Campione 01

by Heretic God

  Those people who noticed the abnormality gathered unhappily toward the streets.

  Those on the streets could only endure their instinctive fear while looking up towards the dark skies.

  Those lucky enough to return home safely were at a loss as their homes plunged into darkness.

  People gathered before their homes and offices in twos and threes, shaken by their anxieties while wishing for the light that showed no signs of returning.

  Their aversion to darkness.

  Their yearning for light.

  Humans held onto their anxiety, fear, discouragement, and weakness as they waited for the sun to reappear.

  This was what night should be like.

  Sensing what the people felt, Athena declared her mandate in satisfaction.

  "By the decree of the true Athena. Night, reveal thyself, disperse the grace of sun, and erase the flames of Prometheus. The starry skies and dark winds shall return to recreate the ancient night."

  Athena sang as she continued moving forward.

  After spreading the night, only the Gorgoneion remained. That's right, she wasn't fully satisfied yet.

  [Heretic God] Athena was a god of earth and darkness.

  The dark, deep night without a trace of light was already revived. What remained were the strong smell and rich life of the earth.

  "I seek but the Gorgoneion! Athena shall retrieve the ancient Serpent tonight!"

  Every time Athena sang her divine words, bird silhouettes would appear in the skies.

  Birds that continue to fly without regard for the night could only be owls.

  Under dozens of flying owls, Athena continued her unstopping advance, single-mindedly chasing the scent of the Gorgoneion...

  —————

  An abnormality that quickly hurled the entire city into paralysis.

  All lights had been extinguished regardless of their size.

  All vehicles have been stopped; even trains could no longer move.

  The time was just past 9pm.

  Although there were fewer pedestrians than during daytime, there were still plenty of office workers and local residents.

  Dragged into this situation, some people got angry, some anxiously watched their surroundings.

  Some also panicked.

  Anger, turmoil, panic, confusion, worry......

  Despite being plunged into darkness, as long as one kept their calm, it was easy to notice the distress of others nearby.

  "This is incredible. Things are progressing far too hastily."

  "Amakasu-san, your words are far too heedless, please be a little more serious."

  A car that refused to budge.

  As the young driver muttered to himself, Mariya Yuri reprimanded him openly.

  Even though the two have only met for several hours, she already came to a realization. This Historical Compilation Committee member named Amakasu Touma didn't take things very seriously.

  "Ah, I'm sorry— but in this kind of situation, whether we're serious or careless doesn't help the situation one bit. Since that's the case, then why worry more about it?"

  "I'm talking about your attitude. Seriously, be it Amakasu-san or Kusanagi-san, people are far too careless, it really troubles me!"

  Yuri complained as she continued to observe the situation outside.

  The unnatural existence of a [Heretic God] seemed to have surfaced in the Urayasu region.

  Amakasu had brought this news to Nanao Shrine around twenty minutes ago.

  He was commissioned to investigate the region, so he drove Yuri from Shiba Park[1F 6] towards Tsukishima.[1F 7]

  Then it happened suddenly.

  The vehicle Amakasu drove suddenly underwent rapid deceleration, slowing down to little more than a pedestrian's speed, and after two minutes it stopped completely.

  After looking around, they finally realized that all the streetlights were also put out, and so were all the other lights within the city.

  Large numbers of stopped cars laid on the road. But unlike a traffic jam, they weren't going to move forward no matter how long they waited.

  Many drivers left their cars, fidgeting anxiously as they looked around.

  "Yuri-san, how about we leave the car behind and move on— waiting here won't do anything."

  "Is that really alright? Just leaving the car here might cause people trouble."

  "With the situation now, it's useless to worry about that— come on, let's go let's go."

  Urged by Amakasu's prodding after he got off the car, Yuri also stepped out.

  The two of them moved towards the sidewalk.

  Their eyesight plunged into complete darkness.

  Their only sources of light were those of the blurry moon and faintly visible stars.

  "Darkness' domain... seems like the one who descended here was a [Heretic God] with the divine trait of the night— plus they're spreading the influence nonstop, talk about troublesome."

  Amakasu grumbled nearby.

  Compared to when the news first arrived, things were falling under the god's influence far too quickly.

  To create such a reaching and powerful influence, as expected of Athena — the most powerful goddess of Greek Mythology.

  But why would she spread darkness? Yuri couldn't understand this part.

  —Yuri quivered.

  No, it wasn't the chills, but because as a hime-miko, she felt the presence of a god approaching.

  She thought of the 'Gorgoneion' that was placed on the obsidian badge in Nanao Shrine.

  It was the powerful will to find an important item.

  There was no mistake; this was a sign that the [Heretic God] was closing in on the presence of the artifact.

  Yuri shivered.

  That place was in danger; just like insects attracted by light, Athena will eventually reach Gorgoneion's location. That was an easily expected scenario.

  "Amakasu-san, we must leave this place. We must leave this dark area and return to Nanao Shrine. I must return to protect the [Gorgoneion] I spoke to you about."

  "You mean the item that's similar to Medusa, I understand. But, this stage really is grand. Now, if that devil king Yuri-san acknowledges to be true — Kusanagi Godou, would arrive, then all the actors will be assembled."

  "That's why I say, you're being far too heedless!"

  The two of them continued to walk through the darkness without any light to guide them.

  Amakasu's footsteps did not show the slightest hesitation, as if he was already used to the darkness.

  Yuri took each step carefully as she followed the only road sign — Amakasu's shadow, and even then she would occasionally find herself almost tripping.

  Just the disappearance of light from the city could cause such inconvenience to everybody.

  The utter darkness exerted an unbearable pressure, bringing people endless fear.

  Etruscans: ancient inhabitants of central-eastern Italy, they used to be masters of the Romans. Eventually, the Romans rebelled from them, but also took over many of their ancient customs, like the 'Roman' baths, their trinity of gods, augury, and of course, warfare. However, the use of infantry that fought in melee and also carried spears was NOT Etruscan; rather, it was Samnite. The Romans got their idea of the triarii from the Etruscan warriors, who in turn got theirs from the Greek hoplite phalanx. Ranged units, such as javelineers, slinger and archer were almost purely that. Light infantry did exist, but their spears were for melee combat. But hey, why spoil a good story, right?

  Javelin Combat: anyone know what he's referring to here? (Unlikely to be true, while the Knights of Irish myth often hurled their spears, it was against mainstream knightly code during the Medieval Ages to strike down an opposing knight with a javelin. As champions of chivalry, it is doubtful any Knight of the Round Table would do this - Aorii)

  Metis: the Titan of prudence and wisdom in Greek Mythology.

  Gaia and Uranus: Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess and mother of all things in Greece
mythology; Uranus, father sky, was both her son and husband (<_< ). Together they gave birth to the earliest Titans and many of the Greek Gods.

  Athena's Birth: Zeus supposedly turned Metis into a fly and swallowed her, but Metis began to forge a helmet and armor for her unborn child, causing Zeus great pain from inside him. Eventually his son Hephaestus, god of artisans, struck Zeus' head with an axe or hammer. Athena was born 'from' Zeus this way, fully grown, armed, and armored, while Zeus was none worse for the wear.

  Shiba Park: a famous park in Tokyo, built around the Buddhist Great Temple San'en-zan Zōjō-ji

  Tsukishima: an island formed of reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay

  Chapter 6 - Whirlwind in the Darkest Night

  Part 1

  Yuri and Amakasu spent dozens of minutes before they escaped from the area of pitch darkness.

  They were lucky enough to stop a taxi that hadn't noticed the abnormality of the area yet, and managed to return to the Nanao Shrine beside Shiba Park.

  Within the premises of this shrine was a simple, single-story service building.

  Yuri had kept the Gorgoneion for safekeeping inside this place. It was a room that had been especially prepared for her, so she could use it freely.

  She left Amakasu waiting outside in the courtyard before entering the service building herself.

  When she returned with the Gorgoneion, Amakasu was reporting their current situation through his cell phone, to whom was likely to be a member of the History Compilation Committee on the other side.

  "So the artifact that's causing the problem is the Representation of the Serpent; talk about a troublesome item."

  Amakasu said after hanging up his phone around three minutes later.

  The meeting with Kusanagi Godou, the appearance of the self-claimed lover from Italy, and the arrival of the Goddess Athena—Amakasu had reported all of these recent events.

  Everything had developed so quickly that Amakasu had revealed just how much of a 'do things my way' attitude he had.

  But even though he was someone like that, he was still an agent of the History Compilation Committee.

  To understand sorcery to some degree, trained in a few martial arts, and be knowledgeable about supernatural and deific matters of past and present... it was expected for him to be like that.

  "I still can't believe that an artifact like the Gorgoneion had been excavated from Africa; it's just too odd considering its connections with a Greek goddess."

  Yuri asked without any expectations.

  She only hoped to receive some hints that might lead to an answer.

  "Oh no, it's not strange at all. Plato[1G 1] once wrote in his dialogues that 'the Greek Goddess Athena and Libyan Goddess Neith were the same deity'."

  "Plato's dialogues?"

  As she watched Amakasu answer her effortlessly, Yuri couldn't help but see him in a new light.

  As expected of a member of the History Compilation Committee, his wealth of knowledge far exceeded that of her own.

  "Correct, if I remember right it was in the Timaeus[1G 2]. It was a well-known story in ancient Greece. Even Herodotus[1G 3] once wrote something similar, that 'most Greek Gods had been adopted from foreign countries'.

  Yuri felt admiration as she listened to his explanations.

  As a miko, Yuri had received some western cultural education. But even though she was far more knowledgeable than other girls of her age, she still didn't know much about Classical Greek culture.

  "Of the Greek Pantheon, many of the deities were assembled from various parts of the ancient world. Their places of origin included Egypt, Libya, Babylonia, Syria, and many others. It was the result of merging many regional and ethnic gods into their own mythology."

  "That's how... I didn't know at all."

  "Don't worry; this is a lacking for Japanese in general. Because we've always been a closed island country, we're rather oblivious to the cultural changes brought in by immigration. For example, even the one Kusanagi defeated, Verethragna, could trace its origins to the bible."

  "Ehh!? Really?"

  The Persian God of War that supposedly had ten forms.

  How did such a god from Central Asia appear in the world's most famous book?

  Strictly speaking, it would be an ancestor of that god. I once mentioned that Verethragna had been equated with Heracles[1G 4] as a god of victory. But Heracles had been a god created by unifying several other gods, and his oldest source would be Ba'al[1G 5], the storm god and ruling deity of Canaan[1G 6].

  "So are you saying that the African god Neite was later referred to as Athena... like that?"

  Amakasu revealed a vague smile to her question.

  "About that, who knows? Regarding something like this, I don't think I should comment on it when I'm just a layman. Honestly, this is a difficult part of Athena; the goddess had a profound link with not only Neite but also Medusa."

  "I remember the one who defeated Medusa was Perseus, the hero who received divine protection from Athena."

  Yuri thought of the renowned story from Greek mythology.

  With dozens of snakes as her hair and the ability to petrify people with her gaze, Medusa had met her death when Perseus cut off her head and offered it to Athena.

  "That mythology introduced the relationship between Medusa and Athena. Did you know that Athena had always kept the severed head of Medusa with her after receiving it as an offering? Ever since ancient times, the shield of Athena[1G 7] would almost always include a portrait of Medusa.

  Medusa had stayed in this form beside Athena ever since.

  It wasn't appropriate to call them partners; more like strong bonds of fate had linked them with one another.

  "Incidentally, if you trace Medusa's origin, you'll find that she was an earth goddess that came from Africa. She really wasn't a monster."

  Deities from other cultures were often introduced as evil mythological monsters to suppress their status. Of course, they were always defeated in the end.

  Legends of defeating evil and vanquishing monsters like that could be seen everywhere in mythology.

  "Furthermore, Athena was also linked to many other goddesses other than Medusa. There were simply far too many in similar roles."

  "What do you mean by similar roles?"

  Yuri asked Amakasu, who was normally too lazy to explain.

  The subject had digressed completely from the main topic.

  Even though she knew this, she still felt that the current topic was of unparalleled importance. Not because of curiosity, but because her miko instincts were warning her so.

  "Goddesses with names similar to Athena also come from Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and Orient regions bordering the Mediterranean like Turkey and Syria; the number of gods who share the same name as her are unnaturally high. There's Athena, Atana, Atona, Anata, Asherat, Aset, Ath-enna, and so and so on. Even Ba'al, whom I just mentioned, had a goddess of war sister named Anat, also a similar name."

  "Goddess of war... sister..."

  Yuri's mind couldn't stop spinning.

  The Pantheon ruler's sister, daughter, and wife. The Goddess of War. The Serpent Goddess. The Goddess of Life.

  "All those names that seem similar in pronunciation and linguistics cannot be disregarded either. Although they were originally the same name, they continue to circulate between different cultures, becoming more enriched every time... that's the way we ought to think of them."

  A bitter smile appeared on Amakasu's expression; maybe he thought they had gone off on a tangent for too long.

  "Some say that Athena was the embodiment of owls; this spreading darkness probably had something to do with that. I had just asked for an investigative report from the scene during my phone call.

  "The scene—you mean within the darkness zone?"

  "Yes. Athena was currently moving towards the central Tokyo expressways through the Chiba region. Her goal must be that Gorgoneion, spreading her darkness across the area while moving and calling upon fl
ocks of owls... they'll be in like a typhoon."

  Just after Amakasu nonchalantly made a joke.

  The premises of Nanao Shrine was completely enveloped in darkness.

  Even though this place was encircled by the woods, it was still in the heart of the city, and the skyscrapers that surrounded the area were always bright sources of light.

  Other than the street lights, there were also dazzling neon lights from the department stores.

  Normally, this place would be brightly lit even in the dead of night. But right now, the darkness that encompassed the area felt endlessly deep and impossibly dark.

  Only a half-moon was left in the skies to shine hazily upon the ground.

  "Ah, this place has already fallen under the goddess' influence... since things have gotten like this, we can only pray that the devil king would step in quickly, otherwise this will become impossible to handle."

  Amakasu muttered to himself within the darkness-covered shrine.

  Part 2

  "This is the god of darkness' presence... and the Gorgoneion with the imprint of the serpent was an artifact associated with the earth. So the goddess that governed both earth and darkness..."

  Yuri looked towards the skies from within the shrine.

  The night before her was darker than black pearls.

  "Owls are the messengers of Athena; they are birds of misfortune that only appeared during the night, and are considered bringers of ill-omen. But they are also sacred birds worshiped as symbols of wisdom, and had represented both sanctity and calamity since ancient times. Putting 'snake' together with 'owl' —just how do we interpret that?"

  Amakasu muttered unhappily.

  Although his figure couldn't be seen, both his sound and breath were very close.

  There were also other people within the shrine who had sensed the abnormality and fled to this place.

  It made them seem unreliable, but that couldn't be helped; there weren't many people within this country who could stand up to a [Heretic God].

  Even those of them who were close were at a loss over what to do.

  Yuri couldn't help but tremble.

  Originally, humans were supposed to fear the night, but ever since the advent of lighting, humans had mostly discarded this fear, but it was still a natural instinct.