maki's expression became difficult to describe.

Toge listened and fell into thought.

Perhaps the boss of that agency could help him deal with the side effects of Cursed Speech.

Panda was shocked for a different reason. Masamichi Yaga often mentioned Ren's name, so it had been printed deep into Panda's core.

Yuta looked at the different reactions and smiled helplessly.

"Let us go. Tonight will not be peaceful."

On the other side of the city, Gojo put away his phone with satisfaction.

Because the recording had been so long, his phone had almost died. Luckily, he carried a power bank.

Otherwise, he would have missed such a wonderful scene.

Ren would never show a compassionate expression like that.

Recording it had been worth it.

Gojo did not know what this Amaterasu truly was, but when morning came, a trip to the agency would probably answer everything.

He tied the blindfold back around his eyes and vanished.

That night was destined to be sleepless.

On December 25, the topic of Amaterasu rushed to the top of social platforms.

Videos and photos appeared everywhere.

The same scene had been recorded from different places at the same time.

It all suggested that what happened was real.

Some people dug up old footage of Susanoo from years ago and compared it.

Others argued about why Amaterasu had a male face.

The discussion became so intense that it buried official announcements about the previous night's attack.

That was convenient.

Using this topic to distract public attention while money settled the families of the dead would allow the matter to fade.

At the agency, Geto and Yashima stood innocently in front of Ren's desk.

Their heads were lowered. Neither dared meet Ren's eyes.

"Do you two have anything to explain?"

A phone landed in front of them.

On the screen was a clear close-up of Amaterasu's face.

"Boss," Yashima said weakly, "I only thought that if we were doing an experiment, this counted as divine descent. I wanted to shape the god according to my own idea."

His voice became smaller.

"I just did not expect it to get this big."

Ren did not answer. His gaze shifted to the side.

"Suguru Geto?"

Geto's body trembled.

"I did not think much at the time. I thought what he said made sense, so I agreed."

Ren tapped the desk.

The full-length mirror beside the room rippled.

"Stay inside for a day."

Both of them knew that everything in the Mirror World was decided by Ren. But there was no way to escape. They could only brace themselves and enter.

The mirror returned to calm.

Toji looked at his phone and could not hide his smile.

"Ren, are you not curious?"

Ren's pale eyes showed a hint of helplessness.

It was probably the first time such an emotion had appeared there.

He had told them to run an experiment. They had created this.

Now nearly everyone in Japan remembered that face.

"Do you want to go in for them?"

"Forget it," Toji said instantly. "People who make mistakes should be punished."

Let him suffer for those two?

No chance.

Then Yuta and Toge entered.

"Boss, we have something we would like to ask for your help with."

"Kelp," Toge added.

"Five million," Ren said.

Toge's eyes widened.

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