Chapter 20: Prison of Illusions
The first thing that struck Naoki on arriving at Kabukicho Prison was that it was a school he had attended. The entry hall was eerily familiar, made alien with the stark blue light of Kagutsuchi pouring through the windows. Broken desks and chairs were scattered all over the floor. On the walls, notices were torn apart and replaced with demonic graffiti. He knew some students, even Isamu, would joke about school being a prison. It still didn't look like one, no bars anywhere. Although there was something off, a foggy sensation that his horn couldn't clear up.
"Demi?" Kushinada put a hand on his shoulder. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, about Sarutahiko."
There didn't seem to be anyone here. "What about him?"
"You recall how you encountered him in the labyrinth? As a demon there, he had a special contract that forbade him to speak to you about certain things." She put a hand to her chest and smiled. "While he came with us because of Uzume, he came to respect you. He wanted you to fuse him because I am not bound by that contract, yet I know what it is that he knew."
Things that Lucifer might not want him to know about? "Really? Like what?"
"Well, some of it you've already figured out," Kushinada said. "Or I believe you have. The game of candelabrum among the Fiend clan was indeed set up by Lucifer. They weren't stolen from the labyrinth, but given out as a part of your training as the Demifiend."
"That much is obvious at this point," Naoki said, although now he was sure of that. "And the labyrinth itself is part of that training too."
She nodded. "That's right. He has been honest about one thing: we demons have been waiting a long time for one who could break us out of this eternal deadlock with the forces of heaven. I myself do not understand how you are meant to be that one, but all that Lucifer has been doing within the Amala Universe has led to this."
A sudden scream of pain broke their conversation. Naoki tried to figure out where it was coming from. However, he still didn't sense anyone nearby, not even a ghost.
"Well not quite this," Kushinada said, looking at their immediate surroundings too. "Lucifer had no hand in Kagutsuchi's doings. He too must abide by the laws of Vortex Worlds, or else he will be discovered and driven out ruthlessly."
"Huh, well we joined you simply because we wanted to," Arahabaki said. "Mostly."
"That is true, save Angel," Kushinada said. "She had no choice in the matter once you tricked her into it. Only Sarutahiko knew that specifically and he chose to let you know in the only way he could."
Even if it was a trick, Naoki could see why it had been done. If he'd been told that initially, he would have refused to go along with their games. He still wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet, but it was clear that the goals he had all required him to gain more power and authority. Going along with the candelabrum game and the labyrinth training was his best way forward at this point. "I see. Thank you."
Something changed, so he held a hand up to his demons. At the far end of this hall, some demons appeared as though they'd come through a door. But they were by a wall, not a door. Or was that a portal? He could tell better when he got closer to it. Laughter with cruel tones came from one of them.
"Well yeah, but what are we going to do when these flimsy manikins all die off? This is fun, but it's not gong to last."
"Aw come on, we can keep them just barely alive. And if not, we'll pick up some weaklings to fill the cells back up. Somebody around here has got to want a prison for magatsuhi extraction."
What came around the corner were four snakemen. Three were nagas and one was raga naga. While they were strong demons, them sticking together would make the weakness obvious to him easy to exploit. "At least without Mantra, we don't have to reserve magatsuhi for..." he stopped on noticing them. "Hold on, what are you all doing here?"
"I'm taking over this prison," Naoki said. If that scream had come from a manikin, there was no reason to care about these nagas. "And I'm doing it by destroying the current staff. Want to stop me?"
"Hey, there's no way you're doing that!" the raja naga said, shaking a fist at him. "Let's get him!"
"Don't use Mazio," he told Kushinada before using his Fire Breath. It caused the three nagas slithering towards them to yelp in pain, as well as started fires with all the scattered furniture. That set off the sprinklers, which did make things bad when when the raja naga used Mazio himself and the water made the spell last longer.
Trusting Kushinada to heal them up, Naoki focused as Arahabaki barreled through the naga group. His demon was able to zip out of the way in time for him to cut down the three nagas with Heat Wave. At this point, the raja naga was bleeding and weakened. He tried to punch Arahabaki as the closest but only hurt his knuckles on his ceramic body.
"W-w-wait, wait wait!" the raja naga said, slithering back to lower himself meekly. "Hold on, please?"
It was rude to answer someone's request to talk with an attack. "What is it?" Naoki said sternly.
"I don't want to die, all right?" he asked. "You're strong, yeah, you've proven that. So if you want to take over the prison, sure, uh, you deserve it. But you've got to defeat Mizuchi and Thor first, they're in charge here."
"I've defeated Thor already," he said. When the raja naga stared wide-eyed at him, Naoki nodded. "I had to go through the Mantra's trial and got past it without losing any of my followers. So where's this Mizuchi?"
"Ah, well he's here but there's a trick to finding him," the raja naga said. "Um, will you let me go with that?"
He could, but the magatama whispered not to. "No." When the raja naga shuddered, Naoki got closer to him. "I could be talked into letting you go if you join me for now and lead me to where Mizuchi is."
"Ah, well..." he looked back at Naoki and nodded. "Okay. I am Raja Naga of the Snake clan, at your command."
"Good. I am the Demifiend, I'll do what I want."
Raja Naga gave a nervous laugh over that. "Oh, really? Ha ha, uh, yeah, I can see that now. We need to go up to the top floor, this way." He slithered to another hall, eager to prove himself worthy of sparing.
Had that worked better than if he'd been nice about it? His other two followers were impressed with it. Among demons, it would be better to use the demons' way of doing things. If he could just get over that human reluctance… Kagutsuchi was bright again. He could use the way of demons, but he couldn't be reckless about it.
Raja Naga slithered all the way up to the fifth floor to show them the way. A couple other nagas noticed them, but didn't bother them with their king in the group. At the top floor, there was a large picture frame on a wall. When Naoki tried to figure out the whirl of color there, he felt like he was reaching to the other side of a mirror.
The snakeman summoned out a shimmering blue stone, one that matched the painting well. "All of the prisoners are kept within an illusion; these are the only keys in and out of the mirage. Mizuchi stays within the mirage since he's the one who maintains it. Defeat him and, well, the whole mirage will go poof and all the prisoners will return to normal space. The mirage is inescapable without these stones, so taking it down does reduce the reliability of this prison."
"I don't care about that, just take us into the mirage," Naoki ordered.
Raja Naga nodded and held the stone up to the painting. An icy fog poured out of the image, clouding their sight briefly. Through his horn, Naoki felt his normal senses being tampered with. They couldn't be trusted inside the mirage. The mirage also tampered with gravity somehow. When the fog parted, they were standing on the ceiling instead of the floor. His horn confirmed that that at least was real.
"He should be in back of this hallway, unless he's visiting the prisoners," Raja Naga said, entering the main hall of this floor.
Since they were on the ceiling where some lights were broken, Naoki carefully followed after Raja Naga. Now that they were in the mirage, he could see this more like a prison. The classroom doors had been torn away and replaced with bright yellow bars. Past that, he could see the manikins trapped here. Some were collapsed on the ceiling… actually the floor. Others were held in place with heavy latches on their feet. Their suffering led to a large density of magatsuhi flowing through the mirage. He was appalled and enticed being here. There was a lot of magatsuhi here, a lot of power. But he didn't need this power. He needed to develop his own.
There was a large door at the end of the hall. It didn't look the same, but Naoki was pretty sure this was a club area. Past it, they found Mizuchi. The water snake was enormous, having to coil around to fit within this space. Red magatsuhi flowed through his blue body. There was something else too, something tiny and white: Miasma. "What are you doing, bringing those strangers in here?" Mizuchi demanded of Raja Naga.
"Uh, well," Raja Naga looked at him uncertainly.
"I'm taking this prison over by force," Naoki said, really feeling the threat this time since there was a magatama on the line. "The Mantra is dead, as you will soon be."
Mizuchi lifted his head, intrigued by his words. "Oh really? Hah, you have no idea what you're getting into! You cannot match my immense power and size!"
"You're the one who doesn't know what he's getting into," Naoki said, clenching a fist in front of him.
"Well then let's see who's correct," Mizuchi retorted, making the air turn colder.
Kagutsuchi was full and an excitement for the battle ran through his blood. "Hell Biker, we need all the fire we can get!" Naoki called out.
The roar of a motorcycle engine filled the hall as the fiend appeared promptly. "Hah, you got it!"
"You three, just use whatever you have," Naoki ordered to the rest of his group. He could use Fire Breath himself, but he wasn't feeling like magic right now. Even if this snake was made of water, he could still punch it. Mizuchi tried to confuse them with a mirage fog, to no avail.
Ice and fire flew through the room; he had to dodge around as much as he could to keep close to Mizuchi. However, none of his group was weak to ice; he could nullify it if he wanted, but it seemed better to keep himself from getting confused with Iyomante at the fore. Arahabaki actually reflected ice. It didn't do anything to Mizuchi, but then Mizuchi could only possibly confuse Arahabaki. Mizuchi was weak to fire and could do nothing about the flame jets that Hell Biker could conjure with his bike.
As the battle went on, Mizuchi lost more and more of his body. "Wait, wait, how are you guys growing so big?" he asked in an equally smaller voice.
"You're the one whose shrinking in size and power," Naoki said. "You're just about finished."
"Uh, no, that can't be." He slithered back, so Naoki took a step forward and trapped it near the wall. "W-would you show mercy, please?"
He shook his head. "I'll show you the same mercy you had as head of this prison."
"Aaah, well it was my job! Please don't kill me!"
"No."
Mizuchi tried desperately to hit him with an ice spell, but could only make a weak Bufu with what he had left. Naoki punched what seemed to be his head, grabbed Miasma, then tore it out of Mizuchi's body. With that, the snake spattered away into water and magatsuhi. The mirage dissolved upon death as claimed, reverting them back to standing with normal gravity as if it had been that way the whole time.
"No wonder you could defeat Thor," Raja Naga said, in a terrified awe.
"Ha ha, that's our guy," Hell Biker said proudly.
"Raja Naga, our contract is completed," Naoki said to him. "Go or I might change my mind."
"Y-yes sir, Demifiend sir, our contract is completed." He fled out the door to the main hall since he'd been released.
"What a pansy," Hell Biker said. "Mind if I take off now? This ain't exactly a place for a guy like me."
"Go ahead," Naoki said, turning so he could sit against the wall. Miasma was cold going down his throat, but it was with him now.
"That guy was screwed in so many ways," Arahabaki said, making Kushinada chuckle. Naoki's mind blanked out before he could respond to that. Cold… Miasma was a strong ice spirit, but there was something more than that going on. Something of the past...
It had been a cold winter day, back when he was still a kid. His grandfather had to be careful with his wheelchair, but other pedestrians were mindful of the two of them. "This is the place," he said to Naoki, stopping in front of some old stores. "Where we met, where we were engaged. I've always brought her flowers for our anniversary." He took his cane, turning it in his hands briefly.
That was something he remembered. But was that cane right? He was pretty sure his grandfather had one plain in design.
After a moment, his grandfather sighed and set the cane back where it had been. "Much as I'd like to give it myself, I don't know if these old knees could take it today. Here." He passed over a small bouquet to Naoki, then smiled and rubbed his head. "I'm sure she'd be happy to get it from her cute grandson."
He smiled and took the bouquet over to the spot his grandfather wanted it. A cluster of purple foxglove and a red poppy… no wait, that didn't seem right. It should have a red rose as a gift to his grandmother. Looking back to his grandfather, the old man was still smiling at him. But he knew his grandfather didn't keep long hair. And it shouldn't be pale blond either.
Then he was his normal self, with short aged gray hair. He did have a white suit he wore when going out. A strange mist was settling in around them. "People asked if I was sure about her; they didn't think we were a good match. But I went with what I believed in. I don't regret any of that now."
You'll realize someday: you don't need to regret any of this.
How much was he forgetting? Naoki wasn't sure as he rarely found time to think about those things. He didn't want to forget his family, nor the other things he loved about the old world. And there was an odd agreement within his mind. Not even his demonic side wanted to lose everything.
A door opened to his right, drawing him out of Miasma's movements. The manikin that came out was battered, his gray clothes more ragged that the others. However, he looked down at where Naoki was sitting instead of off in another direction. And there was something familiar to his earthy scent, even though Naoki was sure he'd not met this particular manikin before.
"You broke the mirage for us, just as I'd hoped," he said, giving a respectful bow. "Thank you, Naoki."
"Are you Futomimi?" he asked, standing back up to talk with him.
He nodded. "Yes, that's me. I had several visions that suggested you might be come. Also, there's another human being kept in these rooms." Futomimi gripped his left ear. "Your friend Isamu, I believe."
Naoki resisted the urge to sigh at that. "Really? I told him to be careful. I should go speak to him."
"He may be difficult to reason with now," he warned. "I hope he can still listen to you. I'm going to gather the other manikins here, what's left of us at least."
"Sure." Futomimi headed through the large doors while Naoki checked for Isamu's presence.
He wasn't that far, in the club room opposite of where Futomimi had been. There was a density of information… a terminal? That felt out of place for a prison, especially for keeping someone like Isamu. Naoki entered the room and found it a mess; large streaks of Kagutsuchi's light spread across broken tables and chairs. Near the windows, there was indeed a terminal.
Isamu was next to it with his hand on the middle ring. "You're too late, not that you cared at all to come after me," he said spitefully.
Feeling his magatama get hostile while he felt shocked over Isamu's tone, Naoki tried to keep his wits collected. "I had no idea you were captured again until less than a minute ago," he replied.
"It doesn't matter anymore," Isamu said, shaking his head. "You were right, we're done with each other. I can't rely on you, or Ms. Takao, or that stupid dog. There's nobody I can rely on in this world except myself. When I came here, there was this voice from the star. It told me to search for the truth, within myself. I understand now what it meant. No one else can tell me the truth, only I can."
"That's not really truth," Naoki said, although he wasn't sure how to explain it.
"No! The only time I see clearly is when I look within myself, or within the star. But it just lets me see what's inside better. Everybody in this world is out for themselves, I'm sure you've seen that since you've been that way. And the thing that I need next lies within the Amala Network; my answers are there." He spun the middle ring.
"Wait, it's dangerous in there," he said, hurrying over and not caring that he was walking over all this debris.
Isamu smirked and shook his head, then disappeared within the drum. Seconds later, all the rungs of the drum sped up until it turned itself to smoke in vanishing. Naoki would have no way of finding him easily.
"Dammit," he grumbled, rubbing his head. He should have expected this, after what happened in Ikebukuro. Isamu had been trying to fix things, but he gave up faster. Still, Naoki wasn't sure how his former friend would live inside the Network as a normal human.
If he can summon a drum, he can get the Network to support him. Don't worry, carry on with your plans.
"How do you know that?" Naoki asked.
...Lucifer. Don't worry about Isamu except as a potential threat now that he's cast you aside. Same thing with your other friend. Focus on your training until no one can stop you.
Could the parasites really not lie to him? Even if that was true, they could certainly mislead him if they wanted. It might be best to trust them mostly with quick reflexes and senses beyond the norm. He did hope that Isamu wouldn't end up starving in the network, or swallowed up by it.
He heard a commotion outside, so he left the room for the main hall. The classroom doors were open, but the freed manikins were keeping inside the room. In contrast, Futomimi was out confronting a trio of nagas. "Would you care to take me back to my cell, then?" he asked. He was completely bluffing; even if he had a chance in battle otherwise, he was too weak from his imprisonment to fight them off now.
It was working as the nagas were taken aback. Naoki walked over quickly. "What's going on out here?"
"These guards seem to object to letting us go, prison master Demifiend," Futomimi said, giving him a deferential bow.
"Prison master?" one of the nagas asked, bringing his spear up.
"When did this guy become prison master?" another asked.
"Just now when I turned the old prison master into a puddle," Naoki said. The raja naga had cowered relatively easily; it had to work on these nagas and would be more efficient than being nice. It was the demon way of things. Meanwhile, he wondered it he could make his glow shift for further intimidation.
Sure thing, but it might feel odd for you to trigger it consciously. We'll handle it.
"Uh, the mirage is gone," the third naga said, already intimidated.
"I dunno, this guy doesn't look tough enough for that," the first one said, trying to bluff too. But he was nowhere near Futomimi's level.
"Looks are not everything," Naoki said. The lines on him dimmed. "If you want me to prove it to you with my fists, then go ahead and come at me." Futomimi wisely stepped to the wall as Naoki's markings brightened back up. "I'm training to be Lucifer's heir and no one outside of him and my clanmates is going to have a chance at challenging me now. Well?"
"Oh shit, we've got a real one this time," the third naga said, already slithering backwards.
"O-okay, if you say you're prison master now, then you're the prison master," the first one said, trying to appease him by holding his shield arm back. "But why let these manikins go?"
"They're a waste of time to keep imprisoned now, so just let them go," Naoki said. "The Mantra is dead, destroyed by the Nihilo with their Nightmare System. And if anybody crosses me, I'll just destroy them. There's no need for this prison now. Go release the other manikins and find something else to do."
"R-right, got it." The three of them then slithered off to release prisoners on other levels.
"Thank you again for helping us," Futomimi said as the other manikins started coming out cautiously. They were encouraged by their leader's presence, but reasonably intimidated by his claims too. "We intend to head back to Asakusa to continue making our own hometown. You're welcome to visit when you have a chance."
Naoki nodded. "All right. Your people who were in the Mantra headquarters got released too. I told them to meet up with those hiding in the Great Underpass between Ginza and Ikebukuro; they're probably still around there."
"We'll have to make contact with them then," he said, taking hold of his left ear again. "Also, I had a vision that may help you in the near future. You mean to tackle the Obelisk under Nihilo's control? The goddesses of fate who watch over it are cruel beings, albeit not as much as their master. This has led to three dissatisfied demons within the Obelisk. I don't have a clear image on them: a dark flame, a small swordsman, and a dignified lady. They could make your passage through there much smoother should you make them allies."
It was a huge tower, so knowing some potential allies was good. "Sure, thanks. Good luck getting to Asakusa."
Her heel connected with the weird starfish's one eye, jabbing through with a satisfying squelch. The demon shrieked and fled. While Chiaki felt like she could catch up to the injured thing, she decided to leave it be. It could spread tales that she wasn't a human to take lightly. It felt so good to not worry about having to be nice or polite anymore.
Although, her outfit wasn't suited to fighting like this; she had to tug her jean skirt back into place. Maybe she should drop by Shibuya and try to find something more flexible? But all the athletic clothing that she'd ever seen were unappealing, gaudy with bright colors or drab with grays and creams. Maybe a looser skirt like Persephone had worn? Although she knew from the demon that her outfit had involved a short petticoat that kept the skirt just off her legs and made it easier to kick in. But fist fighting might break her ring, plus most of her new musculature wasn't in her arms.
Chiaki paused before leaving the Diet building. There was a large amount of magatsuhi in the building; she had something like a spell that told her of magatsuhi levels in her immediate vicinity. However, she could only access the grand lobby here. All of the doors further in were locked. While this would be an ideal place to call on a god, she'd have to find a way into other parts of the building to do that. The lobby itself didn't have the right conditions. She'd have to find somewhere easier to get into.
But then, that had to wait until some Divine Messenger allowed the rites of Creation to continue. Chiaki didn't mind waiting for that Messenger. As she didn't know what kind of god she wanted to call on, time to figure that out was appreciated. Although, she'd prefer to be working with a goddess over a god. Yosuga would be her world and if she could make it so that women had more power than men, that would be ideal.
While the Diet building was nearly pristine in spite of Conception, the Center for Supernatural Research was in bad shape. Half the building had collapsed and the other half had large cracks in the wall. But Kagutsuchi would provide something. On checking around, Chiaki located a set of large metal doors at the bottom of some stairs. CDF in yellow letters stood out there. There was an electronic lock on it; a card was half-buried in the sand at the bottom of the steps. With that, she was able to enter.
The basement might have been locked, but there was someone inside who turned to see her. Thankfully, it wasn't a demon; she was an angel, odd with her green-tinted skin but still very beautiful. She was like some nature spirit turned holy warrior, holding onto a pink lily while wearing a white sword at her hip and gold armor over her torso. "Oh, someone's found this place?" she asked.
"Who are you?" Chiaki asked. Angels were supposed to be undeniably good beings, right? They protected humans and taught them about virtues and vices to save their souls.
"I am Gabriel, one of the Seraphs of Heaven," she said. "I should be going. Although, you appear to be a bearer of Reason now."
"Yes, I've given it a name," she said. "I'm Chiaki."
Gabriel tapped her lily on her cheek. "Well then, Chiaki, would you mind hearing me out? I must abide by the laws of Kagutsuchi and one of my rank can only make brief visits to a Vortex World unless the Divine clan has agreed to support a Reason. But the star of Creation should give me an allowance for speaking to one such as yourself."
"I was going to study here, but go ahead." Would angels support her Reason? If they did, Yosuga would be clearly better than any other Reason.
"Have you heard of the Church of the Messiah?" When Chiaki shook her head to that, Gabriel smiled for a second. "I'm not surprised at that. In the world you were born into, our church was weak. Its members were ridiculed or dismissed as phonies. But in times of great need, when the world is at risk of being lost to the deceptions of demons, God will send a Messiah to save humanity, blessing Her chosen with great power and wisdom. That is a promise that the Church keeps hope in; they raise the faith of the people so that it can be fulfilled."
"But my world got destroyed anyhow," Chiaki said.
She nodded sadly. "The word of God was weak to your world, leaving many to presume She was dead. Even as we tried to increase faith in Her, it was never enough. Also, your world was killed by a man, not a demon. It happened relatively fast; even we Seraphs were blindsided by the shocking turn of events. We're worried that our God's words will be even weaker in the new world that comes, that world growing even uglier without the benefit of Her love. The demons would gain more power and if it goes far enough, we may be forced to declare the apocalypse there to fully root out corruption before it spreads to other worlds."
"Then you want Her supporting one of the Reasons so Her words are strong again." Although if this god had gotten that weak, was She such a good candidate for Yosuga?
"That is what all gods want in this place, is it not?" Gabriel pointed out. "But my God is not one of narrow focus such as most that you would find pleading their cases. She is the ultimate Creator; She who forms the lands, seas, and skies, as well as all who dwell within them. When Her word is strong, She can move the mountains to Her liking and smite the most fearsome of demons. She embraces the natural order of things and makes laws to ensure peace and prosperity. As long as one follows Her laws, Her blessings will ensure that there is nothing one cannot accomplish."
On the other hand, that was a powerful god in the right circumstances. And if She did enforce the laws of nature, then the deserving strong would surely rise above the pathetic pleas of the weak. "Would your God back up my Reason? I want to create a world of Yosuga, for the beautiful and strong."
Gabriel nodded. "I believe it would be so. Otherwise, She would not have seen to it that the two of us met here. But you would need a larger amount of magatsuhi than usual to call upon one of Her avatars."
"What about calling on your God Herself?"
"That would require a ridiculous amount of magatsuhi, all that exists within this Vortex World," she said. "And unfortunately, you have two named Reasons and a few potential unnamed Reasons to compete with. That's why I suggest one of Her avatars, since She acts directly through them and Her word will be stronger even if it is merely an avatar that reaches Kagutsuchi." Then she chuckled. "Actually, if you want to know a secret, Kagutsuchi itself is one of Her avatars. That is the only way it has any authority over the process of Creation. But Kagutsuchi itself must remain perfectly impartial."
If Gabriel's God was the one who gave Kagutsuchi power, than the best world possible would be one made through one of this Creator's avatars. It would be the way to ensure a victory for Yosuga, especially over the shadowy Shijima and the mysterious third Reason. "I see," Chiaki said. "Well, if you and I make an alliance to summon one of Her avatars, you can stick around then, right?"
She shook her head. "I'm afraid not. You don't have the power at the moment to make an official alliance with a Seraph. But I will pass on word to the Divine clan that we're keeping watch over you. I can advise you on your path forward, but eventually I will have to leave."
"That's unfortunate." She would have liked to have Gabriel stick by her side, as a clear sign of superiority. "What do you think I should do?"
"Take control of the rituals of Creation away from Hikawa," Gabriel said. "We are still in the early stages of the process when Reasons can be formed. To be able to call on a god at all, the Divine Messenger must be located. The Messenger..." she tapped her lily to her cheek, then frowned, "the Messenger is an angel bearing a trumpet. There are two such angels within the Vortex World. Choose not the one of deathly revelations; choose the one of living revelations."
"What does that mean?" Maybe it was a test. However, Chiaki didn't know much about angels.
"It's supposed to be a riddle, but it's clear to me what it means. Many angels have musical talents naturally, but there's a special case of an angel known as a Trumpeter. They have certain duties when it comes to divine wars. However, the forces of Hell managed to acquire a fallen Trumpeter for their own use. You're simply looking for a Divine Trumpeter rather than a Fiend Trumpeter. It should be clear simply looking at them which one reveals death and which one reveals life."
"But if the fiend belongs to hell, what's it doing here if Kagutsuchi can make a riddle about it? It doesn't seem right to let them into the rites of Creation." They'd only be able to make a hellish world, after all.
Gabriel looked uneasy at that. "Right. As I said, Kagutsuchi is perfectly impartial. It will deny one who seeks destruction over creation. But any god can be called upon to support a Reason, even those who were cast down to become demons, just as long as they support Creation. Actually, the presence of the Fiend Trumpeter is a sign of another major problem. The master of Hell has sent his own agent to sabotage Creation: the Demifiend. The other fiends were sent here in order to assist him. As a whole, fiends are fiercely independent. But if one is capable of uniting them, they will be a fearsome force."
Something clicked in that, some knowledge from Persephone. "Wait, Demifiend… is that Naoki?" When Gabriel nodded, Chiaki tapped her foot on the ground. "Huh. That could be bad because Naoki is pretty good at getting people to work together. I mean, I would have completely ignored Isamu if it wasn't for Naoki. Maybe he could get even fiends to work with him."
"To be honest, that is a reason why we would like to stop Naoki before he becomes too powerful," she said. "But our limited time here means we can't act against him directly."
For a moment, Chiaki wasn't sure if she wanted to work with the angels if they were against Naoki. He was one of the few good friends she had. On the other hand, he stubbornly refused to let her fuse with Persephone and had outright ignored her when she was trying to convince him to side with Yosuga. He most likely would end up supporting Isamu even if his friend was an idiot who didn't deserve the power of Creation.
"Well I don't care if you want to stop him, or even kill him," Chiaki said, trying to be tough about it. "He's lost his mind in becoming what he is, so he's no longer my friend. But I need to find this Divine Messenger, and then get enough magatsuhi to summon your God's avatar."
"After you find the Messenger, I'd advise that you seek out the Yahirono Himorogi in Yoyogi Park. In order to summon the road to Kagutsuchi, the Himorogi must be placed within the Amala Temple. It also contains a great density of magatsuhi, enough for your purposes. By claiming control of the Messenger and the Himorogi, you control the speed at which the rites of Creation take place."
In that case, she could quickly summon the avatar of God to support her Reason, then create the road before any of the other Reasons had time to summon their gods. It was a plan that perfectly suited Yosuga.