Sacrifices are inevitable
Seshiro stood atop the tree as he watched the myojin wreaking havoc through his domain. Anger built up within him. This myojin was attacking his territory for no reason other then he was angry. Seshiro stood there as he watched wave after wave of Orochi flood over the myojin only to have their slender serpentine bodies burned, ripped, and melted off the Myojin's burning mass of muscles. Down below Seshiro on the forest floor a female Orochi made her way up the tree.
"Father we need your help we cannot take down this kami." The female Orochi looked at Seshiro with questioning eyes.
"Sariko do you know why we can not defeat this kami?" Seshiro asked sariko this when he knew very well why they couldn't defeat this kami.
"No father if I knew that I wouldn't be here asking for your help."
"Sariko that is why Sachi leads the sakura tribe and you don't." Seshiro looked down at his daughter, Sariko just looked down to the forest floor at a group of Orochi warriors that ran towards the battle field. "That Kami is the divine spirit of rage itself. We can't even harm it until it uses up most of it's own power fighting us."
"So father we have to sacrifice our own people in this barrage hoping it will weaken the kami enough for us to have a chance to destroy it."
"Yes sariko that seems to be the case. But even then none of us have the physical might to overwhelm the myojin."
"Father I have been conversing with a very powerful kami of late and he has agreed to help us fight this kami. I have come for your advice on this subject." Seshiro turned and looked at his daughter with a look of sheer disappointment in his eyes.
"Sariko you know as well as I do that during this time not many kami are our allies. Correct?"
"Yes father but this kami feels so familiar almost as if it were part of me. I trust it father."
"If this is true then I will lead a force to weaken the Myojin. As I do this you will work on calling this spirit of yours to help."
"Yes father, it will be done."
"Go then I will call together my own warriors and go fight this myojin threat. You go and prepare to call forth this spirit." With this said Seshiro jumped from the tree to the forest floor hissing orders to Orochi hidden in the tree's surrounding his. Orochi jumped from the tree's and landed on the ground near Seshiro. Seshiro looked around and hissed orders to his men. Seshiro then ran off towards the battle, he was followed by most of the Orochi that had come down from the trees. Two of the Orochi climbed up into the tree Seshiro had just departed. After mere seconds of climbing they stood before Sariko.
"Seshiro told us to escort you to the battlefield." said the bigger of the two Orochi warriors.
"Very well, let us be off then."
Seshiro-
Seshiro stood before the massive Kami of rage, with hundreds of Orochi swarming over the kami he couldn't tell if it were red or green. Seshiro waved his hand towards the kami as another wave of Orochi warriors swarmed over the Myojin. A hill of burnt Orochi corpses were building up under the under it as it rid itself of the ever growing number of the serpentine creatures that were flooding over it.
At this rate he might actually lose a meaningful amount of soldiers. Seshiro waved as he sent another wave to their deaths. That's when something caught Seshiro's attention. Minor Kami had started to manifest all over the battlefield.
Seshiro waved another group of Orochi towards the Myojin. He waved another group towards a nearby manifesting kami. As they neared the currently shapeless clouds of energy a beast hurled itself out towards the oncoming Orochi ripping its way through their ranks as it bounded towards Seshiro. Seshiro pulled out his bows and pulled back two arrows and let them fly towards the oncoming spirit. One arrow tore into its embering head as the other destroyed its waist. As the remnants of the Kami fell to the ground they glowed a brilliant crimson. Seshiro bellowed to his soldiers "Everybody down!"
The Kami's glowing body exploded out ward sending shards of its embering corpse through Seshiro's soldiers.
Seshiro stood up as he saw similar kami manifesting all over the battle field. Seshiro let out a short gasp as I he said "Damn, I hate Zubera's!"
Sariko-
Sariko looked upon a much different battle field then she last remembered. There were many minor Kami now flooding over the battlefield. There were thousands of dead Orochi on the field and even more swarming over all the Kami that had manifested. There were explosions every now and then sending Orochi flailing into the air as well as scorching the ground and burning tree's to their roots.
Sariko looked around as a few Orochi shamans bounded through the trees towards the battle. Each of the shamans were chanting as they ran towards to the roiling mass of combat. Sariko sat on the ground well out of the range of the combat and focused. She crossed her bottom set of arms and she interlaced the fingers of her top set of arms and she prayed to her spirit,
"My patron I seek your help" the air in the forest started to get livelier.
Sariko what is it you would ask of me?
"My patron we are currently being antagonized by a powerful kami. I ask for your aid in stopping its rampage through our forest."
Sariko what are you willing to give in return for my aid in its destruction?
"Anything you ask of me my patron."
Very well I will come to your aid when the time is right.
"Thank you my patron. But might I be so bold as to ask when the time you will help will be?"
When the Myojin's defenses are down, of course. When the time comes I will tell you to proceed to the battle field where I shall manifest.
"Yes master it will be done."
Sariko stood and heard Seshiro yell "Everyone down!" and looked up in time to see a wave of fiery energy knock her back to the ground.
Seshiro-
Seshiro looked in astonishment as a small group of Orochi shaman invoked the power of the forest and used the tree's surrounding the Myojin to make cage to restrain it. At the current moment the Myojin was out of sight completely covered by the animated trees. This left most of Seshiro's Orochi armies to face the minor kami. Compared to the Myojin the rest of the Kami were just a clean up job. Every now and the Seshiro would have to take one down with his own bow.
Seshiro noticed the mound that had the Myojin sealed within it began to glow. He bellowed to his soldiers "Everyone down!" As he yelled this the mound exploded outward shooting fiery energy in all directions completely leveling the forest in a mile and a half radius from where they were.
Sariko-
Sariko looked around her wondering why she isn't burnt or destroyed. She looks around herself seeing the tree's that were once towering around her were now laying on the ground charred and splintered. She could see the forest, as It should be, off in the distance. But there were miles of charred broken trees and Orochi houses all around her.
"How did I survive that?"
That Myojin's moat powerful attack only does damage to the land and things connected to it not to normal creatures or beings. Now hurry this is the time to strike. Get down near the Myojin, Now!
Sariko jumped to her feet and ran towards the battlefield. "What must I do my Patron?"
Just go and stand in front of the Myojin my delicate serpentine morsel.
"Yes my Patron." Sariko ran past her father as he was standing back up. She ran through crowds of Zubera's and Orochi warriors fighting. She came face to face with the Myojin of Infinite Rage in mere moments.
"Now what my Patron."
Now you pay the price of calling upon me my delicate serpentine morsel.
At that moment a cloud of spiritual energy encircled Sariko and the surrounding area. For moments nothing happened then all of a sudden a massive tail made of pure green spiritual energy whipped out of the cloud and threw the myojin into the air. The cloud slowly lifted as the spirit slowly manifested into the world. What was seen was terrible.
Seshiro-
Seshiro watched as the Myojin helplessly flailed through the air as it fell back to the earth and hit the ground with a deafening thud. He looked back down and the clearing spiritual cloud to see the tail had ripped from his daughters back. He looked in horror as a massive serpentine head burst forth from her chest. The green spiritual serpent slowly expanded until its length reached the distant forest and its coils height towered far above Seshiro's head. What was left of Sariko's body was slowly absorbed by the serpentine shape.
"Sariko!" Seshiro fell to his knee's as he watched his youngest daughter slowly be absorbed by this monstrosity. Slowly the Spirit rose into the air and circled it's coils around the Myojin of Infinite Rage. The spirit beast wrapped itself around the Myojin slowly crushing it. The Myojin thrashed around as it was being crushed. But it was to late the Myojin was already in to far and it was being crushed by the constriction of the serpentine spirit.
Seshiro laid there on the ground remembering what he learned long ago: some spirits will do as you ask, at a specific price, the worst being the sacrifice of a life to call them. He laid there dazed as the Patron crushed the Myojin's bones splintered his skin.
After a few minutes of this the Myojin of Infinite Rage went limp and as it started to slowly dissipate from this world the Patron threw it back into the air and swallowed it whole. After a few moments the green energy of the Patron flicked and swirls of red appeared here and there. But slowly they stopped appearing and the serpent Spirit slithered over to the only conscious Orochi, Seshiro and said this.
"Keep in mind I, the Patron of the Orochi, will come to your aid if ever need be. But keep in mind I will require of you to sacrifice one of your strongest warriors for me to bestow upon you my greatest gift. Myself. Sariko is now part of me as is the Myojin of Infinite Rage and any who have chosen to summon me or will do so. Now my contract is complete and my payment is collected so I must take my leave." The patron slowly faded from the scorched battlefield leaving Seshiro alone surrounded by sleeping, wounded, or dead Orochi warriors. Seshiro said a little prayer and quickly bounded in the direction of his village certain of one thing.
He would get his revenge on this Patron spirit.