You would think that the march to the city would be simple. But as I hoped to travel with Yuki and the other Yuki-Onna without issue. My hopes and dreams were shattered as a soft voice spoke out as we all left the headquarters.

"Jake Barriss, Yuki Kamui... Will you please come with me into my carriage?" I only slightly stiffly looked to the side and standing beside the highly ornate floating carriage was the real terror of this damned realm.

Kiyohime cooly stared at me, not even sparing Yuki the slightest of glances as her eyes did less staring, and more just devouring the sight of myself.

Yuki stood beside me and I felt the cool fingers of her hand intertwine with my own in support, and I looked over at Kanna the head priestess of the Yuki-Onna. Who threw an obvious look at Kiyohime and then nodded back to me. To accept the offer, as she would be close to us.

And I got what she meant. I might as well play along with the crazy dragon girl's thoughts to see what she wanted rather than refusing her and offending her. So I nodded and responded with a genial smile. "We would appreciate the welcome and not needing to fly there."

From there Yuki and I climbed into the floating Asian-style carriage following the shorter dragon lady into the carriage and as we did so I saw it was rather homely honestly.

There weren't spatial expansion wards or whatever to make it bigger on the inside or anything, it was designed to look like a modern Japanese sitting room with a wooden table in the center and padded chairs on the ground in front of the table on its sides so people would have something to sit on. "Please sit, and relax," Kiyohime said gently as she walked across the room towards the side of the carriage that had a couple cabinets and Yuki and I took our seats while Kiyohime made some tea.

"I hope green tea is fine. I am afraid I do not have foreign blends or more modern drinks in store." Kiyohime spoke as she demurely came back over in a couple of minutes with the porcelain tea set on a platter with some snack crackers and whatnot placing it directly in front of me and just... Almost out of reach of Yuki unless she wanted to lean over the large sitting table to get anything from it.

I raised an eyebrow at that utterly subtle powerplay as Kiyohime gracefully took the seat next to me on the right with Yuki being on my left side so as she sat down, she could take up the role of host to serve me tea and snacks while Yuki... She had to deal with a little plate of snacks being reluctantly pushed over it even though Kiyohime tried to hide that flash of annoyance at having to give Yuki anything at all.

Once I had a nice cup of green and kinda thick-looking green tea I idly threw an observe at it to make sure it wasn't poisoned or something. [Longevity Herbal Tea] [Through the use of lifeforce-increasing herbs distilled into the tea creation, the user or person who drinks the tea will have their natural lifeforce temporarily enhanced, giving the recipient increased strength, regeneration, and a very slight increase in fecundity.]

I couldn't help the slight twitch of my lips at the increase in fecundity which meant that this tea was ever so slightly an aphrodisiac and fertility increase... Either way realizing the tea wasn't anything poisonous at all I lifted the tea cup with both hands to respectfully take a drink to let Yuki know it was alright to drink.

Though once we got our first sip and Kiyohime had paid the proper respects to the old rites of treating guests to a drink and a snack, she unfolded her metal-lined fan to cover the bottom half of her face as her draconic-slitted yellow eyes stared at me with zero reservation now.

So seeing her all but devouring the sight of me I sighed and she flinched but even as she did so, I spoke bluntly. "So... I understand you wanted to talk to us." I chewed on my words before continuing as Kiyohime's fan covered the bottom half of her face so I couldn't see most of her expression. "And that you have been asking about me." I finished and her lightly moving fan froze and I felt the room's air tense as Kiyohime's presence slipped out of her control. She didn't flex her mana or killing intent upon us or anything.

No, Kiyohime was a dragon of legend, she was a literal storm of destruction and a natural disaster condensed in the form of a short stack of demure beauty. Her unfettered gaze with her full attention upon me was only slightly less than a god taking on their divine form in front of me.

Kiyohime stared at me for a couple of moments before she slowly closed her eyes and reopened them to look at me as a small audible sigh escaped her. And before I could say anything, Kiyohime began to speak. "Do you know of my legend?" She asked simply and after a moment I shrugged as I said flatly.

"I have an idea... I don't know if the widespread version of your myth is the true one though." I said as my knowledge of Kiyohime was just that of the Fate version even though she looked like a dead ringer for her. Who knew what her true myth was honestly?

In response, Kiyohime merely nodded as she said plainly. "The widespread myths are for the most part true honestly. I was a mere serving girl in a large inn that was in the middle of a popular mountain pass, I was born and lived at that inn my entire life not knowing anything beyond that inn until my ascension into a dragon." She spoke to herself as her eyes dulled and I realized she was staring beyond myself.

"I lived a plain life, I had food in my stomach and did not suffer any abuse as many servants might have, but I was carp locked in a small pond... Eventually one day, a monk came through the mountain pass on a pilgrimage and he had an injured leg that had him staying at our inn for a whole month." Kiyohime sighed and shook her head with her eyes misting over as she kept telling her tale.

"His name was Anchin, no last name due to being an orphan... But he was kind to me, no longer was I a mere serving girl, I was his caretaker and made sure he healed up well." She smiled as she closed her eyes as though reminiscing and still continued. "Oh, how I fell for him. Beyond mortal comprehension, I loved that monk beyond what humans could even imagine. And I even mustered up the strength to confess that love to Anchin." Her smile turned brittle as she looked to Yuki as she whispered.

"Do you know what my Anchin said?" She asked and Yuki feeling the weight of the emotionally distraught dragon only quickly shook her head. Kiyohime didn't leave us on tenterhooks as she told us and how I saw the sanity of a broken dragon as she said dully and with all the emptiness of a pitch black dark ocean. "My Anchin said, "My little caretaker, I accept your love with all I can, but I am on a pilgrimage seeking enlightenment... I cannot answer now but I will come back to you and answer when my heart is still."

Kiyohime's sad smile died as she saw we were fully engrossed into her story. "He never came... I waited twenty years, as my beauty came in full, and then faded as I reached my twilight years I waited for him with my love for him building up every year, every day, and every second of every moment I waited for him." She sighed and then with relief she finished her tale.

"I was destined at birth to become a priestess or aid to Benzaiten the goddess of love and serve as a dragon priestess with her husband's blessing giving me a dragon's form and fire... But my love grew and grew, but with no husband of my own, I broke. I became a terrible dragon and the chain of my love brought me to my would-be destined husband and I burned down the entire temple he had become the head monk of to end the fury burning within my soul at being rejected so."

The myth was the same but instead of it being murder it was more along the lines of inebriated manslaughter as she was probably driven insane by the divine bullshit driving her life in that direction. So I nodded in understanding, and with no judgment in my voice, I asked softly. "What does that have to do with me Kiyohime."

Kiyohime moved her fan slightly to stop obscuring her lower face as she began to slowly fan herself as she responded with... Disturbing zeal as her eyes locked upon me. "Ever since I killed Anchin, I killed all love within myself in doing so. I literally became color-blind as penance to myself killing the beauty of the world." Kiyohime leaned forward over the table slightly as she slowly took the hand that was lying atop the table laid it against her cheek and took a deep breath of my scent as she continued to speak. "I saw you in that black and white suit... How I hate that suit, but in that moment I saw you, I saw your blue eyes and then noticed your cream-toned skin instead of just the stark shades of black and white others have... All that you are, allows me to once again see color again."

Kiyohime moved with serpentine grace all but sliding over the tatami mat and even as I pulled my legs out from under the table to back up I felt Yuki place a hand on my back as she stopped Kiyohime's other hand with her fist covered in a layer of frost that stopped the dragon woman from straddling me. At Yuki's interference, Kiyohime's eyes went from a gentle bright yellow, and within a snap of time, her eyes went blood red and I saw her greenish teal hair turning bone white as Kiyohime spoke seemingly to herself.

"I don't know what you are Jake Barris, the reincarnation of my Anchin, a new soul that I was born to love, or even just further punishment for my existence as I watch you find love so easily with this Yuki-Onna and those Gumiho." She said with a trail of tears of blood escaping her eyes that made me very uncomfortable seeing. "What do I do with you, Jake... I want your colors, but I... Hate seeing you love others and be loved in turn." She said with pure vitriol in the last half of her sentence.

For a moment there was silence as Kiyohime waited for my response, but I was honestly drawing up blank, then Yuki spoke quietly. "That love you feel is a dragon's desire to own... You do realize Jake already has a harem right?" Yuki said with a light scowl being sent my way.

Kiyohime's placid face twitched also into a scowl before she visibly took a breath. "Yes. I have seen that, I know of his dalliances with his pets... But truly, the one I am more focused on is you Yuki Kanmui." She spoke with that scowl aimed at Yuki. "Those Gumiho are a threat to my continued happiness and I am well aware that men of any amount of power will have wandering eyes... And cocks."

Yuki sniffed as she then retorted with a cool smile. "But you hate that I love him, and made a soul bond to him granted by my race's patron god. And in turn his own love towards me was found worthy of the bond."

That statement was truly on the mark as Kiyohime's hand that was elegant holding her teacup twitched and the ceramic caved in on itself with a harsh cracking noise and a series of sparks being sent off as the enchantments on the cup broke under the pressure of the dragon kins grip strength.

A moment of silence was kept as Yuki and Kiyohime looked at one another coldly and I had enough of this conversation... I didn't know Kiyohime beyond being hot and having a terrible sob story, all I had seen of her in reality, was her actions in burning Gumiho alive and apparently, people who asked stupid questions that had to do with romance.

So I spoke frankly. "Kiyohime, what do you want? Look into yourself and here and now, tell me what you want."

And without missing a beat Kiyohime answered frankly, flatly, and with zero hesitation or shame. "All those other women dead, you mating pressing me into my nest's bed while I am already pregnant. And you wearing the finest jewelry and enchanted artifacts I have acquired for my horde over millennia."

I boggled at Kiyohime's words while Yuki on the other hand snorted and retorted swiftly. "Half those may be possible but Jake is a greedy irascible pervert he wouldn't forgive you if you did the first thing of what you said."

Yuki's words were true and Kiyohime knew that as she nodded in agreement, even saying. "Indeed. I even considered stealing him away and even acquiring him a worthy Gumiho to act as his pet and concubine should he desire another's affections while I monopolize his attention for the most part." Kiyohime shook her head with a wry smile coming across her face before she hid it behind her folding fan as she finally gave me a bit of space. "But I realized that even my great love and passion does not extend to imprisoning you Jake, I want you to become great, but I admit that seeing you flirt with others... Pains me greatly."

"Yeah... I am not going to be chained down." I said flatly. And seeing Kiyohime shrug as though to say 'What can I do?' I continued. "I have a harem, that's a fact and will probably become larger in all honesty as I have goals and ambitions. Either way, I cannot give you that complete love and attention that you desire."

I was about to say something about it. You know, how we could be friends and I could help try to keep her happier and be her 'color in life' but that sounded like the start to a gateway drug basically in how she would get tastes of what I offered in friendship and she would obviously want more.

The dragonkin also knew what I was getting at, she understood my statement was basically along the lines of. 'I am an ass, I love freely and I already have people literally soul bound to me. You cannot kill them and get away with it, as I would hate you forever. So either accept the fact that they were here to stay, or I would be keeping my distance.'

Kiyohime became silent and so was Yuki as both of them processed my unspoken message until finally the short-stack beauty snapped her folding fan shut and closed her eyes as she spoke softly. "I would like some time alone to consider this."

I squeezed Yuki's hand that was intertwined with my own and I nodded as we both stood up and we both moved towards the exit of the door. But just as we reached the door, I looked back.

Back at Kiyohime's form that was almost hunched over as she was in deep thought about our words, and I couldn't help but have the last words as I took in Kiyohime's form in her actually rather revealing kimono. "Kiyohime... Impregnation while in missionary, holding hands and kissing in the dark, is my fetish, so you almost got me!" I said cheekily and as Kiyohime's yellow eyes snapped to mine and widened with a bright blush coming across her cheek I pulled Yuki out of the carriage and together we glided in the air as I leaped out into the air.

A couple of minutes later as we landed atop the large floating ice platform that the priestess was using to fly all the Yuki-Onna over to our destination, Yuki slapped my chest as she hissed and berated me. "You stupid man! That will just give her bad thoughts and make more trouble!"

I however shook my head as I shamelessly stated. "Giving birth to the next generation with all due love and care is not at all a bad thing and needs to be looked at more seriously, with so many of the supernatural's fertility issues and many countries facing a major birth decline."

Yuki's face twitched at my answer but before she could retort an older Yuki-Onna cackled and called out in kind to my answer. "I call being the sweet aunty who gives them a bunch of sugar before giving them back to you!"

I couldn't help but chuckle and I called back. "Nah, you are too young and beautiful to be an aunty but any kids we have could use a wise older sister to guide them!" I said winking and the milf Yuki-Onna looked at me with lidded eye's before Yuki snorted with a dagger of ice forming in her hand as she pointed at the other woman.

"Kairi, I will cut you." She stated, and the older beauty snickered, holding up her hands in surrender. But still threw me a wink that made Yuki growl at the sight before the older woman turned around to continue to talk to the other older more experienced Yuki-Onna. That was going to act as the vanguard in breaking into the city's wards.

I couldn't help but wrap a hand around Yuki's waist as I whispered to her. "Oh, you are so territorial with other Yuki-Onna... That's just so damned adorable Yuki." I teased and she rolled her eyes and I felt her fingers pinchy my side but I held in any squirming as I just held her against myself as I took in the surrounding Gumiho realm that we were flying by.

The Gumiho realm was a rather beautiful place all things told, it matched Japan in being rather mountainous, but the mountains weren't that tall and the temperature was rather moderate for it being in the winter months. And besides that, the nights were truly beautiful as the stars shined so brightly without all the light pollution I was so used to.

But the idyllic sightseeing wasn't for long. Eventually, our fast-flying system of travel traveled the length of the Gumiho realm from the edge we originally landed upon and we reached the center of the realm. The capital city of Daiji was built upon the very core of the realm and all its dragon veins that it had grown over the millennia it has existed.

Wordlessly Yuki and I separated as the Yuki-Onna, mercenaries, and Kiyohime herself came out of her carriage at the ready for what we were to do. And there was no grand speech done, no countdown for the mission to begin.

Kiyohime flicked out her fan and I winced at the brutal dry heat that all but slapped me in the face as Kiyohime conjured a ball of blue flames the size of a beach ball to the Gumiho in the distance living in the city, it must have looked like a large star blooming to life or something.

Thankfully with a flex of my will, I filled the air with some mist from my water elemental being partially summoned that took the form of claws on my wrists that would snap onto anything I punched from the look of it. Along with Yuki and the rest of the ice women cooling their surroundings Kiyohime created a massive star of flames.

And then she released those flames. A shooting star of destruction raced down upon the city like a divine hammer of annihilation and I finally got to see true great destructive power. With a roar of elemental fury, the star of flames grew as it sailed through the air but in response, the city seemingly glowed with an almost holy golden splendor as walls of light engraved with countless seals and formations absorbed, blocked, and destroyed the flames.

The massive explosion rocked the wards of the city but in turn, the Yuki-Onna continued as the majority of the older and more powerful ladies held hands and their combined might came together to make massive almost skyscraper-sized towers of ice and then the spears of ice were sent through the wards forcing it to keep an open hole for us to enter the ward's walls.

Then from there, the older spell-casting Yuki-Onna focused on interfering with the city wards as Kiyohime led the mercenaries and their leader to one side of the city, and likewise, I followed the Yuki-Onna priestess with Yuki into the city and as we flew in, my system pinged.

[Assault upon the Capital!] [You and allied forces have arrived upon an enemy capital city for various reasons. Destroy the capital, pillage it, take over it, or otherwise lead to a change in its power structure with a reward based on your actions.]

At the sight of the mission I blinked and I mentally dismissed it as I mentally snorted at the thought of trying to rule over a city ruled by a race of all females that regularly ate fellow sentients.

Those thoughts of taking over the city for now though were not needed. As Yuki and I came into the city, the priestess said cooly to all the Yuki-Onna and the few men who were married to those clan members who were also warriors. "You all know why we are here." And that was it.

Thus began a wholesale genocide as ice and spells met fox fire some Youjutsu spells and some seals. Familiars on both sides were summoned, and within but a couple of minutes of landing on the outskirts of the city, I had shot a couple of dozen Gumiho dead with the archery Yuki had been drilling into my head.

But this was the literal capital of the realm, with hundreds of thousands of Gumiho and other people living within this capital city, me killing a mere twenty Gumiho over the course of five minutes was nothing to this population.

No the true army killer as we were all forced to stay on the ground due to the city's wards being messed with, were the stronger members who just sent titanic displays of magical might into the city's surroundings.

Within a few minutes I killed twenty-five Gumiho, in that same amount of time Kiyohime created pillars of fire that engulfed entire apartment blocks eradicating entire family lineages in but a moment. My slower kill speed was just due to the sheer range of destruction Kiyohime and the other leaders of the culling could do which was a strong drive towards myself to become stronger, to get stronger familiars I could infuse my body with, stronger magical items made by myself.

Just anything to match these being causing entire neighborhoods to go up in flames with a wave of their hands.

Then the twin queens of the Gumiho came out of their palace which had their own ward system that protected it from Kiyohime's surprise attacks.

Both were voluptuous beauties, one had red hair with black stripes through it, and the other had pure black hair. But both had vibrant yellow eyes and those eyes were looking upon Kiyohime and Kanna the Yuki-Onna priestess with naught but pure disdain.

The one with red and black hair then loudly spoke out coldly with her voice traveling through the entire city without issue. "Again and again you outlanders come to purge us, but time and time you fail to uproot us... And to say nothing of doing nothing at all to the primordial Gumiho Daiji who still roams the Earth, this is the sixth purge. When will you tire of this nonsense?" The purple-haired one asked sounding more exasperated than even angry at the undoubtedly thousands of her people who were dead.

Kiyohime, the leader of the mercenaries the large man named Kaira, and Kanna the head priestess also met the two leaders of the Gumiho in the massive field that surrounded the Gumiho leader's castle.

Even as Yuki pulled my arm and said we needed to focus on dealing with the lesser Gumiho, I was listening closely to the magically enhanced voices of the leaders of our sides that spoke as Kanna answered the two blandly. "You guys each and every time overstep through, earning a purge that results in your race getting suppressed... Last time you and the city governors of your race stole an entire cruiser liner and devoured all its occupants. This time you two decided to personally abduct an entire school to devour and you killed several Shinto demi-gods who hadn't been claimed yet as they were too young."

I wasn't able to continue to hear the response of Kanna nor any other as Kiyohime just sent a seemingly all-consuming wave of flames that sought to burn the supposed twins to death, but unlike before, with other Gumiho.

Those nine-tailed Gumiho were able to match Kiyohime's draconic flames together with their fox fire that burned a corrupt purple that made my very soul shiver at the sight of. That was the last thing I saw of the fight, as I followed Yuki back into the city proper along with the other Yuki-Onna so we wouldn't be in the way of the Ultimate class beings doing their best to kill one another.

Or be used as a hostage, as those Gumiho didn't care about killing their race to get at us.

As I continued killing Gumiho, I realized that their faces and appearances were kinda just running into a sort of blur of uniform shape with only vibrant hair color and other things setting them apart when I saw fluffy tails I murdered them. I saw fox fire, I smashed, and when I saw the bright glowing red eyes of the Gumiho I slashed.

Yuki and I truly became a well-oiled machine of slaughter with her taking a supportive assassin role in shooting people in the head and necks with ice arrows as I did my best Olaf impersonation while duel-wielding oversized enchanted axes and charging Gumiho and their mind-broken slaves to chop them into pieces.

But honestly what got to me the most, was the crick or ache I was getting in my wrist from swinging the large axes. I was fine on stamina and magical energy to fuel the Martial Intent and Giant's Blade Technique but eventually, Yuki and I needed to take a break from killing. We were both simply getting tired and mentally exhausted after some twenty minutes of intensive fighting.

Yuki and I were hiding in a small gazebo recovering our breath before we both saw the city's wards flash with power and then visibly fading. But as they faded, we both watched two massive, horse-sized nine-tailed foxes running across the air as they fled the city while three light-covered forms that were our leaders took off after the duo to hopefully kill them.

But Yuki spoke with a wry sigh. "And there they go... They are ridiculously quick naturally but they are both utter masters of spatial magic so the moment they get a moment of space, they will be popping back to Earth and laying low while we finish burning out the capital of their ilk."

I then looked over to the castle that the Gumiho leaders came out of and I asked innocently. "Soo... The leaders are gone? Then let's go liberate the main castle's loot!" I finished with some excitement.

Yuki looked at me like I was crazy and she said dryly. "Jake... My beloved, you are insane, the castle is even more warded than the actual entire city put together."

But I only shook my head as an utterly evil thought came to me.

"Nope, I am going to go write my name on it, to claim it. After all the leaders of the Gumiho fled like cowards... The call of dibs must be honored." I finished solemnly and Yuki's right eye twitched as I giggled and began making my way towards the central castle warded gate.

 

 

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