Tania and Hé-no stepped out of the cavern, and with a simple movement of his hand the god split the waterfall in two. The sight astonished Tania, since they themselves had not even been able to move the cascade at all.
Then clouds began to gather beneath the feet of the Iroquois god, forming what looked like a staircase. Hé-no began to climb them as though they were solid, something that puzzled Tania because she could not fly in that place. Yet she soon remembered how Wenabozho—or Nanabozho—could float in the air, and how the king of Tula had once flown to meet them.
“These gods must have learned more divine tricks after living so many years under the anti-divinity barrier,” she thought.
“Do not worry, young Tania. These clouds are completely solid,” the god said.
Tania nodded and began to climb, though carefully.
After ascending for a while, Tania realized that both of them were now above the massive waterfall, and from the sky they could see both lakes—Ontario and the other, called Erielhonan.
The man then showed her the path of clouds, which had formed a bridge stretching across the lake and reaching the land of the Iroquois.
“If you continue walking across this bridge of clouds, you will reach my land without difficulty and may continue your journey south as you wish,” Hé-no explained while gesturing toward the cloud bridge.
Tania turned to look toward the top of the waterfall and saw Rodrigo with Anpiel and Susanoo. The first two waved from below, confirming they had seen her.
“I cannot. I promised we would destroy the serpent, and I will keep my promise,” Tania said as she looked back at the thunder god.
“I applaud your courage and honesty,” Hé-no replied. With another movement of his hand he created a second staircase of clouds leading toward Rodrigo and the others.
Nervous, Rodrigo began to climb, but very slowly and cautiously, while Anpiel and Susanoo ascended calmly.
“You must be the god Hé-no. It is a pleasure. My name is Anpiel,” the angel said, bowing when he saw the thunder god.
“And mine is Susanoo-no-Mikoto. It is an honour most distinguished to make thy acquaintance,” added the eastern god, bowing deeply.
“And my companion who has not arrived yet is named Rodrigo,” Anpiel said, noticing that the young tannin had not even reached halfway up the staircase because he was terrified and nearly crawling as he climbed.
At that moment Hé-no raised his index finger toward Rodrigo, and a small cloud enveloped the young tannin and carried him up to the top of the bridge. Rodrigo was terrified at the height they stood at and the fact that he could not fly.
“There is no need for concern, young Rodrigo. This place is safe… for now,” the thunder god said, observing Rodrigo’s fear.
“V-very pleased to meet you,” Rodrigo replied. “My name is Rodrigo,” he said, having forgotten that Hé-no had just spoken his name.
“Are you all ready?” the Iroquois god then asked while looking toward Lake Ontario.
“Ready… to fight?” Tania asked in confusion, and the others wondered the same.
“Indeed. I shall provoke the Great Water Snake so that it attacks us,” Hé-no said as stones appeared in his hand and began to generate electricity.
“Wait—are we attacking it here?” Rodrigo asked, still suffering from vertigo.
Hé-no hurled the stones into Lake Ontario, and when they struck the water they caused enormous electrical explosions. After the attack, a moment of total calm followed.
“Prepare yourselves. Here comes the terrible serpent—the abomination called Djodi’kwado,” Hé-no said.
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A vortex began to form in the lake, and then a monstrous serpent with bluish horns and red eyes emerged from the waters. It rose so high that it reached the level where the gods stood upon the clouds.
The serpent glared at them with furious eyes and lunged forward with its open jaws.
“Anpiel! Take shelter away from here!” Tania shouted.
“Win, everyone!” the angel shouted as he rushed down the cloud bridge to a safe distance.
“Remember, the venom of serpents is extremely dangerous! If it touches you, you will die!” Hé-no shouted as he watched everyone dodge the attack—everyone except Rodrigo.
The young tannin, seeing the serpent approach, forgot his vertigo for a moment. Transforming his arms into scales and surrounding them with sacred power, he struck the serpent’s head with tremendous force, sending it flying away before it crashed back into the lake.
“I forgot to mention it, but Rodrigo is a serpent god as well,” Tania said as she landed gracefully elsewhere on the bridge while the others did the same.
“A serpent god wielding sacred power? That is truly remarkable,” Hé-no said with excitement.
The Iroquois god then drew an arrow from his quiver. It transformed into pure electricity that formed a spear upon his bow. He fired the attack, which became a storm of lightning bolts that mercilessly struck the serpent while it struggled to rise after Rodrigo’s blow.
Yet Hé-no’s lightning attacks barely affected the powerful creature. Like a flash it rose again and opened its jaws—but this time Tania struck it from the left with a flaming punch while Rodrigo attacked from the right with his scaled fist surrounded by sacred energy.
The serpent shrieked and fell back into the lake again, destroying part of the cloud bridge created by Hé-no in the process. The thunder god unleashed another barrage of lightning, but before long the serpent rose once more.
Susanoo surrounded his katana with the power of water and hurled himself toward the serpent’s neck.
“Mizu no Kiru (Water Slash)!”
However, when his blade struck the monster’s neck he was repelled by its incredible hardness. The gigantic serpent attempted to bite the eastern god, but Tania appeared before him and slashed the monster’s face with her flaming claws. Yet none of their attacks had any real effect.
Hé-no launched another wave of lightning that forced the serpent back. The monster then spewed a powerful blast of poisonous water from its mouth, destroying much of the cloud bridge. The members of Orniskem barely avoided the attack. Rodrigo landed on a still-solid portion of the bridge, leapt forward, and kicked the monster with sacred energy blazing from his foot, sending it crashing back into the water again.
“Only Rodrigo’s attacks are dealing it serious damage, but we lack the strength to cut it apart,” Tania said in frustration as the serpent rose from the lake once again.
Hé-no, who was constructing new bridges of clouds, said with disappointment, “This snake has caused much destruction among my people, though it is not the only calamity within our kingdom.”
“There are more monsters like this?” Tania asked.
“Yes. More snakes have appeared in other parts of our lands, along with other kinds of monsters. It is as though the final days of the Iroquois kingdom are approaching a tragic end,” the god continued. “One of my disciples was even slain by them.”
The serpent had risen again and seemed completely unharmed. It hissed angrily while preparing another blast of poisonous water.
“Hé-no-sama,” Susanoo said. “I have conceived an idea.”
“Sama?” Hé-no asked.
“In his language it means ‘lord,’ I believe,” Tania said with mild boredom.
“Hai,” Susanoo replied. “I beseech thee to strike me with thy lightning at the very instant I stand before the serpent’s neck.”
He pointed to a spot just beneath the monster’s jaw.
“What do you intend to do, young man?” the Iroquois god asked.
“I shall employ thy lightning to sever the neck of this mighty ryūjin… serpent,” Susanoo replied as he drew his katana and prepared to attack.
“Are you certain, young man? I see you wield water powers, and my lightning could harm you greatly,” Hé-no said.
“Pray trouble thyself not on my behalf. Only do it,” Susanoo shouted as he leapt toward the serpent’s neck.
Hé-no agreed and released a barrage of lightning behind the eastern god.
Like a living lightning rod, Susanoo caught the bolts upon his katana, and for a moment his appearance shifted again into a bluish form. A cloth of smoke appeared over his shoulders—the same transformation he had displayed while fighting Ogun on Mars.
With his sword wrapped in lightning he shouted:
“Kami no Kaminari (Holy Thunder)!”
With a single clean strike he severed the gigantic serpent’s neck. The monster’s head separated instantly from its body.
Immediately after the cut Susanoo lost his brief transformation and began to fall toward the enormous lake.
Hé-no quickly created clouds beneath him to prevent his fall. But the serpent’s body exploded in blood as its head separated from its neck.
“Shimata!” the eastern god cried in terror, realizing it would be impossible to escape the situation, since touching the serpent’s blood might expose him to its deadly poison.
However, the Iroquois god had anticipated this. He swiftly moved the cloud carrying Susanoo away from the rain of blood.
At last the enormous monster lost all strength, and its gigantic body collapsed into Lake Ontario while its head sank into the depths.
“That was indeed a most narrow escape,” Susanoo said in relief as the members of Orniskem celebrated their victory.