I watched as Hidan stabbed himself with his scythe and fell, unmoving.
Wait, did he actually die? Maybe he was just pretending?
Nope, none of the Star-Eaters sensed any life from him.
But my worshippers souls were still missing, usually if they dedicated their life to me and died they would arrive at my realm instantly, and then I would send them off to the Pure Lands...
That meant someone took them or destroyed them, probably Jashin. Guess I am not lucky enough to be the only god around.
'Destroy the circle and burn his body, leave no traces.' I ordered mentally, making all five crows chirp in acknowledgment.
Hidan's body suddenly jerked up, as if coming back to life, startling everyone present.
The immortal man looked around confused before speaking. "The fuck?"
A massive claw grabbed him by the leg before dragging him away violently from the circle.
The circle of blood was instantly broken, with 2 Star-Eaters smashing through it and destroying its integrity. The one holding Hidan had thrown him into a nearby wall.
Then the other two proceeded to divide themselves, charging up four attacks between them.
All of them opened their maws wide open and unleashed their abilities at once, four beams of energy exploded from their mouths, crashing into Hidan and engulfing him completely.
There was nothing but heat and light, as everything in the cave was bathed in bright glow. When it finally subsided, there was only a charred skeleton left behind.
But I knew the truth, Hidan didn't die, I could feel the Divinity swirling around him.
I never really paid attention to what my divinity felt like, I got it from my faithful and used it without much thought after all. It just felt... like an extension of me.
This was divinity felt disgusting, rotten, even if it was extremely similar to mine. It stank of blood and murder, even though I didn't have a nose or sense of smell.
I'm going to rip this wannabe god into pieces, the fucker was still holding on to my worshippers souls.
***
'Standard formation, never let both bodies be in close proximity with him.' His creator warned them.
He and the other Star-Eaters obeyed instantly, five bodies moved to the front, and five stayed back.
The body of Hidan suddenly twitched, his skin and muscles regenerating rapidly before their very eyes. Even his clothes and his weapon were repaired.
As soon as he was fully restored, Yatagarasu's second body charged forward at full speed, slashing out with its talons. The other four followed suit.
Hidan blocked each strike expertly despite not having time to get ready, deflecting their claws with his scythe and moving around them quickly to avoid being surrounded.
He was faster than before, and stronger too. Every one of Yatagarasu's movements seemed sluggish in comparison, every time they tried to hit him, he would dodge or block effortlessly.
"You're just like them, aren't you, birds?" Hidan asked as he struck out with a kick that sent one of Yatagarasu's siblings flying across the cave. "Full of misused blessings!"
The body flew towards a wall before disappearing into thin air, another appearing next to the others instantly.
All six of them charged up their beams once more, while the four bodies that were closer slowed Hidan down as much as possible.
Just as they all finished charging, Hidan finally managed to impale one of the Star-Eaters through the head with his scythe blade. But it was too late, the five of them fired at once, and everything went white again.
***
I stared at the smoke rising from what was now a second molten crater, I could feel Jashin's divinity moving around Hidan, his body already reforming for the second time.
This wasn't working, I could keep letting my Star-Eaters wail on him until Jashin gave up, but this wasn't a video game, Jashin could learn and adapt.
So I wasn't going to let him set the pace.
'Retreat, I'll take care of this.' Half the Star-Eater left, while the extra bodies disappeared.
It was clear that a fight of mortals wasn't going to solve this, and honestly? I wanted to beat Jashin up anyways.
I gathered my DP, and for the first time I materialized my true body into the physical world.
Not an Illusion, not an empty flesh-suit I could control, an actual Godly Body.
High above the cliff where the cave was located, the sky turned into darkness. A sea of stars appeared in the night sky, and from behind, I came forth.
Then I fell to Earth like a meteor.
The land trembled beneath me as I landed on the ground with a deafening crash, the cave crumbling beneath me, crushing what remained of Hidan's recovering body.
I used some DP to find where Hidan was buried before digging him out with one of my massive limbs, his body was already mostly restored. Though it wouldn't matter, I wasn't here for him.
As he stared at me in shock, I materialized a stake made of starlight, impaling him through the heart. This stake had its own powerful Blessings infused into it, nullifying regenerative abilities like Hidan's.
This dickhead had already cost me a week's worth of DP, not that big of a deal with my current reserves, but still annoying.
My plan was simple, Jashin wanted my Divine Power, right? I'll give him all he can stomach.
I felt a metaphysical hand trying to grasp onto the divine power within my stake, the moment it started doing that, I willed for more divinity to pour out from me and into the connection. Faster than Jashin could absorb.
And once I did that, now I had a direct connection to Jashin's realm. I gleefully reached back through it, grabbing the fucker by the metaphysical neck.
His response was immediate panic as he tried to let go of his hold on my divinity, but it was too late, he already lost his chance.
Now that I had my fingers around his metaphorical throat, I began to drag him into the physical world with my divine power. The difference between our powers wasn't massive, but I clearly had the advantage.
Hidan screamed as a god was pulled through his soul and body, blood pouring from everywhere as his form twisted unnaturally.
Until finally, in front of me stood Jashin.
Jashin was... surprisingly humanoid looking, if you ignored the whole 'entirely made of thousands of tiny pieces of skin' thing.
The God of Murder, Death, and Blood was roughly as tall as I was, staring at me with two empty sockets.
I, of course, decked him in the face.