Fate?

***Kyoto, Japan***

Grayfia teleported Kaiser and Albedo to a forest.

"Why are we in a forest?" asked Kaiser.

"I didn't want to risk teleporting to a populated area and risk getting caught by humans, master." said Grayfia.

"Makes se-" before Kaiser could finish his sentence they heard an explosion that shook the ground slightly.

"I think we should move away from here." said Albedo.

"Yeah, I think the exact opposite of where the sounds came from would be a good place to move towards to. I don't really want to get into a conflict as soon as arrived. Especially considering the fact that we are basically guests on these lands." said Kaiser.

However, before they could begin exploring the lands the explosions they previously heard were approaching them quickly.

"It seems they are heading this way master." said Grayfia

"I noticed. Can't even take a nice walk without some shit happening." said Kaiser with irritation clear in his tone.

"What do you plan on doing master?" asked Grayfia.

"Of course, we telep-" Kaiser was interrupted again by a being starting to take shape in front of them. After a few seconds, a woman with white hair and nine tails behind her appeared before them.

The woman looked over each of them before looking towards where the explosion sounds came from which was still approaching their current position.

"What business do the devils have on Shinto territory?" asked the woman.

'Master please tread carefully, she is one of the Shinto goddesses known as Inari Ōkami.' said Grayfia to Kaiser through mental connection.

"We are merely tourists, and we do not like to associate ourselves with the devils, so you do not need to worry." said Kaiser.

"Can you show proof to validate your claims? If you can you are free to continue your journey, but if you can't I'll have to take you three into custody." asked Inari.

"Well, what's acceptable as proof?" said Kaiser.

"Give whatever you can and I shall judge whether it is acceptable or not." said Inari.

"I can tell you that the four previous Satans have been killed and replaced by people who do not wish to cause chaos in the world nor dominate it? I can tell you that I'm starting my own faction and I already cut ties with the devils completely. I mean I could also tell you my family and what happened to them, but I'm not sure whether the tale of my family's misfortune made it into the ears of others than angels, devils and fallen angels." said Kaiser.

"Tell me your name and we shall see." said Inari.

"Kaiser Vesperion." said Kaiser.

The woman seemed surprised and relieved for a second after hearing Kaiser's name, but quickly schooled her expression.

"Could you prove your claim?" asked Inari.

Kaiser nodded and summoned a small magic circle.

"This is my family's magic circle." said Kaiser.

Inari examined the magic circle and nodded.

"That is indeed the Vesperion family's magic circle." said Inari.

"Indeed. But could you please evaluate whether the things I said are acceptable or not? Those explosions are almost here and I don't want to get into a conflict that has nothing to do with me." said Kaiser.

"What you presented is acceptable, but I'll have to ask you to get involved. I have known one of the heads of your family and the Vesperion family developed a good relationship with me and the nine-tailed foxes. I firmly believe that your appearance here today is the doing of fate." said Inari.

"What do you mean my appearance here is the doing of fate?" asked Kaiser.

"In the darkest hour, when the foxfire dims and calamity looms, a figure shall emerge, wielding oblivion as its ally, becoming the beacon of salvation for the nine-tailed souls." said Inari.

"Sorry, but I am still confused." said Kaiser.

Suddenly a woman with golden hair and similarly colored 5 tails burst through the woods. Her body was injured in multiple places and she looked exhausted. Kaiser looked towards Inari only to see she was no longer standing where she was before.

'I once asked a friend of mine who has a little authority over fate to look into my children's fate. The conflict that arose was predicted by him just as your presence here. "In the darkest hour, when the foxfire dims and calamity looms" means the extinction of the nine-tailed fox race, "a figure shall emerge, wielding oblivion as its ally" this was interpreted as someone who wields the infamous [Power of Annihilation] would appear. This narrowed down the possible people to the Vesperion family. "becoming the beacon of salvation for the nine-tailed souls" means that this individual would save the foxes from extinction and lead them to a bright future.' said Inari to Kaiser through mental connection.

The woman spotted Kaiser and looked him and down and tried to gauge his strength. As she was doing this her pursuers arrived and started attacking her. The woman took a leap of faith and dashed towards Kaiser. Kaiser didn't sense any malicious intent from her, but still prepared to erase the woman from existence. The woman dashed by Kaiser's side, stopped and hid behind him.

'Wonderful' thought Kaiser.

One of the woman's pursuers sent an attack towards Albedo after assuming her to be the weakest.

The attack was erased by a barrier and the person who attacked was immediately struck by black lightning and died.

"I have no id-" before Kaiser could finish his sentence the fox woman spoke up behind him.

"Husband you are finally here! I thought these horrible people would kill me." said the woman behind Kaiser. This statement astonished everyone present.

'Please play along with her. I can't help her directly and your help is my best option.' said Inari through the mental connection.

'What's in it for me?' asked Kaiser.

'That fox called Yasaka herself and a favourable relationship with the Shinto pantheon.' said Inari.

'Can you speak on their behalf?' asked Kaiser.

'I'm not the chief god, but my influence isn't negligible. You want to form your own faction right? You could help Yasaka become the leader of the youkai and gain allies and she is also a talented person. I think you have a lot to gain from this.' said Inari.

'You are right.' said Kaiser.

As Kaiser and Inari were talking to each other Yasaka wrapped one of her tails around Kaiser's waist and hugged him from behind.

"Who are you?" one of the men questioned.

"My master is called Kaiser Vesperion, the heir to house Vesperion." answered Grayfia.

The men looked at each other confused before an older man spoke up.

"Impossible, that family was wiped out of existence." said the man.

"Were we?" asked Kaiser and summoned an orb of [Power of Annihilation] and shot it at the man who couldn't react to the incoming attack and was erased from existence.

"I believe this proves my claim. No other family has dominion over this power." said Kaiser.

The men looked at each other and started whispering between themselves. After a few minutes of conversation, the men turned back towards Kaiser.

"We are sorry for not recognizing someone from such a powerful family. This humble one's name is Sainvu. Could you please explain your relationship with that fox?" asked Sainvu.

"She is my partner." said Kaiser.

"That seems unlikely, the youkai mark their mates. The nine-tailed foxed take this one level deeper and intertwine their being with their mate since they choose a mate for life." said Sainvu.

'Grayfia please tell me he is lying.' said Kaiser to Grayfia through mental connection.

'He isn't master.' replied Grayfia.

"Yeah I know, we were only getting serious with our relationship and today was the day we agreed that she would mark me. You can't take it too fast considering that we would be together for the rest of our existence." said Kaiser with a strained smile on his face.

"Then please go ahead and once you are done we can talk further." said Sainvu.

'Now what?' Kaiser asked Yasaka through mental connection.

'I'm sorry. I know my goddess asked this of you, she showed me dreams of this happening. I trust her judgement, so if she says you are the one then I have no problem becoming yours.' said Yasaka.

'Just do it.' said Kaiser.

'Then please take care of me husband~' said Yasaka.

Yasaka unwrapped her arms and tail from Kaiser and moved to his front.

"Husband please uncover your collarbone." said Yasaka and Kaiser did as she asked.

Once Kaiser's collarbone was exposed Yasaka wrapped all of her tails around him and hugged him with her arms as well and she bit into his collarbone and sucked out some of his energy but she also channelled in some of her own. After a few moments, she let go of his collarbone and unwrapped herself from him.

"Please show your chest husband~" said Yasaka. Kaiser did as she asked and unbuttoned more of his shirt's buttons to expose his chest. There was a tattoo-like mark taking shape on his left pectoral muscle. After a few seconds delicate golden swirls, reminiscent of fox tails, intertwine with graceful arcs of amethyst radiance, mirroring the mate's captivating purple aura. Within this intricate symbol, an ever-shifting pattern emerges—a dance of raw power and mystic allure, signifying their union of unparalleled strength. Once it was done Yasaka also exposed a little bit of her breasts towards Kaiser and a similar symbol started taking shape. After a few seconds, it was done, but nobody expected that the mark on Yasaka would start emitting a fragment of Kaiser's aura. Even though it was a fragment everyone got to witness Kaiser's power level and the ominous feeling it carried within itself due to the [Power of Annihilation].

"Was this satisfactory?" Kaiser asked Sainvu.

"Of course." said Sainvu.

"You mentioned talking about something further. Please elaborate." said Kaiser.

"We only wished to know what devils are doing on our lands." said Sainvu.

"Please don't associate me with the devils. Even though we are of the same race I'm creating my own independent faction, but I would also like to ask why were you trying to kill Yasaka?" asked Kaiser.

After hearing Kaiser's question everyone with Sainvu grew wary. Especially now that they know his power level.

'Why did they come after you?' Kaiser asked Yasak through mental connection.

'They wished to overthrow the nine-tailed because my kind have been leading for too long so they planned our extinction. I'm the last one aside from the goddess.' answered Yasaka.

'Do you want to lead them like your predecessors?' asked Kaiser

'Yes. My mother wished for me to lead the youkai and I don't want to disappoint her spirit. Although with me leading would put them under your banner instantly so it would be more like me representing the youkai in your faction. Some may not be too thrilled about that, but youkai still respects strength even if isn't to such a degree as the devils.' said Yasaka.

"My master asked you a question, why haven't you answered yet?" asked Grayfia with narrowed eyes.

"We mean no disrespect! It's just a little bit of a sensitive topic." said Sainvu.

"Sensitive you say?" asked Kaiser.

"Yeah... We wanted a leadership change and we may not have chosen the most peaceful and justifiable means to achieve this." said Sainvu.

"What a nice way to say you wanted to kill all nine-tailed foxes." said Yasaka as she embraced Kaiser.

'I hope me hugging you isn't a bother. A mate's embrace provides warmth, security and comfort like no other and witnessing the murder of my family members took a toll on me mentally while fighting off my pursuers took a toll on me physically.' said Yasaka.

'You can hug me as much as you want.' said Kaiser as he moved his right hand and held Yasaka's waist and with his left hand, he started caressing her hair.

"Do you mind setting up a meeting between your newly appointed leaders and me?" asked Kaiser with a small smile on his lips and slightly narrowed eyes.

Even though Kaiser was smiling the feeling he gave off wasn't pleasant, it was closer to being intimidating.

"Of course not, please follow us and we will lead you to our leaders. I'm sure they will not be against meeting you." said Sainvu with a strained smile.

'We are fucked.' thought Sainvu.

Sainvu and his men started leading the way and Kaiser and his companions followed him. In the meantime, Yasaka shifted to Kaiser's right-hand side and was leaning her head on his collarbone while Kaiser still held her waist.

'Master, are you planning on bringing the youkai under the banner of the Order of Nihility?' asked Grayfia.

'Precisely.' answered Kaiser.

'What about the woman in your arms?' asked Grayfia.

'What about her?' questioned Kaiser.

'What do you plan on doing with her?' asked Grayfia.

'Naturally, I'll take care of her. Even though the circumstances are rather questionable the fact that she basically became my wife is undeniable, so I'll treat her like my wife.' said Kaiser.

Grayfia didn't say anything further and only nodded.