DxD: The God of Wolves, Okuchi-no-Makami

by LucasVAMP

Say, have you ever thought what was your place in the world? I know, silly question. But nonetheless please indulge me on this one. I myself did that question many times in the past, though I love my homeland I always found myself feeling...out of place when here. One day however I got the answers I had been craving for so long. The answers however... aren't exactly what I expected

2. Let the adventure begin

Hello friends, here I'm with a new chapter of the adventures of our dear new god of wolves.

Actually pretty fucking big, bigger than initially planned, this chapter will cover a lot of interesting things. Hope that you all will like it.

Before starting I'd like to give a huge 'thank you' to everyone who had read the fic, put it into your fav. and follows, and had left a review. You actions, your support, meaning a lot to me.

Guest review:

Guest (Oct 8 Ch.001): Yeah, its a similar power to Yamato's fruit. However her fruit is based on the real deity 'Okuchi-no-Makami', which in here is the ancestor of Lucius.

DISCLAIMER: I don't know if I should do this or not but whatever, I don't own anything here apart from my OC's.

May have grammar errors

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It's really amazing how one's life can change.

A couple days ago I was your average Brazilian teen, some minor quirks of mine aside my life was pretty normal, however in the span of not even a week everything changed.

My head got flooded with voices of people praying for help, I found the hideout of a mad mage who was a serial kidnapper, following the voices in my head I entered said hideout and ended up coming to blows with the mad owner of the place.

Being a normal human going against a mage I obviously lost, luckily my end wasn't woven to be that day and in the last second I awakened my hidden Youkai blood and defeated my mad foe. A really amazing scene, stuff straight out of a Shounen anime.

However things actually went beyond that and it turned out I was, in fact, a god, a truth that even now baffles me to no end.

Then after some talking with the remnant spirit of my dead great-great grandfather, may he rest in peace, I decided to follow some Youkai people that came to my home back to their base in Japan.

However while doing so I heard a prayer in my head, then unknowingly using a power I didn't knew was now part of my kit I got teleported to the person doing that prayer, which then brings me to my current predicament and biggest doubt:

What the fuck I should do now?

"R-really? It feels almost absurd to think this is happening, b-but the feeling you give me… this sense of connection, it just all too real…"

The old man's words made me realize something, coming down from my musings I could feel that indeed there was a strange 'feeling' connecting us both. It was similar to the feeling of connection one has with their family, but also not quite so.

It was quite mystical, so not really easy to put into words, but with this feeling of connection I was able to be certain than this old man actually did believe in me, the Makami. Similarly the old man must've felt that I wasn't just some random dude pulling a prank on him, or even an evil spirit pretending to be a god, but that I was the real deal.

"The threads of faith that bind us cannot be faked…"

This phrase that came out of my mouth without me realizing, surprising not only the old man but me as well. Hearing them the old man's eyes glinted with clarity, a look of understanding and wonder was now on his face. Though still very much surprised (who can blame him?), the small old man had accepted that what was happening was, in fact, real.

With a gentle smile on my face I looked at the man who had had faith in me and calmly asked.

"Now my good man, tell me your name"

"My name is Ichiro, Sato Ichiro" gazing at me the admiration on the old man's eyes was palpable "It's really a honor to be in your presence"

"The feeling is mutual Ichiro"

With the greetings out of the way I moved to the important matter that brought me here.

"Now tell me, what is it that you need? What made you pray for my help?"

My words jolted the man, a certain desperateness flashed in his eyes as he recalled the matter that pushed him to come ask for divine help.

"My town, Yamanokawa, thrives thanks to the many farms we have here, with the blessings of the land and our hard work things always went about well for us, however disaster had struck us. It all started about a month, people would rise from their bed only to see that their land had been burned to the ground, their farm, the work of a lifetime, gone in the span of a single night!"

Fuck.

Some surprise escaped into my voice as I asked "Did you guys called the police? Something of this magnitude should've left some clues behind about its origin, the arsonist behind it all"

If Ichiro found a god asking about the police strange he didn't show, he just shook his head at my question.

"Around twelve such events happened in the last month, however until now not even a single clue or lead was found"

"… Tch Figures"

With what the old man Ichiro just told me the reasoning behind him asking for my help becomes pretty self-explanatory. A fire capable of burning down an entire farm should've been pretty easy to spot, and with twelve incidents there'd be plenty of chances for clues to have been found.

However the fact that, going by Ichiro's words, all happened without people realizing before it was too late, and that no clue has be found, truly does make one think something more mystical is at play here.

This entire situation reeked of the supernatural.

"Working with the land is our entire purpose in life here, the thought of having that suddenly taken away is very frightening. My heart pains for the others, and my spine grows cold in the thought of my land being the next target… Please Lord Makami, please help us in this moment of need!"

Clapping his hands together and bowing his head the man begged to me, his voice a whimper dripping with a sense of helplessness that was heart breaking.

Through the connection we shared I could feel his soul tremble as he asked once again for my help, all his emotions put in easy display for me there was no way in hell I could turn a blind eye to this call.

My experience dealing with the supernatural could be said to be nonexistent, my encounter with the mad mage a couple days ago no truly amounting to much, so how I'll be dealing with this mystery is still something uncertain.

Still, the plight of this old man and his town cannot go unnoticed!

So with my eyes burning with a divine confidence and my voice laced with power I stated:

"Like I said before, 'Your prayer has been heard loud and clear'… So fear not my good man. Help has arrived!"

When I said those words I could feel his soul tremble again, however this time not out of fear, no, but out of jubilation. Happiness radiating from his being he started saying 'Thank You' over and over, and honestly to me the now jubilant look on this man's face made this whole situation already more than worthy.

"Now that we got that out of the way…" I then gave the man an awkward smile "Would you mind telling where exactly we are?"

My question stumped the man, with confusion clear on his eyes Ichiro said "Lord, You really don't know?"

"Errrr…"

My wolf ears frantically twitched for a moment due to my embarrassment, explaining to him that I wasn't actually the original Makami, but a descendant of his from Brasil that only recently took on his divine role and that today was my first time in Japan, wouldn't be easy, the truth being not simple to understand.

Like, just a tiny bit baffling.

So to avoid the headache of explaining to him a fact that even I saw as perplexing I spun this following white lie.

"Well, this the first time on this last century that I came to this mortal realm, everything is very different from what I remembered. Furthermore I came to your aid in a rush so I kinda forgot to shore up on my knowledge about the geography of the land"

Ichiro's eyes shined with understanding as he nodded his head at me. Good, go on, believe in this small lie!

"The affairs on heaven must have been many indeed to keep you busy for so long Lord Makami…" coming from his musing he answered my question "We're in Yamanokawa, a town in the countryside of the 'Fukushima Prefecture'. This place is the 'Guardian Wolf Shrine', your shrine, located not far from my farm"

Nodding in understanding I turned around and gave the place a better look.

The place was essentially an old Shinto shrine inside a tranquil grove.

Behind me was the main body of the shrine, it had an overall simple and unassuming style, built from aged wooden beams and thatched with straw. A gently sloping, tiled roof sheltered the area and offered protection from the elements.

And in the middle of it all, safely resting inside the shrine, was a statue of a celestial wolf. In my mind eye the thing glowed in a divine light of a sapphire hue, the connection between me and this statue clear as day.

I literally came out of it just some minutes ago, so yeah, no mistaken here.

Turning around I saw one of those iconic Torii Gate marking the entrance to the place, kinda modest in size it was painted in a muted vermilion color. The gate, like the main structure, betrayed its long age through the well-worn look, moss and some lichen that were also present.

That in mind the place still looked to be well maintained, there wasn't actually much dust nor lose branches littering around. The whole place exuded an aura of deep serenity and peace, it was a deeply soothing place, even more so for me.

As the connection between me and this sacred ground grew I couldn't help but spread my arms open and take in the place's aura, for a brief moment the shrine shook, our connecting growing even more in sync I smiled happily without even realizing.

"Thank you taking care of the place" lowering my arms I looked at Ichiro with gratitude clear in my voice, my lips curving into a gentle smile "Thank you for not forgetting the name 'Makami', not many people knows it these days"

For a moment Ichiro was taken aback by my sudden declaration, but he quickly understood my meaning and then smiling said "I could never forget the debt of gratitude our land has with you Lord Makami. In fact, many people in my town remember you as well"

"Loving this place already" giving the place another good look I turned to him and said "Well, lead the way. I really wish to see this lovely town now"

"Right, this way please"

With the old man Ichiro as my guide I walked through the Torii Gate and out of the shrine made for me, a path tiled with some rocks lead us into the woods.

It was a calming walk, a minute later the path that we're in started to tilt down thus making me realize the shrine was in some mountain of sorts. However it wasn't a particular tall or steep one, some three or four minutes of calm walk later we arrived at the foot of said mountain.

Stepping out of the woods what greeted me was the view of a beautiful green field extending fairly far into the distance, rows of apple trees were neatly planted in it, the fruits although not yet ripe showed their quality through their already glistening color.

Not bad of a farm at all, that's for sure.

"Whistle That's one nice looking orchard you have here, impressive indeed"

"You flatter me Lord Makami. This is just the modest fruits of the labor of one old man, that's all"

Despite his words the smile on his face told me his true feelings, the man took pride of his farm and was genuinely happy when hearing someone praise it.

"Do you take care of it all alone?"

"Pretty much, it isn't exactly a big piece of land so just me is enough to care of it all. During harvesting season, depending on how bountiful it was, I may hire a helper or two, but in general is just me doing all the work"

A look of admiration flashed in my eyes as I looked at Ichiro now.

Though I haven't asked about his age I had the feeling it was something deep in the seventies, the fact he was still filled with so much vigor and able to work this farm all alone was honestly quite impressive.

Fuck, I doubt that many in my age could do the same. These old folk from the countryside everywhere really do be impressive, my grandma when alive was just as vigorous as Ichiro here, the way they all seem to maintain their vitality sky high like this was beyond amazing.

As I pondered about that something that Ichiro said came to mind, eyes widening in realization I asked the man.

"You said you work alone, yes? Do you live alone here perhaps?"

"Indeed, though do not worry about me as I can very well take care of myself. Loneliness also do not plague me, I have the habit of going down to the Town's center to mingle with my friends, my children also tend to visit me from time to time"

"That's good then"

Earlier as to help convince Ichiro I had undone my disguise spell, if there was anyone else here they'd have seen a young man with wolf ears and tail, and although I doubt anyone would think much of it at first, after all cosplay and wearing head accessories like animal ears is a thing nowadays, it would still send some flags.

With the calm breeze going past us we arrived near his house, a simple two-story building with a tilted roof that was quite charming, beside it was what could only be a small warehouse and parked in front of it was an old but reliable white pickup truck.

"My old carriage will take us to the town's center in about ten minutes, from there it will be easier for you to see the burned farms and get more a par of the situation" getting on the driver's seat Ichiro had a wide smile on his face "I can't wait for the others to hear the good news, the Lord Makami came down from the heavens to helps us in this time of need!"

His enthusiasm was commendable, unfortunately I'll need to pop it a little. Sitting on the passenger's seat I applied the disguise spell again before turning to Ichiro and saying "I'd much prefer if you don't tell anyone about me"

That confused the old man who then asked "Why not?"

"Well, some rules are in place preventing me from just announcing my presence to mortals, I wouldn't want to break those. Furthermore if the assailants behind this whole incident catch wind of my presence here, of a god, they'd probably hit the gas and vanish on the horizon, thus escaping their just punishment"

Though I'm a layman when it comes to the rules of the supernatural side of the world I stand to believe that a rule or two must prevent gods or otherwise supernatural beings from just exposing their existences.

If that wasn't the case the supernatural wouldn't be seen as just myths and legends, which gives some credence to this belief of mine. And while I have no clue about the people behind this 'burning farms' incident, it stands to reason that they would tuck tails and run if they heard a 'god' is on their tracks.

I mean, who wouldn't?"

Besides, I have some doubts if people that do not believe in these things would just accept I was the 'Makami', Ichiro easily accepted because he believed in me, the feeling of connection between us serving as proof.

"I see…"

Nodding Ichiro seemed to understand my point, but then a look of confusion came to his face.

"What I say when people ask me about you then?"

Good question.

"Just tell them I'm one of your grandsons or something"

"With due respect Lord Makami but you don't look, well, to be from my family"

"Minor details"

The road towards the town proper was uneventful, bar five other cars that went past us all that I saw in this ten minutes trip was the mesmerizing view of the mountains in the horizon and the river running down the land.

I also saw a couple farms, though none of them was amongst those that got burned down, all the while Ichiro and I would chat and he would tell me more about him and the town.

Arriving at the town Ichiro drove and parked the truck near the town's square, jumping off I took a moment to look around.

Yamanokawa looked to be a normal countryside town, a blend of building from the past era with the many wonders of the modern age, a blend of elements that I've seen in many places. People of all stripes walked back and forth immersed in their business, a familiar scene indeed.

"Now, to learn more about the incidents we shou-"

"Ichiro!"

Before the old believer of Makami could finish saying what he was going to we heard a voice calling out to him, turning to its source we saw that it came from an old lady down the street. She was standing before a local café, a cozy looking place it was called 'Natsuko's Hearth Café' according to the big sign on the top.

Wait…. I could read that?!

My mind momentarily glitched due to this sudden realization, a certain memory from yesterday came to mind.

When explaining a couple of the changes that I went through due to my awakening Kurogami told me about this ability I now had called 'Language', an ability many supernatural species had that allowed normal people to listen to them in the language they're most familiar with and vice versa.

It was due to this ability that for about half hour I had been speaking with Ichiro almost nonstop no problem, it worked so seamlessly that for not even a second I questioned how we both could understand each other. But now that I did so I felt extremely stupid and retarded for not having noticed this little fact before.

Ichiro never questioned it due to him seeing me as the 'Okuchi-no-Makami', me looking like a foreigner aside I was true Shinto god so speaking in japanese was a no brainer. Why I didn't found hearing this old man in the countryside of Japan speaking in Portuguese weird? No fucking clue!

Honestly the more I think about this the more stupid I feel like.

To be fair I was too focused on the sudden change of scenery due to my teleportation and events that followed it to really think about it.

Oh well.

"Oh, Natsuko-san! It's nice to see you"

"The feeling is mutual Ichiro, did you came down here to buy something?'

"No, I've already done my shopping for the month, no need for anything right now. What about you? How's the business going?"

"About the usual, nothing to complain"

"Good, good..."

"What about this handsome fella behind you? Who is he?"

As I was busy mentally beating myself over my early brain glitch Ichiro went forward to greet the old lady that called him, wordless following him I heard their chat but didn't paid any real attention, only doing so when I heard the old lady talking about me.

Focusing back on reality I lowered my head to look at this old lady named Natsuko, with a small stature she looked to be around Ichiro's age, her already white short hair was tied into a bun and she wore a violet dress with an apron on the front.

"Him? He's, errrr-, one of my grandsons that came to visit me!"

"Really? I never heard of any grandson of yours like him"

"Do you recall my daughter Yuki?"

"The one who lives abroad?"

"The same! He is her son, that's why you never heard of him and why he looks so not like me"

"I see, I see…"

Going along what I told him before Ichiro was pretending that I was his grandson, he was doing well enough but I could see from the look on his face that telling this lie wasn't being as easy for him.

Feeling like I needed to say something I moved forward, lightly bowing I took her hand on mine and gently shook it. I then smiled at her and said "Nice to meet you Natsuko-san. The name is Lucius, Ichiro's grandson, I just recently arrived here from Brasil in order to pay him a visit"

"Oh my, your Japanese is pretty good!"

"You think so? You praise is appreciated, it tells me that my efforts in learning it hadn't been in vain"

I'm honestly starting to think I'm a natural liar.

"You said you came from Brasil, right? So tell me, what're your thoughts about our town?"

"So far Yamanokawa proved to be quite a lovely place, the air is clean and its landscape beautiful. I honestly feel like at home here!"

This part wasn't a lie.

I don't know exactly what is but since setting foot in this land I couldn't help but feel extremely at ease, though I can guess a few reasons why. With me being not only a Youkai, but also Shinto god, feeling at home here in this land of the rising sun shouldn't really be a surprise.

I felt free here.

My sincere emotions dripping into my voice Natsuko smiled gently at me.

"I'm glad to hear that" she then turned and gestured to her café "Care for a drink my dear? A snack maybe?"

"If you don't mind"

Turning my head to the said I nodded at Ichiro, understanding the old man followed along with the flow.

Entering her establishment I asked her a cup of coffee, she then offered me a snack that was basically a bread with meat in it, I didn't really caught on to the name but it was quite delicious.

I was actually quite hungry, it was still morning and due to all that happened I didn't really had the time to have breakfast or something. So I eat that snack with gusto and then asked for a portion of four more, as I was enjoying myself on the local cuisine both Natsuko and Ichiro sat on a table on the side and start chatting away.

After finishing my snack I also joined in their chat, some time passed and I felt like Natsuko was comfortable enough with me, as such I decided to ask her some questions about the 'burning farms' incident to see what she could tell me.

"On the way here my 'grandpa' talked about a series of mysterious incidents happenings in the town, could you tell me more about it?"

The old lady visible deflated thanks to the mention of the recent events, her gentle smiled turned sad as her mind drifted to the unfortunate events that have recently plagued the town.

I winced.

It really didn't felt good asking her that as it visible made her sad, but asking about this topic was inevitable if I wanted to solve this incident, so I tried to steel myself and waited for her answer.

"Like everyone else I don't know much about this, nor did I felt anything amiss on the nights these incidents happened. I just calmly woke up and opened my café, it was when my usually smiling customers came in that I learned of what had happened" she sighed "Sitting here hearing my people tell me about the loss of their livelihood was heartbreaking"

"Is there really no clue that had been found?"

"Maybe those that went to see the fields saw a thing or two, but as far as formal statements go not a single real clue has been found"

"Damn…"

She smiled ruefully at me "It's sad that you came here during this time my boy, if not you could've seen our town in its more cheerful true self"

What the old lady Natsuko said aligned with what Ichiro previously told, the sadness in her soul the same as the one I had seen in Ichiro, the only reason he wasn't like that anymore was because he believed that I'd solve this whole incident.

And while I didn't plan in telling her that I was a 'god' here to solve all this mess, I wasn't just gonna leave her hanging either. Walking forward I put my hand on her shoulder reassuringly and said.

"I'm pretty sure someone will solve this mystery and things will go back to normal in no time"

She went silent for a moment, looking intensely into my eyes before breaking into a smile of relief "There's something quite soothing in your words young man" she turned to look at Ichiro "You grandson do be someone special, his aura certainly is different"

In response to that Ichiro only gave her a knowing smile.

"Thank You very much for the coffee and snacks, they had been delicious"

Thanking Natsuko for her time I made sure to pay her for the coffee and delicious snack, I could do that much as before embarking in my journey here I had exchanged some of my money into the local currency, and since I prefer to have the money on me it wasn't left behind in the plane like everything else was.

After that with Ichiro as my guide I walked around the town trying to get more information out of the townspeople by chatting with them, something that only partially worked.

For one the topic was a sore spot for the townspeople, not a taboo but certainly something that wasn't exactly pleasant to talk about for them.

Another point was that people really didn't knew much about the whole incident, although people gave me their different accounts and opinions about the matter in the end none of them really knew anything apart from the basics; one day the farm was there and the other it wasn't.

The other point of problem was less obvious, and one that I actually took some time to notice, this being that I was slowly but surely drawing a lot of eyes to me.

Like most towns like this basically everyone knew everyone, so when a new face like me starts to waltz around talking to everyone people would notice, especially factoring in my looks. As a town deep into the countryside Yamanokawa very likely didn't received many foreign visitors, as such it's no surprise that by going around town asking everyone questions the white haired one eighty five meters tall clearly foreign me would draw many eyes.

With my plans of quietly gathering information somehow busted I decided to go for another approach, with Ichiro leading the way we went to a nearby farm that was amongst the first ones to have been burned down. On the west side of the town this particular farm was owned by a friend of Ichiro, so hopefully we'll be given access to his farm.

Going down the street to this farm we from afar could see its gate, and standing before it were two people. One of them was a skinny old man which Ichiro promptly told me was his friend Jiro, the owner of this farm, the other person was a short haired blond man dressed in a fine green suit.

With my now enhanced hearing I was able to hear the man saying "Please, think about my proposal" after it he jumped into a nice looking grey car and the drove off, passing by us in the process before zooming away.

Huh… there's something amiss about this guy.

"Hey Ichiro, fancy seeing you here today"

The old man Jiro saw us approaching and greeted his friend, returning the greeting and introducing myself Ichiro asked him "Say, who was the man that just left?"

"Him? The representative of some company called 'Greenvest Holdings' or something, he has been going around town buying the now ruined lands off their owners. Something about erecting 'environmental friendly apartment buildings' or whatever"

"Did you accept his offer?"

"As if!" old man Jiro scoffed "This land was and will always be of my family, it may be ruined now but one day it'll get back to his former glory, all that its needed is just some more working"

I liked this man's spirit!

After this Jiro welcomed us into his farm, the structure of the place was similar to Ichiro's farm; a simple house, a warehouse, and the farming fields. However where the latter should've been now there was only an expanse of black, burned land.

Jiro gave me a speech about his farm's history, how when it was bought by his grandfather it was all a barren piece of land, but through the generational efforts of his family it became a shiny jewel. He then once again reiterated how, despite now being burned to the ground, that one day it would once again become a shiny jewel.

However despite his optimistic front I could still see the deep sadness underneath his confidant visage, to see the hard work of your family be reduced to charred cinders is a hard blow indeed. You might have hopes that things will turn out for the better, but the fact that all the blood, sweat and tears put into making this land lush went down the drain is real and it cuts really deep.

The more time I spend in this town, the more people I talk to… the more absolutely livid I become!

The person behind this whole incident, whoever you are, you better be clutching your cheeks hard 'cause I'm coming for you and I'll not be gentle!

Anyways, after that showing Jiro and Ichiro entered the house to drink a bit, I stayed behind saying that I wanted to feel the fresh air. With the two gone I started to do my thing and began to look around, stepping into the now charred land I could almost instantly feel something amiss.

A wave of negative emotion emanated from this piece of land, it was hurt and in great pain, it grieved for the loss of the vibrant life that it once had here.

Don't be sad, I'll get whoever did this and beat him up.

In the following fifteen minutes or so I went around the burned land trying to find any clue that could lead me to the culprit. However seeing how the police, which were men and women trained for these things, didn't found anything the chances of a layman like me finding something wasn't great.

Realizing that I couldn't rely on my own detective skills I decided to change tactics a bit, immersing myself in my new supernatural instincts I allowed my body to be completely guided by them.

Sniffing the air I caught wind of a strange scent hidden amidst the smell of charred soil.

Locking on this new discovery I followed the scent all the way to the edges of the farm, there I found the scent to be coming from a particular spot on the ground, removing the soil I retrieved a single green thread of clothing.

Wait a minute…

The moment I looked at the green thread the image of that man I saw speaking with Jiro came to mind, when his car passed by me I was able to catch a whiff of his scent and it matched the green thread's smell perfectly!

Well, well, well… seems like I have my first clue!

Not wanting to let this lead grow cold I decided to move out, going to the window of the house I shouted to Ichiro "Gramps, I'm going out to the town to have some fun. See you later at home!"

"O-okay, have fun out there!"

With that done I dashed away, exiting the farm and arriving at the street I locked at the lingering scent of that man in green and then moved forward with great determination.

But then I stopped.

How exactly I should go about this?

I mean, me running around the town following that man in his car will hardly be subtle, although I have the feeling my instincts would guide me in this 'Hunt' in the end of the day I'm still a novice in these things, as such me doing this completely unnoticed isn't very likely.

I need a disguise.

My mind drifted to the only Youjutsu spell I knew, I keenly remember Hashira telling me that with it I could not only change from my normal and disguise form, which I already had some practice in doing it, but also turn into my 'true form' with relative ease as that was my true self now.

While I doubt my true form looks normal at the worst case if someone spots me from afar tailing the man in green they'll most likely think I'm just a strange wild dog, which I think will give rise to less suspicion than if they saw me in my human form.

"Better than nothing…"

That idea in mind I entered the woods near this part of the town, feeling certain that no one was nearby to watch I closed my eyes and performed the spell Hashira taught me, now with the intention of turning into my true form.

Visualization was important when performing this spell, this much I knew, so in order turn into my true form I tried to visualize myself as the white wolf I saw in my own reflection during that dream I had during my awakening.

Memories of that time came to me, I immersed myself in them and in the feeling I back then; the feeling of being a wolf, of running through those vast fields, of feeling the wind on my fur….

'I'm a wolf…'

I felt something inside of me being 'unveiled', with no pain or discomfort my entire body change to become something far removed from the body of a human. A sense of 'returning back home' enveloped me as my body tossed away the human like form it previously used as it returned to what it really was supposed to look like.

When opening my eyes I could instantly see the difference in my POV, walking to a nearby puddle in the ground I saw a majestic looking white wolf looking back at me from my reflection in the slightly cloudy water (Where did my clothes go? I don't know!).

Properly describing my feelings at that moment would be quite hard, in one hand as someone that lived my entire like as a human the feeling of being a canine, of now walking on fours, was very different indeed.

However on the other hand I was feeling freer than ever! Being in this form was magical and with no discomfort at all, I for a moment even doubted if I indeed had not lived my entire life like this.

There was just on tiny problem… I was bit too big and eye-catching.

Wolves like the grey one were quite big, bigger than most people realize, however from what I could estimate I was even bigger and honestly infringing on bear territory with my size.

If that wasn't enough my body had glowing markings on it, a diamond shaped one of sapphire color was in the middle of my forehead, along some lines near my eyes and limbs. They all exuded a mysterious and divine feeling, they looked like my 'Frostflames' and made me look even more amazing.

Cool as I looked how I was going to follow that man now?

just a second after I wondered that my body started to change again, my body began to shrink and the markings of 'Frostflames' went away.

Before I knew I looked like a more normal wolf, still not exactly mundane but now hopefully people will mistake me for a big white dog, probably a husky, instead of some sort of magic creature.

Allowing my instincts to guide me I locked again on the scent of that man wearing green and then dashed away,

Time to hunt!

…

…

…

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…

I feel unlucky.

When receiving this mission from Lady Yasaka I felt extreme joy, the return of the Lord Makami, of a Youkai god, was a historical event of immense significance and due to this mission I Kurogami would be taking part of it.

Packing my things me and my dear friend Kurohashira travelled to the other side of the globe, to Brasil, where we met the new Lord Makami. He was still a young man, confused and lost by his sudden awakening, however hidden underneath that was the divinity of a true god.

To see the divine so close like that was a great honor.

With all explained we moved out again, the Young Master, Lucius, was a good person and speaking with him during our travel back was quite fun indeed. All in all, things were doing great… until they didn't anymore.

It was expected that the Young Master's divinity would act up when finally returning to its realm of origin, however that he'd answer a prayer and then vanish from the plane definitely wasn't!

I didn't blamed him for doing that, from what I learned of him hearing a call for help and not answering would go against his nature, however fact was that his decision made things understandably tricky.

We first needed to alter the memories of everyone in the plane, then plucking three of my feathers I made clones in our likeness and made them stay on the plane and go along the proper motions as if nothing had happened.

That done me and Hashira got out of the plane via a spell and promptly went out in search of the Young Master, using the lingering aura of his divinity left on the plane I made a seal that could hopefully track him down.

"Don't make that face my friend, it wasn't your fault"

Looking to the side I saw my friend Hashira flying beside me, his wings out he gazed at me with a worried look on his eyes.

"You words were kind my friend, but they don't change what happened"

"Yeah, but even Lady Yasaka said that such unexpected situation couldn't have been prevented by us"

Oh yeah, after she stopped yelling and had come down from her outburst of anger Lady Yasaka did say something like that.

"True as that may be this situation will still not reflect well in our faction"

Hashira's face contorted into an ashamed grimace as my words rang on his ears.

"… Yes, the shame of this failure will be hard to forget that's for sure"

Other might think that were feeling too down for something that we shouldn't, but others lack our perspective and don't understand our way of life. An error is an error no matter how you slice it, as highly praised Tengus to have such failure in our hands wasn't a pleasant thing, a feeling of shame that only those of similar way of lives would understand.

-!-

As we pondered about our feelings of shame the seal floating before us gained a more intense glow, the inscription then changed into an arrow pointed towards the east of our current location.

"It's pointing towards the Fukushima Prefecture!"

"That region always had a good chunk of the believes of Makami, it makes sense for the prayer he answered to have been from there"

"This reaction… the Young Master must be using his powers!"

"Let's not waste more time then!"

Bringing out our Tengu fans we used them to conjure up a burst of black wind, we rode the wind to gain immense speed and soon vanished from the spot in the sky were we previously had been.

…

…

…

---

…

My name is Kira Yoshi, I'm thirty-three years old. My home is in Iwaki, the largest city of Fukushima, and I'm not married.

Always a star student I finished my chosen university with flying colors, going out into the real world my dream was of opening my own company where I could use my highly refined knowledge of economics and real state to rise up in life.

The start was honestly great, after accumulating some years of experience under another company I was able to impress the right people with money to get an sizable investment and finally give birth to my 'Greenvest Holdings'.

The growth of my company in the following years wasn't exactly fast, but it was steady and continuous, which wasn't bad but I couldn't be satisfied with just that so I aimed to do something to change it.

My attempts of doing that, however, didn't go well.

Due to a series of unfortunate events all the lands I had invested on didn't returned any profit, with each failed attempt my investors and the people around me would lose some faith in my skills.

That couldn't be!

Seeing how things were painting to go I took a step back and re-planned my actions, studying some of the plans of development of a couple big companies and the government I came to the conclusion that the area of a certain countryside town, Yamanokawa, would most likely see a great rise in their value in the near future.

Acting on this knowledge I personally went to said town and using the money I still had tried to convince the many land owners, these country bumpkins, to sell their lands to me.

Attention to the word 'tried'.

I did an extensive planning and came with a good offer that should've made any of these bumpkins salivate in greed, but contrary to what I thought they all refused, a couple felt tempted but after a time even those resolutely refused to sell me their lands!

Desolated and depressed I went back to my home, letting out my frustrations I raged out and made a mess of my house. With broken china and overturned furniture after I cooled down the place looked like it had endured the attack of a mad beast.

It was in that moment that I found my salvation.

Walking around the mess that now was my house I found a loose plaque on the floor where an old bookshelf previously was, curious I investigated the thing and ended up finding a bronze medallion the size of my hand with cryptic symbols on it hidden there.

When I touched it the thing started to glow, before I knew it ten strange beings appeared before me. They told me they're Youkais, put in that medallion by an Omnyouji centuries ago they were bound by a magical contract to serve the owner of that medallion, and with the medallion now being in my possession I was the one these youkais should serve now.

My perception of reality got shattered that day… but going past that there was no way in hell I was gonna let this chance slide!

Returning to that countryside town I commanded my supernatural helpers to aid me in my convincing of the land owners, it was now about a month later and thanks to their magical abilities I was very close of getting what I wanted.

I felt absolutely zero remorse in regards to what I've ordered the youkais to do, my goals and dreams being the only thing that mattered!

So with an unbothered consciousness I went around the town doing another round of 'business speeches', some still did not accepted my offers, however the actions of my helpers definitely made all very tempted.

Everything was good!

At some point while driving I glanced at my rearviewmirror and had the feeling of seeing something white tailing my car from afar, however in the blink of an eye this feeling vanished as if never there and no matter how much I tried I wouldn't see it again.

Feeling that it was just my paranoia acting up I threw that aside and focused back on what I was doing, the evening then came and went and soon the sky was dark as the night began to embrace the world.

I drove to one of the farms of my interest, parking in a secluded spot in a nearby big hill I hopped off my car. The cold night wind brushed past my skin as I walked forward with determination, I then took out the bronze medallion from a suitcase I had with me.

"Come Forth my Helpers!"

As my words fell the medallion in my hand glowed and ten wisps of energy flew out of it, landing some meters before me they changed their shape in the blink of an eye; two of them became very muscular humanoid creatures, taller than your normal human and with red skin their ferocious visage was known throughout all of japan.

The remained eight became floating balls of red fire, of the size of a human torso they floated above us in complete silence save from the crackle of their flame bodies, the light cast from them giving the place a supernatural vibe.

Two Oni and eight Onibi type youkais… these are the beings under my control that I used to further my goals.

"Calling us already Kira? Didn't you said we caused enough destruction already to convince the farmers?"

Spoke one of the Oni in his guttural voice, with his left horn bigger than the right one he spoke to me with a clear sneer on his tone.

"I did say that Thrasher, but the people of this town proved to be more obstinate than I previously thought. Another work or two will be needed in order to convince them all"

"Hahahaha" laughed the other Oni, of name Slasher he was near identical to his brother with the difference that his right horn was bigger than his left one "It seems to me that you aren't as smart as you believed to be"

One of the things I came to learn during this month was that while I did have command over these youkais, that I could make them do things, I didn't necessarily had their respect.

They didn't liked being bound to the medallion and magically made to obey whoever hold it, they didn't liked the Omnyouji that put them on that situation, and liked even less the 'puny human' they now had to obey.

As result hearing their taunts and mockery was a certainty every time I summoned them, with that in mind I was thankful the Onibis were basically animals that knew how to follow order but not how to talk, that was a blessing indeed.

"Unless you want to go back into the medallion you should zip your mouths!"

"So fearsome!"

"I'm trembling ~ "

Fucking annoying!

Shelving my annoyance I looked around the place, got a good view of the farm before turning to them and asking "We've been doing this for a month already and someone could've caught on to our shenanigans. Still positive you can take of anyone that comes here to check the town?"

Both Oni scoffed, with extreme confidence Slasher stated "The Onibis have power around that of a Mid-Class youkai, while together me and my brother have power equal to a Hiyokai. Pretty sure we can take care of any random busybody that comes around"

"Yeah, stop being a scaredy cat Kira!"

I know basically nothing about the power system of the supernatural world, but going by how much pride these two have in the fact their power being comparable to a 'Hiyokai', whatever that was, that it must be a somehow impressive level of power.

"If that's the case the go to work already!"

""With pleasure!""

Turning around to look at the farm the two Oni stood parallel to each other, Thrasher then raised his left hand forward while Slashed raised hi right one, after it they began doing some strange hand signs, a strange energy began to build up around them, then they said a chant.

[Silent Carnage]!

When that chant as said I felt like a blanket had been put over the surrounding area, a ward of sorts that as its name implies aimed in allowing the Oni to cause as much carnage and destruction in an area without being discovered.

The inner working of how this supernatural ability worked weren't known to me, but from what I've seen the thing works just as advertised.

For almost an entire month we've been going around burning farms left and right, yet the police and townspeople still remained completely clueless as to what exactly was happening.

"There you go!"

"All set up and ready for our fun! Now let's get g-"

"-And the green bastard finally shows his colors"

"""?!"""

All of sudden an entirely new voice interrupted the Oni and caught all of us completely by surprise, turning towards the source of the voice we became stunned when seeing a white haired young man standing some meters away from us.

Clearly a foreigner this young man had wolf ears on his head and a wolf tail behind him, these appendages didn't felt fake and actually did look like they were actually growing out of his body.

Is he another Youkai?

"Who're you? How you got inside our ward?!"

Shouted Slasher to the young man, to the side his brother Thrasher had his face contorted into a snarl as he growled at the young man. Said young man didn't felt threatened by them, or at least didn't showed, scratching his wolf ears he calmly said.

"The name is Lucius, something you now know just because I'm polite. As for you other question, I was inside the area of effect of your spell when you casted it. But even if that wasn't the case I doubt a ward of this level would've eluded me, I had went past one way more intricate than this shitty one in the past"

"You little-!"

Seeing the reaction his words garnered from the Oni the young man, Lucius, grinned.

Trying to reign on my astonishment I asked "…How much you heard?"

To which the young man replied while smiling.

"Plenty enough…" his smile vanished and he looked at us with barely contained anger "The damage you all caused, the pain you made the good people of this town endure… will be now paid back tenfold!"

For a moment I felt incredible terror at the thought of receiving retribution for what we've been doing in this town, however I soon calmed back down when recalling what the Oni had said to me before, about their strength.

Yes, why should I fear him? My Youkai will dispose of this busybody in no time!

To the side Slasher gazed intensely at this Lucius for a moment, smiling widely he stated "Your aura feels different in a way, but it doesn't feel strong as far I can tell. Just a big pup that is all bark but no bite!'"

"A smash ant like you not being able to gauge the height of the towering tree before you is understandable"

The Oni scoffed "Those are some big words pup!"

"I only speak the truth"

"Is that so…?"

"Doubting my words are you? Then why no come here and check their veracity for yourself?"

"Don't mind if I do!"

The two Oni then dashed forward!

…

…

…

---

…

Having turned into my true form I had allowed my instincts to guide me towards the man I believed was the one behind this incident.

I was a wolf, the god of wolves to be exact, as such my natural hunting instincts could be said to be top notch, so even though I myself had zero experience tracking someone my body with my instincts on the wheel was able to precisely follow the man in green's scent without fail.

In fact his scent was practically visible in my eyes, something very reminiscent of the 'detective modes' from those games I loved so much to play, even with many buildings and other objects in the way I could "see" the green 'shape' of his scent in the distance.

Following him turned out to be quite easy indeed, with my instincts providing me help I kept following him in his car for the rest of the day.

I kept my distance as to avoid alerting him of my presence, the man did not saw me and neither did the townspeople at large, although I almost failed at some point in the end I was successful in my mission as they all only saw a glimpe of a wild dog.

I relished in the feeling of running in my true form, seeing the landscape go past me as if I was on a car was amazing and the wind going past my fur due to that was incredible, a lot of willpower was needed to not just howl out of the pure joy I felt.

Being a wolf was fucking awesome!

Keeping my distance I followed the man in green all the way to a hill near a farm basically on the edges of what could still be called Yamanokawa, it was already night however I could still see my surroundings no problem (Magical physiology for the win).

To see the man summoning youkais and basically admitting their doings in the last month was all the proof I needed, he coming to this place in the dead of the night made me pretty certain he was the culprit, but after what I saw and heard I became one hundred percent certain of my suspicion.

For a moment I thought I wouldn't be able to turn back into my normal form, I did not had hands to perform the seals needed for the spell after all, however I soon learned that my fear was unfounded as my body sensed my 'will' and quickly changed back into my normal Youkai form.

Walking forward from my hiding spot I confronted the group about what they did, meanwhile bracing myself for the fight that'd issue while trash talking them.

If I was still the Lucius from some days ago I'd have most likely pissed myself in fear at the thought of facing this many opponents, supernatural opponents, however now that I had awakened I felt no such fear.

Apart from the immense anger due to all they had done, all the pain they made the people of the town suffer, all that I could feel at that moment was excitement at the idea of facing some opponents alongside great joy in soon being able to beat up this asshole in green with an aura that reeked of wickedness!

"Doubting my words are you? Then why no come here and check their veracity for yourself?"

"Don't mind if I do!"

The two Oni dashed forward at me with extreme ferocity, the ground where they previously stood cracked due to their strength.

To see such scene straight out of an anime was amazing indeed, a normal human wouldn't have been able to properly react to this sudden burst of speed.

Luckily I wasn't a your normal average human, in fact I was barely human anymore, my new self post awakening was gifted with highly enhanced senses as such I was able to react to in time.

Expecting their attack from the moment I started trash talking them I also dashed forward at the exact moment they did, in a burst of speed not at all inferior to theirs I went forward to meet them.

The Oni with the big right horn, which was named Slasher from what I had overheard, came at me with a right hook however with a rhythm on my feet I was able to dodge to the side and avoid his attack.

In the same movement I fluidly did a one hand handstand followed by a twist of my hip and a split, my foot flew and went for the second Oni's face. The same was caught off guard by my 'strange move' and was unable to dodge my attack, my foot landed square on his face and launched him backwards!

"Urgh!"

Although I didn't became an amazing fighter overnight due to my awakening the capoeira training I had was still here, my now superhuman physique allowed me to perform the moves I knew with bigger efficiency.

The 'Aú Batido' move I just did was a good proof of that, my enhanced reaction allowed me to cleanly dodge the Oni attacks and deliver an attack of my own that launched the other Oni back in a show of superhuman strength and speed that was honestly amazing to see.

I feel awesome!

Shoosh!

I felt an attack coming at me from behind, my wolf ears twitched as they literally caught on the sound of the wind moving due to said the attack. Acting on that I instinctively rolled to the side and avoided said attack, quickly getting up and turning I landed a frontal push kick at the Oni that landed right on his gut.

I capitalized on that situation and went forward for a right hook at the Oni, it landed on his face however I was subsequently attacked by the second Oni, Thrasher, who had already recovered from the kick to his face, his heavy left fist landed on my side and pushed me away.

"Argh!"

I winced in pain and recoiled from the attack, far from the pain inflicted by that mad mage using his magic but still not something I was used to.

The Oni brothers wouldn't give me a chance to recover from this blow, grasping this opportunity they came at me with ferocity and power that no normal human could've faced.

I blocked an attack from Slasher but was then hit on the shoulder by Thrasher's fist, throwing my body back I did a few quick backward cartwheel and gained some distance from the two.

Getting up I promptly entered the 'ginga step' and waited for them, when they came at me again I did a 'armada', an reverse roundhouse kick, that landed on Thrasher's chin despite his attempt to block it.

His brother Slasher was already on top of me however, he launched a three piece combo at me that I was unable to properly block and so had to endure the brunt of the damage with gritted teeth.

The strength of an Oni was indeed great; those giant muscles definitely aren't just for show!

Recovering from the blow to the chin Thrasher came back and joined his brother on his attack against me, I'd try to block and dodge their attacks then retaliate with one of my own when I got the chance, but overall the situation wasn't going well for me.

In terms of power I honestly didn't lose to these two, individually I'd even say I was stronger than the two of them; however my experience in fights like these (or any for that matter) was beginner level at most.

My battle awareness couldn't match theirs, and although my fast reaction and instincts did help me to close the gap a bit, at the end I couldn't really keep up with them, their experience and tag team coordination was too great for an inexperienced someone like me.

At some points during the fight I thought about turning into my true form to gain a boost to my power, the two Oni wouldn't give that chance however and I soon was overwhelmed by them.

"ARGH!"

The fist of both brothers came at me at the same time, and even though I was able to block the attack by crossing my arms over my chest the power behind this move was too great and it launched me flying back a dozen meters, I only stopped when my back hit a big rock that was in the way.

"Not feeling so tough anymore?" said Slasher with a smile.

The taste of metal was strong in my mouth, gritting my teeth I used the rock as support to get back up and look at my opponents.

Both of them had bruises all over their bodies and blood was coming from the corner of their mouths, the attacks I was able to land on them actually did a good damage it seems, good.

The two however still looked like they could give another go, their lips contorted into shit eating grins as they looked at the now battered me.

"Just some-… flesh wounds…"

I shot back while giving them a somehow strained smile, they must've found it funny was they started laughing their ass off as soon they heard my words.

"He's quite the funny one!"

"You're right on that Thrasher"

"His strength is indeed great, his skills in battle not so much though"

"Definitely not"

"A pity don't you think brother?"

"Most certainly a pity"

The talking of these two was getting on my nerves, straightening my posture I looked at them and said "Don't you guys ever shut up?" my voice very similar to the growl of a wolf at that moment.

Having caught some of my breath back I decided to go for the offensive, with a burst of speed I dashed forward at them again.

Having fought them for the last ten minutes or so I had gotten a certain grasp of their fighting pattern, more attuned to the feeling of battle I believe this next clash would prove more fruitful for me.

What happened next threw a wrench on my plans however.

With a gesture of their hands the Oni commanded the Youkais floating around to move forward.

"?!"

So immersed in the fight I was that I had completely forgotten about the other eight youkais also there!

Crackle!

Following the command of the Oni the sentient balls of flames came to the air above me, their glows intensifying these youkais all conjured a fireball each and then preceded to wordless launch them at me.

Caught by surprise I wasn't able to mount a counterattack or even try to avoid them, their red glow enveloping me the only thing I managed to do before getting immersed in blazing fire was utter this one word.

"Fuck"

...

…

…

---

…

Supernatural beings are scary!

That's the conclusion I, Kira, came to after witnessing the battle that had just happened.

Although I had seen my helpers do a couple strange tricks, the ward they set up being the most amazing to me, I had never seen their actual strength being put to use. For all that those two talked about their power, about 'being comparable to a Hiyokai', I didn't felt really much about it as I didn't had any point of reference.

Their fight with the strange young man gave me that reference.

They moved almost like a blue with their speed, the power behind each of their strikes was immense, when the soundwaves of their attacks went over me I'd feel my organs trembling due to their intensity.

The area where we're was basically completely destroyed, craters and huge cracks could be seen all over the place and the hill where we're standing was barely a hill anymore!

They changed the landscape with their fight… how crazy was that?!

This one young man, Lucius, was actually pretty amazing on his own right. Although outnumbered he was able to put up a pretty decent fight from what I saw, the Oni brothers had a confidant front but the injuries on their bodies showed that this wasn't a clean fight.

When this Lucius guy moved to engage them again the brothers showcased the fabled wickedness of the Oni, commanding the Onibis they caught him completely off guard.

He was engulfed in red flames!

"You got caught in a tunnel vision pup, a dangerous thing to happen in a fight with multiple opponents"

Taunted Slasher with a wicked grin on his face, an expression filled with malevolence that was mirrored by his brother to perfection, they both looked at the pillar of flames burning before us with wicked glee shining in their eyes.

I didn't shared of their wicked joy, not at all, but as I looked at the burning flames I also didn't felt any remorse or pity over the death of the young man. To me my goals and plans reigned supreme in terms of priority, anything goes if means getting closer to achieving them.

This wannabe hero was going to ruin my plans if left alive, he had clearly followed me here to enact revenge in the name of the townspeople of Yamanokawa, someone like that wouldn't just give up if defeated as such killing him was the only solution.

I regret nothing!

"In the end he was all bark but no bite"

Slasher approached the flames with a wicked smile on his face, taunting the dead young man he sniffed the air before saying "Can't wait to eat his roasted body after we're done with the farm"

"Who doesn't like some food after a job well done, right brother?"

"Exactly! We're only lacking a dessert to go along-"

"-What about some ice cream then?"

"""?!"""

A familiar voice came from within then burning flames.

We all became completely stunned when Hearing it, suddenly a hand covered in flames extended out of the pillar of fire.

These flames aren't the same ones as those composing the pillar however, no, sapphire blue instead of red these ones did not emitted heat of any kind; they emitted an energy of frost, one so intense and profound that my mortal mind even had difficulty comprehending.

It was like looking at something divine!

"What-!"

[Õkami no Hyõen]!

That was the last thing the Oni known as Slasher would ever say, a conflagration of blue flames exploded forward and engulfed him whole!

This happened all too fast, it gave no one time to react, the only thing Thrasher was able to do was watch his brother getting swallowed but the flames.

A few seconds of complete astonishment later the flames would subside, when they did a statue of an Oni made of crystal ice of could be seen there on that spot.

"He is…-!"

"NO!"

Looking past the statue I saw that the pillar of fire from earlier had also vanished, the young man could be seen standing there completely unharmed.

His blue eyes glowing with power locked into my own making me recoil, it was the same as if looking into the eyes of an ancient predator.

I felt true fear.

…

…

…

For a moment I thought I was done for.

Seeing the flames coming for me I closed my eyes and braced myself for the heat, however even after many seconds haven gone by no pain had assaulted me.

Opening my eyes and looking around I saw that I was inside the flames completely unharmed, let alone feel any damage I barely could feel the heat of these flames!

That's when I recalled one of the aspects of the Makami, as a god 'The One Who Howls' amongst other things was someone that could deliver […Protection against hardships caused by fire…, as such is not surprise that flames like these couldn't do a thing to me.

So hindsight I shouldn't been so scared when seeing those flames coming at me, but oh well…

I could feel one of the Oni getting closer, believing me to be dead his guard as down and relaxed, approaching the pillar of flames he even started taunting me!

I got something for you!

[Frostflames of the Wolf God (Ôkami no Hyôen]!

That was the name of the power now available to me after my awakening, I had never used my flames apart from that time during my awakening but I was always able to feel them since then.

Resting inside of me they waited to be called forth, only a single thought from my part would be needed to call them out, to allow them to appear on the world once again and display their divine power for all to see.

.

Reaching inside of me I called forth my main power as the Makami, the manifestation my divinity, of my domain. Divine blue flames appeared around my body, extending my arm out of the pillar of flames I was able to catch the unprepared Oni completely off guard, he was barely able to say a word before getting engulfed in a conflagration of blue flames.

Amazing…

My first time consciously seeing these flames I couldn't help but marvel at their beauty, their mesmerizing majestic sapphire hue, and their power of frost that was so intense that mortal minds would've a hard time comprehending.

I could feel the Oni turning into a statue made of ice instantly; however since he was covered by the flames the others probably didn't saw how fast he went down.

Speaking of flames the ones around me went away, blown away by the power of my Frostflames when bursting forward.

For a few seconds I watched the blue flames 'burning' around the Oni who was long a statue of ice, they then subside a bit but not gone away completely, they're still here but instead of a conflagration they became a modest cover that burned on top of the ice statue.

Looking at the frozen expression of fear of the statue I grimaced, my human side became horror stricken at the realization that I had just killed someone, even if he was a evil piece of shit the truth of the matter was the same. On the other hand point my divine side didn't felt as conflicted, it showed me many reasons as to why I shouldn't feel any remorse which allowed me to keep my cool.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

The current situation wouldn't allow me time to ponder on this inner turmoil, roaring in pure anger the Oni named Thrasher rushed at me with unbridled rage on his face, his eyes glowing with hatred as he gazed straight into me while running forward.

Back to fighting then.

Whoosh!

Calling upon my powers again I launched a burst of flames at the Oni, surging forward with great speed they covered him in their sapphire blue light.

He however was able to dodge them by side jumping, his rage probably boosting his capabilities; he however was still grazed by them on the foot which then would rapidly gain a layer of ice, still going forward the flames would create a path of ice similar to a mountain ridge.

Ignoring the pain on his foot caused by the burning flames the Oni named Thrasher again lunged at me, with his right fist cocked back he jumped in my direction with extreme ferocity.

Whoosh!

I stomped the ground and a wave of my Frostflames came out, they quickly solidified into many giant spikes of crystal ice that formed a wall that blocked the Oni's path. His cocked fist launched forward at the wall of spikes, however apart from a loud banging sound not even a tiny crack came out of that attack.

"AAARRRRGH!"

As result of touching the wall of spikes his right fist caught on fire, the Oni roared in pain and then jumped back to avoid further damage.

He barked a command to the flame youkais floating around, from up in the air they surged forward and started raining down fireballs at me, so much so that the entire area got coated in the red glow of their flames.

The flames, of course, did zero damage to me.

Unharmed by them I'd try to attack the youkais in the air with my Frostflames, however that soon proved to be harder that I initially thought.

I hadn't be able to do any training since my awakening a couple days ago, I had zero experience or skills wielding my powers and was in fact only able to call forth my Frostflames only because it was something instinctive to me.

My awakening had helped me cheat the system and jump to a level of immense power, however with no time to train said power I was essentially like a newbie who had just picked up a new game and then immediately given control of a high level character and told do play the game.

The youkais on the air didn't particularly moved that fast, in fact their pattern of movement was not that hard to understand, however the control of my flames was beginners level so in the end I wasn't able to hit them.

"Let's see what you all thing of this one!"

Frustrated by my lack of success I called out a huge amount of Frostflames in one go, concentrating very hard this time I willed them to compress themselves into ball of fire the size of a basketball. Roaring in anger I then launched said ball of Frostflames at the youkais in the air.

BOOOMM!

Arriving at the height where the youkais were the ball of Frostflames would explode in a mighty show of power, spreading far and beyond the flames engulfed every single Youkai in the air no matter how far from the initial blast they had been.

The sky was covered in a huge clouds of flames, the sapphire hue of them would taint the entire region in its majestic glow, and even the ground beneath my feet shook was the shockwave of my attack came down and hit it.

Objects made of ice would fall from the cloud of blue flames, however before they even touched the ground they became a crystal like powder that was then scattered by the wind.

Finally having dealt with those fire youkais I turned my attention back to my other foe, walking out from behind the wall of spikes I was shocked to see the Oni almost completely encased in ice.

Oh, right.

These are 'Frostflames', the manifestation of my divine domain this power of frost acted like flames, burning away what it touches with next to zero impunity.

Grazed by them on the foot the Oni had also punched my wall of spikes head on with his fist, they caught on fire and with no technique to expel them they kept burning, incasing his body in ice until only the left side of his head was left uncovered.

"Son of-!"

Gazing at my approaching figure with his remaining eye the Oni was going to utter one last insult at me, however the flames still burning on his body didn't gave him this chance and they surged forward and finished turning his entire body into a statue of ice.

The fight was over!

"Do-don't approach m-me!"

Turning to the side I started approaching the single other figure still on this place, the man in green who had been hiding in fear due to all that had happened looked at my approaching figure in terror, falling to the ground on his butt he pointed a trembling finger at me.

"Answer me this one question: Why did you make the youkais burn those farms?"

"W-ha what?"

"Just answer the question!"

"I-I needed their lands to further the progress of my company-, however the people would not sell me their land, not even if I offered a good deal"

"So you tried to force their hands, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

Standing over the man I gazed deeply into his eyes, there apart from terror due to the current situation I saw a swirl of cold calculative malice and greed.

This was a man that had little to no regards for the others, as much could been seen by how he ordered those youkais to ruin the life of the townspeople of Yamanokawa. Let me also not forget how he was pretty chill with the Oni killing me, they even talked about eating my body and even then I don't remember hearing any word coming from him.

Although his aura wasn't as tainted with evil as the Mad Mage's aura, that guy was a lost cause, this man in green was still definitely not a good person.

"All the suffering the townspeople went through was cause by greed…" I shook my head while sighing in frustration "I seriously hope this hurts"

"Wha-?"

Smack!

Without hesitation my hand shot forward and slapped the man on the face, the sound of the smacking ranging across the night.

His body was abruptly tossed to the side and he immediately went limp, he wasn't dead as I could hear his heart beating, however he wouldn't be waking up any time soon that was for sure.

Turning around I looked at what remained of the area, the hill pretty much no longer existed, the place was half frozen due to my flames and half burned due to youkais attack, two ice statues of Oni could be now seen here, and the sky still partially burned due to my Frostflames.

I tried to use my will to make them go away, which they did, but looking upwards I could see parts of the sky itself actually frozen solid due to my divine flames of frost.

As I gazed at all that I had only question in my mind.

"What now?"

…

…

…

---

…

Just as I was lost in what to do next the solution to my problems arrived.

""Young Master!""

Kurogami and Kurohashira, my two bodyguards and new friends, came from above and landed in front of me, still dressed the same was when I last saw them and with their wings out they looked at me with concern clear in their eyes.

"Are you alright Young Master?"

"I'm, thanks for the concern. Just some scratches from having to deal with a couple assholes, nothing much"

"Thank goodness!"

I smiled seeing their expression of relief when hearing that, the genuine concern emanating from their bodies made me very happy and touched.

Approaching me Kurogami made sure to check if I really didn't had any great wound or anything, with that checked he looked at me and asked.

"Young Master, What exactly happened after we parted ways?"

"I had appeared in this shrine dedicated to me where an old man was praying for help, he explained to me that his town was plagued by a catastrophe for almost an entire month already. The farms, the land, the livelihood of the people would suddenly appear on the morning completely burned to the ground. I couldn't just ignore his pleas, so after some snooping around I found a clue that led me to this man in a green suit. Following him I learned that he was the arsonist behind all, he had the command of some youkais and used them to burn down the lands, no one was able to find this before due to the Onis setting up a ward to prevent others from seeing the fire before it was too late, what you see around is the result of me fighting and defeating them"

During my abridged retelling of the events of today the two tengus looked at me and listened with great attention, nodding every now and then an impressed look was now on their eyes after they digested everything that I had said.

"That explains the ward veiling this place…" Kurogami looked around with a frown "Amateurish for my standards with it they would have eluded most normal people and Low-class youkais, it was definitely a blessing to this town that you came here and stopped this group before they did more damage"

"And stop them he did!"

Hashira looked at the now destroyed landscape and whistled; he then walked to the now frozen Onis and gave them a look.

"Two Oni, each has around High Mid-class power more or less, if working together they would barely be able to display Low Hiyokai-class power…" walking back to us he gave me a thumbs up "They should've been some tough opponents for someone with no training like you Young Master, the fact you defeated them is indeed impressive in a way"

"Thanks"

I had no idea how exactly how impressive fighting a 'Low Hiyokai-class' opponent as an untrained person, a youkai that doesn't know how to use their powers, really was as I don't have any parameter of comparison, but since Hashira said it is impressive in a way I was willing to believe it is.

Gazing around the place and seeing it's destroyed state I asked "How do we clean this mess I made? Leaving the way it is doesn't feel very wise"

"Don't worry about this Young Master; we can restore this place so that no one will know what happened here"

Hashira's answer made me sigh in relief, my mind then drifted back to the burned farms, with hope shining in my eyes I hurriedly asked them "And the farms? Can you do something about them too?!"

Standing beside me Kurogami put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, he then smiled at me.

"They'll be lusher than ever before, that's a promise!"

Hearing his words I felt like a weight was taken off my shoulders, during the whole day although I was mainly focused in catching the culprit the thought of restoring the farms back to normal never left my mind.

After all little meaning catching the culprit would have if the farms were still destroyed, with their main livelihood gone people would've still needed to sell their lands in order get some money, a bittersweet ending if you asked me.

"What now?"

"Now we'll send you to Urakyoto in haste, we're way behind schedule. You said there was a shrine dedicated to you nearby, right? Please take us to it, the shrine will be needed for what we're going to do"

"Sure thing" I turned around and pointed into a certain direction after sniffing the air a bit "It's straight into that direction"

They both nodded.

A fan appeared on Kurogami's hand which he then promptly shook it, black wind appeared out of nowhere around me and took me into the air, I was caught by surprise but soon gained a giddy smile when realizing that I was actually flying.

The two bodyguards then beat their wings and took to the sky as well, Kurogami controlling my flight and Hashira behind us with the man in green on his shoulder we flew through the night sky.

The twinkling stars above us and the passing landscape beneath us we quickly went from the edges of Yamanokawa all the way back to farm of old man Ichiro, landing on the ground we saw the lights of his house still on.

He really waited for me…

Smiling I walked forward and knocked on the door, hurried steps came from the other side before the door was abruptly open by old man Ichiro. The worried expression of the small old man turned into one of relief and great joy when seeing me,

"Lord Makami!"

"Hello Ichiro, thanks for having waited for me. I have good news for you, that problem that has been plaguing the town? Yeah, it's gone now. I've deal with the man behind It all"

"You did?!"

"I sure did"

Turning around I mentioned with my hand and called Hashira forward, he standing beside me I grabbed the man In green by the head and showed his face to Ichiro "This's the guy behind all. My friend Hashira here said he would be making sure the guy confessed his crimes later, so don't worry, he will be going to jail"

"He really has been captured… "

"That isn't the best part. I talked with my two helpers here and they promised to restore the farms back to normal. So don't worry my dear old man, your town will soon be back to its former glory, that's a promise I make on my own name"

"All the damage caused… the suffering of my people… the fear of being attack next will not come again…We're saved"

His lips curled into a relieved smile as tears of pure joy started rained down his face. Me, Hashira and Kurogami all smiled when seeing this scene.

-!!!-

Suddenly I felt a ripple of energy come from old man Ichiro's body, using of the mysterious connection between me and him this energy left Ichiro's body and entered into mine. As it did so I felt a warmth envelope my entire body, reaching inside of me I felt the energy becoming one with my very being, as it did so I felt my power increasing ever so slightly.

Confused I looked to the side and asked Kurogami "What just happened?"

"That was the power of faith Young Master" explained the Tengu with a smile "Fulfilling the prayer of someone a god will receive an increase to their power, the pure joy of a mortal when getting their prayers answered will turn into divine energy than would then be absorbed by the god who fulfilled said mortal's prayer. A single instance of it may not appear like much, but by doing so many times slowly but surely a god will increase its power"

"Is that so…"

At that moment I felt like a part of the mysteries of the world got revealed to me.

"What can I do to repay you Lord Makami?"

"You don't really need to do anything to thank me Ichiro..."

I really did meant that, but when looking at the old man's expression I felt like something more should be said "…But if you really want you just needed to help me make others remember my name, the name Makami"

"Yes, definitely!"

After bidding farewell to old man Ichiro me and my bodyguards walked away, tracing back my steps from that morning I took us three back to the shrine dedicated to me where this whole incident of today had started.

Standing before the statue of Makami I looked at it with a look of ponder on my face, turning around I asked Kurogami "So I just need to channel my divine energy into the shrine through my connection with it, right?"

"That's right Young Master" he nodded "Think of the 'Sun' when doing that and you'll be sent to the place you should go now"

"Cool… why I need to this again?"

"After the recent events the higher ups thought it was best to send you ahead through this method… " he looked at me with a strained smile "We should do this last another 'failure' happens again"

Looking at him I could see some sadness on the depths of his eyes, glancing to the side I saw a similar look on Hashira's eyes.

"…I don't know what some of the higher ups said to you after I vanished earlier, probably not many nice things. But let be known that I, Lucius Branco, the "Okuchi-no-Makami', see no failure in the day of today! Sure we got sidetracked and our schedule was delayed, but a town was saved and some assholes had been defeated, if that isn't a win I don't know what is!"

Looking at me their expressions was one of great surprise, then one of shock, before then settling into a relived one.

"Thank you for your words Young Master"

"Don't mention"

"You should go now, an important someone is waiting for you in the other side"

"Gotcha!"

Focusing inside of me I reached out towards the mystical connection I had with the shrine behind me, keeping the image of the sun in mind like Kurogami said I pushed some of my divine energy through the connection towards the shrine.

The shrine then glowed with the color of my divinity, like earlier that day the feeling of the laws of physic being thwarted came to me.

Blinding light covered my eyes, I instinctively closed my eyes to protect them, when opening again I saw that I was no longer on the small shrine.

"Where am I?"

Looking around the place where I was looked to be a palace room of sorts, a throne room even if you will, quite big the architecture of the place was clearly of Japanese origin, the walls are adorned with intricate wooden carvings depicting images of nature and the divine. Sunlight rained down from, well, somewhere and illuminated the entire place in its beautiful golden light.

The entire place exuded an air of reverence and divinity, the feeling of being somewhere sacred that no mortal man or woman had ever set foot on before, no words that could properly describe the beauty of this place and give it justice came to mind.

Truly amazing.

"Oh, you're finally here. Come, let us finally meet"

"?!"

As I was lost into awe of the place I suddenly heard a woman's voice call out to me, gentle and motherly but also full of power that commanded reverence hearing that voice was like hearing the words of the divine. Curious about the owner of the voice I turned around to look at its source, what I saw when I did that stunned me completely.

There sitting on a majestic golden throne was a woman of unparalleled beauty, tall she had quite the voluptuous figure, her long silky black hair cascading down her back all the way to her thighs, her white smooth skin glistening with a divine glow, a divine glow that was also present in her golden eyes.

She wore a traditional long white dress adorned with details in gold, it was very fitting and it revealed a part of her body without evoking a vulgar feeling. One of those belts called 'Obi' was around her waist, red in color it was further adorned by a small golden rope tied around it.

The woman was beautiful, amazingly so, however it wasn't just her mesmerizing beauty that stunned me, no, but also the feeling I got when gazing at her figure.

The Sun!

That's what first came to my mind when looking at this woman who had called me.

This wasn't a hyperbole either, looking at this woman truly gave me the feeling of looking directly at the sun, it was like if the celestial star had closed the insurmountable distance between it and the Earth and had come down in the shape of human woman.

For more absurd that it sounded I felt deep inside of me that this wasn't just a trick of the mind, that if scientific equipment was present here they'd tell with a hundred percent of certainty that what was before me was, In fact, the real sun people see shining brightly in the sky above their heads.

An impossibility that no amount of modern human logic would be able to explain, but that was the thing… modern human logic wasn't meant to explain the nature of the woman before me as she, like me after my awakening, was a being of divine nature which mortal beings could never fully wrap their mind around it.

She was a goddess!

"Amaterasu…"

That was the name that came to me when looking at the woman, after what I felt when looking at her no other name would've made sense.

"Oh? So you recognize me, huh? I guess that after having stared at me for so long the answer would've naturally come to you"

Said the goddess with a smile when hearing me say her name, her voice was of a gentle tone however I could swear it also had a certain teasing tone laced underneath it.

"S-sorry"

Hearing her say that I was starting at her made me blush, smiling sheepishly I stated scratching my cheek in order to try hide the red tint that had come to cover it "Forgive me but It's honestly hard to not stare you, the feeling I got when looking at you was otherworldly, divine, I was deeply entranced by your beauty"

Walking forward I tried to explain myself to her, she must've somehow liked because she started smiling right after I said that.

"Hahahaha you've a smooth way with your words, similar to that of a certain someone I knew, however your words did not carry the perverseness so ever present when the talks… I liked it!" smiling gracefully she put a hand on her chest and said "As you had figured out I'm Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun and current main Chief god of our dear pantheon. It's a pleasure to make you acquaintance"

"The feeling is mutual" properly bowing to her I returned the greeting "The name is Lucius Branco, 'The God of Wolves' Okuchi-no-Makami… well, the current one at least, but that I believe you already knew"

"That I did" she nodded "Answering your earlier question, the place where you're currently is my office in 'Takamagahara', the abode of we heavenly gods that preside over the land known as 'Japan', you're one of us now Lucius, as such you too can call this place home"

"Amazing…"

Although a part of me felt a tad weird out due to being inside a 'heavens' that wasn't the one I believed in, the other bigger part felt extreme awe. To be here in a place outside of Earth that was quite literally divine was a feeling hard to describe, my entire being felt relaxed in a way that was hard to describe.

"I had ordered the Tengu to lead you here as I wanted to talk with you personally, to see and meet this new but also simultaneously old friend and then talk about your… unique situation"

Oh boy, here it comes.

"Let me guess, you want to talk about my 'awakening', right?"

"Indeed"

Amaterasu's smile lowered a bit as her voice became more serious.

"A new god appearing is something that wasn't happened in millennia, it's a very unusual thing and due to the celestial phenomenon caused by your 'awakening' your existence is known to all those of divine nature. We had been able to act fast and bring you here to your divine realm of origin before others could reach you, but soon their curiosity about this new 'god', you, will grow great and they will start to poke around in an attempt of learning more about this 'anomaly' that it is you. Some with honest curiosity, others…. With more malevolent intentions"

Fuck.

I honestly had guessed as much before on my own after my ancestor revealed my true nature to me, I mean, no shit that someone born mortal suddenly becoming a god would attract a lot of attention.

That said, hearing the full thing out of Amaterasu's mouth still gave me the chills, although I was now a god my mind still mostly operated from the perspective of a mortal human, as such the thought of dozens or even hundreds of gods from all over the globe having their eyes, be it with curiosity or malice, locked at me made my heart skip a beat.

"To have so many gods focus their attention on me…I'm unsure if I should feel flattered or terrified"

Hearing that Amaterasu laughed, her serious expression once again relaxing.

"You're still cracking jokes, that means you're not as terrified as you're letting out" her eyes became gentle "Don't worry my sweet smooth talker, we're not going to allow people from other pantheons to mess with you, with one of our own"

Her voice rumbled with unimaginable divine power when speaking about keeping other gods away from me, it was deeply reassuring and it made many of my worries melt away as if snow under the warm sunlight.

"…Thank you"

"You're one of us remember? The stars will die out and the universe will end before I allow others to mess with one of my own" The confidence radiating off her was like the sun "For now all you needed to do is familiarize yourself with your new powers and divine duties. As a Youkai god you'll be staying with Yasaka and her people, your people, in the city of Urakyoto, she'll take care of you and explain that which you needed to know"

I nodded.

"Sounds good to me"

"Good, now you just need to go through those Torii Gates over the-"

"Sending him away so soon sister? Let me at least take a look at our new family member first"

"?!"

A voice that rumbled like thunder appeared out of nowhere and interrupted Amaterasu before she could finish what she was saying, I saw a look of annoyance flash on her face as her eyes gazed behind me at the source of the voice, turning around I saw the owner of the voice.

He was a tall and strong middle-aged man who's beauty could only be described as divine. He had a mainly face, strong haw with a perfectly trimmed beard and medium size wild hair which was charming on its own way. He wore one of those robes used in the past by the samurai, navy blue in color it was loosely wore by him and the front part was open in a way that showed is chiseled chest, black symbols of swirling clouds and lightning could be seen going down both his arms.

A huge Storm!

Looking at the owner of the voice was like looking at a storm out in the sea, one that had took the shape of human man and was now walking towards me while having a joking smile on his face.

"What do you want Susanoo?"

Came the voice of Amaterasu, her words slightly tinted with annoyance revealed to me who was the man, he was the storm god 'Susanno', famous for slaying the dragon 'Yamanata-no-Orochi' he was also brother of Amaterasu.

"Where's my 'Hi brother' at?"

"Are you going to answer?"

"…To the point as always, huh sister? sheesh" ignoring his sister's glare the storm god turned to look at me "Like I said, I came here to meet our new family member. I knew the previous Makami very well after all, he was my dear friend so being one of the first to meet his descendant and successor was a given"

Now I was very curious.

"You're friends with my ancestor?"

"Almost every one of us was friends with the 'Makami', however the bond of friendship we both shared was more profound than the rest" he smiled at me while pounding his fist on his chest "It was one of the strongest types of bond, one between two men that fought each other many times in the past!"

I was surprised.

That my ancestor would have many bonds of friendship with his fellow Shinto gods was a given, however to learn that he had such deep and mainly bond with one of the big three of the pantheon was still quite surprising.

"Well I hope that we'll have the same bond in the future" smirking I extended my right hand at him for a handshake "Lucius Branco, it's a pleasure to meet you"

His eyes slightly widened as he was a bit surprised by my actions, but then he smirked again and accepted my handshake. His grip was strong, very strong, however I didn't backed down and gave my best to return the favor.

"Hehehe I feel like we will" letting go of my hand he snapped his fingers and made a sword in a scabbard appear on his hand, he then shoved the thing into my arms before saying "Here, this blade once belonged to your ancestor. He had left it here when he went away, I kept it with me all this time as a memento but now that you're here, his descendant and successor, its only right for you to have it"

Caught by surprise I said nothing in response, looking down at the sword I could instantly feel a deep connection to it.

The scabbard was of a dark sapphire color, made of some unknown material it was adorned with delicate and amazingly lifelike depictions of wolves running through a snow covered landscape.

The hilt was wrapped in white fur, the guard featured delicate Frostflames patterns that gave off a feeling of looking at a wintry realm. The pommel was made in the likeness of majestic wolf's head, one that looked quite familiar, the eyes of the wolf's head gleamed with a divine sapphire light.

Not resisting the temptation I drew out the sword.

The blade was a straight double-edged one that greatly reminded me of a longsword due to tis shape and size, resembling crystalline ice the blade shimmered with an ethereal glow akin to moonlight caught in a frost. Intricate carvings of wolves went down the blade adorning it, captured in many postures these extremely lifelike carvings gave off the feeling of an ancient hunter and guardian that once had hunted and protected the frozen lands of old.

It was beautiful, beautiful I say!

"[Sword of the Frost Wolf God (Kôri Ôkami no Tsurugi] ]…"

When I unconsciously uttered that name I felt the sword in my hand resonate with me, like a part of my very being that had now returned to me holding that sword was a feeling that few words could convey.

I felt complete!

"That's this sword's name alright" looking up I saw the storm god throwing me a look of approval "Knowing that name right off the bat means you're worthy to wield this sword, she's one of the Totsuka blades, a very famous series of divine swords. Learn well how to wield it and I'm sure you will become one hella of a fighter"

This was one amazing gift, sheathing the sword back I turned to the god and bowed to him in gratitude.

"Thank you very much for giving me this sword"

"No need to thank me, I was just returning it to its rightful owner"

"My mom didn't raise a rude person, in this situation saying 'thank you' is just the proper thing to do"

"What a polite young man"

"You flatter me"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Hearing the clapping sound we stopped what we're doing, turning around I saw Amaterasu looking at us.

"That's very kind of you brother" looking at me she shot me a genuine smile "I'm happy for you Lucius, that sword will greatly help you grow in power. I'd love to explain more of it to you, however I believe you're quite tired from everything you did today. Finishing what I was saying earlier, go through those Torii Gates at the back while having thoughts of home in your head and you should arrive where Yasaka is waiting for you"

"Will sure do"

Waving my two fingers in a mock salute I bid the two gods farewell and then walked away, going to the end of the room I saw a couple Torii Gates positioned there.

Walking through while having thoughts of home like Amaterasu said I felt the now familiar spatial ripples caused by the laws of physic being thwarted around me, in less than a blink of an eye I saw myself no longer on Amaterasu's office, instead now being in the square of a castle.

"It's a pleasure to to finally meet you Young Master Lucius. I'm Yasaka, leader of the West Youkai faction of Kyoto"

"So you're person that will be taking care of me? Yasaka, right? The pleasure of meeting you is min-"

Not even five second later that I arrived there I heard a woman talking to me.

Hearing that it was that 'Yasaka' person that I needed to meet I smiled, turning to the side to look at her I started greeting her, I wasn't able to properly finishing my greeting however as the words got stuck in my throat after my eyes landed on the woman talking to me.

Before me was a beautiful woman with golden blond hair and matching golden eyes, said hair was very long and tied into a loose ponytail and from out for it two fox ears grew out.

She had a very voluptuous figure, a beautiful figure, her attire consisted of a yellow kimono, a golden obi, and a black pelt with golden skulls and lines printed on it. Said kimono had a white interior and it was open at her shoulder, thus giving me some generous view of her huge breasts.

This woman was beyond mesmerizing, an aura of authority and dignity of a ruler softly emanated from deep inside of her which only enhanced her beauty in my eyes, her charming smile and her eyes golden like the sun being very pleasing to look at.

"…"

Gazing at her in silence for some time the only words that could've been heard ringing inside my head at that moment were these ones:

'I'm in love…'

…

…

…

---

…

Back on the office of the goddess of the sun after Lucius had went away the two siblings entered a staring contest, a stalemate that was only broken some ten minutes later when the sun goddess looked at her brother and said

"You're really something else my dear brother"

"I have no idea what you mean"

"Your whole speech '…you're here, his descendant and successor, its only right for you to have it' doesn't fool me brother. We both know that if you really meant what you said you'd have returned that sword to the family of his descendants ages ago" She bored down on her brother with an inquisitive look "So tell me, what's your true goal in giving the sword to Lucius?"

Although the being that reigned over the storms briefly though in dismissing the question he long learned that angering his sister wasn't the best of ideas, furthermore he wasn't fond of going around in circles anyway, so he smirked at her and then answered.

"My words weren't a total a lie, as you know the Makami was indeed a deep friend of mine, a great friend. But answering your question, I gave him the sword because he is a true god through and through, which means that one day he will be able to master that sword's full power, thus in the future being able to pay me the debt his old man owed me"

Amaterasu raised an eyebrow at that answer, searching in her memory that spanned eras she recalled the one memory about this 'debt' her brother was talking.

"You're talking about the fight you wished to have had against the 'Makami'?"

"The same" confirmed the storm god with a nod "My dear friend Makami said he was gonna give me a fight when he returned, but he never did. Seeing as his descendant is now here as a true god, divine authority and all, he'll be the one to fulfill this promise left behind by his old man"

"Typical of you"

Hearing that explanation Amaterasu couldn't help but look at her brother in annoyance "He's only around High-Demigod class right now, a level of power he barely even knows how to use. It will take a long time before he can match you in a fight"

"I'll wait whatever much is needed!"

"…Why are you so obsessed?"

"Can't you see sister? This boy's very existence defied all logic, everything we knew about descendants of gods with mortals. The boy should've been born with barely any Youkai blood in him, let alone any divinity. But not only he's a true Youkai, he is a god like you and me, domain authority and all. An anomaly through and through, can you imagine the things that are impossible even for us but are within reach to him?"

Arriving here the god of storms gave a smile that was by all definitions truly 'inhuman'.

"Just thinking of the heights this boy can reach already makes my blood boil! That's why I gave the [Kôri Ôkami no Tsurugi] to him now, he mastering that blade will greatly help him unlock his potential … and with that he'll be getting closer to giving me that fight I wished for so long, a fight that neither his ancestor or anyone else here could give me"

Having explained himself Susanoo didn't waited for more questions of his sister and uncerimonaly turned to walk away, his body turned into lightning and shot away by forcefully blowing a hole in the very fabric of space.

"…"

On the throne Amaterasu looked at the patch of space already slowly healing itself with a look of someone deep in thought.

"This can be a problem…" she muttered with a frown.

The ruling system of the Shinto pantheon was a bit different from the one seen in most other pantheons, the difference being that instead of a single 'Chief god' as leader the Shinto pantheon actually had three chief gods.

It actually used to have only one like the others, in the times of old the patriarch of the gods 'Izanagi' was that sole absolute ruler of the pantheon. However after that … unfortunate event on his life the creator of this land grew tired of it all, eventually feeling like he was too old already he retired of his position and stopped concerning himself with any matters of the outside world.

The position of chief god was then left to his 'Three Great Children'; The Sun goddess Amaterasu, the Moon god Tsukuyomi, and the Storm god Susanoo. The three greatest gods of Japan it was decided that the three siblings would act as a council of sorts, ruling the Shinto pantheon as its three chief gods.

As the most beloved and august of the three Amaterasu was appointed as the 'main' chief amongst the three, she would take charge of the bulk of the daily administration and running of the pantheon, however when big important key decisions showed up the other two would join her in the decision making.

Her authority allowed her to take care of almost everything and reign in any troublemaker in their midst, however due to his position her brother Susanoo was the trickiest of troublemakers to deal with.

In most cases she would be able to so, thanks to some of the lessons she taught him in the past her brother long learned to try stay on line and to not cross her, however if he really put his mind into something his status as one of three chief gods gave him enough freedom to go ahead and do what he wanted.

The situation with the new Makami, Lucius, was a good example of this.

The storm god had put into his mind that that the young man was an 'anomaly' capable of reaching immense heights, he will mess around with him in order to make this anomalous potential come to fruition. To make the young god an opponent like no other he ever had and when that happens, he will force Lucius to fight with him and there's very little that will make him not go through with this plan.

"Sorry my dear pup, keeping my brother off your shadow will not be exactly easy…"

Thinking about the troubles her brother will make her go through was already giving Amaterasu a headache, but then she started thinking more about what he had said.

"An 'anomaly' you say? Well, you aren't too wrong about that…"

Thinking about the smooth talking young god she smiled, her eyes shining with a look that not even the other gods could decipher.

"My dear Lucius, we'll be having a lot of fun together…"

…

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It is finally happening.

Standing on the square of the castle in the divine realm of Makami I waited with great anticipation the arrival of the Lord of this realm of eternal frost.

Earlier that day when receiving the message of Kurogami saying the Young Master had vanished I felt like my heart had stopped, a chill went down my spine as many horrible possibilities went through my head.

Although I had quickly recovered myself after that initial shock after asserting the situation, for the rest of the day a feeling of anxiety was ever present on the back of my head, the very idea that something bad could've happened to the Young Master making me nervous.

The importance of Young Master Lucius, this young man that had been thrusted into this new reality without ever asking, to me and the Youkai race as a whole couldn't be any lower, to say that he's one of our lifelines is not a understatement!

Despite a considerable decent relationship with the gods, having the favor of many of them like the goddess 'Inari' who's a patron of my species, the truth of the matter was that our race wasn't as close to the gods as most people from outside would think it is.

One must not forget that in many eras past we youkais had been hunted as monsters through out the land, we had been able to greatly improve things on that front since back then however it still some distance away from being truly ideal.

The 'Three Evils' of Japan being from out people also didn't helped our case, their wicked influence over our race back then did not leaving a good image behind.

We essentially lack a guardian, a god of our own people that could make our voice be more heard, a powerhouse who's power could go beyond the level of a 'Daiyoukai' and make us stand on equal grounds with other factions, and a symbol that could maybe finally unite our people as one whole.

The Young Master Lucius, the new 'God of Wolves', was this someone we had been waiting!

Once a 'Daiyoukai' that was able to transcend beyond his mortal limitation to become a god the 'Makami' and his name had a lot of weight, both in and out of our race, when he had gone away in the past we had been left in great dismay but now his successor was here.

Even if you left all of this aside just the fact Young Master Lucius was a young man lost somewhere and in potential danger was enough to make me worried.

Thankfully he had been found safe and sound.

Due to orders from up above he was sent first to the encounter of Lady Amaterasu, meanwhile I was commanded to use the privilege bestowed upon me by the previous Lord Makami to come here to his divine realm and wait for the Young Master to finish his talk with Lady Amaterasu.

Coming to this divine realm of eternal frost I patiently waited for its new owner to arrive, standing before the Torii Gates I felt the space in the middle of them ripple, a telltale sign of someone's arrival, then a young man appeared.

Handsome.

That was my first impression of Young Master Lucius, tall and with an athletic build his light-brown skin was without any blemishes like a clear ice crystal, his white hair and his sapphire blue eyes evoked a certain feeling of the divine. His face of foreigner origin was quite pleasing to the eye, and his wolf features cute, his modern clothing with that jacket with the white fur collar all came together nicely to make this young man quite the figure to behold.

I didn't knew of his divine ancestry had anything to do with this, or if it was normal genetics and a healthy lifestyle, but the truth of the matter was that he was definitely quite handsome.

And that was only the physical aspect.

The aura subtly emanating from his body was clearly one of divine nature, others who didn't knew better might've not understood this at first, maybe just think he was a bit different, but those that did could tell with one probing look tell he wasn't a normal mortal being, still far from having a god-class level of power his nature as a true god was pretty clear for those that knew what they're looking at.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Young Master Lucius. I'm Yasaka, leader of the West Youkai faction of Kyoto"

"So you're person that will be taking care of me? Yasaka, right? The pleasure of meeting you is min-"

Hearing my greetings the Young Master promptly greeted me back with a smile, however his expression frozen and his words got stuck on his mouth the moment he turned around and laid his eyes on me, raising his head up and down I could feel his gaze scanning my entire figure.

Oh, I see…

So focused I was on his identity as a god that I forgot that Young Master Lucius in truth was, is, still a young man at the height of his youth. I knew very well that most men, and even some women too, find my appearance quite pleasing to the eye and would react in similar ways when first meeting me.

They'd try hide their reaction as to not look so obvious of course, Young Master Lucius's was pretty obvious with his, a clear sign of his age I suppose, however to me his more 'honest' display made his reaction just that more cuter.

"Giggle Liking what you're seeing Young Master?"

I asked him with a teasing smile, slightly leaning forward I made my chest stand out just that bit more. As expected his eyes almost instantly went there, I giggled, he became a bit flustered but then I saw his eyes go up again and locked into my own.

He smiled.

"Very much" I recoiled in surprise "To meet such radiating and beautiful woman after all that I went through today feels like a blessing, all my wearing and fatigue just melted away. You're beautiful…. Very beautiful indeed"

Okay, this became way more honest than I expected. Taken aback by this I almost sheepishly said to him "That's… quite the direct answer"

"I don't see the problem with that" he started approaching me "I just answered your question honestly, no lies or beating around the bush. Why'd I? I don't see any problem in stating the truth, I find you beautiful and that's a fact, why lie about it?"

I honestly felt a little lost in how to react.

To receive such an honest praise, and from a god nonetheless… it felt quite good.

No rodeo or lies, no pervert or ulterior motive behind it, no attempt of flattery, just an honest to heavens praise.

"Let me now finish my introduction" standing in front of me he gave a polite bow "Like I was saying the pleasure of meeting you is mine. The name is Lucius Branco, the new 'Makami'"

I was flustered by his earlier words, but quickly recovered and returned his bow.

"Young Master Lucius"

He smiled awkwardly "Still not getting used to be called that" he then shook his head "You're from Kyoto, right? I guess that's where I'll be staying then"

"Indeed" I nodded "You'll be staying 'Urakyoto' to be more precise, a special place built by youkais for youkais located 'underneath' the actual city of Kyoto. It was the home of your ancestor, the First 'Makami', when in the mortal world, it was seen as fitting for you to stay now there too"

"Amazing…"

A look of genuine wonder was on his face.

"We'll be using the gates to go there, it's a simple process you probably already experienced"

"Cool"

He nodded in understanding, turning his head around he look at the place before then asking "What about this place then?"

"Here is the 'Lands of Eternal Frost' Young Master, Makami's celestial realm in 'Takamagahara', your realm"

His eyes widened and an expression of even more wonder appeared on his face, without saying a word he started walking around the place with me I soon following nehind.

The celestial realm of Makami was an amazing place, the heavens above was a mesmerizing display of Frostflames in a night sky, ribbons of icy blue streak across the celestial canvas casting an otherworldly glow upon the realm.

The land is covered in a perpetual blanket of pristine snow and ice, glistening in the pale silvery light of the realm's sun. The air is crisp and cold, but never unbearable, offering a sense of refreshing vitality. Towering mountains, adorned with jagged crystalline formations that glowed with Frostflames, rose from the horizon as if sentinels of the realm.

Ancient trees with crystal like leaves stood across the realm, amazing creations of Frostflames, near the heart of the realm was a frozen lake of immense scale, its surface clear and mirror like it perfectly reflected the skies above. And just at the shore of this lake, in the true heart of the realm, was a castle which was where we stood at the moment.

Majestic in every sense of the world this was the true abode of the 'God of Wolves', its headquarters and main seat of power. Enormous in size its architecture was the peak of what our culture could achieve, very few buildings such as this one could be seen in the mortal realm, a truly magnificent construction that fitted perfectly in this divine realm of eternal frozen lands.

"This… this place is amazing. I never felt so at ease before!"

The smile now on Young Master Lucius's face was one of pure bliss, closing his eyes he immersed himself in the aura of the realm. The realm on its side answered back to him, a ripple could felt going across the entirety of the realm as the place rushed to embrace its creator back.

It was a beautiful scene.

"Say Yasaka" calling my name Young Master Lucius turning to the side and pointed at a certain direction in the distance "What are those things?"

We had walked to viewing platform on the side of the castle's square, from there a perfect view of the realm at large was provided. At the moment the Young Master was pointing to a particular spot in the lake's shore, there a couple of very lifelike ice statues could be seen.

"Those? Those are the souls of the wicked people you killed"

"…what?"

"The Makami is a deity that […protects the good and punishes the wicked…, when you kill someone that is wicked their soul is frozen and then sent where where they'd suffer punishment from their deeds. That's one of your divine authorities Young Master, a part of your domain, it does this practically on its own so that's why you probably didn't noticed that it happened"

"…"

His expression went to one of shock, to one of terror, to one of contemplation, wonder, indifference, before then settling in a greatly torn one.

Interesting.

In the past I had the honor of being invited to this realm by the first Makami, at the time when he showed me his 'Prison of Wicked Souls' he didn't batted an eye when explaining what it was and its purpose, to him it was just a simple and natural thing which he was never bothered by it.

Young Master Lucius was different though, while his divine nature tried to make him view this the same way his ancestor did, his still very much present human side did the opposite. Contradictory emotions warred inside of him, something clear when looking at his face, the matter of how to view this 'little' fact of his domain as a god a very thorny one for him to decide.

That was very interesting indeed, one of the first hints that showed me that, despite being the 'Okuchi-no-Makami' like his ancestor, he wasn't going to be the exact same deity his esteemed ancestor was in the past.

Interesting, very interesting indeed….

"I really wished they aren't so close to the castle…"

Just as his words fell the area surrounding the statues trembled, sinking into the ground in a matter of moments they no longer could be seen there.

"Did I… did I do that?"

"This is your divine realm Young Master, quite literally a part of your very being, it follows your will just as your body does. You didn't wanted to see the 'wicked souls' near the castle, the realm heard your wish and then moved them to somewhere else faraway"

The power of a god... What an amazing thing it was.

…

…

...

I was greatly torn.

Looking at the statues that had the shape of that mad mage and the Oni was quite jarring to say the least.

A part of me was deeply terrified by this, not only I killed people but also trapped their souls in an eternal frozen prison, however another part told me this wasn't something be ashamed of, they were wicked and punishing them like this was something natural for me to do.

Torn between these two sides I didn't knew how to feel, wanting to not have to look at them for now I got my wished reward when the realm followed my will and threw them somewhere I could not see in the moment.

Handy.

In speaking of the realm I was utterly mesmerized by it, never in my life I felt so at peace, so relaxed as I'm right now, it was like finally meeting a piece of my very being that was lost in the past.

Looking at these oh so vast lands, feeling the deeply intimate bond I had with it, and after all that happened to me today, I truly started to feel like I was a god.

"..."

The reality of my situation finally started to settle in my mind, that I now had great responsibilities, divine duties that I could not ran away from.

It was frightening, very much so, but also… extremely exciting.

"Let's go Yasaka, time to go home"

"Yes, Young Master"

With the divine beauty following behind me I walked to the Torii Gates at the entrance of the place and walked through them, space rippled and then took us to the place that will become my new home from now on.

"Let the adventure begin…"

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Well, that was the chapter.

In here we had followed Lucius through his first ordeal as a god, his first fight after getting his powers. We also saw many new characters, in DxD no Shinto god ever really appeared so in this story they will be all original creations out of my head, what you guys think of Amaterasu and Susanoo? Being the first gods that Lucius met they will be very reoccurring.

Other things about his new divine identity got revealed, some of the aspects of his domain, his divine realm and the divine weapon left behind by his ancestor, which is btw a original weapon who's appearance is based on the 'Kusanagi' wielded by 'Ibuki' in FGO.

In the next chapter we will see Lucius settling in amongst his fellow youkais, meeting them and finally starting to learn how to wield his immense power. Things like 'Low Hiyoukai' and 'High Demigod' will also be explained, (spoiler, these are power levels).

Hope you had liked it, lot of work was put into this one so I'd love to hear your thought about it later.

Thanks everyone for the constant support, you all are awesome.

Constructive critics are always welcomed.

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