The sky was blue over Hokkaido, the sea around it was calm and the people of the Island that lived near the coast were living peacefully.
Suddenly the ground shook with a force that was never felt before. Houses collapsed, streets were decimated, leaving them unusable. Panic spread many were injured, and some died. This day would down as the worst volcano eruption and subsequent earthquake that was recorded in over One hundred years.
Smoke covered the sky, everything was halted from the largest industries to the smallest villages in the mountains. All had their eyes on Fuji, some were wondering how long it would take for it to stop spewing ash and flame.
The spiritual in tuned and magical creatures were not worried about something so fickle. Their attention was on the two divine beings that fought above the Volcano. Their Clashes caused the ground to crumble and Fuji to cry tears of red and black.
"No more steam under the lid?" Mocked Maliketh while continuing to cut the dragon all over its body. "You have not seen anything dog!" It roared, a large amount of magical energy exploding from its body, scorching the ground even further. The explosion of Power elevated the dragon into the sky. The sky in turn was covered by the dragon's enormous magical power, turning the sky a deep crimson. The dragon took a deep breath charging its flame breath, this time however it sucked up the magma that was left by the first of Fuji's explosions.
"Let's end this Dragon, we will see who has the superior flames." Without uttering anymore words Maliketh unleashed all his Power. The Black flame covered his body once more and a explosion followed suit. Out of the the smoke emerged the largest wolf ever seen by mortal or immortal eyes. It even exceeded the wolf king Fenrir by a long shot.
It was taller than a 6-story building and wider than a football field. It's large tails, which are aflame, were swaying through the air and destroyed everything as they struck. It resembled the smaller and more nimble form of Maliketh, it did not however have face armor and cape, leaving only his underbelly and back armored.
Maliketh, in his divine form, opened his maw and a ball of concentrated black flames began to conjure in between his canines. The size of the ball exceeding everything he has ever used, the form still being very foreign to him. Once the ball did not continue to grow to the desired size, Maliketh sat down and hung his tails over his head towards his mouth and used to nurture his Cero with enough flames that it doubled in size.
With a deafening roar the Dragon unleashed its torrent of flames and magma onto Maliketh "Infernal Meteor!" The wolf god reacted with his Cero. "Grand Ray Cero!" He howled.
The two attacks collided and caused a huge explosion that vaporized the tip of Fuji. The shock wave was so immense that it uprooted all the plant life and trees in a five kilometer radius and could be heard from all the way in Hateruma.
To all Humans, who witnessed the explosion, it looked like the vent of Fuji just exploded which wast theorized to have happened due to the high pressure inside the vent. This would continue to befuddle all scientists, who began to research the cause of the explosion, for many years to come.
But to all Supernatural aware creatures that had witnessed the fight between the two divine beasts, or gods they were not sure since no one truly knew if the two beasts had attained godhood or not.
But one thing was for sure, two Powerhouses had clashed and had solidified their spot as one of the more powerful beasts of their pantheon.
After the explosion subsided, the smoke cloud was pierced by a long and deafening howl, Maliketh was standing over the bloodied body of Hiryuu and was broadcasting his victory to the entire pantheon.
"What is your name dog?" Asked the eastern dragon. "My name is Maliketh, the black blade and you would do well to remember it." Maliketh said with pride swelling in his chest. "Maliketh... good name... for a dog." he taunted. "My name is Hiryuu and I am the strongest divine beast, well was now that title belongs to you, dog." The dragon shape shifted. A bright light was emitted from his body.
The dragon took the form of a fairly man that seemed to be in his 40s, he was 180 cm tall and was of average build. His hair was just like his scales, a piercing crimson in color, short and spiky that rose to the sky. In his forehead lay a golden amulet with a fiery red gem embedded into it, that portrayed royalty. Hiryuu had a pale skin complexion with yellow eyes that seemed to glow. His face was very rough with bushy eyebrows and some wrinkles. He had a small nose and his jaw was covered by a short kept beard. His attire consisted of only a loin cloth.
"I am a Shinigami a death god of Izanami, not some beast, be it divine or not." Maliketh rejected the notion that he was some mere beast he was a death god. At least he thought he was.
"Oh, but you are the form you took is no form a Deity would take, you dog, are a divine beast. The aura and sent you give of gives it away. Or you have just evolved into one in our fight?" The dragon theorized. "Maybe, I do feel different from before and this form feels like the purest form of my power." He said.
His body was set aflame, his body shrunk down in size until it took the form of a human. He looked just like before, but he now sprouted one more tail than before raising his tail count to six. But that was not the only thing that changed over his head right over his ears a crown made from the black flame appeared. The title of God/King of the wolves, that the mortals and spirits had given him, had had an effect.
"That's new." He said while checking out his new change. "The mortals and the spirits have acknowledged you as divine being giving you the crown. The tail though.... is it something your race goes through?" The dragon asked while Maliketh was checking the recent changes out.
"Well usually they come with age, but maybe due to the change to a divine beast changed that. I may gain tails like those Christian angels gain their wings when they become more powerful." Maliketh theorized.
"But back to the fact that you are the strongest divine beast of Japan. I will challenge you to a rematch soon enough and I will reclaim the title." Hiryuu said with a determined gaze that fixated on Maliketh. "It would be an honor to fight you again, former strongest." Maliketh taunted, the dragon became agitated. "Do not mock me Dog." He warned.
"But I digress, do you know anything about a village of Okami in Hokkaido?" Asked Maliketh and released Zev from his sword form. Without saying a word, the giant wolf stretched himself and eminently opened a portal to the shrine in the underworld, where he floated up to the altar and changed into the black blade once more. Maliketh looked stupefied as that happened.
Without waiting for the "dog" to regain his composure he started to speak again. "If you think that talking to some mortals and trying to convince them to start worshiping your goddess forget it." since you are a divine beast now, it is frowned upon by the gods if we interfere with mortals' affairs, regardless of race. Maliketh looked disappointed by that revelation.
"But don't stress about it. Since you are a divine wolf, wolves may start worshiping you once the word spreads that you ascended. It comes natural that they'll start to follow your teachings, but enough of that." Hiryuu stopped his speech.
"The meeting of the gods will start soon, I have to attend it as a divine beast under Kagutsuchi-sama." The dragon mentioned as he opened a portal for himself. It came in the shape of a dragon head that had just opened his mouth, the inside was as red as his fire and the heat that was coming from it gave the illusion that it truly was a dragon's head.
"Wait!" Maliketh called out. "When does the meeting start?" He asked the dragon, who in turn looked at him with an annoyed look. "Don't tell me you are going to be there as well..." Hiryuu exclaimed which was followed by a long sigh. "it starts in about 20 minutes so hurry up, they will not wait for you there." He added and entered his portal.
"Why must he be there as well." Maliketh cursed. "I guess I should contact Izanami about the changes." He said as he summoned a flying mirror that was incased in black flame, as it floated in the air in front of him.
This was the primary form of communication for those who wished to talk to a goddess or God.
After a short while of silence Izanami appeared in the mirror. "Izanami I-." "I already know what happened, and that you have turned into a divine beast. I must say I am impressed, fighting the strongest divine beast and beating him just after turning into one yourself." She praised him.
"Your fight was noticed by all of the earthly Kami that reside in japan, but you are in luck it was not noticed by any major god in Tamagahara, maybe Kagutsuchi noticed since you fought a divine beast under him." Izanami continued.
"Has something changed, am I still going to the meeting instead of you?" Maliketh asked the mistress of death. "Mostly nothing will change you'll still have to go there on my behalf. But you can no longer represent the Shinigami since you are not one anymore. You have ascended past that, you are a divine beast and will now represent all the beasts in the world of the dead and myself." Izanami said in a matter of fact tone.
"Who will represent the Shinigami in my stead?" He asked her with intrigue in his voice. "The Apostle will represent them, since it is the first Shinigami that I have ever created." Izanami said with a proud tone of her voice. "Understood. I will head to the meeting right after we are finished." Maliketh said.
"Then hurry it will start soon, Ah before I forget. Here is a seal (the kind of seal in elden ring) that will allow you to travel to Tamagahara without any problems. And dress nicely, your Kimono is completely dirty and destroyed after your fight!" With those parting words and a glowing seal appearing in front of him. The mirror faded into flames and embers. Leaving Maliketh alone on top of the
"Well time to sit at a boring meeting." Maliketh sighed to himself before opening a portal with the seal. The seal now that he looked closer at it. It resembled a a large plain silver coin with a red ruby in the center of the coin that glowed as he used it. Silver chains extended from four points of the coin, the ends of each chain were another ruby that pulsed faintly with power.
Pocketing the seal inside of his Kimono Maliketh entered the Portal, which swallowed him dissipating afterwards.
///Tamagahara///
"Yasaka, please get your fellow divine beasts and the representatives from the gathering hall and lead them into the meeting. Us gods will be waiting for your arrival." A voice behind Yasaka said. " Of course, Amaterasu-sama." She said while turning around towards Amaterasu, while brushing her beautiful blond hair out of her even more stunning face.
Yasaka, the head shrine maiden of the most powerful of Izanagi'S children, moved through the giant traditional Japanese palace and towards the gathering hall of the divine beasts. On the way many of the servants in the palace bowed to her in respect, some even going as far as to go down onto their knees. She did not really pay any attention to them and continued her stride.
Once she arrived at the gathering hall, she was met with a loud crowd of a multitude of divine beasts, ranging from various kinds of Yokai, some Oni, Kitsune, Kapa, Tengu and even a Lindwyrm. The last one was surprising to her since they originated in western Europe.
With a pulse of her magical power the crowd fell silent, giving her their full attention. "My fellow divine beasts, Amaterasu-sama announced that the meeting is about to start. All of you shall return to the sides of your Patron gods and-."
Before she could continue, a fiery portal opened in the air in the middle of the room. With it a heavy presence flooded the room bringing some of the weaker ones to their knees and making the rest raise their magical power to withstand the pressure.
Out of the swirling fire as the elderly human appearance of Hiryuu the strongest divine beast, according to what Yasaka had heard, due to Amaterasu rambling about Kagutsuchi and his headache of a divine beast. He now wore a red Kimono with green golden accents and flame pattern. On his head, horns sprouted from his forehead, the horns gave him a kind of royal aura. A scaly tail was swaying behind him.
"So, I made it in time..." His booming voice followed through the area before he floated down to the ground. The crowd parted for him, giving him a lot of space, not daring to go near him, in fear that they would offend him.
"Now that we are all here-." Yasaka tried to continue again but she was cut of again by another portal swirling into existence right next to Hiryuu. This one however was completely black in color, a cold deathly aura exuding of of it, the bests around the portal giving it a lot of space, visibly recoiling from the unnatural feeling of death, the before mentioned dragon did not seem to be bothered by it too much.
Out came the man she fell in love with all those years ago. His hair got a little bit longer and his face became sharper, he seemed to be more aged now looking more like he was in his early thirties. In her opinion he looked even more attractive. His wolf ears atop his head looked like they had grown slightly and a bit hairier. floating over his head was a crown made of some black and red flames that she did not know their origin and how he received them.
"Probably has to do something with Izanami-sama." She said to herself quietly, so no one would hear.
What caught her attention though were the six tails brushing behind him, she only had five, so either time worked differently in the underworld, or he grew in strength, a lot. The latter being more likely.
He wore a full black Kimono with golden accents, there was a depiction of a howling wolf that was surrounded by a flame. He had a pair of Geta on his feet with socks on, both black in color.
"You are late dog." They became even more silent as the Dragon spoke. It was so quiet that you could hear a heartbeat. "What are you still mad that I beat you?" teased Maliketh shocking all who did not know that Hiryuu lost, everyone present.
"What was that brat?" The dragon said with a threatening tone, while raising his magical power. The ground around him caught fire and the air crackled with energy. "Oh? You want to lose again?" He said while raising his magical power as well, the air around Maliketh became stale and cold, as if the embrace of death was lingering around him.
Yasaka came out of her trance and cleared her voice amplifying it with magic. "Again, all of you come to the meeting, the gods, goddesses and representatives are waiting." As she said that she entered a teleportation circle and left.
As Maliketh heard her voice, his heart momentarily skipped a beat. He turned to the direction to where he heard her voice from and saw only a glimpse of her golden blond hair and fox ears.
Coming out of his stupor, he realized that all of the divines around him were going in the direction to where Yasaka had just stood and went into the long hallway. "Better follow them." He said to himself.
Being too lazy to actually walk he used a bit of magic to make him float over the ground and made his way towards two giant doors, which functioned more like a gate rather than a door.
Having caught up to Hiryuu, that chose to do the same as Maliketh, he stood next to him. "What are we as divine beasts going to do in the meeting?" The Okami asked the elder divine beast next to him.
"You go to your patron god, shut up and look decorative. You may want to put on a strong appearance, the gods are very petty and will make a mockery out of any patron god who has a weak divine beast." He told them. "Better yet, do what I do, dog."
"Okay, good to know. Thank you, overgrown lizard." Maliketh retorted playfully pointing finger guns at the dragon who got a tick mark.
As Maliketh was about to add something the giant, gate like, door opened and all the divine beasts rushed inside, to presumably stand next to their patron.
Maliketh and Hiryuu took their time while going inside, coming in last. As they are walking inside all of the divine beasts bowed their heads in recognition, knowing that those two are the strongest out of all of them. This of course did not go unnoticed by the gods. The more heavenly ones only knew Hiryuu as the strongest, but not who the Okami beside him was. The earthly Kami did not really tell them much what was going on on earth, specifically Japan.
The earthly Kami however did know who Maliketh was and how strong he was since the fight between Hiryuu and him was felt through the entirety of Japan.
As the two beasts continued through the meeting room, which was more like a giant Colosseum fitted to be a meeting room, they inevitably split of to go to their respective places.
As Maliketh walked alone towards the Godskin Apostle, who was standing left of the throne like seat of Izanami, he noticed Yasaka, who was standing on the right of Amaterasu, looking at him.
As their eyes met, it was like time had stopped for just the two of them, everything fading out and becoming blurry. He could only smile as she smiled at him and mouthed 'I missed you'.
As he reached the Apostle, he stood in his place on the right of Izanami throne. The Godskin silently congratulated him on becoming the divine beast of Izanami.
The meeting began with Amaterasu standing up, this act alone made everyone silent. "Welcome to all Kamis and divine beasts, as I see some new faces among the beasts, please introduce yourselves.
As the introduction round for the new beasts commenced, Maliketh kept looking at Yasaka and she in turn only had eyes for him. As he was asked to introduce himself, he slightly stepped forth.
The flames, that the crown over his head was made from, roared and grew in size, giving him even more of a kingly aura. His six tails swaying behind him, he stood confidently and announced.
"My name is Maliketh, the black blade of Izanami-sama and I am the current strongest divine beast." All eyes were on him, some in stares of aw and respect, some saw him as a potential threat to their respective divine beasts since they were not immortal. But no one had as much of a negative reaction as Amaterasu who, if looks could kill would have definitely killed him on the spot, glared at him in anger and disgust.
And that's it for today. I hope you liked this one. And I will see you next time :)