Chapter 775
Creating divine objects is not something easily achieved.
Of course, it doesn’t require high expertise. Sometimes they can be made by chance, sometimes they occur naturally, and there are even cases where a child performs a ritual clumsily and ends up making one. Thus, we could certainly say that the entry barrier is lower compared to that of advanced science.
Since magic itself has a low entry barrier, it’s only natural that divine objects, which are created from it, also have a lower barrier.
Therefore, it’s inevitable that they share the drawbacks associated with being magically created or imbued with magical properties.
The cost involved in making them.
Results differ even when performed under the same conditions.
The varying amounts of cost needed can swing from light to heavy.
A failure to create them properly because of differences in rituals or materials.
…
As like with anything not widely distributed, divine objects had to overcome countless difficulties and hardships just to be made.
Furthermore, if you ask whether the divine objects created in this way are truly useful, the answer is also no. While making them incurs a cost, most cases require a cost upon use as well. There were times when simply possessing or owning them required the continuous payment of burdensome costs.
A classic example often brought up is the “Necklace of Akemenes,” which continuously drains the life force of its owner to make the jewels shine. This object has consumed countless lives after passing through many owners following the fall of the Akemenes dynasty and is said to be meticulously kept in a museum in France.
As seen in this example, divine objects are not convenient like artifacts.
Because of this, modern scholars have defined the difference between artifacts and divine objects as “risk.” Artifacts activate in exchange for energy but pose no risk to the owner, while divine objects extract all kinds of tangible and intangible costs and can harm their owners.
Of course, this definition has changed through various turning points and research discoveries, such as the finding of divine objects that do not extract costs or the emergence of artifacts that activate by converting the life force of their owners into magic…
What’s important is this: divine objects are not only hard to create stably, but the amount of cost needed is also no small matter, and they are dangerous items that require constant consideration of risks and costs. Thus, typically, both making and handling them are not easy.
This was common sense.
The reason many nations store divine objects for research or extreme situations is precisely because of this.
Thus, this divine object factory was quite remarkable.
Building a factory means that one can control one of the drawbacks of divine objects, at least to a limited extent, and implies the potential for mass production.
If the reality of this facility were to come to light, there would be numerous people whose eyes would pop out in surprise.
Power holders, entrepreneurs, and even scholars included.
“Ughhh….”
But the likelihood of this facility being revealed is extremely low.
Even though it’s located right in the middle of the street, it may seem like they don’t pay much attention to security.
Religion exists in a realm of divine inviolability.
Even those in power cannot easily access this domain.
Furthermore, if that religion is the state religion, deeply intertwined with the traditions and history of the people, and has a good image to boot…
And if a high-ranking figure from that state religion is involved and power holders tightly connected offer their backing…
With such conditions present, even if it were set up in the middle of the street, it could avoid discovery.
Just like this.
“Ugh….”
This seemingly shabby simple shrine is protected by a powerful barrier of power and perception…
However, it does have a few downsides.
“Squirm, squirm, squirm…!”
…The workers inside that barrier are not comfortable at all.
For Kishimoto Narumi, the operator of this simple shrine, having the divine object factory running smoothly, managing it, and following the orders of the one who put her here—none of it was without its torment.
But if I had to pick what tormented her the most, I could name one thing.
It would definitely be the grossness of the ‘divine objects’ created in this shrine.
Squirm.
Squirm.
Squirm.
In a space blocked by stone.
In the darkest corners of the space where bodies are, darkness writhes.
The glossy, pitch-black darkness heaves like boiling water, undulating as if it were a liquid. Even though there is no earthquake and vibrations from the road or roadside do not reach here.
Squirm.
When observed closely, what lies there are centipedes.
With black bodies, red legs, and yellow bellies.
Thousands upon thousands of those centipedes, which would swell one’s skin just by touching them, writhe in there.
The centipedes squirm, trying to escape from the containers placed in every corner of that dimly lit space illuminated by a single torch, creating a scene reminiscent of boiling water.
A sea of insects.
A cauldron filled with bugs.
Like a jar of loneliness with its lid left open, the centipedes gather and squirm.
Seeking to escape the jar, or eagerly anticipating the day they can live comfortably in that cramped space after killing all the other entities that weigh them down.
Thus, they continue to bubble over…
And for Narumi, it was not a pleasant sight at all.
Even though being in a shrine, she was accustomed to the numerous insects that might be present, no matter how accustomed she was, that scene was one hard to accept.
Moreover, knowing how those centipedes came into being made it all the worse.
“Centipedes popping out of thin air….”
If only they hatched from eggs and grew, there might be a cuteness factor.
Seeing them crawl with their white bodies right after being born would still evoke some sense of adoration.
But those centipedes drop from the air.
As if they were shaped from the darkness, as if to say that insects appear naturally, as people have recognized since olden times—those damned centipedes are formed in the air and fall into the jar, anywhere from the size of a finger to that of a forearm.
This scene evokes both physiological revulsion and a sense of incongruity, flipping one’s stomach. Furthermore, it continuously stimulates one’s instincts, suggesting that something is not right, that ominous happenings are occurring, amplifying the sense of unease.
Narumi wanted to leave this place right away.
No, she wanted to set this place on fire and erase all those ominous creatures.
But…she couldn’t do that.
“Haah… that she-wolf…”
Narumi internally cursed the woman who held her collar.
Saigo Rise scared her.
Yes.
There was no escaping.
Kishimoto Narumi was unable to break free from Saigo Rise.
…
If even the deity she served couldn’t break free, how could a mere human like Kishimoto Narumi hope to escape?
After a shaman and mercenaries invaded and assaulted the shrine, her deity became subordinate to Saigo Rise. The deity was served, and the shamaness seemed to be violating the law that says a deity serves and a shamaness serves the deity, as Inari was sealed inside something like a slime, becoming a mere battery from which divine power is drained.
And naturally, Kishimoto Narumi, who served that deity, lost all her divine power—
And in that weakened state, she could only be captured and brought under Saigo Rise’s control.
Kishimoto Narumi had no options.
Rebuilding the shrine?
Is it even possible after devouring the deity and taking over the shrine?
Running away?
There is a shaman who is worshipped like a sage by Saigo Rise.
How could she escape from the clutches of the shaman?
Even if she somehow got away from the shaman’s grasp, there were Saigo Rise who devoured two deities, the power holders linked to the shaman and her priestess, and who knows how many artifacts or divine objects scattered everywhere…
For her, weakened like this, escaping was nearly impossible.
Added to that, her father, who served the already devoured deity, had also fallen into their hands—
Yes.
There were no options.
“Though my treatment isn’t that bad… Aside from that crazy wolf woman…”
Well, I can’t say I’m extremely dissatisfied.
For being subjugated without options, the treatment wasn’t terrible.
The divine power I thought had completely vanished was being replenished by Saigo Rise, and since I was entangled with people of power and wealth, the shrine’s finances were quite solid. On top of that, the meager salary I used to receive is now more like that of a huge corporation employee…
Moreover, I no longer have to deal with the whims of a deity, and I’ve even been able to outsource the management of the shrine unless it’s really important—there are definitely upsides to this.
But there is one major downside that outweighs all those advantages.
That would be my superior.
Saigo Rise.
It’s as if she has completely shed her humanity while devouring deities, a shamaness using divine power while swishing her fox tail.
No matter how I think about it, that shamaness seems half-crazed.
No…
…Hmm.
To be honest, she seems to be more than half out of her mind.