Final Preparations

"How long has it been?" Akeno asks.

I quickly scribble down a pair of numbers onto my notebook and hold it up towards Akeno. 35, it reads. She hums in mild astonishment. "Over half an hour, huh?" She whispers, before a wry smile lifts her lips. "You come up with the craziest ideas."

I shrug.

It's late in the afternoon now, and we're back in Kyoto. We've finally finished our exams, and we're celebrating by coming up with newer and more gruesome ways of maiming and killing our targets in the upcoming conflict. You know, the usual.

Right now, Akeno's hard at work thinking up countermeasures against every clan head, with the help of the scroll laid out before her, containing information about the current heads of the five clans. It's a little strange for Nurarihyon to so readily have information about the clan heads, but the man has a terrific information network, and he was happy to use it to deliver some justice.

She's been at it for a good couple hours, and she's come up with some truly creative ways of shutting down her opponents.

As for me, I've been creating several special Ofudas, all countermeasures against Kagutsuchi. Ones to extinguish his flames, ones to cool the heat, ones to act as weights, and many more. My creations are neatly piled on a small portable table just to my left.

And as I do so, I'm testing one of them. On my chest is a 'Breathless' Ofuda, its characters glowing as waves of blue run across my body. As its name implies, it allows me to stop breathing for some amount of time. Fairly useful when I'm divine underwater. Or when the area I'm in is completely bereft of air.

Because in the event that he's able to bring out some sort of fire that can bypass my 'Extinguish' Ofuda, then I'll need another way of putting out his flames.

An idea had come to me then: Kagutsuchi may be a god, but physics triumphs over him still. Fire is a physical reaction; it needs oxygen to burn. If I turn the area we're in into a vacuum, then no fires could burn.

Of course, that also means I won't be able to breathe.

Hence the Ofuda on my chest. And it's working great! It's run for over half an hour, and it can last another hour before it gives out.

That's more than enough time to put my most ambitious plan into motion.

That aside,

We're almost ready by this point. There's still a few Ofudas I need to create, and Hanezu has half a dozen people left to kidnap, but our preparations will be over after that. We'll likely finish tonight, right on time for the day of reckoning.

On the fifth day since Hanezu and I met, we'll make our strike against the Five Principal Clans.

There's no telling how long our attack will last. Maybe it'll take only an hour. Maybe a few. Perhaps it'll stretch into the next day or the next few. I don't really know. I have no time just how long my bout with the gods.

Or a god, I should say.

Something happened recently. I'm not quite sure what, but Kagutsuchi seems to have gotten into some spat with his fellow gods. Which isn't all that rare; that god is a wrathful one. But that also means that there's a guarantee that Kagutsuchi will be descending alone.

Because for as rageful as he is, Kagutsuchi is one of the most loyal to the people who worship his name. He was a god cast out at birth, his body desecrated by his own father. Those that live under his name are his people, and he'll fight with all his might to retain those he blesses.

Other gods aren't so…'faithful', I should say. Gods aren't like us. The way they live, the way they think; it's all very fickle if put to human standards. If their followers died en masse? Well, they won't care all that much. After all, there are billions more people that can pray to their names.

Kagutsuchi's an oddity in that regard. He would've made a fine ally, I think. It's just a shame that he's opposing us.

Past that, knowing that Kagutsuchi will most likely be the only god I'll face lifts a great burden off my shoulders, and my wrists. Because that means I have no need to create countermeasures for the other patron gods, and that's a-

Suddenly, I feel something poking my cheek, and I blink to find Akeno frowning at me, harshly pressing her finger into my left cheek. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she smiles back. "Finally back in the real world?"

I blink, and I smile wryly as I rip the 'Breathless' Ofuda off my chest. "How long did I go this time?"

She hums as she glances at her watch. "Around…fifty minutes?"

I wince. "Ah. Sorry about that."

This isn't anything new. Having all the information available to me tends to make me think too much about things. And when I'm thinking deeply about something, I tend to zone out. I don't stop working or anything, but people can easily tell that I'm not really there.

She grins. "Don't worry about it. You look cute when you're zoning out."

I roll my eyes. "Anyway," I glance at the notebook on her lap. "How're your plans going? Need help on anything?"

"I do, actually." She admits as she picks up her notebook. She sits next to me, and she holds the notebook between us. "I'm wondering if-"

The rest of the day goes on like that, spent in that one indistinct room in our summer home, going over our plans for the next day.

And when midnight comes, when the stars above have shown their light, we put down our utensils and step out into one of the mansion's inner gardens. We'd sit on the grass, and we'd watch the stars above, relaxing and resting as light chatter fills the air between us.

It's the calm before the storm, you can say.

Once morning comes, Akeno and I stand in the shadows of that abandoned factory. She's fully disguised, her entire appearance changed to that of an older woman, with short brown hair and light yellow eyes. It's an effect granted by the necklace hidden beneath her shirt, created by Yasaka a couple days prior.

And I am dressed in dark armor, forged from plates of darkened steel and engraved with purple robes worn around my shoulders and waist, fluttering gently in the shallow winds. There various slits all over the armor, each containing a set of Ofudas carefully hidden and protected from outside harm.

Some time later, Hanezu arrives, teleporting into the abandoned factory in a flash of light. And behind him is his agency; made of expelled clan members and stray magicians, all ready for the incoming conflict. There are easily more than a couple hundred of them.

"Here." I say, placing a large suitcase into Hanezu's hands. "Inside are thousands of 'Conceal' Ofudas. Place them upon your victims, and have them return to the village of the five clans."

He takes the suitcase and begins handing the Ofudas out to his men. It isn't long before they teleport away, eager to do as I instructed them to.

Of course, after he places those Ofudas on the people he kidnapped, he'll need to have them 'return' to their original home. The higher-ups will no doubt be suspicious, but they won't be able to detect the Utsusemis possessing them.

My eyes tell me it'll take hours before Hanezu finishes.

So Akeno and I pass the time with some board games. Akeno has a surprising selection contained in her Spatial Storage, and we can finally make use of it for once.

By the time Hanezu and his men return, it's just about noon. The possessed have returned to the village, and now it's our time to strike. So Akeno and I step into the teleportation array Hanezu has prepared some time ago, and in a flash of light, we're miles away from Kyoto.

Instead, we stand on a small hill overlooking a large feudal village. It's a seemingly tranquil place, decorated by monuments and shrines that give the whole village a mystical atmosphere. The only odd thing is the electrical lines running across iron poles, but that isn't so strange in this day and age.

"On my mark," I say.

Akeno nods, her grip on Raikiri tightening.

Hanezu nods, and he makes a glance at his men before they too pull out their weapons.

The stray magicians hear me loud and clear, and the sky behind us begins lighting up as hundreds of magic circle appear in the air.

I take a deep breath, and digging my foot into the dirt, I send a pulse of Primal Energy into the ground. It immediately touches the small seed I had Hanezu plant some days ago, and roots begin growing immediately.

It begins digging through the earth, and it grows even faster as it touches the many 'Gathering' Ofudas hidden in the dirt, planted in secret over the past five days. The many seeds and plant grafts have been touched by that initial root, and they too have begun growing, assimilating into each other into one massive floral growth.

Before long, my plants have grown all across the village, hiding just meters beneath the soil. Then, at my command, a tiny tendril begins reaching up through the dirt, careful not to cause too much disturbance in the dirt.

Then, it touches the 'Isolation' Ofuda placed in the center of the village. An outpour of curses rises into the air; a screeching mass of accursed energy blots out the skies, turning it black as an invisible dome forms over the entire area.

Immediately, my eyes can see that hundreds of people are dropping onto the ground, gasping for air as their blessed strength leaves them for the first time in their lives.

"Go."

And they do. Hanezu and his men roar as they charge towards the village. The stray magicians rush forward as well, unleashing their spells at the first enemies in sight.

The possessed victims that'd snuck back into the village hours ago begin acting, tearing off their Ofudas as they too join the fray.

Shikaku and his fellow Youkai, having secretly arrived here hours ago, finally begin moving as well. They fly forward, intent on getting in and out as quickly as they can.

Only Akeno remains by my side, knowing that I'm not done.

I take another breath, and many more tendrils begin growing out of the massive growth in the earth below, reaching up towards the seeds hidden in the various monuments and shrines dotted all over the village. Then, once the roots come into contact,

BANG!

A roaring explosion sounds as tens of monuments and shrines explode at the same time, overwhelmed by a sudden, terrific growth of an impossibly large flower.

Akeno turns to me, and I to her. As one we nod, and together we leap towards the village, ready to finally face the conflict ahead.

And just like that, the siege is under way.