Chapter 1532 Naraka
"The last thing we remember before leaving was that half of Zipangu had already been overridden by the forces of the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven." Said the Tiger.
"We managed to escape through a crack in space, provoked by the Demon's Vessel himself, Oda Nobunaga." The Phoenix added. "For some reason, as if destroying half of our world wasn't enough, that malevolent being was already planning to invade another."
"Are you kidding me?" I asked. "Don't tell me he's planning on getting here already? What are the people at Zipangu even doing? Aren't there like… Other Gods? Samurai or something? I don't know their power system so…"
"It is indeed quite different than in Yggdrasil, although some of the principles are similar, everything is very different. Some of such powers I've attempted to adapt to the Yggdrasil's Laws of Magic, but I've failed a lot even as a Venerable." Said the Fox Venerable. "While Yggdrasil has Magic Cores and Divine Cores with distinct elements and such to boost the growth of the people, in Zipangu there's something called Onmyōdō, or for you that don't know our language, "The Way of Yin and Yang"." She explained.
"We manipulate the Yin and Yang Elements that balance our world and bring out the Five Elements to obtain power. I was a Shinshoku, or a Shinto Priestess that held ceremonies and gave offerings to the Shinto Pantheon, a dozen of Gods, the children of Amaterasu-sama that overlooked us mortals and protected us. Priests such as I could draw power from their Blessings and by giving them offerings, our magic powers could grow temporarily." She continued explaining. "There were also the Onmyōji, equivalent to even more powerful magicians that specialized not into drawing power from the Gods but through their own growth and understanding of the Five Elements and their interactions, a fusion between Science, Magic, and the Divine." She spoke. "They were quite good at controlling Shikigami and tame Yokai and other Mythical Beasts as well. Of course! There were also the Samurai Clans, the Monk Clans, and the Ninja Clans, each one having their own ways and techniques on which they could employ their understatement of the Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements."
"Woah…" Benladra gasped. "So cool! Mama, papa, I wanna go to Zipangu and become a Priestess!"
"Hahaha, I don't think that's possible right now." I laughed a bit, caressing her long silvery-white hair. "So, it means you got a whole different power system, huh? I am interested too, but what happened over there? And what's your goal? Is there a way we could visit that world, even? We're busy right now, so that'll have to be for much later though."
"We have not found a way there… yet." Said the Phoenix.
"However, our Goddess Amaterasu was said to have come from another world herself. If Yuki has a fragment of her soul as her own, then this means she could potentially learn a way to go there, if she grows strong enough." Said the Tiger. "She has only reached Rank 9 thanks to her body restructuration, but she still hasn't even gotten to Rank 10."
"Hey, you know it's hard to do that, right?!" Yuki complained. "And I am not some crazy dragon like Drake or overpowered like everyone else- Well, I wasn't. I guess that with these awakened powers I might be a bit stronger, heheh…"
"I see…" I nodded.
"Wait, Amaterasu… Was from another world?" Benladann asked in confusion. "What does that even mean?"
"We don't know much about the history. I assume that the fox woman here doesn't either, if she was a Priestess." Said the Phoenix. "But from what we heard about her and from other Gods. Our Lady Amaterasu was the creator of Zipangu and also someone that came before it. She often spoke about her own world sometimes, a world of tall buildings, metallic carriages, and boxes full of lights that could allow people to access knowledge."
Wait, aren't those skyscrapers, cars, and computers?! So Amaterasu… No way, can a Reincarnated person go as far as create a whole different world? What the hell is this? Is that even possible?
Well, it is a possibility, but we don't know much aside from that. Perhaps she was one of the {Originals}, or maybe she's completely unrelated too.
Zipangu feels both very connected to Yggdrasil and also a completely different world, apart from this one. With its own history, magic, beings, and gods.
I'm fairly sure their Onis are much different than the Demons named after them we've fought, they're probably more related to the Yokai beings over there.
Nonetheless, this still makes me wonder just how vast everything is… I haven't even explored half of Yggdrasil, but I already want to explore this other world too.
"That's interesting…" The Fox Venerable nodded. "The few memories I have before I died were of my entire village being overridden by Malicious Spirits and Yokai, destroying and killing everyone… I do remember hearing rumors about Oda Nobunaga, a powerful warlord that had conquered half of the Continent where my island was located. And that to gain so much power, he had made a pact with a terrifying Demon, born from the depths of Naraka."
"Naraka?" Asked Miranda. "What's that?"
"Zipangu has its own rules like your world." Said Belle. "While Yggdrasil has the Realms which became Continents, then there's your "Heaven" which is where Valhalla and Asgard are located, and your "Hell" where the Underworld is, in Zipangu there's also a Seven Layered Heaven and the Seven Layered Hell, or Naraka. Unlike the Demons from Pandemonium, our Demons are born in Zipangu through the sins of the living and their tormented souls. Amongst them, the strongest ruler of the World of Desire, one of the Layers of our Hell is Papiyas, born from the corrupted Seven Gods of Fortune after they were humiliated by Buddha, whom the Monk Sects worship the most."
"Wait, what… That's so much lore at once, slow down!" I was feeling slightly overwhelmed. "So Gods… can become Devils?"
"Yes, that's how I was told it happened by my mentors." Belle shrugged. "He has a tremendous grudge against the Gods and desires to take away all the Fortune of the Living by torturing them for eternity."
There it is. Another overpowered foe to the list I'll probably have to fight eventually. -----
