[In ancient days, when the universe was young. A great beast rose from the sea. A primordial creature of filled with raw hate and absolute power. A beast so strong, its mere existence threatened all existence.

  Birthing from the soil lifted from the endless ocean, it unleashed a roar which twisted the oceans and tsundered the heavens. Its mere presence broke the world.

  The gods of that era, the early generation of primordial beings awakened to the dangers this monster possessed. Its hate filled mind thirsted for nothing but absolute destruction. They witnessed its rampage across the primordial earth, drowning everything in an ocean of despair.

  The ancient gods of old, first born sons and daughters of heaven and earth understood what needed to be done. Banding together, they fought against the insane threat. In a battle that took place over the course of eons. A never ending war against a creature they could never defeat.

  But that monster, that serpent with eight heads. It was a being beyond the capabilities of any god. In time, they understood this as well. When numerous of their brothers and sisters perished in its insidious fangs, their spirits were broken.

  Crying out to the heavens, they pleaded for salvation from their plight.

  Their answer came not from the heavens, nor the earth, not even from the cloud of darkness beyond the world. But instead from beneath the endless ocean.

  “This beast came from beneath the waves, he is our responsibility.” The woman who ruled over those who resided beneath the seas said. Her sadness paramount at the monster who glared at everything with scorn and hate.

  “Great empress, why be mournful of such a tyrannical beast,” the youngest god and goddess asked. “It destroyed everything!”

  “I pity him for who he once was. Who he can never be again. What a tragedy, that which has befallen him. What a tragedy.”]

  …

  A crowned woman dressed in black silk stood upon a balcony. Her head tilted up with an unreasonable expression. Fishes swam past her with nary a thought. Humanized turtles and dragons waiting for her words.

  In the water outside the magnificent palace, whose balcony she stood on, her subjects lamented how violent the currents were.

  Thousands upon thousands of serpentine dragons, mostly ascended halfbreeds and some pure blooded offsprings. They cultivation provided a wide range of variance. But the strongest of them all were confidently Chaos Immortals.

  As of now, all of them rested despite the turmoil the endless ocean and the sole landmass on the surface faced. But an ingrained dread still lingered.

  Slowly, the crowned woman’s calm expression turned into a scowl. Her phoenix eyes sharpened ever so slightly at what she observed from the world above the waves.

  “A long long long time ago,” she started saying. “Those morons dragged that old fossil up. Time and again, we are left with the mess.”

  “Again is an understatement your majesty,” a robed dressed man antlers said to her. “What is this, the fifth time?”

  “Now now, they did not know at the time,” an elderly humanoid turtle said. “My empress, I understand your feelings. But we cannot let the venerable rampage again.”

  “There is nothing venerable about him now,” she interrupted him. Gui Daiyu’s gaze transformed back to one of pity. “It’s not even a shadow, just a taint on the old Heavenly Lord’s name.”

  The currents around them continued to swirl. Distant thundeorus sound could be heard even millions upon millions of kilometres from the surface. Not even the protective formations of the underwater palace could keep it at bay.

  Gui Daiyu could only sigh when she began hearing a thumping heartbeat. Her memories were long, but she remembered the events of that day as clear as day.

  The young innate gods of this Chaos World, Izanagi and Izanami dragged up the most spiritually refined patch of soil to create their kingdom. They were so young back then, inexperienced and unaware.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Their ancestors had not informed them of the monster her people had to put down and seal up.

  She wagered her long departed husband would be horrified at the measures she took. But what choice did she have when his master was just a rampaging husk? Total annihilation had ruined him on a fundamental level. And time had since taught her that any attempt at recovery was but an illusion.

  …

  Susanoo had to cover his face as a wild storm picked. This was beyond even his control despite his godly claim to fame.

  Storm clouds twisted into elongating shapes. The wild tides rise up and down in an extremely voilent manner.

  “You doing this storm god?” The amatsukami heard his oni opponent say. “Cause I gotta admit, this is getting freaky.”

  Shuten Doji hovered a safe distance away appearing more confused then anything. His gaze was locked on landslides occurring all over mountain ranges across the island. Mt Ibuki in the distance was quaking with such ferocity that he doubted his personal cave was still intact.

  “Why in my sister’s name would I make an earthquake demon?” Susanoo spat. “If anything you’re the most suspicious one here.”

  He pointed at the broken sword in Shuten Doji’s hand. The light it gave off still wrapped around it in the shape of phantom scales.

  HISSS!

  HISSS!

  HISSS!

  Both combatants heard the sound coming from the earth, but only one felt his heart tremble. Shuten’s hand grabbed his chest feeling nauseous.

  ‘A yokai of some kind? A Majin? But what kind of creature can cause so much phenomena?’ Susanoo felt a true despair well up from his unease.

  “Susanoo what have you done!” Amaterasu’s voice echoed throughout the sky. She appeared in a fiery blaze, eyes brimming with solar light.

  “Me? I was only dualing an oni,” Susanoo said.

  “You…”

  But before the newly arrived goddess could say anything else, an oppressive pressure enveloped all of them. It was as if gravity had increased a thousand fold as all three felt themselves dragged towards the ocean below.

  Tears throughout the fabric of reality forcibly tore open allowing chaotic energies to flow in. But at the same time, the pressure was so great that these unique energies were either shot into the endless ocean or obliterated on the spot.

  HISSS!

  HISSS!

  HISSS!

  Shuten Doji felt his sword fidget. His own heart was beating rapidly. Spiritully, he felt his own soul trembling at the hisses he heard. In his consciousness, he could vaguely perceive a monstrous terror screaming out at no particular target.

  “Hey you two are supposed to be amatsukamis ruling all creation right? Can’t you make this stop?” He demanded of the two siblings.

  Amaterasu’s face turned gloomy. “You’re the one born from Mt Ibuki, shouldn’t you know more then any other that there is nothing we can do about the Orochi?”

  “Oro…what?” Shuten Doji felt a certain familiarity by the name, but he could not recall. “Look, I was just minding my business living my simple life not bothering anyone. Your brother involved me!”

  BOOM!

  The group of three felt a huge shockwave pass by them. In the distance an explosion of sediments was visible, ressembling a volcanic eruption. A hiss like roar echoed from an exploded concave rock formation before dying down. That rock formation also collapsed in the next second.

  In a second flash, Ryujin appeared. However, unlike when Amaterasu first saw him, this time he was covered in scratches. Bits of soil clung to his antlers to which he quickly shook off.

  “Oh no,” the dragon muttered. “Amaterasusama, Susanoosama, prepare yourselves.”

  From the earth, the soil shot into the sky curving into an arch. Its end sharpened until it formed facial features. From Shuten Doji’s eyes, it reassembled the crude carving of a python.

  It was massive too. Creatures hundreds or even thousands of metres tall were not a strange sight in the land of the rising sun. But a creature tall enough to reach the heavens though? It was more akin to a doomsday event then a living being.

  Its lips, teeth, eyes, scales were made entirely of mud, dirt, and rocks. Plantation from forests, ricefields, grassy plains still clung on various parts of it. If any mortals inhabited the areas that made up its body, they would’ve been crushed for fallen to their deaths.

  It roared a cry that caused mountains to erupt, rivers to dry out, and clouds to disperse. The endless ocean surrounding the isle became the epicentre of a tsunami.

  The horrifying python wailed around, as if it didn’t even known what it was doing. It dragged its head along the ground until the shore, and then across the water until its length reached its limit.

  A ball of fire shot from Amaterasu’s hand onto its face, blowing a chunk of it off. It turned towards the source, and lunged at the goddess.

  Ryujin unleashed a roar of his own, blowing out a whirlwind that ripped across the sediments making up the python’s head. Its gapping jaw unhinged itself despite chunks being ripped off.

  Ryuijin fled when it neared but Amaterasu stayed in place. Her form became enveloped by a flowing orange orb which the python made of her land’s ground swallowed her whole.

  In a blinding flash of light, the python head exploded. Stone and trees were incinerated from the goddess’ light, which reached down the spine of the head. Susanoo jumped from the heavens, his sword wreathed in dazzling electricity that then split the rest of in two.

  Whatever remained collapsed into a heap into the endless ocean below.

  “I have never experienced the calamities my ancestors faced. But this cannot just be it right?” she asked Ryujin.

  “Of course not,” the dragon shook his head. “Don’t you see the other mounds?”

  Having done nothing up to this point aside from holding his chest, Shuten Doji felt his broken sword shaking in his grip. It tugged towards the mainland with an almost magnetic pull.

  In that same direction, he saw several more rising mounds emerging just like the python from earlier. Some were made from barren mountains, others from vegetated lands, some were even formed from lands with cities built on top.

  Some heads were even partially made of water, rising out from offshore carrying only a little patch of land in its neck. In total, they numbered eight, distributed across the entirety of the landmass, all roaring uncontrollably into the universe.

  Various figures fled into the sky, no doubt skilled omnyoji, yokai, and kunitsukami who were startled by the crisis. None of the serpents were directly paying attention to them, more mindlessly causing destruction. But even a casual swing of their necks pulverized many experts who did not avoid in time.

  The less said about mortals the better.

  To Shuten Doji, who’d lived a relatively quiet but good life until now, it was the worst sight imaginable. Before him, the very land that Izanagi no Okami and Izanami no Mikoto created an eon ago transformed into a calamitous beast.