Lingering Doubts

On the outskirts of Heian-kyo, the battle between Miketsu and Yorihime had entered a bizarre stage. Yorihime, who had initially relied on siphoning divine power to fight, was now being forcefully inundated with an unlimited amount of it by Miketsu. Pushed to the very brink of her physical limits, Yorihime cried out in panic.

"Stop! Stop it! Hurry up and stop!" Yorihime shouted, clutching her head as if she were going mad. Across from her, Miketsu remained unmoved, continuing the relentless infusion of divine power. Unable to endure the swelling energy within her, Yorihime gripped her long blade and swung it toward the sky with a desperate scream, attempting to vent the power through the edge.

"Demon-Slaying Cleave!!"

Countless golden blades of Qi erupted from Yorihime’s blade, shooting into the sky in a dense, overlapping rain. She swung her sword incessantly, hoping to discharge the excessive spiritual power and relieve the pressure. However, she soon realized that the massive influx of divine power per second far exceeded her output. The power within her continued to rise rather than fall, rapidly approaching the critical breaking point.

Finally, the immense strain on her body caused Yorihime’s consciousness to blur. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and the blade she could no longer hold slipped from her hands, clattering to the ground. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to her knees. In her state of despair and confusion, all she could see were Miketsu’s cold, indifferent eyes.

"Weren't you the one constantly demanding divine power? You call yourself a Miko, yet you greedily steal the power of the gods. Instead of feeling shame, you are haughty and smugly satisfied... Hah. You want divine power? Then I shall give it to you. Stand there and take it. Let’s see whose doom this power ultimately brings..." Miketsu spoke coldly. In the end, as Yorihime looked up at Miketsu, her eyes held nothing but fear and supplication.

"I... was wrong, Lady Uka... I beg of you... stop..."

With that final plea, Yorihime’s consciousness plunged into darkness.

A cool evening breeze blew across the ruined battlefield. Miketsu stood in the center, looking down at the unconscious Yorihime at her feet. She let out a soft sigh.

"Haa... I hope you’ve learned your lesson..."

Miketsu ultimately chose not to kill Yorihime, as they had no prior grudge and Yorihime hadn't committed any severe atrocities on Earth. Although Yorihime's actions could be considered a grave act of sacrilege—one that no orthodox god would easily forgive—Miketsu was principled and held a benevolent office. Had a martial god, war god, or thunder god been in her place, Yorihime would have certainly met a fate far worse than death.

"Consider yourself lucky. If you had encountered any other god, who knows what would have happened to you... Well, a weaker god probably wouldn't have been able to do anything to you anyway..." Miketsu muttered as she picked up the long blade Yorihime had dropped. Just then, a clear voice rang out from the distance.

"Leave her! Please, stay away from Lady Yorihime!"

Miketsu turned toward the sound and saw a group of humanoid yokai with rabbit ears emerging from the woods at the edge of the battlefield. They wore uniform attire and aimed strange-looking weapons at her.

Rabbit yokai? Rabbit yokai from the moon? Weren't those moon rabbits?

"Please move away from Lady Yorihime immediately! Do not approach her, or we will open fire!" the moon rabbit soldiers shouted as they slowly closed in on Miketsu. Despite their advance, a palpable fear was visible in their eyes, and the hands holding their weapons trembled incessantly.

It was obvious these moon rabbits knew the person before them was the one who had defeated Yorihime—someone far beyond their ability to handle. Yet, they continued to advance with unwavering determination to protect the unconscious Yorihime. Seeing this, Miketsu gave a dignified smile.

"Heh. I didn't expect you to be so respected and loved by your subordinates. I suppose that's a point in your favor."

As Miketsu spoke, she gave a gentle wave of her hand. An ethereal torii gate manifested behind her, and beyond it, one could catch a glimpse of golden rice fields.

From that spectral torii gate connected to the Fox Hunt Realm, countless translucent soul foxes leaped out. They flew toward the moon rabbit soldiers with incredible speed. In their surprise, the moon rabbits accidentally fired several light bullets from their weapons, but the agile soul foxes dodged them all. Finally, the soul foxes passed through the bodies of the moon rabbits. Affected by the foxes, the soldiers stumbled and collapsed one by one, falling into a deep sleep.

After dealing with the moon rabbits, Miketsu called for Tsuruha to bring the Inari foxes to move the people and handle the aftermath. She then took flight, gliding toward the other side of the forest. When she landed, a blood-stained Eirin was waiting for her.

"I didn't expect you to be waiting for me here. I thought you would have fled," Miketsu said slowly, looking at Eirin, who had just been released from her blade-restraint.

"I did consider fleeing. I had already planned an escape strategy while you were fighting Yorihime. But after seeing you emerge victorious, I gave up on that idea," Eirin said with a remarkably relaxed demeanor.

"Do you believe you couldn't escape me even if you tried?"

"That was a consideration, but it wasn't the main point. Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto, my re-evaluation of your strength has convinced me that you could be a powerful ally—an ally strong enough that, through cooperation with us, we could stand against the Lunar Capital," Eirin said bluntly. Miketsu’s brow furrowed slightly at her words.

"Stand against... the Lunar Capital?"

"Yes. When it comes to the Lunar Capital, we are on the same side. Their goals include your precious daughter. When we moved against your daughter before, it was only because we didn't believe you could protect her from the Lunar Capital, so we wanted her to hide with us... But things are different now. With you as an ally, I believe we have a chance to face the Lunar Capital head-on," Eirin continued to explain her motives. Hearing this, Miketsu’s confusion only deepened.

"Wait. You need to explain everything clearly to me right now. What is the Lunar Capital? How did it come to be? What is the relationship between your Princess Taketori, my Kaguya, and the Lunar Capital? If they were both born in the Lunar Capital, why did they end up on Earth? Why are the people of the Lunar Capital trying to hunt down and retrieve them—and you? And why have you gone to such great lengths to prevent their retrieval?" Miketsu stared at Eirin with intense seriousness.

"Explain these questions to me one by one, and only then will I consider whether to form an alliance with you, Omoikane-no-Mikoto..."

Listening to Miketsu, Eirin let out a breath and looked around. She then smiled and looked back at Miketsu.

"I can give you the answers to all those questions, but this desolate wilderness is no place for a long talk... Well? Won't you invite me to your shrine for a few cups of tea, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto?"