They didn't have any of the equipment of Chaldea on their side. None of the analysis they would usually receive, to figure out what kind of being was in front of them. But in this case... such equipment would be redundant. They could feel it, how the energy tried to suffocate them, as tendrils of energy twisted and coiled around him. Even worse, they all could recognize it, even if it was on a scale comparable to a teardrop to the ocean. It was the same type of energy they felt from Chiyome. The same type of energy they could feel from one of the divine treasures Hideyoshi used. They remembered the last words of the shrine maiden, dying in Harunobu's arms. Ritsuka shivered, his skin completely pale with his throat dry.
"Susanoo... no... Mikoto... "
The god of the storms and the sea. The deity that caused the sun to disappear. The slayer of the Orochi. A true divinity, from the pressure he was exuding, surpassing the likes of Hideyoshi and Chiyome, borrowing and stealing their authority, and even Takemikazuchi himself. The only comparison he could think of was Quetzalcoatl in Babylonia and she was practically a complete god at the time. The silence, the awe, begrudging as it was in some cases, was deafening. It only caused the god to smirk even wider, as he crossed his arms.
"Master... " Nobu hissed, a forced smile on her face as she summoned her muskets. Weakened as she was, they seemed to be more transparent in form. Yet she widened her stance with a snarl. "Get ready to run."
Ritsuka's eyes widened. He looked at his servants. They struggled to even raise their weapons. Mash sweated profusely, breathing heavily as she raised her shield. Kagetora had to focus for a moment, in order to summon her glaive.
"I can't just-"
"It's unlikely we'll buy a lot of time, with the damage we sustained, but better than nothing~!"
At once, the three servants moved, preventing Ritsuka from objecting to Kagetora's words. A shield slamming the chin from below. A glaive aimed for the neck. Shots going against the eyes and joints. To their absolute horror, the god didn't even budge. The bullets barely singed his armor. The glaive broke. Ritsuka even thought the shield of Mash got a dent instead.
It wasn't anything like Hideyoshi's authority of Izanami. The attacks weren't any more diminished, in a sense, exhaustion excluded. Their attacks were only a bit weaker compared to their full, rested, strength. No special ability. No manipulation of reality's rules. No, what protected Susanoo from the attacks... was sheer, brute power. That was the reason they couldn't hurt him. His parameters, his armor were just superior to Takemikazuchi's armor... if it could be called armor in the first place, with how organic it appeared. Not even Nobu's Anti-Divine attacks did anything beyond leaving black marks on the body of Susanoo.
Grim determination filled them, as their bodies tensed up. But just as they reloaded, repositioned themselves, Susanoo's arm blurred. One moment, his servants were ready to throw their lives down for the sake of defeating their enemy. The next moment, they were crushed by an invisible force, flattening them on the ground. Ritsuka could only blink before his eyes widened in horror, having processed what just happened.
"Damn... it... !"
"I... I can't move... !"
They couldn't even move a muscle. Only their mouths weren't stopped, as they groaned and snarled. Yet even as they were lying on their stomachs, crushed with unbelievable force and control, Susanoo's posture was utterly relaxed. His grip on the sword he held was rather loose, with the flat side pointing down. Yet Ritsuka could feel the power that went through the blade. A blade he could recognize.
Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. His eyes widened. It was the same sword that Hideyoshi wielded... a sword they couldn't find in the aftermath of the battle. At that time, he thought it merely vanished. But he forgot that Hideyoshi was still alive. Which mean that the sword itself wasn't a Noble Phantasm in the traditional sense, but a physical item... an item that belonged to Susanoo first. His power and control with it was superior to Chiyome or Hideyoshi. Was that the right of a proper owner?
His thoughts were cut short when he turned to him. Time slowed down, as he saw the left arm swipe towards him. Sound became muted, even as he saw his servants yell at him. His body was frozen. He saw death incoming, but his feet were rooted. But then, memories rushed through his head. Of his life before Chaldea. Of the Singularities. The Lostbelts that had to be destroyed. With all those deaths on his hands... how could he just die like this?!
He grit his teeth. Pushing past his fear, pushing past the hopelessness he felt, he ducked as fast as he could. The wind brushed past him, strong enough to destroy steel walls. At the same time, he pointed his finger at the god and shot his Gandr at him. Unsurprisingly, it did absolutely nothing. But that action alone allowed time to resume properly. Rolling over the ground, Ritsuka breathed heavily, but with determination in his face.
"Senpai, just run!"
"I won't be able to get far anyway with that tree," he replied to Mash. Even with his body shivering, he put up a smile. Raising his hands, he motioned for the god to come. "If you want a fight, come and get it!"
Susanoo stared at him, in silence. However, his body began to shake. The sword began to twitch, ready to be used again. To Ritsuka's complete surprise, the god began to laugh, throwing his head back. It wasn't a demeaning one, which only confused him more. It almost sounded... approving.
"Master of Chaldea, ey? Not bad. Not bad at all."
"What?"
Instead of answering his bafflement, Susanoo reeled back his arm with the sword in hand. His eyes narrowed somehow under that armor, his mouth morphing into a snarl. In an instance, Ritsuka could feel a sudden burst of energy behind him. At the same time, he felt himself shrink down to an ant when Susanoo exploded in energy as well, his divine aura directed at Ritsuka.
"Duck, shithead."
Without hesitation, he threw himself down. In that moment, he realized that the previous 'attack' aimed at him wasn't an attack at all. It was nothing compared to the roaring, ear shattering blast that the god created. He could hear how it cut through something and then crashed in the distance. Immediately after, he was grabbed by the collar and pulled back. His servants, being able to move again, took cover behind Mash's shield, warily staring at Susanoo... and the Fantasy Tree, which had a wide gash now. Ritsuka gaped at the sight. How far away were they and how strong was the cut Susanoo just made?!
"Hm. Tough fucker." He holstered the sword on his back, cracking his neck a few times. "Alright…"
The Tree began to glow, as it tried to heal itself. Ritsuka saw the familiar glowing points in the distance. Nobu, with her better eyesight, snarled, throwing a handful of mud at Susanoo.
"Oi, incoming!"
The mud never hit him, as his body began to be surrounded by wind. He widened his stance, energy surging, through the sword on his back into him.
"Don't piss ya panties, I got this," he growled in anticipation, flexing his claws a few times.
The beams of lights were unleashed, as Susanoo began to wildly cut the air in front of himself. The lasers got blocked or diverted by his armor, physical or wind. But that wasn't what caught Ritsuka's attention. It slowly build up. At first he thought it was going to be a strong gust of wind. But apparently, the god known for his temper didn't know the word for 'holding back'.
Right in front of the Tree, a large tornado formed. No, it couldn't be called a tornado. It was a drill of destruction, empowered by wind and water. Then, with one loud roar, Susanoo swung his left hand down. The drill moved and began to tear into the Tree, that diverted all of its energy from attacking towards defense. Because of that, despite the hurricane that could pierce a fortress, it was more of a stalemate, even as it slowly dug into the Tree.
"Got any more tricks up your sleeve?!"
"Shut it on the kiddie seats!" Susanoo snarled back, a wide grin on his face as he raised his right hand. It suddenly turned dark. Which was weird, since there weren't any clouds, having been blown away by the storm unleashed as a weapon. Blinking in confusion, they all looked up.
"What in the... " Ritsuka trailed off as his eyes widened in disbelief. The others weren't any better, gaping at the sight. "Whaaaaa….?"
It was a massive rock. A boulder the size of an army, covering the sun. Susanoo's arm bulged up, veins appearing despite the metallic nature of his body. He licked his lips, his voice becoming a low growl.
"Ama-no-Iwato."
The Meteor descended for nothing else could describe it. Like a hammer into a nail, it slamemd against the drill tornado. The pressure and force was too much for the tree. With surprising ease, it got torn in half, unable to withstand the rock and the tornado at the same time. Just as its upper half fell down, Susanoo crossed his arms with violent force. A sudden cyclone surrounded the Tree. Like a mixer, it began to shred it to complete pieces, followed by the Divine Rock smashing those pieces down into the earth. It felt like an eternity, watching the might of a god, even though it only lasted a few moments. Then at last, the winds calmed down. The rock disappeared... and with it, the Tree was gone now.
"Phew. Well ain't that therapeutic." The god rolled his shoulders with a satisfied expression before turning to them, a mocking grin on his face as he pointed at them. "Hehehehe. Should've seen your stupid faces."
Their eyebrows twitched in annoyance. Ritsuka took a deep breath. Okay, while he almost had a heart attack... he appreciated the help. Still, since that god helped them, did that mean... ?
"Are you... Panhuman?" Mash asked carefully, raising her hand. The god crossed his arms, tilting his head at them.
"Duh."
"Did... did you kill your Lostbelt version?" At Ritsuka's question, he scoffed, thumb pointed at himself.
"Yup. Wasn't too hard, really. The fucker lacked experience anyway, even if he ever got free, heh."
"Sounds dirty," Mash muttered. The god rolled his eyes before giving her a flat look.
"Bitch, how did I kill the fuckin' snake in my legend again?"
"...I'm not a bitch... "
Suddenly, the world began to shake. Ritsuka bit his lips, at the familiar feeling of a world disappearing. Susanoo nodded a few times before clapping his hands together and rubbing them together.
"Enough small talk."
Something was thrown at him. He caught it, surprisingly so, before looking down at his palm, to see a sealed piece of paper in it.
"Figure out how to get there earlier than later, got it?" Susanoo explained before letting out a sigh, turning his back to them. "Else everything will be fuckin' dead and we don't want that."
Ritsuka felt a shiver down his spine. What? Before he could ask, the god flicked his wrist. An all too familiar golden artifact landed in his hands. With a smirk, he turned his head ever so slightly. At the same time, the armor suddenly disappeared, revealing a hooded man, with green strands of hair poking out.
"By the way, taking that Grail, kaythanksbye."
In a sudden burst of tiredness, his vision became black as the world around them disappeared, as the god vanished right in front of them.