The Shrine of a Mountain 3

While walking through the illuminated passageway to a large cavernous hall, Yata caught sight of the large rotating image of the red glowing iron magma core of Earth with the tectonic plates superimposed on it.

They were deep within Mount Miwa where Ōmononushi's shrine stood.

"He's still knocked out," Orochi said bluntly as he brushed past Yata towards Ōmononushi, glancing at a giggling Alex, stuck in his hallucinations, supported by Yata, with his feet dragging along on the stone path.

"W-what is that?" Yata pointed at the image of earth while his jaw dropped.

"Our insurance policy of regulating a part of a planet," Ōmononushi replied. "The real reason Takamagahara needs us."

Orochi smirked at the answer, knowing the real reason Takamagahara will defend the mountain.

Ignoring the three of them, Orochi stepped onto the black stone platform before the projection of Earth.

A holographic screen appeared in front of him, displaying the monitoring parameters.

Lazy bastard, Orochi thought of Ōmononushi, while he narrowed his eyes and ran his fingers to input the commands on the screen for the data to pop up.

Back ups neglected. System warnings neglected. Orochi sighed as he read the endless alerts appearing on the screen, until he felt Yata's presence behind him, staring at the controls.

He turned around and, from the corner of his eyes, noticed Alex's body slumped against the cavern's greyish walls, discarded like trash on a corner.

"What's that language?" Yata's finger pointed at the controls, only to be smacked away by Orochi.

"That's not Japanese or English… and I don't think Chinese looks like this…" Yata added, studying the squiggly curves on each script appearing on the display., which reminded him of squirming earthworms.

"Our language, a lost one," Ōmononushi said. "Only our kind can read it."

"You are a real bastard, Ōmononushi," Orochi grumbled as his eyes moved along with the scrolling data on screen.

"That's why I asked you to come," Ōmononushi grinned.

"You wasted time staring at hot chicks with those damn white sashes and didn't update the information or back it up," Orochi muttered in frustration while Yata backed away slowly, not wishing to be involved in what he couldn't understand at all.

The image changed and displayed a surface map of Japan on the projected globe. Yata could spot the sea currents brushing against the sands of the Japanese coastline and the flowing rivers on the image.

"What problem?" Ōmononushi asked as he took his place next to Orochi and another screen appeared for him.

Orochi's fingers blurred as he quickly entering the information into the screen and another screen popped up. Yata took a peek at it and recognised the Japanese characters for the Japanese port authorities.

He bit his lip, wondering why Orochi would hack into the human authorities' server for information on a ship.

"A virus has infected humans on board the ship," Orochi replied as his fingers stopped on the screen to tap on a button to zoom into a ship with splotches of black orbs around it, on the midway on the seas to the Naha port. "There were reports of some illness in the humans that is spreading from the main Asian continent."

"Not another one like smallpox again!" Ōmononushi groaned and dragged his cheeks down with his fingers in dismay as he stared at the screen. "Coming into Okinawa?"

"Ship itinerary, started from Yokohama Port, Japan, on January 20, went to Hong Kong, then Vietnam, Taiwan… on the way to Naha, Okinawa then Yokohama."

"Given the awakening of Ōmagatsuhi and his tracks to Kanto, this is big," Orochi frowned.

"Yokohama port is in Kanto… Do you think it's linked?" Ōmononushi asked.

Orochi shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't care to ask. This is human business. And if Ōmagatsuhi is present, large culls will happen whether from the disease or another disaster."

"Why do the other factions always assign us the capital of natural disasters on worlds?" Ōmononushi groaned.

"All those lands are rife with diseases, earthquakes, tsunamis, land slides or typhoons. Others get a double whammy. Us, quadruple whammy."

"Easier to control and cull the herd, though," Orochi spoke as he pulled up another screen.

"Why won't Takamagahara control Yasomagatsuhi and Ōmagatsuhi then?" Yata asked.

"NEVER." Both Ōmononushi and Orochi answered.

"If they create disasters, why won't Takamagahara step in?" Yata asked, puzzled by their response.

"Contrary to what a lot think, like you, Yaso and Ōmagatsuhi are balancers. A necessary evil to the humans," Ōmononushi replied. "You would have heard about balance in the bigger picture."

Yata nodded. How could he forget the 'big picture' mantra at all? The Mishakuji hammered the term into him and he heard the term used during Kanghui's discussions with the others who visited her shrine boundary.

"Like how though?"

Orochi tapped more on the appearing symbols and said, "Think of a volcano as a pressure cooker."

"With no vent but a constant build up of pressure," Ōmononushi added.

"BOOM," Orochi burst out suddenly, emulating an explosive reaction, causing Yata to jump.

"He destroys a village instead of a city, or destroys a city is instead of a nation - greater good," Ōmononushi said.

"Sacrifice the few to allow more to live," Orochi added as he pointed to the southern end of Kyushu island where a bay of water laid. Yata could spot a volcano with a small ongoing eruption surrounded by small buildings across the bay from a heavily populated city.

"Below Kagoshima bay is a massive magma chamber, the Aira Caldera. Sakurajima is the caldera's vent. Block the vent and it explodes, killing everything around the bay," he continued.

Pointing to the volcano, Orochi said, "that's Sakurajima."

"I know Sakurajima," Yata watched the continuous flow of ash ejected from a small eruption on the volcano on display.

Yata had seen the television ads for the Kagoshima tourism board, with the slogan about Sakurajima spewing ash over them daily as a tour attraction. The humans are weird. Who pays to go near an erupting volcano?

"Without Yasomagatsuhi, the vent doesn't work. And if the vent doesn't work, at least a million people, a few million creatures and plants living in the nearby areas, will die. But few know that," Ōmononushi said as he brought up the image of the Aira Caldera.

Yata crunched his face up at the unbelievable thought of Yasomagatsuhi's purported responsibility for millions of living creatures. He preferred to think of Yasomagatsuhi as a psychopathic genocidal maniac on a spree of destruction, hence his ban from Takamagahara.

"Then, if he is a key reason for human survival as a population on our side, why did Takamagahara banned him?"

"Oh simple reason - bad luck aura," Orochi said.

"Vast amounts of bad luck aura. One touch and everything that can go wrong will go wrong."

"Then what if it goes wrong on Sakurajima?" Yata looked at them in confusion.

"To trigger an eruption, you need a vast amount of bad luck aura, aka the aether element. The volcano can drain him. I don't think he can even take Mount Fuji," Orochi replied.

Ōmononushi shook his hand. "Only Ōmagatsuhi can trigger Mount Fuji's eruption and even the deep trenches."

"All factions, not just us, in each world and even this, regulate every energy process and changes that go on in the set planet or planets. Even Takamagahara has to look after their side of Earth."

"I always thought that a primeval being's life was easy. But what exactly do you do when imprisoned on a mountain in Okuizumo?" Yata turned to Orochi with his wide eyes.

"Ah yeah, just drink, have fun, drop everything to go on swashbuckling adventures or try for world domination," Orochi muttered in sarcasm, as Ōmononushi laughed while reaching out into the projection.

"I t-thought primeval beings were…" Yata struggled to think of more diplomatic words to avoid Orochi's derision.

The reality of his ignorance dawned on Yata. So engrossed was he in trying to gain new abilities, he never thought of asking about what primeval beings really did. He only assumed that they were just powerful beings who lounged around and had fun at other's expense.

"We are far more than what you think. Earth is one of the many worlds our kind oversees. Each faction has a serpent legend. Ever wondered why?"

Yata hung his head and shook it. He hasn't seen another world or even ventured out of Japan.

"Our kind across home worlds were the first to notice and study the changes in the planetary geological movement when we first existed. Each world is different and the celestial crows are the builders of this technology to regulate the planets," Orochi replied.

"That's why you don't fuck with any of the celestial crows at all. They know more than we do about the cosmos. Earth is just a speck of dust to them," Ōmononushi said while pushing the translucent screen back into the holographic earth.

Ōmononushi's hand pulled out another screen from the holographic image and started typing in commands on it.

The overlay of Earth's atmosphere on the projection, with the moving clouds, took both the breath away from Yata. Like in a live tv broadcast, Yata could see the ocean currents frolicking in the deep blue waters.

The builders of this technology were far advanced beyond Yata's understanding. They included realistic details like the tectonic plates, the atmosphere, and even the oceans.

"Same system in that mountain - a reason to keep me there."

"All of this and his are just backup systems to the main core. There are other primeval beings from other factions regulating the function of the planet. Each command from every faction creates a feedback loop into the planet's system," Ōmononushi replied.

"Nay, mine is an auxiliary back up, yours the main," Orochi interrupted with the correction.

"But such a big system requires a lot of energy to run." Yata said, with his mouth agaped at the holographic projection in astonishment.

"Why do you think netherworlds exist?" Orochi winked.