(19) A God Emerges

It had been about a little over a week since Yuna had first met Tetsuno. He mostly just hung out in the forest, and she would often get after him for doing absolutely nothing. But he would always have the same response:

"I'm just doing the same as you, waiting for the pawns to come back with information. Why waste energy when you can have the slaves do things for you?"

Yuna didn't really have a good counter to that, since the most she was doing was roaming the edges of the forest, keeping her eye out for anything interesting, but mostly, she was just enjoying the time she had back in the overworld. She didn't know how long she'd be able to reside there, since Tamashi would likely have her and Ygdran return to Purgatory as soon as their mission was complete. So, in reality, she wasn't doing much either.

Ygdran was also an issue. He'd just disappear for a few days at a time and then show up sporadically, saying he'd found nothing and that he had tried to find a god. But Yuna couldn't help but wonder what he was actually up to, but, in the end, she decided she didn't care all that much. It didn't matter to her what Ygdran did, all she needed was herself. Everyone else was just a pawn in her game.

Later on the afternoon, Yuna walked over to Tetsuno, who was sitting on a tree branch with his kasa pulled over his eyes.

"Tetsuno." Yuna spoke. "When the hell is your god supposed to get here?"

"Eh?" he raised his hat slightly. "Don't worry, soon. Shouldn't be much longer now, they weren't that far off my tail. They'll of figured out I'm here somewhere, whether it be by magic or somethin else. They'll probably send soldiers before Mashihashi himself shows up."

Yuna put her hand to her temple, frustrated and irritated. "Well, maybe you should make it known you are here to speed up the process, hmm?"

"Eh, I imagine they already know I'm here, they are just slowly walking their way here." He used his pointer and middle finger to do a walking motion through the air.

Yuna found herself becoming more and more irritated with Tetsuno every day, and growing less and less patient. She found herself constantly wanting to rip off his head, tearing the flesh and snapping the bone before coating the forest red with his blood. But. She had to restrain herself, as he was her best chance of meeting a god.

But, Tetsuno hadn't been wrong. He was actually exactly right. A few days later, a group of soldiers came marching down the road towards Feddle. They stayed in Feddle for maybe an hour or so, until Yuna had one of her pawns go and tell the soldiers that "there were demons hiding out in the forest".

"Is the god with them?" Yuna asked Tetsuno as she watched the group march towards the woods from afar. She stood, leaning against a tree, whilst Tetsuno sat, hunched forward, on a branch. Ygdran sat in the grass fiddling with a rock as he waited.

"Not from what I can tell. I imagine Mashihashi is just trying to test me. He would rather not waste his time on me if he doesn't have to. Soon as we kill those soldiers, I'm sure he will show his face." Tetsuno explained.

"Good. And they are coming straight into our territory." Yuna grinned, becoming excited. "The soil will be soaked in blood."

— — —

The God King, Azazel, stood beside another god looking over the world below from a temple floating in the sky. Beside Azazel was the Mashihashi. He had long, gold hair that was messy yet handsome at the same time. He had brilliant blue eyes and tan skin, a single scar running across his lower chin. He had four fangs in his rows of white teeth, and he wore a set of golden armor with a fur coat beneath it. On his back was strewn a massive axe, as well as a huge golden shield and he had a large, muscular figure.

Mashihashi-the god of Earthquakes.

"The aberrant race is growing steadily larger." Mashihashi spoke, "I've recently found that one of our own royals in my temple of worship was an Aberrant." Mashihashi clenched his fist. "Damn selfish bastard. He is a mortal, a weakling below me. He got upset because I laid with his woman, but he is a mortal to worship my glory. He belongs to me, as does his woman, his daughter, everyone one who is mortal belongs to us gods. They have not the right to be enraged."

"Yes, of course." Azazel spoke. "They why not you go and kill him with your own hand? The less Aberrants in this world the better. I mean, there are two other Aberrants there, it is just amusing, as they have a nurtured Yin nature."

"Yin? That is not something I've heard in quite some time."

"Yes. The nurturing of the Yin nature was all but forgotten long ago, but, the demons seem to of brought it back." Azazel sighed, "and I thought giving children to those demons would lower the population of Aberrants. Oh well. We I'll just have to kill them all, it shouldn't be that hard."

"Yes. And to answer your earlier question, I wish to test the power of my foes before I go and kill them myself. I need to see whether or not they are worth my time." Mashihashi spoke.

"I'm sure they are worth your time, I mean, that girl especially… she seems quite strong." Azazel spoke.

"She may be a problem. But I will come out victorious either way."

"Of course.." Azazel spoke, "of course…"