I Enslaved The Goddess Who Summoned Me

Yukihime followed behind Nathan, leaving Genzo alone in the meeting house.

For a while, the old shinobi leader stood in silence.

His gaze fell to the map once again.

Minami Kyoto.

Norihiro.

The roads that would soon carry armies.

He had spent most of his life fighting in shadows, convinced that the South could only ever be changed through patience and sacrifice. He had dreamed of freedom, but even he had never imagined it would arrive like this.

Not through one great uprising.

Not through a single assassin’s blade.

But through a mysterious man who seemed to have appeared from nowhere, carrying enough strength to tear apart the foundations of Kastoria.

Genzo let out a slow breath.

Then he turned back toward the work waiting for him.

Outside, Nathan walked along one of the forest paths beside Yukihime.

The village had become busier since the meeting ended. Shinobi passed them in pairs, some carrying bundles of supplies, others leading horses toward the hidden paths beyond the settlement.

A few bowed to Nathan as they passed.

He acknowledged them with a quiet nod.

Yukihime walked close beside him, her steps nearly soundless on the earth.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Then Nathan looked toward her.

“Yukihime.”

“Yes, Nathan-sama?”

“Do you know much about the demon shrines in Kastoria?”

Yukihime’s expression changed slightly.

“Yes,” she said. “They existed even during my time, a thousand years ago. I never entered one myself, and I never wanted to. They were cursed places even then.”

Nathan listened closely.

“What were they?”

Yukihime looked through the trees as though her memory had carried her back to a distant age.

“It was said that they were built by cults that worshiped demons. Not ordinary oni or wandering spirits, but things far older and more dangerous. The people who made those shrines believed they could call the Kijin into this world and gain strength from them.”

Nathan’s eyes narrowed.

“Mitsuhide used a shrine.”

“Yes.”

“He turned into something else.”

“He did.”

Yukihime’s voice was calm, though her eyes had grown darker.

“The shrines fed on blood, fear, death, and devotion. Those who entered them seeking power were rarely given what they expected. A Kijin does not give strength freely. It takes something in return.”

Nathan thought of Mitsuhide’s transformed body.

The dark power spreading through the ruined shrine.

The dead servants lying with their throats cut open.

The ritual symbols burning beneath the blood.

Mitsuhide had believed he was gaining power.

Perhaps he had.

But in the end, he had become a monster and died alone among the ruins.

“And the gods sealed them?” Nathan asked.

“That is what the old stories say.” Yukihime nodded. “The gods of the higher realm learned what the cults were doing. The shrines were sealed, and the Kijin were bound away from this world.”

“By the gods,” Nathan muttered.

“Yes.”

Nathan remained quiet as they walked.

If the shrines had been sealed by gods, then perhaps Amaterasu knew more. She had said little about them so far, but he had also not asked directly. He did not want to call on her for every answer. She had helped him more than once already, and he understood that even gods had limits.

Or perhaps they had their own reasons for keeping certain knowledge hidden.

Nathan did not know.

But Norihiro’s shrine changed everything.

Mitsuhide had been dangerous enough with one. Norihiro was smarter, more patient, and far more politically powerful. If he had been preparing a ritual for years, then Nathan could not simply assume he would face an ordinary opponent when the time came.

He looked toward Yukihime again.

“What do you know about the Kijin?”

Yukihime hummed softly, thinking.

“Not much,” she admitted. “Only what was spoken in old stories. They are another race. A race of oni, or demons, but not like the creatures that wander forests and mountains. The Kijin are far more dangerous. They were forbidden by the primordial gods, Izanagi and Izanami.”

Nathan repeated the names quietly.

“Izanagi and Izanami.”

Yukihime nodded.

“They are the parents of Amaterasu and Susanoo.”

Nathan’s thoughts moved quickly.

The names were not unfamiliar to him. He knew enough to understand their importance. If Amaterasu and Susanoo stood among the greatest divine beings of this world, then Izanagi and Izanami belonged to something even older.

Something closer to the beginning.

“So the Kijin were sealed by beings stronger than Amaterasu,” Nathan said.

Yukihime looked at him.