# 951
Chapter 952: Corpse God
"The blade you wanted."
Lady Wu tossed the White Slash into Amemiya Haruki's hand with a casual flick, her expression blank. It was as if she hadn't just撼动了一座山峰 (shaken a mountain) but merely pulled a weed, utterly composed.
"Shota, wasn't Big Sister just now amazing?" She walked up to Hoshimi Shota and pinched his cheek. The indifferent face suddenly displayed a teasing grin.
Shota's cheeks flushed red as he stepped back, "It, it was... just average."
"Is that so? Then tonight, let Big Sister show you something even more amazing..."
"You, you vixen! Don't say such things!"
While Shota was being thoroughly teased, Amemiya Haruki caught the blade and examined it carefully for a moment, then gave a slight nod.
He set down the wooden box behind his back and opened it. Inside the spacious container, four Magatsu Blades were neatly arranged, each emanating a different luster.
Just as Amemiya Haruki was about to place White Slash inside, the mountain beneath their feet shook violently once more!
Everyone present turned their gazes toward Lady Wu.
Lady Wu raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me? It wasn't me this time."
"Not you?" Furuhara Yoshiki asked with confusion on his zombie-like face. "Then who could it be?"
BOOM...
A low humming sound emanated from beneath the mountain. The cracks that already covered the mountain's surface began spreading frantically once more. Large boulders tumbled from the summit, and dust rose everywhere.
A sinister black pillar of light suddenly erupted from the shattered volcanic crater, piercing through the thick clouds and shooting straight into the sky!
A cold and ancient aura poured forth from the mountain's peak. A low roar echoed within the mountain's body, and a terrifying, blood-chilling presence descended without warning.
The moment that aura touched her, Lady Wu's expression shifted. She stretched out an arm to shield Hoshimi Shota behind her, her eyes locked on the black pillar at the summit. Her face was filled with grave solemnity.
"What is that thing?" Furuhara Yoshiki asked, shock evident on his zombie-like features.
"...It's a corpse beast, cultivated from the body of a Takamatsukami sealed beneath Mount Fuji." Amemiya Haruki seemed to realize something, his brow furrowing tightly. "'The place where the Corpse God stands guard'... so that's what it meant."
"What? I don't understand?" Hoshimi Shota asked in confusion.
"This Takamatsukami's corpse has been sealed beneath Mount Fuji for countless ages. The residual divine power within its body didn't dissipate—it became trapped within this mountain.
Originally, even if White Slash were pulled out, nothing unusual would have occurred. But ever since that soul-corrupting power appeared, the Takamatsukami's corpse has also been contaminated. Within this mountain storing divine power, an incredibly powerful corpse beast has been born...
No, given the total amount of divine power it inherited, calling it a Corpse God would be more accurate."
"So, after White Slash was pulled out, that Corpse God emerged?" Yuzuri Nana gazed at the ascending black pillar, her pale little face full of worry. "What should I do?"
"...Run!"
Furuhara Yoshiki and Hoshimi Shota shouted in unison. Without hesitation, all four of them turned and rushed downward along the gradually fragmenting mountain.
The black pillar shooting from the summit grew increasingly massive. The mountain shook violently. Suddenly, a colossal hand stretching across the heavens emerged from the volcanic crater and slammed down around the ring mountain, directly carving another savage rift into the terrain.
Following that, a black head without any features slowly rose from the volcanic crater, followed by the neck, torso, and limbs...
When its body fully emerged from beneath Mount Fuji, that massive shadow had already completely blotted out the dim sun in the sky, casting a shadow large enough to cover half the city. The sunlight was swallowed by its pitch-black silhouette, emanating a suffocating pressure.
Though there was no aura of law-based power, the divine authority radiating from its body was genuine god-realm level.
"This thing is way too huge, isn't it?" Furuhara Yoshiki looked back at the towering giant standing on the summit, unable to help but remark. "One stomp down and half the city would be gone."
"It was born from a Takamatsukami corpse that had preserved its divine power completely. It's on an entirely different level from those corpse beasts we encountered before."
The Corpse God standing atop the summit slowly turned its head. That black face without features lowered to gaze down at the four ants desperately fleeing Mount Fuji.
In the next instant, a vertical gap suddenly split open across its face. Behind the jagged fangs lay a blood-red void.
Facing the direction where the four were fleeing, powerful divine energy rapidly gathered before that fissure, flickering with a faint red glow.
BOOM——!!!
A thin red line shot forth from the fissure, sweeping across the fragmented mountain toward those four figures in an instant. Thunderous explosions and flames rose into the sky along its path!
"Get out of the way!!"
When Amemiya Haruki saw this, his pupils constricted sharply. He violently kicked Furuhara Yoshiki in the chest, sending him flying. With his other arm, he pulled Yuzuri Nana close and leaped toward the right side of the mountain.
Lady Wu, who had been protecting Hoshimi Shota, immediately clutched him to her chest. Her form flickered and she evaded that red line.
Blinding firelight filled everyone's vision. The terrifying blast wave sent them tumbling. Amid the endless shower of flying rocks, their bodies crashed heavily to the ground.
"Rainfall Collapse-brother!"
Yuzuri Nana scrambled up from the ground. When she saw the bloody gash carved across Amemiya Haruki's back from the flying rocks, she cried out in alarm.
"It's just a scratch. I'm fine." Amemiya Haruki hastily pulled his black kimono back into place. He took a deep breath, rising from the cracked, scorched earth. His eyes stared fixedly at the Corpse God on the summit.
The second faint red glow had already begun gathering within its fissure.
Sensing that apocalyptic terror, Amemiya Haruki's expression turned grim. As if making some fateful decision, he unclasped the wooden box from his back and pressed it into Yuzuri Nana's hands.
"Rainfall Collapse-brother?" Yuzuri Nana stared in bewilderment.
"That thing's attack range is far too great. If this continues, we'll all die here." Amemiya Haruki spoke calmly. "Contact Takishiro and come get the Magatsu Blades. You and Furuhara go ahead. I'll delay it for a while."
"Rainfall Collapse, but that's..."
Furuhara Yoshiki, who had just staggered to his feet, paused. It seemed he wanted to persuade him otherwise, but Amemiya Haruki cut him off.
"Go."
CLANG——!!
A crisp ring of blade-song echoed as the deep-blue long blade flew from its sheath.
Rainfall Collapse was drawn.
CRACK!
Lightning streaked across the sky. A single drop of rain pierced through the昏暗 (murky) dome above and landed upon the deep-blue blade's edge, shattering into tiny droplets that scattered outward.
Then came the second drop, the third...
In an instant, a torrential downpour came thundering from the heavens, like a silver river from the skies, drowning all of Mount Fuji's scarred landscape.