Chapter 1622: Chapter 1622

Once they finished their lunch, Maria, her family, and her two new friends moved to the onsens, where they enjoyed the hot springs to their hearts' content while also taking a thorough bath to wash away any impurities from their bodies.

"Oh, it smells so nice here. Do they use bath salts?" Emeraldine wondered.

"Yes, I think they do," Nia said.

"It's good for the skin, I've heard," Maria said. "Though I wonder if my skin ever gets damaged enough to need its help. Well, it felt kind of dry before, so I suppose it does." ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novelꜰire.net

"Zzzz..." Partner had fallen asleep, resting her head on Maria's shoulder.

Meanwhile, the children had woken up and were swimming and splashing at each other in the water, causing a slight ruckus.

Thankfully, no one came to the onsen at this hour, as most preferred to visit at night, so they had it all for themselves.

While everyone relaxed, Maria decided to visit the Kami of this world discreetly, away from her family's gazes, as she had done when visiting Shuten Doji.

However, since she was leaving in an hour or two, she didn't plan to wait until night when everyone was asleep.

Nevertheless, no one noticed a significant portion of her soul soaring into the skies and spying on the nearest golden pagoda.

"Oho? Let's see what these Kami are doing in their daily lives~"

Maria smiled mischievously as she peered through the pagoda, bypassing the barriers and numerous magical charms and runes placed to prevent such intrusions.

"Do you want more grapes, Lord Onishi?"

"Ohohoh, I wouldn't mind some more!"

"Do you want more sake, my beautiful lord?"

"Hohoh! I wouldn't mind some more, my beauty!"

There, she found a corpulent man with a bald head and a leering smile, wearing colorful robes and golden accessories, as two beautiful women—a Yuki Onna and a Multi-Armed Asura—served him an array of delicious food and drinks.

"Huh? This is a Kami?"

Maria made a bemused face, utterly disappointed. Noticing no other Kami in this pagoda, she moved to another, finding a tall man with long black hair, as large as Lord Onishi, reading books while sipping green tea and eating rice crackers.

"Huh, this one seems pretty calm at least."

She swiftly moved to another golden pagoda, finding a female giantess, another Kami, having her long, pink hair combed by a group of maids who struggled with the task.

"Ouch! Be gentler, or I'll throw you out!"

"I'm so sorry, Lady Megukine!"

The giantess was strikingly beautiful, her appearance resembling an ancient Japanese painting, with a slender face and body and fox-like eyes.

However, she had a fiery temper.

"She has beautiful hair, but what's with that sour expression?"

Maria moved from pagoda to pagoda, realizing each house had one Kami and several servants, which surprised her.

This was the first time she had seen Gods living in such an unusual manner.

"Does every pagoda in the sky belong to a God? That's really strange. They don't even live in their own divine realms... wait."

Then Maria realized why they didn't reside in their own divine realms.

"Ah, right, Shuten Doji mentioned something similar. This world is their Divine Realm, or rather, a fusion of all their realms together. So they settled by living in giant floating castles. Haha, that's quite amusing."

Maria counted twenty-three golden pagodas here, but she knew a much larger palace rested above the clouds, so she slowly made her way there.

"So far, none of these Kami have the power to detect me. Are the Gods of this world this weak? Perhaps I could simply force my way in and conquer it...?"

For a moment, Maria considered bypassing negotiations and subduing all the Kami, using her Soul Contracts to compel them into becoming her obedient servants.

They would have to follow her every command, and this world would belong to her!

However, she quickly recalled how Odin had overtaken Yggdrasil, harming and killing many innocent Gods who didn't deserve it.

"No, I can't become like that tyrant. I won't abuse my power for selfish reasons... And I don't want to own an entire world. That's far too much responsibility. I'd end up fleeing like I did with Azure Star... Taking care of Yggdrasil drove Odin mad, after all."

"HALT THIS VERY INSTANT, INVADER!"

The moment Maria touched the white clouds above the sky, a powerful, commanding female voice echoed from the high heavens, and a shockwave of celestial and divine power struck her.

Maria was pushed back, gazing at the white clouds with surprise and awe. She hadn't expected this sudden confrontation.

Someone here was strong enough to detect her!

"Oh? Could it be Amaterasu? Or perhaps Tsukiyomi?"

Maria recalled the two powerful Kami Shuten Doji had mentioned, wondering if it could be either or both...

Another shockwave of celestial light struck Maria, but this time she powered up, resisting it effortlessly as her void absorbed all the light that touched her.

"You'll need more power than that to push me away."

"CELESTIAL SOLDIERS! DISPOSE OF HER!"

The commanding voice resounded, and from the white clouds emerged hundreds, then thousands, then millions of soldiers clad in ancient Japanese armor, crafted entirely of glowing white and golden light, wielding spears, swords, and even cannons.

They swarmed Maria like flies, attacking from every angle in an attempt to overwhelm her. Maria responded by unleashing her true form, embodying Shub-Eryndra, the Abyssal Mourner of the Starless Deep.

A shockwave of dark energies erupted from her body, distorting space and time around her. Maria's small, human-like form tore apart, revealing her true form, shocking even the automated soldiers.

"Your army is impressive."

Maria waved her hand, and millions of black tears shot from her arm, already drenched in tears from her countless weeping eyes.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Hundreds of explosions reverberated across the white heavens. The Celestial Soldiers perished almost instantly, and any new reinforcements were swiftly vaporized.

Cracks began spreading through the white heavens, and Maria realized the truth: this was an illusion, a barrier placed above the skies.

A large crack shattered, and Maria saw beyond it an eternal night sky, adorned with stars and nebulae in the distance, the void of outer space.

There, a massive pagoda-like palace floated, curiously shaped like a spaceship.