Mount Fuji, the Well of Bones.
The entire mountain range was covered in a sea of white fungal threads, resembling a winter blizzard, blanketing the whole area.
In such conditions, no living creature on Earth could step foot into this forbidden domain.
The fungal threads spilling from the Well of Bones acted like the enemy of all life, draining the vitality from anything it touched. Even the land itself was losing its life force, drying and cracking in its wake.
Herzog stood by the well, looking like a devout follower, exclaiming in excitement, "Dragon King!"
"The Dragon King has awakened," the head of the engineering team said in a near-groan, his voice filled with awe. "So this is the Dragon King, the Eight-Headed Serpent (Izanami)!"
From above, the hum of helicopter blades filled the air, dozens of them circling the Well of Bones. A creature with eight twisted dragon heads and a body covered in pale scales was dragging its long, spiked tail. Using its heads as feet, it climbed up the edge of the well.
At a glance, the creature resembled the Eight-Headed Serpent from "The Chronicles of Japan," a symbol of disaster.
No, to be precise, the Eight-Headed Serpent was real; it had just been recorded in a different form by humans over the long passage of time.
"Stop talking nonsense. Look more carefully," Miyamoto Shio's eyes burned with madness and hatred. He gritted his teeth and said, "That's not a Dragon King. It's a monster!"
"Whatever it is, our mission remains the same," a deep voice came over the radio, clear to all. "At all costs, prevent that thing from escaping the well. Today, in the name of the 74th head of Yamata no Orochi, I will sever the curse that has passed through our bloodline!"
"Fire!"
Miyamoto Shio's eyes turned vicious, his voice a loud command, "Suppress it! Don't let it escape!"
"I've been waiting for this moment!" Fūma Kōtarō pulled the trigger with all his might, and the Vulcan Cannon mounted on the side of the helicopter roared with death's metallic scream. A storm of bullets, like a waterfall, rained down on the Eight-Headed Serpent below.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The bullets from the Vulcan Cannon hit the serpent's pale scales, sparking with brilliant flashes.
The massive force caused the Eight-Headed Serpent to slide down the well's wall, blood seeping from its scales. However, this level of resistance was not enough to stop it. After a brief pause, the creature rapidly resumed its ascent, moving even faster.
"Continue! Continue!" Herzog gripped his fists tightly, his voice filled with excitement. "Let me see how far the ultimate creature can go!"
Whoosh!
At that moment, a missile with a trailing tail flame struck the target directly.
The powerful shockwave from the explosion tore apart part of the Eight-Headed Serpent's back, exposing its pale spinal bone. Blood sprayed out like a fountain.
With a painful scream, the massive body of the Eight-Headed Serpent fell like a giant stone back into the pit.
Herzog was also caught in the blast wave, and his body was sent flying, heavily injured, spitting out blood. But the madness in his eyes didn't fade. He still stared at the great creature. "Did you see that? This is what true power looks like!"
"Don't let your guard down, keep attacking!"
At this moment, Miyamoto Shio was no longer acting like a researcher. Instead, he looked like a war maniac, his eyes bloodshot as he shouted, "Tengu group! Hana group! Keep the pressure up! Use firepower and kill it! Blow it to dust!"
"Aim at Herzog! Kill that bastard too!"
"Use napalm bombs!"
"Take that, you monster!"
A napalm bomb, loaded with gel fuel, was precisely thrown into the pit.
Boom!!!
A massive flame erupted, reaching into the sky like a pillar of fire.
The fire ignited the entire red pit, the extreme heat reaching thousands of degrees, melting even the rocks. The white fungal threads covering the pit's walls were instantly burned away. The heat wave rising up turned the night sky crimson.
"Great! We've done it!"
"This time, this thing is definitely dead!"
Cheers rang out over the radio communication channel.
"It would be nice if it were that easy," Gen Chisei muttered to himself, silently gripping the hilt of his sword.
It seemed to confirm his words. As everyone held their breath, waiting for the result, eight pairs of golden eyes, like blazing torches, lit up deep in the dust-filled well.
The vertical pupils, burning hot like molten gold, emitted a terrifying brutality and hatred. They locked onto the lowly creatures who dared to strike at the Dragon King.
With a soul-shaking roar, the smoke was torn apart, and the "Dragon King" once again climbed out from the Well of Bones.
Pale scales were attached to flames, and a large amount of blood poured out from within. Some of the scales were torn apart by explosions, revealing the red, bloody muscles and tendons beneath.
At that moment, the Eight-Headed Serpent appeared like a demon returning from the underworld, with eight heads growling the most vicious curses. It had just broken free from its cocoon.
Once it left this place and had a moment to rest, it could regain more power, and at that point, it could easily destroy these insignificant creatures.
"Damn it, continue suppressing it! Suppress it!" Miyamoto Shixiong shouted, both shocked and furious.
Four helicopters hovered in the air, adjusting their angles to descend and prepare to continue suppressing with the Vulcan cannon.
However, the Eight-Headed Serpent's long tail, covered in sharp bone spurs, moved like a streak of light, trailing an arc of glowing light as it flashed across the dark night sky.
It was like the blade light of an unparalleled swordsman, its dazzling brilliance temporarily overpowering the searchlights.
Sizzle!
A second later, the four helicopters were neatly sliced in half, their smooth break lines like mirrors.
The trace of the serpent's long, spiked tail remained in the air, as if the white arc of light had separated the entire night sky, leaving everyone unsure if it was an illusion or reality.
Only when the helicopters crashed did the others suddenly realize what had happened.
"Kusanagi!" Herzog, ignited by a gasoline bomb, continued to laugh maniacally. "Did you see that? The sword capable of cutting the world! The mythical Kusanagi!"
In myth, Susanoo wielded his father Izanagi's divine sword, the Ama-no-Ohabari, to slay the Eight-Headed Serpent. But when cutting up the serpent's body, the divine sword broke. He then found a sword called "Kusanagi" inside the serpent's tail.
If the serpent hadn't been drunk and asleep when killed, the outcome wouldn't have been the Eight-Headed Serpent dying beneath the Ama-no-Ohabari, but Susanoo dying with the Kusanagi.
No one could have imagined that the mythical Kusanagi sword was actually the sharp bone at the tip of the Eight-Headed Serpent's tail!
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