Into the Galaxy: A Fox Tale

[Blue Glass]

(A/N) I've been meaning to post this here after Spacebattles. I wonder if I should have posted it in the other category? Eh, whatever.

---

A gasp of breath and eyes opened as I groaned. My body felt like it was simultaneously numb and on fire. Pulling myself up slowly, I gripped my head, feeling a headache. I looked around, noticing that I was in some sort of forest with what looked like mountains on the horizon.

"What happened to-" I stopped as my voice was off/wasn't off. A bit of confusion came over me at this as I gripped my head yet again. "What the…"

I looked down at my body. I almost jumped at the outfit that I had on. It wasn't what I was wearing and neither did I look like this! "Wait, why do I think that?"

I asked myself in utter confusion. Of course, this was what I always looked like! No sooner as those thoughts come over than my headache returned as a series of conflicting memories came over. One of them is far smaller than the other. I lived a mundane life, being more of a fan of typical nerdy stuff like video games, anime, and visual novels. All that came to an end at around the time I turned thirty, after an accident.

However, those memories were being overwhelmed by my other set of memories. Of a Great Sun, fighting the White Titan, being worshipped by the people of Japan, causing chaos in India, China, and then Japan. No, I refused to consider the former two as myself, despite being myself as well. Regardless, I had met my end on the fields of Nasu, treated as an enemy of Mankind.

"Tamamo-no-Mae." I knew the story/my story. However, everything else told me exactly which one I was. "I'm the Tamamo of Fate!"

Of course, I am/I shook my head again. This is confusing as I don't really want to go crazy from both sets of who I am. Actually, how did I even end up here, and furthermore what even if here anyway? Looking up at the sky, I was greeted with clouds, the rays of the sun, and something in the sky. Bands of light that faintly seemed to be visible. Rings, those are planetary rings.

"Oh…"

I was in another world of some sort. That was obvious, what with the rings in the sky. Most of the trees and plants didn't seem awfully alien-looking. Some of the animals did, but others seemed familiar enough. Maybe I was in some sort of fantasy world?

Regardless, there was the issue of my ability to use Magecraft. I wasn't a ghost-liner or a Heroic Spirit. Worrying about mana would have been a huge problem. As for my own reserves of mana, of course, they are massive. I am a goddess after all!

On that notice, I created three familiars who moved around in front of me as they looked for any signs of anyone who lived here. There was a question about what I would do when I find people. Assuming this was a fantasy world I should look like I am not out of place.

My fox tail and ears are very clearly not normal for a human. Luckily, I can shapeshift, so that's not much of a problem. My own distaste for doing so, or rather the part of me that is Tamamo's distaste, didn't matter. My tail and ears disappeared as I now looked physically indistinguishable from a human. As soon as I did, one of my familiars had found what looked to be a road in the forest. It was old, mostly weathered stone and dirt, but a sign that someone had used this.

"Great, hopefully I can find a village or something."

I headed for the road as my familiars all joined me. I sent two ahead scouting in front of me as two others stayed behind and out of immediate sight. Given I had some time to think to myself. First, I had to think about my dress. As much as I love it, I am going to need to change it into something more practical.

The only thing is I don't have anything else. All I have with me is the clothes on my back, some ofuda charms, and my mirror. On that note, I took it out in order to look at it. One part of me knew the full fury of what it could do while the other side still had a bit of a hard time grasping it.

One of my familiars found that the forest opened up ahead and led to a river with what appeared to be a proper dirt road up ahead. If there were a river and a road, that would mean there had to be civilization!

---

By the time it was afternoon, my familiars who were still ahead of me had come across actual signs of civilization. A large town that cut through the river with farmland all around it. Funny enough, the village looked walled with an aesthetics that I could tell was Japanese-esque. As I finally came up to the walls I was greeted with two guards at the gates who each had something in their hands that seemed out of place.

They had what looked like full-automatic weapons. Sure, they looked worn down, but there was no mistaking them as anything but out of place in a fantasy setting. There was something off about the walls themselves. By the looks of things, they are ceramic instead of wood or stone. To my knowledge, I didn't recall the idea of ceramic walls being a thing.

One of the guards pointed their gun at me and spoke in a language that I could only somewhat understand. Learning the language would take way too much time, and unfortunately, I did not have the aid of being a Summoned Servant to speak the language. What I did have was knowledge of how to use a spell to translate what was being said by me and to me.

"Again, who are you?" He asked while the other guard seemed to almost roll his eyes at this.

"Come on, Jin look at her, she isn't threatening looking."

The second guard was taller than the first. More scared and a bit more older looking compared to his small companion. While his younger one still had his eyes on me, he turned to the older guard with visible annoyance.

"How can you say that Riku?" Jin motioned at me with the gun in his hands. "Look at her, she's dressed like a courtesan, how suspicious is that?"

I was tempted to curse him just for that. My outfit was great! No, I did need to change that much because I was going to be on my own for now.

"Think, Jin, yes her outfit is suspicious, but look at her more closely," The older man, Riku, pointed out to me. "She has no weapons on her, and given how she looks, it's unlikely she could go anywhere without drawing eyes on her."

"What if she's a witch?"

"I doubt it, she doesn't look like any of them."

Well, he isn't technically wrong. Witches are a type of elemental, though from what I was getting, they are probably going by witch in the term of evil magic user. I am most certainly not a witch even by that definition!

Finally, I decided to cut into this conversation. "So, can I enter or?"

As I asked, there was a small pause as both of them looked at each other. Riku moved his head to the side a bit with a knowing smile before Jin put his weapon down. "Fine, but we're watching you, Ms...?"

"Tamamo."

---

Technology didn't make much sense. It was like a weird mix between feudal Japan with bits of modern technology, or rather something that gave the appearance of being modern. Something was up with all of that, and I needed answers. Luckily, there was a passing merchant from whom I was able to get answers.

"So, this world is a lost colony?" Everything about it started to make a lot more sense. This wasn't a fantasy world but some sort of sci-fi setting. That's why technology that seemed out of place was here.

"I won't know if we are lost, the story goes that something cut us off." The man took a sip of his alcohol. By the looks of things, he was a bit drunk, which made it easier to get him to talk. "Our ancestors came here on great ships through the Astral Ocean, but a great storm was said to have cut us off, and during the storm, the Old Lords destroyed much of our civilization."

I am guessing that it was probably in the panic that such a thing. It could be the old leaders trying to keep order, or they had gone tyrannical. Whatever the reason, they must have been overthrown, but in the process, the world was subjected to an apocalypse. Helped at explaining the weird schizo tech level I kept seeing.

Time to get some more answers on when this was. "How long ago had this been?"

There was a pass from the merchant who seemed to be in thought. Either that or he was having trouble remembering thanks to the alcohol. "I think about four, maybe five thousand years?"

"Five thousand years?!" How had a single planet been cut off from a space-faring empire for that long? Unless whatever cut them off cut off most if not the whole of the empire.

I was able to get more bits of history off the man. Apparently, he seemed to be a bit of a history fan as he went into detail about some things. He talked about a long dark age that was eventually broken by the rise of Daimyo. Warlords who ended up carving their own little Kingdoms on the planet. There had also been two religious groups, one of which worshipped four gods that had been wiped out by the other with the aid of the Daimyo, with records about it being rather sparse.

As he got drunker, he started rambling about how little was recovered from the old vaults, or about them being destroyed. Even with how much he could make off them. Regardless, I stopped talking to him as he got a bit handy with me. Still, I was able to get a few maps out of him. One local, another of the world, and the last of the greater region.

Magecraft was good enough to fake that I had money. Something that made it easy, but also pushed me to leave before the night. A new outfit, some maps of where I was heading, and a bit more ofuda for me. As I stood out as night came over the sky, I started to wonder exactly what I was going to do.

---

Third POV

Twenty pods flew out through a chaotic mass of storms and what looked like swirling gases. One by one, each streaked through these storms before disappearing through rifts that had opened up. Finally, the last of them disappeared into the rifts as the attention of four beings who watched this returned to their own little plans. The first part of a grand plan had been done, and for now, they will wait until it is time for them to work together.

One of the four went back to a great crystal tower that served as his fortress. The Changer of Ways, Tzeentch looked at the various possibilities of what was to come. All the futures before him were as possible as to be and simultaneously unlikely to ever happen. What confused him was that some of them were suddenly just stopping. Futures fading into nothing, new possibilities being made, and with it the threads of fate being rewoven.

Tzeentch tried to figure out what was causing this. The Laughing God? The Deciever? Perhaps even the Emperor reaching throw time? "It's small right now, almost like a random change in possibility."

For Tzeentch, despite all his power and cunning, couldn't control everything. Nor was he the only player on the board of destiny who could change things. Yet, even then, sometimes things would just happen beyond his control and understanding. "Most of everything seems to be in order anyway."

Pushing that aside from now but never completely, he returned to another play in the Great Game. Whatever had changed things would make itself known; it, too, will fall into the plans of the Architect of Fate.

 

[Noah_The_Noah]

Oh, this is on here now. That's cool.

 

[nayithan]

I wonder if I should have posted it in the other category? Eh, whatever.

Click to shrink...

SFW stuff is allowed in the NSFW category, and the latter has vastly more traffic. You'll get a better response posting in the latter, especially if you plan to have any fluffy tail lewds

 

[Blue Glass]

SFW stuff is allowed in the NSFW category, and the latter has vastly more traffic. You'll get a better response posting in the latter, especially if you plan to have any fluffy tail lewds

Click to shrink...

Should I repost it then on there?

 

[Noah_The_Noah]

Should I repost it then on there?

Click to shrink...

It would probably allow it to get more attention I think.
Oh… though I don't know if reposting a story is allowed?

 

[Blue Glass]

It would probably allow it to get more attention I think.
Oh… though I don't know if reposting a story is allowed?

Click to shrink...

I mean I will just delete the thread.

 

[Noah_The_Noah]

I mean I will just delete the thread.

Click to shrink...

Okay, they yeah. You should do that I think.

 

[Blue Glass]

Okay, they yeah. You should do that I think.

Click to shrink...

Whelp can't delete it. Whatever. This will be Archieve then

 

[Blue Glass]

"The Genpi are defeated, which means the Edo have taken much of the east and have made the Rukyu their vassals," A map was laid down before a group who looked on as one of their group pointed to the eastern side of the main continent of the world.

Everyone here looking over the changes in the world was the Guji, the leaders of the Shinbutsu-shugo. They are the planet's religious order and leadership whose task was multiple and whose power and position were tactically neutral. From ordering the various acts of faith to more important tasks. Dealing with those who are mystics and any signs of the other faith.

"It's almost impressive how fast they have come in the last ten years," By all rights, the Daiymo of the Edo had been a something of a middle power. One that would have either greatness or would have fallen into vassalization to another. "The Edo lord and his strange adopted son have turned themselves into a power worthy of the right to be called Shogun."

Another Guji pointed down at the western side of the Great Continent. "Speaking of which, the Yamato resurgence has not only reunited their shattered dominion but has forced those who took advantage of them to submit."

Yamato was a dominion that everyone there had expected for a long time to collapse. At one point, it had come the closest to ruling the continent and even the world outright. Decay had set in, the dominion slowly broke down from internal conflicts, independence, and incompetent leadership. Finally, it had seemed that ten years ago everything would fall apart as a succession despite lead to open rebellion. All until one individual had seemingly come out of nowhere and taken control of the Yamato.

"So, the pink-haired woman has managed to reunite the Yamato dominion at its height?" One of the men spoke with a hint of suspicion at all of this. A sentiment shared by some of his colleagues over the woman's ability to accomplish all of this.

These were a more paranoid group who had heard rumors about her. One was that she was a rogue Mystic. Something that seemed reasonable given how quickly she rose to power from seemingly nowhere. Never mind the strange happenings with objects that she claimed to have made. Amongst them, there was only one possibility.

Another of the Guji rolled his attention to this. "We've already checked the creations, you know, there are no signs of the Darks Ones' taint in any of it."

A gramble was all that was done in return. Sure, there were no signs, but even still, for the minority faction, this didn't stem their suspicion. Falling into power from nowhere was forever suspicious.

"Perhaps there is some potential right here to finally bring the planet together," A new voice who had been watching the arguments finally spoke up. The group turned to the man who had been content to allow the eight of them to bicker with one another.

"What are you getting at Doujimaru?"

---

Tamamo POV

Ruling a kingdom came rather easily for me. I am the Queen of the Shinto Gods, patron and ancestor of the imperial family of Japan. I also know a bit about how to run a nation, thanks to destroying one as Daji, seeing how Toba's court had done things, and what I knew was poor choices by the nobles of the imperial city.

"With the final submission of the Emishi, this means that we have managed to extend ourselves well past where we had been almost three hundred years ago," The foreign minister spoke as he had a look of awe at my achievement. This man had once been a bit of a critic of me at the start, and slowly his opinion had changed.

The groundwork for this still did exist, but it had required a bit of outplaying the more powerful nobles. Judging by what I could get from history, one ruler was put into place before they were ready; one could guess what happened. "Well, is there anything else that is important?"

I already knew the answer he was going to give. Edo was a growing power in the west, and that was a problem as far as he was concerned. "Yes, though there is something that was sent to us from the Guji."

"What is it?" To my side, a man who is dressed in modified samurai armor. His face showed signs of aging, as did his hair, with it starting to grey, but everyone knew that he wasn't someone to mess with. There was a reason Yoshimi was the head of the military.

"The Guji Doujimaru has asked that the leaders of Yamato and Edo come together in order to propose an alliance between them both."

Silence had gripped the room after those words. An alliance between us both? Yoshimi spoke up about this. "You mean a marriage?"

Marriage? As in I get to be the wife! My joy, unfortunately, had to be tempered at this. For one, this was a political marriage. Those did tend to be loveless or at best one of mutual respect. Maybe I can make this into one that is actually built on actual love?

"Can you tell me more about this?"

Yoshimi looked at me at this alongside a few of my other advisors. Each one had a different look on their face which betrayed how they are feeling, even if subtly. "Are you considering this my lady?"

"Why not if this ends up going well, then the planet will be set up to be united," Something that was the dream of the Yamato rulers. A bit funny how, despite having the possibility hundreds of years ago, they couldn't act on it.

"And what if they try to take advantage of you?"

Right, Edo was also starting to make moves that could be said to conquer the continent, if not wishing to perform the same ambition of conquest of the planet. Perhaps they saw this as just a means to an end. Use me to claim the planet unaware that I can destroy their little Kingdoms like I did with China, which I was not going to let happen. I'm willing to be a wife, not some tool.

"Oh, don't worry; I already thought of that." I released much of their worries at this, a sign of their trust in me. "So, where are we supposed to meet?" I turned back to my foreign minister. "I take it that it's not in either of our dominions?"

"Yes, the Lord of Kansai, Sutoku, has offered his capital as a place to hash this out." A few of the Ministers whispered to themselves. The Lord of Kansei was the center of a conspiracy theory amongst some of them.

Of course, I was skeptical myself even if I didn't voice it. The Yamato are almost all killed, leaving the last heiress to the Yamato, who went crazy after a foreign tour, and in her madness named me her heir. A position I didn't even try to gain. I had only come to the city to look over the library and was made a handmaiden by her before the assassinations.

Regardless, the Lord of Kansai wasn't the only one who was suspect. There was others who were more open about their desires and others who could have done something to her. "Well, we'll be on the safe side then, I hope he understands."

---

Third POV

Kansai, a small but wealthy dominion at a natural harbor. Its neutrality had been well known and even more fought over. Mists from a morning fog passed by the harbor as a ship came to dock. At the dock, a few armed warriors walked down, a symbol of a Red Lotus Flower. Slowly coming down into the docks was a mountain of a man.

Twelve and a half feet tall, with a body that was broad and muscular to match. His long black hair was tied back as he looked on with his deep grey eyes. The giant of a man wore a Hakama with the symbol of the Red Lotus while his arms still had his armored gauntlets on. His two swords hang from his sides, each one longer and bigger than what one would usually expect, but fitting such a giant of a man.

As the man walked forward, he was greeted by another man in his early thirties, despite his white hair would lead one to believe, who walked up dressed in the white kariginu, which denoted his position as a Guji. The Guji gave a bow of respect. "Ah, Tsukuyomi, welcome to Kansai."

"Doujimaru," Tsukuyomi spoke his words, having a firm yet soft spoken tone to it as he returned with a slight bow. A small smirk on his face. "I should have guessed the Guji who thought of such a proposal would be my old tutor."

"Old?" Doujimaru was visibly insulted by this. Although he had his own smirk at this, showing that it was all in jest. "I'm only thirty-three!"

Both of them started to walk as Doujimaru led the giant of a man with him. "So, how is your father?"

"He's on death's door, I'm afraid," Tsukuyomi thought back to his adopted father. A man who raised him since he found him.

Tsukuyomi didn't fully know everything about what had happened before that. He recalled he had others like him, and that he had a father. How he ended up as he did, he did not recall. Even with all that, he loved and respected his adopted father.

Doujimaru figured he should stop touching on it for right now. Instead, he decided to focus on what was happening right now. "I'm surprised you agreed to the marriage proposal."

"Well, my father is wondering if I would take a wife, and I figured I should give a dying man his last request," A light chuckle came over Tsukuyomi at this. There were many other benefits, but this one was something for the now senile adopted father. "Doujimaru can can you tell me about the Lady of Yamato?"

Tsukuyomi did what research he could about the Yamato before he agreed. The past had always been something that he was fascinated by. Even in the conquests, he took great effort to try to collect the records of the past and anything from the few ruins and vaults that existed around the world that were now in his territory. From what he learned, the Yamato had the largest archive of the past of the world, excluding the Guji's own archive, which was rather secretive, especially about certain events in the past.

All the research meant rather little on the history of the clan that once ruled the dominion. A dynasty that had ended didn't have any bearing on the new ruler after all. "Lady Tamamo came to power rather unconventually as the last act of the Mad Heiress, although her rule has been remarkable with how much she's been able to both keep the realm together and expand it."

Turning over to the dock as out of the fading mist, another ship was seen. Landing on the other side of the harbor with a banner showing a Rising Sun. The symbol of the Yamato Dominion. Already, it looked like the delegation was beginning to disembark.

"Well, it looks like they are here early," Doujimaru was about to go and greet the delegation when he turned over to the giant of a man next to him. "Are you coming?"

Tsukuyomi looked at the coming delegation, and as he saw Doujimaru walking down to greet them, he started walking with him. Meeting with his future wife was what he was going to do anyway. It didn't matter if he did this now or later. 'Better to do this now instead of at the castle.'

---

From the castle overlooking the city, a man looked on as he could make out the two ships in the harbor. The most noticeable thing about him was the pale mask that he wore on his face with slits for his eyes showing them to be a deep red color. He turned around, looking at the host of people behind him. "You know what you are to do, yes?"

A nod was given to each one of them. The host soon left as the Lord of Kansai was left to himself. He walked slowly down the halls to his private study. 'All my plans in the last ten years seemingly undone, and yet here is an opportunity unlike any others.'

Sutoku thought back to the message he received from his estranged half-brother Doujimaru. Asking if he could hold a political summit for the Guji alongside both Yamato and Edo. He had a silent prayer for his brother's foolish choice, a gift from the gods.

Getting into his private chambers and his study, Sutoku walked to a wall and opened up a hidden compartment. Pulling out of there was a metal box, one with a leather covering. Sutoku had a smirk on his face as he opened the box. Inside was a sword, one that was broader than those typically used in the world, its spine was jagged while a dark black sheen came from the spine while turning to a faded red near the blade. The most noticeable thing was around the crossguard which had broken into six bars and a wicked eye that seemed to be embedded into the center of the cross guard. Finally the pommel had a red spike at its end.

Sutuko grabbed the sword as a faint voice spoke into his head. "Yes, this shall be a great sacrifice to the Gods."

 

[Blue Glass]

Tamamo POV


I walked down the ramp as my guards stood at attention. Each one armed with both a sword and the old ballistic guns as standard. I took a moment to look at the city from the ship. Kansai's capital, itself also called Kansai, showed its inherent wealth with buildings that are as close to skyscrapers as was possible before industrialization.

As I walked down, I spotted two figures walking up. One was one of the Guji, his hair making it seem at first glance he was older than he looked. The other was a giant of a man. Looking at him, though, I was unsure if he was even human!

It wasn't just the size of his body or his height that could match an Oni. No, there was something otherworldly compared to the people here. My senses could pick up a faint but noticeable otherness to him. I had seen a Mystic before, at least what they call mystics, and this felt more than that.

"Lady Tamamo," The Guji greeted with a bow. "I am Doujimaru, one of the members of the Guji council. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The next one to greet me was the giant. His bow was a bit awkward as he still towered over me. "I am Tsukuyomi-no-Yasaka of Edo, the heir to the dominion of Edo."

I was shocked to hear such a thing. This was the heir to Edo? This was the man whom I agreed to marry? "You're the man to be my husband?!"

"You should have seen him growing up," A chuckle came from Doujimaru as he saw my reaction. "Don't worry, I think Tsukuyomi is a bit used to people reacting with amazement."

Tsukuyomi turned to him with a slight, annoyed look on his face at the Guji's words. However, it didn't look all that hostile. More like one you would give a friend for saying something you didn't want them to. These two knew each other, likely enough to consider each other friends. Given Doujimaru's words about seeing him growing up should be clear as day.

"My apologies, I was just surprised, is all," I gave a bow of my own in return. "Allow me to properly introduce myself, I am the Great Daimyo of Yamato, Tamamo-no-Mae."

Doujimaru looked at me with a bit of confusion. "Great Daimyo, I thought you would claim the title of Shogun given how you managed to return Yamato to a state that it hasn't been since its founder."

I was offered the position, especially when I managed to reunite the broken parts of the dominion. To many of my Ministers, it seemed only fitting to take the title. "My ministers have pushed for me to take it, but I don't know if I should."

"Well, perhaps you would have it anyway," Doujimaru said with a smile on his face. One of the mischievous tricksters, one I remembered on the face of my younger brother after he had mellowed out. "Why don't I leave you both to get better acquainted."

---

Third POV

Doujimaru walked down the city as the people looked at him, whispering and gawking. Him being a Guji was one thing, but Doujimaru knew that some of them likely knew just who he really was. He remembered when he first returned here to this city. The day his father died and his half-brother became the new ruler of Kansai. Almost fifteen years have passed since that faithful day, and by all accounts, the city looks grander.

On a surface level, at the very least. Doujimaru could see that despite the economic growth, things were not getting better in terms of the city's own infrastructure. Roads showing signs of wear, something that the city had taken pride in maintaining when he was last here.

As he continued, he saw the city's temple complex. A site of shrines to the city's long-dead, a tomb for the rulers, the site of festivals, and above all, the seat for the Shinbutsu-shugo. It was the meeting ground for the Guji who had arrived before the others. As he walked up, he was greeted by another familiar face.

"Runa, it's been a while," Doujimaru called out to the tan-skinned woman dressed in a red and white outfit of a Shrine Maiden, though her white kosode had a star pattern and her red hakama had purple outline threads woven in. A symbol of her rank as a Guji. "Didn't think you would come here from Rukyu."

"When I heard you are the one who organized this, I came to make sure this doesn't become a joke," Runa's words just caused Doujimaru to roll his eyes. Both of them started walking around the temple, taking a look at it as a few of the other Guji were seen passing by. "How do you think this going down anyway?"

Runa referred to the marriage that he was hoping to happen. While most of the Guji are for this for different reasons, a minority thought it was a bit of a fool's desire. "Oh, it will happen, I can say with certainty."

Runa didn't bother with trying to ask him what he meant. The two turned back to head into the temple. As they were about to open the door to the main chamber, Doujimaru's gaze hardened. As Runa moved to open the doo,r she was immediately pulled back by Doujimaru.

"Get back!" Doujimaru pulled her back as a bullet raced through the air, grazing her shoulder instead of her head. On the other side, another assassin ran up with a dagger in hand.

Doujimaru reached out from under his outfit and parried the danger with his own. A strange, curved, and alien-looking one. He saw the one masked assassin with a pistol in their hands about to fire again. At that moment, with his free hand he pushed forward as the dagger-wieldielding assassin was sent flying back into them before they could get a good shot. The dagger wielder slammed into them, knocking the pistol user down, while they continued on and slammed into the wall.

The pistol-wielding assassin tried to get back up, but before they could warp lightning armed into their body. A scream of agony came from the assassin's mouth. Doujimaru closed his hand as he stopped unleashing the warp lightning. His eyes looked around at all the bodies of the dead Guji.

"Everyone is dead," Runa looked in shock as Doujimaru walked past the downed assassin and to the one on the wall.

Grabbing them by the outfit, Doujimaru forced them up to his eye level as he removed their mask, seeing a young woman. "Who sent you?"

"I'll never tell you!"

"I don't need you to tell me," He smirked with his eyes glowing. He reached into her thoughts and pulled what he needed. Her surface thoughts weren't all that defend and betrayed her.

With his eyes no longer glowing Doujimaru pulled back out his dagger and plunged it right into the assassin's chest. A gasp escaped her lips as her heart was stabbed clean through. Pulling it back out, Doujimaru let the body fall as he turned over to Runa. "Sutoku ordered the deaths of everyone here."

"The Lord of Kansai did?" Looking at the bodies, Runa realized that it was almost every Guji who had come to this city. Not only them, but also the most senior and important members.

A sudden realization as to how close she came to death dawned on her. If it wasn't for Doujimaru being a mystic, both of them would be dead. "We're not the only ones my bastard of a half brother has targeted."

From what he ripped out of the assassin's brain, it was clear that Sutoku was targeting the Guji and both Tamamo and Tsukuyomi. Doujimaru knew that Tsukuyomi would be able to deal with any assassin targeting him, and Tamamo was likely with him. Looking down at the other assassin, noticing the twitching of his limbs, Doujimaru leaned down and plunged his dagger into his heart. Both of them had to be dead, and luckily, they are the only two here.

Pulling out the dagger, he looked at Runa, who was taken aback at how serious he looked. It was unsettling to her with how much it didn't fit with how he usually acted. "Runa, stay in the temple's back area, it should be safe there."

Doujimaru walked past her as he reached for another weapon that one of the now deceased Guji had on them. "Wait, what do you think you're doing?"

Doujimaru looked at the sword in his hands. Much like his dagger, it too was a relic. One that he was going to need. "Going to confront my brother, and I'm going to kill him."

---

Tsukuyomi POV

"Really?" Her story of how she came to rule Yamato was rather unbelievable. I had thought in truth she might have been an illegitimate daughter. "You were just named heir on the spot?"

Someone with no training has such an almost instinctive understanding of ruling. There was something different about her. Something that was almost kindred with me. "Yes, and much to the annoyance of many of my Ministers, at least at first."

Yes, such a thing was likely to have pushback. Still, her actions spoke for themselves. "So, what about your family?"

There was a pause as she looked away. Her features showed her emotional longing and a hit of nostalgia. "My family is not in this world."

"I see, I apologize for bringing it up."

"No, it's alright." Strange how she didn't seem all that affected by being reminded of her family's passing. Perhaps she had long accepted it? "So, what about your family?"

Only fitting that my question would be followed up by one aimed at me. "My father is the Lord of Edo, a man who had taken me in as his son in his old age." Indeed, he had been old enough to be someone's grandfather at almost sixty years old. "He raised me, and now unfortunately, that's in the last of his days."

Technically, for the last five years, I had been ruling in all but name. Even before that, I had a hand in ruling as part of my upbringing, which was just something that came naturally to me. Something I was certain had to do with what I was. Thinking back to my memories of before my adoption. Of the knowledge of others like me, and a faint understanding of someone else.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw them moving again. At first, I didn't think we were being followed, but after spotting the same people always in the corner of my eye. I whispered to her in hopes of keeping this between us both. "We're being followed."

"I noticed," Tamamo did surprise me with that. I hadn't seen any indication that she was aware of us being followed.

The calmness she had about all of this. A sign of a master warrior or someone who was used to manipulation. I figured it was probably the latter, as nothing about her struck me as one who was a warrior, however, looks can be deceiving in themselves. As we both knew that we were being followed, this did grant us a tactical advantage. Slowly, as we moved down to a more run-down part of the city, our pursuers.

One of them, from the side, pulled out a pistol and took aim, seeking to shoot us. Another hand from above with a blade in hand, ready to jump in and kill us. Before the pistol was fired, I moved out of the way while the dagger wielder was about to try and stab me. Reaching down to my waist, I'm ready to draw my sword and kill them.

It was rather simple as they wouldn't be able to react in time as I cut them through-Tamamo kicked them with her leg, sending them right through the wall as I could hear the cracking of ribs from the impact. By the sounds of which I do believe their ribs had shattered, likely puncturing their lungs, killing them.

Another assassin moved from behind her, but they didn't get far. I moved and drew my sword. The assassin's right arm and head fell right off as I gripped both my swords. All around from the shadows, at least a dozen more assassins made themselves known to us.

---

Third POV

Guards stood out in front of the castle, which was the residence of the Lord of Kansai. Today, something was a bit unsettling to them. For the last eight years, things had been off with their lord. Most couldn't put their finger on it. Maybe it was the distrust of long allies from within the realm, or the rumors of assassinations and manipulation of neighbors.

"I'm telling you something is going to go down."

"You say that every other Day, I seriously doubt that anything has happen-"

The two guards didn't get to finish their banter as suddenly they walked, as a familiar Guji walked up to them. Doujimaru held out his right hand as they were both pushed back into the wall, only hard enough to knock them out, as he was focused on killing someone else.

The doors to the castle were tossed open as Doujimaru walked in and looked at who was in the main chamber. He saw that Sutoku was waiting for him. "Ah, Seimei, I see that you made it."

Doujimaru pointed at his brother with a sword. It was a straight katana, one that was covered in the hum of energy, revealing that it wasn't just a simple metal weapon. "I looked into your assassin's mind and knew you sent them at us Guji, at Lady Tamamo, and Lord Tsukuyomi…"

Doujimaru's eyes narrowed as he looked at the handle, the scabbard, and the visible crossguard. A sickening feeling came over him just by looking at it. A very familiar sensation that told him all he needed to know. That sword was tainted, a vessel for the Dark Ones. Something that should not be on this planet, and something he had to banish right now.

"Where did you get that?!"

"Oh, I see you noticed it, little brother," Sutoku drew the daemon blade before Doujimaru. "I found it in our father's vaults, you see."

Sutoku brought the sword forward, swinging it as the Daemonblade as he caught Doujimaru's. The two clashed as the Daemonblade's whispers spoke into Sutoku's mind. The aether energy of Doujimaru's Force Sword clashed with that of the Daemonblade as they both seemed to bait into one another.

"I guess you didn't know that Seimei?"

"Are you insinuating that our father was a worshipper of the Dark Ones?!"

A chuckle came from Sutoku at this. A twisted mockery is clear within the reaction to the question. "No, that old fool resisted the truth, but was too cowardly to destroy Aw'kil."

Both brothers pushed back as Dstglared's face held nothing but contempt. His mind reinforced as he looked at his older brother, or rather, his former brother. "You fool, you should have told us about the sword so we could banish it from this world, now look at you, your soul is lost!"

"No, I am enlightened!"

---

Tsukuyomi POV

The last of the would-be assassins was slammed into the wall by Tamamo, who looked him down. In the fight, I had seen her unleash fire from her hands and explosions from Ofuda charms that she had on hand. My first thought at this was that she had to be a Mystic, might like Doujimaru, and I, to a certain extent. I still recall when Doujimaru pointed out that I had this passive ability to influence others.

Yet, something about her abilities was off. I had seen Doujimaru perform feats with the powers of the Astral Ocean. I might even understand how it works due to my connection to it. But what she did felt off to me. It was as if fire was suddenly willed into being by the physical world itself.

"Who sent you?" Tamamo asked as she looked at him. First a moment, I thought I could see her canines being longer, but it was probably my imagination.

"I won't tell you anything!"

A mischievous smirk formed on her face. One that I was certain was from someone who was taking that as a challenge. Tamamo pulled him closer and looked him right in his eyes. I couldn't make out what, but his expression softened, and he seemed to be staring off. Almost like something had pacified his mind.

"Who sent you to kill us?" Tamamo asked again, this time without any hostility in her voice. I found it strange she would ask again.

"Lord Sutoku did; he was hoping to use this as a means to kill both you, the Edo heir, and the Guji."

I took notice of the tone of the assassin. Unlike before, no hostility was in it like before. It seemed almost dull, like one was speaking but not being all there as they spoke. My mind moved to the last group being targeted, the Guji. Truthfully, knowing Doujimaru, it was unlikely they would be able to sneak up on them. Without mental training, he would probably pick up their intentions and kill them himself. He probably already knows of his half-brothers' attempt to kill him.

I decided to speak up about this. My mind had already made note that whatever Tamamo had done had made the assassin suggestible. "What does he hope to gain from this?"

"I don't know, most of us thought it was just to expand his territory, but lately he's talked about gods, and I think I saw a sword that made me uncomfortable just looking at it." He seemed to react with a shudder as if his mind was recalling something. How could a mere sword do this to a man?

"Thank you, now sleep." Tamamo let him go as he fell unconscious. The sounds of snoring showed that he had indeed fallen asleep. "So, I take it you want to confront the Lord of Kansai?"

Tamamo turned to me, and her expression was hard to read. However, that didn't matter to me one bit. There was an unspoken feeling between us. "Yes."

 

[Spelloyal]

(A/N) I've been meaning to post this here after Spacebattles. I wonder if I should have posted it in the other category? Eh, whatever.

Click to shrink...

In general, it's always better to post in the NSFW category on this site because the normal category doesn't get as many hits and it's not really mandatory to post NSFW content to use the category, the only thing that changes is that even if the fic doesn't have NSFW content, readers are still free to post images, omakes, and other NSFW content in the category.