Chapter 408
He hadn’t misread it.
Even on a second look, the system alert was brutally honest.
Su-ho knit his brows.
But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t find an answer, and his gaze naturally turned back to Amaterasu.
“May I ask you something?”
At Su-ho’s question, Amaterasu was silent for a while.
Then she let out a faint sigh and said,
That’s the reason?
For a moment, Su-ho was too dumbfounded to speak.
‘Order of things, my foot—if the conditions match, the system just works, doesn’t it?’
Isn’t that what a system is?
Like a vending machine—put in the proper currency, and the product clunks out.
And now she’s suddenly invoking cosmic order? Of course his brow would furrow.
Then a thought struck him.
‘What if it’s not “order,” but the setting itself is built that way from the start?’
He’d gotten carried away, caught on the word “order” she used.
But how could Amaterasu—who’s classified as an NPC-like entity—know all the system’s rules?
She was a plaything of the system, too.
Then there was no point getting heated.
After thinking a while, Su-ho narrowed his eyes and said,
“Then is there no way at all?”
Absurd.
To end it like this?
If he’d known, he would have... In that instant, another thought came.
‘Hold on. If Amaterasu knows this, doesn’t that mean that bastard Tsukuyomi knew it would end up like this, too?’
Su-ho narrowed his brows and asked,
“So Tsukuyomi tricked me, didn’t he?”
When she didn’t open her mouth again, Su-ho spoke.
“I’ll ask one last thing. As his older sister... no, as a fellow god, will you resolve this on your brother’s behalf?”
The longer her silence stretched, the colder Su-ho’s expression became.
‘Fine. Everything that happens from here on out—you brought it on yourselves.’
He was angry.
How could they deceive a person like this?
He was sick of being stabbed in the back.
Just as Su-ho was about to say something—
“What is it?”
Of course.
The Amaterasu before his eyes was the true Amaterasu’s avatar.
And the real Transcendent Amaterasu would be watching the current situation in real time.
‘She kept quiet to talk with Tsukuyomi.’
Su-ho nodded.
“And?”
Su-ho narrowed his eyes to slits.
Then he nodded.
Right.
In that case, it makes sense.
The system, at its core, is something that wants Players to struggle.
So it didn’t even permit Tsukuyomi to give him a hint.
‘Because if he told me beforehand, it wouldn’t get to watch me bust my ass.’
Hearing the story, everything clicked into place.
Either way, Tsukuyomi was desperate, and to secure the deal he had to offer whatever information might help Su-ho even a little.
‘I misunderstood.’
Still, the damn system is downright vicious.
Now that his anger was gone, Su-ho let out a sigh.
“Eh... then it can’t be helped.”
At that, Amaterasu nodded.
Then he asked again.
“One last question—do you mean it?”
Her words were true.
After all, he had used the Ring of Joy and Sorrow to verify truthfulness.
Fortunately, the ring worked on monsters as well, and what he saw from her was white energy.
“.......”
Su-ho fell into thought.
‘What should I do?’
If he demanded an answer here, Amaterasu would surely incur the system’s punishment and end up like the Black Moon God Tsukuyomi.
That wasn’t an outcome Su-ho wanted.
‘If this were an ordinary monster, I’d handle it somehow, but if she darkens again this time...’
This time he couldn’t guarantee victory.
Because while the first time might be a warning and punishment, if it became a second and third time, the system might, as punishment, send an entity that absolutely couldn’t be killed.
‘The system hates breaking the lines it drew. I got away with it once, but from the second time, I can’t promise anything.’
Above all, Amaterasu had done everything within her duty.
She’d even asked directly to preserve Tsukuyomi’s honor.
And unlike Tsukuyomi, she had no reason to make a deal with Su-ho.
Then there was only one answer.
‘I should accept this and back off for now.’
It wasn’t a solution, but he’d received a hint instead.
Both Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu had done their best.
So there was no more reason to be angry—or to break his promise.
“Understood. I’ve got a hint, so I’ll find the way myself. That aside, what happens now? This is my last Gate. Don’t I have to kill you to exit the Gate?”
At Su-ho’s question, Amaterasu raised one hand.
Light gathered on her palm, and soon a golden sphere rested there.
“What is that?”
In other words, the Rune of the Sun.
She continued,
Looked at strictly, that’s true.
Had there been no deal with Tsukuyomi, Su-ho would have had to kill the tainted Amaterasu.
But that aside, it felt wasteful after all the effort he’d spent purifying her.
“Doesn’t that make my effort to purify you meaningless?”
He stopped himself from asking for details.
If even Su-ho, veteran of the Cataclysm, didn’t know it, then it was another piece of high-tier information with viewing restrictions.
Su-ho immediately raised the blood sword.
And just as he was about to swing, he lowered it again.
“Can I borrow this for a moment?”
It floated gently like a levistone and settled into his palm.
A solid feel.
The same feel as when he’d dug through Amaterasu’s insides and touched it directly.
No item info displayed.
No matter.
He hadn’t asked for it to do anything with it anyway.
Clutching it, Su-ho stepped outside Amano-Iwato.
Outside was exactly as it had been when he came in.
So exactly that the defeated Susanoo still stood there like a stone statue, rooted to the spot.
When Su-ho returned, Susanoo grinned.
As Su-ho approached, Susanoo spoke in a bright, excited voice.
In that instant, Susanoo’s face went rigid at the sight of Amaterasu’s heart.
When Su-ho held up the golden heart and gave it a shake, the light in Susanoo’s eyes swelled as if it would explode.
At Su-ho’s advice, Susanoo let out something between a scream and a roar.
But Su-ho didn’t care; he leisurely waved the golden heart in farewell.
Then, in one motion, he crushed the heart, and system alerts began to pour before his eyes.