Chapter 338: Haruna, The Moonlight Kitsune.
"...Mother?" She muttered in a very low voice, a voice that only Nero heard because she was close to her.
"..." Nero opened her eyes wide when she heard what Ophis said.
'Is her mother the leader of the Kuro Kitsune Clan?' Nero knew the new Count was a womanizer, after all, she'd heard him muttering softly different women's names over and over.
Often when he was alone, she'd overhear him talking about Violet, Sasha, Natashia, and Scathach.
Names she was quite familiar with, and the way he said those names, the only thing she could think of was that these women were more than just acquaintances or relatives of his wife.
'To think that he would lay his hands on this woman and have a daughter!' Nero's face turned a little red as she imagined the scene of a handsome Vampire kidnapping a helpless fox.
'Although...' Nero stared at the woman who was walking with a distorted smile as her tails fluttered behind her as if they had a life of their own.
'She is anything but a helpless fox.'
The parade continued in silence as the woman walked with steady steps, not too fast, not too slow, and throughout the entire parade…
Ophis stared at the black-haired fox with serious, and at the same time confused, eyes.
'Mother is not dead? ...But why did she...' She was extremely confused. If her memory wasn't failing her…
Her Evil Father said that her mother died, and he never hid anything from her, also... The sadness her Evil Father displayed when he talked about this incident was very real, he didn't seem to be lying.
So Ophis's thought when looking at this woman was something like:
'Is she like my Good Father?' Despite not being her genetic Father, Ophis felt a sense of kinship with Victor, and because of this feeling, she called Victor, Father.
As the woman was about to reach the middle of Shibuya crossing, the sounds of drums began to play, and soon flying creatures began to emerge from the portal.
ROOOOOOOOOARRRRR!
Hearing the creature's roar, everyone looked up to the sky and what they saw left everyone in shock.
"HAHAHAHAHA, It's a mother fucking Dragon!" Ibaraki laughed like a madman as he watched the three eastern Dragons flying in the sky.
Each of the Dragons had distinct scales, one was red, one was blue, and one was golden.
The blue Dragon's horn began to emit a blue spark, and soon everyone heard the sound of lightning.
Rumble, Rumble.
The blue-scaled Dragon looked at the Tengus with an annoyed look.
"!!!" Their entire existences trembled when they felt the Dragon's gaze.
"Evacuate! Get out of the skies fast!" The woman's twin brother spoke up.
The Tengus quickly retreated from the sky and positioned themselves on the buildings. The Dragons were the Kings of the skies, and they wouldn't tolerate insects in the same space as them.
And the Tengus knew it.
"That crazy bitch! If they told me that she was trying to destroy Japan, I wouldn't be surprised!" The woman, who was the twin sister of the man who just spoke, screamed in annoyance.
"..." The woman's brother looked at this whole situation with a strange look. He was trying to guess this woman's objective, considering that the level of this army, along with the addition of Dragons, could cause great catastrophes in Japan.
Only a few factions in Japan could fight this kind of force.
'I received a report that this crazy woman was challenging every Yōkai she'd come across in hopes of gaining enough status for a Hyakki Yakō. However, we ignored that, after all, she was not interfering with humans, but to think that in just a few years, she would have created such an army…'
Arriving in the middle of the Shibuya intersection, the woman suddenly stopped.
"Let's see what kind of show she'll put on." Gyuki spoke with a big smile as his eyes fell for a few seconds on the little girl in the black Fox mask.
And his smile became an evil smile for a few seconds.
'These two little girls... They must be delicious.' He felt his mouth fill with saliva.
Gyuki was an Oni who was very fond of tasting the flesh of children.
The Yōkai rule was to never underestimate your opponent. Often, a 120CM tall being could send a 200CM tall being flying easily.
Appearance wasn't everything. After all, Yōkai could 'transform' at any age, and even some Yōkai, like the Tanuki, had the ability to mimic a person's appearance and edit that appearance however they wanted.
Because of skills like that, Yōkai had the golden rule of not underestimating their enemies, no matter how cute or ugly they were. So the likelihood that you'd look at a loli, only to have her be an old woman that'd been around since the time Oda Nobunaga was kicking his enemies, was very possible.
But who was Gyuki? He was an Oni mother fucker. If he was afraid of that, he wouldn't be leading one of the strongest Oni Clans.
'And the two girls don't have Yōuki.' Gyuki thought of two probabilities, either the two little girls were two old Yōkai who were disguising themselves, and because of that, they could hide their Yōuki pretty well.
Or the two little girls didn't have Yōuki from the start.
'I'll investigate further.' When Gyuki laid eyes on prey, he wouldn't let it escape.
He looked around and saw a boy with bear paws, and soon his smile grew even wider.
'He will also do.'
"..." Shuten Douji's eyes were trembling slightly, as he could clearly understand what Gyuki was doing.
'That bastard, he's trying to make trouble again.' Shuten Douji didn't even dare to think about causing trouble here since many strong entities were watching this event, including the Gods.
So the chance of these fragile looking beings being a Yōkai or a lesser God was quite high. Even though Gyuki was strong, he couldn't fight the entire Godly community.
Despite not getting along well with each other, the endangered Shinto gods would band together against a threat.
The Crimson Nightmare event was a pretty significant event that changed the way supernatural society behaved.
Mainly the way the Shinto Gods applied their law.
When the entire army of the woman stopped in the middle of Shibuya, the woman opened her mouth, and her voice echoed everywhere.
"Genji, the leader of all Kitsunes, show yourself!"
"Oy, Oy, she will challenge the leader of all her species?" Ibaraki's smile grew even wider.
"Who are they talking about, Nero?" Ophis asked.
Nero, who was looking around with a panicked look because of the Dragons, took a deep breath when she heard Ophis' question and spoke:
"If you ask which of the Yōkai are the strongest, all Yōkai would answer the Fox Yōkai. They are special Yōkai that have only one tail when they are born, but each time their strength grows, the number of their tails increases."
"The nine-tailed fox is the pinnacle of Yōkai strength, and they are just one step away from attaining Godhood."
"...And there is someone who is the leader of all foxes who has achieved the strength of 9 tails."
"He is a man who is said to have been blessed directly by the Goddess Inari. He is the gatekeeper of heaven. If he does not allow it, you cannot enter the divine realm and attain divinity."
"His name is Genji, the leader of all the nine-tailed foxes and all the little foxes that will be born in the future."
"HAHAHAHAHA~, as expected of the Cursed Clan! They will bare their fangs against their own kind if need be!"
"Ibaraki, shut up." Shuten punched Ibaraki in the stomach. He didn't have the patience to listen to Ibaraki's taunts, and he knew the man was just saying that to start a fight.
"Oof." The man held his stomach and gasped.
A thick fog began to appear in front of the woman. From that fog, a pair of neon-green eyes shone menacingly.
Step, Step.
Everyone could hear the sounds of someone approaching.
"Haruna, why are you doing all this show?" A man's voice was heard around.
"You know very well." Haruna's smile grew.
"...To attain Godhood, huh? Are you trying to get this by force?" A man came out of the mist, and everyone could see a man with long white hair, and 9 white tails, looking quite majestic in his sky blue kimono.
And the moment he came out of the mist, his eyes changed to sapphire blue.
A very different appearance than what he showed to Victor.
"..." Haruna opened her eyes in shock as if the man had discovered a very important secret.
"Divinity cannot be obtained through violent means." He spoke in a deep voice as if he were a teacher who was teaching his disciple.
"And to think..." Haruna's eyes were hidden by her long black hair.
"Haruna..." Genji's eyes became kinder, and when he was about to try to make the woman give up this foolish idea, he heard:
"To think you would completely misunderstand my purpose here."
Haruna's entire atmosphere changed, and she flashed a big smirk:
"Divinity? To live forever in one place while listening to senile old men and fake talking nonsense? To have to sit in that boring place while I have to deal with the family dramas of these Gods?"
"Hell no!" Her voice echoed all over the place.
"The Gods can go fuck themselves!" She pointed her middle finger at the sky:
"Take your flabby dicks and shove them in the old pussy of your filthy Goddesses!"
"Because, I, Haruna, will not participate in this farce!"
Rumble, Rumble.
The sky flashed with multiple lightning bolts, the gods were furious, but seeing this reaction, the woman's smile only grew.
"HAHAHAHAHA~!" Her laugh sent chills through everyone present.
"…I don't understand, what do you want then? You even did this whole show to get my attention."
"What I want!? Isn't that obvious!?" Her tails quivered in the wind, and she pointed at Genji.
"I want you in my Hyakki Yakō!"
"....." A silence fell on the place as all the beings present heard what the woman wanted.
"That woman really is crazy..." Shuten Douji couldn't help but speak.
"Indeed. There's no way that bootlicker could betray Inari." Ibaraki agreed with his Clan Leader's opinion.
"He doesn't need to betray Inari-sama." The man with the blade-like tail spoke.
"Remember that she summoned a Hyakki Yakō, meaning this is a challenge. If Genji loses, he is obligated to join that woman's side."
The Hyakki Yakō was more than just a show of power, it was a recruiting event and could even be called a battle event.
Bringing all your strength and showing that you were worthy, you could demand a challenge from another leader who had a Hyakki Yakō.
Haruna was basically declaring to everyone that she wanted Genji and his Hyakki Yakō under her banner.
Haruna had made a declaration of war!
"Hahaha, that SIMP must be very angry right now. He would never abandon his faithful, loving Inari..." Ibaraki grabbed a handkerchief from somewhere, and wiped the tear from his face:
"It must be hard to be devoted to that woman and never having received Snu Snu."
Ibaraki's smile grew a little:
"...Although I doubt that woman could satisfy even a dog, after all, she is as flat as an airport runway." Ibaraki was spitting barbarities around.
He was a man who loved climbing mountains, and all the Oni women of his Clan had those mountains, so he believed that mountains were superior.
"...." Some Yōkai broke out in a cold sweat when they heard what Ibaraki said.
As the Gods of Chinese mythology said:
This man was courting death!
In fact, he was dancing to classical music with death!
They wouldn't be surprised if a war broke out because of Ibaraki's words, this Oni is crazy!
"I said shut up." Shuten Douji hit Ibaraki in the stomach again.
"Oof."
Genji's eyes weren't pretty, especially when he heard the words of a certain Oni, those big ears he had weren't for show, you know?
He had hellish ears, and, as a faithful devotee of Inari, he could hear any insult to his Goddess from thousands of miles away.
Deciding that he would punish a certain Oni later, he would first solve this annoying problem in front of him.
"...You're getting too arrogant-" When he was going to say something to this fox, the woman cut him off saying:
"Blah, Blah, spare me the talk of that arrogant old Master sermon." Haruna rolled her eyes.
"I made my demand, in a week, I want a fight against all your Hyakki Yakō. If you lose, you submit to me, and you become part of my strength." She spoke in a casual tone while looking at her black nails.
"And just like tradition, if I lose, I'll join your Hyakki Yakō." She blew on her fingernail, and for a few seconds, her fingernail glowed sharply.
"..." If Genji's eyes could poke holes, Haruna would have her entire body pierced.
He was furious.
Genji's ears twitched a little, and he heard:
[Accept. Teach this little fox her place, she will be a good addition to our forces.]
[...Your wish is my command, Inari-sama.]
"Fine, I'll play with you. You'll regret bringing this on yourself."
Haruna's smile grew wider, and her eyes, as black as a deep darkness, emitted a kind of miasma that came out of her eyes.
"HAHAHAHAHA~." She laughed as she showed her sharp teeth. It was as if her mouth had completely disappeared and was left with very sharp fangs.
'...This woman was really scary.' People were wondering if this woman wasn't actually a demon disguised as a fox.
"See you in a week, so don't be late." She turned around, and as she was turning around, her world slowed down, and for a few seconds, her eyes fell onto a pair of blood-red eyes.
"..." The woman's fox ears twitched a little as she looked into the eyes of that child who was wearing a completely black outfit and black fox mask, and just for a few seconds, she had the feeling of familiarity with her.
It was as if she were her kind, a kin, but that was impossible. After all, all her kin were adult foxes, and she was sure that if she saw a child among her Clan members, she would remember.
'I'll investigate later.' She thought to herself, and then time returned to normal, and she looked at her subordinates.
"Boys, let's go back." A black miasma came out of her body, that same miasma started to come out of all her subordinates, and in the blink of an eye...
Everyone disappeared, including the Dragons in the sky.
"...." Ophis opened her eyes wide when she saw this.
'She's like me.' She thought.
