Weellll this is a long chapter. The longest so far, in fact...

Probably because quite a lot happens in it xD

So then, in the next chapter, we are going BACK TO THE PAST for the second time... so judging by the last time we did that, it may take a while to write xD

But now ENJOY THE KAMUI.

It didn't take long to reach the snowy path to Wep'keer. As soon as Ammy crossed the bridge over the frozen river, Issun heard something echoing around the snowy cliffs surrounding them.

A flute.

"Okay, prophet, we know you're there!" he shouted, rolling his eyes. "You don't have to try and make such a dramatic entrance."

A few moments later there was a draft as Waka floated down to land next to them, the wings of his hat folding behind him as he reached the ground. "Honestly, mon ami. First you complain about me startling you and then you complain when I actually let you know I'm there," he rolled his eyes in mock despair. "I can't win."

"If you didn't want to hear me complaining you shouldn't have followed us here in the first place," Issun tutted.

"If I was following you then how did I get here first?" Waka teased.

"By going the easy way and teleporting," Issun huffed. "Lazy prophet."

Waka just laughed. He'd bandaged the wound on his chest but he hadn't bothered changing his clothes, which he was probably regretting now since he was shivering slightly because of the Kamui cold. Issun was glad that Ammy's fur was relatively warm so he wasn't as affected by the frigid temperature – and he was used to the weather here anyways since this was the place where he was born.

"Well anyways," he muttered. "We haven't seen Tero anywhere here yet, so we'd better get to the village. He's probably already there."

Tuskle was sat on a rock at the top of Wep'keer, watching over the village below as she'd promised Samickle. She was beginning to wonder how he was able to just stand here for so long when nothing happened. At least the sun was in the sky now, so it was warmer than it had been earlier.

There was a hooting sound from somewhere nearby, and a small silver owl fluttered over to her, regaining its position balancing on her mask. It turned its head and gave another hoot.

"Hm?" Tuskle murmured. "Is something wrong?"

The silver owl hooted again, looking over at the entrance to the village.

Tuskle followed the glance, watching the path. She couldn't see anything…

Then she finally noticed someone. It was a man with black dreadlocked hair, walking along with his hands in the pockets of a coat. It was hard to tell from here but it looked like the shirt underneath his coat was stained with blood, as if he'd been injured.

"Has he come here because he's wounded?" she asked no one in particular, thinking aloud.

The owl gave another hoot.

"What? Demons?"

She watched as the man glanced behind him, seeming strangely calm as he watched a large nine-tailed fox, a floating mechanical hand and a bunch of other smaller demons follow him.

Immediately Tuskle morphed into her wolf form, the owls letting out alarmed hoots at the sudden movement.

It looked like she was going to have to go and wake Samickle after all.

Amaterasu sniffed the air as she hurried along the path between the cliffs. They were nearly at the village now and she could already smell the demons. Her sense of smell wasn't even that good, and she could still pick up the foul stench. The wolf grimaced, a growl rising in her throat. He was definitely here. Unless he'd just sent a bunch of demons off to attack Wep'keer… but at least her help would still be needed. Even after running all the way here from the south, being stuck inside a cage for days had made her itching for a fight.

As soon as they emerged into the clearing, it was easy to tell that the place was in pandemonium. Namahages were swarming throughout the village and wolves raced around, either trying to drive the demons away or get to safety. Samickle was fighting against two demons across the clearing and Tuskle was snarling at a third one as she tried to stop it from getting to Lika, who was backed up against the frozen waterfall.

There was only one way to end this battle.

Quickly Amaterasu gave herself a brisk shake, making sure that Issun fell off into the snow. She didn't want to risk him getting hurt.

"Oof! What the heck, furball!?" he cried, trying to scramble out of the snow drift.

Ignoring him, Ammy raced forwards, dodging as a Namahage tried to swing its axe at her. She noticed Yami glance around from inside the glass orb attached to his mechanical hand, but surprisingly upon noticing her he didn't do anything.

Luckily for him, it wasn't the demon lord she was after.

She leapt towards Tero, lashing out with her solar flare. It looked like she was actually going to be able to hit him when he glanced around at the last moment.

A barrier appeared in the air and she crashed into it, rebounded back into the snow with a yelp. Ammy quickly righted herself and jumped up, snarling furiously.

"I see you've followed me, you stupid god," Tero frowned. "Did you decide you wanted to die after all?"

Ammy just growled. She wasn't going to get beaten by him again. Flicking her tail, she drew an asterisk in the air.

A massive snowflake appeared above them, icicles falling from it and spearing the ground. Tero looked up and teleported away before he could get hit.

Amaterasu was alert as he appeared behind her, and as he tried to hit her with one of his swords she jumped around, using the Trinity Mirror she had as a sub weapon and deflecting his attack.

Seeing the somewhat surprised expression on Tero's face as he jumped back, Amaterasu bared her teeth in a smirk. You're not the only one with a barrier. Looks like you've finally met your match.

Tero narrowed his eyes. "Fine. I don't know why I'm wasting my time on you. Yami, you can take care of the mongrel."

The foetus just glared at him through piercing red eyes, floating back slightly.

"Hah! You're no match for Ammy!" Issun scoffed, now having found his way out of the snow drift.

"Using demons to cover up his own lack of skills," Waka smirked. "How pathétique."

Looking slightly frustrated that the demon was no longer obeying him, Tero cast a glance over at where Issun and Waka were standing by the entrance of the village. Looking back at Amaterasu once more, he grinned. "Whatever the case is, I can still kill your friends."

The goddess froze.

You wouldn't dare!

Suddenly there was a loud growl from somewhere nearby, and hurriedly Tero jumped aside as a blue and red blur nearly jumped on him. He made a counterattack but it did little more than scar the wolf's shoulders.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't move around so fast, I'll fall off!"

"Oh, sorry," Oki apologised, stepping back slowly so that the poncle didn't fall off his head.

Isn't that…

Ishaku!?

"Gramps!" Issun shouted. "What the heck are you doing here!?"

"Hm? Oh, Issun, there you are," Ishaku looked across the clearing. "Well, let's just say I had the instinctive feeling that something was happening to Ammy. So I headed here and hitched a lift with this Oina on the way."

"You're crazy," Issun tutted. "Anyways, Oki, I thought you weren't coming?"

Oki padded over to the edge of the clearing, lowering his head so that Ishaku could climb onto one of the nearby rocks. "I changed my mind," he said simply. "Issun, what's going on?"

"Well, long story short," Issun shrugged, "that guy over there in the coat is a freak who like, controls demons and stuff. And I'm pretty certain he's been the one reviving all those demons and sending them about and stuff."

"He's the one behind the demon attacks?" Oki froze. "You mean… i-it's his fault that…"

"Yeah…" Issun mumbled awkwardly.

Morphing back into his human form, Oki drew his sword. Even with the mask on Issun could see his eyes glowing red, and he jumped back as snow and ice from the ground lifted into the air around the Oina, forming floating shards.

Whoa… he'd forgotten Oki could do that.

A second later the ice spears shot through the air, heading towards Tero. The man shrugged and held out one hand, a barrier appearing in the air in front of him. As soon as the ice hit the barrier it disintegrated.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention he has all these crazy powers as well," Issun shrugged. "So he kinda like, isn't easy to fight…"

Yami watched through narrowed eyes as the battle commenced. The warriors of the Oina tribe were shredding the Namahages but that was of no interest to him. The only fight he was interested in was the one between Tero and Amaterasu.

For once he actually wasn't sure who he wanted to win this battle. On one hand, he hated the goddess and wanted to kill her with a burning passion – after all, he was a demon – but he also despised Tero for being more powerful than him.

But yet, Tero had escaped the last time there was a battle between the two of them. This could go either way.

And knowing how either of them could probably beat him, this wasn't a fight he was too keen on joining either…

Master, what should we do?

The giant fox glanced worriedly over at him, nine tails twitching nervously. Yami cast a quick glance in his direction before looking back at the fight, not replying.

Tero will be angry because you didn't do what he said… master, you know how powerful he is!

Oh, stop whining, Yami huffed, glaring at Ninetails. If we're lucky then Amaterasu will beat him anyways.

Ninetails' ears flattened against his head slightly. But he nearly managed to kill her before…

Yes, but all of these stupid human things are joining in the fight too. So long as their attention stays on him and not us we'll be fine.

The fox blinked and glanced away. Okay, master.

"Bonjour, Ishaku. It's been a while."

"Hm? Oh, Waka!" the old poncle exclaimed. "Too right it's been ages. I don't think I've seen you in years! I would say you've grown but you look the same age as you did one hundred years ago. I'm jealous."

"Staying young does have its downsides, trust me," Waka countered wryly.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Issun cried. "Gramps, don't tell me you actually know this fruitcake!"

"Yes, why?"

"Because he's a half-baked prophet, that's why!" Issun snapped, bouncing furiously. "You don't become friends with half-baked prophets. It's bad karma."

"Well, I see you've already managed to make an enemy out of my grandson," Ishaku mused, looking up at Waka. "You haven't changed much, have you?"

Waka just shrugged. "Old habits die hard."

"Apparently, so do you," Issun grumbled. "Anyways, aren't you even going to join the fight?"

"Why? Amaterasu has things under control, and some of the Oina are helping. Not to mention if Tero tries killing any of us then we can attack him."

"If it wasn't for the fact that Ammy would probably crush me, if it's all the same to you I'd rather just let you die."

"Merci beaucoup. You'll be glad to know the feeling isn't mutual since ma chérie needs a Celestial Envoy."

"You got that right, prophet. I'm a V.I.P.!" Issun scoffed.

"A V.I.P. who hasn't been doing his job in months," Ishaku pointed out.

"This isn't your argument, gramps!"

Leaving the two poncles to bicker, Waka returned to watching the fight.

Most of the Namahages had been defeated by now – the remaining ones had decided they were outnumbered and fled since Ninetails and Yami showed no interest in joining the battle. Now most of the Oina had either gone to safety or were gathered around to help with the fight.

Without the demons helping him, Tero was clearly outnumbered. Yet still he didn't seem fazed. Any time an attack was aimed at him he simply used his barrier to block it.

Was it even possible to defeat him?

Oki kept switching between his powers of controlling ice and trying to hit Tero with his sword, both of which were rebounded by the barrier. So was an attack from a pale blue wolf. A fierce gale swept throughout the village as Amaterasu used her Galestorm technique but that had little to no effect as well.

At least with everyone trying to fight him at once, Tero wasn't able to counterattack without letting his guard down.

Suddenly there was a loud roar, and everyone other than Amaterasu and Tero ran for the sides of the clearing as Ninetails jumped forward, snarling. He was heading for the wolf.

"At least one of the demons is still well-behaved," Tero muttered.

Amaterasu growled, ready to face the demon. Yet as soon as the fox was a metre away from her, he skidded to a halt. The wolf stepped back in surprise.

It had been a distraction. The second Ninetails stopped, he span around and lunged towards Tero.

The man actually looked somewhat surprised, but he still managed to create the barrier before he was hit. Ninetails was rebounded by the energy from it, but simply shrugged it off. He attacked again but with no more luck than the last time.

"Stupid fox!" Tero snapped as the demon kept trying to slash at him. "If you won't obey me then I no longer have any use for you!"

As Ninetails lunged at him again he lashed out with both swords. A ferocious yowl, black blood splashed onto the ice, and the demon fell to the ground.

Waka was somewhat taken aback. As much as he hated demons, Tero had managed to defeat a powerful one in one strike. The giant fox had been deeply scarred, one wound across his chest and another across the front of his neck, right through his throat. It was strange to almost feel sorry for a demon…

Despite the wounds, Ninetails managed to lift his head off the icy ground, glancing over at Yami.

"I'm sorry, master…"

Then his head dropped to the ground once more, his remaining eye closing as the light faded from it.

A silent breeze drifted through the village as the demon fragmented into cherry blossom petals that floated away on the wind. A giant flower appeared on the ground where he had been, fading a moment later and leaving no trace of the fox.

For a few seconds, everyone was silent.

"Well then," Tero sneered. "Who else wants a fight? I can assure you the same thing will happen to you!"

"Not today, psycho!"

Issun!?

There was a quiet metallic sound as the poncle drew his pin-sword. He'd somehow managed to make it to Tero unnoticed and had jumped onto his shoulder. As the man tried to throw him off he jumped away, carrying something. It looked like a pebble on a string.

"Ah—hey! Stupid bug, get back here!" Tero cried.

"Can't use your freaky powers without the Akukaen Crystal, can ya?" Issun jibed, hopping over to Amaterasu where he'd be safe. "Score one for the magnificent Issun!"

So that was what the big deal about it was. That crystal was what had given Tero all his strange powers. So now that Issun had taken it from him…

They had a big advantage.

Tero glanced around the clearing at everyone there; Amaterasu and Issun, Waka, Yami, Oki, Samickle and Ishaku. As if he was trying to decide what to do. It was hard to tell from this distance, but Waka could just about see an emotion in his eyes.

Fear.

He knew he was outnumbered, and although that hadn't seemed to bother him before, without his barrier or ability to teleport he'd be pretty much defenceless. He wouldn't let it show, however.

There was a buzzing sound from nearby and Tero looked over at Yami, who was curled into a ball, charging his laser. A moment later a massive ray of heat shot through the air towards him.

Waka couldn't see what happened next. The heat of the laser collided with the snow and created a massive cloud of ice.

"Aaah! I can't see a thing!" Issun shouted from somewhere within the cloud. "Ammy, let's get away from here!"

The wolf gave a bark in response, and soon the two of them came into sight as Amaterasu raced over to Waka and Ishaku. Once she reached them, she glanced behind her.

"Did he get hit?" Ishaku asked.

"I don't know," Issun shrugged. "Hopefully."

"That's not the only problem," Waka muttered. "Yami is still here, after all. You only just managed to defeat him last time, ma chérie."

"Oh stop being such a wimp, prophet," Issun tutted. "If you're scared of a little fish demon we can easily take care of it."

Waka didn't bother trying to phrase a reply. Issun still had no idea how dangerous Yami was. Or how much Waka hated him…

Eventually the ice cloud dispersed. The mechanical hand was still floating in the air but Tero had vanished.

"I don't see him," Issun stated, hopping down from the wolf's head and into the clearing. "You don't suppose he was turned to ashes, do you?"

"Yami's laser isn't that powerful," Waka told him quietly. And he should know.

The foetus narrowed his eyes, glancing towards Issun and starting to curl up again.

"Hey, hey! Don't shoot me!" he protested, jumping back. "I know you're a demon an' all but we gotta work out what to do with this crystal. You don't want Tero getting his hands on it again and killing you, do ya?"

Yami broke out of the charge. Probably because he'd seen the sense in what the poncle was saying. But he still had a threatening look in his eyes, as if he was still considering killing all of them.

"Hmm…" Issun muttered. He held the crystal in one hand – which was rather awkward considering it was almost half his size – and threw his other hand against the ice. "Burn powers!"

Nothing happened.

"Ah! Cold!" he gasped, jumping back and shaking his arm as if trying to get the blood going through it again. "Well that didn't work."

"Issun, only humans can use the Akukaen Crystal," Ishaku reminded him.

"Oh yeah—wait… gramps, you know about the Akukaen Crystal!?"

"Of course I do! It's supposed to be just a legend, mind," the old poncle added.

"Why didn't you tell us!?"

"I didn't know anything that was going on outside of Ponc'tan, how was I supposed to know one even existed?" Ishaku rolled his eyes. "Anyways, when you reach my age, you find yourself reading about all sorts of things."

"Très bien," Waka continued. "Is there a way to destroy one?"

"Hmm," Ishaku mumbled. "Well, if I recall correctly, since the crystal is made from the blood of demons and gods, a demon and a god are needed to destroy it…"

"Well, we got a demon and a god here," Issun shrugged. "Should be simple enough."

Amaterasu blinked and padded out into the clearing next to Issun, grabbing the string in her jaws and taking the crystal from him.

"Ma chérie, be careful!" Waka warned.

The wolf glanced at Yami, giving a half-bark. Looking somewhat surprised, the foetus narrowed his eyes. He wasn't too happy about helping them, but anything to stop Tero from getting his powers back.

Amaterasu jerked her head, throwing the crystal high into the air. Yami quickly curled up, the orb glowing as he charged his laser, and a second later a ray of light shot into the air, hitting the crystal. It froze in the air, shining brightly. The demon power in it had been removed.

"Go on then, Ammy," Issun said, nudging her. "Your turn."

Nodding, the wolf glanced up at the crystal and flicked her tail, delivering a strong power slash.

The second she did so, the crystal shattered. Shards glinted in the air, disappearing as they floated towards the ground, almost like a firework.

"Whoa…" Issun gaped. "Hey, what's happening to Yami?"

Waka had been watching the crystal vanish and at first he hadn't noticed anything about the embryo. But now that the fragments had disappeared, he realised that the demon lord seemed to be disintegrating… into cherry blossom petals…

Was this because Tero had used the power of the crystal to bring him back to life?

At first Yami flailed his fins desperately, as if he didn't understand what was going on. His armour was disappearing and there was nothing he could do about it. Yet after a few moments he seemed to calm down, watching as the cherry blossoms were carried away on the breeze. He glanced over at Amaterasu.

Even though he was dying, the demon had decided that this was a much better way to go than being killed by a human.

The last few cherry blossom petals floated away, and the demon was gone without a trace.

Waka wasn't really sure what to think. Still, he felt slightly relieved that Yami was gone now…

"Well, that was certainly weird," Issun broke the silence. "So then, Ammy. What do you say we do next?"

"I'm going to go and make sure the villagers are okay after the demon attack," Samickle decided. "Oki, are you coming?"

The blue-masked Oina hesitated for a moment before he replied. "Yeah, okay."

"Any chance of getting a lift back to Yoshpet?" Ishaku asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'll help you first," Oki nodded. "I'll be back soon, Samickle." He morphed back into his wolf form and padded over to the rock.

Waka wandered over to join Amaterasu and Issun. "Well then, ma chérie. We still don't know what's happened to Tero."

The wolf pricked her ears. She padded over to the place they'd last seen Tero, where the snow had been melted by Yami's laser. Yet in the snow beyond, there was something Waka hadn't noticed before.

Footprints.

"It looks like Tero escaped," he pointed out.

"Bah. He's still too fast even without that darn crystal," Issun mumbled. "Looks like he was heading up to Laochi Lake."

Amaterasu turned to look at them, giving a bark. Waka understood her in an instant.

"Ma chérie, are you sure you want to go after him? He doesn't have his powers now; he's not much of a threat…"

Another bark. She had such resolve in her eyes. This wasn't just about whether he was a threat or not. She wanted to get Tero back for everything he'd done… including killing Chibi.

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Issun cheered, hopping onto her head. "Let's go find that creep!"

Waka let out a long sigh. "Very well, ma chérie. If that's what you want."

Issun scanned the surroundings as Ammy sped along the path towards Laochi Lake. The surface of the water had refrozen because of the recent storm, and as soon as they reached Kutone's altar the footprint trail vanished.

"Did he go over the lake?" Issun wondered aloud.

Ammy just shrugged, hopping down onto the ice. It was definitely thick enough to hold their weight, although the murky water below the surface made Issun feel uneasy. The ark was still hovering above the lake from when they arrived here, and that just made the whole place seem just as creepy as when it had been half-submerged in the lake…

Issun cast a glance behind them. Waka was still following them by floating along though he was having trouble keeping up with the fast pace of the goddess.

The wolf took off at a somewhat slower run across the ice – it was harder to grip on the slippery surface. At least they were heading in a straight line. Issun continued to look around as they headed across the lake.

At last, as they passed underneath the ark he noticed something.

"Over there! There he is!"

He'd spotted Tero at last. The man had managed to climb the cliffs at the side of the lake and was now half way up one of the mountains of Ezofuji. Damn, that guy was fast…

Ammy skidded to a halt when they reached the edge of the lake, putting her front paws up against the cliff and growling.

"Bah, there's no way we're climbing up there," Issun muttered. "What do we do now?"

"Leave this to me, ma chérie."

Both Issun and Ammy glanced around as there was a strong gust of wind, and Waka used it to float up above the cliffs.

"Hey!" Issun shouted, but Waka ignored him. He glanced back down at Ammy. "Great. With his track record, leaving the fight to that half-baked prophet probably isn't a good idea. There must be another way up there."

Ammy looked around quickly, eventually looking up towards Affun gate and barking.

"Good call, Ammy. We might be able to get there if we go through Wawku Shrine." He pointed to the top of the snowy slope. "Let's hurry up and get there before that fruitcake does something stupid like getting himself killed!"