Vol 3 Chapter 9 (1/2)

VOLUME 3

Chapter 9: Parent-Teacher Conference

The pale-faced, golden-furred, nine-tailed fox.

A beautiful siren who appeared frequently in China, India, and j.a.pan in order to trick the politicians of the age.

A powerful monster who overturns the government of one nation half for sport before reincarnating in a new nation and perpetrating the same offense.

In j.a.pan, she was known as Tamamo-no-Mae.

In the past, she was chased into a corner by exorcists, forced to reveal her true form and had her spiritual powers chipped away from her. She personally chose to then transform into the Killing Stone (1), a rock that spews out curses and poisonous gas. Even though her actions were then effectively sealed, she has been able to continue killing ma.s.sive numbers of living creatures to this day.

She was definitely not the kind of G.o.d who would be wors.h.i.+pped for protecting the land or helping things work, but rather, she was a vile monster who perpetrated various evils by skillfully ensnaring or just possessing people of influence.

“Ke ke ke ke ke!”

This G.o.d, the self-proclaimed Tamamo-no-Mae, was running rampant as she let out a high-pitched, fox-like cackle.

This huge random a.s.sortment of rocks first began to crush the walls and pillars of the building in its way and reached out for me. It quickly grabbed onto me.

Held in the giant’s grip, I was fished up into midair like a piece of wood.

“Ugh…”

I felt like I was getting crushed and sharp pains ran through my body, but more than anything, I was just frustrated.

If this body’s true owner were here… if my mother were here… she wouldn’t have been done in this easily.

“There. Now we can talk more easily, no?”

Tamamo-no-Mae began to talk to me in that shrill, annoying voice of hers.

“By the way, this huge rock monster is a Killing Stone Golem I put my heart and soul into designing! It is a giant spiritual robot that can make mincemeat out of even the most powerful of G.o.ds! My divine spirit – my true self – may have fallen into ruin after long battles with other spiritualists, but that does not mean it is something to be neglected and tossed away, correct? The power of the pale-faced, golden-furred, nine-tailed fox is not to be trifled with!”

Purple-colored steam leaked out from many places on this Killing Stone Golem’s body.

“I know your weakness all too well. You may possess the immense power of the Supreme G.o.d, but to use it you must retain your consciousness. If the Tsukuyomi Priestess falls unconscious, or if her awareness grows hazy, then she will not be able to properly exhibit her power.”

That was certainly true.

The Tsukuyomi Priestess was always drugged so she couldn’t alter the world too much.

My “sarcoma” also was meant to support me when I was sleeping or knocked out.

This enemy really had good knowledge of our weaknesses.

“Do not take me for a fool who would just attack a country’s Supreme G.o.d head on. So, please allow me to haze your mind and seal your ability to properly wield your powers! Bewitching and melting the hearts of statesmen is the nine-tailed fox’s specialty, after all!”

I remembered back to the time I had betrayed my mother, and she had inserted those drugs into my stomach.

A similar substance was gus.h.i.+ng out from the Killing Stone Golem’s body.

Suddenly, I felt my consciousness slipping away, and my mind blanking.

“I have been waiting for this moment to come for so long.”

Tamamo-no-Mae’s words sunk into my mind as my consciousness continued to haze.

“It has been a mere ten years since I used Baron Samedi as a decoy and possessed you when you came to the town to play, hiding in your body.”

She was a complete parasite.

Had she really been nesting in my body for so long?

Escaping the detection of the other priestesses, of my mother, and even of my sarcoma…

And waiting for the perfect opportunity to surface…

“Waiting for the time when you might want to change the past.”

The sounds of the rock golem’s limbs cracking ceased, replaced by an ominous laugh.

“I was in a state of living death but was awoken by your wishes. I will implant myself into your immense power of the Supreme G.o.d, forcing it to obey my will in order to cast an alteration on the past.”

She could implant herself into spiritualists, and alter the past.

“Those are my abilities, but altering history requires no small amount of power. My own powers are in ruin, so it is impossible for me. If I do not channel the power of the Supreme G.o.d for my purposes, it would be exceedingly difficult.”

“Casting alterations… onto the past… changing history…”

I groaned.

“That’s taboo. That’s… you can’t do that…”

“Ke ke ke!”

Tamamo-no-Mae’s laughter cracked through the air, almost as if she had just heard a hilarious joke.

“Were you not listening? I am part of a sinister occult society! We commit crimes that would shock even crying children into silence. We do it because it is taboo and because we cannot! And do not forget, this is something you yourself wished for.”

Yes.

She had mentioned that her awakening was brought about by my own wishes.

In that case, what had been the trigger?

“Tsukuyomi Sasami, you are feeling regret. And regret is frustration at failures in the past. Normal human’s regret is meaningless and has not a single effect on the world. However, you possess the power of the Supreme G.o.d, which controls the laws of nature, the hearts of humans, and even the history of this land. When you feel regret, you warp the very fabric of time and s.p.a.ce, and can even alter the lines of history.”

I admit, I had some knowledge of things like this.

The alteration of history.

They say that history is written by the victors, who rewrite and stamp out any unflattering pieces of it.

For mere humans, that was all they could do.

For G.o.ds though… for the Supreme G.o.d… the alteration of history was more complete, more perfect.

The Supreme G.o.d could distort people’s memories and what was once strict reality.

So, the Supreme G.o.d could also warp history and revise the past.

Things that definitely happened would transform into fiction.

Everything else would be patched up so events remained consistent.

It was a terrifying power.

A power that could send chills down your spine.

“Sure, I regretted things.”

That was precisely why I tried so hard, so desperately to resist the urge of using that power.

“Back when I shut myself in that dark room all by myself, I thought about this a lot. Yeah, I regretted things. I betrayed mom. I broke my promise, and even though my mom had already died once, I couldn’t lay her back to rest peacefully. I was a terrible daughter. I’m probably the worst Tsukuyomi Priestess in history. But, that is still me.”

I clenched my teeth at the pain attacking my entire body as I glared at the stone monster in front of me.

“I ran from my duties and will definitely bring about the end of the Tsukuyomi bloodline. I betrayed my mom, betrayed my ancestors… but that is me! No matter how much we warp history, no matter how much we change the past, no matter how much the people in the world claim that what I did was right and just…”

I wouldn’t give myself into temptation, no matter how sweet.

I wouldn’t just erase what happened in the past.

These sins were my own to bear.

I may regret things, and it may hurt, but this betrayal was fully my own.

Something I myself committed.

Forgetting something like that would’ve been the most cruel thing of all.

“I would still never forgive myself.”

This was the only remaining way I had to pay my respects to my mother.

It was the last way a betrayer and liar like myself could show her my strength.

I would live on with these wounds.

I would live on, clenching my teeth at the weight of my sins.

I was a bit tired and taking a short rest right now…

But once my tears had run dry, I would stand back up and walk forward once again.

Walk forwards on this path.

“Hmmm.”

Tamamo-no-Mae seemed a bit bored.

“Quite the hypocrite you are. Or no, perhaps you are strong. Quite impressive then. I applaud you. They say that failure plants the seeds of success, but to wish to erase the past is quintessentially human! However, you won against temptation. Quite impressive, Tsukuyomi Sasami. However…”

The stone giant let out more poison gas, almost as if teasing me.

“What you want is of no concern here. You might yell and scream, but my powers allow me to force you to listen to me!”

The female fox laughed loudly, almost as if trampling down my opinions.

“The Killing Stone Golem never appeared here at this time before. Do you know what that means? It means the alteration of history has already begun! The minute you started to feel regret is the minute everything ended. I will use that regret, warp it, and then force history to be rewritten. Rewritten in a way that is convenient for me, of course.”

The Killing Stone Golem put more strength into its fingers.

I felt like I was being squeezed by a vice, and I heard my spine creaking.

–

“I will kill Tsukuyomi Juju right here and now.”

–

Tamamo-no-Mae lightly made that declaration.

“That is the goal of altering history this time. If I can kill Tsukuyomi Juju here, then Arahabaki’s natural enemy, the Tsukuyomi Shrine, will also weaken. We may then be able to save Her Highness, if only by a little.”

A bit of sadness mixed with her voice as she grew quiet.

“If Juju dies, then where do you think the power of the Supreme G.o.d will go? Their clan is bound by blood through incest, so the natural conclusion would be to her daughter. And, as you can see, I have taken full and complete custody of Tsukuyomi Sasami’s body.”

I glanced at the young me who was embedded into the head of the giant.

“We kill Juju, and we eliminate our greatest enemy. At the same time, we kidnap the young Sasami, who has just acquired the power of the Supreme G.o.d and bring her back to Arahabaki. It will be a simple task to brainwash a young, inexperienced girl like Sasami and make her into our ally. And so, Arahabaki will have defeated a great enemy, will have taken the power of the Supreme G.o.d for ourselves, and will immensely grow from it.”

Tamamo-no-Mae seemed to be having quite a bit of fun talking about her pipe dreams.

“Grow enough to conquer this entire planet.”

Was that the ultimate goal of Arahabaki?

Conquering the world… if she was being completely serious, then yes, they were definitely an evil organization.

“Are you a moron…?”

I finally managed to get out an insult, even as the giant’s fingers threatened to crush me.

“My mom was worked to death trying to manage this entire country.”

I felt tears begin to flow.

“And I… I’m at my limit just taking care of this small, single body of mine.”