Chapter 75

But the size paled in comparison to the power it was releasing. Just gazing into the sphere was like gazing into the abyss. The darkness and the malevolent power were palpable. Anyone who was in the vicinity could not move, not to mention the Himejima who were the targets of this massive monstrosity.

Igor appeared puny in comparison to the sphere, but his voice was loud enough, his judgement clear.

"DIE HIIMEEJIIMAA!!!!"

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|DxD|

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The sphere was massive to the point that anyone who witnessed it would feel a deep pit of fear form within their hearts. Luckily, the entire city of Kyoto was empty with not a civilian or yokai in sight. From the streets to the buildings, not a single soul remained. The cars and busses on the streets were empty. The doors to every vehicle were open, clearly denoting that every citizen was evacuated in a somewhat orderly way.

After witnessing the destruction caused by nuclear bombs, Kyoto was one of the few major cities that had massive teleportation circles installed to evacuate the entire population in an instant. An alarm and mass text messages were sent to all people telling them to stop whatever they were doing, especially drivers.

Once that was done, everyone was teleported away. In order to preserve the secrecy of the supernatural world, large scale hypnosis magic was installed in these circles to let the masses believe something else happened other than teleportation. It was a complicated procedure that involved removing the citizens from the city and placing them in another dimension where they would be placed under suspended animation.

Naturally, a massive amount of energy would be required to fuel such a massive teleportation circle. Fortunately, this is where the ley lines came in. Yasaka, the leader of the Yokai Faction was necessary for powering the circle and evacuating the citizens of Kyoto. Having acted swiftly and decisively, Yasaka had not delayed in the slightest and emptied the streets of Kuoh as soon as she felt Igor's power and declaration for the extermination of the Himejima clan. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Five Principal Clans resided outside the city and therefore were not within the range of the circle.

Far away in a high-rise building, Yasaka was watching with a trepid expression on her face. She had barely managed to teleport everyone in time before Igor arrived so she was still a bit tired. All nine of her tails and fox ears were out and her eyes were still glowing yellow in colour. There was a slight trace of sweat on her face while her robes were wrinkled. But she never dared to display lack of vigilance.

Yasaka was in her office observing from her window, her brows furrowed as she bore witness to the formation of a gigantic sphere manifest above the land she was tasked with protecting. She could feel the copious amounts of negative energy contained within it, energy that had her shivering in trepidation.

On her face wasn't fear, but anxiousness.

[As I suspected.]

She had felt Igor's power and heard him yell the name "Himejima" all the way from Kuoh. In all honesty, she was terrified. His power far eclipsed her own and she had no confidence in stopping him or the giant sphere above his head.

In the small window between his yell and him arriving to Kyoto, she had followed her gut-feeling and organised the retreat of numerous yokai and humans. It only took her feeling his power ascend far beyond high-god class for her to decide there was no point in fighting. All it would result in was pointless sacrifices and the last thing she wanted was to send her own people to their deaths, especially when they weren't most likely the targets.

Yasaka was aware that in the face of Igor's current power, no wards, numbers, or tactics would work. There was a limit to what teamwork and strategy could do and Igor had exceeded whatever tactics that could work. It was because of this that she could only grit her teeth in silence.

In the city, there was currently no one stronger than Yasaka. She was a war veteran who had managed to reach the realm of low-god class half a century ago. With the use of the ley lines she was connected to, she had the ability to use the endless energy to combat a high-god class. Yet Igor was someone who through the use of Kaioken x100, had broken into the realm of low-supreme class. Yasaka was aware that this power was something she couldn't hope to overcome with her current capabilities.

Yet her responsibility as the leader of the yokai dictated she at least tried. As futile as it seemed, she would try every method she knew of to stop Igor. Be it conversation or seduction, no option was off the table in desperate times like these.

She gripped the windowsill, causing the slab of concrete to crack under her grip. She was alone in her office with her most trusted aide, the only one who refused to retreat with the others. It was both reassuring yet saddening that out of all her aides, Kurohime was the only one who stayed behind.

Kurohime was a cold beauty with long blonde hair and serene blue eyes. She wore a long black dress similar to that of noble woman in the early 20th century. It matched well with her pale white skin that seemed to never have known the taste of the sun. But while she appeared soft, the calluses in her hands dictated otherwise.

Yasaka slightly turned her head to view her out of the corner of her eye.

"Is Kunou safe?"

Kurohime lowered her head and replied respectfully.

"Yes, Yasaka-sama. This one personally verified Kunou-sama's portal entry to Honshu Island. Amaterasu-sama personally received her."

Yasaka took a deep breath in before asking with a slightly shaky voice.

"Is Amaterasu-sama still…"

"Apologies, Yasaka-sama. But Amaterasu-sama still stands by the decision to not offer any aid."

"..."

*CRACK!*

The windowsill she was holding onto finally couldn't endure her grip and collapsed into a pile of concrete rubble. Yasaka was growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of action from the gods. The worst part was she couldn't understand why since this wasn't a situation she could handle alone.

But before she could descend any further into her frustrations, Kurohime continued.

"Amaterasu-sama informed this one this we were alone that the reason why no god can interfere is because in her words, 'Shiva-tan is being mean again.'."

Yasaka turned to face Kurohime with widened eyes.

"Shiva-sama is involved?"

Her body began to tremble. She could never forget how with a single hand, Shiva simultaneously destroyed ten nuclear bombs that were launched by the Americans and Russians during the Cold War. She was extremely aware of how powerful these bombs were since she had barely managed to stop a third one from landing on Kyoto in August 1945.

Knowing that the most powerful god was most likely nearby almost caused her to fall down on her knees.

"If a person like Shiva is preventing every single major god from interfering, then…what am I doing?"

It was better to be left unsaid. Stating that their odds of success were one percent was an understatement. Yasaka was unsure how to act at this point. But regardless of circumstances, one percent was still a chance.

She turned towards Kurohime, her eyes betraying her intent, intent that Kurohime instantly noticed.

"This one will not leave Yasaka-sama."

Kurohime remained steadfast. She had served Yasaka long enough to know what her mistress was thinking, which is somewhat unfortunate for Yasaka.

"Kurohime. Are you sure?"

Kurohime remained standing with her head bowed.

"Yasaka-sama. This one owes you her life. Unless Yasaka-sama herself retreats, this one will humbly refuse to leave."

Kurohime lifted her head up to look at Yasaka in the eyes.

"Yasaka-sama. This one will follow you even unto death."

"..."

Yasaka sighed weakly. She knew she'd lost. Whenever Kurohime dared to look straight in her eyes, it was when she knew she wouldn't budge on her decision.

So smiling sadly, she turned to look at the now fully-formed sphere.

"Alright. Then help me stop that attack."

Without wasting any further words, she jumped out the window and soared towards Igor. In the process, she began to transform into a giant fox over a hundred-metres tall.* Her power exploded as the energy from the ley lines flooded her being.

She galloped forwards on four legs with Kurohime following behind her from atop the buildings. She managed to easily keep up with Yasaka who had longer strides. Both women travelled towards Igor without breaking stride nor wavering in the slightest. But Kyoto was large and they weren't fast enough.

They had barely made it to the outskirts of the city when they suddenly heard Igor's yell.

"DIE HIIMEEJIIMAA!!!!"

And then, it happened.

GRUUUUUuuuuuu

As the giant sphere descended, a massive pressure instantly descended on the vicinity. Yasaka found herself collapsing to the ground under the crushing weight of the unrestrained ki. Her giant form wrecked apart dozens of houses and apartment complexes, the damage monumental. It was only fortunate that these buildings were entirely empty otherwise the consequences would've been unimaginable.

But because of the pressure, Yasaka and Kurohime were temporarily rendered unable to move. So they could only watch with wide eyes as the sphere descended towards the Himejima clan.

Yasaka's eyes widened in complete shock and horror as she could only helplessly watch the sphere descend. This sphere wouldn't just destroy the Himejima clan. It would wipe out the entire city and possibly the whole of Japan if it were to explode uncontrollably. The consequences alone would cause worldwide tsunamis and other natural disasters.

Yasaka helplessly looked on in trepidation as her heart furiously questioned.

[Just who did the Himejima provoke?!?!]

Yet in just an instant, the same sphere that threatened to destroy the entirety of Japan, instantly vanished.

Suuu!

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|DxD|

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A few moments prior in Mount Kailasa

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On a large mountain filled with trees, it was illuminated by sunny blue skies. On that mountain just a few dozen metres from a modest house, Shiva was dozing underneath a tree. It was his favourite pastime that involved enjoying the cooling breeze after enjoying a delicious breakfast made by his wife, Parvati.

Even though he seemed to be asleep, he was keeping careful tabs on Earth, specifically on Igor. He was aware that Igor had made it to supreme class, though with some external help in the form of tainted nature energy.

Nandi, his trusted aide had informed him of the reasons pertaining to Igor's sudden transformation. And so out of curiosity to see how the blonde would resolve things, he sent Nandi to inform the other gods to not interfere whatsoever.

Now, he was just waiting for what the blonde would do now that he arrived at the Himejima clan. But as soon as he felt the rapidly condensing ball of destruction, he reluctantly opened his eyes.

"*Sigh*. He'll destroy the planet if this continues."

Shiva could turn a blind eye to many things. But the Earth's destruction was not one of them. So getting up from the ground, he dusted himself of nonexistent dust before vanishing.

Su!

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|DxD|

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Su!

Shiva instantly teleported in front of the sphere that was headed for the Himejima clan. Even though it was right in front of his face, he couldn't help but be impressed by the sphere itself.

It was to the extent that a subtle smile formed on his face.

[Impressive. Combining the tainted nature energy with his ki to create something like this? Truly, creativity is inspired by emotion. Unfortunately…]

Shiva extended a finger forward.

[...I cannot allow this to continue.]

He touched the sphere with a finger and in an instant, it was destroyed.

Fuuuuu

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AN

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In the process, she began to transform into a giant fox over a hundred-metres tall.*

Explanations: Originally, Yasaka was an Ultimate class and was said to be ten metres tall in her fox form. But due to evolving in the war and reaching god-class, her strength and size increased, though the number of tails remained the same.

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