Kenji looked at the Sun Goddess.
She was powerful.
Stronger than Yasaka by a wide margin. Stronger than Serafall, too. When he looked at her stats, most of her stats hovered in the twenties in tier 5.
Kenji had long noticed how the higher he went in tiers, the more important, the more monstrous a single point became. A single point in tier 5 was like 10 or so stat points in tier 6.
The gap between 10 and 20 wasn't just ten steps, it was a canyon, an exponential leap in sheer amount of power that one can have. Serafall and Grayfia were in the tens and already functioned as walking natural disasters capable of reshaping geography with a flick of their wrists.
Amaterasu, sitting firmly in the twenties, radiated an authority that felt as if the sun itself were focused into a single point in the room. Her presence was heavy, even without trying, he could feel the heat from where she was sitting.
And Sirzechs… the man sitting in the fifties and even sixties in some stats? He was a monster among monsters, a benchmark for Kenji in a way, he was in his 20s too, lower than the goddess in front of him, but that won't mean much with his abilities and statshift.
And besides, he could just use his stat points, and baam, he was about her. To bridge that gap, He was nearly even Sirzech already, and even now, he was stronger than the devil if he used his stat shift. IF. It was still embarrassing that he forgot it.
Amaterasu studied the man in front of her just as carefully as he did her.
To an untrained eye, he was High Class at best, a talented human, sure, but she was not an untrained eye.
She was the sovereign of the Shinto pantheon, the shining goddess whose radiant light ruled the Land of the Rising Sun. Very few things occurred within her islands without her awareness. The sun saw all, and the shadows whispered to her at dusk.
She had watched.
She had seen the skirmish with the Fallen and managed to glimpse fragments of his clash with the Old Faction devils. She knew the man standing before her was hiding the true depth of his power.
He was Ultimate-class, an impressive feat for a human to achieve, even if he was still significantly weaker than her divine self. It was the potential he represented that made her impressed.
"Yasaka, I didn't know you had company," Kenji said casually, glancing at the goddess before looking back at the kitsune leader. "I'll come back later."
"Don't mind me," Amaterasu replied smoothly, her voice like silk over a blade. "We were finished. Join us."
Her tone was polite, but her eyes were not. They were searching, and perhaps a little hungry. Kenji looked at the offered seat, then at Yasaka. The kitsune sighed softly and gave the smallest nod, her nine tails twitching in a sign of underlying stress.
He sat, knowing this was likely the opportunity he had been looking for, so he might as well take it. He didn't really come here for this, but oh well.
"So, Mr. Kenji," Yasaka began, but Kenji cut her off.
"Just Kenji, Yasaka."
He and Anastasia had gotten to know the fox woman well over the months. To his surprise, his wife and the kitsune had become fast friends, often chatting whenever the other was free. It was strange to be honest at first, but he got used to it.
Yasaka smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes under Amaterasu's gaze. "What brings you here?"
Kenji summoned two boxes from his inventory and levitated them over. Yasaka's golden eyes brightened instantly. She opened them just enough to confirm the contents, the shimmering, rhythmic blue light of mana stones, and her composure cracked for a second with genuine delight.
For the Yokai of Kyoto, these were quickly becoming their ace, and having them was proving to be invaluable. The strength of just her yokai guards has already soared beyond what she expected.
"I'll ensure your payment reaches you," she said, her voice regaining its professional edge.
From the side, Kenji noticed Amaterasu's subtle frown. She was trying to peer into the boxes, her brow furrowing with curiosity. 'She didn't know.
That was interesting.
Yasaka seemed to have gone to great lengths to keep the mana stone trade a secret, even from her own goddess. It suggested that while Yasaka was loyal, she was also pragmatic, building her own reserves for the sake of her people. After all, while the yokai were part of the Shinto pantheon, the gods of their pantheon were not really the supporting sort.
"And the other matter…" Kenji continued.
He brought out the tail of Hagoromo Gitsune.
The room temperature spiked instantly, the wood of the table groaning as it began to dry out. Amaterasu's eyes hardened, turning to molten gold as she scowled at the tail of the traitor fox. The history of that tail was written in blood and betrayal, a stain on the Shinto pantheon's legacy.
"Where did you get that?" she demanded, venom lacing her voice.
"Some gang tried to kill me a few months ago," Kenji replied casually, dismissing the threat as if it were a common mugging. Huh. Was it months already? Time really did fly when you were constantly busy. "I kept it. Figured I should return it to your lot after all, she's your business."
Yasaka accepted it carefully, her expression somber. "Thank you. But I assume you want something in return."
She knew him too well. These past few months have given her a small insight into the man. He hadn't handed it over with the stones, and he hadn't waited for them to be alone, so it wasnt her he wanted something from. He wanted something from the goddess herself and was trying to bait her.
"You see," Kenji said, leaning back and crossing his legs, "when I entered the supernatural world, I was told cities in Japan fall under the Shinto pantheon. But then I learned Kuoh is Devil territory. It's a bit confusing for a poor someone like myself who is just trying to follow the rules."
Amaterasu growled, the temperature rising another few degrees until the air began to shimmer with heat haze. She hated the Abrahamic factions and the constant political maneuvering they forced upon her. The loss of Kuoh was a constant reminder.
"We are lending that city," Amaterasu corrected coldly. It was a sensitive subject, the Shinto pantheon had been forced to use politics to gain ground after the Nekomata massacre because monsters like Sirzechs and Ajuka were simply too dangerous to fight directly without risking a total war they might lose.
"So," Kenji continued evenly, "I want a similar arrangement for Shizuoka."
Silence fell, heavy and absolute. Yasaka blinked in shock, her tails going still. Amaterasu stared at him as if he had just asked for her crown. The pressure in the room thickened, an aura meant to crush his spirit and force him to his knees.
"You want me to kick out my followers and the yokai of my pantheon... for you?" she asked slowly, her voice carrying the rumble of distant thunder.
"Not really," Kenji said, shrugging. "I don't know the specifics of your deal with the devils, but that's not what I'm asking. I want the authority for the city, and I want the supernatural world to recognize it."
"And why should I agree?" Amaterasu's voice lowered to a molten hiss. "For a single traitor's tail? Why shouldn't I just take it and burn you to ash right here for your insolence?"
The walls began to warp slightly from the heat, the scent of singed wood filling the air. Yasaka quietly reinforced her own seat, shielding herself from the worst of it. Kenji didn't move. He met the Sun Goddess's gaze with unflinching eyes.
"You can try," he said quietly.
Amaterasu studied him, her anger meeting a terrifying calm. This wasn't the reaction she was expecting. Was he that cocky, just because he was stronger than other humans, was he really thinking he could defeat her.
She shifted subjects abruptly, the heat receding slightly as her curiosity took over. "What was in the boxes?"
Yasaka stiffened. Kenji glanced at her, and after a moment of silent communication, she nodded. He summoned a single mana stone and tossed it lightly toward Amaterasu. She caught it with a look of disdain that quickly vanished into a look of shock.
At first, it looked trivial, a pretty blue rock. Then she felt it. Pure, condensed mana. Before she could fully analyze it, her divine essence instinctively drew the energy in. The stone lost its shine, turning to dull, grey rock.
But the effect was noticeable. Her power had increased. Only a tiny, tiny drop, but it was a drop added to an ocean that had been stagnant for centuries. Her eyes snapped to Kenji, her gaze now far more calculating.
"What was that?" she commanded, her voice hungry.
Kenji was tempted not to answer just from the way she had voiced that, but decided not to be petty.
"It's condensed mana," Kenji said evenly. "And as you've felt... it can be used to increase one's power."
"You seek Shizuoka," Amaterasu said slowly, "in exchange for a supply of these stones."
"Hmmmmm," Kenji sat there thinking, or rather pretending to think. It was an acceptable term, but why should he just accept it like that? "I don't really know," he said
"I already have an agreement with Yasaka, and creating these takes quite a lot of time," he said, looking at the goddess.
Amaterasu Knew he was lying, or at least if she did, she couldn't really call him out on it. The goddess grit her teeth.
"I'll have to think about it," Kenji said.
"What do you want?" she growled out.
With that, they went over a bit more detail before they settled on something to go by for the meantime until later.
Kenji met her gaze without fear. "Then we renegotiate another time, but for now, this should do."
Amaterasu stared at him for a long heartbeat, then laughed softly. The sound was like bells, yet carried the crackle of a brushfire. "You interest me, Kenji. Very well. Shizuoka is yours to manage, under the nominal sovereignty of the Shinto. Be careful, however. With the way you are now, you'll be making enemies."
She said to him. Really, was she mad just because of something like this.
He scoffed internally, 'gods'.
She stood up from her seat and glanced at the shards of the stone and boxes with yasaka, then vanished in a burst of radiant light.
Silence filled the office. Yasaka exhaled a breath she seemed to have been holding for an hour.
"…You enjoy provoking people, don't you?"
Kenji leaned back, finally relaxing his shoulders. "Not really," he said honestly, they just didn't like people looking down on him.
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