Chapter 242:
–Rias Gremory–
Rias could admit that she might have underestimated just how much hatred other Supernatural beings have for this Universe's Devils. Layla had warned Rias before they came here, but Rias didn't quite understand until Amaterasu had tried to murder her on sight. Rias was justifiably angry about that. She was also very glad that Layla was so powerful. That divine fireball Amaterasu tossed out casually would have killed Rias instantly. Rias had gotten a bit stronger after meeting Layla, but she hadn't exactly had the opportunity to get a lot of training in while she was pregnant this past year.
She didn't regret it of course. She wouldn't trade her beautiful daughter for anything in the world.
"Oh dear…" Yasaka sighed next to her. "It looks like a fight is inevitable at this point."
"Layla is going to win of course!" Rias declared. Rias had no doubts that Layla was about to stomp on Amaterasu.
Layla and Amaterasu were facing off. Layla's beautiful 14 wings were spread out behind her. They were an intimidating sight that Layla didn't like to display as often nowadays. Rias knew that Layla wanted to be a Goddess, but Layla never actually wanted any humans to worship her for some reason. When asked why, Layla always told her that it was just "awkward."
The fact that Layla had a growing religion back on Earth Marvel was a bit of a sour topic in their house.
Rias, though, thought it was pretty amazing. Most Gods nowadays were struggling to retain followers, and Layla was struggling to get rid of them.
"Fourteen wings?" Amaterasu asked Layla. "I thought Angels only went up to twelve? And weren't all you Fallen Angels wiped out!? You all disappeared from the Underworld! How are you here!?" The Sun Goddess exclaimed in confusion. She also looked incredibly nervous upon sending the power Layla was emitting.
Rias's lover chuckled. "Who said we were wiped out? All we did was move our home. What's the big deal? People move houses all the time." Layla asked the other Goddess.
Rias giggled at Layla's tone. Her lover was being difficult and vague on purpose for no other reason than to mess with Amaterasu.
"Humans might move all the time, but who would believe that an entire faction would just up and move on a whim!? That's impossible!" Amaterasu said with a pout. Her young looking face made it more adorable than intimidating. Rias had no idea why the thousand year old leader of the Japanese Pantheon made herself look like a 13 year old girl. Was Amaterasu a fan of harem anime? Did she want to be a real life Loli Baba?
There was a gasp from next to Rias. Yasaka was looking at Rias in shock. "She hates being called that…" Yasaka trailed off.
"Woops, I guess I said that last part out loud." Rias chuckled. Gods and Goddesses tended to be incredibly prideful beings and Rias just called the leader of a Pantheon a "Loli Baba" to her face.
She was glad that Layla was here protecting her otherwise she would be in serious trouble. Since Layla was here though, Rias knew that she could say pretty much whatever she wanted.
Amaterasu scowled again and stomped her foot. The tatami floor splintered underneath her. "I'm not a Loli Baba! When I gained a physical form, this appearance was the height of beauty at the time! Men and Gods fawned over me in droves. I had thousands of suitors!" Amaterasu proclaimed.
In Rias's opinion, that only made it creepier. "Gross… You really need to get with the time. Only creeps would be attracted to such a young looking washboard Goddess." Rias said while folding her arms under her chest. She intentionally pushed her large breasts up to make a point.
"Guuurrrgh!" Amaterasu screamed incomprehensibly and hurled another fireball at Rias!
"Almighty Push!" Layla held her hand out and the fireball was sent directly back where it came from.
…
–Layla–
"Eeep!" Amaterasu ducked rapidly to avoid getting smacked in the face by her own divine fire.
"I already told you that you're not allowed to attack her." I said irritation.
"Why are you protecting a Devil? You're supposed to be sworn enemies." Amaterasu said in annoyance. She then turned to Yasaka and glared at the leader of the Youkai. "Have you betrayed me, Yasaka!? Are you siding with these foreigners?" Amaterasu immediately started jumping to the wrong conclusions.
Yasaka looked panicked upon hearing Amaterasu's words. "That's not it at all, my lady! This isn't the Rias Gremory you're thinking she is either."
"Save it! You think I'm too stupid to recognize the sister of Sirzechs Lucifer? Your punishment will come after I've dealt with this strange seven winged Fallen Angel!" Amaterasu warned Yasaka next.
I grit my teeth in irritation. "Now you threaten another woman I care about? You think I'll let you hurt either of them while I'm here." I asked while taking a step forward. My aura seeped off me and infused into the air. The room around us started to shake from my power. Thankfully Yasaka's home had been reinforced heavily with strengthening and defensive wards, so it was in no danger of collapsing.
Amaterasu gulped and took a step back. "Y–You wouldn't actually hurt me…" She said nervously. "I k–know you're just bluffing. You could start a war…"
I smirked at the Sun Goddess. "Start a war? You don't even know where the rest of the Fallen Angels are located. Who exactly do you plan on fighting in this war?"
"T–That's…" Amaterasu took a second to think of an answer, but she came up with nothing. "...Crap."
Amaterasu was known to be powerful, but she was not a Goddess known for her prowess in combat. I shot forwards and grabbed hold of her faster than she could react. She let out a hilarious shriek of fright as I spun her body around and hurled her back through the golden doorway that led to Takamagahara. Even though this was going to be more of a spanking instead of a true fight, I still didn't want to potentially destroy Yasaka's home.
"I'll be back in a couple minutes, my loves." I said to Rias and Yasaka before I stepped through the golden doorway and closed it behind me. As it closed, I could hear Rias complaining about not being able to see me beat up a Goddess.
Amaterasu was picking herself off the floor as I walked in. We appeared in the middle of her throne room. It was absolutely massive. I could easily fit my Perfect Susanoo inside and still have plenty of room to move around. The throne room wasn't empty. It was filled with numerous other Gods and Goddesses who were looking on in confusion.
"Are you ok, sister? And who is this?" A handsome Japanese God wearing white and gold robes with black hair down to his lower back asked. I wasn't very familiar with Japanese gods and wasn't able to recognize him on sight. It's a good thing I had Observe.
{The Japanese God of Storms, Susanoo: Level 65}
"Susanoo! Help me! This winged meany is bullying your beautiful sister! Teach this Fallen Angel a lesson for me!" Amaterasu complained while pointing at me and grimacing.
[I don't know how he's going to help when he's 5 levels weaker than his sister that you just manhandled…]
Instead of attacking me immediately, Susanoo instead let out a tired sigh. He turned to me and bowed 90 degrees…
"I'm not sure who you are, but I'm sure my sister started whatever caused this altercation. Please forgive her and don't hurt her too much." He said before standing back up with a gentle smile.
"..."
"...What." I asked.
"Susanoo! You traitor! How dare you throw your innocent sister under the bus!" Amaterasu whined and hurled a golden fireball directly at his head. He casually sidestepped it without even glancing at her.
"Everyone in Takamagahara is tired of cleaning up your messes sister…" He said before casually waving at me to "continue."
Huh, it really looked like he wasn't going to interfere here as long as I didn't take things too far. That was fine with me. "I won't hurt her too bad. I just need to punish her a bit for trying to harm a member of my harem." I said.
He nodded at me with that same calm smile. "That's perfectly understandable. This isn't the first time a foreign Goddess has visited us because of my sister's antics. About ten years ago she picked a fight with The Morrigan. The Celtic Goddess's pet crows called my sister flat..."
"What a coincidence. My harem member also called her flat." I told him.
"I'm not flat! I'm petite!" The temperature in the room drastically started to heat up all around us. It seemed like Amaterasu had enough teasing and was planning on fighting me for real.
{Quest Initiated: Defeat Amaterasu without taking any damage!}
{Rewards: Level Up! Admiration of the Japanese Pantheon}
Susanoo gave me a jovial wave and mouthed "good luck" as he took a few steps backwards. Every other divine being who was watching moved away as well. The marble floors underneath Amaterasu's feet turned to liquid as she stepped forward. Her entire body was wreathed in Golden Flames. I had a feeling she was giving off as much heat as the surface of the Sun.
"My flames are the hottest in existence! They burn away everything in their path. This is my true power!" She said while pointing both her hands forwards at me.
Hottest in existence? Burn away everything in their path? Part of me wanted to put that to the test. A torrent of Golden Flames, dozens of meters high, surged towards me. It was definitely the most powerful flame magic I had ever seen.
{-5000 MP}
I focused my gaze towards the center of the moving inferno. "Amaterasu!" I announced while channeling MP through my Rinnegan. My own torrent of Black Flames surged forth and collided with the Golden Flames. Our flames seemed to be evenly matched. Neither gained any ground over the other. Nearby Gods and Goddess watched on with awe as our powers clashed.
Being pregnant for most of the past year, I didn't spend a lot of time going out and completing quests. Instead, I mostly trained with the abilities I already possessed. It took me a few months to master my Rinnegan eyes completely. I had been able to use Susanoo with them as soon as I received the fabled eyes, but I never bothered using the other intrinsic Mangekyou Sharingan abilities. It took a few weeks of training to discover I also had access to abilities reminiscent of Sasuke Uchiha. I discovered that I was able to conjure the never ending flames of Amaterasu and could perfectly control them once they were unleashed.
"WHAT!?" Amaterasu shrieked in shock! "Those flames! They feel like mine! How!?" She grit her teeth and poured even more divine power into her attack. Her wall of flames expanded to almost double their size! She started to sweat and shake from the amount of power she was unleashing, but she seemed determined to beat me.
{-10000 MP}
Unfortunately for her, if there was one thing I wasn't lacking anymore, it was MP. More MP flowed into my Rinnegan. The wall of Black Flames was on the verge of being swallowed up in a sea of gold, before it suddenly tripled in size and power. In only a few seconds, the Black Flames devoured the Golden ones and started barreling their way towards Amaterasu herself. I could feel hunger in the fire. They had a supernatural urge to consume and burn away everything they touched.
"Oh crap!" She cried out in panic when the flames were only a few meters from reaching her.
"You should probably surrender and apologize, sister." Susanoo casually suggested from the side.
"I'm the Goddess of the Sun. My flames aren't going to lose here!" A katana made of pure flames materialized in Amaterasu's hands. The heat it gave off was insane. All the moisture in the room immediately evaporated from the heat the blade was giving off! "Heeyah!" She swung it forwards and sliced the wave of Black Flames directly in two!
I had to admit, that was actually pretty impressive. The flaming sword in her hand must be putting out the heat of the center of a star. It seemed to take a lot out of her though. She was painting and visibly sweating a lot more after conjuring it.
"What are you going to do now?" Amaterasu asked cockily while leveling the fire sword at me.
{-10,000 MP}
I turned to Susanoo and winked at him. He would probably get a kick out of this next move of mine. "Susanoo!" I called out. My purple Perfect Susanoo rapidly formed around my body. I floated in the middle of my 100 meter tall chakra construct and stared down at Amaterasu who was now visibly shaking in fear…
"Maybe we can talk about this after all?" She suggested in trepidation.
I smirked at her. "Nope." My Susanoo held out its hand as I once again called upon the flames of Amaterasu. If she wanted to use fire swords, then I would obliged. Although mine was bigger than hers…
{-10,000 MP}
A towering sword of Black Flames appeared in my giant's hand. The sword was about the size of a city bus. I swung the gigantic blade of fire downwards, directly on top of the Sun Goddess. Her eyes were wide in panic as she swung her own weapon upward to try and block my strike. The results were about as I expected. My blade smashed down on top of the Goddess and immediately slammed her into the floor. The heat from our strike completely melted the ground she was standing on and Amaterasu ended up submerged under a few feet of molten lava.
She surfaced a few seconds later. She was disheveled, and sporting a few new bruises. The molten lava dripping off of her form didn't seem to be bothering her though. "I surrender…" She said with some tears forming in her eyes.
I smirked in victory and allowed my Susanoo to vanish. I spread my wings and floated over the molten floors. I hovered directly in front of Amaterasu. She was looking back up at me with tears in her eyes. Rias was right, with this Goddess's childish appearance, it almost felt like I was bullying her despite Amaterasu being more than 5x my age.
"Are you ready to properly listen now?" I asked her. "And are you going to apologize to Rias?"
She rapidly nodded her head up and down. "I'm sorry for attacking her suddenly. I won't do it again."
I sensed someone using magic nearby and turned my head. Susanoo had summoned a large pool of water and was using it to cool the molten floor. Steam erupted around the room as the cooling waters rapidly went to work. With a wave of his hand, he next conjured some wind and dispersed all of the steam. He strolled across the now cooled floor and held out his hand to me. "Nice to meet you. I am Susanoo. That was an interesting display of power. Are you a Fire Goddess? I've never seen Black Flames like those."
I shook my head. "I am Layla of the Fallen. I was a Fallen Angel who has recently ascended to become the Goddess of Angels." I informed him and Amaterasu. Both of their eyes widened.
"Your Godless Pantheon finally has an actual leader again? It's about time." Amaterasu complained. "Do you know how much damage those damned Devils have caused to our world? How are you planning on dealing with them? They need to be straightened out. They frequently kidnap other supernatural beings and force them to be their slaves with absolutely zero repercussions."
"Sister, she said that she has only recently ascended." Susanoo chastised her. "We don't even know if she has any plans for them at all."
That wasn't true. "I do have plans for them," I told them. "But not quite yet. There's a lot of information that your pantheon and the rest of the world are not aware of. It's a world changing secret that's been kept quiet and only a select few outside of the Fallen Angels know." I explained vaguely while glancing around the room. There was always the possibility that some of the Gods in this throne room were traitors or spies for other pantheons.
The serum had been completed, but until it was ready for mass production, I didn't want the information about the split world merging together again getting out.
"You have me intrigued." Susanoo said.
"Is Yasaka in on this secret? Is that why you were with her?" Amaterasu asked curiously.
"Well, yes. But I was also at her home because she's a member of my Harem." I said plainly.
She gaped at me. "You can't just take my top priestess as your harem member without my permission!"
I shrugged at her. "I already did. We've been together for over a year already."
Amaterasu pouted at me. Her brother chastised her again. "Sister, maybe if you didn't spend so much time in your room playing video games, you would actually know what is going on in the world." He turned and bowed to me again. "Forgive us, my sister hasn't gotten out much in a few years. To quote the humans of today, she is what is known as a neet." He informed me.
Amaterasu blushed in embarrassment. "I'm not a neet. I only play games a few hours everyday…"
"If by a few, you mean at least 14, then yes…" He said. She conjured another golden fireball and tossed it at his head. Even at this range, he seemed like he was used to it and was easily able to dodge out of the way with another sigh…
The Japanese Pantheon was honestly a lot different than I expected them to be. Since Amaterasu and Yasaka were close, I decided to bring them on board with our plans for the future. I invited Amaterasu and Susanoo to the celebration party tonight. Theirs would be the first Pantheon to find out about the future of our two worlds. With their help, we could also start setting up production facilities in Japan so we couldn't start mass producing the serum.
I opened a portal back to Yasaka's manor and they followed me through. When I made it back, Rias surged forward and started asking me a bunch of questions about the "fight." She almost seemed disappointed when I told her that it ended pretty anticlimactically. Amaterasu stepped forward and bowed to Rias. She apologized for trying to burn her before she bowed to Yasaka next and told the fox woman that there would be no "punishment."
With the unexpected Interruption taken care of, we all started preparing for the party tonight.
…
–Canon Omake, The Party–
POP!
"We did it! Let's fucking go!" Tony cheered while popping a bottle of champagne.
"Hell yeah we did!" Andrea cheered and popped her own bottle.
"Language you two, there are children present." Steve said while pointing to the corner of the room. Rias, Sona and Layla were each holding their daughters while chatting with Natasha and a few of the Goddesses. He didn't want the Stark siblings' vulgarity rubbing off on innocent ears.
"It's fine. The babies aren't old enough to understand what we're saying yet." Tony said while pouring himself a very large glass of champagne. If he wasn't buzzed, then it wasn't a party yet!
"Aren't those three kids demigods though? We don't know how fast they will develop mentally." Steve said. He had a soft spot for demigod children ever since he had rescued so many of them.
"It's fine. Layla set up a barrier in the corner of the room so the sounds from the party will be muted." Andrea pointed out.
"I suppose it's ok then." Steven said. He still wasn't a fan of vulgar language, but it was a big celebration for the amazing achievement that Tony and Andrea had made. He was proud of them for putting their collective genius into creating things that weren't purely for war lately.
An Asian man walked over towards the three of them while they were chatting. He was wearing a gold and white kimono. A younger Asian girl, who looked like the man's daughter, was walking next to them.
"Hello there." Steve said while holding out his hand. "I'm Steve Rogers. I don't believe we've met."
They shook hands. "We have not. I am Susanoo. This is Amaterasu. Neither of us are familiar with anybody here and we wanted to introduce ourselves."
"Interesting names." Steve commented. Despite recently taking on the Greek Pantheon, he was not familiar with the names of other Gods and Goddesses.
Andrea and Tony, of course, both were. They both nearly choked on their champagne when Susanoo introduced himself…
Steve noticed that Amaterasu was holding her own wine glass. "I know this is a party, but should a child really be drinking alcohol?" He asked in concern.
The glass in Amaterasu's hand shattered at his comment. "Dammit! I'm not a child! You're lucky you're hot or I'd kick you for that comment!" She told Steve.
Steve grimaced. "I–uh–appreciate the compliment, but you should stick to boys your own age, sweety." He told her honestly.
Susanoo did his best to not burst out laughing at the look of indignation on his sister's face. Tony and Andrea both blanched at Steve's audacity.
"Grrrr." Amaterasu lashed her foot forward and kicked Steve in the shin. "Ow!" She clutched her foot and hopped in pain a second later. "What are you made of!?" Amaterasu was not a physically strong Goddess and Steve was incredibly durable as a campione.
Steve sighed and patted her head gently while looking at Susanoo. "This is why you shouldn't give kids alcohol…"
XXX