The ethereal blue shadow stood between Kenjiro and the god of flame, an island of absolute zero in a sea of incandescent heat. It did not cower. It did not flinch. It simply looked at the magnificent, terrifying being before it, Kagutsuchi, with an expression of pure, unadulterated amusement, as if a new and fascinating toy had just been presented for its entertainment.
Kagutsuchi, a being of ancient, cosmic power, felt a flicker of something she had not experienced in millennia: annoyance. This strange, cold phantom, this echo of a mortal, was looking at her not with the terror she commanded, but with the detached curiosity of a scientist observing a particularly interesting specimen.
"The cute thing has an interesting toy," she smirked, her voice the sound of a thousand roaring wildfires. The miniature sun in her hand pulsed, and she began to throw a relentless barrage of fireballs, each one a condensed sphere of stellar plasma.
