Chapter 175 - Another Deity

"Is that really Czernobog? But isn't the Black God a man?"

Kazehaya Gin asked. They had made a camp just near the portal and were now having a meeting while the rest tended to the dead and the wounded. They had lost around twenty people this evening alone and around fifteen or so last time when the arachnids attacked.

Their numbers were dwindling. For a clan teetering at the edge of extinction, losing this many people within a short span of time was a huge blow. After five centuries, the divine blood passed on from one generation to another had significantly diminished. Only a handful of people had enough divine power to deal with class S monsters, and only the Koutaishidenka and the Kazehaya Gin could deal with creatures stronger than that, although in Gin's case, it should be avoided due to the curse.

Homura Ryuu nodded. "If not him, then it's a child of the Black God."

There was no mistaking that malicious aura. It could only be from Czernobog or his children. No wonder his brethren had crossed the portal. They now wondered if the shadow lurker within Okada Koharu was a single case or not.

Then again…

"What do we do now?" Gin asked again.

They had never encountered a dilemma such as this one in the five hundred years of history of the Kazehayas and the Homuras there on Earth.

"I will stand guard," Homura Ryuu answered immediately before pointing at Gin. "You will go back to Tokyo to take over as usual."

Gin didn't look like he was alright with the decision. "What are you talking about? It's the Black God we are dealing with here. Even if you're a returner to ancestry, there's no way you can fight him alone!"

It was true.

Kresnik might have more power than Czernobog, but the Black God had a special ability that made him very tricky to deal with. But Homura Ryuu had no choice. He would have to make do without Kazehaya Gin.

"You are returning to Tokyo," he stated in a voice that didn't invite any protest.

But this was Kazehaya Gin. He was born to dispute.

"I'm not leaving you here," Gin said stubbornly.

"Of course you are. Do you see that?"

The Koutaishidenka pointed across the field where Aello remained sitting in front of the portal like an obedient dog. The people came and went near the harpy, but the wind elemental paid them no mind. Its eyes were completely trained on the portal as if waiting for something.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been a good thing. It meant that the harpy was well under control and was behaving completely. But it wasn't.

That was why, even if Aello didn't seem to show any sign of malice at the moment, Mavara was right there next to her in case she went berserk.

Kazehaya Gin scowled.

TSK

The wind caster understood well what the prince was trying to point out, and couldn't very well rebut the reason. Still, this didn't prevent him from feeling frustrated.

Before falling in love and forming a pact of subservience with the God of Wind Stribog, the harpies and its brethren were under the Black God. It was why they were filled with malice, wreaking havoc, and enjoyed causing carnage. It was in their nature to be evil. It was why they only ever cared about the Wind God and not anyone else even someone from the same bloodline.

It was the curse.

With Aello acting like this, who knew what she was thinking?

Even if she followed Gin, with the presence of the Black God, there was a big possibility she would turn against her current master, speed up his mental deterioration by fighting with him and turn over to Czernobog's side. The harpy would be happy to do just that if Czernobog promised her freedom to cause chaos.

So, Kazehaya Gin had to go, far away from the portal. Kresnik couldn't deal with Czernobog and deal with him too in case he went berserk.

"I will stay with you, at least this weekend," Gin compromised. If he didn't have to stay long, dealing with Aello would not be difficult. In reality, he never had trouble controlling his harpy ever, and so far, it only went berserk on times Gin was hurt or in danger.

"Fine," Ryuu conceded. "But come Monday, you will be back in Tokyo with one of the Fuuma triplets. I need more people here so I will leave you to handle Ara's and her friends' safety."

Hearing this, the upset feeling Gin was feeling lifted. After all, he had been tasked to do something the Koutaishidenka deemed very, very important. Actually, the most important.

"Okay," he readily agreed with a thumb's up. "What time is your marriage registration again?"

"Nine in the morning," Ryuu answered, this time, the tensing of his body was gone; a smile even curved on his lips that softened his earlier forbidding gaze considerably.

"What are your plans then? You are going to be married tomorrow." Gin wondered what Ryuu would do since everything they ever planned would be changed now that a formidable foe had appeared.

With this, the Koutaishidenka remembered something. "While you're there, I want you to look at the prophecy. I want to know what it is word for word."

Gin frowned. "May I ask what for?"

"To know everything," Ryuu answered as he too frowned. "Did you know that Ara's not human as well?" he casually asked shocking Gin.

"Wait – what?"

"She was trying to tell me about it before we left earlier," Ryuu continued, although his voice continued to sound like that information didn't matter.

"What do you mean she's not human?" Kazehaya Gin was confused. "She has divine blood as well?"

Ryuu nodded. "You wouldn't have noticed the changes because you've never seen her before her accident. But her aura's more prominent now compared to the one she had before."

If Gin's eyeballs were not attached, they would have already fallen. That was how shocked he was. "You mean she also has a parasite?"

Ryuu shook his head. "It's more like she was someone who had been broken into pieces, and the accident made her recover another piece."

"An incomplete soul?"

Ryuu nodded. "The other piece must have come from a different place as well. When she got drunk before, when we were at my apartment in Gaienmae, she talked about being killed by her brother there. When she died in that other world, Ara's soul who was here called forth her other self and they combined."

"Wait… Alistair! She called me Alistair before. She told me she knew someone who looks like me, but I checked her background, there was no one with that name that came up."

"It must be someone from that other side," Ryuu said as he looked at the portal. "We may also be wrong about the shadow lurker causing the portal to react. Our invisible friend may not be that parasite in Okada but Ara herself. The timing was correct after all."

"Right…"

It made sense.

Gin opened and closed his eyes as if absorbing his words. "Then what would happen to the bloodline? If she's harboring another soul then wouldn't that make her a fake?"

Ryuu snorted. "Of course not. Ara is Ara. It's the same soul. She's just more complete now. I heard she's pretty strong too."

"And probably mischievous," Gin added remembering what her older brother said. "Aki said Ara seems to be having some adventures at night lately."

"What adventures?" Ryuu never heard this before, and Gin explained about Ara going out and returning as if she was in a fight. Ryuu didn't care in the end as long as his wife was not injured. 

"What kind of deity is she by the way?"Gin was curious.

"I don't know," Ryuu answered as he raked his fingers on his hair. "We haven't really talked about it – and I don't think we will soon. I still need to take care of Czernobog."

At the mention of the Black God, Gin winced. "No honeymoon?"

"No honeymoon," Ryuu confirmed, his voice bland. "Ara needs to study for her final exams anyway."

"Well, you're married now. You have a lifetime to learn about each other," Kazehaya agreed.

"That's right."The Koutaishidenka's smile returned briefly before his face became taut again. "But I need to know what the prophecy said exactly. I have a feeling I need to find out so I can unlock my memories. There's something about the flashbacks I get that tells me that Ara and I had a history, and it didn't end well."

Oh…

Kazehaya Gin nodded. "I'll work on it ASAP after your registration tomorrow," he promised.

The two Young Masters stayed with their men the rest of the night, vigilant by the portal in case the evil deity returned and caused another incident.