Wild God

Night fell, the sun set and the moon rose, darkness enveloped the village in the wilderness. Villagers returned home one after another, and the atmosphere of the entire village suddenly became quiet, including the shrine at the center of the village.

At this time, the shrine no longer had as many visitors as during the day. In the quiet surroundings, the entity that had been hidden within the shrine emerged and began to observe everything around it.

“Oh my, oh my, it's evening again.” A clear, ethereal voice came from before the shrine's Torii Gate. At this moment, within the divine realm there, an alluring young girl stood.

Prominent, upright animal ears stood atop her head, and a fluffy, large tail extended behind her. The girl had the physique of a human around fourteen or fifteen years old, with short white hair adorned with vibrant red floral ornaments. A vibrant green ornate robe draped over her, revealing slender white legs.

It seemed her transformation skills were not quite perfect, as the girl possessed numerous animalistic features. Besides the animal ears on her head and the tail behind her, her mouth was trilobed, similar to a rabbit's, and the ends of her feet were also beast-like, resembling a rabbit's paws.

Just by her ears and tail, one might think the girl's true form was a fox or a wolf, but then seeing her mouth and feet, one might wonder if she was a rabbit. All in all, this strangely beautiful girl gave an overall impression of profound ambiguity.

“Well, evening means it’s time to work. Let me see which fortunate mortals will receive divine blessings today?” the girl declared with a very haughty tone, as she pulled a small strip of paper from within her clothes and read it carefully.

“Hmm… still quite a lot… Never mind, I'll do a bit less tonight. After all, tomorrow is the festival, my festival~ This is my very first festival…” As she spoke, an expression of longing appeared on the girl's face. She pulled a small fan from somewhere and gently fanned herself, gazing with a smile at the bright moon in the sky, her expression filled with joy and anticipation.

Thus, the girl smiled, watching the moon in the sky, motionless for a long while, until a soft female voice sounded from behind her.

“It seems… you truly enjoy gazing at the moon.”

“Who’s there!”

Hearing the voice, the girl’s eyes widened. She spun around abruptly to look behind her, only to see a girl with white hair and crimson eyes, dressed in ordinary human clothes, standing atop the shrine's Torii Gate at some unknown moment. Her appearance suggested she was of similar age.

At this very moment, Miketsu stood atop the Torii Gate, looking down at the astonished girl below. She could tell that the girl was a wild god.

“You… you can see me? And you’re in the divine realm too? You… you’re also a god!?” The girl exclaimed loudly to Miketsu, her voice betraying her agitated state. It was clear that Miketsu’s appearance had greatly shocked her, and her expression now showed clear vigilance.

“We are both currently in the divine realm; isn’t that quite obvious?” Miketsu said slowly, a faint smile playing on her lips. Unlike the tense wild god girl, Miketsu’s expression was completely relaxed and natural.

“A god from somewhere else… what are you doing here?” the wild god girl continued. After confirming that Miketsu was indeed a god, her wariness deepened even further, and a hint of hostility even crept into her eyes.

“Nothing, this place merely piqued my curiosity, so I came to see… And incidentally, I have a few questions for the god residing in this shrine.” Miketsu’s gaze remained calm on the wild god girl, her emotions showing no particular fluctuation.

“What is it… you wish to ask?”

“The god worshipped by the people of this village, that would be you, correct?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Of course it’s me! I am Lady Inari Okami!” the girl declared, puffing out her chest proudly, speaking with great confidence.

“Oh… Inari Okami? But I heard Inari Okami fell into a deep slumber a century ago. Why are you here then?” Miketsu said with a slight smile, tilting her head as she observed the girl.

“Uh… isn’t it fine if I just woke up?” Hearing Miketsu’s words, the girl paused slightly, speaking with a hint of guilt in her eyes.

“Alright, if that’s the case, then I’ll ask my next question. Are you fulfilling the prayers of the humans in this village, Lady Inari Okami?” Miketsu didn't pursue the previous topic, but instead asked anew.

“Of course! As a deity, one must help humans and answer the prayers of one’s believers.” As she spoke, the wild god girl gestured towards the village beyond the Torii Gate. Even at night, many places flickered with lights, and some people were gathered under torchlight, singing and dancing, making it far livelier than an average village.

“See? I’ve painstakingly helped the humans here! This village has prospered under my aid, and the villagers are all incredibly grateful and devout towards me! I am a truly qualified god!” Spreading her arms wide, the wild god girl declared with loud confidence.

“Indeed, this village certainly looks prosperous, yet other villages in the surrounding area always seem to be shrouded in misfortune.” As she spoke, Miketsu’s eyes narrowed slightly, and her expression turned sharp.

“Their fortunes and misfortunes, what do they have to do with me?! As long as those who believe in me live happily, I cannot concern myself with anything else.” Hearing Miketsu’s words, the wild god girl responded with blunt dismissiveness.

“Is that so? That’s what you think…” After listening to the wild god girl, Miketsu paused slightly, then changed the topic, her expression and tone turning serious.

“Tomorrow is the festival the villagers have prepared for you, isn’t it? They are going to offer you a human sacrifice. Can you stop them?”

“No!” Faced with Miketsu’s suggestion, the wild god girl rejected it flatly.

“Why? From your appearance, you don’t seem to be a being that enjoys eating humans.” Miketsu said. Having been a yokai boss in the demon realm for some time, she could already distinguish between different types of yokai. Yokai with cannibalistic habits and evildoers who had killed excessively would be entangled with black threads of causality, representing karmic obstruction, under Miketsu’s causality vision. Those who incurred intense hatred would also appear this way. When Miketsu operated as Owl, she would not recruit violently cannibalistic yokai; instead, she would find opportunities for Nura Rihyon to eliminate them.

“Yes, I don’t eat humans, but this human sacrifice is a meticulously prepared offering from my believers, and I will not destroy their heartfelt intentions. Besides, the one being sacrificed brought it upon himself. Who told him to lead a group of people to attack my believers and injure them? This is the price he should pay.” The wild god girl stated matter-of-factly, meeting Miketsu’s gaze with undiminished resolve.

Observing the unyielding wild god girl, Miketsu sighed softly, then spoke indifferently.

“Is that so… If that’s the case, then I will have no choice but to resort to coercive measures.”

Hearing Miketsu’s words, the wild god girl’s vigilance immediately spiked to its maximum. She quickly took two steps back, putting distance between herself and Miketsu, and watched her with full alertness, demonic power emanating from her body.

“You truly are up to no good, after all! Who exactly are you? Could there be gods in other villages too?” the wild god girl said with hostility. Her first thought was whether Miketsu was a god from another village trying to cause trouble in hers.

“No, you’re overthinking it. I am not their god. I only came here to correct some of your mistakes.”

“I am a god! A great deity does not make mistakes; I don’t need any correcting!” the wild god girl shouted. Immediately, a radiant, clear light shone from her body, as if resonating with the bright moon in the sky.

At this very moment, Miketsu could clearly feel a surge of power from within the shrine flowing into the wild god girl’s body. Her demonic power instantly surged, and within that demonic power, lingering traces of another, unusual energy were present. Miketsu knew it was divine power, a very turbid divine power.

When a yokai gains sufficient belief, it can acquire immense power and ascend from the demon realm, becoming a wild god with turbid divine power and a faint divine nature. The power the wild god girl had just absorbed from the shrine was the belief she had collected; this belief greatly enhanced her inherent demonic power while also granting her a trace of turbid divine power and divine nature.

“See! This is the power I’ve gathered from my believers, the power of a god’s faith!” The wild god girl, bathed in radiant light, had three bright orbs of light coalesce around her. With a flick of the folding fan in her hand, these three orbs rapidly flew towards Miketsu. She intended to strike first!

“Inviting Moon!”

Facing the orbs of light flying directly towards her, Miketsu made not a single move. She watched them with a serene expression as they slowly stopped right before her eyes, making no further advance.

“What?!” Seeing this, the wild god girl froze on the spot, her mouth agape in astonishment. Facing all this, Miketsu smiled faintly.

“What’s wrong? You’re collecting belief and acquiring power in Inari Okami’s name, and then you intend to use that very power to harm Inari Okami herself?”