Silver Snake Singing to the Sea ~41~ At Least One Person

Surrounded by the eight thunder gods, the tide turned against Yare in an instant, and though he tried to escape, it was not to be.
The spider-like, long limbs of the Yatsukazuchi blocked his path, and they narrowed the circle with faces baring their gums.

"Keep him pinned down just like that."

With those words, Takemikazuchi crossed the wall of ocean currents Yare had created and tried to head to the other side.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"No cutting in line."

"Boss, don't leave me behind!"

"Kehi-kehi-kehi."

Responding to this, four of the gods left the circle to follow Takemikazuchi. At that moment, Yare swung his arms up wide, and the four Yatsukazuchi who had moved away were swept outside the 'Unasaka' in the blink of an eye.

The 'paths' Yare usually uses for travel become a 'tide' when bundled together. They look no different from seawater, but the current is terrifyingly fast; once caught in it, it is difficult to escape the flow.

Takemikazuchi escaped the current just in the nick of time and watched with a sullen expression as the Yatsukazuchi were swept away ungracefully.

"Ah! Sakuikazuchi, Kuroikazuchi, Ooikazuchi, and Naruikazuchi are..."

"Hey you, what did you do?"

"This guy uses some incomprehensible technique."

"Shall we do it? Shall we?"

Sharp flashes of light burst underwater. The Yatsukazuchi were unarmed, but every one of them generated lightning from their palms, causing their hair to stand on end in all directions.

—No, this is truly bad. Of all things, nine thunder gods... Even though their numbers have decreased, this is too troublesome...

The Yatsukazuchi lunged from all four directions.
Yare is a god as well, so he can endure being electrocuted. The lightning bursting before his eyes robbed him of his vision, a burning heat raced across his skin, and his head grew hazy, but as long as his hands could move, he could move the water.

He created four 'tides' simultaneously and pushed back the remaining Yatsukazuchi. Wakaikazuchi, Fusuikazuchi, and Tsuchiikazuchi were swept away, and after Honoikazuchi, who had been struggling while only his wrists were caught in the 'tide,' managed to break free, he lunged and bit down on Yare's arm.

"Let go!"

"I won't let you go."

When I tried to push Honoikazuchi's head away with my other hand to peel him off, Takemikazuchi's thunderbolt pierced through Yarei's body along with Honoikazuchi.

"Gah-gah-gah! Why did you hit me too!"

"You're a thunder god, aren't you? It should only be a little itchy at most. Did that black one over there kick the bucket?"

"Hehehe, he's rolling his eyes back."

"Good. That's enough. The one I must finish off is Watatsumi."

"Wait. I'll go find those guys who went somewhere, so take me with you."

"Unnecessary."

Takemikazuchi, who had unleashed the thunderbolt, made a sound like distant thunder rumbling deep in his throat. His voice carried the resonance of thunder, emitting a terrifying sense of intimidation.

Yarei realized that he could no longer stand a chance against this thunder god on his own. With a body that wouldn't move, all he could think about was Umiwaka.

Ah, it hurts... It's painful and agonizing. This is the first time I've felt this. I didn't know what pain was. I didn't really know what agony was. I understood so little... The 'Eighty Myriad Gods' of the 'True Sea' don't understand either. It's the same; they and I are the same. We keep destroying things without understanding a single thing...
Takemikazuchi and Honoikazuchi are talking about something, but I've gone deaf, so I can't hear them. In my clouded vision, their mouths are just opening and closing silently.
Yarei takes out the immortal medicine he received from Seoritsuhime from within his kimono, but blood wells up, and he cannot even put it in his mouth.

Ah, it's impossible. All I can taste is blood. It's foul... Is this what 'foul' means? How foul the things you ate in Yomi were... How they eroded your body. Neither I nor anyone else knows. But just because no one knows doesn't mean there is no pain or sorrow.

Suddenly, the immortal medicine he was still clutching turned into a pure fragrance that enveloped him, beginning to heal his wounds from the outside in.

I think that even in a 'Dragon Palace' without sorrow, it wouldn't be wrong for at least one person to cry for you. But before I cry... since you believed in me, I have to do a little more...

Yarei sat up. He could move. The wounds on his bitten arm and the burns had vanished, and sound returned to his ears.

“Well, you’re tougher than you look, aren’t you?”

Noticing this, Yatsukazuchi strode over. Takemikazuchi, with a look of resignation, prepared to unleash his thunderbolt once more.

“But if you take a few more of those, you won’t be getting back up.”

“I just have to make sure I don’t take them...”

“What was that?”

A shadow began to emerge beneath their feet. A gargantuan creature, one never seen before, was being summoned from the depths of the sea.

Riding the currents rising from the deep ocean floor, what appeared was, of all things, the bones of a whale. Dead whales sink to the bottom of the sea as their flesh is consumed. Yare was reawakening these skeletal whales, manipulating them with delicate movements of water as if they were alive.

The whales summoned from the deep became his limbs, driving Yatsukazuchi back. Then, another, even larger whale skeleton surfaced. He had the two whale skeletons swim around him like a fortress wall.
The water churned with a low, rumbling sound. Yare’s black robes flickered in and out of sight between the ribs of the slowly swimming skeletal fish.

“I see, so you intend to use them as shields.”

Takemikazuchi gathered lightning at the tip of his great sword.
As if to strike first, Yare created a vortex to restrain both of his arms, but Yatsukazuchi skillfully dodged the whale skeleton’s pursuit, closed the distance to Yare, and unleashed a thunderbolt at point-blank range.

The lightning deflected off the whale skull Yare had moved in an instant, dissipating along the spine.

“That was close...”

However, Takemikazuchi, whose restraints had loosened, fired a thunderbolt from his palm without a moment’s hesitation. It missed Yare, but realizing that facing two gods was a losing battle, he targeted only Yatsukazuchi and dragged him into the “tide.” This time, he pushed him far away without giving him a chance to escape.

“To think you could repel all of Yatsukazuchi.”

Takemikazuchi appeared impressed, but he did not let his guard down. Tension mounted between the two gods.

Would one be swept away by a single move, or would one be pierced by a thunderbolt in a single strike? They continued to glare at each other, determined not to miss a single movement.

The whale skeleton opened its mouth as if to intimidate. Behind it—deep below in the sea—Yare was creating a whirlpool. Swiftly and surely.

However, it was Takemikazuchi who moved before it could be completed. An exceptionally loud peal of thunder rang out, the water vibrated violently, and the area was filled with the aura of a god.

It was Yarei who was overwhelmed. The whirlpool lost its momentum, and at that moment, missing his chance, Takemikazuchi's great sword, accompanied by lightning, sliced through Yarei's shoulder.
A voiceless cry went up. As the blood-spurting shoulder hung limp, the whale bones began to sink, falling apart as if their strings had been cut.
With a broken shoulder, he could no longer move the seawater. The elixir he had received from Seoritsuhime was also gone.

As if to say his business was finished, Takemikazuchi headed toward the 'Sea Boundary'.

'...D-don't go.'

He managed to lift his other arm to try and stall him with another whale bone, but Takemikazuchi struck and shattered the whale bone with his great sword.

'That should be enough now...'

Takemikazuchi kicked Yarei's body away. Those crimson eyes were fixed on him for an instant like a piercing gaze, and then his body sank into the depths of the sea along with the whale bones.

The figure of the Thunder God vanished from his sight, and the blue ceiling he looked up at grew further and further away. As the reflected light eventually blurred into a circle, the water had already become freezing cold.

The ocean trench. Yarei fell deep into the depths of that profound valley.

-Seoritsuhime. Even though you said you believed in me... I haven't been able to do anything.

Tears welled up from both of Yarei's eyes, but he didn't know if it was out of frustration or unbearable sorrow.

-Watsumi. I wish I could cry for you, but it seems that's not it. There is nothing left I can do, but I wish for your happiness. It's okay to have at least one incompetent person in this vast sea who just wishes for your happiness, right...?

To be continued

Click here for the previous story ⚡️⚡️ Click here for the next story

ついに海境を越えた健御雷神。向かうは竜宮城。そして彼女のもうひとつの名前が明かされる………