The moment I stepped onto the road, my surroundings changed. Buildings appeared from the underground, people emerged, plants suddenly grew, and birds flew from afar.
I instantly recognized this scene as the street of Hold's city, and it was logical why it would appear. After all, Hold is literally my inner world, so looking into my Soul, one would encounter it. I continued forward, and soon, the hustle and bustle of the city surrounded me fully, drowning me in the crowd.
But there was no sound.
All around, people's faces would move as if talking, and children would run and smile. From time to time, there would be a patrol walking by, and even some off-duty Soldiers could be seen.
But even being in the middle of all of this, I wasn't part of this place.
I know all the faces around me. I worked all this time to make this scene come to life. Day by day, using countless puppets to allow everyone around a worry-free existence.
But I never met those people.
It's silent because I never heard their voices, never talked with any of them. I'm not part of this place because of the walls around the Palace separating me from the city. I never met them because, in truth, I never cared for those people.
So why do I continue to work?
Is it because I'm their Emperor? No. Titles don't matter to me. I only care about that name because it's the foundation of the Hold.
Then, just from pure benevolence? Also no. My hands are stained with more innocent lives than I could ever care to count.
Profit? Mission? Pride? No. Those are meaningless at my current stage.
Then why..?
No, this is the mistake. Why ask 'why'? Does every action have to have a meaning? Does every life need a purpose? I'm the Ordination because I despised the idea of others defining what I am, so why do I force myself to do the same?
But then, do I have to move forward?
I'm already an Aeon. I can easily keep all those who matter to me safe, dammed be all else. In the grand scheme of things, every legacy will one day be squandered. Even Hold will someday case, but I will still be. Long after my names were forgotten, the Ordination will still exist.
Isn't this enough?
I stopped.
I don't know how long I walked while thinking. Despite my perfect memory, I can't remember the number of steps I took. The surroundings also changed at some point. The city disappeared, and in its place, there was an even more familiar scene.
White empty plain.
This scene, which was destroyed by changes brought about by the emergence of Hold, described everything about me prior. And no matter how this place was covered with nature and cities, my roots still lie within this place. Looking up, I could see two figures in the air: a dragon covering the sky and a person with six arms smiling peacefully at me.
~"Would you look at that? Did you finally decide to face us?"~Long stared at me with his draconic eyes.
~"It would seem so."
~"But I must admit. I underestimated your persistence. To think you would avoid our legacy to the point of throwing out your body and spirit to turn into being of pure Soul and Law."~Long continued to mock me.
~"Child, now that you stand where we stood, tell me. Do you still hate us?"~Yaoshi looked at me with a motherly gaze.
~"Hate? I'm not sure. I don't regret the life I lived, nor do I regret choosing to kill you."
~"Heh, you hate immortality, but now you help others achieve it. You despise our indifference to others, and now you can massacre the entire race without a second thought. Now, you even create sentient beings for war. How is it different from us creating you?"
~"..."
~"I guess hypocrisy is also Pernament."
~"Stop it Long. Child, we know that you returned here by accident. We still await the day when you decide to face us."
~"Indeed. You can't run forever."
~"Sigh."
~"I don't know why you started to question yourself suddenly, but you should stop such useless behavior. Have the dignity of an Aeon."
~"While Long's words are harsh, he is not wrong. You already have your own Path to walk. Why question it now? You can't do anything to change this. As an Aeon, you will never change your Path."
~"To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm doing. I often advise others not to dwell in the past, and here I am, talking with you two. It would seem that even I finally started to question life."
~"Evry Aeon will question life, and THEIR answer is the Path. I found the Revelation of Permanence."
~"And I found the Blessing of Abundance. Then what about you?"
~"Principles of Ordination."
~"Then what else is there to say?"~Yaoshi smiled once again.~"We will await the day you decide to face us, but for now, you should go."
Two of them disappeared, leaving me alone in the vast emptiness.
I looked at the ground below my feet. Am I truly nothing more than the Path I established? I once again started moving forward, still deep in thought.
-"Yue!"-A loud voice sounded just next to me.
~"Hmm? Oh... Tsukuyomi."
-"What's the matter? Did you see something that impacted you?"
~"You can say that. I don't like finding questions I can't answer."
-"Are you all right?"
~"Can't lie that I'm not questioning myself a little, but it's nothing serious. I was just reminded that I'm quite good at running from things that trouble me."
-"That's not healthy. Sigh, I doubt I can help you, but if you want to talk, my shrine will always welcome you."
~"Thanks. How are Jingliu and Cellinia doing?"
-"They are already waiting for you a little further away."
~"Let's go then. I can't make our host wait."
Tsukuyomi took the lead, and while I was following her, I also restored my other avatar and puppets. Some people in Hold asked me what was going on, but luckily, there was no issue during my hour-long absence. When that was dealt with, I refocused on the present situation.
-"Master."
-"Yue."
~"Jingliu, Cellinia."~Looking at my two Guards, I noticed the slight change in both of their auras.~"It would seem that taking you here was the correct choice."
-"I just reinforced my belief."-Jingliu's face showed a rare smile as she spoke.
Cellinia placed her hand on the hilt of the blade, which glowed with a blue sheen in response.
~"Good to see you motivated. Time to go. No matter what will take place in that room, stick to the plan."
Two of them nodded, and we entered the great shrine in front of us. Passing through the entrance, we soon arrived at the great hall filled with little over a hundred gods. Most of them were of average strength, but five auras stood out from the others.
The first and most obvious was the radiant aura of the woman sitting at the main seat of the shrine. She wore a luxurious kimono sewn from thread spun from divine gold. Her long golden hair was like rays of the sun, while her cold but delicate face matched the royal air she exuded.
When I entered the room, her eyes instantly gazed into mine. The red-gold eyes burning with the sunlight showed genuine surprise when she saw aurora hidden deep in my purple irises, but she soon recovered and turned her gaze away.
During this brief moment, we saw some hidden things about each other, and while she was astonished by my Aeonhood, I was also surprised by her power. It would seem that I underestimated the gods of this world. As the primary goddess of the sun, even hundreds of Apollos couldn't compare to the divinity she possessed.
The next aura that attracted me was a beautiful woman wearing a colorful kimono. Long black hair and graceful gestures complemented the image of Yamato Nadeshiko, but the most striking elements of her appearance were the nine rudy fox tails behind her.
She also looked at me when I was entering and seemed to feel the same attraction to me as I did to her. The goddess of foxes and tea was someone I wanted to meet, and after seeing her, I will certainly talk to her later.
The third aura belonged to Fūjin. As one of the older gods, rather than that image close to humanity, his looks were akin to a demon or Oni, with green skin and wild clothes. He didn't even spare me a gaze, and I could feel the pride he had for his divine status coming deep from his bones.
The fourth aura also belonged to a man, but this one was well-known in the world, Susanoo, the god of sea and storms. He didn't conceal the despise he had for me as he looked at me. The smile on his face seemed to be as provoking as it was handsome when matched with his excellent appearance.
He also was wearing an armon that seemed to be as luxurious as Amaterasu's kimono, forged by the best craftsmen of this pantheon, but when it came to the divinity, his was not as great as that of the sun goddess. He had the same golden hair as his sister, but rather than sunrays, his appeared to be like thunder, wild and stormy.
The last aura belonged to Tsukuyomi, who now returned to her true form. Her blue hair now seemed to glow with moonlight, and her aura was like the starry sky, tranquil but hiding unknown coercion. The only thing that didn't seem to change was her noble but gentle character.
She changed into a moonlight blue kimono, which was unimaginably more luxurious than her previous shabby clothes, but what attracted my eyes was a bronze mirror she carried with her. From the power of that object, I understood that this was her arcanum.
-"Heh, the mongrel finally graced us with his presence. Did you get lost on the way here? Ah! I guess the trial must be too hard for a mortal like you."-Susano was first to 'greet' me.
I just smiled and ignored him. I walked forward to go before Amaterasu, but before I could take even five steps, some god whose name is not worth mentioning stopped me.
-"My Lord is speaking to you. You better show respect."
Some other gods also started clamoring, commenting on my disrespectful attitude and such.
-"Leave."-Amaterasu spoke, silencing the hall.-"His Excellency Yue is my guest. It's you who should show manners expected of the gods."
-"His Excellency?"-Susanoo looked at Amaterasu.-"Why would you call that mortal like that? It would seem that I'm right in my belief that you don't deserve that seat."
-"Susanoo, you should stop."-Tsukuyomi tried to intervene as the situation started getting tense.-"We are not here to fight."
-"No, I'm here exactly for that. How can I tolerate you wanting to join in with some mortal?"-Susanoo scoffed.
-"I apologize, Your Excellency."-Amaterasu, seeing that the situation won't calm down, simply ignored Susanoo.
~"Please just call me Yue, goddess Amaterasu. I don't mind his words, as they carry some truth. The mongrel part, at least, as sadly I'm not mortal, nor I ever was."
-"You should also call me by name then, Yue. I'm not aware of your origin, but I can feel that you are purer than even us gods, so calling yourself a mongrel is not something I can agree on."
~"Thank you for your kind words, but I believe that we should move to the main reason for this meeting. After everything is done, I would be happy to sit and talk in a better atmosphere."
-"True. Guards, bring that person in."
Under Amaterasu's orders, several Tengu guards brought inside a minor Buddha bound with an artifact sealing his power. Most of the gods present looked surprised at the presence of the Buddha here, discussing why he was there.
-"This Buddha was hiding himself in one of our cities, spreading their belief."
-"How is this possible?"-One of the gods present spoke.-"Aren't all cities under the jurisdiction of gods?"
-"They are, or at least should be. Susanoo, this Buddha was in the city of your faction. Care to explain?"
-"Are you accusing me?"
-"No, at least not yet. I want to know why a god who should care for people there was not present and allowed outsiders to take advantage of that."
-"Lady Amaterasu."-Inari suddenly interrupted.-"I don't understand something."
-"Ask."
-"Why didn't we feel the presence of outsiders? Even if this Buddha has only low divinity, we still should be able to detect him."
-"I'll answer that in a moment. First, Susanoo, I'm still waiting for your response."
-"As I said, I don't know anything about that."
-"Bring the rest."
Amaterasu motioned to other Tengu, and soon, seven other Buddhas were brought here. Among them, one was noticeably stronger, and even while restrained, his Dharma couldn't be suppressed.
-"Amitābha, gods of Shinto."
-"Silence."-Amaterase cast a gaze on the Buddha, burning and injuring him with it.-"You are not a guest but a prisoner. Know your place."
-"Calm down, Sister."-Tsukuyomi once again tried to calm everything down.-"You can't kill him."
-"I know."-Amaterasu returned her attention to Susanoo.-"All of them were hidden in cities in your domain."
-"..."
-"Sigh. I know you are not involved in them, brother, but the facts are here. This is not the time for conflicts."
-"What is going on?"-Susanoo finally calmed his aura.
-"This is not the time and space for the whole story, but there is someone helping those Buddhas to enter and hide in our lands. Those here were discovered by accident, but after using some techniques, I could detect many more still in our lands, but I can't pinpoint their locations."
-"They can hide from the sun?"
-"Yes. After trying other means, even asking Tsukuyomi to seek them, I decided to seek assistance."
-"Why didn't you inform me?"-Susanoo asked, visibly not happy by being kept in the dark.
-"Because I was suspecting you before."
-"Then what changed now."
~"I arrived."~I spoke, reminding others of my presence.
-"Indeed. Yue was able to reveal secrets that could, no, they do threaten our pantheon."
-"What kind of danger? No one can pose any danger to us. Divine Wars can't happen."-Susanoo seemed unconvinced.-"Even If they try some things, they can only act in the mortal world."
-"You are wrong. Buddhas won't invade us, but they also won't do something that is useless like acting in the mortal world under our influence."
-"Then why are there so many of them?"
~"To gather faith. Especially faith connected to the Far East. They need it to conquer you finally."
-"How is that achievable?"-Inari asked me while still deep in thought.-"Faith shouldn't work like that, or at least I don't know how to use the faith to do so."
~"You know the method they plan to use, goddess Inari, as they plan to use it normally to strengthen divinity. As for how that can achieve conquest, I think that god Fūjin should know."~I smiled and looked at a god who stood at the back of the room, unconcerned by the apparent mortal peril that his pantheon faces.
Fūjin looked back at me but remained silent. Only his eyes showed the anger he was feeling inside. The silence lasted until the whole Takamagahara suddenly started to shake.