On a Godless Planet:Volume3B Chapter 50
Chapter 50: Out Runners[edit]
–Run, my emotions. Roar, my will.
●
The male and female lions were lined up.
Both types of lion showed no fear of the many enemies in the storm and an ibis followed after them.
The Shinto knowledge god was also following, with several Revelation Boards open to record something.
Athena’s god of war took up the rear, but it seemed more like a parade float being towed along.
“Shape up, Athena.”
Seeing all that made Poseidon smile while accessing tourism information on Japan on a Revelation Board. Anne tilted her head at that, so he showed her a page with a smile.
“Isn’t this incredible? Japan does this at festivals.”
It was…
“They call it the lion dance. It’s supposed to drive out wickedness.”
●
I don’t really like running all that much, thought Tenma as she followed after the others and waved her arms.
“This way.”
She was drawing in the lightning formed within the storm.
She had the authority of a thunder god, so she could freely control any lightning that had been restrained by the lions.
But instead of releasing it into the enemy group, she surrounded herself with it and operated her Revelation Board by its light. She of course displayed knowledge on the screen.
“There are multiple theories as to the origins of the lion dance, but it is generally considered to have originated in the idea of the lion being the protector of Buddhism which caught on in India during the 3rd century BCE. That idea traveled along with Buddhism, passing through China and creating the lion dance there before reaching Japan. Also, the idea of the lion as a guardian is an ancient one. For example, the lion and the vulture were seen as divine symbols in Mesopotamia.”
“Yeah, I was given a lion as an attendant. It was something of a status symbol, I guess?”
That divine transmission from Eshita meant the connection was back up. She had a cartoony lion next to her, so did it act as an external antenna?
“For us, we of course have Beisu-shi, but there’s also the sphinx who had the face of a human and the body of lion. And among our more well-known gods, Ptah’s wife Sekhmet, Ra’s daughter Bast, and her son Mihos have lion heads. In that sense, Beisu-shi is a lion god created by the people instead of one belonging to a national temple.”
Tenma appreciated the information. But she did have something to say as a knowledge god.
“But unfortunately, the origins of Japan’s lion dance are unknown.”
●
Shifu tilted her head while walking fairly quickly from Tokyo Station to Tokyo Bay.
“Didn’t you just say part of the Middle Eastern culture entered India, was taken more seriously there, and was then converted into a dance in China before arriving in Japan?”
“I did. That arrived here via Baekje in 612. It was influenced by the rising and falling of Buddhism, but it took its current form during the Muromachi period and is said to now have around 800 varieties across Japan.”
“So how is it ‘unknown’?”
“The form is different. The continental lion dance primarily uses two people. The same is true in japan from Kansai on west, but it is almost exclusively a one person thing from Kantou to Tohoku.”
There was of course something of a reason for this.
“The lion dance spread from Kansai on west as a way of promoting Buddhism, whereas the lion dance from Kantou on north spread by the Yamabushi, which is thought to have given it more of an individual feel. But…”
“Japan has had a dance culture since ancient times, right?”
“Right. For example, Uzume’s dance used to open the Ama-no-Iwato was performed by her alone. The Nihon Shoki also says Emperor Kenzo, who was said to have ruled at the end of the 5th century, offered up deer antlers and danced, but this too was a one-person dance. Japan has long had a culture of a shrine maiden or leader offering up an animal and dancing, so it is possible the lion dance took on that form. They mainly adopted the continental version in the west, but it could be that the one-person version remained in the east because the Yamabushi used that to spread Shugendo.”
“So like the vulture, that was an indigenous culture that wasn’t fully overwritten by the lion dance?”
“I think that’s taking it too far.”
●
Tenma had to agree with Knowledge God-senpai. But speaking all this aloud still produced something. After all, this was the land of Kotodama.
“You understand now, don’t you?”
At the bottom of the storm, she released the lightning from her hands. But not as an attack. She used that power to assist those who were being suppressed. In other words…
“Gods, local gods, and spirits of the Tokyo Bay coast and of the river basin’s rivers. It is time for a festival with the lion at the head.”
That was her plan here. And as her final tactic…
“Guide us to the festival site in this pathless story.”
●
TJ saw it. She had her wings spread at the bottom of the storm, but she lacked the strength to fly and simply ran and glided. Lions of ether light ran alongside her on both sides and as if to guide them were…
“Fires?”
No. There were so many of them and they drew out intersecting paths.
“Those are festival lanterns.”
Past the series of lights were rows of countless festival stands. The local spirits and gods were gathered at them and being served food or souvenirs to match their local phases.
“The hell is this?”
“On the Tokyo Bay coast, in the river basin, as well as in Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa, the Japanese summer is so busy barely a day goes by without a festival. And…”
Music began to play as Tenma spoke. It was made by drums, flutes, and bells.
“The gods, especially the festival pros, aren’t going to let their festival go ignored because of some pilgrim sea.”
●
Shifu saw a festival as she walked through Tokyo. Rows of hanging lanterns were hung along the path to the bay, through the sky, along Edo Castle’s moat, and along the waterways. Festival stands were appearing here and there as well. They were appearing most of all…
“Along the railroads we took.”
“The paths you all took are ‘paths traveled by gods’, which lets them act like the path to a shrine. That lets the other gods share in your might.”
Shifu looked back to see countless spirits appear behind them and form rows of dancing. The local gods were in the lead with the spirits following. They played instruments, rang bells, and had shide streamers trailing behind them.
“––––––”
Shifu noticed an inhuman silhouette singing something. She recognized it. The group currently joining the line behind them was…
“The pilgrim silhouettes?”
“Correct. A pilgrim is someone on their way to a holy site. So this is all we must do.”
Namely…
“We draw them away from the creator god’s festival by making a greater festival with far more gods present. That brings the pilgrim sea onto our side.”
Maybe they had been hiding and maybe they were simply welling up out of nothing, but new pilgrims continued to appear behind them. Some were human sized, but others were 10m, 20m, or even bigger.
“––––––”
“Oh, hey. It’s the horse!”
Everyone stared at Eshita-chan in utter disbelief.
●
Raidou noticed a change in the instrument sounds.
It seemed to be coming from Tokyo Bay up ahead.
“Someone has begun a new song coming from the bay?”
“That’s Beisu. As a people’s god and a guardian who brings music and dance to festivals, he is in control of all the music now.”
Raidou didn’t recognize the song being played, but it sounded somehow familiar.
“It’s similar to the song leading from Yoshitsune to Yoritomo in Genpei Toma Den. He got hooked on it when I showed it to him on my 68, but I guess he likes this kind of thing.”
●
Sumeragi thought he heard music.
He was already in the arena leading to the entrance of Makuhari Messe, so he thought it was playing inside the exhibition hall.
“A Genpei arrangement? We have the Famicom version in the clubroom, but they do sometimes have it in an arcade at Oslo or the Daiichi department store.”
Was this some of the “knowledge” Balancer had given him? Or was it a “memory” that hadn’t vanished during a rollback?
●
Beisu danced.
“…!”
He stomped his feet, guided the lions, matched his movements to theirs, and twirled. He took a rapid step out ahead. He crossed his legs in midair and spun. He rotated his upper body first, leaned forward, and performed a side flip.
“Funto!”
He controlled his landing by rolling from Seito’s outstretched hand to her shoulder. And then forward again.
“Ohh!”
All around him, the festival lights formed rows below the darkness. The rain was deflected from their path and the music shook their surroundings.
“Ohh!!”
His roar rang loud. I’ve taken a lot of Japanese influence, he thought, but he clapped his hand and rang the bells in time with his quickening pulse as he continued on.
Music was exorcism. The lion’s roar expelled evil and the nameless gods worshiped it as a divine act. And…
“–––––”
Among the pilgrim silhouettes, the giants were breaking apart into smaller humanoid ones who scattered to the sides.
“Ohh!”
To join Beisu’s group. They followed the gods’ guidance to reach the rows of festival stands. That just left…
“The big one!”
The big Anguipede one.
●
Beisu wasn’t afraid.
This enemy was colossal. He hadn’t been any match for her before. He couldn’t predict what she would do. But…
“If we’re creations…then I’m stronger!”
He danced. When a snake leg dozens of meters long flew his way, he didn’t even dodge.
“Reverberate!”
He launched himself forward and stomped at the ground. And just as the tremor rang out…
The serpentine colossus’s attack ruptured in midair.
●
Athena saw it happen.
“A bombing?”
No, a dance. He was dancing, swinging his body, stomping his feet, and striking the empty air. And in response…
“…?”
The colossal Anguipede pilgrim was struck by it all and burst.
The rapid barrage acted like a pulse racing at more than four beats per second.
“What kind of technique is this?”
“Interference using substitution. They are both creations. One side using the drawings known as manga and the other is using the motions known as dance. By pitting them against each other, he can interfere with his opponent.”
“Interfere? But won’t the people’s god be hit back in the same way? And how can he surpass something so massive?”
“He couldn’t. Not normally, anyway. But he has one thing right now that gives him an edge.”
That was…
“Sound and motion.”
Isn’t that two things?
●
Tenma had made a slight error, but she shrugged it off and kept going.
“The pilgrim silhouettes come from the drawings in a manga. They have simply been brought out into the ‘reality’ of this divine world. But as drawings, they lack some fundamental things: sound and motion.”
And…
“Since the pilgrim silhouettes were drawn as a manga, they are not made to surpass the boundaries of drawings. So the rest is simple. You just have to do something that does surpass those boundaries. Since Guard God-senpai’s dance is another form of entertainment, he only has to directly confront them to trigger a reverse-interference against the manga. Just watch.”
Athena saw something strange happen.
Text like “wham”, “crash”, and “pow” appeared in great number all across the people’s god and the Anguipede colossus.
“This must be because Guard God-senpai is an entertainment god and is familiar with manga. He is the greatest enemy of the creator god who made this story, and the story itself. Right now, the entertainment god is making corrections and telling the creator god to rethink how she presented this.”
●
She was collapsing. Breaking apart.
…That’s right.
His stories had once spread among the people and he had danced from the Middle East to the end of the Mediterranean.
Even if there was no sound or anything else there, as long as someone had arrived there, he had been with them.
“––––!!”
Sounds and music were created by people.
As long as people were around, they could never be absent.
So as long as people were around…
“I am…!”
A friend of humanity.
●
The light collapsed.
A great mass became an ether waterfall that burst into the empty air as a great cascade.
The gods played their instruments and raised their voices.
“––––!!”
The pilgrims were joining in the song and dance and approaching the path and the festival stands and they all looked up at the light in worship.
“Well done. Did that expel the evil?”
The knowledge god thought it had, but…
“No, not yet. Because Souko-san was originally an ornament placed at the entrance to the underworld. There will be an element of resurrection here.”
And then it came.
“…!”
The pilgrim sea had sunk to the bottom of Tokyo Bay thanks to the sound and reverberation, but now it stood back up.
●
Athena began to move out ahead.
The people’s god and the guardian lions were taking a break after finishing their lengthy dance. Only Athena could make a counterattack so soon. And as the colossal silhouette stood up…
“It will fight back with even greater force!”
So she had to make a swift initial attack. To keep it from standing up and to scatter it. So…
“––––”
She prepared to throw Dory Piesis with her god of war in overdrive.
That was when she heard a voice.
“What do you think you’re doing to Izumi’s friends?”
A moment later, something was launched from the northern sky.
“Keravnos Melan. Aimed low.”
●
Black lightning was launched in a straight line from the north of Tokyo Bay. It tore into the bottom of the bay like a pile driver and annihilated everything in the space it passed through.
It was launched from the northeast of Tokyo Bay, at the Higashi-Kanto Expressway’s Narashino Interchange.
It instantly crossed the northeast part of Tokyo Bay, pierced through the west of the Boso Peninsula and the Anegasaki Mountains on the opposite bank, and reached Kisarazu more than 30km away.
Seawater flowed into the empty space gouged out of the sea. The ionized air created some light rain, but…
“That should end it. The storm has cleared.”
The sunny summer sky was again visible.
Released manifestation Kido faced forward from atop the giant 8-legged dragon standing across the expressway at Narashino.
To the south, she could see the giant event hall and Tokyo Bay. And…
“Douhai-san? Can you contact Izumi?”
●
“Oh, Senpai! It’s been too long! …Eh!? You’re with Kido-senpai and you’ve made it all the way to Narashino!? For real!? Can you come here then?”
“Wait!? Are you sure I can do that? Can you just go to Comiket like that?”
“Yeah, it’s fine! If you show up now, buy a catalog at the entrance, and get in line, you should be able to get in, so I’ll meet you at the 2nd floor entrance. There’s a cafe to the right immediately inside, so I’ll see you there! This is gonna be fun! Today’s the second day, so for Shinto stuff, there should be books where Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata get it on! If we look, we might even find a book about forbidden love between you and your sister.”
“A-are they trying to get divine punished!?”
“Just so you know, I used Oktobasilia Drakon, so I’m in my released manifestation outfit.”
“Not a problem! There are a lot of people here doing cosplay like that. Do it in your Echidna form and I bet you’d get a lot of a very specific type of fan! And if anyone tries to tease me cause my mom’s wearing full body tights, I’ll just shout back ‘jealous!?’, so don’t worry! Oh, and for the huge eight-legged thing, you can call it really big cosplay. Just have Raidou-senpai come out saying ‘whew, it’s hot in there’ and they’ll probably ban you from bringing it inside, but I bet they’ll let you use the parking lot!”
●
“Wow, he sure trusts Tooru.”
“You don’t sound too happy about that.”
“But the story hasn’t ended, has it? If the human is still in line, the place must still be in the creator god’s sphere of control.”
So…
“This is now up to the human. We are at the final stage.”
“That’s right! Sumeragi-kun! You need to take care of things there! We’ll save you if anything happens!”
“So there’s two ways this could end: getting Yamanashi-ed or having your lifespan slag-terred.”
“There are still other options.”
“Don’t worry! And it’s a relief known I have Senpai with me! I’ll be spinning my homemade big boobs prayer wheel while waiting in line, so enjoy leveling up!”
●
Souko sighed.
She was in Makuhari Messe during the summer. It seemed like the cool air should reach her next to the shutter, but apparently not. She was to the northeast, so there would likely be less direct sunlight in the afternoon, but…
“The sunshine is gradually getting closer…”
The shadow of the roof was about to stop covering them.
She was sweating, so she made sure to stay hydrated. She was already on her second bottle of Pocari Sweat. Then she circled to the back of their space and opened the cardboard box full of her new book.
“Ah…”
She could see the human in the line to their space. She was curious about the cylindrical object he was spinning in his hands, but he was definitely coming this way.
●
Souko moved toward the table at the front of their space.
“I’ll take over.”
She took the place of the silhouette acting as salesman. She wanted to directly hand her book to the human.
If possible, she wanted to speak with him and have him read it here.
That would conclude the story.
Maybe it was weird, but she wanted to be the first to know how her story turned out and to hand it to the human.
…That’s why I came here.
So she waited.
The human was conversing with someone on his Revelation Board. The line moved. Oh, realized Souko. If he’s speaking with someone, the pilgrim sea must have been cleared.
But it was already too late.
●
“Heh heh.”
Already too late? I sound like a manga villain or strategist protagonist.
But it really is too late. Or it seems that way.
For what? To do what? With what? I didn’t know. But it was too late.
So- oh, the human is right in front of me. And he’s asking me a question.
“Do you have the new Busty Bomber Japan!?”
“Ehh!? Do we have what!?”
●
…Eh!? What!? But…ehh!?
Oh, this isn’t good. I’m no good at ad libbing…
But wait. This was supposed to be the story I drew. So why was this happening?
He was only supposed to ask for a copy of my new book. Do different rules apply to the human?
And while I was thinking all that, someone stepped in from the side. It was…
“Sup.”
Touto-senpai. She offered the human a copier book made of around 8 pages of copy paper.
“This is Busty Bomber Japan. It’s a limited edition with only 10 copies made, so take good care of it.”
“For real!? Raidou-senpai is a big boobs worshiper too, so can I get another copy!?”
“Only one per customer.’
●
“Raidou-senpai, bad news! I only managed to get a copy for me!”
“O-oh…okay. I see. Lucky you…”
“This rattled you that badly?”
“No, I’m exasperated.”
●
…Made it in time.
TJ had put together this plan immediately after divine transmission with Sumeragi was reestablished.
She told him the title of the book being sold at their space. And as long as she drew it and got it to him in time, she wouldn’t be lying.
That was what happened. And she knew what she had to say now.
“Souko-san,” she said. “You can say whatever you want to me here, so don’t hold back.”
●
Souko raised her voice on reflex.
“Why did you do this!? This is my story!”
Why?
“Why did you ruin it!?”
Why?
“Why did you name me the next club head!?”
Why? Yes. Why?
“Why do you make all these decisions on your own!?”
●
Yeah… thought TJ.
…Souko-san has a point.
Why did TJ “ruin” her story? Because Souko’s method was unacceptable.
If this story were established, this divine world would belong to Souko and the human. And in that case, the human wouldn’t be Souko’s worshiper – he would simply be “a pawn used to establish the story”.
The terraforming wouldn’t work then and a conflict would break out to return the divine world to its original form.
…So I ruined it.
The superior had dealt with her subordinate’s misconduct. They now owed a lot to each of the mythologies that had helped, but the responsibility lay with TJ, not Souko.
So if she played her cards right, she might be able to lessen the consequences for Souko.
●
But none of that would get through to Souko right now.
●
Then why had TJ made Souko the next club head?
…Because, Souko-san, you draw such entertaining things.
TJ drew a lot too, but she was honestly not that great. Mediocre was probably the best word.
Thoth was the god who created writing, not drawing. So she really did want Souko to take over soon.
Taking the top spot with only mediocre skills damaged her pride.
…Oh, maybe I’m only doing this to protect myself.
But she recognized Souko’s skill.
And more than that, Souko was a creator god.
She had to take some kind of management role and learn how to do that kind of work.
That was why creator gods tended to lead a club, which applied to TJ herself.
And Souko’s spring manuscript had been extremely good. She had created a world on the page and she had built up expectation.
She had been a decoration at the entrance to the underworld.
How many people had she seen from there? She had excellent observation skills. At the very least, based on reading what she had made…
…I could tell I can’t compete with her when it comes to manga.
●
But none of that would get through to Souko right now.
●
…But I didn’t make all these decisions on my own.
She had thought she had discussed it all with Souko a fair amount.
In the clubroom and the cafeteria. While working and while taking breaks. But…
…She must mean it’s a burden she felt like she couldn’t turn it down.
You couldn’t say no to your superior. TJ was the one applying the pressure, so she knew how easy it was to end up in that situation.
If Souko didn’t want it, she should have said so. No, she had in fact said she couldn’t do it. And TJ had insisted that she could do it.
…But I never did convince her, did I? She just gave up arguing.
Had she thought nothing she could say could change her superior’s mind?
So by the time that TJ expected her to refuse if she really didn’t want to do it, she had already resigned herself to it and gone along with it against her will.
Was that what happened?
…I always have been bad at picking up on these things.
TJ didn’t have a mind-reading authority. Which she figured was for the best because she would end up using it constantly if she did.
But what to do now?
●
Nothing would get through to Souko right now.
●
So TJ wanted to get Souko to speak her mind.
…But that would just be me pressuring her as her superior again.
So getting her to speak her mind wouldn’t change anything.
Like right now.
“You’re not even making any sense! First you place your hope in me without asking me what I want! Then you force me into the head role! And despite saying you’re going to put me in charge of everything, why would you turn around and ruin what I’m doing!? You’re contradicting yourself!”
Ow ow ow ow. You’re exactly right, Souko-san.
…She’s pretty smart to pick up on that in the middle of all this.
TJ was moderately impressed, but something did occur to her.
…Oh, this is it.
Souko was speaking her mind.
TJ was being pummeled by her words. Like a sandbag. But…
…I’m not going to change my decision, so she has no choice but to give up.
●
She was contradicting herself.
If she was having Souko speak her mind, she should really also solve Souko’s problem for her.
Was it really fair to get Souko to give up by having her speak her mind?
●
Oh, thought TJ in belated understanding.
…We’re at an impasse.
She had thought solving the problem and hearing everything Souko had to say would be enough to settle this.
But it wasn’t.
That method would be the same in the end.
…Souko-san has to give up.
That was really just TJ coercing her. TJ believed that her decision was the right one. Of course she did. She had more experience as a creator god. In fact, Souko-san had zero experience there.
So this was the only option, but that mean Souko had “given up”.
●
“What a fool,” said Demeter as she listened in via Revelation Board. “She can get over it in no time with some help from a certain white powder.”
“I don’t think that’s the point.”
“Oh, to be young again.”
Salacia stretched in the sunlight. It looked like fog still hung over the city like an ocean, but the Tachikawa area had cleared up. The construction group was discussing what to do about the school foundation they had lifted with jacks and gears, but…
“We have meetings of the gods to prevent exactly this kind of foolishness.”
“It is good to get these problems out in the open. Closed talks can make people feel stuck and lead to bad decisions.”
“Like what happened with us.”
“You can blame our management for that.”
And…
“So I say we need a late meeting of the gods. Send the previous one into overtime, if you like. And…it won’t be led by those creator gods who don’t know what they’re doing. You get that, right?”
●
Souko shouted.
“Why!?”
Why?
“Why don’t you understand anything!?”
Oh, I’m saying some awful things.
She knew that. She did, but Touto-senpai was trying to correct her because she was too inexperienced and risky to put in charge. But…
“If you’re just going to correct me later, why expect anything from me in the first place!?”
She was about to speak the dangerous words. But she knew they had to be said.
“You’re wro-”
Just as she was going to add the “ng”, she received two reactions.
First, Touto-senpai raised her head.
“––––”
Her red eyes gazed straight at Souko.
…Ah.
Souko realized she had screwed up.
●
She wanted Touto-senpai to know she was wrong.
But if she said that out loud…
…It will mean her decision was wrong.
What happened if the chosen one rejected that choice?
That rejection wasn’t just of the chooser but of the chosen as well.
That would be the end of it all.
So that was the one thing she shouldn’t have said. But…
“––––”
Just as she was going to swallow the words, the second reaction came.
“Hey!? You done with your long chat!? Then I was wondering if you had any of the older Busty Bomber Japan books.”
Interlude[edit]
“What even is Busty Bomber Japan?”
“It’s a Sentai manga! In the end, they get in a busty robot and use their finisher: the Aurora Big Boobs Reversal!”
“Souko-san? That is quite the icy look you’re giving me.”
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