Kenji walked through a long hall, the click of his boots against the polished stone the only sound in the silence. His left hand gripped the hilt of Yamato with a white-knuckled intensity, his mind miles away.
What was he thinking of? His family, of course.
His daughters.
The weight of their stubbornness sat heavy in his chest. Ayaka and Aoi had chosen to stay in the underworld, and it bothered him. It was a little bitter about that, but the girls had a little, and he meant very little good point in what they were saying, he couldn't always be there for them, and it was better to allow them to grow on their own than to mother them. Still, it was a bitter pill to swallow. He hadn't left them defenseless, though, far from it.
Roman and Katie would watch over them with everything they had. They understood that their lives were forfeit if even a single scratch appeared on his girls. If anything arose that they couldn't handle, the rings he'd left with the girls would reach him, and the two, as his servants, could speak with him telepathically regardless of distance. And if he knew, he would be there in a heartbeat, ready to finish what he had started today.
The matter of Anastasia and Ren, however, was a more complex headache.
When his wife had mentioned going to meet her family, Kenji hadn't been foolish enough to let her go unprotected. He was well aware that a number of things could happen, and he was not ready for something to happen to his wife and son. He had assigned two of his strongest servants to protect them at all costs.
There was Merpha, the unofficial leader of the humans under his command. Then there was Zeph, the old devil who had proven his worth during that Battle in DC. Zeph's had been the devil who helped Kenji take down the Plastic Man.
Those two were currently the pinnacle of his power base, the strongest servants he had.
Well, excluding Hagoromo Gitsune.
The legendary fox yokai he had recently captured was a tier above the rest. She was in the ultimate class, and that was without her last tail. She was currently locked in his inventory, where she had been since he had beaten her. He hadn't even spoken to her since he was in a rush after his fight with her.
He had been confused, restless, and busy. Then came Anastasia's call. Things had apparently gone sideways during her family meeting. Through his own rage, he had gathered that she had somehow agreed to join an upcoming gathering involving the Norse faction in the Underworld.
The details were murky, he had been too distracted by his daughter running away to the underworld.
But the news now provided a strange, cold comfort. If his wife was heading to the Underworld, she would be there to keep an eye on the girls. With the layers of protections he had woven into her jewelry, barriers that could withstand a strike from even an ultimate class, and Merpha and Zeph at her back, he felt confident. She would survive the fools of the Underworld.
Now, he could finally afford to cool down. But there was one final matter to settle before he departed to another world to find some semblance of peace.
He reached a set of massive, ornate doors. He could hear the low, discordant murmuring of voices on the other side. His expression went flat, a mask of cold indifference, as he pushed the doors open.
Katerea Leviathan was in a foul mood.
She sat at the massive round table, her fingers tapping restlessly against the table. She wasn't even sure why she had come. Ever since the failed attack on the summit, her standing within the Old Satan faction had plummeted to an all-time low. Shalba Beelzebub, that conniving bastard, had wasted no time painting her as a coward. He had spread rumors that she fled at the first sign of danger, implying that Creuserey's death was a direct result of her "abandonment."
As if her staying would have changed the outcome. Creuserey had been an arrogant fool who refused to listen, his death was a mercy for the faction. But in the Old Satan group, perception was everything. As the only descendant who lacked a distinct clan trait, her position had always been precarious. A leviathan that didn't have a clan trait was not an easy life. Now, her support base had withered, her followers defecting to Shalba's camp in droves.
She was pissed, but she was trapped. She should have been rebuilding her power, but a general meeting of the Khaos Brigade was not something one missed, especially not when Ophis was present.
She looked around the room, watching the internal friction. Vali and Cao Cao were at each other's throats again, their auras clashing. Shalba was looking for a reason to start a fight with her. Ares was boasting to a group of minor deities about battles he'd fought, while Loki of the Norse pantheon lounged back with a bored, condescending smirk that made Katerea want to scream. Dozens of other extremists and fools filled the space, a collection of egos so large it was a wonder the room didn't explode.
But her gaze lingered on the man sitting further down the table, Euclid Lucifuge.
Euclid was the shadow that preceded the most dangerous man in the devil faction, even if the man himself wasn't physically present. He served Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the son of the original Lucifer and the first "Super Devil." Rizevim was a wildcard—cruel, vicious, and utterly bored. He had sat out even the Civil War because he found it tedious, and his involvement in the Brigade was shrouded in mystery.
He was the kind of monster who played with his food before burning it, and Katerea made a mental note to keep her distance long ago, only appearing before him if personally looked for.
Finally, she looked toward the head of the table. Ophis sat there, silent and tiny as always, her presence was the only thing preventing the room from a battle erupting right now. It was odd, though, she was here yet, Ophis hadn't been the one who called this meeting.
The Brigade had realized early on that they couldn't just let their members run wild. If one group's plan interfered with another's, the internal bloodbath was counterproductive. Ophis had eventually threatened to kill anyone who disrupted the goals for her "silence".
Now, big plans had to be declared, even if not all the details would be told. This time, it was Loki. The trickster god had announced a plan to disrupt a gathering in the Underworld, likely to sabotage Odin's attempts at peace with the Devils.
Suddenly, the doors burst open.
Katerea turned her head, ready to see which fool had the audacity to barge in, but the breath was sucked right out of her lungs.
It was him. The monster that wore the skin of a man. The source of her every nightmare these days and her current headache. Kenji Takahashi.
He strolled in like he owned the place, his posture relaxed, but his eyes were cold. His hand was holding that sword of his. Katerea's eyes flicked to the blade, and she noticed she wasn't the only one.
Since the summit, the entire supernatural world had become obsessed with the man, and a lot of people had searched for information about the man, and the sword had become somewhat famous.
It was a demonic blade, yet unlike anything anyone had seen. Vali had claimed it had some sort of power, that it could deactivate Sacred Gears, a terrifying prospect that made every leader in the room want to either steal the sword or kill the man holding it and take it.
The only problem was that the owner of the sword was Kenji, and after the summit, most knew he wasn't a simple human.
"Why are you here?" Shalba yelled, standing up so fast his chair toppled as he recognized the man.
Across the room, magic circles flared, and weapons were drawn. Katerea prepared herself to either fight or flee, her instincts screaming that Kenji was even more powerful than he had been a week ago, so she was ready to flee at a moment's notice if needed.
Kenji didn't even look at Shalba. He ignored the gathered gods, devils, fallen, and humans alike as if they were furniture in a house.
"Kenji." Ophis's monotone voice rang out, cutting through the rising tension.
The man turned his head toward the Infinite Dragon God. "Ophis," he nodded, his voice showing a level of respect he gave to no one else in the room.
Katerea felt her jaw drop. 'They know each other?'
"What are you doing here, human?!" Shalba shouted again, his voice cracking with rage.
Kenji turned slightly. His golden eyes locked onto Shalba. The Devil froze, his breath hitching as he felt the weight of those eyes. It felt like an eternity before Kenji looked away, leaving Shalba trembling despite his attempts to look confident.
"I will be gone for a while," Kenji told Ophis.
The dragon tilted her head, her expression unreadable. "Silence?" she asked.
"Yes and no. I'll be gone, but there will be no silence this time," Kenji replied.
Katerea didn't understand, but Ophis seemed to.
What Kenji meant was that while he was gone this time, he wasn't freezing time for the world, he was making sure it wouldn't. He was leaving, but he wanted his family to move forward, to live their lives, and cool down, too, and to deal with the consequences of their choices while he was away cooling his head.
The infinite dragon looked at him for a long moment before giving a slow, singular nod.
Kenji turned to leave, briefly glancing at the room before he scoffed. He was technically part of the Brigade, but he had zero allegiance to these people. To him, they were just Ophis's collection of "leeching fools" and "golden-blooded parasites," who called themselves gods.
"Who do you think you are to come and go as you please, human?"
The voice was cold and dripping with divine arrogance. Kenji stopped and turned his head. His eyes landed on Loki. Were they really this foolish, even when they knew Ophis knew him.
'I really can't imagine how fools think,' Kenji thought.
Kenji was still vibrating with the remnants of his fight with the Satans. He was still a bit angry, frustrated, and looking for a target that wouldn't result in his daughters crying. And here was a "God" volunteering for the position.
"Do you have something you wish to say to me, you golden-blooded leech?" Kenji asked calmly to this cultivation, looking young master bastard.
Loki's face twisted. "Leech? Did you just call me a leech, you impudent ape?" The god stood up, power exploding from him in a golden aura that rattled the room and sent the smaller gods and others scurrying for cover.
"Is that not what you are?" Kenji said, his voice casual. "A leech feeding off my kind, then pretending your 'divinity' makes you more. You're just a parasite with a fancy title."
That taunt seemed to do it as the god exploded in rage.
Loki roared. Dozens of magic circles manifested around him, glowing with a blinding light as they began to charge with enough energy to level a city.
Just as the god was about to unleash his strike, his body was suddenly smashed into the ground face-first.
BOOM.
The stone floor shattered into a thousand pieces. Loki tried to push himself up, but the gravity around him intensified, pinning him like an insect to a board.
He screamed, his divine strength straining against the invisible weight. He managed to lift his chest an inch, only for the force to multiply by ten.
He was flattened instantly. The sound of his ribs cracking echoed through the room.
The only thing Loki could hear was the slow sound of footsteps approaching. He managed to turn his head just enough to see Kenji's shoes inches from his face.
"I'm really in a bad mood today," Kenji said, looking down at the god with utter disgust. "I didn't manage to kill even one of the bastards I fought earlier, and my patience is at its limit."
He let out a sigh of pure frustration, "If only I had just killed Azazel when I had the chance..." he whispered to himself.
The gravity pressed harder. Blood began to seep from Loki's mouth, nose, and ears. Above the god, dozens of black, swirling orbs appeared. They descended slowly toward the god's back, ready to erase his existence.
Just as they were about to touch his skin, they vanished.
Kenji paused. He turned his head to see Ophis staring at him, her dark eyes unblinking.
"No," she said.
Kenji stared at her for a long moment. Then, he let out a heavy, weary sigh and released the pressure. Loki collapsed, gasping for air and coughing up golden ichor.
Without another word, Kenji spun on his heel and walked out the door.
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