Chapter 95

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: A Paper-Thin Difference
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It was but a single strike.

But it was a strike filled with intent.

That one strike shattered the helmet....

Screeeeeeeech—!

Susanoo felt his consciousness fading.

It was as if his spirit had left his body and was drifting away.

Through his slightly parted lips, not blood, but text flowed out.

『■ As one of the Three Noble Children, the most revered divinities within the Constellation Takamagahara....』

「A high divinity wielding the immense power to command the 'sea' and 'storms' at will....」

「Leaving the constellation, he sailed east on a boat of clay, defeated a serpent with eight heads, and....』

These were the narratives he had built over a long time.

Soon, he sank deeper and deeper into the water.

In the midst of it all, the warnings of other divinities came to mind.

「Even for you, confronting '■■■' right now is a reckless choice!」

*Pathetic fools....*

「It would be better to seek out divinities who share our cause and thoroughly prepare to face '■■■' together....」

*Cowards....*

「If you were to be defeated by '■■■' and annihilated, would that not bring sorrow to our mother?」

His sister, Amaterasu, who always preached that prudence was the most important virtue for a god, would always hesitate and miss the opportune moment.

「I am not interested.」

His own brother, Tsukuyomi, was indifferent to all matters....

「If you were to be annihilated, have you not considered how the prestige of the Constellation Takamagahara would fall?」

His father, Izanagi, too, was only ever concerned with immediate authority, rather than their mother's sorrow....

「All the more reason.」

Susanoo quickened his pace.

「I must go myself.」

Armed in sturdy plate, with his most cherished sword, Ame-no-Habakiri, at his waist, he left the constellation in magnificent fashion.

「I never liked that bastard to begin with.」

The one who supported his will was not his brother or sister, but a mythical creature who was once his nemesis and was now his dearest friend.

The serpent with eight heads.

Yamata no Orochi.

It flicked its tongue.

*Ssslither.*

Susanoo was certain of victory.

「No matter how supreme his martial prowess may be, compared to mine, the most renowned war god in the constellation....」

He added with great excitement.

「Good.」

He considered it a long-overdue adventure.

「Let us kill him and divide the spoils. I will take his epithet, and you, the serpent that serves him....」

He did not consider defeat.

「You shall take the epithet held by Ouroboros, 'the strongest serpent in the world.'」

After all, it had been but a 'single strike'.

But....

It wasn't just his helmet that was shattered.

*'I could lose....'*

His confidence in victory was also shattered.

It broke into pieces, losing its form.

Perhaps he couldn't win.

*'If I lose here....'*

Not only would his existence be annihilated, but the narratives and achievements he had built over a long time would all be stolen from him.

「You bastard—!」

Barely regaining his senses, Susanoo swung his hand downwards, and the ocean current shifted violently, surging upwards like a waterspout.

*Whoooooosh!*

Riding the current, Susanoo mounted the suddenly erupting pillar of water and successfully broke through the surface....

Instantly soaring high into the sky, he looked down at the sea surface below his feet and roared.

「Come at me—!」

Following him, Kang-jun also shot up from the sea with a fierce spray of water, rushing towards Susanoo with ferocious momentum....

Soon, they were exchanging blows in a fierce clash, moving at a speed that the naked eye could not possibly follow.

Susanoo thrust the sharp tip of his sword with all his might, as if wielding a spear, aiming for Kang-jun's throat....

Kang-jun twisted his upper body just in the nick of time to dodge the attack, then smoothly wrapped his hand around Susanoo's wrist.

*Clasp—.*

Then, with a firm grip, he yanked Susanoo's wrist hard towards his body and struck his face with his other fist.

*Craaaaaack—!*

That was the first exchange.

「How dare you!」

Susanoo quickly shook off Kang-jun's powerful grip on his wrist, created distance, and then swung his sword with fluid grace....

*Swoooosh—*

Kang-jun repeatedly dodged the blade of Susanoo's sword by a paper-thin margin, then struck his grip with the back of his hand, breaking his balance....

*Wham—!*

*Wham—!*

*Wham—!*

Starting with the hands and feet, the foundation of striking, he used his elbows and heels, knees and shoulders, and even his forehead....

With the intent to use every part of his body that could inflict harm between movements, he countered with a mix of large and small attacks.

Two exchanges, three, four....

Soon, judging that he could not win in close combat and was at a disadvantage, Susanoo retreated a great distance....

「Kugh....」

He suddenly readjusted his grip on his sword and slashed the air in the shape of a cross.

「Great God Style Divine Punishment, First Form.」

The seawater began to churn violently.

The clouds rumbled low....

The wind whipped about as if in a rage.

「Cataclysm.」

And with that, the disaster began.

*Krrrrrumble—!*

The thunderclouds covering the sky flashed with light, and thick bolts of lightning began to fall like a midsummer downpour....

*Shoooooo—*

The seawater suddenly surged upwards, forming a tidal wave as high as a great mountain, and began to rush towards Kang-jun....

*Whoooooooosh—!*

Suddenly, fierce whirlpools began to form all around, followed by a gale so powerful one could not even open their eyes.

「■■■!」

This was Susanoo's full power.

「Atone with your life for the disrespect and insolence you showed my mother, Izanami!」

As soon as his cry resonated, the physical manifestations of all the disasters created in every direction began to surge violently towards Kang-jun....

Susanoo, too, gripped his sword with both hands, mounted a high pillar of water, and rushed ferociously at Kang-jun.

At this sight, the Hunters who had been watching the life-or-death battle in a daze all let out low groans, their faces pale with shock.

"G-Good heavens...."

They were not only crushed by Susanoo's status but also overwhelmed by the majesty of 'Great Nature' that he commanded as if it were his own limbs.

"Ah."

Kang-jun finally spoke.

"So you're the son of that mute."

He then added.

"To avenge your mother's humiliation...."

Kang-jun, too, released his own status.

"You dare speak of my blood?"

For a very long time, Kang-jun had utterly despised the two-syllable word 'family'.

Once, it had been a deficiency.

Whenever he encountered that word, his chest would feel heavy for no reason, and he would often become restless.

Family....

Muttering it softly, he recalled his childhood, stained with gloomy colors.

An era that could not be forgotten even after hundreds of years had passed.

After school, he would watch anime at home late into the night.

Trying his best to ignore the fear, the hunger, the loneliness....

He watched anime until his sister came home.

"Kang-jun, you must have been hungry, right?"

His only family, his older sister, usually came home late at night.

In her hands, there was always a paper bag with a hamburger inside.

For some reason, her body always smelled of greasy oil.

At times, he found this fact strangely sad, but he never showed it.

Was that why?

For a very long time, whenever Kang-jun thought of the word 'family', the gaunt face of his sister would come to mind.

It was as if the distinct, greasy, and thick scent of cooking oil that came from her was wafting around him....

He remembered the night she had suddenly hugged him, sobbing, and fiercely said, "We have to survive."

And so.

For quite a long time, Kang-jun had lived thinking of family as people who received 'punishment' together.

"Dada."

A ticklish voice rang in his ear.

A mouth that speaks with the delicate movements of a baby bird.

Skin as soft as a chick's downy feathers.

"Family...."

The texture of the word family had changed.

"Family...."

Now, when he thought of that word, a jumble of ticklish things with opposite qualities came to mind.

Bubbling stew.

The sound of laughter in full bloom.

Tiny clothes and shoes.

The scent of fabric softener.

One day, he came to his senses and realized the word family was no longer a deficiency for him.

It was the shape of happiness.

It was something to be protected....

It was also Kang-jun's everything.

Soon, the 'text' erupting from Kang-jun's body began to swirl violently.

"I feel I won't be satisfied until I've ripped out your tongue."

「You run your mouth to the very end, unable to grasp your place!」

"Your tongue will be the death of your mother."

After speaking, Kang-jun added.

"I think it would be better for that insolent tongue of yours to strangle your mother to death."

At that, Susanoo, filled with rage, surged towards Kang-jun and shouted at the top of his lungs once more.

「■ After I chop you to pieces and kill you, I will leave this place, find all your blood relatives, and sever their heads—!」

His voice grew increasingly agitated.

「I will shove a blade down the throats of those who beg for their lives, and I will mix their corpses with manure and scatter them across the fields!」

And so, the two divinities clashed....

*Kuuuuuuu-boooooom—!*

The axis of the world trembled.

「Great God Style, Three Sacred Treasures First Technique.」

The tip of Susanoo's sword wavered....

「Yasakani no Magatama!」

Soon, 'daggers' imbued with a deadly blue aura began to pour down from the sky.

As Kang-jun retreated to a distance to avoid them, Susanoo immediately charged at him fiercely.

「You seem desperate to flee!」

Even as the light and fluid swordsmanship pressed Kang-jun, disasters like lightning strikes and tidal waves were constantly cutting off his escape routes.

But, for some reason?

Despite clearly pushing his enemy into a corner, Susanoo was gripped by a strange anxiety.

A paper-thin difference.

The man kept dodging all of his attacks by a 'paper-thin margin', just barely.

He couldn't reach him.

It was clearly a difference of no more than a thin sheet of paper, yet there was no sign he would ever land a hit.

「Great God Style, Three Sacred Treasures Third Technique!」

In succession, the form of a giant mirror appeared behind Susanoo, and from beyond it poured the spirits of warriors, now nothing but souls.

「Yata no Kagami!」

These were the spirits of warriors who had met their end by the sword Susanoo wielded....

They were loyal subordinates who had been trapped in the mirror for ages, growing stronger by feeding on Susanoo's divine power.

「Kill him!」

Just as the warriors pouring from the mirror rushed towards Kang-jun like arrows.

"Seems like a paper-thin difference, doesn't it?"

At the question Kang-jun nonchalantly posed, Susanoo's eyes widened.

"It is a paper-thin difference."

After speaking, Kang-jun murmured softly.

"They say if you fold a piece of paper just ten times, its thickness becomes equal to the width of an average man's hand."

This was something Crabslie had told him in an excited tone after devouring a 'children's science book' that had been bought for Seol-i to read.

"My Lord, this is truly a marvelous fact!"

Kang-jun continued.

"If you fold that paper again and again, a full forty-two times, its thickness will equal the distance from the Earth to the Moon...."

Kang-jun raised his divine power.

"And if you manage to fold it a full fifty-one times, they say you can reach from the Earth to the Sun."

Kang-jun smiled.

"So, 'a sheet of paper' seems a more than fitting metaphor to describe the gap between us."

And then, imbuing his words with divine power, he spoke.

"Pay homage."

In that instant, a cataclysm occurred.