—3rd Person POV, A Few Minutes Earlier—
Just a few thousand feet away from where the conflict was unfolding, the other Shinto Deities were unaware of Inari’s plight. Focused on trying to help alleviate some of Amaterasu’s suffering, no one heard the Angels crying out for aid till they were almost at the door. Hearing their screams first, Hachiman went to the door and poked his head out to see what was wrong. Watching several blood-covered Angels running toward him, Hachiman immediately assumed the worst-case scenario.
“Which Pantheon is attacking us in our own home!?”, Hachiman shouted as he motioned for the others to prepare for combat, “Where are they attacking from?!”
Instead of naming off a Pantheon or group of attackers, the Angels pointed over to the Bathing Area pleading for them to hurry to Inari’s aid.
“It is not an enemy attack, Lord Susanoo has gone insane!!”, one of the Angels proclaimed, “He has already killed several dozen of us, and is forcing his way into Lady Inari’s bath. We were unable to suppress him, please hurry!! That man plans to sate his lust on her against her will!!”
Hearing what was happening to their colleague, everyone immediately rose to their feet and rushed to the door. Deciding to kill him the moment he was within their reach, none of them intended to let Susanoo escape again.
“Lord Cole will have to accept a cold, corpse now!”, Takemikazuchi said with a stone-cold face, “He had a chance to atone for actions and die with honor, now he will die like the animal he is!”
Forgetting all about her emotional pain, Amaterasu attention turned to protecting her best friend among the deities in her Pantheon. Seeing the happy memories she made with the Kitsune flash before her eyes, any regret she held for abandoning Susanoo vanished. Deciding to take her brother’s head off for attacking her friend, Amaterasu’s aura began running rampant as her katana flew into her hand.
“Inari, I am coming!!”, Amaterasu screamed as she flew past everyone else and quickly reached the hallway.
Discovering the piles of Angels laying lifeless in the hallways, her anger flared even hotter as many of them were close confidants of hers. Dashing down the hallway with a singular purpose, she barely noticed the destruction he caused in their Great Hall. Shouting at her brother to cease his actions immediately, Inari’s cries finally reached her ears.
“...Please someone help me!!”, Inari cried from within the Bathing Area.
“SUSANOO!!!”, Amaterasu roared.
Sliding up to the doorway, she saw the petrified Inari teleport herself away just as Susanoo was about to grab her. Letting her bloodlust flow out of her, Susanoo glanced back at her with a glazed expression. Seeing the eyes of a rabid animal in heat before her, she placed her hand on the hilt of her blade as she prepared to strike him.
“Where is your pride as a deity!? Inari is one of us, how dare you put her through this!”, Amaterasu spat, “I should have killed you years ago when you began letting your lust run wild.”
“All of you pushed me into this!!”, Susanoo proclaimed, “You plan on handing me over to Cole tomorrow, I know it. If I am to die, that vixen will experience the same disgrace she dealt me and will ensure I have an heir to my title. You cannot erase me from this Pantheon no matter how much you try!!”
Seeing that her brother was no longer sane, Amaterasu drew her blade at lightning-fast speed aiming straight for his neck. Teleporting after Inari with a cruel smile on his face, Susanoo covered his tracks by distorting his magic trail to make finding them difficult for everyone else. Blasting the back wall of the bathhouse out with the force of her swing, Amaterasu cursed her luck and immediately began trying to trace where he went.
“Inari!! Amaterasu!! Are you alright!?”, Hachiman called out as the rest of the group arrived with weapons drawn, “Wait, where are they!?”
“Inari teleported somewhere, and Susanoo gave chase. I cannot sense where he went, he covered his tracks!”, Amaterasu said in a panic as she feared what would happen to Inari now, “Can one of you see where he ended up?”
“If she did not teleport to one of us, she had to have gone somewhere she felt safe.”, Omoikane reasoned, “Where would she feel safest from Susanoo?”
Racking their brains for a moment, no one could think where that would be. The Dimensional Gap was an option, but Great Red would be a big problem for Inari if she ran into her. Trying to think of anywhere else she might go, Amaterasu tried to recall any unique places Inari and her shared. While the deities struggled to follow after them, Inari’s personal Angel arrived from her residence.
“Is Lady Inari alright!?”, Inari’s Angel gasped as she ran into the room with the other Angels, “Where is my Lady!? Did that fat cow sully her innocence?!”
“Inari teleported herself away from Susanoo, can you think of a place she might flee to? We are unable to follow the pathway they used as Susanoo distorted it.”, Omoikane informed her.
“She must have gone to Lady Yasaka’s home!”, her personal Angel spoke up without skipping a beat, “Leading Susanoo there would force him into a fight with Lord Cole!!”
“Shit…she is right.”, Hachiman said looking at Amaterasu with a petrified expression, “We need to go down there now before Cole shows up. If Yasaka or anyone in the village sees Susanoo and Inari, he will kill all of us!”
Agreeing with him, all the deities present teleported themselves down to the Youkai Territory to stop Susanoo from starting another war.
—Cole POV, Current Time—
“What do you plan on doing with me!?”, Susanoo spat as I restrained him with Arc Restraint, “Why will you not kill me?!”
“Simple, your punishment should be decided by those whom you hurt the most.”, I replied applying a curse to him, “If I were you, I would be begging for a quick death right now.”
Forcing his body to regenerate itself using his Divine Power, I intended to leave him to the villagers as they were the ones he had wronged. Already gathering at Yasaka’s home, due to the loud explosion I caused, the people had shown up with farming tools and rusted weapons to protect their homes. Seeing Susanoo pinned to the ground in front of them, I motioned for them to have at it.
“In case anyone is not up to speed on things, this bastard here is the one responsible for centuries of suffering for the Youkai. He is the one that demanded you hand over your wives and daughters for his pleasure. This man stole food off of your plates, money from your coffers, and left you to die when you were attacked.”, I proclaimed pointing at Susanoo, “He is unable to lay a finger on you now, and you have no reason to fear retribution from the bastards calling themselves the Shinto Gods. Your ancestors deserve retribution for his sins, now take vengeance for them!”
“Do not touch me you filthy mongrels!!”, Susanoo spat in anger as I sensed his kin’s arrival, “I swear when I get free I will murder all of you!!”
Summoning Gáe Bolg out of my storage, I planned on adding them to the pile if they attempted to aid him. Rushing out of the portal with a frantic expression, Amaterasu called out for Inari before realizing what was going on in front of her. Seeing me a few feet from her brother, her expression went pale as the others came barreling through.
“Inari, are you alright?”, Hachiman shouted bringing up the rear, “We need to go before…oh shit…”
“Oh shit is right, do you idiots have any idea what time it is?”, I berated them, “Attacking my territory in the middle of the night like cowards, you all have a death wish.”
“Wait a moment!!”, Takemikazuchi said fumbling around trying to sheath his blade, “We did not agree to attack you, Susanoo did so on his own accord. All we are here for is Lady Inari, we will leave as soon as we find her.”
Pointing back to the mud pit by Yasaka, they spotted her clinging onto my lover’s leg as if her life depended on it.
“She is alive and in one piece though I doubt she will want to return with you lot. You do not just walk off having a fat ass like Susanoo try to assault you.”, I remarked as I looked at Amaterasu, “This happened because you did not keep your brother on a tight leash. Yasaka and the other deities have told me all about his escapades…I am disappointed that a self-proclaimed, enlightened Pantheon allowed an animal like him continue to be a member of your group. Even after all that he did before tonight, you still kept forgiving him and slapping him on the wrist.”
“He…he is my brother.”, Amaterasu replied looking at him in disgust, “After tonight though, he is no brother of mine! Susanoo is no longer a member of our Pantheon!”
Cracking a smile, I knew exactly what would happen now that she uttered those words. Realizing the same thing I did, Omoikane attempted to correct his Leader’s phrasing but I beat him to the punch. In my eyes, the Youkai had been trampled upon for too long by these bastards and they had to pay dearly for it now.
“Yasaka, did you hear what she said? After all he has done, attempting to assault Inari was the only unforgivable thing he has done and it resulted in his banishment.”, I repeated to her, “Her brother meant more to them than all of the Youkai Faction, it took Inari being hurt for her to cast him out.”
Hearing for themselves how little their lives meant to the Shinto Pantheon, the villagers began hurling vile and venomous curses at them. Seeing that her own words had been turned against her, Amaterasu attempted to calm them but it was already too late. Generations of betrayal at their hands had been ignited and there was no stopping it now. Demanding that deities pay in blood as they had for so long, Yasaka was the loudest among the group.
“My people bled, starved, and slaved away for all of you!!”, Yasaka growled as her Fox Fires flared up, “We gave everything we had to keep you happy, but we never meant anything to you!! I will see that you pay tenfold for the pain and suffering you have caused us!!”
Subconsciously tapping into the Leyline Intersection beneath the village, her power skyrocketed as she turned into her Nine Tails form. Letting out an enraged howl, the villagers cried out for the downfall of the Shinto Pantheon. Seeing a few of them begin to turn and flee, I activated one of the stolen Commandments I held. Activating Peity upon them, a surge of dark aura radiated out of me and engulf the few who ran. Sensing a change in their comrades, Omoikane looked back to ask them if they were alright.
“Hear my command and obey, prevent your kin from fleeing!”, I commanded them.
Drawing their blades out without a word, the deities looked at their kin in confusion. Greeted by pairs of hallowed eyes, they instinctively knew they were no longer in command of their own bodies. Feeling no emotions or life coming from them anymore, Amaterasu demanded answers for what was occurring.
“What did you do to them!?”, Amaterasu shouted.
“You were all given a single warning and were explicitly told what would happen if you came back. Coming here was a grave error on your part, now you will pay in blood for it.”, I replied activating the Pacifism Commandment next before blessing the Youkai Faction with immunity against it.
Hemmed in on both sides, the Shinto deities closed ranks and prepared for a fight. Ripping their weapons away from them with magnetism, I threw them into my storage with a wicked grin on my face.
“The Youkai had no real weapons to protect themselves from their foes before, and neither will you now.”, I told them, “Yasaka, I leave the fate of the Shinto Pantheon in your hands now. Eradicate them, strip them of their Divinity, or simply let them leave…the choice is yours.”
Without any hesitation, Yasaka lept forward and raced toward the deities hellbent on making them pay. Completely forgetting all about Susanoo, her front right paw crushed him like a bug but he regenerated almost instantly. Hurling insults at Yasaka, his voice was drowned out as the villagers let out their battle cry and followed Yasaka into the fry.
“Stop it…you…bastards!!”, Susanoo shouted as he was trampled over by thousands of villagers.
Watching his Divinity quickly run out, I watched the Miko deliver the finishing blow. Clearly not forgetting that he was pinned there, she jammed the Shinto Pendant into his mouth and then used her foot to start driving it into his throat. Thrashing around violently as his regeneration began to dissipate, he clearly knew his time was almost up.
“This for my mother, grandmother, and unborn sister!!”, she seethed as an audible cracking was heard when she accidentally snapped his neck.
Kicking his head one last time for good measure, she chased after the others to help avenge her family further. Walking over to where Susanoo’s lifeless body was, I cursed his soul to never find peace or to ever be allowed to become a deity again.
“I hope you never forget that you died trampled underfoot for the rest of time. One day I hope you realize just how much pain you inflicted because of your ego.”, I stated before turning back to the fight, “Your arrogance has brought an end to an era for your Pantheon.”
—3rd Person POV, A Few Minutes Earlier—
Just a few thousand feet away from where the conflict was unfolding, the other Shinto Deities were unaware of Inari’s plight. Focused on trying to help alleviate some of Amaterasu’s suffering, no one heard the Angels crying out for aid till they were almost at the door. Hearing their screams first, Hachiman went to the door and poked his head out to see what was wrong. Watching several blood-covered Angels running toward him, Hachiman immediately assumed the worst-case scenario.
“Which Pantheon is attacking us in our own home!?”, Hachiman shouted as he motioned for the others to prepare for combat, “Where are they attacking from?!”
Instead of naming off a Pantheon or group of attackers, the Angels pointed over to the Bathing Area pleading for them to hurry to Inari’s aid.
“It is not an enemy attack, Lord Susanoo has gone insane!!”, one of the Angels proclaimed, “He has already killed several dozen of us, and is forcing his way into Lady Inari’s bath. We were unable to suppress him, please hurry!! That man plans to sate his lust on her against her will!!”
Hearing what was happening to their colleague, everyone immediately rose to their feet and rushed to the door. Deciding to kill him the moment he was within their reach, none of them intended to let Susanoo escape again.
“Lord Cole will have to accept a cold, corpse now!”, Takemikazuchi said with a stone-cold face, “He had a chance to atone for actions and die with honor, now he will die like the animal he is!”
Forgetting all about her emotional pain, Amaterasu attention turned to protecting her best friend among the deities in her Pantheon. Seeing the happy memories she made with the Kitsune flash before her eyes, any regret she held for abandoning Susanoo vanished. Deciding to take her brother’s head off for attacking her friend, Amaterasu’s aura began running rampant as her katana flew into her hand.
“Inari, I am coming!!”, Amaterasu screamed as she flew past everyone else and quickly reached the hallway.
Discovering the piles of Angels laying lifeless in the hallways, her anger flared even hotter as many of them were close confidants of hers. Dashing down the hallway with a singular purpose, she barely noticed the destruction he caused in their Great Hall. Shouting at her brother to cease his actions immediately, Inari’s cries finally reached her ears.
“...Please someone help me!!”, Inari cried from within the Bathing Area.
“SUSANOO!!!”, Amaterasu roared.
Sliding up to the doorway, she saw the petrified Inari teleport herself away just as Susanoo was about to grab her. Letting her bloodlust flow out of her, Susanoo glanced back at her with a glazed expression. Seeing the eyes of a rabid animal in heat before her, she placed her hand on the hilt of her blade as she prepared to strike him.
“Where is your pride as a deity!? Inari is one of us, how dare you put her through this!”, Amaterasu spat, “I should have killed you years ago when you began letting your lust run wild.”
“All of you pushed me into this!!”, Susanoo proclaimed, “You plan on handing me over to Cole tomorrow, I know it. If I am to die, that vixen will experience the same disgrace she dealt me and will ensure I have an heir to my title. You cannot erase me from this Pantheon no matter how much you try!!”
Seeing that her brother was no longer sane, Amaterasu drew her blade at lightning-fast speed aiming straight for his neck. Teleporting after Inari with a cruel smile on his face, Susanoo covered his tracks by distorting his magic trail to make finding them difficult for everyone else. Blasting the back wall of the bathhouse out with the force of her swing, Amaterasu cursed her luck and immediately began trying to trace where he went.
“Inari!! Amaterasu!! Are you alright!?”, Hachiman called out as the rest of the group arrived with weapons drawn, “Wait, where are they!?”
“Inari teleported somewhere, and Susanoo gave chase. I cannot sense where he went, he covered his tracks!”, Amaterasu said in a panic as she feared what would happen to Inari now, “Can one of you see where he ended up?”
“If she did not teleport to one of us, she had to have gone somewhere she felt safe.”, Omoikane reasoned, “Where would she feel safest from Susanoo?”
Racking their brains for a moment, no one could think where that would be. The Dimensional Gap was an option, but Great Red would be a big problem for Inari if she ran into her. Trying to think of anywhere else she might go, Amaterasu tried to recall any unique places Inari and her shared. While the deities struggled to follow after them, Inari’s personal Angel arrived from her residence.
“Is Lady Inari alright!?”, Inari’s Angel gasped as she ran into the room with the other Angels, “Where is my Lady!? Did that fat cow sully her innocence?!”
“Inari teleported herself away from Susanoo, can you think of a place she might flee to? We are unable to follow the pathway they used as Susanoo distorted it.”, Omoikane informed her.
“She must have gone to Lady Yasaka’s home!”, her personal Angel spoke up without skipping a beat, “Leading Susanoo there would force him into a fight with Lord Cole!!”
“Shit…she is right.”, Hachiman said looking at Amaterasu with a petrified expression, “We need to go down there now before Cole shows up. If Yasaka or anyone in the village sees Susanoo and Inari, he will kill all of us!”
Agreeing with him, all the deities present teleported themselves down to the Youkai Territory to stop Susanoo from starting another war.
—Cole POV, Current Time—
“What do you plan on doing with me!?”, Susanoo spat as I restrained him with Arc Restraint, “Why will you not kill me?!”
“Simple, your punishment should be decided by those whom you hurt the most.”, I replied applying a curse to him, “If I were you, I would be begging for a quick death right now.”
Forcing his body to regenerate itself using his Divine Power, I intended to leave him to the villagers as they were the ones he had wronged. Already gathering at Yasaka’s home, due to the loud explosion I caused, the people had shown up with farming tools and rusted weapons to protect their homes. Seeing Susanoo pinned to the ground in front of them, I motioned for them to have at it.
“In case anyone is not up to speed on things, this bastard here is the one responsible for centuries of suffering for the Youkai. He is the one that demanded you hand over your wives and daughters for his pleasure. This man stole food off of your plates, money from your coffers, and left you to die when you were attacked.”, I proclaimed pointing at Susanoo, “He is unable to lay a finger on you now, and you have no reason to fear retribution from the bastards calling themselves the Shinto Gods. Your ancestors deserve retribution for his sins, now take vengeance for them!”
“Do not touch me you filthy mongrels!!”, Susanoo spat in anger as I sensed his kin’s arrival, “I swear when I get free I will murder all of you!!”
Summoning Gáe Bolg out of my storage, I planned on adding them to the pile if they attempted to aid him. Rushing out of the portal with a frantic expression, Amaterasu called out for Inari before realizing what was going on in front of her. Seeing me a few feet from her brother, her expression went pale as the others came barreling through.
“Inari, are you alright?”, Hachiman shouted bringing up the rear, “We need to go before…oh shit…”
“Oh shit is right, do you idiots have any idea what time it is?”, I berated them, “Attacking my territory in the middle of the night like cowards, you all have a death wish.”
“Wait a moment!!”, Takemikazuchi said fumbling around trying to sheath his blade, “We did not agree to attack you, Susanoo did so on his own accord. All we are here for is Lady Inari, we will leave as soon as we find her.”
Pointing back to the mud pit by Yasaka, they spotted her clinging onto my lover’s leg as if her life depended on it.
“She is alive and in one piece though I doubt she will want to return with you lot. You do not just walk off having a fat ass like Susanoo try to assault you.”, I remarked as I looked at Amaterasu, “This happened because you did not keep your brother on a tight leash. Yasaka and the other deities have told me all about his escapades…I am disappointed that a self-proclaimed, enlightened Pantheon allowed an animal like him continue to be a member of your group. Even after all that he did before tonight, you still kept forgiving him and slapping him on the wrist.”
“He…he is my brother.”, Amaterasu replied looking at him in disgust, “After tonight though, he is no brother of mine! Susanoo is no longer a member of our Pantheon!”
Cracking a smile, I knew exactly what would happen now that she uttered those words. Realizing the same thing I did, Omoikane attempted to correct his Leader’s phrasing but I beat him to the punch. In my eyes, the Youkai had been trampled upon for too long by these bastards and they had to pay dearly for it now.
“Yasaka, did you hear what she said? After all he has done, attempting to assault Inari was the only unforgivable thing he has done and it resulted in his banishment.”, I repeated to her, “Her brother meant more to them than all of the Youkai Faction, it took Inari being hurt for her to cast him out.”
Hearing for themselves how little their lives meant to the Shinto Pantheon, the villagers began hurling vile and venomous curses at them. Seeing that her own words had been turned against her, Amaterasu attempted to calm them but it was already too late. Generations of betrayal at their hands had been ignited and there was no stopping it now. Demanding that deities pay in blood as they had for so long, Yasaka was the loudest among the group.
“My people bled, starved, and slaved away for all of you!!”, Yasaka growled as her Fox Fires flared up, “We gave everything we had to keep you happy, but we never meant anything to you!! I will see that you pay tenfold for the pain and suffering you have caused us!!”
Subconsciously tapping into the Leyline Intersection beneath the village, her power skyrocketed as she turned into her Nine Tails form. Letting out an enraged howl, the villagers cried out for the downfall of the Shinto Pantheon. Seeing a few of them begin to turn and flee, I activated one of the stolen Commandments I held. Activating Peity upon them, a surge of dark aura radiated out of me and engulf the few who ran. Sensing a change in their comrades, Omoikane looked back to ask them if they were alright.
“Hear my command and obey, prevent your kin from fleeing!”, I commanded them.
Drawing their blades out without a word, the deities looked at their kin in confusion. Greeted by pairs of hallowed eyes, they instinctively knew they were no longer in command of their own bodies. Feeling no emotions or life coming from them anymore, Amaterasu demanded answers for what was occurring.
“What did you do to them!?”, Amaterasu shouted.
“You were all given a single warning and were explicitly told what would happen if you came back. Coming here was a grave error on your part, now you will pay in blood for it.”, I replied activating the Pacifism Commandment next before blessing the Youkai Faction with immunity against it.
Hemmed in on both sides, the Shinto deities closed ranks and prepared for a fight. Ripping their weapons away from them with magnetism, I threw them into my storage with a wicked grin on my face.
“The Youkai had no real weapons to protect themselves from their foes before, and neither will you now.”, I told them, “Yasaka, I leave the fate of the Shinto Pantheon in your hands now. Eradicate them, strip them of their Divinity, or simply let them leave…the choice is yours.”
Without any hesitation, Yasaka lept forward and raced toward the deities hellbent on making them pay. Completely forgetting all about Susanoo, her front right paw crushed him like a bug but he regenerated almost instantly. Hurling insults at Yasaka, his voice was drowned out as the villagers let out their battle cry and followed Yasaka into the fry.
“Stop it…you…bastards!!”, Susanoo shouted as he was trampled over by thousands of villagers.
Watching his Divinity quickly run out, I watched the Miko deliver the finishing blow. Clearly not forgetting that he was pinned there, she jammed the Shinto Pendant into his mouth and then used her foot to start driving it into his throat. Thrashing around violently as his regeneration began to dissipate, he clearly knew his time was almost up.
“This for my mother, grandmother, and unborn sister!!”, she seethed as an audible cracking was heard when she accidentally snapped his neck.
Kicking his head one last time for good measure, she chased after the others to help avenge her family further. Walking over to where Susanoo’s lifeless body was, I cursed his soul to never find peace or to ever be allowed to become a deity again.
“I hope you never forget that you died trampled underfoot for the rest of time. One day I hope you realize just how much pain you inflicted because of your ego.”, I stated before turning back to the fight, “Your arrogance has brought an end to an era for your Pantheon.”
