The next day, Sukuna's side made preparations and plans for the upcoming meeting. If they were going to meet with big shots of Japanese main factions, then they needed to make them. Yokai's and Five Principal Clan leaders weren't that huge problems, the main trouble laid in gods that would attend this meeting.
The message said that the Cursed Kingdom has the right to choose the meeting place, so as to show their "benevolence" and that they have no ill intents.
Sukuna will take only a few people with himself. Those would be Tamamo, Kenjaku, and few stronger units that would act as his "guards".
Sukuna knew that the other side most likely wants to make something like a peace pact with him, which he will gladly accept, with some demands of course. He doesn't have anything against it, as he will have a lot of profit from it. He also doesn't need to care about his boredom, as there are a lot more factions that he could make enemies of.
He also thought that as he is now, he stood almost no chances against those factions. He should be able to easily win against Five Principal Clans and Yokai's, but gods were on an entirely different league. Every god out there is at least a Satan-class level being, while chief gods surpassed normal gods with ease.
'That should be fun.' Sukuna thought to himself.
...
A few days later, Kyoto
You could see 10 people sitting around a round table.
"So, we are going to offer them a peace treaty? Will they even accept it?" Said a tall man in his early forties.
"We should at least try. Even if they have some little demands that don't place us at a huge disadvantage, we can accept them. It's not like they were hostile to us all those years. After that night, all we had to deal with were minor Curse Users that didn't join his kingdom. All curses were taken in by them. I think that we can come to an agreement with the Cursed Kingdom." A beautiful woman with long black hair tried to reassure others.
"I know that they weren't hostile to us those years... but we still don't know what their intentions are. We should try to get as much information as possible from the upcoming meeting." A white-haired beauty said with a concerned voice. She was also patting a snow-white fox, that had a blue flame on the tip of its tail.
"That's true... But we also shouldn't pry too much about it, and it's not like we can trust them..." Said a short man in his early twenties.
"Haaah~ So troublesome. Even dealing with devils is much easier than with curses." A man with long black hair let out a long breath. "Because of the rise of the Cursed Kingdom, and massive purge of Sorcerers, some factions are watching us like some kind of a giant piece of cake. Especially this damned Heaven. Don't they have a lot of influence in the world already? Why would they risk starting a war against all others? I thought that they are mostly peaceful."
"No idea. Anyways, we should go and prepare for the meeting. I really hope that we don't have to shed blood on it." Same beautiful woman with long black hair said. After that, they continued on adding small details in their plans for tomorrow.
...
Next morning
Somewhere in the plains of Japan.
It was dawn, as 10 people appeared from nowhere in the middle of the plains. After looking around they quickly noticed a large round table with chairs. They then moved towards the table and sat down, waiting for another side to come.
Luckily, they didn't have to wait for long. After five minutes of waiting, a large teleportation circle appeared on the ground. From it, 10 people came out.
Three people were leading the way, while seven others acted as guards. Guards wore simple kimonos and different masks. It was hard to tell whether they were humans or not, but their aura wasn't weak by any means. If someone had to predict, then they would be the pinnacle of High-class, almost reaching Ultimate-class.
But the three that were leading their way, were pure monsters in terms of strength. A man, that wore dark kimono and had a large smile on his face while a stitched scar ran horizontally through his forehead, had presumably the strength of an Ultimate-class being.
The leader of them all, that the other side recognized immediately because of his eyes and four arms, had the most strength. They could sense an extremely evil and frightening aura pouring from him. Even evil gods paled in comparison to it. Even if he wasn't as strong as the chief gods of pantheons, he could still most likely win most of the gods out there.
Next to him was walking a beautiful woman. She had a mostly neutral aura, but it was still leaning towards the evil side. She was powerful nevertheless, gods presumed that she should be around the Satan-class level. But what greatly surprised and even shocked some of them was her appearance.
She had long pink hair that was tied in two ponytails, beautiful golden eyes and she wore a blue kimono. Even though she was extremely beautiful, not yielding to gods, what surprised them most was her tails and ears. She had two pointy fox ears and nine fluffy foxtails. They immediately understood that she is a Kitsune and a special variant at that, a Nine-Tailed Fox. Their shock was understandable, as there are not many kitsune with nine tails. They know only about two persons that are Nine-Tailed Foxes. One of them being the leader of the West Youkai Faction, and the other one being the Shinto goddess called Inari.
They immediately had tons of questions swirling in their minds, but they postponed them for now.
Sukuna was also inspecting people in front of him. By the auras that he was feeling, three of them were gods, two Youkai's, and others were humans. Yokai's and humans were Ultimate-class level. While he was surprised a bit that humans reached such heights, he didn't really care about them for now. He was sure that they inherited something that made them stronger than others could possibly get.
What he was interested in were three gods in front of him. He can clearly feel their divinity, even if they are trying to hide it. By his measurements, a goddess with long black hair should be the strongest one here, clearly being stronger than anyone he has ever met before. For the first time in his life, he knew that he couldn't win against someone, yet. It was a bit frustrating, but it also gave him the motivation to aim higher.
When he moved closer to them, he immediately got few glares with different emotions mixed into them. Humans and Youkai's were watching him with hatred and concern, while gods looked at him with curiosity. He completely ignored those looks and showed them his usual wide smile. When he sat down, one of the goddesses started with her talk.
"We welcome you, King of Curses, Sukuna. Allow me to introduce you all from our side. I am Amaterasu, the sun goddess and also leader of the Shinto Pantheon." She said with a small smile. Amaterasu was a beautiful woman that looked like a woman in her early twenties. She had long black hair, that reached her knees and beautiful purple eyes, which represented her status as a ruler. She wore elegant white kimono with blue ribbons, while a crown-looking ornament was adorning the top of her head.
(A/N: Picture of Amaterasu)
"To my right is Inari. She is a Shinto goddess of foxes, agriculture, swordsmiths, and merchants." She pointed at a white-haired deity with nine white foxtails and golden eyes. She wore a traditional Miko outfit, with a red ribbon on her head, that tied her hair in a ponytail. She also was caressing a snow-white fox that was sitting on her lap, seemingly asleep.
(A/N: Picture of Inari)
"And this is my younger brother, Susanoo. He is the god of sea and storms." She pointed at a man on her left side. He had a face with sharp features, long black hair, and golden eyes. He wore a battle-formal kimono with a lot of golden patterns and necklaces on his neck. When Susanoo's name was mentioned, he smiled and said: "Nice to meetcha." His introduction got a slight elbow kick from Amaterasu.
(A/N: Picture of Susanoo)
"Those are leaders of Five Principal Clans. Each clan governs one element that we bless on them." She pointed towards five humans that were watching Sukuna very intensely. Amaterasu didn't introduce them any longer because she saw that Sukuna has no interest in them. It also reduced the time that they would waste on introductions. Not like humans minded it, as they were glaring daggers at Sukuna.
"And those are leaders of Youkai's. West Youkai Faction leader, Hayami." Amaterasu pointed at a Nine-Tailed Fox Youkai, that was sitting next to Susanoo. She was a young woman with a voluptuous figure and very long blonde hair with matching eyes. She had very delicate facial features and her eyebrows are cut very short and round– a symbol of nobility. Her hair is tied in a loose ponytail, reaching all the way down to her legs that ends in a spiral, with taut bandages to keep it in place. She wears a traditional shrine maiden attire, and over that, she wore a white coat held closed by a red ribbon and a golden crown.
(A/N: Just imagine Yasaka from DxD.)
"And this is the leader of East Youkai Faction, Nurarihyon." She finally introduced the last member from their side. Nurarihyon had the appearance of an old man with a gourd-shaped head wearing a kimono.
Sukuna nodded and said: "Good. Anyways, as you know, I'm Sukuna. To my right is Tamamo-no-Mae, she is my assistant." He introduced himself and Tamamo who was sitting on his right side with a usual smile on her face. "And this is Kenjaku, one of my subordinates." He pointed at the last person that was sitting behind the table. Kenjaku lifted his hands and waved towards others.
"So, introductions out of our way, what is the main goal of this meeting?" Sukuna asked. He was sure that he knew the answer, but he had to ask, so as to show his decency.
"Yes. Let's start from the beginning. On the night, that our factions decided to call "Purge", where most of the sorcerers and sorcerer families were killed, we got the news that a new faction was made. While we don't appreciate such extreme means, sorcerers weren't of our concern. We weren't allies. They killed Curses on the lands of Japan, while we permitted them to stay here, and not to intervene with their politics. Also, villages that were being massacred for years, were not of our concern either. Even if it saddens us, they were under the jurisdiction of sorcerer families. But I hope that this won't happen again, as of now, they are under our protection and care, thus if they are attacked this time, we won't stand back." Amaterasu stated the end of her monologue with a threatening tone. She let those massacres slip because there is no point to sympathize with dead people at the moment, and also because she doesn't want to shed that much blood.
Sukuna nodded in agreement. He understands that she let those massacres slip by because she wanted to get on good terms with his kingdom, or at least neutral. He also doesn't have any plans to massacre people in Japan. He can simply go anywhere in the world with a help of Tamamo. And he doesn't have any plans to wage a war against Three Japan Factions, not yet at least.
(A/N: I decided to call Five Principal Clans, Yokai Faction, and Shinto Pantheon as Three Japan Factions. Basically, Five Principal Clans and Yokai Factions are servants of the Shinto Pantheon. Or they have at least an alliance, so they could be considered as an alliance of some sort.)
"So I assume that you all want to make a non-attack pact with my kingdom?" Sukuna said with a large grin on his face. Finally they are moving on to a real business.
(A/N: Small announcement. I will be publishing fewer chapters from this day onwards. I have three exams coming, while I haven't learned a s*it, coupled with my lazy attitude, you can conclude that there will be fewer chapters. I will still try to publish as many as I can, but you just have to accept this as it is. I'm not dropping this story though. I personally like to write this story, but this story is what I'm doing for fun and going to do it when I have free time. Think of it as a hobby.
Also, sorry for not publishing for two days. This time I was just lazy. This chapter is basically a character introduction, who will (hopefully, If I won't forget about them) play some role in the future. I'm gonna try to make something more serious of DxD Universe. I just don't to waste this ideal material and world on some f*cking catch them all harem story, there are plenty of those out there. I don't like a harem genre in general, but I just don't want to write a story like this, when (I think) I can make something better and interesting. Haaah~, that's all. Cya~)