Self Validation (6)

Sasori had given me a troublesome enough of a task to finish off Saki. This troublesome human requires too much effort for the money offered in compensation. Even Arahabaki looked uncomfortable. The five malignant ghosts, which I don't know whether they are linked to Eosphorus, could be too much to handle.

"Withdraw?" Kyoko asked me as my fingers twiddle with the short dagger. "Arahabaki-sama also thinks it is too much for him to start a potential war with that foreign entity."

"Not yet. I need to see an old friend," I said as I opened the portal to Kakuriyo. 

"Okay…, so I will cancel your appointments until you get back then," Kyoko confirmed. 

"Yes. And tell Daija not to try to track me down. He can handle the front end." With that, my foot stepped into the awaiting mists of Kakuriyo.

Whatever Arahabaki would not touch, there was another god would, but he had a dangerous reputation. No shrine would venerate him openly and Takamagahara feared him more than Arahabaki himself. Even his territory in Kakuriyo is treacherous and fraught with perils. 

Pulling out the belt with my pair of katana and wakizashi, I sighed as my hands placed it around my waist and tightened it in hesitation. Whether it was a good idea to approach him again remains to be seen.

Unlike the more jovial yet nefarious Deity of Calamity, he had wrought on uncontrollable disasters. Legend is that both of them are the same. Yet, they are not. This much I knew within. 

He is tied to our lands from time immemorial while the Deity of Calamity was all over the place. 

"Ōmagatsuhi," I uttered his name into the twirling mist within Kakuriyo, which seems to hesitate for a moment. Kakuriyo itself knew he was a danger to all who sought him. 

The swirling fog swirled around me, increasing its pace until it blurred around like the inside of a tornado. Here goes nothing.

***

The sound of a large waterfall flowing from the mountain onto the river. The water still looked clear enough to spot some shadows at its bottom. Gnarled trees around them were charred and twisted in the most unnatural. No creature or yōkai would venture into such an area. Just the way he liked it. 

The sound of a twig snapping reached him at the bottom of the river. He rose from its depths to glance at the being who dared to disturb his territory. 

Each drop of brackish water melting away the blood on his naked yet well-built athletic yet slender human form. Accompanying him were two weak looking orbs, hovering with caution.

He recognised the female human figure with the familiar yōkai aura peeking from the trees in an instant. 

With a smirk, he called out, "if it isn't Yamata-no-Orochi's daughter hiding behind the trees… what name do you go by now?" 

Deceptively charming - aesthetics were necessary to create a being's downfall - man, woman, child or even a Kami. A blackish mist formed around his torso, weaving a vermillion kosode garment as the kodama flee from the nearby trees. Terrible was Ōmagatsuhi's beauty.

"Kuro. After what you called me," came her wary answer.

A menacing grin grew on his face as he ravished the fear emanating from her. "Why the sudden visit? Problems with the mortal realm?"

Oh, he knew. The young, naïve serpent yōkai was no more. She seemed more wary of him than she was all those centuries ago. Had he not kept her around for amusement, she may not have survived to be the big conniving daiyōkai she is now. 

"Problems within Kakuriyo as well. New foreign entrant, Eosphorus to our world," she said. 

"Complain to Okuininushi then. He rules the entire realm and he should know what goes on…" he waived her aside.

"Not all, your territory is exempt here."

Pointing at the two orbs, he scoffed, "let me introduce you to Takamagahara's half arsed jailers here. Naobi and Kamunaobi. Dumb and dumber. The only reason for territorial exemption is to keep me away at bay. No foolish yōkai will approach me like you do."

"Well…"

"Eosphorus has long been around here for centuries. He just moves between his own boundaries," Ōmagatsuhi replied in ambivalence. "You are already giving me old news."

"Why don't you do anything about it?" Her voice was tinged with frustration. 

"He keeps away from me just like the other gods," he glanced at a trembling orb. "No argument. But you have another purpose. Your thoughts can't escape me."

"Yes."

"Why kill just one mortal? Didn't the humans from his realm once say 'Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god.'" Ōmagatsuhi licked his lips slowly at his bloodlust.

Standing mid knee deep in the water, his face gazed skywards to admire the passing clouds dimming the brightness of the round moon and then lowered to see the bonfire afar. The red pooling mess in the river turned blackish in the still waters. 

"Eh…," Kuro paused as he looked at her in amusement. 

"If you want a human here, easy. You are not some weakling." His cold, piercing eyes dug into the depths of her existence as he approached her. "Why pretend to have rules when they are all made up by those who want to control?"

"The rules are there for a purpose," she replied. 

"You sound almost like a human… unlike when we first met." He raised his eyebrow and smiled in a mix of disdain and amusement. "and Arahabaki… I see he is also turning quite soft with his pleasure seeking behaviour among humans."

"What is that supposed to mean…"

A loud noise of twigs breaking in the surrounding darkness made Kuro stop as animals sprinted away for safety and their dear lives. 

"Another visitor," Ōmagatsuhi looked displeased as his head turn to the direction of the noise.

Running his slender fingers down his waist-long silvery hair, a fiendish reddish ring surrounded his glowing dark doe eyes, giving him a predatory look as he walked on the water towards her.

Eosphorus appeared on the other side of the riverbank, approaching him. More fun is to come. Although the idea of dealing with a minute problem is a tad too trivial for his tastes. 

Kuro stared at him as Ōmagatsuhi ignored his presence and then whispered into her ear, "Speak of the devil."

"Took me a while to track you down here, serpent," Eosphorus hissed.

"All yours," Ōmagatsuhi pointed his finger in mischief at her.

"I don't think…," Kuro muttered.

"Well, stop thinking. Sasori only wanted Saki here, and you overthought it…" He replied, ignoring Eosphorus' presence. "I enjoy playing."

"Oh no, you don't…"

Ōmagatsuhi snapped his fingers as Eosphorus glared at him. In a blink, Saki appeared on the ground, unconscious. Kakuriyo pulled the limp body of Saki into somewhere before Kuro could stop it. The trap has been sprung. 

"Are you using your gods to declare a war?" Eosphorus demanded as Ōmagatsuhi raised a finger to his lips to keep Kuro quiet.

"Too much talk," Ōmagatsuhi replied. 

"The god from your heavens…"

We could hear a blood curdling human scream from afar as Kuro stared blankly at Ōmagatsuhi, stunned by what he had done. 

"Takamagahara? See if they want to deal with me, whatever your name is." Ōmagatsuhi chuckled.