AN:
Sorry, I at least want to do one chapter a week, but this week has been hectic. I might've said it before, but this is a hobby, not a money-making scheme.
My main project has seen some significant development, and I've been burning myself out with the workflow I've held for eight months straight. I'm finishing up drafts for Rex, then I'm back to LoS and DxD. Both of which are sequels to Rex, so I'm doing a lot of backend work to make sure plots aren't getting mixed up.
Scene 1
Entering the temple of the Shinto pantheon, I let Bale walk ahead of us.
His Major God-ranked aura pressed outward in a steady veil, blocking the eyes of the gods from landing on me too directly. It was not a barrier in the normal sense. It did not reject the temple or insult our hosts. It simply existed as a warning that any gaze reaching for me would first have to pass through him.
While he handled that, I admired the wooden walls decorated with art.
No.
Decorated was too shallow of a word.
The art looked as if it had been born inside the wood itself, carved and grown together until the building felt less like a constructed temple and more like the living extension of another being. Spirits moved through the grain. Old prayers clung to the beams. Every corridor carried the soft weight of history that had been cleaned, polished, and maintained by hands that understood reverence.
Although it still wasn't on the level of Prometheus' Tower of Wisdom.
That was a fully functioning heavenly abode turned into a pseudo-true domain. The first mobile domain of its kind, reduced into miniature form and kept on my brother's desk like a decoration.
His preferred method of handling our cousins was to smack them with it.
Only Dionysus and Apollo had felt the true weight of that tower after playing games with his Divine Title and drawing Zeus toward him. The memory almost made me laugh, but I let it pass as we continued deeper into the Shinto hall.
Focusing back on the hallway, I followed as we reached a large room with mats arranged neatly across the ground.
Lady Yasaka guided us to take our seats while she sat across from us. Bale chose to remain standing by the door with the yokai, his hands hidden beneath his cloak, his aura still pressing faintly against the room like a blade left half-drawn.
"Quite the titles to have so young as a Godling," Yasaka said, her tails shifting slowly behind her. "Although for many, it would be hard to grasp why it is such a rarity for a god to possess more than their birth title."
She waved one hand, and servants entered with tea and snacks.
Clearly, she wanted a conversation before the real topic.
"It's fairly normal for my generation," I said, accepting the cup when it was offered. "Being born early in the Golden Cycle carries many opportunities. Miracles can be born from small openings, and small annoyances can grow into disasters. As Khaos' direct descendants, it would be stranger if we weren't taking as many risks as possible to build our path past Fate and Khaos as our Emperor and the will of the universe."
The tea smelled clean.
Earthy.
Laced with a faint sweetness that did not attempt to hide the bitterness beneath it.
"Yet such common feats pale in comparison to a fox who reached divinity." I raised the cup slightly toward her. "Whereas I started here, you had to journey to this level. Just as Bale and his mother did."
Yasaka's eyes narrowed slightly, though her smile remained.
"Yes," she said. "It was quite the journey. In an era when gods were still waging pantheon wars against one another, survival was the best possible outcome for many."
She lifted her own cup.
"Yet the beginning of the Silver Age, after the barrier blocking out the Ancient Gods and those above them, was still a time when gods no longer had to worry about those above. Breaking through the ranks of divinity became easier for many. Almost as easy as breathing for the most talented."
"By then it was too late for many to understand the laws that made up reality," I said, taking a sip. "Cutting off Ancient Gods is the ending of most Golden Eras. Once that happens, the universe has a chance to build on top of the layer of reality those Ancient Gods left behind."
Yasaka said nothing.
The Ancient Gods here were different from my own. That much was clear.
"Although I would lean more toward the ancients here being vessels of the universe," I continued. "I can still sense older eyes pressing against the universe like normal. Even Fate and Timeline here are easy to access with my Demi-God rank."
The servants continued pouring tea as if we were discussing weather.
"Even our guest here knows she's been caught once she saw my eyes." I glanced to my left. "Wouldn't you say so, immortal?"
A bald woman in orange and yellow robes sat there, calmly pouring tea for herself as if she had belonged in the room from the beginning.
"Oh," she said, smiling faintly. "I've been caught earlier than I thought."
Her eyes lifted toward mine.
"You truly don't mind being seen as a threat to the natural order, do you, King of the End?"
I grinned and raised one hand before Bale could pull his sword.
The devils behind me had already distanced themselves in horror of the unknown guest. Rook's hand hovered near his weapon. Gray remained still, but the silence around her shifted. Alexi watched the woman like she was trying to study something that could not be named.
Yasaka simply watched with a grin.
"Not really," I said. "The mind of a mortal or a god isn't my concern. I know what my duty is. That is enough."
I drank my tea and offered the God-King-ranked mortal a soft smile.
"Is that duty to humanity or the gods?" the Ancient One asked. "After all, humanity has always been the model for every universe's kings."
I placed my cup down as my smile widened at her trick.
"And that, my Divine Fox, is the allure of my universe." I turned my attention back toward Yasaka. "If you truly think humanity can stand alone, then by all means, cut off your contract with Odin and the Aesir, Guardian of Humanity."
The room went still.
"Such cheap tricks are barely worth using at our level of sight," I said. "You've engineered the next millennium more than anyone for this humanity. How you and the rest of your immortal kind managed to draw so many cycles into one is still worth studying. Sadly, it means little to me when I could be readying myself for the war my cousins and I will wage once my father and uncle remove Zeus."
Everyone's eyes focused on my words.
But the Ancient One and I kept our eyes on each other.
"This is true," she said after a moment. "My hand, and the hands before me, have done more to prepare this world than any other. Some more indirectly than others. Yet the connections existed before this."
Her smile sharpened.
"You can attest to that with Michael's focus on you. It is almost as if you met someone."
My smile faded slightly.
She had dug a hole for me.
A small one.
But enough.
The fox across from me gained a light of realization in her eyes as the Ancient One's grin widened, knowing she had managed to put me in a corner I could not cleanly walk through.
Scene 2
"Let's focus on the main topic now that pleasantries have been exchanged," Yasaka said, refilling her cup as if the conversation had not nearly shifted into something far more dangerous. "The Ancient One is here as humanity's representative. I am clearly here for the Shinto faction. Tenebris is here for the Biblical faction."
"That's fine," I said. "Ajuka's devil experiments got loose, and the Sitri clan aims to clean up the devil's mess. In exchange, they want an independent domain from the Shinto in Japan. It'll serve as a base to mobilize any devils involved in the mission to hunt down these corrupted devils, along with a trade agreement of Underworld goods for Shinto goods."
I leaned my head against my fist, ignoring the idea of naming the main target the Sitri clan truly wanted.
Yasaka's smile did not change, but her tails slowed.
"Trade is fine," she said. "But the independent domain is a hard no. At most, you can work through one of our vassal yokai clans. Active ownership is a hard rejection from the entire Shinto pantheon."
I nodded.
The Ancient One nodded as well.
Neither of us needed to question that stance. No pantheon with sense would allow foreign devil ownership inside its territory without generations of pressure, marriage, debt, or conquest behind it.
"If the issue is trust," I said, "then how about a period of assimilation? If the next generation of devils can maintain the rules you place on them, then we'll want them here as a separate devil force."
Yasaka watched me carefully.
"As you've seen, the creation of the Evil Pieces has produced some nasty side effects. The only thing that kept me from becoming one of those monstrosities was my Domain of Force standing by itself without breaking. So I can understand the need for supervision."
I tapped my finger lightly against the side of my cup.
"I'll take care of the devil hunting and this side of the Devil race. I'll keep everyone under control."
The Ancient One clicked her tongue.
Yasaka frowned.
"And you'll be the protector?" the Ancient One asked. "You are more dangerous than your average devil. Even the one behind you linked to Lucifer's clans is more trustworthy in this matter."
Gray gave no visible reaction, but I could feel several devils behind me stiffen at the comment.
"It's all a matter of perspective," I said. "The grass may call the deer its greatest nightmare and the lion its protector. That does not mean the lion is any less capable of causing more damage to the grass than simply feeding it with the blood and decay of the deer."
The Ancient One's eyes narrowed.
"Bale himself can attest to my nature," I continued. "His mother is the one who gave me that title of hunting divinity. Both variants of that title come from his people more than anyone. He is the founder of my Hound units that keep my kings in check. His mother is the Earth of my NetherRealms, holding practically the highest office and deadliest dagger pointed toward me."
That was the part most rulers failed to understand.
A king who feared knives had no business holding a throne.
"Now," I said, raising my hand, "if you would like to test out other devils, then I think our meeting is over. I have things to do, and I find this fake domain stuffy."
Black flames coated my hand as I swung it over my head.
The sound of glass breaking rang through the room.
The false layer around us shattered.
For a breath, the temple seemed to split apart into fragments of light and spiritual energy before settling back into a normal room lacking the strange pressure I had sensed the moment we entered.
Several servants froze.
The yokai at the door twitched.
Bale did not move.
Yasaka stared at the black flames wrapped around my hand.
"You are as hasty as Lady Sitri said," she said.
"Only when people waste my time."
"If those are your reasons, then I can approve," Yasaka said, her smile returning. "After all, a fox is still a carnivorous animal."
Her eyes remained on the flames for one more second.
I locked eyes with the Ancient One before waving for my group to leave.
Then we returned to the Underworld.
Scene 3
Yasaka POV
"Now," I said, watching Tenebris and his group leave, "back to you. Our peaches are ours to decide what to do with. Your organization has zero sway over Shinto use of its goods."
My tails swayed behind me as both of us watched the devils being shielded by Major God Bale.
His laws of decay still pressed against my neck as if one wrong act would be the death sentence he had been waiting for. Even after Tenebris turned his back, Bale's aura did not relax. If anything, it became clearer.
He was not guarding a master because he was ordered to.
He was guarding something he had chosen.
Ignoring the pressure my God-Queen was placing on the mortal-turned-god, I studied him for another moment. Bale had become a greater point of interest than his supposed Demi-God master, at least from a direct threat perspective.
Tenebris was strange.
Bale was immediate.
"Trading them to Tenebris or the devils will break many keystones in the Timeline," the Ancient One said. "As for your current arrangement with the other pantheons, isn't it good enough? There is no reason to bring in the embodiment of Paradoxical Madness."
I lifted my cup and sipped, covering my lips from her eyes.
"No," I said. "And nothing you say will shift my Queen's stance. Those peaches are for the Shinto pantheon and its people. Not for the rest of the world to extract from us simply because we cannot afford a divine war on the same level."
Her gaze sharpened.
I handed her a plate of snacks.
"Neither will we start declaring wars because we gained a conceptual being loosely linked to us," I said. "You are the only one who seems to think he is merely divine. Yet you can call him madness while still playing binary tricks, as if he is one of us."
She accepted the plate but did not take anything from it.
"That is where you are wrong, fox," she said. "Maybe only Hades could truly trace that thread going higher than this layer. But he is not so different from any of us, and that is the issue."
The servants replaced the tea.
Neither of us looked at them.
"Some entities do not need freedom or emotions," she continued. "Such things can cause worlds and universes to spiral from one simple decision. Whoever made him is clearly intending on making more. He may be the last one of his kind, but he is clearly intending on turning anything around him toward that path."
I understood such figures.
Ancients fully belonged in that category.
Even if gods liked pretending otherwise.
"Even the ancients had to start as Godlings mentally," I said. "They are born to complete a duty. Nothing more or less."
The Ancient One finally took one of the snacks, studying it as if it were suddenly the most interesting thing in the room.
"So either accept our offer as a whole from the supernatural side, and we'll aid you in preparing a true Earth to fight toward the next layer," I said. "After all, you don't plan on commanding mortal affairs for much longer either."
Her fingers paused.
"A blink of the eye to us," I continued. "But will humanity be ready in time? Or can the Ending trim away enough for your side of the story to truly begin?"
She ignored me in favor of pretending to care about how the snack had been made.
I smiled.
Whimsical beings.
It was best to leave them to their nature once they decided to hide behind silence.
I waved for the maids to bring more food and drinks.
Scene 5
"Ten, you're back! Just in time!"
I walked through the halls of the Leviathan palace after dismissing everyone to handle their duties. Gray and Bale followed me at a distance as we made our way toward my study.
Serafall caught us less than a couple hallways away.
She was dressed in more lavish clothing than normal, and she had shifted into her mature form, earning an eyebrow raise from me.
"In time for?" I asked.
My frown deepened as I felt my grotto heart pressuring my body from the inside.
Gray's eyes focused on me.
No doubt she could sense my aura becoming unstable from the continued mixing of laws and energy. The instability had been tolerable during the meeting, but tolerable was not the same thing as harmless. Every layer of power inside me was beginning to grind against the next like blades forced into the same sheath.
"Falbium wants to discuss attacking Ajuka," Serafall said. "And I wanted you to meet the clan heads under us. They've sent more supplies while you've been busy."
I nodded while still watching her closely.
Serafall had a habit of bringing more issues than benefits, but that did not mean she lacked use. Recently, she had started to understand the shape of the board better.
"The clan heads don't need to meet me," I said. "They'll only try to attach their daughters to us. I'm Greek, but not a self-sabotaging Greek. The wise men of this Greek pantheon truly carried their minds into the future."
Serafall blinked once.
"As for Falbium, if he is truly seeking a partner in attacking his rival, then we at least owe him a conversation for blocking Ajuka from attacking you."
I expected her to be surprised by the information.
Her face barely changed.
Clearly, her mother had made her more aware of the war being waged around her territory than I first assumed.
"We've never been close," Serafall said. "But as Mother said, our allies are few and far between. Nearly nonexistent. If I want my clan to prosper, then it'll come at the cost of other clans. Regardless of us leaving, we'll need resources and exotic goods we can bring with us."
Demonic energy flashed through her eyes for a second.
Not uncontrolled.
Not childish.
Something sharper.
Something more devilish.
"Although that doesn't mean you need to link yourself to these clans and factions," she continued. "We'll handle the majority of the issues on this side while you handle everything on your end. I need to take a trip with Mother to the Shinto faction to finalize the deal. With enough leverage, we can even request a sapling from the Divine Peach Tree."
I watched her for a moment.
A sapling.
Not fruit.
That was greed with direction.
Good.
"Bale," I said, "you'll go with them to these meetings. You can relax as well. Grandmother has already scared off the majority of the daring ones, and I'll be staying here until it's time to hunt the demons."
I understood he would only leave if a power on equal standing with my father made a move.
Bale sighed before pulling his hood down.
His young face was revealed as he continued developing this death avatar into a True Body to operate through. The beard he had once worn was gone, and his hair had turned green after taking over the Horseman of Famine.
"Fine," Bale said. "But Talon will be with you."
I frowned as he summoned his living weapon.
The reaper scythe every mortal-turned-reaper received upon entering the ranks of divinity from their patron god, Thanatos.
Instead of a blade, it appeared in its crow form, radiating laws of Decay and Death as I opened my palm for the bird to land on it. Its claws pressed lightly against my skin, too controlled to cut, but too alive to be mistaken for a simple weapon.
I waved for Bale to leave with Serafall.
Thanatos had truly infected my followers with his habits.
"Gray, you can go handle your own business as well," I said. "I'll be busy for the rest of the day."
Gray hesitated for half a second.
Only half.
Then she bowed her head and left.
I sent everyone away along with the maids before entering my study and closing the door behind me.
The moment I was alone, I coughed blood into my hand.
Gold and black.
I glanced at it once before burning it away.
Then I took my seat.
My breathing remained steady, but that meant little. Pain had never been a reliable measurement of damage. Not for beings like us.
I forced myself still and began mixing holy energy with the demonic energy to calm it down, sealing my grotto heart again now that my instincts were no longer screaming danger after leaving the two women whose greatest threat had been forcing Bale to act.
The black flames dimmed around my fingers.
The pressure inside my chest resisted.
Then slowly, painfully, it folded back inward.
For now.
AN:
Anyone else caught up on Kingdom? Let's pray Hara doesn't cuck us on Zhao finally falling.