Somewhere in the sky...
In the broaddaylight, nine individuals were flying through the air in one group. Thoseindividualwere Amaterasu, Inari,Kaguya,Yukari, Chen, Ran, Hecatia, Junko, andJophiel. Amaterasu was taking the lead of the groupin theirflight. They could see Italica in the distance, but therewerealso smoke coming out of it.
Amaterasu: Everyone, stop!
She ordered and everyone stopped in mid-air. Some of them were confusedof whywould theystop.
Inari: Your highness, why did we stop?
Amaterasu stayed silent. She doesn't want to say it. She doesn't want to say "We'll make a dramatic entrance." She had read a few action mangas or comics that caught her interest and wanted to do the same thing with the girls. And this, is the perfect chance to make an appearance amongst the battle. But saying that right front of the group would make hersoundedlike she wanted more began tothink abetter word for why they stopped... That was, until Yukari ruined her image.
Yukari: I see, you were thinking about "that"?
Amaterasu stiffened. It was like Yukari read herthought.
Amaterasu: I-I would never do something like that. Why would I, the leader of all Japanese pantheon, do stupid things like performing a dramatic entrance?
Yukari: I never said or specified what it was.
She froze. Her big mouth just confessed everything withoutrealizethat she hadfellinto an old book trick. She saw Yukari with amischieviousgrin on her face which irritated her.
Inari: You highness...
Amaterasu jolted when hearingInari voice. She turned her gaze at Inari and the rest of the group. She saw Inari with a very upset look on her face, while the otherskeepinga straight face.
Inari: I should've re-educated you more seriously and confiscated your doujins again.
Amaterasu: H-Hold on a second! Why am I the victim here!
Kaguya: Ara, Miss Oomikami, you should act like an actual leader, you know? It's not good being a hikikomori.
Inari:*Shot glare at Kaguya*
Kaguya: ... What?
Before she could react, Inari's hand grabbed Kaguya's face. She felt her face as if she was slowly being crushed by the pressure.
Inari: You're a damn NEET, you idiot!
Kaguya: *Muffled scream*Hiyaaaaaaaaaahhhh!
Amaterasu: Yeah, you can't just call me hikikomori without any- *Muffled scream* Ahhhhhhhh!
Inari: That goes for you too, hikikomori!
Inari's other hand was also on Amaterasu's face. Both Ex-moon princess and sun goddess were at Inari's mercy, struggling from the grip of her hands. To Inari, working for the sun goddess has been nothing but stress. She has seen her daily activities starting from playing games, reading comics ormangas, andsleep. The only time that she was great at work was due to an extreme deadline and other things that went wrong. This is what she has beenwondering beforethe Gate opened. Why didKamiput truston ahikikomori?
Meanwhile, in Italica...
Italica was under heavy attack by bandits. Standing over the city gate, Pinalooseda few arrows at the retreating bandits and took a deep breath. Wounded soldiers staggered around or collapsed from blood loss. Arrows were shot into the stone walls and the surrounding area was a mess. She spotted several citizens holding farm tools and sticks with a glance. They have been fightingfor coupleof hours now. The bandits kept coming as if there were no end of them.
Pina: Don't lose hope, our victory is near.
Outside the wall, the corpses of bandits and carcasses of horses were scattered all over the ground. But it didn't make them stop as theycontinueto attack. Arrows from the bandits flew and hit random civilians inside the gate.
Hamilton: Princess, there's too many of them.
Said Hamilton, near the wooden barricade, still fighting against the bandits.
Pina: Stay on your ground, Hamilton! The sooner we hold our ground, the sooner we-
She was cut short when a sudden explosionhit on theenemy furtherfollowed by multiple projectiles being shot from above and decimated half of the enemy by its impact. Both sides were confused until a bright intense light appeared from above, blinding everyone below.
Bandit leader:*Covered his eyes*Arrghh, what is this light? Everyone, fall back! Fall back!
With their leader's order, they began to fall back. Inside the gate, Pina and everyone else continued to cover their eyes from the light. She doesn't know what it was, but itdefinatelyscares the enemy away, and they too. Soon, the light dimmed itself, revealing nine girls hovering in mid-air. She was surprised andaweas these girls descended to the ground.
Earlier ago
Jophiel: Uhh, Miss Inari, I think you should stop.
She watched Inari still grabbing both moon princess and sun goddess's face, givingthem a a long white coat, light brown shirt, white skirt, black shoes, and black pantyhose. She has a beautiful face with short blonde hair almost like Ran. Like any otherangels, shehas a bigwhite majestic wings. She placed her hand on Inari's shoulder as she looked atJophiel. She gave a face saying "please" before Inari sighed and released both girls.
Jophiel: Good, now everyone, grab onto me.
The girls: ?
Jophiel: Miss Amaterasu said that she wants to make a dramatic entrance, right? And isn't our mission also helping the humans from evil forces by revealing ourselves? I can teleport us to their city and make that entrance. But, I also need you to deal with the rest of the enemy.
Inari: ...
Jophiel: Miss Inari, don't be mad at them for their behaviour. If you're still mad, then blame it on me, not them.
Amaterasu & Kaguya:*Starting to whine*Eeeeh... Jophiel-san!
Both of them immediately went for the hug forJophiel'skind act. The rest of the girls laughed and Inari took a deep breath and let it all out. She couldn't bring herself to blame the angel since she didn't do anything to make her upset. The girls soon grabbed ontoJophielas theydissapearedfrom their last location.
Present
Pina came down from the gate wall and was about to greet them. She felt something from them. It felt, Hamilton, Norma, Grey, and the civilians couldn't even raise their weapons.
Pina: W-Who are you?
Jophiellooked at Amaterasu and smiled as she gestured to Pina. She was giving her a signal saying "Your turn." She nodded before sheintroducewho they are.
Amaterasu: We are the Gods, servant, and supernaturals from beyond the Gate.
Everyone in Italica(except the nine girls): Gods!
Timeskip
Meanwhile with the three recon teams
They have arrived in front of the city's gate. Itami, Terry,Min-jae, and the three girls had come out of the vehicles. Itami was about to knock on the gate door, but only to received a hard knocked out when the gate door opened.
They dragged him inside after he was knocked out. Rory and Lelei knew it was just an accident, so they did not blame Pina, but instead they went to help the unconscious Itami. Rory put Itami's head in her lap, while Tuka took a water canteen from his belt and poured water on his face.
The sentries and townspeople gathered round to see what happened.
Tuka: What were you thinking? You didn't realize somebody might be in front of the gate? Even a dwarf or a commonote would be more careful! Not checking makes you worse than a goblin.
The Elf girl scolded Pina for opening the door so forcefully when she knew someone was on the other side. Pina lowered her head and remained silent as an apologetic expression showed on her face... Until she realizedthat she made a grave mistake for hitting one of their (Earth) gods' people. She panicked at the thought of their divine retributionupon her.
Itami recovered consciousness after a while.
Itami: Ughhh...
He groaned as he rubbed his chin, while opening his eyes. It was then that he realized the face of Rory, the black-clad priestess, now filled his field of vision. Her black hair grazed across Itami's face. It was a little prickly. He jolted up and tried to remember what happened before he was unconscious.
Itami: What happened?
Terry: A door hit you.
Itami: What?
Min-jae: It happened. Don't worry, we called our teams that you are ok. If we were not here and you had waited a little bit longer, then that gate would probably blown to bits.
Itami: Right.*Look at the surroundings*So who's going to explain what's going on?
Everyone who is present looked at the red haired woman.
Pina: Eh? Me?
Hamilton: Impudent fool! This is an affront to the Third Imperial Princess, Pina Co Lada!
The six of them: ... Imperial Princess?
Timeskip
Pina and her subordinates guided the six to somewhere in the mansion. She talked about how Italica is a economical hub, how they sent their troops to the other world, and the situation they were in. She even showed them the current ruler of Italica within the throne room. Once they have arrived at in front of the room where they could discuss more, she stopped. It's like she was frozen in place. The group were confused about why she stopped and afraid to open the door. She clenched her hand and her body was shaken. After gathering some courage, she gave the group a reason why she acted like that.
Pina: ... Before you arrived, your gods came here and waited for your arrival beyond this room.
Itami: Gods?
Terry: What do you mean "our" gods?
Pina remained silent. The only thing that she could do now is to show them. She relucantly opened the door and walked in. The moment they stepped inside, those who were from Earth have their eyes widen. What they were seeing was a true beauty, and lively. There were nine girls eating what seemed to be sweets with an addition of teas on the table. They looked at their appearance and shocked.
There were two foxgirls, one girl with two majestic wings, one woman with traditional chinese dress, one girl with a collar, with chains attached, each one have their own orbs, the last of which sits in her hat atop her head, one catgirl, one girl with long beautiful black hair, one woman with a pink parasol, and finally, one woman with a crown resembled the shape of the sun.
The woman with the sun crown noticed the group as she placed her cup and stood up. She walked towards them before stopping a few meters away as she started to speak with a smile and very familiar language.
?: Glad you could make it. I know this is a lot for you to take, especially you*look at Itami*.I'm sure you would know this but, let me refresh your mind.*Place her palm on her chest*I am the sun goddess, Oomikami Amaterasu, leader of all Japanese deities. It is a pleasure to meet you.
The language was Japanese. The boys were stunned when they heard her name. To Itami, it was too familiar in his religion. They continued to stare at her for a brief moments before theyfelluncouncious. The Falmartian girls (minus Rory) once again panicked as they help the boys to wake up. Amaterasu turned around to her group at the table. She gave a peace sign with her tongue sticking out a little and closed one of her eyes.
To be continued...