A man with distinct scars across his hands tapped his fingers impatiently against the wooden desk. "We came here to unite our forces, yes?"
He was an imposing figure—an old man with thick, expressive eyebrows and a scarred face. One of his eyes was a piercing blue, while the other was a deep brown, tracking every movement in the room. A beautifully braided white beard hung down his chest. He raised an eyebrow in question.
Yoshio nodded firmly. "Yes."
Both leaders sat on their knees, facing each other across the low table. Heavily armed men from both factions flanked the room, protectively guarding their respective masters.
"Tsukuyomi dropped a bomb when he aligned with his wife," Lord Nurarihyon said, crossing his hands over his knee. "I intend to bomb her right back."
"I am afraid it will not be that simple, Lord Nurarihyon," Yoshio countered, casually chewing on a bitter reed. "If you thought her burning of Yokai territory was severe, you should see the mortal lands. She is slaughtering absolutely everyone."
"I can well imagine," Nurarihyon replied, rising smoothly to his feet. "And I intend to give every single one of my soldiers a bite of her flesh."
Suddenly, a shadow stretched across the dojo. The heavy sliding door creaked open, and a terrifying creature crept into the room. Long, segmented spider legs reached upward, gripping the wooden beams of the ceiling as the beast crawled backward into the light.
Yoshio's ronin visibly paled, several of them letting out muffled whimpers of terror. It was a Jorogumo—a monstrous spider beast. She tilted her masked head downward, watching the humans. Though she remained silent, she was armed to her venomous teeth, carrying eight distinct katanas strapped along the thorax of her back.
As she slithered upside down across the ceiling, an uncomfortable tension gripped every mortal in the room. Even Yoshio nearly swallowed his reed.
Nurarihyon cleared his throat to break the silence. "My apologies. She has never seen mortals before." He gestured for his men to step back, turning his attention back to the map. "Let us discuss tactics. What exactly can you bring to the table?"
"I am currently missing my strongest warrior," Yoshio admitted honestly. "But she should be on her way to us as we speak."
"No matter," Nurarihyon smiled softly. He turned his gaze toward a short, furry creature waiting in the corner. "Taka."
The creature instantly shifted, transforming into a nimble Tanuki. "On it, sir!" Taka squeaked, dashing out of the room on all fours to scout the perimeter.
Meanwhile, across the province, Sugi and Yumi were locked in a vicious skirmish at an enemy outpost. Fighting back-to-back, the two women moved like a synchronized storm. Sugi rolled fluidly over Yumi's shoulders, seamlessly swapping targets to slice an enemy's abdomen with her kusarigama before sliding past his collapsing form.
Simultaneously, Yumi swept the legs out from under an oncoming soldier. Dropping her weight, she drove her hidden arm-blade and her katana deep into both sides of his collarbone.
But before she could recover, a massive iron shield violently slammed into her side. The brute-force bash launched her through the air. She ragdolled across the dirt, groaning in agony as she hit the ground.
"Your uncle would be deeply disappointed," the enemy brute sneered, stepping over her with a cruel grin. "You are weak."
As Yumi struggled to look up from the dirt, the world around her suddenly bled into a stark, crimson canvas. Time slowed, and a cold, monotone voice echoed directly inside her mind: "Are you really going to just take that, girl? You're proving them right."
Her eyes widened in shock, "Who—" but she couldn't speak back to the entity. Clenching her fist, the voice responds to her question: who is he? "I am your greatest advantage." she grabbed a heavy chunk of mud from the earth and hurled it directly into the brute's unprotected eye.
The giant screamed, clutching his face. Yumi lunged to her feet, her vision flashing red.
"Do not speak… about my uncle!" she roared, driving her blade forward in a lethal, blinding thrust.
Hours later, the adrenaline had faded, and the two women sought refuge at a secluded hot spring. Sugi sank into the steaming water, letting out a blissful moan. "Ahh… this feels so incredible…"
Yumi sat perfectly still in the water, her back straight and her eyes closed in deep meditation. The gentle, rhythmic pattern of her breath was the only sign she was awake. Sugi watched her silently for a few long moments before speaking.
"For someone who claims to be meditating, you sure do let your emotions take control of you during a fight," Sugi teased, tilting her head with a smug smirk.
"That is not what happened," Yumi replied flatly, without opening her eyes. "I simply show no mercy to the enemy."
"Huh. Well, in a way, it was kind of hot," Sugi grinned.
Yumi snapped one eye open, glaring slightly. "What?"
By nightfall, the two were forced to share a single room at a cramped local inn. Sugi lay sideways on her futon, a mischievous smile playing on her lips, while Yumi stared up at the wooden ceiling with utter disdain.
"This is nice," Sugi said softly, shifting her weight to crawl closer to Yumi's side.
In response, Yumi coldly turned her back, rolling away. Sugi snickered at the rejection but didn't stop, sliding closer until she successfully managed to drape an arm over Yumi's shoulder.
Instantly, Yumi snatched her pillow and shoved it squarely into Sugi's face. "Stop it!" she hissed, trying desperately to find sleep. "You like men, and I do too."
Sugi groaned into the fabric, finally rolling back to her own side. "Aww… fine."
As quiet settled over the room, Yumi took a deep breath, relaxing her mind as she closed her eyes. Beneath her robes, her cursed armor began to pulse with a faint, ominous red aura.
When her eyes opened, she was standing in a vast, pitch-black void streaked with veins of crimson light. Confused, she realized her hand was pressed tightly against her face. She blinked, pulling her fingers away, and looked up into the abyss.
A behemoth of a dragon slithered rapidly through the darkness, cutting through the air with terrifying speed. It looped backward, diving straight toward Yumi. Shocked, she ducked low to the ground as the massive entity roared past.
Crouched in the void, Yumi grunted in frustration. "A beast?!"
The dragon coiled tightly, preparing for another strike, but paused at her words. It slithered closer, its massive head lowering until Yumi looked like a mere ant beneath its gaze.
"You do not recognize me…?" the dragon hissed, its long whiskers twitching as it tilted its head.
"I am Yumi Tachibana," she declared boldly.
"A Tachibana…" the dragon echoed, the sound vibrating through the void. "Tsukuyomi's family legion… You are no god. You must know of Amaterasu… and the gods she holds on her leash."
Yumi tensed. "What god?"
"Susanoo, my lady," the dragon answered, lowering its head to the floor.
Yumi gasped softly, doing her best to suppress her shock. "Susanoo?"
"Yes," the dragon stated, staring directly into her eyes. "He was sent by the sun goddess during the ancient war to seal me away forever."
Yumi placed her chin in her hand, her mind racing as she pieced the puzzle together. "Is that so? Then who are you?"
"I am Ryujin, of course. The dragon of the seas."
Yumi shook her head. "Susanoo told me that you were dead, and that your soul was simply bound to this armor to serve a purpose."
The massive beast let out a low, vibrating growl that shook the space. "Liars… They sealed me because, outside of the Yokai and my fallen people, I was the greatest threat to the heavens. And now, you wear my skin to fight on their behalf."
Yumi stared back into his massive eyes, her gaze hardening with a matching ferocity. "No. The three realms are currently held in a death grip by the sun goddess and her tyrannical army—Jin, Gakido, and Ten."
Ryujin closed his eyes heavily. "The traditions of the gods, our entire written history… it is a lie. I want my freedom."
Yumi clenched her fist tight. "And I want my uncle back."
The dragon fell silent, observing her pain.
"Someday, we will have to confront our past and put it aside," Yumi continued, her voice echoing. "Tsukuyomi and his legion are presumed dead or banished. I will swear to free you from this armor, Ryujin, if you lend me your strength to save my uncle."
"And who is this uncle?" The dragon held his breath. "Haruto Tachibana did not possess a brother."
Yumi looked down, her face turning unreadable as her knuckles turned white. "The Tachibana clan is no more. I am the absolute last of my bloodline…"
The dragon watched her, visibly dazed by the revelation, before bowing his massive head in deep respect. "I apologize, my lady."
Yumi closed her eyes, bowing back. "If we work together, we can achieve great things. You will be our greatest surprise."
Ryujin smiled, coiling backward into the darkness. "Heh. It seems I have little choice in the matter. I will hold you to your word, my lady."
"Give us time," Yumi requested.
"And I shall give you my power. But for now, you must wake up," Ryujin finished, his voice fading as his form dissolved into mist.
Left standing with her arms crossed, Yumi blinked. "What do you mean—"
Suddenly, the void vanished entirely beneath her feet, and she began falling infinitely into a dark abyss.
Yumi bolted upright in her futon, gasping for air as her instincts slammed her back into reality. From outside the room, the chaotic sounds of clashing steel and Sugi's fierce shouting echoed through the inn.
Realizing the danger, Yumi scrambled to her feet and slid the wooden door open slightly. "An army ambush!" she hissed.
She lunged across the room toward her weapon, but as her hand gripped the sheath, she realized to her horror that it was empty—her katana was gone.
Before she could react, the paper door shattered inward. A soldier burst into the room, brandishing her stolen katana and lunging for a lethal backstab.
Yumi's reflexes took over. Moving with fluid precision, she slammed the empty wooden sheath backward, perfectly catching the hilt of her sword to slide the blade back into the scabbard. With the weapon locked, she delivered a brutal elbow directly to the soldier's face, forcing him to release his grip. Spinning on her heel, she unsheathed the steel in a flash, slashing him deeply across the shoulder.
Breathing rapidly, she glared at the bleeding soldier. "Bastard."
Glancing down, she noticed her armor pulsing with that same dark, heavy energy from her dream. From the courtyard, Sugi screamed her name. "Yumi!!"
Grip tightening on her blade, Yumi braced herself for the horde outside.
Meanwhile, within the grand, oppressive halls of the sun castle…
Amaterasu sat on her throne, her head lowered and her hands tightly locked together. She stared blankly at the floor, muttering a single name under her breath: "...Tsukuyomi."
She closed her eyes, and the painful memories of their final argument flooded her mind.
Tsukuyomi had stood before her, his expression entirely devoid of warmth. "We are honorable, Ama. We are not mere survivors meant to scrounge among the mortals. We soar far above them."
Amaterasu had looked at him with genuine desperation. "We raised our legions to help the people become independent, to guide them so they could live without us—not to establish a tyrannical hierarchy!"
Tsukuyomi didn't even look her in the face. "You are beginning to frighten me, my love," he said, turning his back to walk away.
"How?!" she demanded, gritting her teeth in mounting frustration.
"You clearly do not understand what it means to be a god," he said, glancing coldly over his shoulder. "A divinity loses their status and reverence the moment they begin sacrificing their dignity to walk on the same level as mortals. The gods descended to save this world from absolute destruction. We must remind them that we are still here—we are not folktales. And those who dare treat us as equals must be put to rest."
"But it was the right thing to do!" she argued, pressing a hand tightly against her chest. "I helped a group of refugees who traveled all the way from Jin. They were starving, they had nowhere else to turn, and they looked to us for salvation! I gave them sanctuary in the barracks where my own soldiers lived—and your men slaughtered them all because you terrified my guards into believing they were 'invaders'!"
Tsukuyomi offered only a sideways glance. "Sometimes… even the right thing can be awful."
Amaterasu had stood in stunned silence, completely betrayed. She reached out a trembling hand. "Tsukuyomi…" But the light in the sun goddess's eyes had already begun to die.
She remembered dropping to her knees days later, reading the final letter he had left behind on her vanity:
Amaterasu,
Do not seek me in the corridors of this castle again, for I will not answer. I will not kneel before you, nor sit beside you as we once did, dreaming of a world worth saving. The gulf between us has grown too wide—your hands reach down to mortals, while mine are meant to remain above them.
You call it mercy. I call it weakness. You clothe beggars in our robes and open our halls to outsiders, and you cannot see what it costs. Every time you bend to their cries, you strip us of the reverence that kept this world in balance. A god is not their companion. A god is their horizon—untouchable, unquestioned, and feared.
It pains me, Ama, to write these words, but love has become a chain around your neck. You would drag our names into the mud for the sake of what you think is right, and in doing so you would doom us both. And so I will do what you could not: sever what binds us.
In the days to come, your light will falter. I will take from you the very essence you wield so freely. The people will no longer look to you as their savior, but as a faded ember. Only then will they remember what it means to bow before a god.*
Do not call this betrayal. Call it inevitability.
You've asked for too much.
—Tsukuyomi
The memory faded, leaving Amaterasu trembling with a volatile mixture of sorrow and absolute fury. Following that letter, the realm of Ten had frozen over. The beautiful domain had become a desolate, frozen wasteland, devoid of all warmth.
Amaterasu's heart had turned to pure ash. The disrespect and belittlement she felt from the man she loved had ignited a vengeful fire inside her soul.
She remembered the immediate aftermath of that betrayal. Bound hand and foot at her feet had been a pale woman, a cloth tied tightly over her eyes, weeping and screaming into the empty halls. "Tsukuyomi…! My son, help me!" the woman had shrieked.
Amaterasu had watched her with lifeless, hollow eyes. "I am sorry, mother-in-law. But this… this is war."
With an unblinking gaze, she had grabbed a ceremonial dagger, forced the woman's chin upward, and cleanly slit her throat.
"My lady!" a panicked voice suddenly barked, snapping the sun goddess back to the present.
Amaterasu blinked, her eyes flashing dangerously. "What?!"
The scout trembled violently under her gaze. "My lady, we have lost several battalions to the advancing samurai resistance. The reports say she has abandoned her traditional honor entirely… and she left a message. She is coming for you."
"So what?" Amaterasu sneered, turning her face away in boredom. "Throw more men at her."
"My lady… you do not understand…" the soldier stammered, tears of terror welling in his eyes.
She whipped her head back around, glaring at him with pure hatred. "What is there to understand, mortal?"
"You are asking for too much…! This—you are sending our men into a complete slaughter!"
Amaterasu's fist clenched so violently that the stone handle of her grand throne shattered into dust. "Too much? *I am asking for too much?!"
"No! No, my lady!" the guard squealed, throwing himself to the floor. "We will be going into battle with your divine protection… right?"
Amaterasu merely stared down at him, her silence filling the grand chamber with a suffocating, lethal cold.
The soldier looked up, mortified. "...Right?"
She smiled, a tight-lipped, venomous expression. "That is entirely up to you. Now get out of my sight."