So they kept walking up the mountain, and they came across the second screening gate, where they were thoroughly searched to make sure nobody got past that point with any weapons on them. Of course, Kazuya and the rest of them comfortably went through the checkpoint knowing that they had nothing on them because their weapons had been sealed away through Shizu's most advanced healing magic, which was far beyond the sensory capabilities of the mages in charge of the area.
After getting through the second gate, they still proceeded in single file, as did the others. The chanting of spiritual songs became more vibrant and louder among the devout pilgrims, so much so that the ensuing conversation among the adventurers wouldn't be a nuisance anymore.
So Kazuya asked Shizu, "Do you have a rough description of what the goddess looks like?" He asked, "I know she is a goddess of war and the arts, but beyond that, I don't think I know much about her."
Shizu laughed, "So all through the past week of training and preparation, you never bothered to ask about that—but is it now that you are about an hour away from the encounter that you are asking this question?" she asked.
"Forget it," Kazuya curtly replied.
"Don't stress it, young man," Shizu replied. "I'll tell you about her."
Then Shizu went on to explain, "Sarasa is part of the Supreme Mikami, which is comprised of three supreme deities who rule over the god-class of powerful entities." Among the three are Sarasa, the goddess of wisdom, arts, and war... Maou Mazoku, the god of death and the world of the dead... and the most powerful being in their trinity, Raijin, the supreme god of thunder...
Sarasa, as you know, is the goddess of wisdom, war, and the arts. She is believed to be the one who granted wisdom to mankind so that the race could serve as earthly priests who would glorify the gods. Her prowess with the sword is legendary, proven in ancient eyewitness accounts to outclass the most advanced entities in combat, even when blindfolded. Back when gods always intervened in the affairs of men, it was also recorded that she got involved in the 3rd Great Mage War and slaughtered over a thousand men with only a sword.
... As for her godly abilities, she has been depicted in several tales as riding on a fiery serpent while heading off to war with those who follow her. She is also depicted by tradition as having the ability to manifest any weapon of war she wishes on command, and by being the goddess of arts, she also mastered the craft of beauty, making her the most beautiful of all deities and entities.
"I could keep going on about this, but I believe anything said beyond this point would be trivial to the mission at hand."
"You spoke of a fiery serpent," Kazuya said, "how probable is that?"
Only a few historical sources point to that depiction of Sarasa, so I wouldn't say that it is historically reliable to think that such a beast exists. "But it seems to me that the beast is an allegorical fabrication that illustrates her fierceness and near omnipotence during times of war from the perspective of her enemies," Shizu replied.
"Let us hope you are right on that part," Kazuya replied.
"Are you afraid that the tale might be true?" asked Shizu.
"No," Kazuya replied, "we are about to fight against one of the three most powerful gods of this world." So given the circumstances, adding a flying serpent into the mix makes almost no difference to me, as it doesn't change the nature of the mission in any way. "All the odds will still be stacked against us either way, so I don't care as much."
"Same here," Shizu replied, "but I don't think it's likely to be true, given the grandiose claims surrounding the animal."
"What sort of claims?" asked Orihime.
Shizu looked back at her and answered, "Some of the claims, like "the serpent is so large that it was its constriction that shaped the world into its spherical form at the beginning" or "the serpent could fly like a dragon but yet had no wings to fly with," are just too outrageous to me, even for mystical fables."
-
Shortly after, they had gotten to the third and final gate before the building, which was now about a hundred feet away from them. At this point, they could appreciate just how large the building was and its grandiose splendor. Apart from Shizu, none of them had been there before, and they were all taken aback by its size and beauty.
A final check was done, but this time by specialized wizards. This made Kazuya and the others a bit nervous, but Shizu's hidden magic was far more advanced compared to what the mages were used to checking for, and they could not detect it.
So they got past the final checkpoint and went along with the other pilgrims and worshippers into the temple. When they got into the building, their jaws hit the floor as they took in the magnificence of the large temple's interior. Even Shizu's mouth was open in amazement, even though she had been there before, as the feeling of awe couldn't grow old on her.
It was beautiful.
Though the building was grand and large, the interior of the temple was a lot more simple than expected, as ahead of them they could see the grand statue of Sarasa, playing the harp while riding on a serpent-like creature in the clouds. The statue of the goddess was about 15 feet tall, and ahead of her and closer to the worshippers were two statues called the guardians of the temple.
The guardian statues were about twenty feet tall, and the eyes of these statues always glowed, showing that divine power was truly at play in the temple and that it wasn't just a place of worship for an abstract deity. The glowing color of their eyes was light blue. They were gazing intently in the direction of the heavens as if waiting for the goddess to come down, even though her statue was right in their midst.
Large metal bars were separating the crowds from the statues, and that was as far as any of them could go at this point. All five adventurers stood there, holding on to the bars with their heads bowed as if they were worshipping. Then Kazuya looked at Shizu, who gave him a nod before facing the others and doing the same as well.
This was it; Shizu was about to open her portal to the hidden dimension where their weapons were hidden. They were about to desecrate the temple and incur the wrath of the goddess, but before Shizu could open her portal, something strange occurred.
The eyes of the guardian statues changed from blue to scarlet, and suddenly, the heads of the statues began to move. The frictional sound of grinding stones could be heard as the gazes of the statues moved from facing the heavens to looking down at the worshippers.
When the people noticed this, they became afraid, and some of them began running away as fast as they could, panicking and screaming. But Kazuya and the other adventurers and a handful of other pilgrims stood their ground, with some of the pilgrims believing it wasn't something to get frightened about.
But the mouths of the guardians opened, and they began to speak in frightening voices...
WHO DARES COME INTO THE SACRIFICED TEMPLE ARMED AND ARROGANT?
WHO IS IT THAT DISRESPECTS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF A MIKAMI?
When the other pilgrims heard this, they also got afraid, and some ran away, while others kneeled and began to pray, believing that running away from the temple would do them no good as they wouldn't get far enough before getting destroyed by the guardians if they wished to do so.
Shizu sighed, looking at the others as she joined her hands together, triggering a spell that opened the hidden portal, and out of it came all their weapons.
The adventurers grabbed their arms and stood in defiance of the great statues. They were all frightened but stood their ground nonetheless. They couldn't go back now, regardless of personal fear.
YOU DARE TO INVADE SARASA'S TEMPLE WITH HIDDEN WEAPONS? SUCH ARROGANCE!
Do you think you can raid a supreme deity's temple and live to tell the tale? Did you think such a desecration attempt would go unpunished?
Then the statues began to move their entire bodies, changing from their frozen state and standing like real people before the raiders.
Orihime, knowing a battle was about to ensue, looked at the worshippers who were still present and praying. "You all might want to leave—things are about to get ugly!" she yelled at them, and thankfully, most took her advice, but some of them ignored her warnings. Seeing her as a desecrator, they saw her warnings as ill-advised, since she was in opposition to the gods.
The statues kept on implying threats in frightening voices...
YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, MORTALS!
WE WILL GRANT YOU A PERILOUS ETERNITY WITH MAOU IN THE UNDERWORLD FOR THIS ACT OF TREASON!
"Lucky us," Kazuya replied as he swung his sword at the metal bars keeping them apart, cutting them down before walking past them along with the others.
Now, with no barriers ahead of them, Kazuya and the others stood before the guardians of the temple, ready to begin their war against the gods by fighting the ones they appointed.