Epic Of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

Chapter 2325: Oda Nobunaga’s Endless Castle [43]

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The goddess accidentally dropped the teacup onto the floor, watching the green tea spill over the tatami mat, staining it with emerald hues. Bright sparkles of divine energy shimmered from the spilled tea.

Shocked, she stared at the spilled tea, then at her trembling hands and legs. Something was deeply wrong with her.

Suddenly, she began crying, covering her face with her hands. She tried to stop, desperate to control her emotions, but the tears flowed despite her efforts.

No matter how much time had passed, the goddess longed to return to her true home, her birth planet, Earth—not this world she had crafted, but the one where she was born.

The perfect world she had created felt like a prison, a realm where she was eternally trapped, unable to escape or reunite with her real family, not the one she had forged.

"I feel so miserable... What would they ever think if they knew how I truly feel?"

Blaming herself for these thoughts, she gazed through the window of her grand palace, a faint smile crossing her lips.

"But... I am not truly miserable. No... this world is beautiful. The people here are wonderful... and I even have a family, a brother..."

Despite her occasional despair, a faint happiness stirred within her for the world she had created and its inhabitants.

It was a wonderful, beautiful world...

And she loved it dearly, with every fiber of her being.

She cherished its inhabitants and the gods who protected them.

"My beautiful world... You’re all I need... I’m sorry for ever considering leaving you... I’ll never leave you... you’re my child... my dear... my dear child..."

She smiled warmly, though her golden eyes, now devoid of light, betrayed a face consumed by depression, eroding what remained of her sanity.

On this fated day...

"Amaterasu-sama! You must flee!"

A young Kami serving her rushed into the palace.

"What is it?"

"Your brother and the other gods... They have brought Hajun to Heaven! The Army of Demons has become unstoppable with his aid! They’re destroying everything!"

"Eh?"

At that moment, she froze.

Everything was so perfect...

Yet, why?

Suddenly, without warning, her perfect, beautiful world...

It was crumbling before her eyes.

BOOOM!

Explosions echoed as nearby palaces collapsed, accompanied by the screams of young Kami under attack.

"He’s here!"

"You mean... my brother? My brother orchestrated this?"

"Yes! It’s Susanoo-sama! I saw him, Amaterasu-sama! We must flee!"

"I... my brother would never do that. You must be mistaken... Hahah..."

"I-It was him! I swore I would never lie to you..."

"My brother would never betray me. I... I created him, and everyone, and everything... They’re all good, kindhearted beings..."

Amaterasu stepped out of her palace, still murmuring to herself. The perfect world was not as flawless as she had believed.

Her creations harbored thoughts she could not discern from their expressions.

"Brother! Brother? Susanoo! Are you there?"

As she called out amidst the burning palaces and the cries of fleeing Kami serving in this small village within the Heavenly Realm, a figure emerged through the smoke and flames.

A tall, muscular man with a slender frame, long white hair, and glowing golden eyes wielded a large sword brimming with divine and demonic power.

"My dear sister... I’m so happy to see you again."

"S-Susanoo...?"

Amaterasu’s eyes widened as she saw him stride through the smoke, leaving a trail of divine blood and carrying the head of a beheaded Kami.

"What are you doing?! By the heavens! Why would you kill them?!"

"Because all of this is false... I have realized it, my dear sister."

"Eh?"

"This world is nothing but a fabrication you created...!"

"That’s not true, Susanoo! It’s all real! You’re...! Oh my god...! Why are you doing this?!"

"Like the brother you created?"

"A-Ah..."

Amaterasu stepped back as her dear brother advanced, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

"I am tired of pretending to be a benevolent Kami. I am tired of acting as a goodhearted swordsman, and I am tired of being your brother..."

"S-Susanoo..."

He pointed his giant blade at her; his eyes filled with rage.

"You’re wrong! I never forced you to do any of this... I thought it was the ideal way to protect this world! I love this world, and I love everyone here... I love you too, brother..."

"Aw, you do?"

Susanoo advanced slowly, smiling gently, as several silhouettes emerged behind him through the smoke, the bodies of fallen Kami staining the floor with their divine blood.

"E-Eh? Who are they?! Wait...! It can’t be! How many did you convince?!"

"People, huh? That’s where you’re mistaken, my dear sister. We are not people—we are gods! Why must we protect mere mortals? Why must we always be... nice? It’s tiresome, you know."

"I-It’s... it shouldn’t be tiresome... it’s what’s right! You cannot abuse your powers...!"

"Why not?!"

"Because that’s wrong!"

"And who are you to decide what’s wrong or right?! See? You think you control our lives! And we are all tired of it..."

Amaterasu felt fear for the first time in her life in this world...

Her hands trembled, her body barely able to move.

Susanoo’s presence, along with those around him, had changed. They had all become something darker...

These were not the Kami she remembered.

They had changed. Someone had altered them...

Or... was it her?

"And you know what? On my little trip to the Six Hells, I found someone truly fascinating."

Susanoo smiled faintly as Amaterasu sensed an immense, dark demonic presence step forward. Behind him stood an army of demons and yokai.

A tall, red demon with enormous horns and a calm smirk...

His presence alone warped the heavens of this world. He was never meant to be here, yet he had come.

"We meet again, Amaterasu-sama, my dear creator."

"What?! T-That’s...! But I sealed you!"

Amaterasu gasped, stepping back in disbelief. This demon was unlike her other creations.

Born from her nightmares, her darkest thoughts, and her sinful impulses, he was an embodiment of everything negative within her mind.

Hajun.

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