36

Chapter 36: Enter YomiNotes:

I am so utterly enamored with Izanami's character in this chapter. I can't even describe how happy it makes me. I hope you all enjoy the chapter as well.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Raw anger bubbles up in my chest as I watch Susanoo disappear into the darkness. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye or leave a training plan for Akeno and Takehiko. Seriously, who just teleports someone to an underworld without any warning?

I sneer at the forms lurking in the darkness, slowly approaching, circling me as though I'm prey. My sword manifests in my hand and I roll my shoulders to loosen up. A cacophony of noise echoes from the encirclement as barks and growls fill the air.

Some kind of canine demonic beast then.

With a pulse of mana, a ring of fire sweeps outward lighting up the darkness. I get my first look at the creatures, and they aren't a pretty sight.

Their fur is matted and covers their forms in sparse clumps, their skin is a sickly grey, with open sores and pustules, and whole sections of flesh have been eaten away by necrosis. I can even see bone on some of them, yet they move with unnatural grace.

Undead then. That saves me from the temptation to eat them at least.

One bites at the flames, rearing back in surprise when it's burned. Instead of shaking off the flames, it ignores them, letting me watch as its flesh burns away. Still, the fire is not even an annoyance for the creature as it continues to stare at me with its now bare skull.

I let loose my killing intent and watch as their stances shift, lowering in response to the threat. Their snarling grows in volume and the noise becomes a physical force reverberating through the air.

If they want to see if they can die again, they chose a damn good method.

I leap at the closest beast and swing my sword downward, splitting its head down the middle. I sweep my sword backwards to slice through another mutt that leapt at my back. As the creature splits in two, a cloud of fluid bursts from its body. Remembering Susanoo's warning I flare an aura of flame so nothing gets in my mouth even by accident.

As I start to walk toward the other beasts, something grabs my leg. I turn my head and see that the first one I attacked has its jaw wrapped around my ankle, ignoring the fact its head is in two halves.

"Just die already." I crush its skull under my other heel as I glare out at the other creatures.

I sway out of the way as another beast leaps at me, intent on tearing out my throat. My sword comes up in a flash and as it digs into the flank of the skele-dog a flame blasts outward from the blade. As I finish the follow-through of the cut, the pillar of flame shoots skyward, spreading the skele-dogs ashes through the air.

I toss my sword like a buzzsaw at a grouping off to my left while I dash towards the grouping on my right. I catch the nearest skele-dog by both halves of its jaw, my left palm pushing upwards against the top and my right pushing downwards on its bottom jaw. I exert more force and the two halves separate with a sickening crack.

With only rotting tissue holding the jaw in place now, its head falls apart. I growl when it still struggles to move and slam a flurry of punches into its head to powder the rest of the skull. Willing my sword to dissipate, I summon it back into my hand and point it at the remaining beasts.

"Well? Are we going to finish this?" I grin as they snarl and start to back away. So they do feel fear.

I cackle as they begin to run and stab my sword into the ground. Once they are a decent distance away I pull out my bow. I form an arrow of Ki on my bowstring and another seven appear in the air beside me. It only takes a moment to adjust all their trajectories and as I release the arrow on my bow, the others fly towards their targets as well.

As the arrows slam into the heads of their targets, exploding with golden light, I look toward Izanami's palace. Susanoo was distorting space or something as he walked because there is no way I'll be able to walk there in a few minutes as he did. The distance between where I am and the palace is massive.

Hell, the only reason I'm able to see it from here is that it is the only thing emitting light in this entire place. Condensing a flaming arrow on my bowstring, I fire it at a forty-five-degree angle towards her palace. The spell forming the arrow is a variant I developed to act as a flare in case I ever needed it. As it flies over the plane of Yomi, it lights the path beneath it like a miniature sun and I see all the creatures it passes over.

There have to be thousands of creatures of all shapes and sizes in just the few kilometres the arrow passes over. There are undead like the skele-dogs I just killed, but also demonic creatures. There are monstrous beasts of varying species but there are also humanoid beings that are twisted by the energies of the underworld. The arrow doesn't even make it halfway to Izanami's palace before a giant arm sweeps into the arrows illumination and snuffs the light out.

I take it back, I'm not mad at Susanoo anymore. This is amazing! Thousands of new creatures to fight and kill, all without any repercussions. This would be heaven if not for the fact I can't eat any of them. I bite my lip to hold back a squeal of excitement and force down the hot blush on my cheeks.

The creatures still watching me flinch back instinctually as I beam at them, my prey. "Yes, yes! Let's tear each other into pieces, spill blood, and bring death with reckless abandon!"

I reach out into the environment with Senjutsu to pull more Ki into myself. This is a mistake.

I fall to the ground as my body starts to tear itself apart, and a pain beyond anything I've ever felt burns through every cell in my body. An honest to god whimper escapes my lips as my body gets torn apart. As soon as I realize what is happening I stop trying to draw Ki and use my own reserves to heal myself.

'If I didn't know how excited you were just then, I would wonder how stupid you are.' Byakko's dry voice cuts through the haze of pain I'm in.

I chuckle self depreciatingly as I smack myself in the forehead. I'm in the realm of the dead: why would there be Life energy here? I was trying to pull in pure Death into my body as a substitute for a diametrically opposed element.

Byakko materializes in reality and roars out at the approaching creatures causing them to back off again. He lies down, curling around me protectively and I sit up, leaning on him.

"You know what this means though, right?" I grin at Byakko with an excited gleam in my eyes.

"This is the perfect place to condition your body further," Byakko says, as though that isn't a big deal.

I pout and move to cross my arms, only to hiss in pain. "It was getting harder and taking more energy to break down my body using Ki. It has been getting to the point where any gains I get from my refinement cycle are nearly unnoticeable."

"I'm aware, I have been with you this whole time." I snort and roll my shoulders, slowly getting used to the pain again.

I had actually started to miss this feeling. Not that I'm a masochist or anything but it is similar to a runner high; the feeling of satisfaction from knowing the exertion is making you stronger. The only difference is that I'm breaking down and rebuilding every part of my body not just my muscles.

Once my body is fully recovered I scan the darkness around us, wary of what lurks just outside my vision. Ki sense doesn't help me locate the prey waiting around me either; the only signatures I can sense are Susanoo over in the palace and… what the actual fuck is that?!

The signature is outside what would normally be my range, but either the lack of other Ki sources or the sheer enormity of the signature ensure it's sensed. I can't even properly describe the absolute monster that this thing would have to be to have that much Ki.

It's… it's like staring at the sun.

I forget how to breathe as the Ki contorts in what can only be amusement and the thing looks back at me. I force myself to my feet and snarl not caring that it probably can't hear me from this distance.

It may have been my months of training finally showing their results or a response to the immense power of that being but something clicks inside me. Unconsciously my muscles all tense and I begin dumping every iota of power I have into pushing back that presence, and in doing so accidentally exterminate everything in the immediate area.

No not even that is a good enough description. Everything within a kilometre of me turned to ash instantly, black flames mixing with pure white. Anything outside that and within the next kilometre after that starts to melt under the heat or ignites from proximity. Outside that radius, the creatures run in fear of the flames.

My Touki condenses around me, combining with my killing intent and sword intent to form a metallic red aura, like a blade coated in fresh blood. Internally, my Ki circulates at speeds that I didn't know I was capable of, or perhaps simply hadn't been pushed to.

Finally, the scenery flickers around me as my mindscape tries to assert itself on reality. The lack of barrier to support it partially ignored due to the raw threat I feel from the powerful presence. Even the fog of Nothingness inside my mindscape seeps outward, denying everything it touches.

All of this happens instantly and simultaneously and I finally feel as though I can breathe again as my abilities are released to the full extent of my current potential.

"You're strong for one so young. You have my respect." The monster appears in front of me with no warning. He is speaking in what I recognize as an older form of Irish Gaelic but being understood by me without me knowing the language.

The monster's own aura reveals itself fully, sweeping away all the flames I generated, and pushing my Touki back into my body with pure power. Even against Susanoo, I could see the limits of his strength, far off as they were. Susanoo could be compared to a mountain peak, where even at the bottom of it you can still see the top in the distance. This Dragon in human form -for this close it couldn't be mistaken for anything else- is like the moon.

Completely untouchable.

"You've taken your body to the limits of your birth and pushed past them. I approve of that kind of strength, so similar to my own in methodology if not magnitude." He nods his black and blonde hair swishing with the motion revealing his pointed ears. He frowns as he crushes some of the fog I generated that had stuck to him.

I try to speak but no words come out. I bare my teeth at him not knowing what else to do and he grins sharply at me as he laughs. I feel Byakko beside me but he can't even stand up in the presence of this being. The dragon's heterochromic, slitted black and gold eyes flicker to Byakko and he snorts.

"Be still pet. I have no interest in you. Just the lass." His eyes flicker back to me and take a playful air.

"I wish you were able to give me a fight now but any battle would be pointless as you are now. Until you have surpassed the god who brought you here I won't derive any enjoyment from it." He cups his jaw and dissects me with those terrifying eyes. To think I fancied myself an apex predator here.

"I have roamed between the underworld and that of the mortals for centuries, seeking out challenges and watching humanity grow. In that time I have seen legends grow and meet their end, watched empires rise and fall, but only rarely has something truly captured my attention." He smiles sadly as he stares through me.

"Most of the beings I met were more of the same; another Red or White Dragon Emperor, a valkyrie or demigod, a magician who hailed from a long line of prodigies. I contented myself with watching them, battling them, and occasionally slaughtering them if I found them wanting." He shows his teeth and a savage glee fills his expression.

"It is rare that I witness something new. The Genius and Crimson Satans or even that youngster from the Church -no matter how much I detest that institution. Beings who show me something fresh. I believe you may do so too, with time." He pins me with a serious look and speaks with words so intense they feel binding.

"Seek strength in everything you do. Continue to not let your limits define you. Seek opponents ever more powerful and cut your teeth on their bones. Shatter the chains of your birth and make your mark on this world." He nods and begins to walk away before throwing out some parting words. His voice carries to me without him even turning around.

"When you've grown enough I will seek you out for a battle. Remember this name, The Dark Dragon of the Cresent Moon: Chrom Cruach. Perhaps one day you will be worthy of me learning yours." Then he disappears so swiftly that his prior presence feels like a lie.

I wait until I'm sure he isn't coming back with bated breath, knowing that nothing else would approach so soon after he stood here.

'That man was a monster. I knew creatures like him existed from your memories but being near one is… something else.' I don't respond and stare at the spot Crom stood with clenched fists.

'You'll get there eventually. I know you will, Ibaraki.' Blood starts to drip from my fists and I finally decide that all I can do right now is just let go.

I take a deep breath and start to run, shutting out the world around me. I feel the air against my skin, the muscles moving beneath, and my bones soaking up the impact. I brush up against the energy I produce and feel how it flows, feel the ocean of power inside me.

Too little.

My Touki bubbles up around me, shifting as it takes on my killing intent and sword intent. My momentum continues to build as I pass over the desolation the release of my power wrought. By the time I'm halfway through that kilometre of nothingness, it has been a second.

That isn't enough. It's not even close to enough.

I grit my teeth as I start to swallow up the lingering miasma of death in Yomi like a black hole. Even as my body breaks down, I force my Ki to rebuild my body at the same rate it's destroyed. I burst out of that section with a cloud of ash growing behind me, my speed having roughly doubled again.

None of it is enough.

I remember what Susanoo said about me limiting myself. I know that the strongest beings in this setting are faster than light plus in speed, and planet busting in strength. There isn't any reason why I can't move a fraction as fast now.

I scream pushing my frustration out into the world.

I hold the image of Crom in my mind, that impossible summit, and I deny it. Impossible? What's that crap? I take another breath and run. The ground beneath me explodes and the air resistance from before ceases to exist. Why would air stop me?

The second kilometre is passed in a fifth of the time as the world blurs around me.

The creatures beyond that don't even slow me down. I keep running, passing through them, as my aura either cuts through them or crushes them with raw power. The gore and viscera is burned away before it can come close to me.

I'm a quarter of the way to the palace now and that arm that plucked my arrow from the sky descends upon me. The palm of the hand is poised to crush me into the ground and stop my progress. I snarl as I leap into the air, ripping through the hand and landing on the arm without losing speed. Near instantly, I reach the shoulder of the giant and swing my sword as it appears in my hand.

Before the head even separates from the neck, I'm airborne again. My sword is exchanged for my bow, a burning radiance manifesting on the string. I roar as I draw it back, my rage echoing outward as a physical presence.

On the release of the string, fire rains on Yomi.

Unimpressed by the wails of the dead, I will myself to fall faster. All my physical strength is focused on my fist as it impacts the ground. Around me, the world turns upside down, a complete upheaval of the land from the crater I create. Titanic slabs of dark obsidian burst skyward sending undead and demons airborne.

Beings of all shapes attempt to enter the crater and kill me but the raw malice I emit knocks the demons unconscious and unravels what holds together the undead. I then explode into motion again, leaving the crater behind.

The closer I get to the palace the stronger, faster, and more durable the creatures become. No longer are they simple undead and lesser demons but proper monsters and intelligent creatures. I weave my way through the throngs of demons and monsters, my speed only slowing slightly.

Raw force and pure power give way to precise strikes: tearing out a throat here, a decapitation there, a punch that erupts with compressed Ki to blow a hole through a torso, a tight beam of flame that burns through a skull.

Finally, within a kilometre of the palace, I meet a challenge. My fist bounces off the dense carapace of a gigantic centipede when it bursts out of the ground in front of me. I sneer and roll my hand over placing my palm on its carapace.

This thing is like a disgusting, overgrown version of Shuten's pet. Unacceptable. "Turn to ash."

An eruption of black flames devours it before it even has time to screech. I move to spit on the remains only to have another larger centipede burst out of the ground beneath me. Its mouth opens wide and before I can react I'm swallowed by the giant insect.

I debate burning it away like the last one but that wouldn't be enough of a punishment for trying to eat me. No, this creature needs to suffer for this.

My smile contorts into something sharp and wicked as I realize being inside this insect means I'm separated from the outside world. Instead of extending a barrier to an arbitrary distance around myself, I just need to use this centipedes body as the range limit. I should be able to do it now, right?

I cackle even as I'm pulled further through the digestive tract, and flowers start to bloom around me. I push my mindscape outwards and tilt my head to dodge a sapling that grows explosively beside me. "Haha, yes! Devour this insect and grow!"

The centipede starts to screech in pain as more plants start to grow inside it and punch outwards reaching for the sky. By the time I claw myself out of the remains a forest has appeared in the middle of Yomi, cannibalizing the centipede to fuel its existence.

I almost feel bad when I drain the forest of its Ki to replenish my reserves. It isn't like I have another source of natural Ki to draw from though. The plants all wither and die as they lose the energy that supported their life. With my reserves refilled slightly, I continue running toward the palace.

 I stumble through the doors of the palace an hour later, covered in blood and gore. Nothing was strong enough to injure me but the durability the creatures began to display was annoying. Either they were crazily resistant to injury if they were demons or regenerated ridiculously fast if they were undead.

Truly punching bags of finer quality have never existed.

"Hey, that took you less time than I thought it would. Not bad, minion." I glare at Susanoo and he waves his hand spraying me with water.

"Don't go tracking dirt in my mother's palace. It's unseemly." I don't have the energy to do anything but sigh at his antics.

"Yet you're here." He faux gasps as I fire back at him.

"Ah, if you act like that I might think you don't like me! Surely you aren't so lacking in gratitude?" I try myself off with a flare of heat and pin him with a withering glare.

"As much as I enjoy fighting, I like to know about things like The Strongest Evil Dragon being present!" I hiss at him angrily.

"Tch, I hate even thinking about that bastard. Why would I bring him up if I don't have to? The only thing good about him is he makes good pest control around here." He tilts his hat downward and I barely catch a hint of a pout forming. Don't act like a petulant child! You're so uncute!

He waves his hand in dismissal. "Besides, you got a lot out of the meeting. There was also only a small chance he would kill you; The Irish bastard is simple-minded like that."

"Only- I'll kill you, you bastard!" My hands twitch as I squeeze the air, imagining I'm choking the life out of him. One day Ibaraki, one day.

"Mah, don't be like that. Mother hates fighting in her palace. Speaking of her, she'll want to meet you now that you've arrived." I follow him as he leads the way through the palace while trying to suppress the urge to stab him.

"So do you have an actual training plan in mind or am I just being thrown into a pile of monsters repeatedly?" He gives me a side-eye before shrugging.

"I had a plan. Though I hadn't thought you would get here within the first day, nor did I think that battle maniac would take notice of you so soon. Eh, whatever I'll adapt." He cups his chin in thought.

"...Are you going to tell me that plan?" I sigh when he smirks.

"The dragons are going to be coming at you in a horde generally, being mostly mindless newborns. What I want you to do to prepare for that is develop some wide-range attacks; things like that supernova thing you did earlier." I'm actually surprised he was monitoring my progress. He seems too careless for that.

His eyes narrow at me, "You thought something rude just now didn't you?"

I chuckle sheepishly as he continues. "Leviathan and Jormungandr spawn few children that have anything quality. Only a dozen or so real dragons will emerge from a single spawning and they will wait to emerge until the fodder die off."

"Because of that, most of the first phase of the event will be the amount you kill not your skill in doing so. I want you to make a good showing so if all you can do is kill solo acts, you're useless to me." I frown at that but it makes sense.

If the majority of the task is killing waves of creatures, nobody will remember the person who killed dozens instead of hundreds. "What about the powerful ones? We get to kill them too, right?"

"It depends on whether you kids will be able to handle them. Leviathan and Jormungandr aren't compatible so most of their kids are duds. It doesn't help that Jormungandr isn't a consenting party either, he's just too lazy to stop Leviathan." So the biblical serpent is forcing herself on the world serpent? That's pretty disgusting.

"That makes the kids extra weak, consent or the lack of is important in magic on that scale. Occasionally though, a dragon or two emerge that combine the potential of their parents. A fluke you might say. If that happens we Gods usually handle it." I nod, a creature combining the power of both titanic dragons seems fearsome.

"Wait, 'usually'?" He frowns in annoyance.

"Yeah, sometimes a faction brings a brat that's a real monster; like a fully realized Longinus wielder. They all end up dying eventually but they steal the spotlight for a bit." He makes a face like he's swallowed something disgusting.

"Damn, Biblical God, ruining the nice power balance." It isn't as though I disagree with that sentiment so I nod along with his words.

He stops suddenly as we approach a large set of ornate doors. He turns around and shoots me a fierce glare, "You better not do anything to upset Haha-ue. If you do I'll put you through hell beyond your imagination."

I almost snort in amusement but I realize he's dead serious. "What kind of guest do you think I am? I can be polite."

"Good." With that, he opens the door and steps through it. I follow after him and a gorgeous throne room reveals itself.

The room has a high ceiling supported by decorative columns, beautiful geometric tiles, and is lit up with torches of green fire. The art that decorates the room is a glorification of death, disease, and all the maladies of the world. The room itself exudes a terrifying pressure, but what stands out most is the loneliness and emptiness.

Sitting on the throne at the far end of the room is Izanami-no-Mikoto, the goddess of creation and death. She's dressed in a black kimono with blood-red trim; the design of which ripples and flows like curls of dark smoke and ash drifts lazily off it. On her one shoulder sits a trio of small humanoid skulls; though something tells me they're simply shrunken rather than fake.

In her delicate gloved hands, she twirls a red parasol that looks as though is made from bone and paper-thin skin that has been dyed. Shadows dance under the parasol and a faint wailing echoes in my ear as I focus on it, grasping hands rolling like waves as they try to escape.

Her hair is so dark it's like a void and is done up in an elegant top knot with a level fringe. For decoration, she has a red spider lily woven into the right side, a Kushi kanzashi that looks suspiciously like a human lower jaw, and a Bira-Bira Kanzashi sticking into the left side of her fringe that has finger bones hanging from it. Now that I squint, there are also pitch black butterflies -one flutters so living butterflies- crawling through her hair

Her skin is bone white creating a stark contrast to her pitch-black hair drawing and your attention immediately. If that draws your attention then the cloudy black sclera of her eyes and the sickly green iris hold it. There's something hypnotic about those eyes and the pink pupil that sits in the centre.

Her lips are ruby red and currently pulled into a frown as she stares blankly at her empty throne room. When she sighs I start to look past that first impression and notice the rest of her features.

The corner of her lips and extending towards the cheek is missing on the right side of her mouth, partially showing her teeth through the hole even with her mouth closed. Her tear ducts have a drop of blood beading up on them too, though she looks sad so that might be the cause. What I thought was red eyeliner is just the skin being missing around her eyelids.

It's a little creepy but I eat people so I can't really judge her aesthetic especially when it was forced on her. Lastly, the 'gloves' she's wearing on her hands are just the muscles and bones of her hands with nothing to cover them.

When she opens her eyes and lifts her head, she sees Susanoo. Her expression morphs from that bleak solitary sadness into pure elation and she disappears in a burst of black smoke, her umbrella dropping onto her throne. When she reappears she's glomping Susanoo with all her might.

"My little boy! Oh, you didn't tell me you were visiting. This is such a nice surprise!" I blink in shock as a weird feeling builds up inside me. Is this the fabled gap-moe?

"It's been too long since your last visit." Susanoo grumbles as she hugs him tighter.

I don't know whether to smile in glee or be horrified by Izanami manhandling Susanoo. I settle for a combination of the two as she turns her head toward me. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know my son brought a friend."

I snicker at that and Susanoo shoots me a glare. "She's not my friend, she's my minion."

She suddenly realizes that she's supposed to be a dignified ruler and straightens out her clothes. She schools her impression and addresses me again. "Welcome, honoured guest, to my palace. May you find peace during your stay in my realm."

I can't reconcile the two disparate personas and end up laughing. When I realize what I'm doing I snap my mouth shut with a harsh click, only for Izanami to sigh in relief. "I'll take that as an invitation to be informal. I don't get many visitors but I figured I should make an effort fitting for my station."

She backs off Susanoo and approaches me instead, before bowing, "Thank you for being friends with my son. I know he can be rough and doesn't open up easily but he's a kind boy."

I gape in shock, sputtering in embarrassment. "Please raise your head!"

I grimace and nearly vomit as I force the next words out of my mouth. She's too cute and I don't want to ruin her mood with semantics. "I'm honoured to meet the mother of my friend."

She claps happily in response, "He so rarely brings visitors with him, even if he dutifully visits me. Unlike his brother and sister. The last guest he brought was my daughter-in-law, and wasn't that a surprise."

I don't think I was supposed to hear the muttered shot at Susanoo's siblings. Susanoo huffs in embarrassment when Kushinadahime is brought up which redirects his mother's attention to him.

She puffs out her… cheek and puts her hands on her hips. "You need to bring my daughter-in-law to visit more often. It gets lonely around here when my only regular visitors are you and Crom."

The oddly domestic nature of the conversation is beginning to get to me so I take the reference to Crom Cruach as an opportunity to shift the topic. "Speaking of him, what was he doing in Yomi?"

Izanami blinks at the interruption before smiling at me. "Crom is an old friend of mine! He showed up in Yomi one day a few centuries back and well, I couldn't be bothered to try and kick him out."

She grins in reminiscence and the expression is oddly cute. "Instead I chatted with him and eventually we got onto the topic of Christianity. Crom was really grumpy about the Church's presence in Ireland and I was mad about the Biblical God stealing souls of Heroes for his stupid reincarnation project. Once we found that common ground we became really good friends!"

"Wait, stealing the souls of Heroes?" Izanami pouts and gestures to the throne room around us.

"Why do you think all my courtiers are missing? Between that guy stealing souls so humans can reuse old legends instead of gaining their own power and the devils stealing promising humans, most of my court got poached!" She grinds her teeth together and the torches in the room flicker.

She mumbles under her breath, "That one Satan even stole Okita-kun before that disease I made could bring to me. I should've made all of them more potent during my fight with my ex-husband."

Susanoo frowns when black smoke starts to pour out of Izanami's sleeves and he pulls me back. Her eyes flash with power and her voice takes on a haunting quality, "I wish that YHWH bastard would die already!"

I tilt my head in confusion, "But he is dead though?"

"What?" "What?" Two confused voices say in perfect sync as both Gods hear my words.

"Yeah, he died in the Great War after he killed the previous Satans. Micheal and the rest of the Seraphim have been running Heaven's system since then. Hell, the Cadre ranked Fallen Angels are aware of it too." Izanami teleports to me in a puff of black smoke and clasps my hands in between our chests.

Her pink pupils are shining like stars as she beams at me. "Really!?"

I gulp when her breath ghosts my skin and nod. She lets go of my hands and twirls cackling in glee. "This is the best news I've heard since my little boy told me he was getting married!"

Susanoo clears his throat and stares at me dead serious. "You're sure of this?"

"Yes. Think about the uptick of Balance Breaker wielders, the decrease in Holy Light users, and how quiet Heaven has been." As I list off my points Susanoo frowns and nods.

"I will find a way to confirm this but nobody else can hear about this." I roll my eyes dismissively.

"Who am I going to tell here?" Don't act so uptight now you bastard.

Izanami is back in my face again, having spun enough seemingly. "I'm convinced! You're my new second… no third favourite living person now. What's your name?"

"Err, Ibaraki, ma'am- miss!" She giggles at my slip up and then her nose scrunches up.

She mumbles to herself, a habit of hers from the looks of it. "Where have I heard that name before…"

"Um, my ancestor was named Ibaraki-Douji?" She frowns and shakes her head.

"No, no. I've heard of him of course but there was no surname mentioned." Her eyes widen and so does her smile as she comes to a realization.

She suddenly squees happily and claps again. "I know now! A little while ago a Satori who was scheduled to be here centuries ago showed up. I was surprised, having figured he had his soul erased or something."

Her smile doesn't dim at that bleak topic. "So I ask him and he's all smiles, 'This Oni child released me from my prison and allowed me to die.' "

Her voice deepens when she mimics Satori's voice in a terrible impression. "I offer him a place in my court but he refuses. Normally I'd be sad but his desire to be reincarnated and meet his saviour again was so earnest and adorable. Ah, even remembering it makes me smile."

I laugh at her explanation but she isn't done yet. "And then not too long ago actually. Some of the souls that were already here had their lingering resentments resolved and the leftover pieces of their souls in the living world returned to them."

She makes wooshing noises and animatedly grabs at the air and pulls it to a central point. "They were all happy about it and I asked them what happened too. They said you helped them get revenge and they were really grateful."

She tilts her head, "Some of them are still working at the palace if you want to speak to them."

Her smile turns shy and she quickly hugs me before I can react. "People don't care enough about the dead and dying, they pretend to but really only care about the living. Thank you for being so caring."

She pulls back when Susanoo clears his throat looking extremely unimpressed at me. What, it was your mother who hugged me!

"Oh sorry, I've been rambling this whole time and you probably want to 'hang out' with my son not his mother. I won't bother you any longer." Susanoo sighs as Izanami disappears.

He shakes his head and palms his forehead, releasing an explosive sigh. "Come on. I'll show you where everything is around here."

With that, we leave the now empty throne room.

Notes:

Quick note to address a concern that the QQ thread had. At the very most I would have Izanami and Ibaraki be in a wholesome non-sexual relationship. Izanami is literally a corpse and I wouldn't even think about writting necrophilia let alone posting it. So if a relationship ever started to develop in that direction it wouldn't be physical beyond like, handholding or something.