A predatory grin played upon her lips as she observed the scene, her gaze a weight that pinned everyone but Makoto in place.
A primal, instinctual fear—the deep-seated terror of death itself—had frozen the devils and yokais solid. They were prey, and she was the amused predator toying with them before the strike.
"You must be the Universe," Izanami giggled, the sound like shattering glass, her eyes fixed on Makoto. She paid the others no more mind than one would statues.
"Nice friends you have there, Universe. I must say, with each passing second, I come to hate this world more and more." Her voice dripped with contempt. "Here, humans are so insignificant they can't even perceive me. Here, the gods are so pitifully weak, I could snuff them out with such ease it bores me instantly."
Her expression shifted, a flicker of genuine, covetous wonder replacing the mockery. "I envy the world where you and Father come from. Look at you, Universe. A human. And yet, you hold more power within you than I. It's incredible."
"You are Izanami?" Makoto asked, his voice level. His hand was already moving, drawing his sword with a soft, metallic whisper.
'I'll deal with this,' Lucifer's voice echoed, eager and dark, within the confines of Makoto's mind. 'You others will not interfere.'
"Calm down, Universe," Izanami chided, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm not here to fight. My body isn't even truly here. I'm a bit upset you killed one of my dear shinigamis, but it's okay. But... you know, you are really interesting, Makoto Yuki. The prophesied Messiah of this world." Her eyes glinted with malicious knowledge. "Even Izanagi told me about you. I hope you will be of amusement to my dear Father."
She turned her back on him then, a show of utter disregard, but her swirling gaze stopped on the Inari shrine. A grimace of pure disgust twisted her beautiful features as she spotted the small fox cowering within it.
"Disgusting creature. Your stench screams of that bitch, Inari." Without another word, she pointed a hand, fingers contorting into a cruel sign. A vicious, blood-red root erupted from the earth, shooting like a spear towards the helpless animal.
"Tetrakarn," Makoto stated flatly. A shimmering barrier of light erupted around the fox, and the root shattered into harmless motes of dark energy upon impact.
"You really are a killjoy, Universe," Izanami complained, pouting like a spoiled child whose toy had been taken away.
"Don't you see how far superior beings such as us are? These barbarians cannot even begin to comprehend the Sea of Souls, the Collective Unconscious. When Father told me of your existence, I was so excited. You are a man. Not like that fool Izanagi. Oh, I will love seeing my Father tear you apart."
"You are simply crazy," Makoto stated, raising his evoker to his temple.
"Oh?" Izanami reacted with feigned surprise, mimicking the same hand sign. This was the game she wanted.
"LUCIFER!" Makoto shouted.
"Rhizomes from Revenge!" Izanami countered, her hands now forming a lotus-like seal.
Yet, nothing happened. The summoning did not come. The attack did not manifest. Both were stifled, blocked by an immense, neutral will.
'WHO!?' Lucifer's furious roar shook the foundations of Makoto's psyche. 'WHICH ONE OF YOU DARES TO STOP ME!?'
'We are not doing anything, Lucifer,' Orpheus Telos replied, his calm melody a stark contrast to the Morning Star's fury.
'SILENCE!' Lucifer boomed.
'There is no need for your force, Morning Star,' the wise voice of Kohryu interjected. 'We are already receiving external help.'
'IT WAS YOU, HUANGLONG? YOU DARED TO THWART MINE AND THE UNIVERSE'S WILL!?'
'No. It was me. Kohryu merely informed me of the situation,' Leviathan intoned, his voice a deep, abyssal pressure.
'Stop fighting. We are in front of a shadow,' Thanatos commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. Even Lucifer stilled.
In the real world, Izanami's aborted attack dissolved as the entire shrine was suddenly enveloped in a soft, green, holy light. Izanami's face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated hate.
"Inari," she hissed, the name a curse.
As the light receded, a new figure stood revealed. A woman with flowing orange hair, wearing a white kitsune mask that covered the left half of her face, leaving a striking pink eye visible on the right.
She wore a light white kimono that clung to her voluptuous form, leaving her hands and feet bare, her nails painted a lustrous gold. This was the goddess of prosperity, Inari.
The petrified yokais, Tosen and Kegawa, found they could move again under the gaze of their goddess. Before they could drop to their knees in reverence, she spoke.
"Take the devils away," she ordered, her voice calm but firm. The two yokais nodded immediately and moved to obey.
The five devils remained stunned. Was it only fear that locked their limbs and stole their breath? Koneko trembled, sweat beading on her brow. For one not accustomed to sensing spiritual energy, the sheer, overwhelming kegare—the impurity and malice—radiating from Izanami was nearly unbearable.
Yet, when Inari appeared, a strange ease washed over her nekomata nature. Her yokai heritage, long suppressed by her devil identity, recognized the presence of a benevolent kami and clung to it for safety.
Inari's gaze swept over the devils, her eyes lingering on Akeno and Tsubaki. A hint of sarcasm tinged her voice.
"Have the five principal human clans fallen this low?" Her eyes then fell on Koneko, and a look of pity softened her features.
"Poor girl. You are a devil now." She nodded dismissively. "Go on. Take your... king away. I have no reason to be mad at you devils."
With that, Koneko, along with Tosen and Kegawa, quickly helped the paralyzed devils retreat from the shrine grounds.
"You are really ignoring me, Inari?" Izanami asked, her voice cold as the grave. She began to gather her power again, her focus entirely on the fox goddess.
"I'm sorry, Universe," she said, not sounding sorry at all. A wild, bloody excitement lit her eyes. "It seems we indeed have to fight. I can't let this beast run away now that she's right in front of me." She laughed, and the sound was full of bloodlust.
"Like I would let you," Makoto said, stepping forward. His defiance only made Izanami's grin widen.
"Absolutely fantastic!" she crowed. "Do you see, Inari? I hope you and all of Takamagahara are ready to crawl at the feet of this boy."
She sighed dramatically, a hand over her heart.
"Aaah, I love the image of it. The children of my disdainful husband forced to grovel before a human. I admit, you are lucky, Inari. You and Amaterasu have finally found someone you can submit to, like the bitches in heat you are." Makoto's frown deepened, his disgust at her vitriol plain.
"You have gone mad, Izanami," Inari stated, her tone carrying the weary disappointment of one addressing a senile elder.
The condescension was the final spark. Izanami growled, a truly bestial sound. "EIGAON!" she shrieked, launching a crackling skull of pure cursed energy at the fox goddess.
Inari shook her head, summoning a gust of wind to divert the attack, but to her shock, the cursed skull ripped through her defense unaffected. Surprise flashed across her face as the skull snapped at her, only for Makoto to step in and crush it with a swift, sure swing of his sword.
'What is this boy thinking? Inari thought, slightly irked. 'Well, at least he has the decency to serve his goddess, but it is my duty to protect my folk, not the contrary.' She prepared her own energy for a counter-assault.
'Universe, we are just wasting time,' Odin's voice cut in, pragmatic and impatient. 'Izanami isn't really here. Just finish her off already.'
Makoto gave a slight nod. "This ends now, Izanami," he declared.
His statement seemed to annoy Inari. "I thank you for saving my foxy boy, really, but now step back," the goddess instructed, her pride stung.
'Arrogant girl,' Kohryu commented. 'Let's not get her killed, Universe.'
"Disgusting," Izanami echoed, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper. She moved faster than thought. A bolt of purple lightning, thick and crackling with absolute malice, lanced down from a clear sky.
It was not an attack of wide destruction, but one of precise, annihilating power, like a sniper's round forged from divine hatred. It struck Inari square in the chest.
The goddess screamed—a sound of shock and agony—and collapsed to the ground, her form smoldering, utterly defeated in a single blow.
Outside the holy veil Inari had erected to protect the town, the group stumbled into the normal world. "What has happened?" Rias demanded, looking back at the shimmering barrier. Akeno and Tsubaki exchanged a long, silent, haunted look.
"Tsubaki?" Sona asked, concerned by her queen's pallor.
"Akeno?" Rias pressed, seeing the same distress.
"Don't worry, Rias," Akeno said, her voice faint.
"It's alright, president," Tsubaki echoed, though it clearly was not.
"The boy who was with the shinigami is still there. We need to take him, too, Master," Tosen said, turning to Kegawa.
"He doesn't need our help," Sona stated with a certainty she didn't fully feel, confusing the shisa.
Back inside the veil, Makoto looked down at the injured, unconscious form of the goddess. 'She's not dead,' Yoshitsune commented clinically. 'But the attack was far stronger than we anticipated.'
"What is the problem, Inari?" Izanami mocked, drifting closer. "Is playing the damsel in distress a kink of yours?" She let out a tinkling laugh.
"Oh, Universe, you must be so embarrassed. If I remember right, my father told me you already have a special one, right? Aigis, am I wrong?" She watched him closely, a spider gauging the vibrations on its web. "I wonder if Father will pay her a visit. Back in your original world, that would have gotten a reaction from you."
Makoto went very still. "What did you say?" he asked, the air around him growing cold. The silence that followed was heavier than any shout.
"Oh? Did I touch the right string?" Izanami giggled, delighted.
'Makoto, don't let her use your feelings again—' Orpheus began, his strings thrumming with worry.
'Shut up, Orpheus,' Makoto calmly replied, the thought sharp and final. A cold, familiar anger, one he had not felt since... a long, long while, began to thaw the ice in his veins. This was different; it was a protective, righteous fury.
Izanami smiled, a viper's smile. Makoto raised his evoker again, his intent to obliterate her clear.
'Don't use it, Makoto! You will kill Inari! It's what she wants!' Thanatos shouted, a rare urgency in his deathly calm.
But Makoto's focus was absolute, his anger a laser guided by her taunts. "That really made you upset, Universe, huh?" Izanami purred. "Isn't this Aigis just a piece of metal? A lifeless robot trying to imitate beautiful human life? Oh, I have the right word! A clanker!"
Each word was a carefully crafted needle, meant to pierce and enrage as she said it with infinite amusement.
'Father surely knows how to play with humans,' she thought triumphantly. 'Even the Universe can't resist him. And now, Makoto Yuki, you will be the one to kill Inari for me. Thanks a lot. Father overestimated this boy. Even the best make mistakes.'
She had cried victory too soon.
"No," Makoto's voice cut through her thoughts, calm and absolute. The evoker lowered. "You are wrong. I'm not like you. You can say whatever you want. You can threaten Aigis as much as you want. You'll simply do nothing. I won't let you."
His eyes held a resolve that was unshakeable, a universe of experience contained within them.
"You can insult her. You can try to deceive me. It will not work. I made a promise. I promised I would protect them all, and this world, too." He took a step forward, and it was Izanami who now seemed insignificant.
"Do me a favour and tell something to Nyarlathotep when you go back to where you came from. Tell him he can strive to his greatest extent possible. I will stop him. I've faced worse than him. He can try to flee to another world after this. I will follow him. And I will stop him. Death is inevitable and time awaits no one. I will come to deliver his, he can create all the shrieking Shadows he wants, I will kill them. He can make all the plans and idle threats he wants I will stop them. He can endanger all the people he wants. I. Will. Save. Them."
As Makoto spoke, Izanami's smirk vanished, replaced by wide-eyed astonishment. Then, she burst into peals of laughter, a sound of genuine, unhinged amusement.
"Ahahahahahah! Father was so right! You are really the exception!" She shook her head, her form beginning to flicker and fade. "It's such a shame... I fear my time in the human world is nearing its end for now... I can't wait for our next encounter, Makoto!" Her smile was the last thing to vanish, a promise of future chaos.
'You have done well, Makoto,' Messiah's serene voice filled the void she left behind.
'Indeed! He has proven to be the superior hero he is!' Robin Hood proclaimed proudly.
'We are all proud,' Kohryu affirmed.
'Thank you,' Makoto thought, even though he rolled his eyes at the doting of his slightly too patronising Personas. He turned his back on the empty space and knelt beside the fallen goddess. 'Messiah, can you help me?'
"Reverberate, Oratorio," Makoto said softly. The form of Messiah, a being of serene light and ultimate salvation, materialized briefly. With a gentle gesture of its hand, a wave of pure, healing energy washed over Inari, mending the devastating injury as if it had never been.
The Shinto goddess's eyes fluttered open. Her first sight was the human boy looking down at her. She looked around; her shrine was untouched save for the spot where the lightning had struck her.
The precision and power of that single attack terrified her. It was beyond anything the gods of Takamagahara could muster.
Only one thought consumed her: 'Has Izanami truly declared war on Japan?'
She looked at herself. Her body was completely healed. Inari's eyes widened in shock. Healing a god was a monumental task, possible only with the rarest of divine artifacts. Magic alone should not suffice.
The Greeks had ambrosia, the Norse had Saehrimnir's meat, the Hindus their amrita. The devils even had the legendary tears of the Phoenix of Eden. The Shinto pantheon had... nothing of the sort. Amaterasu's light could soothe, but not heal such a wound. This was power on a different scale entirely.
"You..." Inari breathed, looking at Makoto with new, awe-struck eyes. "Thanks, human..." she said, her voice brief, her mind reeling. And before he could respond, she vanished, and the holy veil surrounding the shrine dissolved into nothingness.
'Yeah, you're welcome,' Apollo muttered from within the Sea of Makoto's Soul, his voice a proud, if unheard, puff of air.
The crisis was over, for now. But the lines of a much larger war had been drawn.